09:03 pm:

You scored as III - The Empress. The Empress is a maternal symbol. She is the mother figure who loves, nurtures and protects. She will protect you, she will always be there when you are in trouble. When you fall over and graze your knee, the Empress will kiss it better. Yet she is not a weak figure. Her compassion is strength. If her children are threatened she will stop at nothing to protect them. If well aspected in a Tarot spread, the Empress can symbolise security, protection and unconditional love. If badly aspected it can represent over-protectiveness, fear of risk taking and refusal to face the real world. </td> III - The Empress 94% II - The High Priestess 88% XIII: Death 81% IV - The Emperor 69% VIII - Strength 69% I - Magician 63% 0 - The Fool 63% XVI: The Tower 63% X - Wheel of Fortune 56% XI: Justice 56% XIX: The Sun 56% VI: The Lovers 50% XV: The Devil 31% Which Major Arcana Tarot Card Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

02:56 pm: Still alive, no really I am
I'm still alive and still updating via the myspace blog. I'm too lazy to do both blogs I suppose. This one was the first one, but now hardly any one updates, so I hardly ever check.

Cut my hand open two weeks ago, sat at the ER for 7 hours at Pomona Valley Hospital, got 3 stitches, and today had them removed. Really, I can handle sharp objects, I swear.

I don't know if I've mentioned that Matt and I moved back to Claremont CA, back on campus. We're enjoying that. I'm enjoying walking to work vrs. paying high gas prices to drive. Each is a little trade though as we can't use the washer and dryer here, have a smaller place where we pay more money, but it's a much much nicer area.

Work is really really slow.

Wish I could go visit my parents and friends this summer, but I'm too broke. We also have to afford going to a wedding in August that Matt will be in (in Seattle). I'm excited because I've never been. Anxious because we are always tight on funds here. People should come visit me instead. :)

Staying mostly out of trouble. Mostly.

04:15 pm: Seems that I should update sometime
So I've become another casualty of myspace. I'm blogging there now and not blogging so much here. I've probably mentioned that before, but I feel like it should be stated yet again? Any ways. I've been relatively busy no matter how you want to put it.

It's the end of the school year and as the college bookstore, this has meant a lot of busy-ness for us and a little business. There have been lots of changes on campus too. They're redoing the area next to where we rent our bookstore space, hoping to revitalize the area and the campus community. We've got a new president, a new dean of students, 3 professors leaving, 2 on sabatical, and the store is loosing 2 employees (congrats to them as they graduate). Summer classes are creeping up along with special classes aimed towards ministers called course of study. Summer means less business, shorter hours and a different feeling on campus all together.

On the personal end. I had jury duty on Wednesday and experienced a little of the Californian court systems. Matt and I have moved around a bit. We moved from our previous address onto campus. We ran into some issues with our landlady. Now as gas prices are nearing 3.50 a gallon (okay, so maybe it's closer to 3.37-3.40 here, but what's 10 cents or so? That's what the prices can raise in a week anymore . . .), it seems that living on campus where I can walk to work might be worth the extra money we have to pay to live on campus. The place we have our eyes on now though is pretty, and so we teeter totter back and forth over ideas all the time. But in a month, we'll know where we are for sure.

There are some stories about this past Spring that need to be told by Matt and Matt only.

Work remains more joy than work. Some days are better than others of course, but that's just life. Money remains constantly lower than I'd like, but that's just living in Southern California.

Last week we got to drive to Anaheim and see Kevin N. It was wonderful to see one of our college friends and just sit around and enjoy ourselves chatting with him, kept him up late, and used his visit as an excuse to eat a nicer place.

Otherwise, I just can't wait for graduation to be over so I can work on some things here in the store more.

02:23 pm: Ever Wake up . . .
Have you ever woken up with an honesty hangover? A moment when you wonder what you were thinking answering questions as truthfully as you dared?

I have this bad habit of writing letters that lay everything out as I see it. I don't normally send the letters. If they are in email form, they vanish into cyperspace. In word, sometimes I print out, sometimes they also silently leave. Some end up in pieces of journaling, others in the trash. Not much reason for them to see daylight. I've probably sent or handed out a whole 5 or 6 in my life. 4 of them to my bridesmaids and husband when I got married. Those were more like love letters to my friends, but still along the same basis. Honesty doesn't equal meanness. I rarely find myself so hung up and worried about a hurtful word in the span of time. I just like things to be stated. I hate living in silence or unspoken agreements.

And by all means my current friends don't help. They like to hear me spout of exactly what I'm thinking. They sure don't encourage me to keep my little mouth shut! It amuses them I think. I know it amuses Matt, which is extra bad because he's my last line of defense when I'm teetering on the edge of sending a note.

It's not so much that I care too much, but that I worry too much. I worry that the unspoken is the better route to take when we are dealing with life. What we don't say perhaps keeps us as friends? I hope not. I wish not, but I can't speak for anyone but me.

06:30 pm: Rain
Grey and rainy all day, which is never quite so bad as when one has to be at work. Long long day. Didn't hardly get anything done at all, except play on myspace (which is addictive). Going through to find different people has been an odd experience. How many different people are we in the course of a lifetime or even a few years? I would have never called myself anything but myself, never felt too different in doing one thing or the next, and yet the people I met in each place are uniquely themselves and fitted to that moment in time. It's kind of fun reconnecting, sometimes it's nerve wracking, sometimes it's be better avoided. But any way you cut it, it's not having to work. That was really the aim of the day.

It'd probably help if I didn't work in a basement, glass up above us. It'd probably help if Mondays were even remotely busy (though we did okay for a Monday today). It would probably help if I hadn't busted my butt getting stuff done last week. So I slacked off today. It'll be okay I think.

It's raining, actually raining not sprinkling now. I keep hoping to hear thunder. It's not happening.

07:11 pm: trying this
Let's see what happens.

http://kevan.org/johari?name=ekittykatt

11:19 pm: Blog Thingies

Your Personality Is

Idealist (NF) You are a passionate, caring, and unique person. You are good at expressing yourself and sharing your ideals. You are the most compassionate of all types and connect with others easily. Your heart tends to rule you. You can't make decisions without considering feelings. You seek out other empathetic people to befriend. Truth and authenticity matters in your friendships. In love, you give everything you have to relationships. You fall in love easily. At work, you crave personal expression and meaning in your career. With others, you communicate well. You can spend all night talking with someone. As far as your looks go, you've likely taken the time to develop your own personal style. On weekends, you like to be with others. Charity work is also a favorite pastime of yours.

Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking

You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal. You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk. You should major in: Philosophy Music Theology Art History Foreign language

Your Eyes Should Be Brown

Your eyes reflect: Depth and wisdom What's hidden behind your eyes: A tender heart

You Are Not Scary

Everyone loves you. Isn't that sweet?

Your Ideal Relationship is Serious Dating

You're not ready to go walking down the aisle. But you may be ready in a couple of years. You prefer to date one on one, with a commitment. And while chemistry is important, so is compatibility.

Well dang. Messed that up already. :)

11:40 pm: Oh yes, I am alive.
At least people are still interacting with me as though I'm alive. I'll take that as a sign that I'm still amoung the living. I can't say that I have some great excuse for not updating my journal. I suppose I've been busy enough. Holidays tend to leave one busy. And then I work at a college bookstore, which means that the first of each semester is a mess waiting to happen. I'm also new to the business, which means that I have plenty to learn and little time to really learn it.

Work though, it has been going okay. I just hired a new person. I hate the whole process of hiring and interviewing. I assume that not knowing people before hand, and knowing that you'd never have to see them again would help. But, I knew all three applicants, and I like them all on a personal level. It doesn't matter too much because it's all taken care of now.

Holidays were hectic. (Has it really been that long since I've last posted??? OMG.) Busy. We were briefly in Oklahoma, taking the whirlwind tour and seeing most of the people we wanted to see. There are always some that you just can't quite make it to see or you miss some how.

Matt's 26th was this past Wednesday. We went to eat with Coy and met up with Rob and Sara afterwards at our house for games and cake. Yes, I made cake and no one died. I cook all the time without anyone dying. Now last weekend, Matt and I had food poisening (he cooked bad sausage and/or was trying to kill me, it's hard to tell which was actually happening. I was much more ill than he was though). A horrible experience that I'd like to never repeat.

Matt's in the process of applying for PhD programs, but started late. He's not completely sure what he wants to do as a next step in his life. That's a little nerve wracking for me, since California was never where I thought I would end up, but I am here now. I moved several times over the last few years before ending up here, and really don't look forward to any option that requires another move. I am anxious to go back to school myself, but I can never quite figure out what I want to go to school for, a MA of some type, but focused how? I've looked at library sciences, literature, writing, education, perhaps just a MFA would be best suited? I don't know. At the moment though, I have plenty of time to pick and choose the books to read over that are required for classes at CST. Well, plenty of time is a bit exagerated, but some time at least.

I've recently discovered MySpace. It can't be good for me. I'm not online enough to support more than one blogging habit. It is easy though to just start playing on it and not get anything done at all. But then again, aren't a lot of places on the internet like that?

04:19 pm: Gomen
Well, it's noted that I'm horrible at keeping up with my LJ anymore. For anyone who actually reads it, I'm sorry. I wish I could say it was because I have been busy, but mostly there was a long gap due more to stress than to things needing done. It happens.

We were broke. Now we are just poor. (Hey, there's a distinction.)

We didn't know if we were going to be home for Christmas. Now my mommy has bought us tickets for a whirlwind tour of Oklahoma (which it will be . . . Dec 20 - Dec 28. In OKC, in Boise City, in Balko, in Plainview . . . all across Oklahoma. Not to complain. I'm sooooo excited.)

Had a worried endocrinologist that thought the nodules might not have gone down on my neck because they were cancerous. They are not. The nodules were cystic and benign. Of course this is after they stuck a needle in my neck 4 times to find this out. But good news we will take.

Work had it's first audit. We did swell and now have 6 months to a year before we see the auditor again. Yay. Of course she and my boss showed up on a Friday while Coy and I were totally out of dress code, though the rest of the week we had been good and dressed according to policy.

We have our Christmas Open House tomorrow and Thursday. I protest the whole Christmas before Thanksgiving thing, but it's not really up to me.

I had to fight for holiday time off. I have people leaving for holidays. There are books to be ordered and sent back. I am actually pretty busy at work (but still enjoying).

But I have been thinking of everyone . . . and as such everyone needs to email physical addresses so I can send Christmas cards (or attempt to send cards . . .)

Luv you all.

10:54 pm: Yay!!!! Halloween!!!

My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haul
ekittykatt goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as Cliche Naughty Nurse.
autumnsolstice gives you 3 mottled green watermelon-flavoured gumdrops.
miguelpantspi gives you 8 blue raspberry-flavoured wafers.
mrshawnhudson gives you 5 milky white cola-flavoured wafers.
ninja_heat gives you 8 teal chocolate-flavoured gumdrops.
revmastacoy tricks you! You get a wad of paper.
riana_elise tricks you! You get a block of wood.
shraka tricks you! You get a scratched CD.
sykopath79 gives you 14 pink grapefruit-flavoured gummy bats.
thehidden gives you 4 milky white grapefruit-flavoured pieces of chewing gum.
yahwist gives you 9 teal cola-flavoured pieces of taffy.
ekittykatt ends up with 51 pieces of candy, a wad of paper, a block of wood, and a scratched CD.
Go trick-or-treating! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.

12:26 pm: Look Look I follow the Crowd

LJ Interests meme results

1. beaches:
   a good place to gather thoughts and watch them drift away
2. clubbing:
   a way to be with the people you like while being surrounded by people you can't trust and just enjoy the pulse of life
3. drawing:
   something I wish I could do better but still enjoy doing
4. halloween:
   Yay!
5. lawrence ferlinghetti:
   one poet of many I enjoy (poet of the beat era, apparently owns a bookstore in San Francisco). . . wrote a collection that I don't know if it is in Albq or Boise City . . .and for your reading today:
   Constantly Risking Absurdity by Ferlinghetti (without the form it should be in due to an inability to or care to fix)::
   
   Constantly risking absurdity
   and death
   whenever he performs
   above the heads
   of his audience
   the poet like an acrobat
   climbs on rime
   to a high wire of his own making
   and balancing on eyebeams
   above a sea of faces
   paces his way
   to the other side of the day
   performing entrachats
   and sleight-of-foot tricks
   and other high theatrics
   and all without mistaking
   any thing
   for what it may not be
   For he's the super realist
   who must perforce perceive
   taut truth
   before the taking of each stance or step
   in his supposed advance
   toward that still higher perch
   where Beauty stands and waits
   with gravity
   to start her death-defying leap
   And he
   a little charleychaplin man
   who may or may not catch
   her fair eternal form
   spreadeagled in the empty air
   of existence
   
   
6. oklahoma city university:
   where I met people and earned a B.A.
7. poetry:
   words used to the best of their abilities
8. sharp objects:
   people keep telling me I shouldn't be around them, so therefore I like to have them around
9. sunsets:
   the other time of day you know it's all going to be okay
10. wine:
    something one does (whine) and something one drinks (wine)but both go over best with friends

Enter your LJ user name, and 10 interests will be selected from your interest list.

09:18 pm: attack of the quizzes

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 9 out of 10 correct!

Can't quite figure out which one I missed . . .

You Are 40% Left Brained, 60% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

I normally end up 45% to 55% but hey close enough . . .

You Are 50% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird... But too damn weird to do anything about it!

How You Life Your Life

You seem to be straight forward, but you keep a lot inside. You say whatever is on your mind. Other people's reactions don't phase you. Your friends tend to be a as quirky as you are - which is saying a lot! You tend to dream big, but you worry that your dreams aren't attainable.

You are

08:34 pm: Updating
You'd think after getting promoted at Border's I would've just stayed put, and all things being equal, I would've if opportunity hadn't ran over me in the form of the "good ol' boy" recommendation truck. Coy recommended me to the higher ups of Cokesbury (methodist ran/affiliated bookstore --short explaination of the company). So tomorrow I start my job as an assistant manager for the bookstore which is on the Claremont School of Theology campus. It almost makes a person sad that we moved off campus. I mean that would've been easy and cheap to just roll out of bed and walk to work. We aren't going to move back though as we've got more room for the same price (though the gas might've worked it out quickly to equal, it's not worth the hassle and we like our place). The pay will be better though the hours will be somewhat longer. There will be advantages and disadvantages. I am excited and nervous and all those crazy little things that one is to start off with in a new job.

I will also be Coy's boss. Be afraid.

Matt and I bought a washer and dryer (and have it hooked up). It was a huge investment, a little scary even as we were looking around trying to find a good one for a price we could afford. With Matt's employee discount from Best Buy we were able to afford a better set than we could've done otherwise. And none of it would've been possible without money from the wedding shower my Mom's friends threw for us in BC.

I've been tramatized by the effort of changing my name (for those who don't know I've tacked Matt's last name onto the end of mine . . . basically like a hyphenated name but without the hyphen . . . or you could treat my maiden name as more of a middle name, whatever . . . there's not much that will make it incorrect unless you're using my name for legal purposes and I hope you're not). The social security office was loud and hot. I had to get a CA driver's license which required 2 seperate photos, ordering paperwork we though we already had, waiting in long lines, and retaking my written test. (And yes I passed first time through.) Calling all cards and loans people. I don't even want to talk about dealing with my bank. I still need to contact my old place of work to make sure my taxes next year make sense. Bah. Seriously, bah. Not that I regret the name change, I just don't think it should be quite as difficult for a person.

Recently went back to the doc for a check up on the thyroid. Meds are still correct, but there may be some stuff to look into still because of a few nodules that are not gone yet. I won't know anything really until my next appointment which is in 6 weeks or so (depending on when the new insurance kicks in).

Summer has been long and hot. I am ready for whatever resembles fall in CA. Otherwise, we're doing well and enjoying being together when we're both home at the same time.

Luvs all.

09:47 pm: Yay
I was promoted at work! I'm now the training supervisor. I'm excited. It came with a dollar and 1/2 raise, which as poor as we are is alot. I won't be working any more hours as I'm already full time, but I'll have more responsibility and such. I'll still be some what in charge of kid's but I'll have help. My schedule will be more erratic, but not too much so. This is a fantastic turn for us right now as Matt's car had a few expensive issues earlier this week and I am at the point where I need to go back to the doctor to check up the thyroid thing (I have insurance, but I'm not completely sure it'll be covered since it is a previously existing condition).

I've been (finally) going through the process of changing my name legally. It is a pain. Everything needs changed and adapted. Eventually it'll be done, but until then I'm whining (even if it is to myself).

Otherwise, we're doing okay. We went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Dan in Anaheim (we were trekking to the shrine of Sonic). Matt is well fed (he's being fattened up nicely . . .I'm not promising anything by this thanksgiving but next year . . . ) Being poor is causing us to eat at home, and having another person around has allowed me to cook, which I enjoy for the most part. Any hoo . . . that's what's up on the west coast from our house. (yo)

05:38 pm: I survived Harry Potter VI
That's the shirt I want. I also think if there is a next time for me, I'm demanding hazard pay. Friday I worked 4 to 12ish (which considering how late many of my co-workers were there . . . could've been worse). I was face painting from 9 until 12ish. My back hurt. I was tired. People were very demanding considering that there was no charge for the face painting or the other activities. Some wanted masterpieces (can I have the griffindor lion? Ravenclaw crest? A dragon? A grim? A half moon around my entire face?) Others were content and even impressed. I learned how to paint a snitch and HP and scars quite well, quite quickly. It was fun to some extent. However, I had to be at work 10 to 6 the next day. There was a line waiting outside the door, we had monsterous lines . . . oi! I did a graceful Erin fall across some books behind the registers (pretty funny once one recovers from the embarassment). I don't normally have to back up all day at reg and main information, but yesterday, pretty much all day, that's what I did.

Now normal people would probably collasp after that (and I considered it), but higher on my list was getting my hot little hands onto our copy of the HalfBlood Prince. Then I read. And now Matt is reading. I must contain my commentary until then. (I needed to read it before I returned to work on Monday . . . I work in children's and someone was bound to tell me more than I wanted to know if I didn't.) So yeah. That's my weekend.

07:04 pm: Hmmmm . . .
I obviously need to travel NW and SE, no?



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

12:14 am: Temptations
So at work my manager has an office, her office locks. In her office there are these boxes. These boxes are taped shut. The boxes hold books. I want to open these boxes to get to these books, but I can't convince my manager that it is a good idea. She said, "Yes. I want to too. It's tempting." But no, she will not let me cut the tape and thumb through the pages.

You know, normally our books are kept in the back to await laydown. Damn them and their rules . . . I just want to read like the first page. :D

On the same line: I'm working the Friday night maddness, running an event with another employee until midnight when the masses will get their fix on the ever official 16th. The boxes say all around: DO NOT OPEN UNTIL JULY 16th. Damn them and their rules.

My co-worker Mark calls the Harry Potter party a car crash he feels obliged to watch. I can understand that, and I have no choice but to watch as that's a weekend no one can take off . . . kind of like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Car crash. Children's section wrecking ::shudders:: As for me, I'm going to continue my half teasing quest to cut the tape and wait . . .

01:04 pm: Little Quiz thing

Your IQ Is 110

Your Logical Intelligence is Above Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Above Average

Not that an internet intelligence test is a reliable source.

Yesterday would've been the day Matt and I got married had we stuck to our original plans. Instead we've been married over 3 months (4 on the 20th)and finally moving into a new place. Technically, we're still between homes, belonging to neither place. It sucks because I have no food on campus and no pots and pans off campus and Matt is at work and I'm hungry. Bah.

There was an earthquake not too far away around 8:30 am. I don't really know that I felt it. I woke up around that time, looked at a clock, and went back to sleep. I'm blaming the fact that yesterday at work we had a continual 4 hour earthquake induced by the grinding down of an old foundation of what use to be a movie theater behind our building. I was numbed. :P

02:20 pm: bah

Star Wars Horoscope for Virgo

You show efficiency when working for a good cause. But you tend to be a bit fussy when it comes to doing something out of the ordinary. Like many Virgos, you want to stay out of the spotlight. You do well at picking up the smallest details. Star wars character you are most like: C3P0

I don't wanna be C3PO. Booo.

However we just got the call that we need to meet the new land lady. I'll be back!

11:19 pm:

You scored as Yoda. </td> Yoda 67% Anakin Skywalker 64% Padme Amidala 64% Darth Vader 56% Obi Wan Kenobi 44% Clone Trooper 36% R2-D2 36% C-3PO 36% Chewbacca 33% General Grievous 31% Emperor Palpatine 25% Mace Windu 25% Which Revenge of the Sith Character are you? created with QuizFarm.com