Monday, December 31, 2012

Thinking about furnishing our new home :-)

We're not even close to moving at this point, and I'm already thinking of what we'll need in the way of furnishings, lol. We both have bedroom furniture... beds, dressers, etc. I have two dressers, in fact -- a six drawer and a five-drawer (one of the drawers in the five-drawer is broken, though... the front needs to be glued on). I also have a desk with three drawers in it and a cupboard on top (gee, ya think I have enough storage?!?! lmao).

We'll need living and dining room furniture. A sofa, chairs, coffee table, end tables, lamps, a dining table and chairs... hope we have plenty of storage in the kitchen. I have silverware, a coffee maker (want a new one, though, but I can afford to buy one), a blender, and a toaster. I have a few dishes and a couple of pans and a skillet... and a wok, if we ever want to do stir-fry for a meal. I want to start going through all my stuff pretty soon and deciding what to throw out and what to keep. I have about five storage totes filled with stuff, and I can start there. Empty them out so I can pack stuff up when my roommate gives me the word that we're ready. (I just hope I have a few weeks notice.... enough time to get my address changed with Social Security, definitely. I'm going to try to go get my ID renewed soon so I can open a bank account. Of course, I'll have to get my ID updated when we move, too, so I'm not sure what to do about that right now.

She said that we can get whatever we need off of freecycle, and her friend will help us pick up whatever we're given, so that's a relief. I wonder if we should go ahead and check the groups for around the Cove? I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? But I'm just so excited! (Unfortunately, that's a symptom of my bipolar disorder. I just go off on my own little way without considering that things may not be how I think they are, and then I get in trouble. Hopefully my roommate will be able to help me rein in that impulsivity. And that's another thing... I need to find a good psychiatrist and/or therapist in the Cove when I get down there. I can look one up in the Yellow Pages, or maybe find on online or through my Medicaid plan.)

(I'm also excited about (hopefully) being able to change my location on my blog to "Copperas Cove, TX USA" soon. lol And maybe finding someone to tell me how to change the damn time  stamp on here as well! It's driving me crazy having my blog say I'm on Pacific Standard Time when I'm not!!!)

Still hoping for a house to rent...

You all will be glad to know that I'm over my little hissy fit from the weekend. I'm hoping that my future roommate's friend still has his other house (the 3 bed/2 bath one) coming up for rent. That would be ideal for our needs.

I'd love to be able to move before the summer. Why? I don't know; I guess to just have something to shoot for. I know it will probably still be ungodly hot (after all, Copperas Cove is farther south than Dallas, and I don't think the weather gets any cooler the farther south you go), but there's a public lake at Ft. Hood where we can go swimming and take the dogs too. That's nice. And the base is only about 10 miles outside of town, so I can afford the cab fare (assuming that the cab company will allow dogs in the cars... they do up here). Or I can buy a dog carrier and maybe ride the bus (I found out that there is a public bus system in town; hopefully it goes to the base).

All I can do right now is a lot of praying that things will work out like I want.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Thoughts on NCIS ep "Dog Tags" (S5)

I normally don't watch this episode, because I get so angry at Abby. I don't like being angry at Abby, since she's one of my favorite characters on the show (in fact, there are a couple of episodes I don't watch, simply for that reason.)

At the beginning of the episode, Team Gibbs is at the home of a Petty Officer Kyle Hanson, a Navy dog handler to serve a warrant (they're trying to find out how drugs are getting on the base). When they break into the house, they find the man dead, apparently mauled. Cut to the back of the house, where a dog crashes through the back door and attacks McGee. The team inside hears a gunshot and run out to find the dog down and McGee bleeding from bites to the neck and arm.

Ducky (medical examiner) treats both McGee and the dog's wounds, and Gibbs orders McGee to take the dog back to NCIS headquarters. Cut to the evidence garage, where Abby meets McGee and sees that he's been bitten. She opens the car door and sees the dog muzzled, lying on McGee's blazer, and with a bandage covering the gunshot wound. She then gets angry at McGee, demanding to know how he could shoot "a poor sweet dog" and calling him "Bad McGee!" I couldn't believe it. She wasn't there; she didn't know what happened! (And I gotta tell you, I loved the exchange she and McGee had.

Abby (after McGee tells her that the dog [allegedly] killed his handler): Dogs don't kill people! People kill people!
McGee: People with dogs who kill people kill people!

Yeah. Made no sense to me either.)

Anyway, Abby spends the rest of the episode trying to prove the dog's innocence (which she does; another Petty Officer was responsible for the murder and planting cocaine in Hanson's house to make it look like he was part of the drug smuggling ring.) At one point, she takes "Jethro" (she renamed the dog from Butch) back to Pax River to see if she can find more evidence. What she finds is dog skeletons, which she calls in to the team. When they get to the base, McGee asks her, "Shouldn't that dog be muzzled?" to which she replies, "Muzzle yourself, McGee! It's not like he shot you." Oh, that had my blood boiling. I so wanted to yell, "Muzzle yourself, Abby! It's not like McGee tried to rip the dog's throat out." (See what I mean about being angry with her? To be fair to Abby, though, the team did find out later that the dog was high on cocaine at the time, although at this point in the episode, they didn't know that.)

Another point where I was angry at her was when Jethro had to have surgery to remove part of a knife blade from his stomach (Petty Officer Perilli had broken her knife while stabbing Hanson, and the dog swallowed it). Abby went around collecting donations to get him flowers (I have to agree with McGee: Flowers for a dog?) Abby showed him her spiked wrist cuffs and said, "You see these little spiky things, McGee? Some people wear them just for show. I don't." (Yeah. Threatening a federal agent. That's really smart, Abs! *smacks head*)

And then there's the end of the episode, where Abby basically tricks McGee into adopting the dog. Maybe I wouldn't have a problem with it, seeing as how the dog was proved innocent in the end, but then I'm not McGee. (I wonder what ever happened to Jethro? Except for a picture in a subsequent episode where he and McGee seem to be getting along just fine (the pic is of Jethro licking McGee's face)), we haven't heard word one about him.

*Some quick remarks about how other members of the team (notably Gibbs and Tony) treated McGee:

  • As mentioned before, Gibbs orders McGee to take Butch back to headquarters... by himself. Even though Butch was muzzled and had been shot, I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. After all, he attacked McGee once -- what would keep him from doing it again?
  • That stupid barking dog CD that Tony was playing when McGee came up from the evidence garage! Good thing the poor guy apparently has a strong heart and nerves of steel...
Well, that's it for today. Maybe I'll start doing the occasional NCIS episode review when the mood strikes me. (If anyone's interested in reading my thoughts on the show.) Let me know if you are?

And just fyi: If a dog ever attacked me, I'd grab whatever I could (a gun, a shovel, a tree branch) and shoot it or beat it off. I love dogs, but I love my life more.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Wonderful news!!!!!

I'm chatting on Facebook with my friend who wants me to move in with her. She knows a guy with some rental properties in Copperas Cove (near Ft. Hood, equidistant from Austin and Waco), and he said he'd let us live in one rent-free! (No utilities either; we'll just have to pay for cable/internet/phone.) It will probably be about six weeks before we can move, because her dog is about to have her puppies.

The only bad thing is that it's 2 1/2 hours away, and I don't know about things like public transportation. The city has more than 30,000 people, so I imagine there's some sort of bus service there. I'm wondering about a Greyhound station, too, so I can come back to Dallas once in a while to visit.

It'll be good for me to be out on my own, have a larger space than an apartment, and Alaska will have a backyard to spend most of her time in (with three other dogs). I just asked her if the house comes with furniture, and she says we'll probably have to  furnish it ourselves. We're both on Freecycle, though, so we can post requests on there to get some stuff. Also, I'm going to be saving as much money as I can to get some stuff from Amazon (don't know if they sell anything in the way of furniture, but I can check). Also, maybe I can check eBay or some sites and see what I can find.

I'm really excited about moving! Everyone cross your fingers that things will work out for my friend and me!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Had a great Christmas!

Donna's husband Jeff and their son Luke came and picked me up around 12:20 and we got to their house a little after 1. (It started raining while we were en route, and snowing shortly after we got there. I had my white Christmas, yay! :-) Jeff's parents Ray and Becky got to the house between 1:30 and 2:00, and were very nice. (I found out that Becky is an NCIS fan like me!) Jeff's brother's Doug and Curtis were also there with their wives Julie and Cheven, and a beautiful baby girl named Piper (I forget who is married to whom and who's daughter Piper is... oops! It was Piper's first Christmas, I should say. AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!! :-D)

I think we ate lunch around 2:30 or 3:00, then we sat around and visited for awhile and opened presents around 6. Donna gave me a book about Mother Theresa (I can't wait to read it! I've always admired her), a mug and a can of chocolate mint hot chocolate (yum!), and a small picture of Jake and Luke. Her parents also sent me a pretty scarf. That was so nice of them!

Unfortunately I had to leave shortly after the presents were opened. We'd planned on me spending the night, but Donna had some stuff to do today, so they wouldn't be able to bring me home. :-( So I didn't get to go around and take pictures of all the Christmas lights like I wanted to. Maybe next year.

Jeff drove past our old high school (turns out he graduated three years ahead of Donna and me, and Ray taught shop there for 35 years... I felt kind of bad about not remembering him until Donna told me that the shop was kind of out of the way.) The only part of the school I recognized was the "new" front (new my senior year). He explained that the buildings were sort of falling apart, so several years ago they decided that instead of spending money making repairs all the time, they'd just tear virtually the whole thing down and rebuild it. (I wish we could have stopped so I could take pictures, but I don't have anything to compare them to, unless I could find some pictures of the old building online.)

All in all, though, it was a really good day, and I thank Jeff and Donna for opening their home to me!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas to all!

Well, Donna's sciatica was acting up all day yesterday, so I didn't get to go over to her house last night after all. Too bad. But Jeff is coming to get me after breakfast today (probably around 10 or so?), so I'll spend the day with them at least. I'm so excited to see them!

I'm still disappointed that I have no money to spend this week, but I should be getting my pension from my dad's retirement this weekend, so that's good. At least I'll be able to go out for New Year's Eve if I want to. (I just have to be sure not to spend all the money! I do need groceries next week. And I also need to put a little bit back for savings.)

I'm still hoping that I can save up enough from my SSI to get a new laptop this coming year. I also still have everything on my Amazon wish lists that I want to buy (I categorized stuff into CDs/DVDs, books, and everything else). I'm hoping I can get some of it for Christmas next year if not during the year. Two of the things I want soon are an iPod and a stereo with a disc changer and an iPod dock. Then I can get all the other stuff. (My laptop and printer, as I've said before, will be bought during the back-to-school sales in July or August.) I also want to get a new digital camera. The one I have now is only 3X zoom, and I'd like a 5X or better. (That way if I'm way off in Bumf***, Egypt, when I see Styx next time, I'll still be able to get some good pictures of them. When I saw them in Wabash in '08, I was in the 17th frickin' row, and the pix I took were really crappy.) I don't want that to happen next time.

I'm listening to Trans-Siberian Orchestra right now (Christmas Eve and Other Stories). I really want to get some more of their CDs. I first became a fan of theirs around Christmas of '91 or so (around the time this album came out), and the song I'm listening to now -- "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo (12/24)" was the first song of theirs I'd heard (I think it was the first song of theirs that was played). I love their mix of rock and classical music, which I'd never heard before. (I wish some of the "old masters" of classical music could be updated to have a more rock feel. Is it some sort of blasphemy for me to feel that way? lmao) Don't get me wrong, I can handle classical music in small doses, but I just like rock a whole lot better. Maybe I should add some classical music to my musical want list. I have almost every other genre on there. My dad, who was born in 1933, got me interested in big band/swing music, so I put some of that on my want list in memory of him. I also listed some country bands and artists that I grew up listening to, as well as some blues music. I need to get some jazz artists, too (Dixieland is my favorite). Maybe some light jazz, like Kenny G.

Speaking of jazz musicians, I want to take a trip to New Orleans sometime (go to some jazz clubs on Bourbon Street). Maybe during Mardi Gras (although not this coming year... maybe I'll go to the Mardi Gras celebration at the West End when they have it. I've never been, and I'm wondering how it is since the influx of Katrina evacuees in 2005. Did they influence it in any way? If anyone would know how to throw a good Mardi Gras celebration, I think they would.). Or maybe I'll find out when the Southern Decadence celebration is this next year and go to that. I'm not even sure what Southern Decadence is all about; I'll have to research it, but it sounds fun.

Well, it's 2:50 a.m. here, and I need to go to bed if I'm gonna be coherent later on today. Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a 2013!

Friday, December 21, 2012

Chapter 5 of my fanfic has been posted

I went ahead and posted Chapter 5 of "Can I Trust You With My Heart" on Fanfiction.net if anyone wants to read it. I'm working on Chapter 6, but it's going slowly. I mentioned in my author's note that coming up with story ideas is hard, especially when I don't have someone to bounce ideas off of. A lot of the listed betas on FFN seem to not have time to do much, even though they say they're accepting requests. I'll have to hope that someone will step up to help me.

I'm taking my laptop over to Jeff and Donna's on Monday night, so maybe I'll have time to catch up on my reading and writing. I just accepted a request from a girl in England who's having trouble with people complaining that she's having the characters speak the Queen's English, lol. Well, duh... she's British, that's how she herself talks, so naturally she's going to write what's familiar to her. British spelling and grammar don't bother me. I can figure out what the writers are saying.

Other than that, nothing much is going on in my life. I'm sure I'll have a lot to say on Tuesday. I'm really excited to be seeing Donna after all these years. It'll be nice to do some catching up with her.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

So sad...

I found out yesterday that I'm not only completely broke, I'm overdrawn at the bank. (The overdraft fee is being taken care of, thank goodness.) Of all the times of the year to be out of money... :-( I just didn't keep good track of how much I was spending. So, no Christmas goodies for me (at least not from myself.)

I'm going to sit down after the new year with a friend of mine who's good at keeping track of financial stuff and plan a budget with him. I would like to save at least $500 if not more by my birthday, and several hundred dollars more by next fall so I can go somewhere and see Styx. By the time I see them next, it will have been five years, and I'd like to see them a few more times before they retire. (They're all in their late 50s/early 60s with the exception of the drummer, who's 43 now.) I know, I know, just because they're older, that doesn't mean they're ready for the Old Rockstars' Home (just look at the Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and other classic rock bands). But still, I'd hate to have to miss them.

Oh, well. It's only five more days until I go over to Jeff and Donna's for Christmas, and I'm happy about that. I can hang out with them and do the Diamond Loch Christmas tour (I've always loved that; the houses are always so beautiful this time of year! People go all out with the decorations!). It'll be fun.


Saturday, December 15, 2012

About me...

I was going to post this as a Facebook status, but it's way too long. I just wanted to get some things out about myself and my personal beliefs. I've read plenty on Facebook the past couple of days, people throwing stones at each other, liberals vs. conservatives, Christians vs. non-Christians/atheists, Democrats vs. Republicans.

I am a pro-Second Amendment, pro-choice pro-lifer. (I think you can be both. You can wish that there was no need for abortions; that women and young girls could carry their babies to term and put them up for adoption.) In fact, you know what would be ideal? If there could be a way to match up expectant mothers with couples or singles willing to adopt and have the adoptive parents pay all the mother's medical expenses. Why not? I mean, if the adoptive parents were to conceive a child, they'd have to pay all those expenses anyway, right? So why not pay them for a woman or girl who might not be financially able?

On the other hand, I would never, ever, tell a woman/girl that she shouldn't or can't have an abortion. It's totally her decision. I think it would be good for the parents to have input... until a girl is 18, her parents are/should be responsible for all her medical care. After all, a school nurse can't give a student an aspirin without parental consent, but he/she can send her off to have a medical procedure done? How does that make sense?

As far as being pro-Second Amendment, I've seen a few memes the past couple of days, the gist of which are taking guns away from the innocent people won't protect them from criminals. As I said earlier this morning, criminals will get guns any way they can, either by stealing them or buying them on the black market. They're criminals, of course they're going to get them illegally! One thing we MUST do to cut down on the number of shootings at schools, theaters, houses of worship, etc., is teach our children respect for firearms and respect for human life. Most of us know that guns are not toys, and violence is almost never the answer to a person's problems. (With the exception of self-defense, and even then you're supposed to only use the same force that's used against you. If someone slaps you in the face, you don't pull out a knife and stab them. Of course if someone slaps you, you're supposed to first try to talk it out with them, then try to walk away, and only if they escalate things is violence appropriate.)

Something I'm just going to put out there, even though this has nothing to do with what's been going on the past couple of days: I am all in favor of gay rights, marriage equality, and indeed anything that would help make things better for our GLBT brothers and sisters. Liberals talk about "separation of church and state". Conservatives say, quite rightly, that those five words appear nowhere in the Constitution, much less in the first amendment. They're right; as we all know, those words were written in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Baptist Church in Danbury, CT. But even though the words themselves are not in the Constitution, I  believe the spirit is there.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;[...]

 To me that means that there should be no national religion, whether it's Christian, Buddhist, Islam, Hindu, etc. And of course, we are all free to believe,  or not, as we wish. This is important. This means that even if we believe that homosexuality is wrong/sinful, we have no right to try to impose our religious beliefs on our fellow Americans. We could go on forever about the right we have to vote our consciences, which we all try to do. In the recent election, some people thought that Obama was the devil, and some thought the same thing about Romney. We all had our ideas about which of them was best to lead our country. (Personally, I voted for Obama because, well, better the devil we know than the one we don't. He did some good things during his first term (in my opinion), and he did some that weren't so good, but at least he has four more years to try to straighten things out. If he can just get Congress on board!) /digression

We can also go on about whether "gay civil rights" are akin to black civil rights, or if gays even have civil rights. I believe they should. Anytime a specific group of people is attacked because of who they are, it should be a civil rights issue. I am of the opinion that GLBTs can't change their sexual orientation any more than a black (or Latino or Asian or Middle Easterner) can change their skin color. It's just not possible. (And please don't get me started on the "ex-gay" thing. I've heard about too many studies proving that "conversion therapy" is a bunch of hooey.)

So. That's who I am and what I believe. A pro-Second Amendment, pro-choice/pro-life, pro-gay, liberal Democrat and Christian. For those of you who have made it all the way through this post and still want to be my Facebook friend, thank you. For those of you who don't want to be my friend, well I'm sorry. Unfortunately, I've learned in life that I can't please everyone, and I'd much rather please myself and hopefully God by being the best person I can be, treating my fellow humans as I'd want to be treated, and trying to make my corner of the world a better place.

I may be returning to this theme again... I haven't covered everything I believe, but these are important. Any questions you have, just ask!

AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was so hoping to be able to see Styx at Billy Bob's early next year (they're usually there in sometime between mid-January and the end of February, I believe). I just went to BB's website, and they're not on the schedule! WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! :'-( So I guess I'll have to wait and see where they'll be in the fall. (Not in the summer, since they usually do a double or triple bill during their summer tours, and I just want to see them.) This so sucks...

So I'll have to save up my money to take a trip somewhere. I'd love to see them in Chicago. That's where they're from originally, and it would be so awesome to see them in their hometown. Besides, I've never been to Chicago (or anywhere, really... I did see them in Wabash, IN, in 2008), so it would also be great to go up there and do some sightseeing as well.

I'm wondering how much I'd need to save? If I could get a fellow Styx fan to let me stay for a few days, like my friend Jen did in '08, then I wouldn't need but a few hundred dollars, I don't think (for souvenirs and such). Of course, if I had to rent a hotel room, I'd need a lot more. I'll have to think about it...

Anyway, that's added to my list of things to save money for next year.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

I think my future roomie and I are about to get the ball rolling on finding money/a place to live. She wants to meet at a local mall this weekend. To tell the truth, to me it doesn't really matter if I find a full-time job or not; I do have my SSI and my pension from my dad's retirement, so I won't starve. The only reason I want to work is to get out of the house. But depending on what kind of rent we have to pay on the house, I may need a little more money. Hopefully it won't be more that $600-$700/month (total) -- I think we could afford $300-$350 each. Then of course, we'd have utilities and cable/internet/phone (maybe -- or we could just use our cell phones. What do people need a landline for these days, anyway? Unless it's for the computer modem...)

Here's hoping we'll find a place to live within the next few months or even in the next year.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Fifteen days and counting...

... until I see Jeff, Donna, and the boys! I can't wait. It's gonna be awesome to be able to hang with someone I haven't seen since 2000. I can't believe it's been so long! Wow. Our next class reunion is in 2020, and I plan on going to that one (knock on wood). OMG, I'll be 48!!! Where have the years gone?!?! lol

Anyway.I need to go to the CBS website and see when the NCIS Christmas episode is on. It won't be on Christmas, for sure, but I don't want to miss it. Senior (Tony's dad) will be in it, and you know how I love me some Robert Wagner! :-)

I'm in one of my euphoric phases, as you might be able to tell (I have bipolar disorder), but in this case I think it's understandable. When I went shopping with my friend the other day, I was also, which is why I spent almost all my money. (Yes, I'm one of those "Yippee, money, and I get to spend it!!!" types. Unfortunately.) I have got to learn how to budget and save, especially when my other friend and I move in together. The worst thing I can think of is to have too much month at the end of my money. lol

One of the things we have to budget for is internet/cable. I might see about getting DISH Network or something. (Is satellite really better than regular cable? I mean, can you pick up channels from other countries, or how does it work?) I don't think we're allowed it where I live now (it's an historic building, so there's not much we can do to it, I guess... although we're supposed to have some remodeling done to it, so the city says. I hope we can get the heating/ac replaced, because the system we have now SUCKS!!!)

Ooh, one of my fave TSO songs is playing! ("Christmas Canon Rock" from The Lost Christmas Eve.) God, I wish I could still sing... I would so be belting this one!

Now playing: "Waltz of the Flowers" from The Nutcracker... and with this, I'm getting off here and listening to some Christmas music! Ta!

Friday, December 7, 2012

I feel like I'm invisible...

I can't get anyone to follow my blog. (I don't know how to go about getting people to join my Google+ circles. I'm following a couple of NCIS sites, but obviously no one but me looks for new people to follow.) I can't get anyone to follow me on Twitter. I've tagged NCIS and Criminal Minds, but it seems like the same situation. No one wants to look for and follow new people. What am I supposed to do? I'd love to make new friends even online, but it's so hard when no one seems to want to reach out to you. Sigh So should I delete my blog and twitter and just resign myself to an online life of invisibility (except for checking in on facebook every now and then)? Sorry if I sound whiny, but I'd really like to get to know some people with the same interests I have, and none of my fb friends seem to share them. (Classic rock music, crime shows (NCIS, NCIS: L.A., Criminal Minds), gay rights, things like that.) I don't even know how many people see my facebook posts or how many click the links to my blogs... unless someone "likes" a particular status/link/whatever. Half the time I feel like I'm talking to myself.

If anyone has any ideas how I can get more followers, please let me know! I have no idea how to promote myself. If anyone googles my name, I'm sure they'll come across some of my stuff, but who's gonna do that unless they know me? Pulls hair out

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Went shopping today...

... and as usual came back with a lot of stuff I hadn't planned to. I spent over $100 at Target, buying not only two trashcans (one for the bathroom and one for my living area), but a new blender, some frozen fruit and o.j. for smoothies, and some new socks and underwear (which I really did need). So I got what I wanted, I just hadn't planned to buy it all today. Oh, well. Now I can spend my Christmas money on something really nice that I want. (And if I need groceries, I always have my food stamps. It's only $28/month, but every little bit helps.)

My friend commented that Alaska probably won't be happy once she realizes that she can't play with my trash anymore, lol. I have to agree. But she'll get over it. I'm always buying her little squeaky toys at the dollar store or at Target if I have money. She likes those.(Funny thing... the squeaking never gets on my nerves. I guess I'm just happy it keeps her entertained.)

I think one of my neighbors just went by with his dog. (There are two guys on my floor who have dogs.) She's barking at something outside, and she usually only does that when she hears raised voices or when she senses another dog. (Our dogs don'/t play together unfortunately, so that's another reason I want to move in with my friend. Our four dogs would be able to play.)

There's a dog park that's a part of the new Clyde Warren(?) Park that just opened. Now that I know that I can take Alaska in a cab, maybe I'll take her down there once in awhile and let her meet some other dogs. She needs the socialization, and so do I, so it'll be good for both of us. Maybe I'll start after the new year; I'll have to start saving up for all the cab fare. (Unless I can find someone here who could take us and drop us off for a few hours. I wonder if there are any dog-friendly restaurants in the area where I could stop for lunch or something.)

I'm hoping that Criminal Minds is on tonight. I've developed an interest in that show, and that's one of the ones I want to start a DVD collection of too. (Along with NCIS: L.A. and maybe Bones. I also want Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Angel, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (hey, don't judge me! ;-)), Simon and Simon, The Golden Girls, Hart to Hart (yes, all the shows from my child- and young adulthood that I love... and as you may remember, Robert Wagner starred in Hart to Hart, and as I mentioned last night, I love his acting.)

So that's what some of my plans are. Like I said, I can't buy all this stuff at once, but I can save up for it.

Nineteen days til Christmas!

Eighteen days (roughly) til I see Donna and Jeff for the first time in about twelve years. (The last time I saw them was at our ten-year high school reunion.) I'm excited! (Note to self: Next time you see Pam, ask her to babysit Alaska!!!!!)

Okay, slight change of plans about my Christmas money. I have more important things to buy than CDs unfortunately (although I'm still getting my NCIS Season 9 boxed set). I really want a blender so I can make my own smoothies -- the price for smoothies at Subway and places like that are outrageous,  especially for someone on a limited budget, and I can make my own a lot cheaper. (Although *whispers* I do sometimes break down and buy the occasional iced cappucino at Starbucks. I love iced caps!) I can wait until after the new year to buy all the other stuff I want. I've waited this long, after all...

I need to go to the Old Town shopping center (Lover's Lane/Greenville in Dallas) and see if the new&used CD place I used to haunt is still there. I can probably find some of the CDs I want there, and if they're not cheap enough, I can still get them on Amazon. (If I bought them on Amazon first, I'd have to pay the overnight shipping, which is pretty expensive. Yes, I'm one of those "instant gratification" freaks... when I want something, I want it now!... usually. Like I said, I've waited this long to buy a laptop, iPod, etc., so I can wait a little longer.)

A friend of mine is taking me to Target today to get a new trashcan (maybe two if I can afford it -- one for the bathroom and one for general trash) with a lid so Alaska won't keep getting into the trash. (Why do dogs like eating poopy and/or bloody toilet paper, anyway?!) Trash can with lid=problem solved. :-) So that's what I'll do with the money I have today.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

I got my NCIS fix after all!

It was a rerun of the episode "Sins of the Father", where Tony's dad is suspected of murder. Lt. Massey is killed with a wine bottle upside the head, and since Senior was known to have threatened him...

But of course, Team Gibbs found out whodunnit. It was the CEO of the company that Senior was working with to get funding for a resort. He found a backer, but Massey refused to pay him the agreed upon finder's fee because he only had a year to do it in. The CEO had threatened to fire Massey and some other people, and I guess was afraid Massey would try to retaliate. So he killed him.

Gibbs proved at the end that he's a fairly classy guy. When Senior's deal fell through, he couldn't afford to stay at the hotel he was registered at, so Gibbs put him up for a few days. (He also gave Senior a room to keep him out of jail; Senior was wearing a GPS monitor.) It was a great episode.

The thing that was ironic is that the episode aired at the same time that the L.A. County Sherriff's Office reopened their investigation into Natalie Wood's drowning. (Wood was Robert Wagner's (Senior) wife who fell off their yacht around Christmas of '81, I believe, after she got into a drunken argument with Mr. Wagner. A lot of people still believe he killed her in a drunken, jealous rage. He apparently thought she was having an affair with Christopher Walken, who was also on the yacht and whom Natalie was costarring in a movie with.)

I'm just glad that I got to watch it tonight. Mr. Wagner is a wonderful actor, and I love him as Tony's dad.

Edited: You know, I just thought of something -- it would have been funny if someone had had the line "Jeez, Tony, what is it with you DiNozzos being framed for murder? You've been set up three times [in "Frame Up", "Internal Affairs", and "Bounce"], now your dad is!" lol (Okay, maybe not...)

Happy, happy!

I learned earlier today that I have enough money saved up to have a pretty nice Christmas after all. I need to figure out what to buy my friend Donna for having me over for the holiday. Cookies are nice, but I want to buy her something else, too. Maybe a nice candle? A holiday figurine? I'll figure something out.

I'll also have enough to buy Season 9 of NCIS. Maybe I can even get the first season of NCIS: L.A. I've been wanting to start a collection of those DVDs too. I can order them from Amazon and save around $30 probably.

And I'll get some of the CDs I've been wanting. Some Christmas music, and some heavy metal. (Ozzy Osbourne, Tesla, Rob Zombie, etc. I've never really been a metalhead, but I can start.) I borrowed some of my downstairs neighbors CDs and put them in my iTunes library (now have more than 1400 songs in there!), but can always put more in. I've also got some contemporary Christian (well, if you consider the 80s "contemporary", lol) artists that I really like on my Amazon want list, so I can order a few of their albums, too.

Um, lemme see... I think that's all I can really get with the amount of money I have. I'll have to save up for stuff like my iPod, Kindle, and other things. I'm still planning to get a Dell laptop; I have that on my want list too.  And an iPad. (I've said this in previous posts. You know you seriously have nothing to talk about when you just keep repeating stuff from earlier posts. lol)

I bought a new planner at Target when I took Alaska in for her grooming on Saturday. I also have a new paper journal (my favorite color... purple ftw!) I still have a couple of pages left to write in my old one, but when I finish it, I'll be using my new one.

I do need to save up to see Styx this coming year. I really wanted to go this year and have a big 40th birthday blowout, but yeah, didn't happen. :-( So maybe next year. Ugh, and moving. I have no idea when that's going to happen. I just have to keep that open-ended, and that's so not my style.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Can't wait for Christmas!

On the 24th, Jeff and Donna and the boys (Jake and Luke) are going to pick me up and take me over to their house in N. Richland Hills for the holiday. I'll be staying over until the 26th. I'm so excited since I won't be able to spend Christmas with my family this year (my brother Lonnie, who usually hosts Christmas when he's home, won't be this year. :-(). We always have a group dinner at my apartment building, but it'll be fun to be able to have a "family" Christmas (even if I am sort of crashing another family's party). And hopefully this time next year my roommate and I will be having our own "family" Christmas (and maybe I'll be able to host... I'll have to talk to her, of course, but it'll be nice to be able to reciprocate sometimes my own family's hospitality).

I still need to ask my neighbor if she can dogsit while I'm away, or at least come over a couple of times a day to play with Alaska. I know the poor little girl will miss me, and I just hope she won't think I've abandoned her. I took her to the groomer for a bath and a trim on Saturday, but before I had to go cash a check. I had to leave her in  the taxi while I ran in, and she went crazy whining and all. She was so happy when I came back. :-) (I've never left her for more than a few hours, and never with a stranger, which the cab driver obviously was.) So it'll be interesting to see how she gets along for a whole day and two nights.

I still need to buy Jeff and Donna their host's gift. I'll have to stop by Albertson's or someplace to pick up a tray of cookies (not much of a baker here) to take over with me. I also need to pick out a nice card to give them.


Edit: Just had to add the above pic which I shared from a friend who shared from someone else. Amazing that this is what Christmas now amounts to for a lot of people. Like I commented on my facebook post, Christmas should be so much more than the season of "gimme", it should be the season of "'Tis better to give than to receive", even for those who don't believe in Christ/celebrate his birth.