So I got up the Kirari Omake captures, because I’m still wading through the Kirari Musical ones and I think I overdosed on cute in the process.

I think Shaun may have delayed-fixed my work computer. He worked on it yesterday and it was still being a cow *touch wood* but it didn’t pop up or lock up all afternoon *shock!*

I’m in a goofy tired mood. I got to talk to a…friend on AIM. I’m not sure how to class them, I’ve hung out with them a few times but in one of my moments of not-really-knowing-how-to-judge-social-situations-because-I’m-a-dork-about-them-at-times I thought they really only hung out with me because one of my friends was a mutual friend of theirs.

But anyway it was nice, and I was up later than I intended.

And yay, my text book for next semester is being shipped. Yes, one, singular *_* we have so many readings from databases for next semester. I’m semi-glad because I have to pay first and then get paid back from work and my bank account is very, VERY tight until I get paid on Friday because Aflac still hasn’t paid me back for my insane amount of prescriptions.
I saw the syllabus posted yesterday and almost fainted. Three to four readings each week, and an assignment due two days after I get married >_<. But, Dr. K said to email her if we know we're going to have absences so I did and she's extremely cool!!!! She writes like this!! In her emails. She goes:

Firstly congratulations on the new chapter in your life!! It’s no problem!! Chat class attendance is optional!! Why were you worried you silly goose?!?! (Okay, not quite, but that was the general impression I got)

I have to write her back and say thank you for allaying my fears ^___^. I think I’m just being in shock because Dr. B answered maybe one email all semester, considering I was in two of his classes I really didn’t write that many, but he was the same way with many of the students. Of course he had the whole personal life mess, but man, given he was having the same question asked by everyone he could have done a mass email/FAQ. I’m actually very proud of myself that considering how fretful I was I only wrote one email asking if he could tell me if I was at least passing. But Dr. K wrote me back twenty minutes after I emailed her. Ah-ha! A teacher who communicates *shock!!!*

I had this random idea yesterday for a “thank you”; clique, or a polite-ness clique. Basically a clique to promote common courtesy, mostly because I have this major bee in my bonnet.

But oh, yay, Rei-chan 2 or is it–? Actually, yikes, I realized I have FOUR people who are Reis on my LJFL, K and Kimberly-san, konekosa and Sionna. So, okay, yes, Sionna, the thing which I said I would send you seems to have worked. Lalala. Now I just have to make sure I don’t pack it so I can actually mail it.

Yes, we’re officially moving. Unfortunately, not D and me as of yet, me and my parents. I just don’t know when T_T exactly. So, I also have to see if work will let me install the school stuff on my computer (if it really is fixed) in case our net connection at home goes even more screwy, or maybe just connect STAN to the work network connection, hm…yeah, ’cause then I would get so much work done…

Okay, I’m taking my probably insane sounding butt off to bed.
This was supposed to be a three line update >_<

I have these places spaces
Where my mind is cerulean
In amongst the haze collision
Of a thousand other moments
Planes of memory falling bawling
Mediocre miniscule
Only striving for the testament
With you

****

Never One

One more step
And I fall off my cliff
One last push
And time explodes
Never once
Did I believe truly
This moment would rise
From the ashes
Of the others
One more breath
Heady and reticent
One last fear
Pushed from my mind
By you
Can I make it out
On my own
As two?

I wanted to do something “different” and I’ve loved Vanessa Mae for so long. Her rendition of “Tocatt and Fugue in D Minor” brings me to tears. We had been listening to her during dinner on the 25th in lieu of “holiday music” and I went looking for more information because we were pretty sure she’d been on television when I was younger and wasn’t that much older than I was when she won “Young Musician of the Year”. I found some wonderful pictures of her and decided to turn them into my main layout.
I’m going to use some of the pictures Patti sent me recently and do something for my friends page, as I can’t have it stay pink O.o for longer than a few days, and there has to be Ami somewhere ^_^

and before I forget:

Pretty dragon!!

I’m so tired! I got home just before 1 a.m. from D’s parents house on the 24th, and Dad decided to wake me up at just before six the morning of Christmas, barraging into my room being all hyper, “Wake up! Wake up!” then I was over at D’s again in the afternoon and came home about eleven-thirty. I slept until about nine this morning and have been out shopping with the parents, but I fell asleep in the car going between various spots.

But the actual holiday was cool, D’s brother and nephew were down so we got to spend time with them. D’s brother (his name also begins with D >_< so it's tricky) is cool, but his son can be a bit...spoiled?

It was weirder still being called "aunt" too. My sister and brother don't have children so I've never experienced that. D's brother wrote in the card he gave me "welcome to the family, sister" which was very touching, and they also had a stocking out for me there with my name sewed on it when I came back on Christmas afternoon.

Family:
From Mum and Dad: Two cookbooks I had asked for. "The Chocolate Cake Doctor" and "The Dinner Doctor". (They show you how to combine mixes and food items you have around the house into spiffy meals in thirty minutes, very handy when you're not a Makoto in the kitchen ^_^), money
From Mari-mom and Dad: Walmart giftcard, 2005 calendar. (I apparently also have a "Hot Topic" gift card on the way but it didn't arrive in time).
From D's brother and nephew: Hot Topic gift card.
From D: Silent Hill 4 (aaaaaaagh!!!!), Piper's dark chocolate selection (MMMMmmmm, I will now eat all the box and play SH4 O.o), Chibi-Vader and Chibi-Obi-Wan who he had taped to the SH4 box posed as though they were battling ^_^ I have been tormenting Neko-Ani with them.
From my sister and brother-in-law: Shower curtain (off registry).

From stocking: assorted mini-candy bars, candle set, bill planner, hair ties.

Friends:
From Scott: Cadbury cookies (woohoo!)
From K: Aforementioned Chinese tea set (which I got at the wedding shower because it matched the wedding shower gift).
From Naru: Blue moon scented bath accessories
From Patti: Cookies (which have all been eaten already…like a day and a half after I got them, hehe), two books, and more Myu on it ^_^
From ‘nii-chan: Sword cane, heamatite ankh necklace
From Shuan: Gundam Seed VCDs, Kiddy Phenil action figure (this is what he said I would kill him for, because of inside joke, but they also gave me figurine paint and a paint brush so I can fix her hair, LOL).

Co-workers:
Gift exchange: Tin with mints and mint chocolates in it, Walmart giftcard.
Boss: Alarm clock, Walmart giftcard, death by chocolate brownies
Elle: AMC giftcard
Miss Cheryl: Orchid scented bath accessories, Jasmine rice
Miss Leah: “Beautiful” body spray
Miss Carol: A very pretty blue box with asian design on it containing a candy cane which had a homemade cap; on it so it looked like a snowman and a silver sports car (a joke because she asked what she could get me as a thank you for helping her out with school and I jokingly said “a car”).
Lo: Christmas candle.

What I’ve bought so far with giftcards and money:
*Underworld (extended unrated)
*Headset/microphone for computer
*A zany patterned shirt and blue off the shoulder sweater from Target’s sale rack. (In a bizarre twist I bought nothing black, and Obi-Mom bought a black shirt, and skirt.)

All in all it was a good holiday. Mum, Dad and I had some time together (although I could have done without being woken up at six!!). I spent some time with D’s family and am feeling more comfortable with them, even though his nephew was seriously weirding me out. He seems to have gone through a severe personality shift since last time, but he is a thirteen now, the hormones are probably starting to go whacky. The shirt I got from Hot Topic while we were shopping is cooler than I thought (I didn’t realize it had the sleeves like that I thought they were just normal), and everyone really liked it. I was pleasantly suprised Dad didn’t have a cow about it. So, that was cool.
D’s brother has a great sense of humor and is a very neat person to be around. He’s quite a bit older than D, and brought some pictures with him of what D looked like when he was little *L* so that was fun to see. He tactfully brought them out just as D was leaving for work ^_~ then over dinner we got into a conversation about all the “weird”; foods we’ve ever tried, like haggis, sushi, black pudding, tongue and so on. Then while we all watched “Creature of the Black Lagoon” I got to hear lots of funny and embarrassing family stories, mostly about Mari-Mom locking D’s Dad out of the house and car because of horror films.

Plus I was so happy that everyone seemed to like the presents they got from us. I had been particularly worried about what we had bought for Scott (crossbow), but he was hugging it the whole night (or would have been if we weren’t trying to play a game of D&D). So, that was a relief.

I’ve been trying to work on the Kirari section a little bit as I was also trying to avoid the Evil Peg earlier. I had selected all the caps which had Ami/Mercury in them and it was 340…a few too many for me to put up on the site. I’ve been going through and weeding ruthlessly and I’m down to 189 right now.

We had a nice party at work. I’m still a little weirded out that I got out early today and have three days off now. The Chinese Gift Exchange went really well. Sonia did a good job organizing it. I wound up with a coke tin filled with mints and mint chocolates, which turned out to have a Walmart gift card in the bottom. I’ve been given a lot of gift cards so far.
I have one for AMC from Elle. She says she’s never sure what to get me but she knows how much we like movies ^_^. I also have a Walmart gift card from boss, and an Olive Garden one from Mr. H. I briefly had a gift card for the local Chinese restaurant, and one for Best Buy, but they were casualties to the gift exchange. Miss Cheryl gave me a bath set, which turns out to be almost the exact same one that Naru, only orchid rather than blue moon. She also gave me a bag of jasmine rice, which is just funny. She said her daughter was telling her how horrible a gift that was, but it was great. In our talks on Japanese culture she had been saying she wants to learn how to make sushi for her husband. I’d seen the little mats the sushi chefs use when rolling sushi at the Asian market so I bought her one of those, and she really liked it.
They also did a game at the party where everyone wrote their name on paper and then passed it around and everyone had to write a compliment about them and pass it around so everyone could compliment them, ah, so embarrassing. We weren’t supposed to sign them, but my problem is I remember the order everyone was sitting in so I’ve been able to work out who said what, but it’s all compliments so all that’s really done is make me more embarrassed.

D called me to see if I wanted to go out to a movie with them, but it wasn’t showing until 9:50 so I declined. I’m probably going to be over there until about midnight tomorrow, and then we’re having the friends holiday get together Christmas Day in the evening. I can’t stay out that late three days in a row it’s a good way to get my cold back. Ah, anyway.

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:

1. Ami-chan
2. Cat
3. Azishsa

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:

1. AmiMitzu
2. sitianshi
3. Azishsa

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:

1. My hair
2. My sense of humor
3. My graphical ability

THREE THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:

1. My teeth
2. My butt and boobs (too big)
3. FMS

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:

1. Scottish
2. English
3. um…Scottish? (yay for not being a mutt?)

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:

1. Being killed or worse expelled ^_~
2. Being stuck living with one or the other set of parents after we're married because D doesn’t get a job in time.
3. Not having a net connection for next semester >_<

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:

1. Nutrition (or pocky)
2. Sleep
3. No spyware!!

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:

1. Black cami
2. Black skirt
3. Earrings.

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS (or artists(at the moment)):

1. Godsmack
2. Utada Hikaru
3. Tool

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS AT PRESENT:

1. Schism (Tool)
2. Awake (Godsmack)
3.

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:

1. Living in a house by myself
2. Communication! (LOL)
3. Performing a full ritual without getting interrupted.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP (love is a given):

1. Communication!!!
2. Communication
3. Communication
(can you tell I'm on a thing right now >_<;;)

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

1. I am so tired.
2. I never want to see another Christmas.
3. I’m seriously beginning to wonder why I’m friends with one of my friends

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX (or same) THAT APPEAL TO YOU:

1. Eyes
2. Smile
3. Bum

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN’T DO:

1. Sleep more than two hours without medication
2. Spend more than a few days without a net connection
3. Have cybersex with a random person

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:

1. Graphic design
2. Reading
3. Writing

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:

1. Go to the bathroom
2. Go to bed
3. Move my laptop because my legs are getting REALLY hot

THREE CAREERS YOU’RE CONSIDERING:

1. Librarian
2. Novelist
3. Librarian

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:

1. Japan
2. England
3. Canada

THREE KID’S NAMES:

Well we’re really not planning on having any so I’ve never really thought about it. *L* I’ll just say what I named people’s Sim kids

1. Roland
2. Kellie
3. Rei

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:

1. Visit Japan
2. Pay off my student loans
3. Publish a book

I probably have to do the third one first

I’m wondering if it’s a by-product of the digital age. I see a potential next semester paper in the frustrations. I’m seeing other people go through them a lot these few months, or maybe I’m just becoming more aware and irritated for and by other people’s issues with communication as I strive to remedy them in myself.

I’ve been having a time where I’ve been getting good deals on several gifts that I picked up over the past week, and I was wondering why, keeping an eye out for something that would backfire because of it. It has in the form of the financial reimbursement I was supposed to get from H.R. for my classes.
I was wondering why my co-worker doing the same thing had received hers at the beginning of the semester and I hadn’t. I thought perhaps it was because this was my first semester and I hadn’t submitted my grades. So, I went over to H.R. and turned my grades in, and asked them to contact me if there was some issue, not a peep, this was last week. So, today I called and the lady got all snitty with me because I was wanting to know what I had done wrong.
It turns out I had submitted the wrong paperwork, but when she explained it to me it turns out this was because of something I hadn’t been told in the first place.

Everywhere I’m seeing this problem. No one over here tells anyone anything, they just expect you to know. So, subsequently you spend your time and stress worrying and having to do things at the last minute. I see it even with my own fiance’s family. I went over there yesterday and he hadn’t even told them I was coming over, which he got told off about.
But financial aid does the same thing, never in any of the paperwork I got was there anything about needing a residency affidavit. Then they got upset with me because I didn’t know. I did find out I had missed the supplemental application stuff, so that was my fault.

It’s as if places and people magically expect you to know. I have a friend who just the other day emailed me to ask me if I wanted to go shopping with her. Here’s me thinking if she really wanted to go with me she would have called me on the phone. It’s as if she’s thinking because she emailed me instantly I would know even though I was actually nowhere near a computer for most of that morning.
The woman I talked to at H.R. was complaining to me that she has forty odd people doing the school thing and only one of them submitted the paperwork correctly, and I’m thinking, well, that should tell you something shouldn’t it? If I was the only one who screwed this up then I would figure it was my fault, but when only one of us hasn’t to me it’s pretty clear they need to fix things on their end. But then, hey, if we don’t submit correctly, they get to keep their money so maybe they don’t want to.

There’s an impatience about people. The faster the internet, email and cell phones get, the more plugged in and constantly on we are the less we seem to actually talk. I see it in myself, I find I’m expecting instant answers to messages I send. I think 50% of my frustration with my group work during the past semester was the fact that the other members aren’t on-line as often as me, so I could check every half hour and see no one else had done anything and work myself up, which isn’t fair. Just because I’m lucky enough to be able to surf at my job doesn’t mean everyone else is. So, I’m working to check that factor in myself, but this doesn’t change the fact that if people don’t tell you something you can’t be expected to know it.

A pretty productive day. The redesign is active. I had most of it uploaded last night, and some this morning while waiting for the bathroom to be free *L* and the final portion just now and a brief checking. Haven't seen many major issues (so far) except I had one page the background wasn't showing up on because I missed it in the cut-pasting of new filepath vs. old.

Go Shopping
We got most of the last of the shopping done. I say this because I got home and realized I have yet again failed to get something for the work gift exchange, I still need to do all those cards too. But I found something for Obi-Mom to go as a suprise given she knows I went in on the cheval mirror Dad got her. We found something for my Dad, and for Danny's nephew at Hot Topic (he's a huge Jack Skellington freak). Plus Danny actually found something for his birthday (which he's had coming since September) and I found a cool shirt which I decided I couldn't leave the store without. After the holidays I'm hoping to go back and find a corset ^_^
I'm also very proud of myself because I was able to walk around the entire mall without passing out which considering I didn't have my cane was quite a feat. Although I did sit down while D was searching the manga section in Walden.

Go for sushi (^^)
Sushi was very good. I have been craving sushi since K and I had some at Chopstix as an appetizer. I doubt this has done anything to curb this craving. I have decided sushi a form of crack, like pocky. But it's good, and a lot healthier ^_^ except possibly for the wallet >_<. But hey. I tried new sushi again, and got to show Danny the 'proper way' to eat sushi, as I found out you're really supposed to mix the wasabi with the soy sauce, when Cheryl and I were talking about sushi the other day. So much better!
Danny actually used chopsticks too, because Ojii-san only brought chopsticks when he brought the sushi to us. Yay ^_^. I was teasing him about that and he got revenge on me later >_<;; I had mixed some wasabi in with my soy sauce and he took ALL that was left (probably 80% of it) and mixed it in with his. Then he conned me into eating one of his California rolls which he had not only dipped but basically soaked in his wasabi death-mix. Compound that with the fact that he offers it to me while I'm re-tying my hair and I think everyone in the sushi bar was laughing at me. Thankfully that was only ojii-san, his assistant and D because we arrived about a half hour before they close and more people go in for tepponyaki than sushi on Sundays. I am so glad that D doesn't have a camera phone >_<;;
Initially we had ordered: California Roll, and Eel roll (which is very good! Both D and I had this for the first time ^_^) and then yellowtail (all mine!!!) and smoked salmon with cream cheese. I wound up ordering another lot of California roll and smoked salmon ^_^. So, Ojii-san brought us a mountain of wasabi when he brought the second order >_<;; D gave him a big tip for that, LOL.

Wrap presents while D watches movie
This was mostly because I figured D wouldn't want to help with the present wrapping, because he usually complains about the futility of wrapping, plus I've heard and seen the Artistic Express of Kaos which is his wrapping. But he put in 'Chasing Amy' and we tag-teamed…>_<;; although I did wind up rescuing several packages from him, so I think he wrapped two things…one of which is his nephews because Eric does so love his wrapping attempts. I made sure to wrap his Mom's present though because part of it was frying pans and I just dread to think how that would have turned out as they were not in a box.

Decorating, wasn't actually initially on the list, but I got home and Mum was trying to put up the tree, so I helped her with that. So, hey we actually look semi-festive now, Michiru-san you can stop yelling ^_~ LOL.
Then I made miso soup for supper because we weren't sure what we were going to have ^_^ although Dad decided he would rather have a tuna melt :-p~

I really liked 'Chasing Amy'. D proclaimed it was a travesty I hadn't seen it, I have seen 'Dogma' and 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back', but not the other three. I've seen parts of 'Clerks' and 'Mallrats' at least, but not any of 'Chasing Amy' and apparently it's a movie I should be grateful for as it haunted D around Disc Jockey while he was debating if he should ask me out. He said he's even actually been asked by one of his friends who he wouldn't name for fear I might kill them if he minded the fact that he and I might wind up checking out the same hot chick at some point.

Shaun was picking on me because I wore my camo-pants today. He asked if I was planning on going hiking when I left and both D and I answered in-sync, “No she/I is/am going to raid tombs.”
Scarily enough a guy at Walmart the other day actually thought I was in the military O.o;; I think the fact that Obi-Mom couldn't keep a straight face about that made him realize he was wrong.
I've also been warned that I'm probably going to kill Shaun for what he's bought me for Yule. Now, if this was D, and not Shaun, I would think this meant he'd bought me SH4, so, now he's got me wondering, which I'm sure he did on purpose…unless D helped him pick the present out…hm.

I got a Christmas card from my father…well, correction I got a Christmas card from my father's wife, but she signed his name.
I'm a bit lost on this one. I don't really know how I feel, other than…confused.

Mum took it worse, not so much the getting of the card, or so she says.
At first I was a little perturbed because I thought they didn't actually know where we lived, and so had 'looked us up' which Mum was insisting they couldn't have done because neither of them knows that much about computers. Then I found out they actually had our current address so I was less perturbed because that didn't mean they were being sneaky and underhanded, as they had done when we lived in the same country as us, somehow finding out our unlisted phone number and so on.

I think it's that I want to believe that they're being nice, for once, that they genuinely want to mend the fences, but we've been hurt before…

Well, at least those who have many filter access…

Inhibited by the germs infesting her body the young girl decided to stage a protest by attempting to write a very bad haiku
You betray me,
burning me raw inside,
settle my score.

Study in three lines, three stanzas
Wait for me as I walk the shore,
Eventide within this score,
Scorch my lungs and stone my speech,

Congested sweet inside this mind,
Pictures move me it's unkind,
Comprehend the stage and setting,

I cannot withstand this…
…fettered I am,
Yet released.