i tried to be like grace kelly

Long time, no write.

A FEW THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON WITH ME RIGHT NOW:

1. I'm going to be an aunt in about a month, which is putting me in this weird tailspin. I have this... weird relationship with my brother, in that I love him and care about him but dislike bits of his personality and the way that he treats both me and my mom. There's been all these studies that say that men tend to broaden their views when they have daughters (I'm going to have a niece, zomg what), and I hope that it might help.

Also, my mom is being varying degrees of terrible when it comes to my brother's girlfriend. She says that she "trapped" my brother, and says all these disparaging things about her, and while I'm still kind of getting to know Jasmine, it drives me up the wall that my mom is so judgmental about her. But my mom's been judgmental of every single girlfriend my brother's had, and this feels like Sitcom Mom reaction. Essentially, the way she's behaving is making me just not want to ever introduce any guy I meet to her, because Lord knows what she'd then spew to my grandma or any other people she'd talk to.

2. I'm going to be doing Mortified in a month! I submitted some old journal entries sometime in October or so, and near the end of December I got an email from the show's producer about the screening process. On the third of this month, I went to Austin with my friend Theresa for the screening, and I got in. I'll be doing the Valentine's shows--two shows on the nights of February 13 and 14. I'm excited and nervous and can't wait. All the information about the shows will be there at the website.

3. I hit myself in the face while playing with Pepper about a week ago. I did it so hard that I bruised my mouth and, according to my dentist, knocked one of my top teeth upward some tiny unit of measure that is totally unnoticeable to me. What was noticeable was the pain from inflamed nerves. I'm pretty sure that the tooth's going to be fine now--the pain is down by a WHOLE LOT from last week--but I'm still on watch for any changes in appearance or what have, just in case.

Long story short: don't run with empty aluminum foil tubes in your mouths, kids.

4. I got a book I really liked (Allison Pearson's I Think I Love You) in hardcover for $1! Thanks, Dollar Tree!

5. I got a foam mattress cover, and I am now sleeping much, much better. My mattress is old as balls, and I'd been waking up with sore sides for the past few months. But then earlier this week I got a foam liner, and oh my God. I'll get a new mattress eventually, but in the meantime, I will rotate this stupid, comfy piece of foam for as long as I can because it has done wonders for my life.

So, yeah! This year, I'm going to try to get back to longform. Or, at least, updating DW/LJ more than once a month.

Things I'm thinking about right now:

1. I like Dolly Parton's music a lot. She also seems like a really cool lady.

2. The In-N-Out near my job is about... 50% done. When they open, I will probably need a new route to work for a month or so. I just watched that video of the line when they opened the one in Frisco and what in the world.

3. I fell asleep around six-thirty yesterday and then woke up around nine because I could hear fireworks. I thought they weren't having any, as there's a burn ban on. I was wrong.

4. I bought Pepper a toy otter today, mostly to replace the fox I got her at Christmas that she has torn up. She keeps dragging around this stuffingless fox that has its sides all flayed and it has been bothering me for days, so I bought the otter in the hopes that she'll play with that and I can get rid of the fox. Throwing out her toys is like trying to get a toddler to get rid of a bottle or a pacifier.

5. My parents actually had quite a time getting my brother and I to get rid of bottles (him) and pacifiers (me). I ended up with crooked teeth, he didn't. Unfair.

6. I keep writing so much about writing, and actually writing. I need to talk to people, be it IRL and/or through IM and Facebook. People are worrying about me. And I miss the contact, but at the same time I'm all, "I AM BEING PRODUCTIVE FOR ONCE!"

7. That poll from yesterday has left me wanting cookies. Damn.

8. I wish I could go on vacation, namely someplace where the temperature won't be 100 degrees for the next five days. [cries]

Dogs sometimes are like kids, but at least you can ask a kid what they're scared of and they can give you a straight answer.

OH PAID ACCOUNT, I HAVE MISSED YOU SO MUCH. [clings like peaches]

In case you missed my vague Twitter updates over the past few days/aren't really into Twitter, here's what's sort of been up with me: my brother's girlfriend got a puppy, a Maltese/Yorkshire terrier mix. He's itty-bitty and adorable as all get out. Yesterday he was finally named Simon, and for reasons I still can't figure out my brother's girlfriend left him with us.

So this morning (around 4) when my brother was getting ready for work he put Simon in his kennel and Simon cried and whimpered and whined and I put in my headphones, thinking he'd go to sleep because, well, you've got to get them used to being in their carriers and all. So then at 6 (when my mom was getting ready to leave), she begs me to take Simon out or do something, because he was still crying up a storm. I finally ended up bringing him in my room and nestling him on a blanket (while Pepper glowered on her side of the bed) because I was irritated and sleepy, and eventually we all nodded off and it was good for a while.

But when I woke up both dogs woke up. Pepper had hopped down off the bed and Simon got up and started wobbling around on his little puppy legs (his legs are so short he kind of bounces when he walks sometimes), and then he squatted and peed on my comforter.

My plans of going back to sleep? Foiled.

Luckily for me, my mom came and took Simon to work with her (her job welcomes pets; they even have a facility dog named Lexi) so I didn't have to worry about any more puppy watching. I've forgotten how much work they are, especially when they're palm-sized. I ended up having to go to the bank to get cash (and pick up my new debit card, and I can't lie, I'm kind of paranoid about having it again because I am terrified I'm going to check my balance in a few days and find that I have no money again) and then I stopped at some laundromat so I could relieve my comforter of the puppy pee. When that was done I had enough time to run back home, get my work clothes, and then dart off to work (but not without stopping at Borders and picking up the book The Passage that I've been hearing so much about. Why I bought that when I have three library books out, I do not know. Also, it's about 760+ pages long oh my Lord).

And that's about it.

Up until a few hours ago, I'd had the same picture in my Facebook profile for forever. That has since changed.

( The new picture, plus a bonus one. )

Guys, I came to school two hours early. D:

Anyway: want cute dog pictures? I uploaded some of Pepper over here. Since I wasn't at my laptop, the big, virtually unedited versions are over there. I feel oddly weird about not resizing and cleaning them up. But yes--that's my crazy adorable puppy right thar.

I need to change my work schedule once again because if I don't, I will have no time to study.

Well, Christmas was fairly grand.

Mom and I made dinner, and I almost messed up the macaroni and cheese, as it's been forever since I made it last. We opened presents on Christmas Eve, and my mom gave me a journal, a set of calligraphy pens, a watch, some flavored lip balms (which made me remember the year I was obsessed with Lip Smackers and got about twenty of them for Christmas), and a key ring that records ten seconds of audio (which made me remember Yak Baks--I had the original one, and then about a year after I got that one, I got the Yak Backwards, the one that would play messages backwards. It got confiscated by my fifth grade teacher because some of the boys would not stop playing with it in class). My dad got me the third season of Lost on DVD in lieu of the Wii that I wanted but knew that he'd never get. My brother gave me The Simpsons Movie and then proceeded to watch it in his room for the night. And my brother's girlfriend gave me a gift basket full of bath stuff, candy, and Cherry Pepsi. I wonder if there's some kind of etiquette about that. Like, since she gave me a gift, am I therefore obligated to give her one? I am so confused.

Christmas Day, we ate and slept (well, Mom, Pepper, and I did). And then, early on the twenty-sixth, Pepper woke up and was making these raspy, gaggy type noises that she usually makes when she's getting ready to throw up. I kept taking her outside but she wouldn't throw up. I got freaked out and got my mom up, and we kept on watching her but she wouldn't stop making the noises. And then Pepper started crawling under the couch and doing that, which freaked me out in a major way, because even though she crawls under the couch when she's playing or just hiding from us, I remembered hearing somewhere that dogs do that (crawl under things) when they feel like they're going to die. So my mom's over in one corner of the living room like, "Leave her alone; she'll come out", and I'm thinking, Oh God, oh God, don't let the dog die and talking to her. We stayed up half the damn night scared that Pepper was suffocating or something, but then she went to sleep.

The next morning, we almost considered running her to the emergency pet hospital (I actually made an entry about that and then deleted it after the fact), but the noise had stopped some, and I just said I'd check up on Pepper during my lunch break. She was tired when I came home at lunch, but not rasping as much as she had before. When I got off, my brother's girlfriend was over and Pepper was running around like she usually does. The raspiness wasn't nearly as bad as it had been, but my mom wanted me to take her to the vet anyway. So I did that yesterday--took Pepper to the new vet (we had problems with the other one; they claimed Pepper bit someone and she didn't) and I met him for the first time, and he said that Pepper was probably having a reaction to all the shots she'd gotten on Saturday and she might have a cold too.

She's getting better, though. So yay for that.

In literary news: I have apparently read fifty-five books this year. I bought The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray two days ago and I really want to read it but I have library books I should finish, and knowing that it's the final book in the trilogy is making me not want to just pour through all 800+ pages of it right away. I do not need to get sucked into more Rich Kid Lit, but I am totally liking The Luxe, and knowing that there is a sequel coming makes me unbearably giddy. It's like Gossip Girl 1899, but the fact that some of the main characters wear makeup irked me. I still have this horrific desire to read the other two Twilight books, even though I'm not particularly fond of them. And I've started reading some manga (namely Dramacon and Ouran High School Host Club) and am a wee bit hooked.

I did this long list about the journals and diaries I've kept, and halfway through I started thinking about one of the journals I mentioned in there. At the end of fifth grade, my teacher, Mrs. Ross, gave everyone in our class these small spiral notebooks with a Velcro enclosure and a black Uni-Ball pen. Inside she wrote "Write! And have a great summer!" I used that notebook as my journal the year after, and as I was reflecting on that, I wondered what my classmates did with theirs.

And finally, to cap off this ridiculously long entry, scans from the Christmas card that potato_juice made for me!

( BEST CARD EVER. Cut because it's big and I am not on my laptop, so I couldn't resize it. )

Laundry day is a very dangerous day. I am always surprised to find that my work shirts kind of gang up on me and I end up washing them at the last minute, and going to work with them still slightly damp. Oy. Speaking of work shirts: I need more! The ones I have are fraying around the collars and have holes in the front pocket that are beyond mending.

Laundry day is also dangerous because Pepper is prone to snatching dirty socks and everyone's underwear and hiding with them under the couch. My dog is weird, guys.

The LOVE-MY-ICONS-PLZTHX Meme!

I will talk about Heroes laterish. Am going to miss American Idol, so if you like Blake, Jordin, and/or Melinda, put in a few extra votes for me. Hee.

Lately, when I try and get Pepper to go to sleep, she starts whimpering and whimpering and whining and she won't stop. I'll take her out, and she'll come back in and do the same thing. I'll pour her some more water, and the same thing. She's not even hungry, and she still does it. I am not going to go and sit in there with her and HOW CAN I MAKE THIS STOP. I feel like I'm taking care of a fuzzy five year old who's afraid of the vaccum cleaner sometimes, I swear.

A few things:

1. At work yesterday, there were two sisters with a Chihuahua puppy. The puppy was about two months old and just TINY and FUZZY and ADORABLE. I could practically hold her in the palm of my hand.

2. Speaking of puppies: Pepper eats carrots, apples, and Cheetos.

3. That One Guy at work picked up when I called to ask when I had to come in today, and he was kindasorta flirty with me. God, guys.

4. I HAVE MONEYS YAY.

5. I got a 98 on my biology test! Over half the class got an A. I didn't study as much because of the algebra test, so this was a surprise.

6. I still need to watch Prison Break and Heroes. Even though I've slightly been spoilded for Heroes. ;_;

7. Guess who made Clone High icons?

( Supernatural! )

( Lost! )