Just sent in a resume

I emailed a resume to Kelly Temporary Services. I had called and asked for some secretarial work, and the lady I spoke to gave me their email address. I hope they can find something for me. I'd like to be able to get back to work soon. It's really important to me that I find a job. I'm getting cabin fever being stuck in the apartment all day, I need money to move, and I'd just feel better about having a job.

I could finally start saving up for everything I want, and my roommate and I could make our new place a home. Furniture, dishes, cookware, etc. We're both on Freecycle.org, but I'd like to be able to buy some new stuff as well. That would be nice.

She just set up her own blog to showcase some of her writing and hopefully get some income of her own coming in. (A friend of hers said that if she could get some professional writers to guest blog, she'd get paid for it. I'm not completely sure how that works, but I hope it does. I'd love it if I could get some people to write on my blog, too... Get my name out, get more traffic, have a reason to write. Have a reason to do anything, really, besides sit on my butt and play on facebook.)

Oh, I have a twitter account now, so if you want to follow me, please do! Right now, I only have two followers, which sucks. I have no followers on this blog, and I'd love some! Sigh I need to find a way to make some friends.(Gah, I hate whining. Somebody reach through their computer and smack me, 'k? lol)

So if anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Ideas about work, getting my blog noticed, anything.

Music and musings

I'm up listening to some Christmas music on my iTunes right now. I don't have enough of it. (Can you ever have enough Christmas music?) I'm planning to use some of my Christmas money to buy some CDs to add to my library. Sandi Patti, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, TSO -- those are some of my favorite artists and groups. I have The Lost Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve and Other Stories by TSO, a couple of Amy Grant's CDs, and excerpts from Handel's Messiah and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. I'm not much of a classical music fan, but I'm thinking of getting some -- I think it's good to at least have an appreciation of different genres of music.

Being an 80s chick, I'm more into classic rock (Styx, Boston, Foreigner, Guns 'n' Roses, Meatloaf, Pat Benetar) which anyone who knows me can tell you. I also like the Eagles, Alabama, Oak Ridge Boys, Charliie Daniels and other country groups (I am from Oklahoma, so I grew up listening to country music as well). My favorite current country star is Taylor Swift. She may be young (about 23, I believe) so hasn't lived much, but she is a great singer/songwriter.

I've always loved to sing. I used to be good at it, but unfortunately, years of smoking has taken a toll on my voice (word of advice, kids: Don't smoke! :-)), and I can't do it anymore. I've tried to give up smoking, but to no avail... so far. (Maybe when I move, I'll be able to quit. I have a feeling my new roomie is a non-smoker.)

The worst part of being disabled is the fact that the creative things I'd really love to do (singing/acting) are beyond me, because of my speech. I mean, I do sound better when I sing than when I talk (for some reason it's just that way when you have a speech impediment). I remember a story my grandmother once told me when I was little about a country singer I grew up listening to (name of Mel Tillis). Seems he and a friend of his went camping one time, and as they were setting up their tent, Mel saw a bear come up. Now he had a horrible stutter, and as anyone with a speech problem can tell you, any kind of stress can make it worse... such as being terrified out of your mind, which Mel most definitely was. He tried to warn his friend, but couldn't get the words out. So he sang a warning. I laughed when she told me that, but I've never forgotten it.

Chapter 5 completed/And other stuff

Now I just have to concentrate on Chapter 6 and later. Team Gibbs, Mike Franks, and Nicole are meeting at NCIS  headquarters the next day (at the beginning of Chapter 6) to figure out where to go with the investigation. Nicole will also be meeting with Dr. /Rachel Cranston (Kate's sister -- Kate was the first female agent on the series, replaced by Ziva in season 3 after Ziva's brother Ari killed her). Anyway, since Nicole is also a psychologist, Dr. Rachel is gonna have fun getting her to open up about what happened (especially since Nicole has been ordered (by Aguilar) not to tell anyone, or her teammates in San Diego will suffer for it). lol Well, I hope I can get it written in a shorter time frame than I got Chapter 5 done.

My friend and I are trying to arrange a time for us to get together, maybe do some house-hunting, and just hang out. We need to get reacquainted with each other before we move in together. I just hope that we can be friends like we were in high school... I've changed a little bit, and so has she, but it's been more than 20 years, so who's surprised? :-)

I need to start saving up money to move. I'll have to rent a truck, get somebody to drive it, get someone to help me pack (I know what I have, a bedroom full of stuff, and a few household items -- a few pots/pans, a coffee maker, and a toaster. I have no idea what she has. We may have to go to Goodwill or someplace to get furniture and stuff, unless we can get something donated. I'll have to talk to my landlord and see if he can get us anything.)

I'm not sure when I'll be able to save up the money to get all the stuff I want off my Amazon wishlist. I just have to try to save up. The one thing we will need when we move is cable/internet/home phone service. We both have cell phones, of course, but it'll be nice to have a landline, too. Still want a TV and DVD player, as well as an iPod and a stereo. I'm tired of listening to music on my computer. My speakers aren't loud enough. I also need, need, NEED  a new computer. I'm still planning to get one during the back-to-school sales, maybe at OfficeMax if there's one close to where we end up living. I hope there will be some stores close by. We are going to be on a bus line, since neither of us drive. So that will be good.

I've got some of my writing mojo back!

I found someone to bounce some story ideas off of! Yay! I'm working on the fifth chapter of my fic, and I think it's coming along nicely. I've been concentrating so much on the case that I've neglected Nicole's mental state. I'm remedying that right now. Of course, as Gibbs tells her, after an agent suffers a traumatic incident like being held captive and tortured, a psych eval would be mandatory. I'm sort of surprised that our military personnel who have returned from overseas aren't required to have one, whether they're showing signs of PTSD or not. (Or are they? Anyone have any idea? It can take years for symptoms to start showing up, if I'm not mistaken.)

I'm so glad to be back in the groove, and to know that I have someone to help me if I get stuck again. I have no idea how long this story will be, but I'm willing to see it through. If anyone wants to read it, you can go here: Trust. Let me know what you think if you do read it!

Well, Thanksgiving is over and it's now time to start thinking about Christmas. I'm so looking forward to spending Christmas day (and a couple of nights) with Jeff and Donna and the boys. I just need to find someone to take care of my baby while I'm away. I've never been gone for more than a few hours, certainly not a day and two nights. I'm afraid the poor thing will think I've abandoned her. :-(

My neighbor Pam is going to take us to the groomer's next week so she can have a bath. She really needs one, and it only costs about $15.  Plus $15 for gas, and that's a pretty good deal.

I'm not sure how much money I've saved up for Christmas. I'm thinking of withdrawing all of it shortly before Christmas and seeing how much I can spend. I need to buy something for Jeff and Donna for hosting me. She suggested cookies or something (I was thinking about a bottle of wine, but she told me Jeff doesn't drink much, although she'll probably have a bottle or two for dinner). Everyone likes desserts, though. lol

I've about decided to save up as much money as I can by July/August so I can get a new laptop and printer during the before-school sales. I also want an iPod and a stereo with an iPod dock.  Then for Christmas I can get a tv and DVD player. I'm thinking of buying a Dell laptop this time (my current one is a Toshiba, but I think Dells are better). I'm not sure what kind of printer to get... I think I have a Canon on my Amazon wish list. And then of course I'll need to buy ink. (Lots of ink. I do lots of printing, lol.)

I still haven't found anyone willing to help me out with the fanfic I'm working on. I'm about ready to give up on it. :-( I've been working on it for over a year now! God, why won't anyone help me?! I'm not a bad writer; I'm just stuck. I don't expect anyone to write it for me, I just need some idea of where to go with it. Sighs Oh, well. Maybe I can find someone to help. I'll just have to keep trying, I guess.

I wish I knew someone who writes fanfic...

I'm in the process of writing one right now; in fact I have the first four chapters up on Fanfiction.net (here if you want to read it), and I'm working on chapter five, which I'm stuck on. I've PMed a few people at FFN to see if they'd be willing to beta and collaborate on my story, but so far no one has responded. Why is it that other people can get help with their fics and I can't? It makes me feel so bad. I'm not asking anyone to  write the damn thing, just help me out with some ideas. Sigh Well, if anyone of y'all could read and let me know what you think, I'd be ever so grateful. I'll also update with what I have of chapter five, just in case someone has any ideas of where to go with it.

My friend and I are texting each other right now, trying to get a feel for what the other is like. I'm a Democrat, she's Republican (we both agree that the way to avoid conflict about politics is not to discuss it); I like rock and heavy metal, she likes Christian, pop, and praise and worship music; she's very neat and organized, I'm messier... this may be an odd couple sort of thing. lol. It seems that we're almost total opposites.

I'm wondering how our dogs will get along. She has three, I have one. Alaska (mine) isn't used to other dogs, so she might get rough with my friend's dogs. It won't be for very long; just until she gets used to them. My friend's dogs, on the other hand, are what she describes as "domineering", since two of the three have had puppies. (Alaska's been spayed, so I don't know how she'll be with two mama dogs.)

I just asked her if she thinks that the fact that we're opposites in almost every way will be a problem. Depending on how she responds, we'll go from there.

Text @ 4:12: "I don't know."

Guess we'll both have to think and pray about it really hard...

Money, money, money...

I'm saving it like crazy so I can have a nice birthday/Christmas... next year. lol Unfortunately, I had to pay off a loan with the money I was saving for Christmas this year (I still have a little bit, just not as much as I was planning on to buy myself something really nice). I've been adding stuff to my Amazon wish list (some of it I can get at brick-and-mortar stores, but it's always nice to have a list of what I want), and it's like a few thousand dollars, all told.

I'm really hoping that I can find a place to move to (I'll really have to do some thinking and praying and talking to my friend about moving in with her... there's a big reason she needs to move out of her current house and wants me to be her roomie. Let's say personal safety issues.)  So, yeah, I have to save money for when/if I move, but why not save up to get some nice stuff, too? I really need a new laptop... the one I have now is like four or five years old, and I have so much stuff on it that it freezes/crashes (I may have a virus, too... really need to get Norton reinstalled!!!), so a new one would be nice.

Some of the "big ticket" stuff I'd like are the laptop, an iPod and iPad, a Kindle Fire, a printer... luxuries, but things I'll use. The other stuff I want is CDs/DVDs, books, things like that. (Although why buy "real" books if I also have a Kindle... hmmm... ;-))

Well, as of right now, all this is just harmless fantasizing (but fantasizing never hurt anyone, right?), although I'm beginning to save every penny (dime, nickel, quarter) I can. Hopefully I can make some of those fantasies reality over the course of the new year...

Looking for homes to rent

I'm on Google right now trying to find a nice home for my friend and me to rent (she is also looking). So far no luck. I've found a some in our price range, except they don't allow pets. :-( (We have three dogs between us, and we aren't giving them up!)

Anyone know any real estate agents who could help us out? We want a 3-bedroom/2-bath with a good-sized backyard so our girls have a place to run around and play. Thanks!