New Book Reviews Coming Soon!

I just finished reading the first two books in the Twilight Saga. I plan to work on a review for them tonight. They were better than expected. Also, I am working my way thru Frenzy, a collection of 60 short stories about sex that happened suddenly.

You know what's cool? If you Google Suzanne Slaughenhaupt, the first 5 hits are actually me. The first two are this blog, and the others are links from my friends' myspace pages.

Merry Part and Blessed Be

On my way to work

On my way to work today I saw a broken pool cue laying near the road. It was by the plaza near the Sports Cafe. I wondered what its story was. Did a Christmas brawl break out? Did someone kiss someone else's someone under the mistletoe? Did someone miss a winning shot and get so ridiculously angry they snapped the cue in half and threw it in the street? (It's a game, grow up!) I like mysterious objects. They are good fodder for the imagination.

And though I wouldn't wish her any less time with her husband, I miss my partner in crime, Kelli. I think she is back Monday.

Working til 10, already way too bored.

Merry Part and Blessed Be

Happy Boxing Day

It is now December 26th. Santa Claus was very good to Jeff and I this year, I got a Garmin Nuvi 200 from Jeff's mom, because she knew I really really wanted one after borrowing theirs for vacation this year. I completed my Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, I now own seasons 1-7. I also got seasons 3-4 of Angel. I got Prince Caspian, which I am anxious to watch. I am loving the long black sweater my mom and I picked out in Erie, it has kept me warm and toasty all day.

Back to work tomorrow, from 1-10. Thanks to those who called or sent texts, even if I didn't respond. My cell died in West Hickory last night. (That kind of sounds like a song, doesn't it? My cell, it just died in my purse tonight, must have been without any service, it just died in my purse tonight)

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas

Yeah, I know that sounds dirty. Now ask me if I care. :-) Soon I will be going back out in the rain to shovel the nasty snow the plow shoved onto our driveway. I got a couple last minute presents this morning. I bedecked a fruit cake with ribbons. I think I am going to have a cup of tea and eat something before packing, cleaning etc.

Also, in the spirit of this blog entry's title, here is my review of Never Have the Same Sex Twice by Alison Tyler.

I enjoyed reading Alison Tyler's latest book, Never Have the Same Sex Twice. I would recommend it to friends. She chose excellent examples of erotic stories to illustrate her points, which made the book far more fun to read than most "relationship help" books. The information provided was solid, but not new information to those who have read other help books of this type. The book offers advice such as trying different rooms of the house, different locations away from home, talking to your lover about their fantasies, etc. It emphasizes the importance of communication and openness, and showing your partner that you still think they're hot stuff, whether it's been three months, three years or three decades. What makes the book special is the collection of arousing first-rate short stories for inspiration.

Never Have the Same Sex Twice is divided into 17 short chapters. Each chapter closes with an erotic short story that demonstrates the idea of the chapter. I liked Jeremy Edward's story, Le Petit Dejeuner, in the chapter about using memories, especially the juxtaposition of the loving, flowery descriptions of his lover's beauty with the dirty, graphic descriptions of the sex they have. I also liked Ronald Keller's story, the Princess and the Penis, which had a modern twist on an erotic Sleeping Beauty fantasy. Alison Tyler's short story Red Light, Green Light really showed you how to make the commute home from work a lot more fun. Rules of the Game by Thomas S Roche, in the chapter about continuing to flirt with your partner, made a fantasy game of pretending to hook up with a stranger who is really your significant other very hot. Before reading his story, that was an idea that never appealed to me.

The erotic stories motivate you to try the ideas by getting your juices flowing, to help you jump start a sex life that may have gotten into just a little rut, as can happen with any long term relationship. It's important to build anticipation to keep that passion the new relationships have going for years and years. Lastly, I enjoyed Alison's references to her own relationship of fifteen years. You can tell from the way she talks about him that her husband appreciates her and makes her feel sexy and gets the same back from her. Ms. Tyler's book is definitely not "Do as I say, not as as I do," it's "Do as I do, and have a freaking great time!"


Merry Part and Blessed Be!

So dumb...

Well, more accident prone. I fell into the back seat of my car last night. I was trying to sit sideways on the front seat to warm it up before leaving work. But I forgot the front seat was pushed up. I now have a 4 inch ugly red and purple bruise on my right thigh, and a bruise on the back of my knee. I hope to take some graphic pictures of them as they change color to remind me why I like cars with 4 doors better than cars with only 2.

I'm cold, and I need caffeine.

Christmas plans: Traveling to West Hickory tomorrow night, going to St Marys Christmas Day. I will be returning to West Hickory Saturday at ~ 5 PM for another family party.

I'm going to get caffeine now. I was going to have hot tea, but I can't find any styrofoam cups and the coffee cup I have at my desk has a science experiment in it. I think it's beginning to develop art...

Merry Yule and Blessed Be!

A Conundrum...

Too many books, not enough time.
I am currently reading Never Have the Same Sex Twice by Alison Tyler, and I just got the newest book in the Eragon series, Brisingr, for Yule from Jeff. I also already know I am getting the first two books in the Twilight series for Christmas from my Mom.

I really want to start Brisingr, but I need to finish Never Have the Same Sex Twice to review it. I want to finish both books by Christmas when I get the Twilight series, which Lace tells me is a very addictive read.

I might have to start getting up earlier...

Jeff and I exchanged our gifts yesterday. We never wait til Christmas because we are running around to see family over those two days anyway. I got Gummi Bears on DVD, Shoot 'Em Up, Brisingr, and a figurine/level counter for Munchkin. Jeff liked his presents. I got him two World of Warcraft books, Cowboy Bebop the movie, and an expansion for Arkham Horror.

Watching CSI, and then having chicken wing soup for dinner!

Merry Part and Blessed Be, and warm Yuletide wishes to all.

Trying something new

I just downloaded Mozilla. My Internet Explorer kept crashing repeatedly.

I am currently watching The Office on TBS. It's very funny, but it bugs me that there's not any background music. I like Pam and Jim. Steve Carrell is funny as hell. I think I would like to rent Get Smart.

Your Thirst Shall Be Quenched

Your thirst for a post that is! And now for something completely different...

"For behold, I am the Mother of all things and My love is poured out upon the earth."

Charge of the Goddess

So Duamuteffe posted some song lyrics that made me think of the Charge, so I looked it up and read it again. This line never fails to move me. When I read this piece, I understand the concept of seeking comfort from your religion, and I find my comfort here.

I am looking forward to Yule/Christmas this year. My brother and his wife will be joining us for Christmas Eve. I have presents for everyone wrapped and ready to go. We went to Ellicottville to buy presents at Kazoo II for our nephew Aidan. I can't wait for more of my extended adoptive family to have kids so I can buy even more fun toys. I love being an aunt!

Tomorrow is our gift exchange amongst the management team for work. Rather than drawing names, everyone is bringing a gift that anyone might like. I think my choice was a good one, we'll see tomorrow. I also made 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies today, 2-3 dozen of which I will bring in tomorrow as well. I hope they are ok, the first batch seemed like it might be a little undercooked. But our cookie are always soft, so it's hard to tell. I think they turned out okay, despite me forgetting to mix the sugars in with the wet ingredients first. Alton would not be proud of me today.

That's all for now folks, Merry Part and Blessed Be, I will try to get in the swing of posting more again.

Also, picture from my Christmas party for those who don't myspace. I wasn't going to post it, but KGunn tagged me on myspace with it, so since people are going to see it anyway...

Isn't it great

How talking to just one person who thinks you're awesome can make your whole day? I am currently at work, drinking a chai latte from our fancy coffee machine. It is pretty good. I am working til 6 today. I really need to try to shave off a couple pounds this week if I want to get into my dress for our Christmas party on December 6th. Of course, I have also considering just ordering the dress I actually want from Pyramid Collection. What do you think?



And of course I just read not available until December 10th.

I am off to pout and look for another alternative. Maybe if I lay on my stomach, I could get the zipper of the dress I have up with plyers...

Merry Part and Blessed Be

Such a sap

I just cried over a web comic.


You need to go thru the archive to get the background. Short version, Lilah and Ethan were engaged, she got pregnant, she lost the baby. They were having a rough time, and her smarmy rich ex came along to try to break them up. Ethan followed them to the airport only to find Lilah had come to her senses and remembered all the reasons she dumped that guy to start with. They traded in the ticket he had bought to follow them, and they flew to Jamaica.

Weddings are great. :-)

Working til 10 today, more WoW this weekend as the drive to level 80 continues.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Damn snow, being all slippery and wet

I had fantastic plans today to see my friends in Erie. I was going to start my Christmas shopping, and have lunch, and it would have been awesome.

I say would have been because there is a Lake Effect Snow Warning for all counties from McKean to Erie. I say would have been, because today, I am listening to my gut when it says, stay at home.

Bless Jeff, he didn't say "Don't go." He said, "Make a good decision."

But I feel crappy because I feel like I am letting people down, and I am worried they will be mad at me.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Music Video

I am currently eating Oreos and browsing YouTube for cool music. Here's something cute and funny, even though Jeff says this can't be my song because I have had more sex than anyone else, not the other way around.

I am sure someone has had more sex than me though.



Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Aw, Muffin

You Are a Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin

You are smart, sophisticated, and savvy. You love taking risks, and you are the first to know about new trends. You are curious about the world and tend to have many interests. You also are very talented. It sometimes seems like you are good at everything. You are very social and inclusive. You'll be friends with anyone. Even though you're very cultured, you're not a snob.

What Kind of Muffin Are You?

Cool things to hear

I called my mom tonight, after talking to my brother, and in the background I could hear my little sister yelling and carrying on. I asked Mom what had Keeker (Keely) so excited, and Mom said she was singing along with the Rolling Stones. Then I could hear Keely, plain as day shouting "Honky Tonk Woman!" in the background. I have the coolest little sister. :-)

I met a gin soaked, bar-room queen in Memphis,
She tried to take me upstairs for a ride.
She had to heave me right across her shoulder
'Cause I just can't seem to drink you off my mind.

It's the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues.

I laid a divorcee in New York City,
I had to put up some kind of a fight.
The lady then she covered me with roses,
She blew my nose and then she blew my mind.

It's the honky tonk women
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues.

(Yeah!) It's the honky tonk women.
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues.

(Yeah!) It's the honky tonk women.
Gimme, gimme, gimme the honky tonk blues

Dream Blogging

I had a odd dream last night that my manager Tom was leaving and no one knew. We found out last minute and Pam was running around planning a going away party. He was sitting at my desk talking to me and I had to hide my reaction when Pam came around with a list for the party and asked my opinion on it.

Terrible headache this morning, I think I need to take some Sudafed and Tylenol. I am hoping I am not getting my annual sinus infection again.

Our friend Adam is visiting this weekend. We had a good time last night carving pumpkins and playing Arkham Horror. And this year, our pumpkins didn't get smashed.

I hope everyone else had a fun Samhain/Halloween or whatever you want to call it.

Merry Part and Blessed Be

Zombie Dreams

I was going to include an awesome screenshot with this post, but WoW is down. Last night I had a dream we were in Eastern Plaguelands killing Scourge. The people in this house were infected and more and more zombies kept spawning. And I was me and not my character, so Khorium Rifle, no Horsemen's Blade, no super cool goggles. I had a rapier I was slashing at them with, while trying not to get infected.

I've got to get the house cleaned up this morning. We have Adam coming this weekend, and it's Halloween :-) Should be a good time.

Maybe I can take the screen shot later.

Merry Part and Blessed Be

Happy Anniversary

Today is Jeff and I's 4th wedding anniversary. It is also our friend Adam's birthday. Tonight we made dinner together and watched TV. He got me a single red rose, with baby's breath. It is very pretty. After dinner I went to Tops to buy us treats. He got a pumpkin roll and I got a pint of Ben and Jerry's. I was thinking of going with World's Best Vanilla, but Tops didn't have it. I tried Dublin Mudslide, which was really good. Irish cream flavoured ice cream, with coffee fudge swirls.

We've started watching some new shows, NCIS and House are now on USA every night. I love House, how could you not love Hugh Laurie? NCIS is great, it has really neat characters. It's a crime drama with a military style twist. Think JAG with autopsies. My favorite character on the show is Abby. She's an adorable goth, who is a scientist and a very smart chick.




Good TV is good.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

More food

Today we went down West Hickory and my mom made steak, crab cakes, texas sheet cake, twice baked potatoes, garlic bread, and salad. The portions were not small.

Missed going to Ellicottville this morning as planned due to oversleeping. I'm excited that Halloween is Friday and Adam will be up next weekend. We can play Arkham Horror and carve pumpkins and it will be great.

I'm feeling tired now, might post more tomorrow, might not.

Merry Part and Blessed Be

Making up for lost time, calorically speaking

I felt pretty crappy most of today. I slept like crap last night. I had one of those dreams where your teeth fall out. I realized it was a dream on about tooth number two, but I was too out of sorts to take control of the dream and go elsewhere.

I was nauseous all morning and into the afternoon, so I ate very sparingly.

That is until Jeff went to DQ and came back with a pumpkin pie blizzard and a mint oreo blizzard.

Now I feel nauseous again.

But my tastebuds are happy :-)

I dyed my hair tonight, we'll see how it turns out tomorrow after I wash it. I am fighting a losing battle against gray hairs and also against all the times I dyed it red. Now the red on the ends bleeds back through. But I did buy some new shampoo specifally for dyed hair, so hopefully it will help me keep the new color.

Going to bed at 10 tonight, and taking a Benadryl I want 8 solid hours and no screwed up dreams tonight.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

"You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you
You're so vain, I'll bet you think this song is about you
Don't you? don't you?"

Getting ready for Samhain

My cool peasant blouse came in the mail via FedEx yesterday. They put in on the front porch where no one goes, so I'm glad it was still there today when I checked the tracking number.

Working tomorrow night again. Tonight I learned that empty stomach + Swedish Fish = SUGAR HIGH. At least I got all my work done. New things are happening everyday with AJ Prindle. It's a very exciting time. Next week we are doing a 1 week training for Orders Only calls for some temps for Smart Smoker and Order Smokes Direct. The class will have 10 people, it should be interesting. 10 women so far.

I've been working more with the Faeries Oracle. Tuesday night I did a trance journey with a faery from one of the cards, the Journeyman, as a guide. We went from my place of power to the beach, walked out into the ocean and then dived deep. The faery gave me a blessing so I could swim well and breath under water. I swam and swam until my arms and legs were tired. Then I found a volcano and the bottom of the ocean. I've been trying to figure out since what it means. Fire hidden in the depths, molten lava cooling and forming a mountain on the ocean floor. I think I am going to look up the goddess Pele, and see where her symbols lead me.

Off to bed soon. Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Post

I went to a very nice dinner for work Saturday in Hamburg. There was steak, and a very tasty apple desert, with ice cream. Good appetizers too, I got to have shrimp cocktail for the first time since NC and I have concluded that I like it. Even though I shouldn't after helping Dad de-vein 5 pounds of the nasty little bastards.

Jeff and I are watching an interesting program on History Channel about body language. The only body language I have ever known to work for sure is that if a woman looks at your mouth, then your eyes, then back at your mouth, you either 1) have something in your teeth or 2) she is thinking about kissing you. Hope it's 2.

I have finished reading several books lately, the In The Garden Trilogy by Nora Roberts, Sticky Fingers by Alison Tyler, and I'm working on The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk. All have been very good. :-) Tomorrow I am going to do my bellydance workout in the morning, as Halloween is coming and so is the gypsy blouse for my costume. I've also starting looking at some basic Palmistry information online. I'm thinking about picking up a book on it. If anyone knows any good sites, I would appreciate you sending a link to my email highborn.hunter at gmail.com.

So far, I have learned that my life line and fate lines starting at the same point indicate a self-made individual, one who has made her own choices since the beginning of her life. My heart line indicates that I fall in love easily, and that I easily express my emotions. Hand shape comes into play as well. It's very interesting. Just in briefly checking out Jeff's hand tonight, I could see a lot of differences between the lines on his hand and those on mine.

So this has been a longer post than expected. I want to head to bed soon, I also have to take the Tempo to the garage tomorrow to get a headlight fixed.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Slowly slipping away...

I am back down to updating once a week maybe, will have to try harder. I am working til 9 tonight. Today is Obnoxious Shirt Day at work. Jeff dug me out his ugly old laundry shirt. It is hideous. I have to come up with Team Contest for tomorrow. Tomorrow is Team Jersey day. I will be wearing my Steelers jersey. I was going to buy a Terrible Towel at Wally World today and forgot. I did get my hair trimmed in anticipation of the fancy dinner I am attending for work this weekend. It should be fun. I wish I had a perfect little black dress to wear. I really didn't start worrying about what to wear until this week.

And Duamuteffe referenced Suz's third law in a comment on Teh Kid's blog this week. I don't remember my laws, which were probably about mixing booze and sex. I wish I remembered them, they came from hard experience, so they were probably pretty smart.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

0-2

That is my record for smart vs. stupid today. I didn't turn off the alarm when I got up this morning, I just hit snooze, waking Jeff up 10 minutes later when I was in the shower. Then I locked my keys in the car with it running at Emory Espresso Bar. I could put it down to lack of sleep, but it's probably just me having my head up my ass as usual.

But I had a latte, and I have Swedish fish, and I have good friends in town. How bad could it really be?


Last night we played Ticket to Ride and Bohnanza. I did horribly at both. Couldn't get any good destination tickets for Ticket to Ride, and I usually suck at Bohnanza.

Lacy and Jay brought up a new game called Mare Nostrum which we will check out tonight.

Merry Part and Blessed Be

Prindle Training, Week 1

Starts today. Technically, this is Prindle training #2, We already have 12 people trained. I'm not really nervous, just dreading the sheer amount of work and stress that the next two weeks has in store.

Will be talking to Kelli today to see if she can do Wednesday without me. I really want to come to Edinboro. I need to be with people who recharge me and relax me.

Jeff and I had a great weekend. We played World of Warcraft, my draenei paladin complete the quests for her epic paladin mount. We also did some PVP together in Alterac Valley. We cooked nice meals together yesterday. We had a big beautiful roast with carrots and potatoes for supper that I will be eating again for lunch today.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Live this Life

Big and Rich - Life this Live

Met a man on the street last night
Said his name was Jesus
Met a man on the street last night
Thought he was crazy till I watched him heal a blind man
Watched him heal a blind man now I see

I live this life until this life won't let me live here anymore
Then I will walk yes I will walk
With patience through that open door
I have no fears, angels follow me wherever I may go
I live this life until this life won't let me live here anymore

Met a girl in a chair with wheels
But no one else would see her
Met a girl in a chair with wheels
Everyone was so afraid
To even look down on her
And she just spread her little wings and flew away yeah

I live this life until this life won't let me live here anymore
Then I will walk yes I will walk
With patience through that open door
I have no fears, angels follow me wherever I may go
I live this life until this life won't let me live here anymore

Met a kid on a bridge last night
Contemplating freedom
Met a kid on a bridge last night
And he said
I'm tired of this maddening life
And I'm ready to go meet Jesus
And I said he's a friend of mine
Met him just last night
And it's alright
Yeah it's all right
Yeah

I live this life until this life won't let me live here anymore
Then I will walk yes I will walk
With patience through that open door
I have no fears, angels follow me wherever I may go
I live this life until this life won't let me live here anymore
Live here anymore

Met a man on the street last night
Said his name was Jesus
Met a man on the street last night

I just re-downloaded Horse of Different Color last night. I forgot about this song. The melody is very haunting, it gets stuck in your head. It's on my myspace page now if you want to check it out.

Merry Part and Blessed Be

Blogging up a storm

I think I'm on a pretty good run here folks. Not quite daily, but frequent.

I wanted to share an entertaining thought the other day. I always thought I would love to work as a phone sex operator. Sex is something I know a lot about, and I think it would be great to shape another person's fantasy.

Then I realized an even better job -- being a quality control monitor for a phone sex business. :-)

Do you think phone sex lines have the recording that says "This call may be recorded for quality assurance?"

Harriet is picking me up for work this morning, as we are having problems with the Tempo. I need to call Fairway Ford this AM to try to set up an appointment. Yesterday at work, someone had to come save me from Pizza Napoli. That's what I get for indulging my taco craving.

Gotta be ready to meet Harriet, Merry Part and Blessed Be!

I wish it were fall already

I know it was officially Fall yesterday, and Happy Mabon/2nd Harvest/Autumn Equinox to all. But I wish the weather would act like it. I want to wear sweaters and drink tea and bundle up. But it's going to be in the low 70's again today. I want to find one of those long sweater coats to wear to work. I almost got one at Burlington two Saturdays ago, but the sleeves were too short. Not a three quarter length either, just too short to cover my bony little wrists.

I am going to work out today. I know instead of bitching about the nice weather I should take a walk, but if I do that I'll be gone longer than expected. I also have things I need to accomplish around the house this morning. So it will be Yoga, and maybe belly-dance too if I'm feeling froggy. Although if I overdo it, I won't be able to work out Friday, so it would probably be wiser just to do one or the other. I need the endorphins from the exercise. I've been having a hard time getting up in the morning lately and work is stressing me out. We're going to have training after training until almost Christmas to handle the expected call volume for AJ Prindle. So I know I am just a touch depressed, I recognize the symptoms. I just need to get off my ass and do something about it. When exercise is a regular part of my routine, I don't feel like this. I also need to get some writing done. The story I want to submit is due by October 1st, and I don't know what has happened to September. I know how I want the story to end, I just need to actually make myself sit down and finish it. I hope writing this nice long blog entry has kick started my creative juices this morning.

Mmm Juice... gotta go get something to drink, then get started. Working 12:30-9 PM today. My friend Harriet will be talking to customers for the first time today, so I will be excited to hear about that when I get to work.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Brewfest!

Brewfest for World of Warcraft started today. Adam, Harriet, Artie, Jeff and I went down to Black Rock Depths to take out the leader of the Dark Iron dwarves, who are attacking the festivities (and taking our free booze) every half an hour. Being drunk in WoW is fun. The screen is blurry and you can't control your movements very well, especially in flight, but your character never gets a hangover.

Went to Olean with Artie and Harriet today as well. The Steve and Barry's in the Olean mall is closing, so I got a couple new shirts on the cheap.

It's probably past my bedtime, so I'll wind this up here.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Just felt like a random Wizard of Oz reference there. When my friend Jammie left work at 6:30, she sounded like Dorothy leaving Oz. "Good-bye! Good-bye everyone!" All bright and chipper and Dorothy Garland-esque. I like adding -esque to words lately.

I get to leave work in about 20 minutes. I can't wait to go home and get to bed, this has been a long day. I did grocery shopping this morning, then came into work at 1 PM. Tomorrow will be longer still because I will be with our training class all day, and we have a good bit left to cover, include the trickiest bit, which is Apprise.

I really intended to do some writing this morning, but time got away from me between grocery shopping and leaving for work, eating lunch, all that jazz. Currently reading the Nora Roberts In the Garden trilogy. It's good stuff.



Tired and sleepy and ready to go home.

Merry Part and Blessed Be, dear readers!

Thanks a latte!

Ye gods I am a dork. Quoting Scrubs in the title there, in case you are not a fan of the show. I picked up Harriet for work this morning. Will be here 'til 4:30 today.

Just trying to get in the habit of posting daily again. Let's see if there are any fun pics saved on my PC at work to share.



Ok, you get Rosie the Riveter. We Can Do It!

Merry Part and Blessed Be

Thanks GraphJam!

more music charts

Trying new things

I've been trying my hand at some writing lately. Maybe if I actually finish something that's more than 500 words, I'll actually let people I know read it.

We went to Erie PA on Saturday to go shopping with some friends. I had garlic shrimp scampi at Red Lobster and it was fantastic. I normally get the shrimp or crab alfredo and I always get too full too fast from the pasta. Then we went to Old Navy, Borders, Books Galore, Burlington Coat Factory, and Kohls. I got 2 Nora Roberts books, Starhawk's Novel, the Fifth Sacred Thing, a new suitI wanted to stop at Krispy Kreme, but the light wasn't on when we went up Peach St. and no one else was hungry yet. I am planning to go to Edinboro/Erie on my next Wednesday off. I want to see Allison, Austin and Grey. I still need to get my butt to a Snow Water Grove event.

Things are very busy at work with the new company, AJ Prindle. We also have a new hire group of 6 this week that includes my friend Harriet. Jeff is doing well in school, he got an 8 out of 10 on his first quiz of the semester. I am very proud of him!

I'm going to be trying to post more often as someone who writes another blog asked to link to me.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

I <3 Synergy

For all the hard work Kelli and I did getting ready to launch our new venture, AJ Prindle, my boss (the awesome-est boss ever) gave us each a $50 gift card :-) I think I am going to spend it on something spiffy like a new book or maybe new clothes. I'd like to go to Burlington Coat Factory again.

Oh! And I just talked to Harriet and she is going to be in my 9/15 New Hire class :-)

I am eating Red Swedish Fish and they are delicious.



Merry Part and Blessed Be!

At the fair

Last night I dreamed I was at a fair with Al and Austin in England and I played a game where you shoot a bb gun at balloons. I did pretty well, and the balloons I shot got pinned to my shirt like trophies. We also had Nerf gun battle, with BFNGs, (that's Big F'ing Nerf Guns) One of them launched big orange ring that had points, it looked like a Nerf energy weapon (kind of hard to describe).

Trying to keep a dream journal again, since I have time in the morning a few days a week now. I got out my Faerie Oracle yesterday and did some work with that. I also tied a string to the single terminated quartz crystal I got a Mohr and More in Erie and made a pendulum. It gave some interesting answers. I do think though that if I am personally invested in the answer, if I have an opinion on it, it affects the pendulum's results. Either it tries to tell me I'm right, or sometimes it gives me the answer I'm afraid to see.

Had to give my Wednesday off this month up to the AJ Prindle gods for a refresher training day. Next month I'd really love to go to Erie and see some friends on that day. Fall is coming, Mabon is just over 3 weeks away. Normally I feel sad to see summer go, but this year I am looking forward to the cooler weather, the leaves changing, etc.

Off to exercise and try to do some writing this morning. Working 12:30 - 9 today.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Blogthings

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convincing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

You Are Bubble Tea

You are playful, sweet, and light hearted. You almost always have a smile on your face. You don't take life all that seriously, and you're always up for some laughs. You are very modern. You are up on the latest food, fashion, and entertainment trends. You are open minded and open to new experiences. Finding new things to love is a minor obsession of yours.

What Kind of Tea Are You?

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Will try to update tomorrow night or Wednesday morning, very busy week ahead at work!

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Graph Jam

Bonus treat!

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Steampunk Laptop

Greg and Travis posted this to the Coredump forums. It's beautiful technology. It's functional piece of art. I can't get over how freaking cool this thing is.






There are more pics and a video at this link:
http://www.datamancer.net/steampunklaptop/steampunklaptop.htm

Had a great weekend, had lots of fun at Allison and Austin's wedding. More on that later. Nearly bedtime here. Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Lessons Learned

I learned two things this morning.

1) I was stretching after my walk, and as I was looking at the trail upside down, legs wide, head down, I saw a long shape lying on the path. At first, I thought it was a curled up leaf, or a seed pod. Then I realized it was moving. It was a slug. The slug was making its way steadily but oh so slowly across the asphalt path, which was as wide to him as the Mississippi would be to me. He could be stepped on at any moment, the sun could fry him before he reached the safety of the grass on the opposite side. It can take a long time to reach a goal. That doesn't mean it isn't worth it. Don't get discouraged!


2) Peaches are the sexiest fruit. Skin on, they blush at you, like they know a secret you don't. The peach is having impure thoughts. The crease on them is suggestively naughty. It could be a great ass, or the opening of a woman's secret place. (Hard place to describe without being flowery, vulgar or clinical) I was peeling my peaches to cut them up (I plan to pour vanilla yogurt on them later, there's some more sensual imagery for you) and when the knife split the skin, the flesh of the peach and the juice rose up around the knife, covering it in sweetness. Peaches are the sexiest fruit.

More fun with Zombies!

Tonight Chits, Artie and Harriet came over to play games. We played another game of Last Night on Earth. This time, we played a scenario called All Hallow's Eve. We had to find the townsperson who was controlling the zombies, and then burn his Evil Book. We accomplished our goal, by using a lot of dynamite to take out mobs of zombies. Artie, playing the town sherriff, took out the last group in highly cinematic fashion. He ran from the church to the police station, and dropped a gas can by the zombies. He tried to shoot it to make it explode and failed, but then I shot the can on my next turn. I played Becky, the town's nurse. In the end, it was Jeb, the town mechanic who was the Zombie Master, and we defeated him. (really Jeff, who was controlling the Zombies) I like the game more each time I play it. I think after a few more times, I might want to try my hand at playing the Zombies. We also played Ticket to Ride and Carcassone. I am very mad at myself, because I should have won Ticket to Ride. I forgot to connect one very important route between Dallas and Houston, and hence instead of gaining 76 points at the end of the game, I lost 40+ points. I think I was too disgusted with myself to even do the math to figure out how much I lost by.

Starting our next new Hire class at work tommorrow. Prindle is coming!

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Update!

Thank Goddess it's Friday! It's been a crazy week. My favorite manager is out having surgery, one of my fellow team leads left for a two week vacation yesterday. I will be so glad once we get our new venture, AJ Prindle, up and running. We also have another New Hire class, for our tobacco business, starting 7/28.

I am not aware of our specific plans for the weekend, so I plan to just relax and go with the flow, and enjoy the days off with Jeff before he starts school in the fall.

Less than a month til we leave for Topsail Island, NC!

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Last Night On Earth

Just got finished playing a fun new game for the second time with Chits, Krev, Artie and Jeff. The game is called Last Night on Earth, and you play a party of 4 heroes vs. zombies in several different scenarios. Our scenario was Escape in the Truck. You had to find keys and gas, fill the truck, and have at least two of the heroes make it to the truck and get out. In this game, we all escaped, and I blew away 5 zombies with the pump action shotgun with some very awesome dice rolling. I got to play Jenny, the farmer's daughter.

Work is work. I am anticipating possibly having a new hire class before AJ Prindle starts. This would be preferable, as it means we could then take all of our people for the new company from our experienced agents. I'm working 1 PM to 10 PM tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to one more wedding before summer's end. I'm currently wildly jealous that Grey is at Sirius Rising. Trying to do more witchy stuff. I definitely need to do my yoga tomorrow morning. My goal is going to be to do Yoga every morning that I work late. That will get me doing it 2 or 3 time a week.

I ate too many peanut butter M&Ms, and my stomach is a little unhappy, so I am going to go lay down.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

PS - Two posts in the same month... Woot!

The Change

One hand
Reaches out
And pulls a lost soul from harm
While a thousand more go unspoken for
And they say what good have you done
By saving just this one
It's like whispering a prayer
In the fury of a storm.

(chorus)
And I hear them saying you'll never change things
And no matter what you do it's still the same thing
But it's not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world will know that it will not change me.

This heart
Still believes
That love and mercy still exist.
While all the hatred rage and so many say
That love is all but pointless in madness such as this
It's like trying to stop a fire
With the moisture from a kiss.

As long as one heart still holds on
Then hope is never really gone.

What I do is so
This world will know
That it will not change me

Borrowing a blog tactic from Al - sorry to have missed all the fun at the Farm this weekend, but Jeff and I got to spend some much appreciated quality time together. Just thought of this song the other day, hadn't heard it in forever and couldn't remember anything but the chorus, so here it is. You can hear it on my myspace page.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Over a month again

Life is what happens you're busy not blogging...

Anyway, just wanted to drop a quick note tonight regarding DIABLO III. Jeff and I are very psyched for this despite not being able to find our old Diablo II disks to play and get a temporary fix while Blizzard holds out on us like a prom date before the punch gets spiked. PVP also mentioned it in today's strip.

Things are very busy at work and at home, we're getting ready for NC in August, and Froshapalooza was huge smash the weekend of 6/21-6/22. Rob's wife Tasha gave me a card reading with her Faerie Oracle Deck. A spider crawled onto one of the cards during the reading, lending extra signifcance and mystery to the card it touched (Ilbe, the Retriever. Something is lost, Ilbe has it for me when I realized that it's missing)

That's all you get for now. It's almost bed time. I got home from work at 9:30 and I am going back in at 8 AM tomorrow. Merry Part and Blessed Be!

A little late for Beltane, but enjoy

Quote of the Day

"I learned thirty years ago that it is foolish to scold. I have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations without fretting over the fact that God has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of intelligence."

John Wanamaker

I am reading Pathways to Success by Dale Carnegie at work today. It's an interesting book. It's a combined edition of How to Win Friends and Influence People and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

So, something to mull over if you're in a mulling kind of mood.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Happy Beltane!

Beltane
Jethro Tull

Have you ever stood in the April wood and called the new year in?
While the phantoms of three thousand years fly as the dead leaves spin?
There's a snap in the grass behind your feet and a tap upon your shoulder.
And the thin wind crawls along your neck it's just the old gods getting older.
And the kestral drops like a fall of shot and the red cloud hanging high
come a Beltane.
Have you ever loved a lover of the old elastic truth?
And doted on the daughter in the ministry of youth?
Thrust your head between the breasts of the fertile innocent.
And taken up the cause of love, for the sake of argument.
Or while the kisses drop like a fall of shot from soft lips in the rain
come a Beltane.
Happy old new year to you and yours.
The sun's up for one more day, to be sure.
Play it out gladly, for your card's marked again.

Have you walked around your parks and towns so knife-edged orderly?
While the fires are burned on the hills upturned in far-off wild country.
And felt the chill on your window-sill as the green man comes around.
With his walking cane of sweet hazel brings it crashing down.
Sends your knuckles white as the thin stick bites. Well, it's just your groaning pains.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.


Jeff and I started the holiday off right this morning. :-) I was sorry to miss the Brighidshaven event. The way the summer is shaping up, I might make it to Lughnasadh. Frosh-apalooza falls on Midsummer. I really want to go to a Snow Water event at their Nemeton.

I wish I had a Nemeton.

When I was in Erie a couple weeks ago, I picked up The Forest House by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It comes before the first short story in Lady of Avalon. It was a good book, but I already knew a lot of the information from reading Lady of Avalon. I would have liked to see more rituals, but part of the point was that the women of the Forest House were constantly afraid of the Romans because of what had happened to the priestesses on the Isle of Mona.

Have a blessed and joyous Beltane!

From the Good Vibes Blog

Speaking of Design - Good Vibes Blog

I thought this was funny. :-)

I can haz Cthulu!?

Lolthulu

Enjoy. I want this as a bumper sticker.

Work is going well. We let go one of our trainees and we are working hard with another to build her confidence.

I'd much rather deal with "I want to do it and I'm struggling" rather than "I'm lazy and I'm going to do as little as you let me get away with."

Today was the other trainer Kelli's birthday. We ordered lunch and she had to listen to my version of Happy Birthday before she left to go home.

I went shopping last Wednesday with Al in Erie and picked up some sweet new clothes for work at Burlington Coat Factory. I also got some Mary Jane-style Crocs, so I can wear them to work and be super comfy for training.

Gonna have some porkchops and macaroni and cheese for dinner, Jeff is on the phone to Adam. We are hopefully going to see him sometime in May.

That's all for now folks, Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Damn you Artie

I know it's been a long time between posts. To make up for it, I bring you this link. Artie showed us this last night. I hope that once enough other people see it, I can stop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AXPnH0C9UA

Things are good here, just finished our first new hire class at work. We have determined that our test sucks. When the highest score is a 79.5% (You have to pass with a 75%) it's not a good sign. The test is poorly worded, and doesn't actually test what they need to know to be on the phones.

Today we are going to Port A to hang out with Jess and Frosh, Chits and Artie is coming to. We will play some games. I hope we can play Vegas Showdown, I am getting pretty good at it.

Not too much else going on lately. Looking forward to seeing Iron Man when it comes out May 2. I also want to see Zach and Miri make a porno when it comes out, which is apparently not until Halloween. :-(

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

It ain't over til I say it's over!

So yesterday morning, I get pulled into a meeting with my manager Tom, and our HR rep, and I am offered a Training Coordinator position. As it turns out my friend Juli, the current Training Coordinator, put in her 2 week notice on Sunday, as she is taking a job at a call center closer to her home in Jamestown. So now the new Training Coordinators will be Kelli (who I strangely feel better about, now that I know she spells it with an "i". She also reads a lot and has a good vocabulary, so I am certain we will get along swimmingly.) and me!!!

So although I am sad Juli is leaving, because I was looking forward to working with her, I am very excited to be starting my new position. I got to go out to lunch yesterday with some of the folks from our management team, and today I got to attend my first management meeting.

The only forseeable downside is that my schedule is going to change, I will be working at least one evening shift a week, and one weekend day. But Tom and Trisha both emphasized the need to be flexible as far as scheduling goes, so as long as people are willing to help me out and cover me when it is needed, I think it will work out great. My pay rate also increased, and as a member of management I will also get more vacation time each year.

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

More work?

Work has been interesting this week. Once again, we can't accept credit cards. About a month ago now, we lost the ability to process MasterCard orders. We converted a lot of those customers to Visa. Now we have to tell them we can't take their Visa either. The customers aren't too happy. This contributed to the following quote from my friend Dawn, which made me do one of those arched back, belly laughs at the ceiling.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones,
But I have all your cigarettes!"

Lazy day at home, most ambitious activity so far has been shoveling and sweeping off the cars. We got a pounding from the snow last night. Jeff's copy of Risk: Godstorm also came in the mail today. I think soon he may be looking for someone to play with.

I was feeling a little under the weather yesterday, doing better now, thanks to 12 hours of sleep.

Back to World Of Warcraft now I think. I am working on getting my warrior to level 70. I have couple things left to do in Hellfire Peninsula and then it's on to the Mushroom Forest... I mean Zangarmarsh.



(Does anyone else remember this book besides me? It was awesome!)

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

Things I wish I knew 10 years ago

I was having some deep thoughts in the car on the way home today, and I thought "this sounds like a blog post". I was thinking, you never know what life will bring you. Jeff was saying the other night that he wants the next place he lives to be the house he dies in. And that would be nice, to have so permanent a home, but you never know. We could buy a house near Bradford (not right in town, of course. Scary townies!) and then 5 years later the company I work for could move to New Mexico and offer to pay me to move down there. We could go on vacation somewhere and like it so much we decide to move there. Jeff could get his MSW and be offered a position in another city or another state. So we're never "done". I don't think we can plan before we're 30 to be settled. The only constant is change.

I called this blog "Things I wish I knew 10 years ago" because I was remembering being in high school and college and thinking "Oh, this is it my life is OVER. I failed a test, my life is over; my boyfriend dumped me; my life is over; My friends are all graduating and leaving me, my life is over.

Life is never "over." It's a series of endings and beginnings that cycle over and over again. And the balance of the Wheel goes 'round and 'round.

So even though I did not get the Training Coordinator position at work, my life is not OVER. My manager had nothing but great things to say about me even as he was telling me they went with another candidate (from outside the company) And I am going to be going through the training with this new person, so I can learn how our current training process works. They want to give me the background I need so that (hopefully maybe they wouldn't guarantee anything outright) I can be a part of our training staff in the future. Tom (my manager) also said they wanted to hear my ideas on our current training process, how to tie the information to different things so that people can remember it once they leave our training classroom and are out on the phones working.

So while I did not get the position, I am still going to be doing something new at work starting Monday.

It's not over. :-)

Merry Part and Blessed Be!

tiny Kharasa

February post

Today was a great day. Jess and I went skiing at Holiday Valley and then ate lunch and did some shopping in Ellicottville. We went to Alexandra, where there is this awesome candle that smells like a tomato plant. It reminds me of my Grandma Eb's garden. We also went to Kazoo II, which has all kinds of neat things. I spent some time looking at the milagros, which are silver charms that Catholics in Latin American countries will give as offerings to saints on behalf of their loved ones. For example, if your loved one had a broken foot, there were foot charms. There were also breast and penis charms, which seems to me to be for motherhood or fertility, or I guess any ailment with those parts of the body. It's basically a form of sympathetic religious magic. I love finding similarities between the rituals of different religions.

Then when Jess and I got back, we played a new PS2 game that Chits has purchased. IT's a trivia game and you get 4 buzzers with it. It was pretty fun. I won the first game (which Chits did not play in) and lost the second (in which Chits kicked all of our asses, badly) I also got to see my adorable nephew, Aidan. He can take a few steps now, and stand up from being seated. I can't wait til he starts talking.

It's a busy month. Lacy and Jay are coming up next weekend to go to the Old Library. They are going for Valentine's Day. I am going for French Onion Soup and dessert. Valentines Day sucks, see last year's rant here for the reasons why.

Well, it is way past my bed time. Merry Part and Blessed Be!

I want to have Cpt. John Sheridan's baby

Again, long time no post I know. But at least it hasn't been a whole month. We've been busy here. Had friends to visit over New Years. Jeff's Birthday was last Friday. We've been enjoying our Christmas loot, most specifically Babylon 5, which is the reason for this blog title. There was a move Sheridan came up with on the disk we were watching tonight, that was just so totally and completely bad-ass, that I want to have his baby. We are currently watching Season 3.

I applied for a new position at work. I'll write more about it if I actually get it.

Also, adding some funny videos here that we were introduced to over Christmas/New Years: