MILES to GO || before I sleep

So my new computer probably won't ship until the 30th at the earliest, and if they DO ship it that day, that's the day they charge my card. Coincidentally (har har!) it's the day my bill for my credit card is due, and I can't buy anything more until said payment is... paid. So basically I'm broke-ish until the laptop is paid for and I can get my rebate, which sucks.

I also restarted work on the "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story" novelization project. I'm glad I managed to catch up to where I was (a little more than midway through Mercury's portion of Chapter 2 - In Search of the Stones) in less than two days, but running Dreamweaver at the same time as SNES9x is a pain, and it's hard to type and pause with my memory so low. So while I do plan on restarting/finishing that soon(ish), I'll wait until I get the new laptop, since that should make juggling the two programs easier.

Tomorrow I have my first day of JOUR 397B, aka the Daily Sundial, even though I've already been to the orientation and have been turning articles in. We're not meeting in the Sundial room afaik, so I'm not really sure what to expect.

After class, I'm supposed to go to a follow-up appointment with the oral surgeon back in Van Nuys, but a lot's happened in the past two weeks-- namely, Grandpa's gotten a LOT more forgetful and more spaced out. Of course I'm worried about him-- I don't really know what caused it or brought it on, and the family's got a lot of theories, ranging from overdosing on some medication to having a stroke and us just not knowing about it (is that really possible?). Either way, it's a bit sad to see him seem so listless and uninvolved in anything the way he used to be-- always reading his papers, checking his stocks, and watching his financial and political news programs. Now he just sort of sits there and channel surfs, and sometimes he doesn't even pay attention (Baba said he watched "Hannah Montana" for an hour today, which SCARES me).

SoI might not go to the oral surgeon tomorrow if Baba's taking Grandpa to the doctor's, but I think I feel fine-- I haven't had any residual soreness, tightness of the jaw, bleeding, or noticeable signs of infection. I still don't want to get slammed with a cancellation fee if I don't go, and even if I do go, again, there's the whole payment thing... urgh, can't wait until my next paycheck. I think with all the hours I've been pulling lately it'll be a bit better than my last one, but I hate how I only get paid once a month.

I am worried about Grandpa, of course... I mean, part of the reason why I'm here is to try and take care of them, though as I've mentioned in the past, I never want to baby them. Neither of them are "rest home" type of people, so Grandpa being "incapacitated" like he is seems hard enough on all of us. I don't like facing the very real possibility that his time is coming... but I should, just because this isn't like with Michelle (an accident, out of nowhere, unpredictable. Grandpa's old; he's led a great and full life and been a wonderful inspiration, help, and part of my life. He's been my ONLY Grandpa, because my mom's father died before I really got to know him (I was only a baby, I think). It sucks feeling like I'll have the responsibility of doing so much more for Baba if Grandpa does pass-- moreso than I did or even COULD have done for Mom back when Michelle died. But I do have to be there for her --for Grandpa as well, for as long as he is here-- because I guess part of me is still adamantly hanging onto what little "youth" I feel like I have left. I lost a big chunk of it when Michelle died, because I was 10 and suddenly had to act like an adult back then. Now I'm 22, and I have to act it and beyond, because it's not just Mom this time, it's Baba and all the kids (my aunts and uncles).

I want to think positive though, if just to provide a contrast to Baba's pessimism. I am scared though --and I hate to think it, but selfish. What'll happen to me if Grandpa DOES pass before I graduate? Can I help out with all the bill payments? Will I need to? Grandpa's not working anymore; I don't know where they get money from, or where it all goes to.

Dad is still coming up next weekend for Labor Day, and Shawn (who was supposed to come over today, but I think I gave him my post-surgery cold) and I will be going to Jill's on the 1st for a BBQ/Pool Party. I'm hoping Shawn makes a good impression on both sides of the family, either way. :P I mean, not like it's THAT serious or anything, but it's always nice to get that out of the way first. This isn't some "Meet the Fockers" redux or anything, you know?

Speaking of Dad, he's adamant that when Shawn gets better, he and I go to a bike shop to take the bike that's been sitting in the garage rafters to get totally overhauled. I've thought about it a lot, since bicycling is great exercise, and both my parents can shockingly AGREE on its benefits. I don't have the first clue how to ride though, so the first step would really be getting this bike shaped for ME. And maybe painted purple! :D Dad even says he'll pay for it, which rocks.

Hopefully things will stay... "good-ish" for the next few weeks at the least; Baba and Grandpa are supposed to go to Seattle for Rosh Hashanah, and Shawn should be staying over that week. It'll also be a Mokie-free week (huzzah!) because Baba wants to leave the poodle over at Debbie's, the groomer's we've been taking the fuzzball to. That'll be nice-- not to have to deal with Mokie's yapping and such. That's one reason why I like cats more-- even if they meow, they don't meow so loudly that it attracts attention from outside, or scares postmen.

What else? I woke up today remembering some of the 42 prompts I'd partially done, and how a) I never finished them and b) they were mysteriously not in my Memories. So I found and added them, and maybe when I finish WDKY25 (I surprised myself by seeing how long I've been complaining about that chapter since I finished with WDKY24 last year) I'll work on a few more of those "blurbs." I don't know if/when/where I'll post them, though.

For my next two Sundial articles, I have to contact the Westfield Topanga mall (did it by email, since I didn't find another contact person/PR number to call) and some astronomy teachers at CSUN... unfortunately, the Physics and Astronomy Dept. page at CSUN doesn't organize the professors by their subject, so I might just need to call the department office and find names of professors (preferably full-time; the prof. I had and emailed -who hasn't gotten back to me yet- is part-time) who are in astronomy and might have some insight on the upcoming meteor shower. BTW, every time I type that, I want to say "VENUS METEOR SHOWER!!!!!" I think it sounds a lot cooler than "Crescent Beam shower!" I mean, why would crescent beams shower? Or shower down, as it were? (I remember getting a Sailor Moon Collectible Card from Toys 'R' Us ages ago, and it had a "new" attack for Sailor Venus and Sailor Jupiter on there. Back in the day, before the rest of the series got dubbed/subbed, those kind of things got me downright GIDDY. It was like NEWS in the Sailor Moon universe!)

*sigh* I've been taking a lot of naps today, and I feel like I've hardly been productive, even if I did get work done on the BSSM:AS project.

On the plus side, I've been adding more fics to Dragonfayth, and Blue Eyes and Apricots is only 19 members away from having 500 members! So tell all your friends to join! :D More Azureshippers! WHOO! (We shall conquer the world!)

( Cut because there's always another... meme! )

I just finished sorting through all my Sailor Moon cards. I don't know what possessed me, really, but I think it was mentioning those odd attacks. The wrong one on a dub card was "Venus Electrobolts Slam!" Doesn't that sound more like one of Jupiter's attacks? But it got her "Thunderclap, Zap!" one right. Go figure. Doesn't someone also have a dub attack ending in "Slam!" though?

I also wanted to find the anime-only special cards of the "wedding" from Sailor Stars (they're not images from any real episode, though). Turns out I had most of them in my sticker album, so I'll have to scan them eventually. The collection is quite interesting, and I have a plethora of counterfeit cards based off ONE of the Mercury cards, using manga artwork instead of anime. It's funny how there are so many cards with just the very top of Mercury's head, someone else pictured, and "Sailor Mercury" at the bottom (sometimes not even fully visible). I wonder if the stuff I've got -some of which is in REALLY good condition, in sets, too!- can be sold or something. Not like I do anything with it. And once I scan it... well, I'm happy.

Jaw still hurts like a bitch, and it's a pain to eat practically anything (that includes soft foods like yogurt, ice cream, and cheese, btw), but at least I didn't make a fool of myself while brushing my teeth tonight. Grandpa switched the medication he was giving me from a light narcotic (which made me loopy but killed the pain) to this other stuff that works a bit, but not completely... I still feel like I have lockjaw.

I joined this other organization Joe B. mentioned at the Clubs & Orgs Fair the other day-- the NSLS, which is the National Society of Leadership and Success. Sounds a lot like NSCS, for all intents and purposes, but it's smaller, was founded more recently, and offers things a bit differently. Either way, I figured it's an opportunity, so I joined up-- for the $65 lifetime membership. This time I didn't have to waste time researching whether it was a scam or not, since I *KNOW* the chapter founder.

Speaking of NSCS though, apparently I won some sort of American Express prize (I don't know what, though) for participating in the post-convention survey. They even mentioned my name in the post-convention update email-- huzzah! I hope it's a hefty gift card, what with my recent plane ticket purchase up to Seattle... I mean, Baba offered to pay for it, but for some reason that made me feel awkward. Besides, she already paid for my clothes at H&M the other time, and I never paid her back (and if I tried she'd bop me upside the head).

I've managed to clean my room a LOT these past few days, which is weird but gives me a great sense of accomplishment. I've been shredding lots of useless papers, sorting things out into specific bags and boxes, and trying to figure out what I need/don't need, what itches to the point of me never wanting to wear it again (which is unfortunately a lot of things lately... am I becoming allergic to some sort of fabric?), and what I'll need for the upcoming semester (vs. what I already have which is, of course, a lot).

Today I got the Hercules Hooks in the mail from PCH, and... sorry Billie Mays, they're not as cool as they seem on TV. Maybe it's just me with my wallpapered 1.5" thick (and I know that's thick, but STILL it's not like it says "limited to 1/4" thick walls and less" on the packaging or anything) walls, but it took a good half hour of twisting and pushing to get ONE pin into the wall, and even when it did, the hole it made was not "pin-sized" by any stretch of the imagination. True, I did manage to get my photo collage and Happy Bunny whiteboard hung up without too much of a problem, but I can't see myself devoting any further hours to getting those things through the wall, even though I *DID* use the stud finder to help me find the "thinner" areas of the wall without studs, just plaster. It makes a mess and wastes my time, so I'll stick with nails and a hammer, thankyouverymuch. I've decided at this point that if Baba and Grandpa DO end up selling this house once I graduate, they'll have to re-wallpaper more than just THIS room, anyway. I never TRY to damage it, it just happens. And I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, so nyah! :P

Shawn came over tonight and helped me put the sliders on the rec room couches and adjust my bookcase (which I'd moved in desperate search for one of my hairpin's dislocated rhinestones), and then we watched "The Prestige" together. He said it was very good, and I wisely kept my mouth shut during the whole thing-- and because of that, I was able to "get it" more than I had the first time I watched. At least... I think so!

Anyway, I'm back to being loopy-tired, which is finally appropriate given the time (I'd been tired like hell earlier, but I resisted and cleaned instead, since I didn't want to screw up my sleep schedule MORE). So I'm off to bed!

( Penned at 6am )

Besides that, my right wisdom tooth is hurting. Either it's "really good" (sarcastic) timing, considering I'm scheduled to get my teeth out on the 24th (DAY AFTER SCHOOL STARTS!!! AUGH!), or it's psychological, and if the latter, I'm hoping to distract myself enough today to not think about how weird it feels (and how it hurts). It feels like I have a Skittle stuck in the upper right corner of my mouth.

For those of you that have already had your wisdom teeth out, what did you eat in the days afterward? I was thinking yogurt will probably be safe, but I'm one of those people who doesn't like to eat the same thing too many times in a given period, so I need a bit more of a variety. Okay, yogurt, oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, soup... any other suggestions?

I have 10 more icon slots available, and every now and again, I find myself saying, "I need icons from Z fandom!" and then I promptly forget what those fandoms are. But right now, I totally want to make some for the Secret Society Girl books! :D I already have a few for Meg Cabot's "The Mediator" series on azurite (formerly known as Delishidoodle), so maybe I should finish them up and make a whole big collection of book-inspired icons!

I have yet to hear back from the book publisher whose internship got me all excited-- basically, I want to know what the positions I was interested in entailed, and who to address my cover letter to. The deadline is August 31, so assuming they don't get back to me but I still want to make deadline, does anyone have any suggestions for what to say in my cover letter, or how to find the hiring manager's name (or address the cover letter some other way besides "To whom it may concern" or "Dear Sir/Madam")? I'd appreciate any help I could get...

Possibly going to hang out with Shawn (squee?) later today; maybe the Bourne Supremacy will be back at Blockbuster? That and I want to play more FFX, since I have many more fiends to capture, weapons to customize, and Gil to get. :D

Work wasn't bad.

Met Shawn after work; we hung out and snuggled. It was nice.

Found out at my cousin Josh and his dad Jim were in a plane accident (not sure where, though it sounded like Arizona...) on their way to a long-awaited fishing trip. They escaped fine and swam out to a rock (makes me think this was a hydroplane, not a 737 or anything), but the conversation just before I was leaving for dinner with Melina had me scared and pacing-- I hate "phone calls at weird times," because they always spell death for my family-- that's how it was with my sister, my uncle, and countless other relatives.

Had a decent time at Islands with the other NSCS members from Philly; we're going to be at the Clubs & Orgs fair and hopefully plotting ways we can make use of what little we learned there. I was one of the few (if any) that finished the survey post-convention, and I gave the leadership crew there an earful! But I hope it actually does good/helps.

Finished reading my latest book, "Secret Society Girl." It was an incredibly juicy read, very much targeted toward college students, something that I think is a rare find these days. Even better, there's a sequel, "Under the Rose," which is already out! To Borders!

Actually, I'll probably read "Shopaholic and Baby" first. I've already read 2 books in the past 2 weeks (HP being longer than SSG should give me some more credo in saying that), which is a pretty good record, if I do say so myself. :)

Re: computer -- still planning on getting a new one, since 512 of memory just isn't cutting it, and I really don't want to risk anything else breaking by putting a larger module in the one slot I do have working. The question is, when will I have the dough to get said new computer, and what horrible things will I be thinking I could have gotten with said money AFTER it's been too long for me to do anything about it (besides regret it)? At least Erin (cousin) is looking into getting her friend who works at a third-party retailer to see if I can get a good deal on THIS one.

The backup did finish, by the way-- it must have been at least 36 hours though, since it wasn't done until around 6:30 or so AT LEAST. The only error I got was something weird about my Parallels VM, but all the "necessary" files seem to have copied over fine, so I'm not too worried. Even if that is somehow messed up, I can always reinstall and redownload everything on that half, which thankfully is not a lot.

When you can't sleep, what do you do? Any of these:
-Light incense
-Drink warm milk
-Meditate
-Listen to classical music
-Something else?

My usual routines aren't working, so I'm looking for advice in other areas. I know my sleep schedule isn't the best anyway, but trying to change that hour by hour (trying to go to bed at progressively earlier times) hasn't worked too well, either. I haven't fallen asleep at work yet, but it's weird being off the meds that normally knock me out an hour after I've taken them (at night). However, my mood is fine and I don't feel stressed, and that's primarily what said meds were for. I guess if I'm really a lunatic and there's a problem with my sleeping, I should get Lunesta or something.

I do have an eye appointment on August 9th (relatives arriving on the 11th and 18th; wonder if I'll have a stylish new pair of glasses by then?), and I need to make an appointment for my wisdom teeth before school starts on the 23rd (YARGH!)... ugh, medical stuff SUCKS.

I want mochi.