Doggies and Writing

My uncle bought me two vegan cookbooks. I couldn't cook worth beans with my regular cookbooks, but this seems so much easier. Just a warning! You really can overdo the spices. I made a Cajun spice mix because the cookbook has a recipe for it, then I about dumped the entire spice bowl into my gumbo....

So glad I double checked the recipe. I only needed three spoons of it in my crockpot. I put the rest in a labeled baggie. I'm trying to be a responsible adult and start labeling things because we tend to spend too much of our time saying, "What was in this bag again? What were we using it for?"

I figured since I was cooking, I'd make an apple pie too. In the future, we think we're going to go ahead and buy the almond flour. You can get a bag of it at Costco, but it's still pricy. If you are a huge kitchen pro and love cooking all your means, the other flour might be less expensive. I only learned about the almond flour because my friend made biscuits with it. It has a really nice flavor.

I went shopping this weekend. I was looking for a particular book for Emory that I saw in a shopping haul. Couldn't find the book but I did find some cute little things for my niece's birthday. I feel accomplished!

We took Mozart and Typo over to meet Ollie. I don't trust Typo because she's a little aggressive when it comes to other people's pets, but this was a cool experience. The bad part is, the commune's backyard is pretty torn up right now with the remodeling. Our dogs were covered in dirt when we got them home. Luckily, dirt doesn't mess with my allergies like grass. Go figure. I really wished I had my camera because the pictures would have been amazing.

We have to go get Mozart shaved. His fur is getting too long for him and though we haven't had 100 degree heat yet (which looks like it might be coming), I hate seeing him bothered by the heaviness of his fur coat.

Writing

📌 Finishing chapter two on T.O J. I planned on making it a longer story, but the comments from people are really lighting that fire to get my chapter up sooner. I love the readers in this community. 

Walking Dead Fanfiction Virgin, New Locations and Writing

I was part of a test group. Since the department is so small and I'm the only person who religiously comes in at the same set time every day, (Compulsive Personality, aside), I think I was the easiest to pick. Boy. I do not like my schedule messed with, but the directors for this event must have expected there'd be double the amount of annoyed workers getting shipped off to Scottsdale at the wee crack of dawn, so they made it pretty nice for us.

On the luxury bus ride (the type with reclining chairs, televisions, air at each seat), I took an online test to see if I was human or actually alien or android. I failed the human part of the test.

I am an android. Strangely, I have always suspected this to be the truth.

I did a little light fangirl reading. As much as I love zombies, I never got into the Walking Dead storyline. I'm not sure what caught my attention for this Walking Dead story that fell into the tags I frequent. I do have my favorite "all-in" tags so I ended up reading this story on the rest of the ride out there. It was a story between these two guys.

In the end, my response was, "Why Not?" 

Which I seriously feel this attitude of "why not" gets me in a bit of trouble.... skinny dipping in December, protests, answering strange requests on twitter, picking up extra workloads...

Anyways!

The superiors promised food. Lots and lots of food and they delivered. Unfortunately, two of us were vegan, so we munched on fruit and coffee, but I thought the gesture was thoughtful. There was so much food afterwards that they told us we could take some home.

Emory's response to this; "You brought home 1 soda?"
Me: "Yes."
Emory: "But there were cases of soda?"
Me: "Yes, but I only needed 1 soda for my rum." 👍

Okay. I can see where logic sometimes fails me.

People keep asking me where this mystery building is, but I wasn't curious enough to actually see the exit we got off on or what streets we passed. Things like this hold no interest to me. This was a one time deal and truthfully I don't see how this will ever be important again.


📌Writing Update

📘 Another chapter posted for O.S. which I keep wondering why I didn't leave it as a one-shot, which was my original plan. I get too caught up with people wanting more and my brain produces more, but where is the cut off? Fanfic is a wild, wild thing with no rules and no limitations. You can run a story into the ground. I have GOT to finish this before it's run into the ground. I'm satisfied with the attention it's getting. I've got 72 kudos on this 8 chapter project.

Hidden Eggs, Cooking and Writing

I showed up to work and a purple plastic egg was neatly tucked in my bin. For one brief moment, I got that thrill I had when I was a kid. The last time I enjoyed anything having to do with eggs might have been a handful of years ago when all of us adults got together and dyed Easter Eggs. That seems nearly a lifetime ago.

We don't buy products that have eggs in the ingredients. Health reasons for Emory and preferences for me. ❤ My attempt at making vegan coconut cookies didn't work real well. Realized I needed parchment paper, but used wax paper. It was fun and the coconut that I didn't use for the second batch, I stuck in my oatmeal. Delicious choice!

We're planning some huge hiking trips out here in Az. Our work hours don't align, but I do have vacation time and we have to do this soon before it gets overwhelmingly hot.

Writing

📌 Trying to finish another chapter on O.S.  I have a huge section to write about a vampire addict trying to detox. Had to do a little research on this one to see what drug addicts go through while detoxing. I learned a lot. 

Fantasy Purge To-Do List and Writing

I was talking to my friend about Purge. Neither of us saw the movie. I like horror movies that have a supernatural element; monsters, zombies, ghosts, demons, things that go bump in the night and disappear. She likes the psychological horror movies with people, but she said Purge was too much for her.

She has it planned out though. She knows what she'd do if society ever came down to this. I, on the other hand, feel like it would be something to embrace. Not the murdering of people. I watch the ground so I don't squash a bug. I'm not into the "blood coming out of you" thing. Blood makes me dry heave.

However! I do have a fantasy Purge to-do list.

1. Form a group on Meet-Up for Purge. It'd be full of nudists who want to break into a water park for the night and have fun on the water slides. Nude. Lots of liquor. Loud music.

2. Gambling outside the casino setting is illegal. Form an illegal gambling ring for the night. (no animals involved)

3. Form a group of bicyclists and go for a bike ride on the freeway. (hopefully no one is driving drunk.)

4.  Are flash-mobs illegal? That might be something to do. (Last time I said Flash Mob to someone, they actually thought I wanted to start a mob of flashers, not flash dancers. Too cute.)

5. Skinny dip on the beach! Maybe even drink and skinny dip on the beach. (Totally illegal at most American beaches. I did it once though, not the drinking, but a bunch of us went skinny dipping. It was winter and it was almost colder outside the water so not sure if what we were doing was unstable for our body temperature. It remains as one of the top ten coolest things on my awesome things list)

6. Form a few animal rescue groups.

Okay, my Purge list might be pretty tame.

What would you do during Purge if it wasn't a "life and death" situation? Anything terribly funny on your list of things you've always wanted to do?

I do have a very strong, strong belief that if Purge was real, even in a society that might have violent notions, most people would not want to kill or maim another human. Maybe I'm too optimistic. Maybe I'm too simplistic. I just think that it's a weight that most people don't want on their conscious.

Writing Update:

Wrote 2,000+ words on my M.O.M.O story on Friday. Tried not to work on this story at all this week.

EW: 15/50 pages edited

Sugar! and Writing

Along with Spring Cleaning, I'm doing some freezer cleaning. My neighbor is so sweet and he knows I like sweet things, so he keeps bringing me treats. However, they aren't vegan, so I've been sharing them with my coworkers.

I feel like I must talk about sugar a lot. Even my coworkers know what type of donut I'll pick. It's funny because whenever people do a donut run, they don't even have to ask! I will always chose the pink donut with sprinkles.

And when I get to work, sometimes chocolate is sitting on my desk. 

(Obviously, some of these foods have dairy products, so I hand them off to friends.)

I've been practicing with my demo team this month. We're learning two new dances and we're being trained to 2-Step with the couples to fill in the space. It's only been a handful of months, but I feel like I've missed out a lot while going to acting classes.

I even showed up to Square Dance! Sadly, none of the dresses fit at the moment. I feel like I'm going to have to double time the yoga!

Writing Update

3000 words written. Unfortunately, spread over 3 stories. I have one very dirty, grimy story I'm working on that is taking a lot of brain waves because I can't stop focusing on it though I don't plan to do anything with the work. 

Commune Love, Spring Cleaning and Writing

The Phoenix Commune that I used to live at, now has the newest and youngest member of their communal family. His name is Ollie and he's only 1 year old. The little guy came from a house with four siblings, but from the very last report I got on the situation, he is fully situated with his new family and he's very happy among the commune.

I was informed that Ollie has visited the park several times. Has gone on long walks with every commune member and that he likes to occasionally sneak outside to greet the pool man. Now, I hope he gets along with Typo and Mozart because we do plan on taking a trip.

It's Saturday and every other Saturday, it's 50% off at our Goodwill, which is a store that sells secondhand items. I used to be crazy about certain things; cookie cutters, kid toys (when I taught), items from Japan, painted pictures, strange things.

I really want to check it out, but a large part of me knows I need to be downsizing. I just never know when I'm going to find that next cool thing, but it's Spring Cleaning and I need to light some candles and do a spiritual things around here. I need to purge the energy and the extra things collecting dust.



Writer Update

O.P. 42,257 words / ? no real word goal. I need to focus on one story at a time, so I'm going to try and finish O.S. which currently has over 1,000 hits. I've been dragging the story too long and with all things Spring Cleaning, finishing old projects will have to be on that list.

"There is a Tag for that" and Writing

I think my favorite tag on the fanfiction site is; "there is a tag for that?"

Seriously. THERE IS A TAG FOR THAT.... why???

Sometimes I'm really surprised what tags people put on stories like;

banana eating, too many tags spoil the plot, have you seen Jessica's attempts to flirt, it's cringe worthy, seriously WTF, I have issues, because babeh eyes don't need did, I regret everything, oh well, hmmm, use every tag you can think of even if it doesn't apply, this fic is cursed, your cursed for reading this, we had people look it over,

lol. Yes. Those are tags. And I think I've rarely clicked on a story if the tag is too outrageous for my brain.

I personally have been enjoying stories from Resident Evil and have been watching gamer channels. I have three Resident Evil Wii games, but one of them I tried playing on my own and freaked myself out. I don't do good with games that have countdown systems. I don't do good with tests for the same reason and I'm not really sure why I'm just not a good cook. That last comment seems a little irrelevant, unless you think about the time ticking away on an oven, then yes, all things that are timed, I fail at.

I have a few favorite characters and pairings for Resident Evil. I've been renting the cartoons from Netflix and rewatching the live action movies. I've been watching fan videos where people have pieced together photos on the characters with music. Of course, I've been reading the stories too. I think I should get myself some Resident Evil shirts, mugs, etc.

But DANG!! Even watching the gamers, I can feel my heart stop. Those games are legit tense.

I'm thinking about writing a fanfic for the game, but I'm not sure who my pairings will be with. I have a vague story idea on one character I do like watching the most and I'll read any fanfic on.


Writing Update

EW: (Hopefully) Final edit 11/50 pages edited.

OS: 8/? chapters written

MOMO: 3/? chapters written

Yummy Off Limit Foods, Casino Party and Writing

Hi Friends.

It's been a while.

Had to get my head on straight. I've discovered a few things along the way. Some of those things, I'm not sure really need fixing. Other aspects, yes, I'd be a much happier person if I could learn to work around these holdups.

Some extremely sad things have happened while I've taken my break. A few of those things have been very recent. I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about the sad things yet. Haven't told any of my friends and the only reason most of my family knows is because they were present when I got the news.

So let's move on to some of the happier things in my life. I'm now a practicing vegan. Here is a picture of all the YUMMY things I can no longer touch. :) You can chuckle at this if you want. I did when I took the picture and sent it to my friends and family. <3 nbsp="" p="">

The three things here that I really, really wanted was the Bailey's strawberry cream liquor, the cupcakes and the chocolate dipped strawberries. We can make our own cupcakes and dipped strawberries, but that strawberry cream liquor probably not.

I hope everyone had a fun Valentine's Day. I love walking the stores and seeing all their red and pink items; clothes, food, and decorations. My V-Day was sweet. It always is.

Emory and I were invited to a Casino Party. The lady who invited us is such an awesome person. She helps with dog rescues. She's a house flipper. She square dances. And she throws kick-butt parties!

She had a couple tables running. We play with $500 play money. Everything is play money and you get raffle tickets that allow you to get more play cash by putting the tickets in for a drawing. It's so much fun. 

I played at the horse race table, that you can see here. Dice and cards are needed for this game. Emory played poker. There was also a black jack table that John played at and Ann was with me at the horse races. I sat with all my good friends and Emory sat with the rest of our good friends. I don't think I knew anyone at John's table. 

Writing Update

Finished a couple of one-shot stories.

Listened to a bunch of creepy pastas and it helped me rethink what I was doing with a story that I'm 16.000 + words into and think I need to change it up A LOT. I realize too, that for this story, I actually need to draw myself a map of the building and I'm actually rethinking how exposed this building should be. 

UFOs, Fireworks and Storms

It's July and the monsoons are starting to blow in... or at least the muggy weather, dark skies, dust storms and the smell of rain. When will it actually rain? In our desert, that's a toss of the dice. Sometimes it only sprinkles for like 5 minutes.

The storms are exciting because it changes the densely hot atmosphere. After living in Florida, I actually miss a good, hard tropical storm. Not only did it leave the air electric, but my very spirit felt energetic. Maybe that's what happens when you're used to places that get very little rain like Arizona and Nevada. It rains in California, but not as bad in the seven years Emory and I lived there. After we left, there were a few issues with flooding.

Certain parts of Arizona has had very bad flooding. You wouldn't think that flood insurance is important out here, but it is. There was one really weird year that our freeway on this side of town got shut down because the water got so high and the flood grates couldn't expel the water quick enough.

This year, we didn't really do anything with fireworks. We had a quiet meal with the commune in Scottsdale. I am so grateful that Jeffery always tries to include a meal plan for me because he knows I'm not interested in the BBQ ribs, hamburgers or hot dogs. This time he bought two different veggie burgers which was super sweet, because I'm actually 100% okay about bringing my own food, but he always wants to host at his 100%.

It was funny because while we were there, Jeffery or someone in that house (though I highly suspect it was Jeffery) had found an HBO channel that was all about aliens; coverups, theories, eyewitness reports, abductions. I found a little UFO with a face on it for Christmas one year and gave it to him. This Christmas buy was due to the fact that earlier that year, Ms. J laughingly said, "Jeffery trimmed that entire hedge because he saw a UFO in that direction and he wants to wait for it, while sitting down."

Jeffery is just cool that way. He's given me a huge perspective on life and wonderment. He's really made my life fun.  :)

Litha in Arizona and Heat Warnings!

Arizona citizens have finally gotten the warning that the heat advisory is crucially dangerous. Warnings state that we should stay indoors after 10 am. in the morning. It's weird, because 111 degrees and 116 isn't even the hottest Arizona has gotten, BUT you feel it. Man you feel it!

Emory always asks, "Didn't you have the air conditioning on in the car? Why are you so sweaty?"

The seat belt maybe? Or the way the heat just radiates through the windows making you drip sweat despite the vents trying to keep you cool. I have the knob all the way up, which I usually can't stand because I'd rather be warm than cold (it might be a muscle/joint weakness issue that makes the cold so uncomfortable). Either way, IT'S SUMMER IN ARIZONA!!!

But today, around 5:00 in the evening, it didn't feel so bad. Another co-worker said it was because we were so cold. I went out earlier today at like 10-ish am and I couldn't breathe it was so hot. I had to go back inside, but those five minutes spent outside left me thirsty as all get-out!!

Painted Bowling Pin from Goodwill for $2.00.

Same Night, Same Fortune!!

 So in other news!!! I was going to go hiking for Litha, but Emory was totally against that since we'd be hiking up on the mountain trails and I can sort of see that we could be pushing our luck. It gets so hot so fast, even though I planned to do this in the semi-dark and try to be at the top of the mountain for sunrise. But in the end, it's been uncomfortable out here. There is no shade out there either. We don't have the same type of trees and most of the places I've hiked doesn't have trees at all. It's rock, cactus and itty-bitty plant life.