Then... and Now...

This was sent to me in an email awhile back. It kinda makes you wonder doesn't it?

THEN... AND NOW...

SCENARIO: JACK PULLS INTO SCHOOL PARKING LOT WITH RIFLE IN GUN RACK.
1963 - Vice Principal comes over, takes a look at Jack's rifle, goes to his car and gets his to show Jack.
2006 - School goes into lockdown, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.


SCENARIO: JOHNNY AND MARK GET INTO A FIST FIGHT AFTER SCHOOL.
1963 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up best friends Nobody goes to jail, nobody arrested, nobody expelled.
2006 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.


SCENARIO: LITTLE JEFFREY WON'T BE STILL IN CLASS, DISRUPTS OTHER STUDENTS.
1963 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by Principal. Sits still in class.
2006 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.


SCENARIO: BILLY BREAKS A WINDOW IN HIS FATHER'S CAR AND HIS DAD GIVES HIM A WHIPPING.
1963 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2006 - Billy's Dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. Billy's sister is told by state psychologist that she remembers being abused herself and their Dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.


SCENARIO: MARK GETS A HEADACHE AND TAKES SOME HEADACHE MEDICINE TO SCHOOL.
1963 - Mark shares headache medicine with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2006 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.


SCENARIO: MARY TURNS UP PREGNANT.
1963 - 5 High School Boys leave town. Mary does her senior year at a special school for expectant mothers.
2006 - Middle School Counselor calls Planned Parenthood, who notifies the ACLU. Mary is driven to the next state over and gets an abortion without her parent's consent or knowledge. Mary given condoms and told to be more careful next time.


SCENARIO: PEDRO FAILS HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH.
1963: Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2006: Pedro's cause is taken up by ultra-liberals. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro granted diploma anyway and ends up mowing lawns for a living because he can't speak English.


SCENARIO: JOHNNY TAKES APART LEFTOVER FIRECRACKERS FROM THE 4TH OF JULY, PUTS THEM IN A MODEL AIRPLANE PAINT BOTTLE, BLOWS UP A RED ANT NEST.
1963 - Ants die.
2006 - ATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny's Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again. This also becomes a media event because the SPCA believes the ants were treated inhumanely.


SCENARIO: JOHNNY FALLS WHILE RUNNING DURING RECESS AND SCRAPES HIS KNEE. HE IS FOUND CRYING BY HIS TEACHER, MARY, WHO HUGS JOHNNY TO COMFORT HIM.
1963 - In a short time Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2006 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison.

And this is what they call progress?


So what do you think, is today's world really better, or have we given up too much?

Elephants and Books

I was up late last night chatting with friends and the subject of collectibles came up. Some said they collected horse figurines, or dragon statues, and so on. It made me think about what I have collected in my life.

My first collection started when I was 2 days old, my father brought in a small plant in a porcelain pot that was shaped like an elephant. The plant eventually died, and my mom used that little pot to hold pins and ointments when I was a baby, as I got older it held barrettes and hair clips. That was just the first elephant I ever got. I ended up with many more over the years. Somehow, it was never up to me, people just kept on giving me elephants, I guess it was a good thing that I loved them as much as I did. I had a tiny ceramic set of an elephant family, a really cool one made out of seashells given by my grandmother. I had a big stuffed elephant that made a great footstool and a teddy bear type one that I slept with.

Those were just a few, by the time I was 16, I had almost 500 elephant statues, figurines, plates, toys, etc. This isn't counting the 100 or so stuffed or plush elephants I had. I gave up most of them at this time, we were moving and the room I was getting just wasn't big enough to hold all of them. So I packed a few of my favorites and gave the rest of them to Goodwill. *Smiles* I am sure they just loved trying to find places for all those elephants.

My second real collection probably started somewhere around 4 or 5 years old. Once I discovered the joy of reading, book were a collection I was always adding to. I read fast, so it doesn't take me long to go through a book, and I enjoy re-reading them. So if I find a book I like, I want it in my bookshelf so I can read it any time I wish. At the height of this collection I had around a thousand books. My own personal library. Unfortunately, I had to get rid of about two-thirds of them when I moved down to Florida.

I had a small or mid-size car, and everything I owned had to fit in it for the move. That many books just wouldn't fit, as I had clothes, my computer, and my dog and puppycat to stuff into the car as well. It was very difficult to choose which books to get rid of, and I still miss having them on hand. I am slowly rebuilding my collection, however, as we live only 2 blocks from a flea market and I can get books very cheaply there.

Other than these 2 things, elephants and books, I never seriously collected anything else. Oh sure, I started hundreds of collections as a kid, but quickly lost interest in them and they never lasted long.

So, what do you collect, how long have you collected it, and why do you collect them?

Random Thoughts and Pics

We want your dinner!!



Rub my belly, please?



Bowing to His Majesty, Sir Puppycat



No, I won't tell where I hid the remote control.



Don't make me come down there!



Barking Puppycat.


Honest! It wasn't me!



Don't look now, but she has that camera out again



I said, Give me the ham from your sandwich!!



Ahh, this is the life!



Lady Ru's portrait.



And finally, Ru and Ducky.

I was going through my photobucket today, and thought I would share some of my favorite pics. You all know the puppycat, Rogue. As for the dogs, the yellow lab mix is Ducky's dog, Maddie, and the beagle is my dog, Murphy. The hammock pup was sent to me as a cute pic by a friend, the portrait of Lady Ru was created by a game friend named Skan.

The pic of me and Ducky was taken last spring, and I hope knowing what I look like hasn't scared you off this blog, lol. Enjoy the pics, there will be more to read again tomorrow.

Batteries Not Included...

So, it is the day after Christmas. All the presents are opened, Santa has come and gone for another year. Most of us think the work is over now. No more gifts to buy, we can start saving up again, the kids won't be whining about how they NEED to get this toy or that ipod. We take a breath or relief, we are done for the year.

Not quite. We don't have to buy anymore gifts, but now we get the joys of retuning what isn't liked, fighting the stores for refunds or store credit. Hoping that gift receipt you need didn't get thrown out with the wrapping paper shreds. Oh, speaking of wrapping paper, this is the day you wonder just WHY you bothered to wrap everything. All that careful work, to make it look perfect, is now laying in tiny shreds all over the house. The kids are playing with the boxes things came in, those expensive toys are laying forgotten under the tree.

No more baking to do, but what to do with that fruitcake your crazy aunt gives you every year. No one eats those things, why are they even made? Our fingers are blistered from opening toys for the kids. Sealed in hard plastic, twist-tied to oblivion, you need a jackhammer to bust these things open.

I can't understand this. Toy makers spend tons of money to hype up their products, then seal them in indestructible packaging. We spend hours trying to get these things out of the plastic, the kids whining at our sides, only to have them discarded five minutes later while they make robots out of the twist ties they came in.

So much left to do, take the 27 bags of trashed packaging to the curb, drag the cat out of the tree another 30 times, stop the dog from eating the play-doh the kids left to be ground into the carpet. Oh and don't forget, we still have about 10 runs to make to the store for that essential thing we need, the adapter cable we forgot, and batteries. Sure, many toys now come with batteries. But those only last 2 minutes, just long enough for you to know you will HATE that toy and it's noises, but not long enough to let the kid get bored.

Now is the time to decide, which toys get to stay and which will mysteriously 'vanish' in the next couple of days. And what was Uncle thinking when he got THAT for us? And, we love our mothers, but we don't love that purple sweater with neon glitter snowmen on it. But we wear it anyway and just try not to look in any mirrors.

We are run ragged before Christmas, we do so much, the day after should be a day of relaxation. But there is still so much to do, and that is when we wish that life didn't come with batteries not included....

Making Money At Home

As I have said in other posts here in my blog, I am disabled and can't work. No job means I have no income. But I have found some good ways to make some extra cash. It is not enough to live on, nor will it ever make me rich. It does, however, earn some spending cash. These opportunities have allowed me to buy Ducky a nice christmas present.

Most of the 'make money at home' things you see on the internet are scams. Or even illegal. Most of them require you to pay for a kit or other information. These so-called programs simply take your money and send you some information that is worthless or that you could have easily have found for free in a google search.

But I have found some legitimate programs that cost you nothing, and you make money on them. Like I said, not loads of money, just some spending cash. Most of the ones I work on I can earn anywhere from $20 to $100 or so each month. Nope, I won't get rich. But I do make enough to purchase that gift for someone special, or to treat myself to a nice dinner out, or a new outfit.

Over the next few weeks I will provide information for each program. I will give tips on how to get the most out of them and I will let you know when and how much they have paid me. I will also provide other resources so you can find others of the same type. There are many of them out there. Yes, some are scams. But I will let you know which ones really pay, and exactly what you need to do to earn money.

All these programs will ever cost you is some time. You will not have to spend a dime to earn money. So bookmark or subscribe to my blog, and stay tuned. Easy money can be yours too.

Procrastination Works!

I hear people say we shouldn't procrastinate. That we should get thing done as soon as we can and not wait until the last minute. For some things I guess that is true. But for me, I perform better under pressure sometimes.

I had a major paper to write for my Composition class. I knew about it and was supposed to be working on it for over a month. But I just kept putting it off. Every time I would go to write or to think about what i wanted to say, my mind would wander and my thoughts would be chaotic. Sitting there looking at the blank sheet of paper, I just couldn't think of anything to write.

So I put it off, there was always tomorrow, or next week to get it done. Until I woke up Saturday, the paper due that night, over 1200 words needed, and I hadn't done anything. Ah, I thought, I still have hours yet, I will do it later today. Finally it came down to the wire. It was due in just a couple of hours. I needed to get it done. Miraculously, the blank paper didn't faze me. I knew what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. I churned out over 1600 words in less than an hour.

The paper was turned in less than an hour before the deadline. I wasn't sure if it was any good, but at least it was done. Just a few minutes ago, I checked into class. The paper had been graded and commented on by my Professor. I received an A, 100 points of 100 available. The Professor said I did well and had a good grasp of the assignment.

I have always put off critical things like that until the last minute, and almost invariably, I have done much better work under that pressure than I have done if I completed early. So, regardless of how much people say procrastination is bad, I would have to say, it works for me.

Lady Ru's Story pt 3

Here is the last part of my fiction story about my game character. If you missed the previous installments they can be found here, Part 1 and Part 2. Lady Ru does go on and have many more adventures, but those stories were told by another. You can find them in the Brimstone series.

Lady Ru's Story pt 3

The audience was granted, and set to take place on the next official petition day, where all subjects of the holding had the ability to bring their concerns to the leaders. Upon that day, Lady Ru sat with the group of people waiting to be heard. Lorder Markam was heading the meetings as usual, but Josha, apparently hearing of his daughter’s petition, was in attendance as Consult. This was rare, but as former Lord, he had the right to sit in at any major decision processes, and any counsel he gave would be heeded.

Lorder Markam called each person forward, heard their petition, solved disputes and denied or granted requests as deemed appropriate. Often he consulted quietly with Josha before rendering judgment. The Lorder had no knowledge of whom or what was on the petitions list, as this policy was considered the best way for impartial decisions. Lack of foreknowledge was considered the best way to avoid bias. So when he heard Lady Ru called forward to make her petition, he was understandably surprised.

Lady Ru, pale with nervousness, and determination in her very movements, made her way to the front of the hall. Nodding her respect to her father and the Lord, she cleared her throat and began to speak.

“Lorder, as you are well aware, I have studied our old histories extensively, and have been fascinated by certain elements that I have read about. I hereby petition I be allowed to travel to the lands we originally came from. Thereby learning what has happened since we left, possibly establishing new trades, and increasing our knowledge.”

As she finished speaking, her father stared at her in shock. “No, you are too young.” he murmured, barely audible. Lorder Markam, sat quietly for a moment, gazing at her, and he collected his thoughts.

Then he spoke, “Lady Ru, I do agree that your idea of reconnecting with our old homeland has merit. But I cannot see that sending you, as young as you are, would be wise. As you know, you are to be Lady of our Holding in less than two years. You are needed here. I will therefore send a ship with an official representative to our ancestral lands to learn what they may, but I am afraid I must deny..”

Lady Ru spoke then, interrupting him, and shocking those gathered with her discourtesy. “No, you may not deny this request. I have no choice but to go myself, and I must leave within the week.”

Turning to face her father, she said, “Often have you spoke to me about my birth, and of the dream you had before it. Often, I saw you act on your ‘feelings’ to be somewhere or to know something before it happened. Many times you have told me you have been given knowledge of events somehow, and have acted on them, without knowing how you knew of them. Many were the problems you solved before they became critical during your term as Lord. I know this, as you, yourself, have told me of them.

As she spoke, Josha became pale, and a sad look came over his face. “Yes, my daughter, I have told you of these things. True enough, I have had precognition at times. Please, my child, do not tell me that you have seen that this leaving must be done. I cannot bear to lose my only child.

Lady Ru smiled sadly, with a wisdom on her face far exceeding her tender age. “I am sorry, Father, I must go. I have known for long that this day would come, but I was hoping that it would not come so soon. I am afraid to leave our lovely home, but I must. I will leave before this week is over. I requested this petition, not to seek permission, for this cannot be denied, but to make it official, so that our people would know why I must leave.

Lorder Markam turned to Josha, a question on his face, but before he could speak, Josha said, “Lorder, know this, as you once trusted my judgment on things, now you must trust my daughters.

The Lorder sighed deeply, and spoke to Lady Ru, “I see I have no choice but to grant this petition. But I will do so only on one condition. You may go, but you will take two of our best warriors to guard you, and you will return at all costs in the month of your fourteenth birthday. On your return, you will be confirmed in your majority, and take your position as Lady of Frenton Holding. If you do not return at the appointed time, you will forfeit your rank and all your status,” Pausing here for a moment, he looked seriously at Lady Ru, then continued, “Including your status as citizen of this Holding.”

Gasping at the seriousness of the threat of status loss, Lady Ru bowed her head for a moment. If she did not return in the appointed month, she would never be allowed to return. Those in the hall watched the young girl take a deep breath and raise her head. Lady Ru spoke quietly, but clearly, into the silence, “The conditions are acceptable. I will return in the month of my fourteenth birthday, or not return at all, forfeiting all I hold. I will trust your judgment in choosing the two warriors to accompany me, and I will leave as soon as the ship is made ready.

****

Lady Ru left her holding within the week, and after almost 2 months at sea, finally came to the island called Arakas. Making port in the town of Lighthaven, she quickly picked up on the customs, and found herself tutors. She discovered that spellcasting was still known, indeed, much more advanced than her texts at home had hinted at. She soon became a talented fire mage and travel the lands learning and questing as many had before her. She became aware of the gods and chose to follow Artherk.

She returned to Frenton Holding in the designated month and ruled as Lady for just over three years. In the middle of her seventeenth year, she felt herself called back to the Olden Lands, as her people called the three islands of Goldmoon. She appointed Markam as Lorder during her absence and returned, arriving just in time to answer the call to rescue a man named Brimstone.

Lady Ru’s story continues in the Brimstone series.

Maybe There Is Hope

Sorry for not posting yesterday. I had a very early morning appointment with Health Services and then spent pretty much the rest of the day in bed. As you may have read in my Trip To The DMV post, I tend to get freaked out before important events. So I was pretty nervous yesterday morning on the way to the appointment. But of course, as always, the reality was much easier than I would have figured on.

We got there right on time and were called back. Answered a few questions, I signed about 2 million papers and left with a medical card. This is great news as now I can hopefully get a diagnosis and see if my back can be fixed.

The funny part was once I got done signing everything I was told I was required to watch a 20 minute orientation video. But when we got called back to watch it, the instructor stated it was a nine minute video. That was pretty nice as we were able to leave much sooner than we were expecting.

I still have a ton of paperwork to fill out for my medical assistance and for my next degree in college. But as it stands now, I can see maybe there is hope yet.

Sign Here, and Here and There

So it starts. I am just a few weeks away from the end of this term and this degree. Now I get the joys of all the paperwork. I have to fill out papers for Financial Department to graduate as well as to re-enroll. I have to fill out papers for enrollment, more papers to choose classes and on and on.

E-mails and faxes are flying back and forth to get every detail taken care of. This one needs my signature, fill out that form, you have a choice between these classes and you must take this one. This is a required class but you can take it now or later.

The decisions I make during this month will set the path for the next two years of my life. So many details to cover, so many choices. I wonder at times, can I handle this?

I worry I will miss a critical detail and mess up the whole process. I think about 2 more years of classes and homework. It is a big decision to make, to commit 2 years to something.

But I know I can do it... I know I will succeed at this. So I will sign on all the dotted lines. I will e-mail, call or fax whatever is need to to whoever needs it. It will all be worth it.

By this time next year, I will be sitting here, knowing that I am almost done. And when I stand there at the end, with my Bachelor's degree in my hand and my Associate's on my wall, I will be happy and proud that I made it through. That day will be here sooner than it seems.

It is a wonderful feeling to be doing something that I never thought was possible for me.

It Was In Bed With Me!

Not that long ago, maybe a few months or so, I had a relatively normal day. Played on the computer, watched some TV, etc. Ducky went to bed at his usual time and I stayed up longer, like I always do. A couple hours later, I was finally ready to sleep. Let the dogs out for the last time, checked their water, got ready for bed. Nice and sleepy, ready to lay down and get a good nights rest. Little did I know what was coming that night.

I turned off the lights and crawled under the covers, knowing my puppycat would be along shortly as he always comes to bed when I do. I laid there for a moment, then noticed that the sheet that was covering me was wrinkled. I find crumpled covers annoying so I shook them out and straightened them.

Right after I got the sheet and blankets arranged properly, I felt a hair on my hip. Sighing at the dogs for shedding in my bed, I brushed my hand over my hip and rubbed a bit as the hair tickled some.

Umm, a hair isn't round and solid. What the hell? There is something on me! I sat up fast and turned to kneel on the bed and reached over and turned on the light.

A spider was on my bed, trying to crawl up to hide under my pillow. Now, I am severely phobic of spiders, so at this point I couldn't breathe or move. And this wasn't a little spider, it was bigger than a quarter, hairy and black. All I wanted to do was run out of the room, screaming my head off. But all I could do was reach over and shake Ducky awake.

He was sound asleep and had no idea of what was going on. I couldn't tell him because I still couldn't breathe. So I simply sat there watching this spider crawl away from me while I shook and pointed. Ducky finally saw it and woke enough to realize what it was. He got up, got some tissue and disposed of the horrid thing.

What he did next astonished me. He brushed a few remaining spider legs off the bed, turned off the light, and laid down to go back to sleep. I wasn't nearly so calm. Needles to say, I didn't stay in bed. I went back to my computer and sat their until well after the sun came up.

Once it was light enough to see, I finally tried to go back to bed. But not before using a flashlight to make absolutely certain that I was the only thing in the bed.
Even now, months later, I still check the bed before I get into it, and the memory of that spider crawling right on me still causes the occasional sleepless night.

As children, we believe the monsters can't get us if we hide under the covers. But for me at least, that isn't true. For me, the monster was under the covers, just waiting for me to come to bed.

If Ducky hadn't been there, I would be sleeping in my chair or on the couch to this day, and that spider would have had the bed to itself.

I still can't believe it was in bed with me! *Shudders*

Oh Hai, I Can Has Cheezburger?

Today, I think I will share another website with you. This is another one of my favorites. Don't worry, there isn't much reading on this one. Just about 200 pages of cute kittens, cats, dogs, hamsters, and more.



Are you ready for a cuteness overload? Would you like to spend some time laughing? Head on over to I Can Has Cheezburger?.



I won't take up any more of your time today, instead I will just sit back and let you enjoy the cuteness at I Can Has Cheezburger?

Ice Cream and Bruises

To start out with, I should explain: I have no depth perception. I cannot tell exactly where things are, or how far away they may be from me or each other. Apparently, my eyes don't work together as they should so distance and location has always been impossible for me to determine. This has cause me to bump into doorways, knock over drinks, etc.

As a result of this, I am not the type of person who rearranges their furniture very often. I tend to put everything in a spot and there it will remain until I move out. Earlier this year, however, I got tired of bumping into the doorway leading out of our main room. There was a chair on one side and a dresser on the other. But they were on the wrong sides. The chair was on the narrow side and the dresser was on the wider side.

So I switched them. Seemed to make sense. The chair was wider than the space it was in, and blocking part of the doorway. Switching sides would mean a clear path to the other room and I shouldn't bump into the doorway anymore.

But the chair was long than the dresser, and that meant I had to remember to walk two steps further before I turned to go through the doorway. I think you can see where this is going now, *grins*

All went well for a few days, until we decided to have ice cream cones. The ice cream didn't want to stay on the cone so I dumped it into a bowl and ate the cone first. Then I reached for the ice cream and realized I didn't have a spoon. Focused on what I was reading, I grabbed the bowl and jumped up to hurry to the kitchen to get a spoon.

I have no idea why I took the bowl with me, it could have sat on the table while I got the spoon, but I took it with me. Not really thinking about anything except getting that spoon and getting back to my story, I forgot about that chair I moved.

Yup, I tripped on it. But this wasn't a simple stumble. Nope, it was much more dramatic than that. Picture this scene now: My foot slammed under the chair. I went flying forward, landing on the chair. But since I was moving quickly, there was more. I bounced off the chair and hit the dresser before finally crash landing on the floor. The ice cream and the bowl soared up and landed in the chair, splattering all over it.

Go ahead. You can laugh. I know you want to. I sure did. Even laying there on the floor, bruised in many places from that dramatic fall, trying to catch my breath and gasping from the ache of hitting my foot on the chair, the throbbing in my side from colliding with the dresser, and the pain in my hip and back from the wrenching landing on the stone tile floor. Even with all of that, I knew how funny my fall must have looked.

Ducky had seen my acrobatic failure, and when I looked up, he was standing there. Fighting off a grin and asking if I was alright. I couldn't answer at first, the pain and the laughter took my breath away. Eventually, I managed to get up, and limp back to my seat. I was bruised, wrenched and sore, but even then I knew just how ridiculous I must have looked.

That chair didn't stay there much longer, it was soon moved to an out of the way corner where I have almost no risk of tripping over it again.

I still find the whole event hilarious. One thing I now know for sure, though, is this: I am not an acrobat, nor can I fly. Oh and that chair is still plotting against me, I just know it.

How Do You Water A Cat?

Well, my cat, or puppycat as I refer to him, has not been in the best of health lately. He has been to the vet several times over the last two months, his food has been changed. He was on antibiotics for a bit to prevent infection. My poor Rogue has crystals in his bladder.

The solution was to put him on canned food. But he won't eat that. He wants his dry kibble only. Second solution, give him water flavored with broth or tuna. That worked, we thought. But we went to the vet again this morning and he has only slightly improved. He needs to drink much more than he has been.

That brings me to the question: How do you water a cat? A dog is easy, just mix water with their food, flavor their water with meat. Simple. But a cat does what it wants, which is usually not what you want it to do. So once Rogue figured out we wanted him to drink the water, he of course, stopped drinking much.

Tricking him hasn't worked, Now we are down to force. I have to make him drink, so this problem gets better and goes away. But how to force a cat to drink?

Flavored water doesn't really work. Hmm, I could dunk him in a bath full of water. He would drink plenty while he was trying to dry himself off. Hold on, I think I will try that.

........I think maybe that wasn't such a good idea. I should have had more bandages in the house. And my pillow is soaked from him laying on it. Going to bed tonight won't be very pleasant.

Oh, I have a dosing syringe here. I will just squirt some water down his throat. He will swallow it and get the liquid he needs. C'mere Rogue, come have a drink....

Not too bad, he swallowed maybe an ounce. But do any of you know the best way to get cat vomit out of a couch? No, I didn't choke him with the water. About 5 minutes after I made him drink, he got up on the couch and stared at me until I noticed him. Once he saw I was looking, he deliberately vomited on it. I just count myself lucky he didn't treat it as a litter box.

Now I need a few more bandages, a couch cleaner and a nap. This has been a tiring battle with my cat. I am about ready to just head back to bed, wet pillow and all, and call this day done.

But oh yes, I still need to know... How do you water a cat?

And Then The Computer Melted!

First, I was in the park, throwing bread into the pond for the ducks. Something moved in the water and the ducks flew away. Suddenly, I was at Wal-Mart, shopping for a gift, but I couldn't find the right thing. The scene changed and I was at a friend's house, but it didn't look like their house. I went to ask them what they were doing, and then the computer melted!

That was one of my dreams last night. I had a few others that I remember, but every one of them was weird or didn't make sense. Isn't it amazing what your mind comes up with while you sleep?

Yet, in the dream, it all seems normal. A friend who normally has blond hair can have green hair in a dream, and it seems right. Your house could have extra rooms, or be in a totally different location, and that is correct. Then we wake up, and we wonder, "What the hell was that all about."

Dreams have fascinated the human race as long as we have existed. People vary from the opinion that dreams mean something to the opinion that dreams are meaningless. Books have been written and people have made a living giving meanings and definitions to dreams. We are endlessly looking for reasons and sense in our dreams.

Sometimes it seems that what we dream about comes true. Or maybe we realize a solution to a problem from a dream. Once I remember I had the same dream every night for a month, about a cave with creatures in it. A few weeks after this dream stopped, a new show, called Fraggle Rock, was aired. It was about muppet creatures that lived underground in caves. Precognition? Prophesy? Or did I just see a commercial telling about the premier of this show and not remember seeing it?

Some people dream in color, others say they can smell or taste things in their dreams. Some, like me, remember dreams, others claim they never dream.

We may never know why or how we dream, if they mean anything or not, but we all dream. And our dreams can be unsettling, vivid, unrealistic or forgotten, but they are there.

I wonder if we will ever know why we dream. Or how our minds come up with these disconnected stories. Regardless, I find it amazing that we can dream.

So tell me, do you dream? Do your dreams make sense? What is the weirdest dream you remember having? Comments are open, share your dreams. Am I the only one that dreams this weird stuff?

What's the Rush?

Hurry up, we need to get there. Let's move or we will be late. Come on people get out of my way! What is the rush? Why are we all in such a hurry these days. Everyone is so focused on getting somewhere as fast as they can. Why?

This seems to be a common thing to all of us. We are all trying to get somewhere or something as fast as we can. Drive home from work fast. Make dinner fast and eat it fast. Get to the store or the laundromat or to that dance recital as fast as we can. But what is the hurry? Why is it so important to move as fast as possible?

I think this is causing us to miss much of our life. Whether you believe we only have one life to live or many, you should enjoy your life. Not rush through it as fast as you can. A normal day for many people is wake up, run around getting dressed and rushing out the door for work. Then you drive as quickly as possible to clock in. You hurry to your desk and spend the day processing as many tasks as you can. Out the door and rushing home. Get home and hurry to get dinner and eat. Then quick, get the chores done, feed the pets, get the kids homework done, and hurry them to bed. Then off to bed yourself, just to wake and repeat the next day.

Why? You spent the whole day thinking about what you had to do next, and hurrying through what you are doing. What is the point to that? You never took a minute to think, or to really see what was around you. Coming home after work, you had no time to properly greet your family, you were too busy hurrying on to the next chore or task.

You missed the whole day. Sure, you got stuff done. But you still missed everything. That sleepy smile on your daughter's face as she woke up and saw you? You didn't see it, you were hurrying her to get up and get dressed for school. The quiet thank you from a co-worker you helped at work? You may have said you're welcome to them as you rushed away. But you missed seeing the gratitude in their eyes, or even really realizing that they were thanking you. You just tossed off the appropriate response as you hurried off.

The stunning sunset, all full of reds and pinks and oranges on your way home? You never noticed, you were trying to hurry home, muttering at the slow drivers around you. The happiness and pride your spouse had as they told you of something they accomplished at work? You didn't hear them, you were trying to hurry up and get dinner done. The sudden comprehension as your child solved a tough problem on their math homework? You weren't there, you were telling them to hurry up, it is almost bedtime, and they still had to take a bath.

Little things like this happen to us every day. So many events of joy and sadness, accomplishments and failures, surprises and disappointments. These happen all around us. But even though we are present, we aren't really there. We are hurrying and rushing to the next thing to do.

So we miss our whole life. We lose every day. You can never get those things back once they pass. So why are we hurrying through it all? Are we afraid we will miss the next thing? If you think about it, you are missing the current things by trying so hard not to miss the next thing. At the end of the day, we have missed it all.

Slow down a bit, look around you. See what is happening now, at this moment. Enjoy things as they happen. Focus on what you are doing now, not what you are going to do next. Stop missing your life and start living it. So much is there to see, feel, do, and experience.

This moment, each moment, in your life has value. Each day, each event is not worth missing out on. Live your life, don't rush through it so fast that all you have is a blur of missed emotions or events.

Lady Ru's Story pt. 2

Ru grew up in a loving, yet sad, household. Her father was Lord of their island Holding, as their towns were called, and was often kept away by his duties. Her mother continued to try for more children, but although she usually carried to term, the births never resulted in live children.

At the age of three, Ru established herself, as future Lady of the Frenton Holding, by bursting into tears when her maid walked into the room. Upon questioning, she managed to sob that her hand was hot and hurting. The maid revealed a minor burn on her hand, saying that she had burned her hand making tea for Ru, a few minutes before. This proved Ru to have the empathic talent that all leaders were required to show to be allowed leadership.

Lord Josha was thrilled that his only child had inherited this talent, as otherwise a search would have been required to find the next Lord or Lady of the Holding. Lady Ru, as she was henceforth titled, was begun in her training on her fifth birthday. In addition to the proper manners and quiet demeanor that was considered appropriate for a woman, she was also taught to read, basic accounting skills and leadership tactics.

She found solace in the books and tomes in the manor library, as she was not fortunate enough to have any other children of appropriate rank to play with when she had time away from her lessons.

Although the island holdings were not part of the Kingdom of Goldmoon, and most residents had no knowledge of much other than their own island, Lady Ru was taught the old histories that had been brought with the original settlers. The most recent of those were several hundred years old, and she often wondered what had happened in the times between. In her explorations of the library, she also came across some old texts that contained information of certain elemental powers. This subject fascinated her, and she searched eagerly for more on the subject, but other than a few confusing words about mana and spellcasting, she found nothing to explain how or what the powers were, nor how they were used.

Lady Bethan did not live to see her daughter’s ninth birthday. Repeated pregnancies, still births and her grief, finally sapped her strength so far that she could not recover from a normal winter illness. In his grief, Lord Josha spent more time away, burying himself in his duties, leaving young Lady Ru with only the servants and her tutors for company.

During the fall of Lady Ru’s tenth year, her father was severely injured in a defensive battle against the giant spider-like creatures of the islands called Gnorches. As a result of this injury, Lord Josha was no longer able to perform the border patrols required, and due to a head wound, could not remember procedures and policies he needed to rule effectively. Lady Ru would not be considered an adult until her fourteenth birthday, so an immediate search was made for an empath to lead Frenton Holding. Josha’s friend, Markam was appointed as Lorder, acting leader, until a suitable empath was found or until Lady Ru reached her majority.

Lorder Markam took an avid interest in Lady Ru’s education, as Josha still wanted her to succeed him, if at all possible. Lady Ru’s free time decreased as her training took precedence over all other things. Shortly after her twelfth birthday, she sent a petition for an official audience with Lorder Markam.

****

part 3 will be coming soon

Don't you know yet? McD's sells HAMBURGERS!

We have all been there. In a hurry, wanting a quick lunch. Just stopping in for a bite to eat. Whether we use the drive thru or run inside to make our order, we all know this situation.

You know what you want, you need to order it, get it and be on your way. That is the convenience of fast food. A meal on the go, food in a few minutes. A wonderful thing. But it always seems you run into this....

There is a person in front of you that has no idea what the place serves. They stand there, reading the menu, for hours it seems. They seem confused, "Hmm, what is there to get? Oooh, I can get a hamburger... or a cheeseburger.... or a hamburger with 2 patties.... oh wow look, that one can come with cheese too!"

For mercy's sake, this is a HAMBURGER PLACE! Of course they sell hamburgers. Don't you know that yet? The menu never really changes. This is not a fancy place. Pick a burger and order it and MOVE on!

But yet, they stand there, reading over the menu, and over it again, like they expect some new option to suddenly just appear if they stare at it long enough. You are trying to be patient, glancing at your watch. "So much for 'Fast' food," you think.

It has been over 5 minutes now and that slowpoke in front of you still hasn't comprehended the fact that this is a hamburger place that sells hamburgers. Finally they decide, ooo I will get a hamburger! The whole place almost lights up with their realization that this is a hamburger place. Wow, they can get a hamburger, you think, Great, now maybe I can finally order.

Yes, we have all been there. A two minute stop lasts half an hour. Fast food isn't anywhere near fast at these times. Some people just don't understand. As you rush out the door, or drive off with your food, just remember this: A hamburger place sells hamburgers!

Dragon Dreams Come True

I have always loved dragons. The idea of them, the look of them. Dragons are majestic and beautiful. As I have always been an avid reader, I would search for and read any book that dealt with dragons. Then I came across one set of books that I immediately fell in love with. The Pern series by Anne McCaffrey. The dragons in her world were loving and gentle and worked as a team with their human caretakers.

I loved this premise. People and dragons bonding for life, taking care of each other, always there for each other. Her dragons looked like the ones I had always pictured in my mind as the proper look for a dragon. Anne McCaffrey wrote other stories too, some that didn't include dragons, but I had grown to love her writing by the time I found them and enjoyed those series' too.

Then one day, I heard about a convention called DragonCon. It was taking place in Atlanta, GA. Anne McCaffrey was a guest and speaker at this convention. I had to be there. I just had to. Anne lives in Ireland, and the sad fact is she is getting older. This might be my only chance to ever see my favorite author, ever. It is a long trip to take and probably one she wouldn't be making again.

So, I needed to be there. The problem was, I lived in Kansas City. Way too far to just drive over. It seemed impossible for me to make it. But luck was on my side. Some other people from a discussion group I was involved with were going as well. I managed to get with one of them in an agreement to share a hotel room and some expenses for the trip. I bought a plane ticket, ordered convention tickets online. Yay, I was going to go to DragonCon.

Then some bad news. Anne wasn't feeling well, and may not be able to make it to the convention. I didn't like this news at all, but I would definitely give up my chance to see her in person to keep her healthy. So I resigned myself to the fact that even though I was going, the reason for my attendance may not be there.

The day finally arrived and I was in Atlanta, entering the convention hall, still not knowing if my idol was there. I wandered around looking at the booths and performers and suddenly a shock when through the whole area. It was like everyone stopped breathing at once. The whisper came through, Anne was here, she made it. I was thrilled.

I won't bore you with details of the whole convention, but some of the highlights were I bought a copy of Pern music on CD, I met Teal'c and Bratac from Stargate SG-1, talked with them both for over an hour. Met and spoke with my favorite cover artist Rowena.

But the absolute best thing is not only did I see Anne McCaffrey, I met her, and sat with her and a few other people for a few hours. We chatted and shared a bag of pretzels. Her son, Todd, was there as well and I won a galley copy of the first book they co-wrote together.

That was one of the best days of my life. Sitting and chatting with my favorite author, even sharing a snack while we chatted. That is a memory I will always treasure and hold close to my heart. Anne McCaffrey to me is one of the best authors ever, and if you read at all, I recommend her books very highly.

She is not just a great author though, she is also a warm and friendly person. I will always be honored that she chose to share her worlds with us, and I admire her strength and determination in coming to that convention for her fans, despite her poor health at the time.

Anne McCaffrey is a role model, even a hero to me. I love her books, her dragons and her strength. Meeting her, spending most of a day with her, made my dragon dreams come true.

Thank you, Anne, you mean the world to me.

What Do They Want From Me?

If you have a pet or ever had a pet, you know exactly what I mean. As I type, right at this moment, my beagle is sitting nearby, just staring at me. There is a pillow not too far away, where he could lie down comfortably and take a nap. But no, he sits on the hard tile and stares. I can just see him out of the corner of my eye.

After awhile, it starts to bug me. He has food and water in his dishes, he has been outside recently. His needs are all met. Yet, there he sits.... just staring. What does he want? More staring. He just won't stop. Finally, I break down. I look over at him, I meet his eyes. He just stares. His tail wags a little, but he stares.

I wonder what he is thinking. Is he sitting there wondering when he gets more food? Is he hoping he gets an extra trip outside? Oh gods, is he sitting there planning the easiest way to kill me? He stares... I stare back.

I can't take it anymore. I blurt out "What do you want from me?!" He jumps up, tail wagging, runs to me. Ah, I think, he just wants a bit of attention. I reach out to pet him. He runs away and back to me. Maybe he is out of food already. I go and check. He follows.

Nope, still plenty of food and water. I turn to look at him, he isn't in the kitchen. I go back to the main room, and there he is curled up on his pillow... calm, relaxed, dozing off even.

Wondering what the heck that was all about, I sit back down and get back to my essay. A bit later i see something out of the corner of my eye. He is staring at me... again.

I have two dogs and my puppycat. They all do this. Sometimes singly, sometimes together. They just sit and stare. And stare. I just can't figure it out. Maybe you know?

What do they want from me!?

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

Today I would like to change up the topics a little and talk about something a little different. I have been reading other peoples blogs for quite awhile now and I have come across some really good blogs. So I would like to tell you about my favorite blog.

It is called Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. The author is a woman named Ree who lives on a working cattle ranch. She writes about herself, her children and family, and many other topics as well. I haven't missed a day of reading since I have come across this blog. It is the first web page in my list of favorites and I highly recommend it to anyone. Confessions of a Pioneer Woman has something for everyone, funny kids' stories, loads of great pictures, and much more.Ree has a great writing style, her tone is light-hearted most of the time, and she comes across as open and friendly.

To be frank, Ree was actually my motivation for starting this blog of mine. I have never met her, nor spoken with her. I don't think I have ever commented on her blog, up until now I didn't tend to write anything to anyone. I was the type who would read and enjoy, but never reply. But Ree has such a great style of writing, I decided that if I was ever going to come close to writing even half as well as her, I needed to practice my writing and hopefully improve one day.

So, if you enjoy funny stories, great recipes, and awesome pictures, I highly recommend that you take a minute and check out Ree's blog at Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. I am confident that you will enjoy her blog as much as I do. Oh, check out her calender too, she has some awesome pictures in it, it is a reasonable price, and if I had any income at all that calender would be hanging up on my wall right now.

Gray WHAT?

Yesterday started out as a normal day. Woke up, got my coffee and sat down at the computer. Simple enough things I do every morning. Check my email, read through my favorite blogs, have a glance at what is going on in my classes.

The puppycat curled up in my lap, saying good morning to my friends online, sipping on my coffee. Looks like it will be a normal day. I get done checking everything, then log in to make my daily blog post. All is well.... so far.

My first cup of coffee is gone, time to get another. Since I am up and moving and more awake by this time, I do a bit of housecleaning, feed the animals, and do my morning clean up. In the bathroom, the last step is brush my hair. Lol, it gets messed every morning from the snuggles and cuddles I get from the dogs in the wake up greetings. Not thinking about much, I attend to my morning routines.

But wait! I have something in my hair. What the heck? I know my pets shed a lot, but I have my own hair on my head, I don't need theirs there too. Ah, well, I will just brush it out. Umm, it isn't coming out with the brush... ok then, I will just pick it off. It's attached to my head? This isn't a pet hair, it is my own hair. But how can that be? My hair is dark brown, almost black. This hair is lighter. Much lighter.

Oh my gods, it is GRAY! I have a gray hair. Whoa, how did this happen, when? I am only 34 and I am getting gray? This isn't right. Not yet anyway. I won't have gray hair yet, so a tug and it is gone.

But I know it will be back. And it will be bringing friends with it. Soon I may have a whole party of gray hairs on my head. So I guess this is it, I am getting older. I know it had to happen, but I wasn't expecting it quite this soon.

A Dog? A Cat? No, it's a Puppycat!

I have never been much of a cat person. I have always liked dogs. I would study them and read about dogs and wolves and any other canine type. I am good with dogs, I know them very well. But I never really paid attention to cats. Oh sure, I thought some were pretty, and I would pet them if I could. But I never spent any time learning about them. I didn't hate cats, I just never really thought about them. My sister liked cats and so did a few of my friends, and I used to joke around with them when cats came up in discussion. My favorite line was: Cats are great, they are self-propelled dog toys.

Three years ago I was living with my sister. I had a dog, she had a dog and 3 cats. I barely ever noticed the cats, they were just kind of there, no more noticeable to me than before. One day, she brought home this tiny kitten. It was in poor shape and it was not certain it would survive. It had been neglected and was very sick and almost starved to death. Sure, I felt sorry for it, but it didn't really catch my attention. My sis was taking care of it, it was her cat to keep or find a home for if it survived. It was just another rather unnoticeable cat to me.

Until the day I had to go into the room she was keeping it in. This tiny, pathetic kitten struggled to climb up to a high spot. Once it did it looked at me and gave this pitiful little mew. I looked down at this miniature bundle of bones and spoke without realizing it:"Oh Rogue, you are gonna be just fine."

This caught me dead in my tracks. I had just spoken a name for this cat. The only other times that has happened, that I have named an animal, was when it was mine or meant to be mine when it was old enough. "Oh no," I thought, "I think I just got a cat." I went and found my sister and asked her if I could keep it. She thought it over and Rogue became mine 2 days later.

This was the first cat I had ever owned (or been owned by, lol) and I had no clue how to treat a cat. So I treated as I did my dog. My sister's cats spent most of their time outdoors, so this tiny kitten spent most of his time around dogs. Plus, he had me for an owner. Is it any wonder he turned out to be a rather unusual cat?

That is, if he is a cat at all. :) He looks like a cat, he purrs, he uses the litter box. But other than that he is a great dog. He comes when I call him. He sits up pretty for treats. He gives kisses when allowed, he sleeps on the bed, sometimes under the covers. A few times he has barked at loud noises. Well, kind of, he makes a short, abrupt "mrowf! mrowf! Sure comes close to being a bark, lol.

In short, Rogue is a pretty cat, and he is the best dog I have ever owned. He is my Puppycat and I love him with all my heart.

Lady Ru's story

As I promised yesterday, here is Part 1 of my fiction story about my gaming character Lady Ru.

Lady Ru's Story, pt 1

As another scream echoed throughout the house, the man turned white and almost fell into the chair behind him. “How much longer will she have to suffer?” he groaned. His friend poured wine into two goblets as he replied, “Not much longer now, by the sound of things, Josha. This will soon be over and you will…” His voice trailed off as he listened intently. Josha jumped to his feet, knocking over the wine as another wail filled the room. He grabbed his friend in relief and joy. “It is over,” he cried, “Markam, it is finally over!”

Markam pushed his friend back into the chair, “Yes, my lord, now have a glass of wine and catch your breath.” Turning to the table he noticed the spilled goblets, shook his head in mild amusement and went to the bell to ring for the servants to come clean up the mess. As he poured more wine, a young woman entered the room. Nodding her head in the local gesture of respect she spoke to Josha.

“My Lord, your wife, Lady Bethan is resting well. She is weak but will recover swiftly.” she said softly. “You now have a beautiful daughter. The child is strong and healthy.”

Josha jumped up again and shouted, “Markam! I have a daughter! I am finally a father!”

“Congratulations, Josha! I know how you and Bethen have suffered through the past three stillborns. You will be a wonderful father.” Markam said as he pushed the glass of wine into his friend’s hand. “Drink this and then you can go up and see your wife and daughter.”

Several hours later, Josha was finally able to be alone with his wife and child. Bethan was still pale from her two day labor, but she was radiant with joy. “I was afraid to hope this one would live,” she said quietly as she looked at the sleeping infant in her arms, “Have you thought of any names, Josha?”

Josha considered for a moment, then replied, “I was planning Jothan for a boy, and Bethsha for a girl, but the night before you went into labor, I had a very strange dream. In it, a person of glowing light told me that if this child survived the birthing, that I was to choose the name Ru.”

Bethan looked confused. “Ru? What kind of a name is that? It sounds very odd.”
“I know,” Josha said pensively, “But I have a feeling that we should name her that.” He looked at the child as she slept in her mother’s arms, “It seems to fit her somehow though.”

Bethan looked at Josha, then back to the child. “Yes, we shall call her Ru. It does fit her.” As Bethan finally started to fall asleep, she murmured, “I love you Josha, and I love our little Ru.”

****

part 2 will be coming soon.

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Online Games and Fiction

I have alway enjoyed games and puzzles. I remember when I was a child we had an Nintendo system. I spent many hours playing games. My favorite type were the role playing games, or RPGs for short. Creating my character, doing quests and earning levels, it was always so much fun. One game I will never forget is Ghost Lion. This was a simple style RPG, but what made it so memorable was it was the only game I ever played with my father. Dad and I spent hours trying to figure out what to do next, and where the next part of the puzzle was. Mom played too, but that game was mostly just me and my dad.

So, it only follows then that when I got a computer, I would play PC versions of the same type of games. Then came internet, and my choices of games got even larger. I came across an RPG game called The 4th Coming, or T4C for short. Now, I will review that game in detail one day soon but for now I want to go in another direction.

This was a multiplayer game, and I met many people there. Quite a few are still friends today, in fact that is where I met my boyfriend, Ducky. This post, however relates to another player. A man who went by the name Raist Justice. He turned out to be a writer, and has written an 8 book series based on this game with the 9th book in progress. The greatest part of his stories is the fact that the books are self contained. You don't need to really know anything about the game to understand and enjoy the story. He included player characters in his tales though and I was honored to have my game name and character included.

In honor of his stories, I decided one day, after months of his asking, to finally write a short story explaining my characters history. My story starts with the birth of my character Lady Ru, and continues up to the point where she was included into the Brimstone stories of Raist Justice.

His stories begin far before my character had been born, so my short tale doesn't begin to even cover the depth of his work. But it does allow those that knew me to see how my character began. I will end this post here for today, as it is getting long, but tomorrow I will post the first part of Lady Ru's story for your reading pleasure.

Remember, this story was my first attempt to ever write fiction, so it may not be very good. All comments will be welcome, so please, whether you hate it or love it or anything in between, please let me know.

And if you are interested in reading the Brimstone stories by Raist Justice, you can begin reading them here, Brimstone, Book 1.

Everywhere and Anywhere

There is no place in the world that is better than inside the pages of a good book. Opening the cover, you can have breakfast in the Old Wild West, eat your lunch with Merlin in Avalon, have dinner at a Renaissance Ball, and fall asleep on a starship sometime in the future. You can go anywhere you wish, even to places that may not really exist.

I began reading at a young age, so I have no memories of not being able to read. During my life I have gone though some horrible experiences and without the escape into books, I don’t think I would have made it through with my sanity intact. During the worst times I would choose books that had happy endings, this built hope that I would make it though my trouble. Putting myself into the place of the main character, experiencing the challenges they endured, and seeing that no matter how bad things got for them, they always managed to pull through and live happily ever after; bolstered my courage and increased my emotional endurance.

Each book has its own appeal. There may be pictures or artwork on the cover, the title may be writing in a fancy font, the thickness and heft of the book. Just holding the book in my hands, the promise of events and travel, the new characters to meet and get to know and to travel with them on their journey. Every book promises something new and different.

Opening the book brings varied experiences: The crisp, fresh scent of a new book, the stiffness of the unread pages, the crackle of the spine bending for the first time. Or, alternatively, the musty smell of an old, much loved book; the soft, dog-eared pages, turned lovingly, many times while revisiting old friends; the broken spine, automatically falling open to favorite parts of the story. Every book takes you somewhere you may have never been able to go otherwise.

I take these journeys whenever possible. Whether it be curled up in bed with a bowl of chips, sitting on the couch with a cold drink, or relaxing in a steaming hot bubble bath, there is almost no place I can be that forbids sending my mind and soul out into the wonders of a book. I read on trips, in waiting rooms, just about anyplace where I can sit and have five or more minutes to spare.

There are very few things I refuse to read, namely westerns and mysteries. Those two genres seem to be written more for a male specific audience and I find it difficult to immerse myself into a book of predominately battle scenes, or stay focused enough to be analyzing the story to pick out clues as I read.

As I am now functionally disabled and primarily housebound, books have become even more important to me. It can get boring sitting at home, unable to go anywhere, but having the ability to open a book, I can instantly be anywhere I wish. This week I have explored an undiscovered cavern, traveled to other planets, learned about sea turtles, flown on the back of a dragon, been knighted, and walked beside Princess Di, to name a few things.

I couldn’t imagine not having the world, even the universe open to me. Without books this world would be very limited. Pick one up and open the cover, within a minute you could be anywhere and everywhere you wish. What is your choice? Come with me and learn about Mars. We will lose ourselves discovering the Americas, or we can go hang out with the Vikings tonight. Open a book and let your soul and mind fly.

Puppies, Dogs and So Much More

I have been spending the last few days talking to you about some serious thoughts I have been having. So I think today I will lighten it up a bit and tell you about a great game I play.

Virtual Pups is a free online simulated dog game. I love this game because there is so much to do. I am not a big fan of games where you have set goals and have to do things in certain orders. Virtual Pups is limited only by your imagination. And best of all it is free. As soon as you create an account you can buy dogs, bet on events, make new friends in the chat or the forum.

Virtual Pups is a game that can be enjoyed by an adult or a child, so is a good way for families to share an interest. There are well over 100 breeds of dogs to choose from, so you have a chance to own the dog of your dreams.

What can you do? How do you play? Well, I can tell you right off there is nothing to download. This game is completely browser based, so if you can look at a web page, you can play this game. As for what you can do, oh there is so much possible. You can become the owner of a boarding kennel, try to become one of the best trainers available, event your dog in a wide range of competitions, or simply try to breed the best dog of your choice. You could try to get a dog with the highest stats, or work to make it true to life, or make it the best in another way.

Pedigrees are provided on every dogs page, you can trace their blood line all the way back to the original dog they came from. If you want to start from the very beginning, you can import or buy a foundation dog, normally called a foundie or import. This is a dog that was computer created, it has base stats, so you can pick and choose what to train it in or what stats to improve.

Or if you don't want to start that way, you can buy or rescue a regular dog. This type has parents listed on it's page and has a bloodline record. Some of these dogs have already been improved with selective breeding to improve certain stats, or breed to a color, or whatever the breeder's goal was.

You can play Virtual Pups for free, with no payment ever. But if you are at all like me, you will eventually choose the sponsor option. This gives you added benefits, like a dedicated kennel type with a different bonus for each type. Unlimited turns, so you can play as long as you wish each day. There are many benefits to 'sponsoring up', as I call it. Not the least of which, it helps to pay for the game to continue running.

But I don't have any extra money for this? Ah, but here is the nice thing. Many people will sell sponsors, or upgraded kennels to other players for game money or in game services. I got my first sponsor by training dogs. A player that had some extra cash, but was short on time, paid me for training a certain number of dogs to their needs, by upgrading my kennel to a sponsor. This was great. I got my sponsor upgrade, they got their dogs trained, and the owner still got the cash for the upgrade purchase to keep the game going. Everyone wins in that way.

Can I win the game? Well, yes and no. There are no set goals to the game, so it is not possible to win the game and be done with it. But, yes in the manner that you accomplish the goals you set out to do, that could be considered winning. The great thing about that is, you can simply choose another goal to work to, and the game can be played indefinitely.

I love Virtual Pups. It has allowed me to own, breed and event my favorite breed, and I am currently working on breeding the best dog ever in my chosen breed. I have 5 sponsors now, one of each type available, and I have spent very little real money in acquiring them. All but one were purchased from other players with game money or services.

So, if you are looking for a family oriented game, without all the violence and profanity so common these day. If you always wanted a dog but have allergies or no space or any other situations where you can't have one. If you want just one dog or a few hundred, this is the game for you.

Head on over to Virtual Pups, create your account, name your kennel and take the first steps into the world where dogs are everything. There is much information, tips and tricks in the forums; in chat, there are other players willing to help you get started, to answer any questions you may have.

Come and join me there, there is so much we can do.

No Pain, No Gain?

We have all heard that old saying. I think we all share the same understanding of what it means. No Pain, No Gain. A very simple way of saying so many things. It applies to just about any situation. There are other cliches that have similar meanings: Nothing In Life Is Free, Early Bird Gets the Worm. I am sure you know a few other phases that work as well. They all have the same underlying meaning that to get what you want you have to work at it, you have to put forth some kind of effort to achieve your goals.

Even though I know this meaning to the phrase, it has come to be something different to me than a simple encouraging phrase. I have constant back pain. My back hurts me no matter what I do. Pain killers don't work for me any more, hot baths or showers do nothing, creams, ointments, etc, all have no effect. My back still hurts. If I sit very still and move as little as possible, I can ease the pain to a level where I can almost forget about it for awhile.

But it is always there, biding it's time, just waiting for me to stand up too fast or move just a little too much, so it can jump out and attack me again. At times, the pain gets so severe that I can't take a breath without feeling that agony shooting up and down my back. It is almost impossible to stand up straight at times, and sometimes, I can barely walk.

No Pain, No Gain. This says the effort you make will pay off somehow. For most people this is true. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Keep at your efforts, you will see your goals become reality. Not quite fitting to me, I feel. Even something as simple as getting up to get something to drink can leave me hurting so bad I feel nauseated and dizzy from the intensity of it.

There are good days, yes, where I can summon up the will to leave my house and go do something, visit the flea market, see a movie, do some grocery shopping. But then there are the bad days, where all I want to do is stay in bed and cry, or try to sit at my computer and surf the internet in an attempt to forget or at least distract myself enough that my pain isn't all I am focusing on. Sometimes this works, other times I just end up sitting there, staring at my screen, doing absolutely nothing but concentrating on not taking too deep of a breath.

No Pain, No Gain. This is a good phrase, but for me I think it is backwards. The less I try to do, the less pain I have to suffer. For the most part, anyway. For my situation, the correct phrase would be No Gain, No Pain. If I do completely nothing, the pain usually stays bearable, in the background so to speak.

However, I have come to realize recently that this is not good enough for me. I don't want to give up my goals and dreams and efforts. I don't want to be controlled by my pain. I want to go get a drink when I am thirsty, to go for a walk on a nice evening, to clean the bathroom so well that it sparkles when you turn on the light. In short, I want to take back my life and live it productively. I know that some of these wants are just not possible physically. I have no choice but to avoid them. I cannot go bowling, or spend the day walking around the mall, it would just hurt too badly. But I will not let the pain stop me from the small things anymore. My bathroom will sparkle, dinner will be made, I will have a drink if I am thirsty.

No Pain, No Gain? or No Gain, No Pain? Either way, I will still have pain. At this time, that is a fact and unavoidable. But now? I have decided the gains are worth the pain. Pain will still control much of what I can and cannot do. Pain will be there just waiting for the chance to attack me and bring me down. I will not be just a victim of it anymore, this is official notice to my pain:

I am fighting back!

Online Still Counts!

I have had internet service for years now. It seems like I have never been without it at times. The online world is varied and always available. No matter what time of day it is, I can shop, look for things, check the news, so many things.

But the thing I like so much about the internet is how you can meet people. Now it is true that you have to be careful, that you need to protect your information and watch out for who you are speaking to. It is also true that people can act like someone who they are not, we have all heard the stories of adults pretending to be children in order to prey on them, or people tricking others somehow. This is all true, but it is not true that these problems are only online, it happens in person too. So I figure the risks are fairly equal when meeting a new person online or offline.

Actually, it may be more risky in meeting offline, someone you meet at a bus stop would have more of a chance to hurt you than someone you only chat with on your computer. Even though you run the risk of never knowing for sure who is typing to you from cyberspace, I think online friendships still count.

As I have mentioned before, I am primarily housebound. I just can't go out to places, therefore I have very little chance of making new friends in the traditional ways. But online, I have many friends. Some I have had a face to face meeting with, and some that I know I will never have that chance. Many, I have seen pictures of, I know their real names, or I have had voice or video chats with. Some are new friends, some I have maintained a friendship of years.

Most of my friends I have met because we shared a common interest, but isn't that how all friendships begin? I lose contact with some of them at times, but many I have reconnected with again, only to repeat the cycle. I still count them as friends, we just don't talk everyday. Again, still comparable to offline friendships.

One of these friendships that I had turned into more than that. We fell in love with each other. We lived in different states, but as we grew more serous, he moved near me, and now we have been together for just about 2 years. So online does count in my opinion.

My sister always told me that online friendships were fake, that they couldn't be real as I had never really met the person. Well, that may be true in a fashion. However, even though I have never seen these people in front of me where I could touch them, they still mean a lot to me. Yes, it is true we call each other by our online names, but they have become more like affectionate nicknames, and even though we do know each others real names, the screen names seem to fit much better sometimes. That doesn't mean the friendship is fake. I am close with my sister, but I call her sis most of the time, only sometimes do I use her real name. I still call my boyfriend by the nickname I gave him before we met in person. No, it wasn't his screen name, but I still don't use his real name often.

I suppose nicknames have always been my habit, my closest friend in school was nicknamed Wolf, and she called me Vixen. My other sister prefers to be called Tyler, I prefer to be called Ru. So I do tend to either use a nickname that is given, or end up giving them one myself in time. My boyfriends screen name was -CK-, but I ended up calling him Ducky, another friend uses the name Sid, but I call him Devil, and so on and so on.

The best part of online friendships is that I get to meet people that I would have never come across in person. Like Bruxir in Argentina, Salamander and Boring from Australia, and the nicest, most loving person I have ever met, Sweetie from the U.K.

I would never have known them if it wasn't for the internet, but I count each one as a good friend, and I will always believe online still counts!

On My Way

Like many people, when I was in school, I hated it. My reasons may not have been the same, but the emotion was. All through high school, I swore that once I graduated I was done. I had no desire or plans to go to college. I wanted to be completely done with any type of formal schooling. I would tell anyone who asked that I would never, ever go to college, that I hated school that much.

And I kept my word. I got engaged to my high school sweetheart on the same day I graduated, and a year later we were married. Oh I slipped once, and signed up for a correspondence course, but I lost interest fairly quickly and never got very far into it. I still hated school and never planned to go back. The mindset held true.

Until January 2006. I found myself unable to work at a regular job. All my job skills were in retail and security, both fields that required physical mobility. Which I no longer had. I couldn't unload a truck, stock shelves, or walk a patrol. I had no other skills that I could do, no abilities to get a job that could accommodate my physical limitations. So, I went online and looked at colleges.

Two days later, I was sitting in the admitting office, signing the paperwork that would start my college years. I was 32 years old, and finally going to college, something I swore I would never do. Amazing how life changes your mind, isn't it? Something you swear to at 18, 19, even at 25 can all totally change within just a few years. I finished all the registration paperwork and was told classes start in 3 days. I was there on time for my first class. I felt embarrassed at first, surely I was too old for college now. But it turns out, many people my age or older have gone back to college or like me, finally took the steps to further their education.

I wasn't sure when I enrolled, exactly what it was that I wanted to do, so I settled on an Associates degree in Computer Office. I figured that would give me 2 years to decide what my main goal would be. It didn't take long for me to decide I would continue on to get a Bachelor's degree in Accounting when I was done with my Associates.

That was almost 2 yrs ago. Today, I am in the middle of week 7, of my last 12 week term. I am due to graduate with my Associates in January. Next week, I go in to register for my Bachelor's and commit the next 2 or 3 years to more schooling. I think back now on that vow I made in high school. Never to go to college. It makes me smile to think how young and naive I was then. So much I didn't know, thinking I knew everything I ever needed.

These last 2 years in school have not been easy. My physical limitations caused me a great deal of difficulty in attending classes, but even still I rarely missed any. When I moved, the driving distance became to much for me to handle, so I switched to online courses. I was lucky in a way, choosing Computer Office made for some easy classes. Much of the material I had already learned just from using my own computer for many years. The classes I was required to take simply refreshed and expanded on the knowledge I had already cobbled together.

Some of the classes were difficult for me though. I hated the history class. It wasn't difficult to do, but there was so much writing involved in answering all the questions. General Psychology was a fun class, Oral Communications was nerve-wracking, I hated giving speeches. I was a little scared of Algebra as I had failed it 3 times in high school, but I was happily surprised to have little trouble with it.

I have made it through almost 2 complete years of college now, and to my amazement, I have maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA. Straight A's in all my classes so far. Only this term left and if I can manage to get an A in each of the 3 classes I am in now, I will graduate to my Associates with a perfect score. Not bad for a person that hated school so much she swore never to continue, is it? Looking back, I did horrid in high school, D's and F's and barely managing to graduate. I would never in my wildest dreams ever have thought that I could do so well in school.

I am looking forward to getting that degree in January, but the classes I am in now are the most difficult ones so far. Two of them are computer classes, so I am doing well in them, they are challenging but not impossible. The 3rd class is Composition 2, this is the hardest class I have taken. I am fighting hard to maintain an A in this class and I am not sure I will be able to. Regardless, I have come to far to give up now, so I am putting all my effort into this, and I am looking forward to all the possibilities that are opening up.

Going back to college has been the best thing I have ever done for myself. Sometimes I wish I had done it sooner, but I know that the time wasn't right until now. So 5 more weeks of school and then I have my first degree. And then I start on my second. At 18 years old, I would never have imagined having 2 college degrees to my name. I am constantly amazed at how my life has turned out. I will be thrilled to hold that first degree, and stunned if I make it with a 4.0 GPA, but regardless of my grade at the end, I will be able to hold that degree and know that "I did it!"

And that, to me, is the most valuable knowledge I can ever have. To know "I did it!" and that I can do it again!

Trip to the DMV

Well, I finally did it. Yesterday, I changed my driver's license to Florida. I have been putting this off for a long time. I hate going to the DMV. I think everyone hates that place. But I have a nasty habit of scaring myself about things like this. For months I have been working my self up over it. What if they need papers I don't have? What if I have to take the test? And OMG, what if I have to take the driving test again?

A bit of back story here: When I was 18, a senior in high school, I took Driver's Ed. I passed the class work with perfect grades, but I will never forget what the teacher told me when he signed off on my final paperwork. He told me "Well, you have done perfectly in the class room, but you made a few too many mistakes on the driving practice to really get this... But I am sure you will improve with practice, so I will sign off for your license."

At 18, I was thrilled to finally be legal to drive, but his words nagged at the back of my mind. Sure enough, not even 2 month of driving had my car totaled. Now this wasn't a small car, but what my dad called a boat. A huge 4 door metal monster, with a long hood and a big trunk. I crashed that car into the back of an El Dorado on the way to school one morning. Right in front of a gas station. The worst part was several of the popular kids from school were there and saw the whole thing. So not only was I totally freaked by the accident, but I was horribly embarrassed that they saw it.

I determined then that I was not fit to drive, but my dad didn't agree. He kept telling me I was just nervous and that I would be fine. I drove my mom's van 2 or 3 times after that to prove to my dad I wasn't scared to be driving, then had my mom take me back to the DMV and I turned in my license for an I.D. card. I didn't get a license again until I was 25.

By that time I had practiced my driving on safer back country roads. (This was in Kansas, so plenty of empty dirt roads to drive on.) I went to the DMV with my new confidence, filled out all the paperwork, passed the written test perfectly, and went out on my driving test. Which I failed. Went home and practiced more, tried the driving test again... and failed. In total, I failed that test 5 times before I finally improved my driving skills enough to earn my license.

But back to yesterday, I had spent the whole week freaking out about having to take the driving test again. I have a hard time with tests anyway, and with so much riding on the outcome of this type of test, well, I didn't want to risk it. So my mindset when I woke yesterday morning was rather chaotic. The only thing I was sure of was that if I had to take the driving test again, I was in trouble. For one thing, I hate tests, for another, I don't currently have my own vehicle, and my boyfriend's jeep is just too big for me to drive.

My appointment was at 1 p.m. So we left at about 12:30. All the way there I was just a bundle of nerves and Ducky (my boyfriend) was laughing at me, saying it would be fine, I had nothing to worry about. We arrived and got checked in and I got into the express lane to wait for my turn. Or so I thought, lol, after another lady came in and got seen, Ducky noticed I was in the wrong lane. Don't you just hate it when nerves make you mess up? I got into the correct lane and was called up within a few minutes. Paperwork: Check. Vision test: Check. I answered all the questions asked and went to the screen for that wonderful DMV picture. A slight problem when I had to sign though. They had this electronic screen you signed on, and me being left handed, put pressure in the wrong spot and it took 3 tries to get my hand angled properly and make a legible signature. I was told to go sit and wait, and within a few minutes had my new license in my hand.
I left quickly, still afraid someone would call me back and say i needed to test my driving after all. Once we got into the jeep though, i finally relaxed. And of course, Ducky teased me all the way home about working myself up over nothing. I was so relieved though, I didn't mind at all.

So, now I have a pretty new Florida license, with a not so horrible picture on it, and I don't have to worry about it again for 7 years. But I guarantee, come renewal time, I will be freaking out again.

Getting Started?

Hello,

This is a hard post to make... but then starting something new has always been hard for me. I probably should give a bit of info about myself. Well, let's see, how much about me do you really want to know?

The basics are I am 34, average build, basically a normal person. I was married for 11 years to my high school sweetheart, but as we grew up, we grew apart, and each of us turned into a person the other couldn't handle. See? Typical background story, lol.

In this blog, I will be writing about a variety of things, so if you are looking for something to read on a specific topic, this is probably not the place for you. I have 2 dogs and a cat that thinks he is a dog, so there will probably be stories about them frequently. I have no children so no funny kid stories or parenting help, sorry.

All in all, I think this blog will end up being fairly random in topic choices, but if you are reading, I hope you find something to smile about on occasion.

Ok, I guess that is enough for an introductory post, on with the blogging. :)