you may remember my lofty aspiration of completing my "100 things to do in 2008" list last year. 

psh. right. that didn't last long. 

anyway, i've amended it. i delete a whole lot of crap & added some new stuff, to create my new list for the remainder of 2009.  it is simply entitled: 

fifty things.

 1.  blog at least once a week. i've been pretty good about this one. i blog multiple times a week, if not daily, at tifftastic & all the pretty. 
 2.  organize studio for easier, more relaxing painting/drawing, and a good, clean area to do my school work. 
 3.  read twenty new books this year.  (2/20 completed)
 4.  go to two new places we've never seen. one is already taken care of: we're going to oklahoma in july for a family reunion.
 5.  go on a slip 'n slide.  this is from last year's list too. i have yet to do it! where does one find a slip 'n slide these days?
 6.  lose twenty pounds.  easier said than done, folks.
 7.  do handmade christmas again.  it was so fun last year making instead of buying christmas gifts for everyone, so i'm doing it again this year! i even have a few new skills i can put to use.  :)  
 8.  sell artwork on etsy.  i had a couple of photos & a drawing posted before, but they didn't sell. i'm going to do some new projects to post soon.
 9.  get friends to go on a ghostwalk. um, this should be prefaced with, "make friends."  LOL. 
10. ride a horse.  don't know where i'm going to find a horse to ride. ooh, maybe at the family reunion in oklahoma!
11.  try a new restaurant once a month.  we've actually tried several new restaurants this year.
12. learn more french.  this will be done with the help of my trust nintendo ds & the lovely program called "my french coach."
13. see fort sumter. can you believe i was born & raised here & have never seen fort sumter?
14. get a big bookcase.  i need a big one for all my hardcover books. i want a library of classics.
15. get new flooring for downstairs. i don't know if this will be possible, but we can try. we've wanted it for a while, but right now we have to save up for fall semester tuition, and then transferring to college of charleston in the spring, which is going to be a lot more expensive.
16. paint brass chandelier & make it pretty. hot pink. yes. with jewels all over.
17. get a massage. i've had a $100 gift card for stella nova for over year now. i still haven't used it. 
18. go to art museum. i've never been, and i *am* an art student.  ;)
19. volunteer at race for the cure this year instead of joining the team.
20. purge stuff & give to goodwill at least once every two months.
21. get back into scrapbooking. but combine it with my fine art talents & make it more interesting. i've learned so many more skills since i quit scrapbooking.
22. start cooking again.  srsly, this is one of the reasons willy & i have put on weight, & probably why his blood pressure has gone up again. 
23. go to middleton place on a sunny afternoon. before it gets way too hot!
24. find or make a piece of art for our bathroom.  i've been looking for one forever, so i suppose i'll just make one. 
25. volunteer at a soup kitchen. 
26. sew benji's eyes & nose back on. now that i know how to sew, this one will be a snap!
27. start a new public blog.
28. start writing again. 
29. apply at c of c for spring semester.
30. save up $8,000 for c of c.  yikes. this will be tough. and it will be an ongoing thing, as i'll be there for at least four semesters. 
31. stay on the dean's list!  yayyyyy!
32. take a dance class.
33. read crossing the rubicon. ugghhhh it's soooooooo long. but chock full of such good info. 
34. watch the obama deception. i love alex jones's stuff.
35. try to keep up with current events & politics. another tough one, b/c i get too distracted for things like this. 
36. start counseling again for "maintenance" purposes. 
37. see about getting off of cymbalta. i'm tired of taking medication, & i don't feel like it helps my mood swings.
38. watch all season of star trek.  i doubt i can do this all in one year, but we shall see! weirder things have happened...
39. watch the first season of true blood on dvd.
40. enter one of steve alten's contests to become a character in his next book.
41. SEE NEW MOON  AT FIRST MIDNIGHT SHOWING IN NOVEMBER! WHOOOOOOOOO!
42. get a new ipod. since mine got stolen. still so pissed about that. 
43. read walt disney's biography. it's sooooo long too.
44. start going to the gym again regularly. at least three times a week.
45. audition for a play at the flowertown theatre.
46. start guitar lessons again, or drum lessons. 
47. participate in nanowrimo in november!!! this stands for "national novel writing month," & participants write at least 50,000 words that month. that's only like 1667 words a day, so it's really not that bad. it's just motivating yourself to write every day that can be difficult!
48. write in my journal more regularly. 
49. get a betta fish & name his marvy 2.
50. look for a free or cheap piano. it's not that hard--craigslist has them all the time!

okay, so i only took two classes this past semester. but hey, for a chick that's been out of school for ten years, i think that's pretty damn good.  so i'mma say it again. shout it from the rooftops, even.  

i made the dean's list!!!!

summer semester starts june 1st.  i've been grumbling for the past couple of weeks about my astronomy class that is going to last 8047523598720 hours every monday. but tonight, i got really excited about it for the first time. i shouldn't complain, b/c i get to take something i'm actually interested in instead of stupid biology or chemistry. thank GOD. the funny part is that i got excited about astronomy when we were watching the new "star trek" movie tonight. LOL. srsly. 

by the way, that movie was all kinds of amazing goodness. it had a great story, and not any of those really annoying, long, drawn-out action scenes (i hate that with a passion). aside from the fab plot, it had this in it:


and this: 



and this:



and, hold on to your panties, ladies, because this is the slew of man-candy you'll be seeing if when your hubbies/fiances/boyfriends/friends "drag" you to see star trek:

g-g-g-guuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

you're welcome. 

*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*

DISCLAIMER: i did not mean to imply, in any way, shape, or form, that i am only excited about my astronomy class b/c of the man candy in "star trek."  i am srsly interested in planets and stars and space and stuff. srsly. 

 when i read, the words go into my ears (well, eyes in the case of reading) and transform into a picture. whatever i'm reading becomes a movie playing inside my head. i write in the same manner, but it goes the opposite way, obviously. 

i was shocked to find that most people are not like this. 

once again, i'm weird. 

my sister & i will often discuss books or stories we've been reading, and i'll mention a certain detail that i went gaga over. she won't know what i'm talking about, and i'll be completely surprised.  

"you mean you don't remember the part where this happened?"  i'll ask, mouth agape.

"no. not at all. wait, maybe it sounds familiar..."

i've always wondered why i remember so many details.  one day, i mentioned how i picture the movie in my head while reading the words, and my sister thought that was the weirdest thing.  i, on the other hand, found it odd that someone could read and not have that constant stream of pictures going through their head. 

i also always wondered why a lot of people seem to read so much faster than i do. and now i know, this is why.

my sister, my bff, and my cousin all say that they read through the words and contemplate them, but they don't translate into a streaming movie.  

i believe this is why i remember things from books/stories/articles/whatever in such detail--b/c i not only read the words, but i actually saw the action taking place in my mind's eye. to me, it is as real as can be. the characters are out there somewhere in the world doing and saying what the words in the book say they are doing or saying.

i think this is why i am a writer. whenever i create a character, to me, that character is a living, breathing person. 

here's the really funny thing:  i've been having bouts of writer's block lately, so i've been looking up articles about writing, writer's block, etc, and writing down tips in a notebook, to which i have assigned the title "writing tips."  everything that i've read challenges writers to do the things that i have always automatically done when reading or writing. i am fascinated, and encouraged that writing is what i'm supposed to be doing, by this. 

i've always had an extremely active imagination. (ask anyone who watched me grow up or grew up with me--especially aunt sharon, who used to go on "driving trips" with me on nana's couch. or the time she took me to downtown charleston & convinced me that it was scotland. i'm sure that didn't take much convincing in my overactive mind!)  it's what has always driven me to write. i'll get a scene playing over in my head, and i'll be inspired to write it down. when we had writing assignments in school, i'd always get in trouble for "daydreaming" & not writing down my ideas, but that's not how my mind worked, and it still isn't.  the teacher didn't understand that i was writing my story in my head first, watching the characters do their thing before i could translate it into words on paper. 

it's amazing that i thought everyone's mind worked that way. 

i consider myself very lucky to have this talent. i feel like i get a lot more out of reading (and writing) this way. i'm extremely thankful for it. :)


*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*

 amateur, of course. ;)   i don't feel like i can actually use the title "photographer," as i haven't had any formal training. that probably sounds silly to you. but i'm a silly girl. 

without further ado, i am officially debuting my published photo here on the good ol' eljay!  and here it is: 


(you can click on the photo above and it will take you directly to the real-life website)

see that beautiful photograph near the upper right corner? it has my name under it! yay for me! i'm quite proud. it may not seem like such a big thing, but for someone who is majoring in studio arts, it's definitely a HUGE thing. to know that someone thought that a photograph that i took was pretty enough to include on their website is a great compliment.  hee. i'm schmapfamous. 

i know that thingy up there is kind of blurry and small, so here is the original photo:


oh, and according to ashley, i'm also googlefamous! one of our favorite "local boys make good" bands, the working title, had a cd release party last saturday night, which we attended. of course we bought the new album (called "bone island") while there. and of course it is amazing. anyway, i wrote a review about it on tifftastic, and ash said that when she googled reviews for the album, mine was on the first page of google results.  

"congrats!" she told me. "you're google-famous!"   

WIN.

i'm extremely proud of all the neat-o things i've been doing lately. 

1. i posted an ad on craigslist to audition to sing in a band. i made a sample of my voice yesterday, and even stepped out of my comfort zone by letting ashley, mom, & dad listen to it. they *said* they thought it was good, but really, would they tell me if they thought otherwise? LOL.  anyway, i've gotten a few responses, but two of them were for party bands, some guy who plays ambient crap and has banners for legalizing weed all over his "professional" myspace, and a guy who plays dinner music. not interested. tonight, i revised my ad and said that i would like to request people with similar tastes in music--rock, indie, et cetera.  cover bands are okay, too. i love classic rock and stuff like that. just no huge party bands.  anyway, i will keep you posted on that situation. it was really more of a challenge to myself more than anything. i'm not really expecting much to come of it. 

2. i joined a creative writing group on meetup.com called "moving forward."  it's for writers here in the charleston area. there's a meeting at the charleston library each month where we read, review, and give advice, creative criticism, etc.  i have yet to go to a meeting, b/c i just joined it a couple of weeks ago. the first meeting i'll be attending is this sunday afternoon (yes, mom, i will still be able to make it to papaw's birthday cookout!) and i cannot wait. my assignment is 1,000 words on an inanimate object. i'm thinking about doing it from the perspective of the inanimate object, which will probably be the chair-and-a-half in my living room. i like to think it has a wonderful life story, even though it's only three years old. 

3. i also joined a book club on meetup.com.  seriously, folks, meetup.com is an awesome way to get involved in stuff! you join the groups and you get reminder emails and stuff like that so you won't forget about meetings or anything. anyhow, i haven't been to a book club meeting yet either. it's all ladies, and we're meeting at a coffee place i've never been to. next week is my first meeting, though i haven't read the book yet. actually, i've never heard of it. i can't even remember what the title is. but i've got a week to read it. i can do that. i'm really interested in making new friends and participating in intelligent conversation. 

4. i've agreed to team up with a couple of internet friends to write a few different stories. maybe this will help me with my control issues. LOL.  

5. i finally learned how to use the sewing machine, and now i'm a sewing FIEND!  i've made pillows, a little change purse, cool bracelets, a hairband.... it's so cool. i'm going to eventually start selling those things on etsy along with my artwork, once i hone my skill.  hee.

that's all i can really think of right now, but i think that's enough! i'm out of school for the next two weeks, and i'm going to have a pretty dang full plate once summer semester rolls around. not only do i have two online classes, but i'm also taking astronomy, which isn't offered in the online format. i have to *gulp* actually physically GO TO SCHOOL!  eep!  i have it on mondays from 10:30am til 5:30pm, b/c the lab is right after the lecture. suffice it to say that mondays are going to suck. royally.  i have just the lecture on wednesdays, which isn't bad, b/c it's over at like 12:45.  and because kristen got a summer job/internship thingy at roper, i agreed to keep collin & logan the mornings after her night-shifts. but that's a fun thing.  i *heart* those boys! it's like i have nephews. :)

okay, i think i'm going to go to bed in a timely manner tonight. it's not even 11pm yet! wow. that's sorta new for me lately. lol. i just find that i am more inspired/motivated at night to do things. i'm such a night owl. i seriously think that i was created to be a nocturnal creature. maybe i was a bat in my past life or something.  OOH, or a CULLEN!!!  

*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*

i have two really cool reasons to be proud of myself this week:

1. i *finally* got a grade back for a paper i wrote for my english lit class at least a month ago.  it was a reader response to dante gabriel rossetti's poem "the blessed damozel".  in the poem, a lady in heaven watches her love on earth & waits for the day when they will be reunited.  it was sort of written as a response to edgar allen poe's "the raven", in which the narrator's love has died, and he wishes for her to come back. so they're sort of opposites.  anyway, i wrote a paper describing the parallels between these two poems, and i got a 100 on it!  :)   but that wasn't even the best part. here are my professor's comments:

Outstanding essay, Tiffany! You’ve opened up Rossetti’s poem in a fresh way, and I’m pleased to see the effort you’ve put in. Nice work.

pretty cool, huh?  i love my english lit prof. he is so very encouraging.  he has instilled in me more confidence as a writer than any other professor i've ever had.  particularly more than that beotch prof i had in my freshman year of college who told me i was incompetent. hmph. 

so anyway, i have that to be super proud of.  and then this happened:

2.  i hadn't checked my flickr account for quite a while, so i did so yesterday. and there was an email from a lady at schmap.com.  google says:  " ' Schmap' is the publisher of free digital travel guides for destinations throughout the world."  
they're really cool interactive maps & stuff with photos of the places, and all their stuff is free. there's even a program you can download.  anyway, the important part is what the email said.  the lady told me that this photo that i took the last time we were in austin is being considered for their guide to austin!  how cool is that?!  i wouldn't get paid or anything, but i would get credit for the photo, of course.  and just being considered is a great honor for me!  so i'm really excited about this. it's another sign pointing me in the right direction of my studio arts major with concentrations in photography & painting. :)   

so those are my two pieces of cool news.  other than that, nothing else to report. oh, except that i somehow have to finish an english lit quiz today, an art history exam by sunday, my art history final by tuesday, and two (yes, count them, TWO!) english lit papers by wednesday!  gaaahhhhh!  i won't even have time to gawk at hot pictures of rob pattinson & jackson rathbone or twitter with kt & friends or drink coffee and type to my heart's content............ah, c'est la vie!  but seeing how these are the last assignments for the semester, i'm sure i'll manage.  ;)

all my love, mon chers!  

p.s. if you've been missing my blogs, check me out at http://tifftastic.wordpress.com and subscribe!

*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*

this is completely gratuitous, but i couldn't resist:

p.s. ummmm, i rather like seeing that pic of me right next to the pic of rob.  hee.  lucky for willy that i love him so much.  ;)

since i've been confined to the couch, i've been watching a lot more tv than usual.  at noon every day "what not to wear" comes on tlc. it's one of my fave shows. i adore stacy and clinton. anyway, off topic.  since they show a lot of the same commercials overandoverandoveragain, i've been seeing a little preview for a show that is coming on this sunday night called "hayley's story".  it's about a girl (and other children) with a disease called progeria. this commercial has somehow really grabbed my attention.  this little girl hayley is absolutely adorable. she's british, and to me that's the number one cutest thing in the world, so i love to hear her cute little voice every time the commercial comes on. 

i've been thinking so much about her that i actually looked up progeria on wikipedia.  it's a disease that causes the aging process to speed up, and only 1 in 8 million babies have it.  the earliest symptoms are failure to thrive (hello, psych101) and scleroderma, which is a hardening of the skin.  here's what else wiki has to say:

"As the child ages past infancy, additional conditions become apparent. Limited growth, alopecia, and a distinctive appearance (small face and jaw, pinched nose) are all characteristic of progeria. The people diagnosed with this disease usually have small, fragile bodies, like those of elderly people.

Later, the condition causes wrinkled skin, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular problems."


alopecia is loss of hair, by the way. 

i don't really know why this has affected me so much. sometimes things just happen that way.  the saddest part is that most children with progeria don't live past the age of 13, though some have been known to live into their late teens or early twenties.

i didn't mean to make anybody sad by blogging about this, but i just wanted to let everyone know about this show, and i really think if you find yourself at home on sunday evening at 8pm, you should really watch "hayley's story" on tlc and see this beautiful and intelligent girl. 

things like this really put life into perspective and make you see that in the grand scheme of things, our little everyday problems are nothing.
 

once again, i'm really sorry it's been so long since i last blogged.  i keep promising i'll do it more often, and i sort of figured that since i'm not a realtor anymore i'd have more time. 

scratch that concept.

it's been a little bit of a struggle trying to hone my time management skills. 

also, i feel like complete and total.....poo.  i've been to the doctor, and he says i just have "a really bad cold".  i refuse to believe that, b/c i've never had a cold this bad.   anyway, i've been meaning to blog for a while now, but like i said, my time management skills suck.  i even wanted to do a picture post with all the fab pics i took in texas. maybe next time.

k, i was totes gonna blog a little about our trip to texas and my experience with willy's nose surgery and recovery, but the coughsyrupwithcodine has chosen this moment to kick in and i'm not sure anything i type now will seem quite coherent.  sooooo ta for now. i'm going to zonk out on the couch with my sheep blanket and diesel to cuddle with.

p.s. i added that cute icon with rob in it just to cheer me up. don't make fun.

i know, i know it's been AGES since i've updated. i've gotten many complaints.  i never knew so many people loved to read my eljay! 

you like me! you really like me!

hee.

well, i do have a lot of news to present to you, my dear readers.

first things first:  i have decided to take a hiatus from real estate. willy's been trying to get me to quit for the past few months, telling me i'm just too stressed out lately, and that i don't handle stress well. (if you know me, you know my stress-avoiding mechanism is to just ignore the situation. yeah, that doesn't work too well in the real estate world. lol!)

so we had a big sit-down discussion last sunday, in which willy forced me to make a pros and cons list.  after doing this, we decided that the best thing for me to do would be to place my license on inactive status in the referral department.  what this means is that while i won't be an active realtor, i will be able to refer past clients, friends, family, etc. to my colleagues and still receive a 25% referral fee.  this way, if i decide in six months or a year or whatever that i want to become active again, i can.  :) 

one of the big reasons that i'm doing this is the fact that i've finally decided that i want to go back to school and major in studio arts.  if you've talked to me at all in the past year, i've probably whined about that to you. it's been in the forefront of my mind for almost a year now, along with shirking all responsibilities, running away, and becoming a nomad.  i figured that if willy & i do eventually become nomads, i'd better get my b.a. finished first so at least i can sell the art i produce of all the glorious places we visit.  ;)  jk.

seriously, though, art is my passion. it's taken me a lot longer than most of my peers to decide what it is that i want to do, but i feel like being older and more mature (and knowing myself a whole lot better!) gives me an advantage.  i know what i want, and i know what i have to do to get there.  and it's only taken me....ten extra years to figure it out. ha.

so after our big discussion, we headed over to mom & dad's house for dinner, where my dad proceeded to inform me that, yes, i was too stressed out, and that he sees that i love to be in my office and that i love the people i work with, but that i start to scream and pull my hair out every time someone brings up a certain situation in which i am involved that i do not like.............you know what that is, i'm sure.  i've probably whined to you about that one, too.

after that, i promptly printed out the "returning student" form at trident tech's website, filled it out, and resolved to take it to the admissions office the next day.   which i did.  

and let me tell you, trident technical college has a big problem with lack of communication. 

first, i turned in that form. the lady at the admissions desk told me that parts of my file had been purged since i hadn't attended for the last five years, so they needed proof of my high school diploma. .........................................huh what now?  my high school diploma that i received TEN YEARS AGO?  the very same diploma that allowed me to attend college of charleston and transfer a number of credits to trident, where i also received a number of credits, therefore providing proof that yes, i must have graduated high school at some point, because i attended not only a very nice four-year college but also YOUR crummy institution and accumulated at least 31 hours of college credit???  THAT diploma?  the one that is gathering dust in some elusive place that i have no clue of? 

i called my mom and asked her, very calmly, if she had any clue as to where my diploma was.  she said it must be either in my closet in my old room or one of the drawers therein.  i raced to my parents' house and tore apart my old room to no avail. then i thought, "hey, mom gave me a box of stuff from my trip to germany, among other things from the last days of my high school experience....it could be there!"  so i raced back to my house, at this point ranting and raving on the phone to not only my mom, but ashley, willy, and chelsea as well.  i checked said box, and then i looked in our fireproof safe thingy.  nope.  how i could misplace a bright green leather portfolio with gold engraved writing is beyond me.  but if there's something to be lost (especially something important), leave it to me to get the job done.

i threw myself on the couch in the living room and read fanfic (which is for a whole nother entry, people, so don't even ask) til willy got home.  then he tried to comfort me, again to no avail.  i sat up and yelled at him (wild-eyed, head spinning, and pea-soup vomit spewing everywhere. jk, it wasn't *quite* that bad.)  that he had no clue how badly i wanted this, and that i was very frustrated and overwhelmed.  and that i had even tried calling my high school to see if they could fax me a copy of some sort of proof that i metriculated ten years ago, but no one would answer the damn phone. so he, being the more level-headed of the two of us (read: less likely to scream at and blubber to whichever poor soul answered the phone) agreed to call trident and ask them why they needed that diploma, because it didn't make sense to any of us.

he got ahold of admissions, who transferred him to the registrar's office, who told him that my info was indeed updated in the computer, they didn't need a copy of my diploma at all, and that i could come in the next day to register for classes.

i was, obviously, elated.  and very nice to willy for the rest of the night after he pressed his forehead to mine and told me, very calmly, that he understood that i get frustrated and overwhelmed easily, but to please try not to go green (which means to  "hulk out")  on him next time. 

the next thing i did was go to trident's website again and look up all the classes that i need to finish my general requirements (read: boring classes) before i transfer to college of charleston to start on my major stuff (read: fun creative art classes that i can't wait to start!).  the next problem i had was that we have a trip planned for the first two weeks of february to visit our family in texas. so i needed to take online courses so i wouldn't miss a bunch of school.  i made a list of all the classes i needed that were available online and that still had available space left (i'm a last-minute kind of person, though i prefer to be known as "spontaneous").  

i arose bright and early the next morning and sat in traffic for almost an hour to make a normally ten-minute drive from my house to trident tech, where open registration was starting at 8am.  i got there at ten after and put my name on the list of people looking to get their associate in arts. i waited about ten mintues, and an "advisor" came and got me.  i use this term loosely, because this guy clearly didn't care one iota.  he took me to his office, where he proceeded to complain to his colleage for at least a full three minutes about how some other guy said one thing when he meant the opposite.  then he sat me down and said, "okay, what classes were you looking to take?"

like a good prepared student, i pulled out my little notebook with my list (NEVER leave home without at least one list, ladies and gents). i informed him that the first class i would be needing was "contemporary college math".  he looked at me in confusion and said, "what is that?"  i sat there dumbfounded.  he looked it up on the computer and said, "well do you have another math credit?"  i proudly informed him that i got an A in statistics.  he looked at his little yellow paper and said, "well you only need one math for an associate in arts."  i sighed and said, "well, if i don't need it, then i won't take it."  inside my head i was actually saying, "YOU IDIOT. I KNOW WHAT I NEED TO TAKE TO TRANSFER TO C OF C."  i met with an advisor there last summer, who gave me a list of what i needed for my ba in studio arts, and a brochure telling me which credits would transfer from tech.  i wanted to yell at him that i DID need two maths, b/c that is what is required by c of c, even if his dinky school only requires one math.  i honestly couldn't care less what is required for an associate in arts, b/c i had already informed him that my main goal is a bachelors in studio arts.  then i looked at his little name plaque and realized that he's an english professor.  i've never had good experiences with english professors.  now i'm not prejudiced against ALL english profs, but the ones i've had to deal with in particular have all been arrogant, self-important ASSHOLES.  so yeah, his title on his stupid little plaque explained everything.  after more of me telling him what i need and him denying that i need any of it, and insisting that i needed a "speech" class (aka public speaking or interpersonal communications) i finally relented and said, "fine, put me in theater 101".  much to my delight, theater 101 can be taken in place of stupid public speaking or inter-idiot communication, which is what he CLEARLY needs a refresher in.  so he put me in that and music appreciation (which fulfills one of my humanities requirements).   then he informed me that i'd be attending those two classes on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays, and i'd be there from 9:15 til eleven:something am on those days.   "wait," i said. "are either of those available online?"  i knew that they are both, in fact, availabe online and that there were a couple of openings in each class, which is why i got to registration so early.    "no," he replied irritably. "we only have certain classes online, and those are not offerend online at all."  

at this point, i was tired of dealing with this moron, so i conceded defeat and took my printed schedule and walked heavy-heartedly out of the building.  while staring at the paper he gave me, i noticed that i was still listed under my maiden name. i called willy and complained to him about the ordeal that the morning had been so far.  he told me that i needed to ask someone else.  which i knew, but i was so overwhelmed that i had no clue where to go.  i decided that the first thing i needed to do was go to the registrar and ask them why my maiden name was on their files.  the lovely lady there informed me that i needed to fill out a name-change form in addition to the "returning student info update" form i had already turned in.  i filled it out and she told me my name would be changed in the system next week. i nodded and then wondered what i should do about this schedule situation. i noticed some computers set up for online registration and figured i could just see if i could change the crap myself.  but i couldn't figure out how to login.  blah. 

then i heard people saying, "are you here to register? please go to room 212 or 214."  i figured, "hmm, it's worth a shot."  so i went upstairs to the "charleston room" aka room 212 and sat in a chair and waited for one of the many "advisors" placed around the room at computers to call me.  i only had to wait a couple of minutes.  a lovely older man gestured at me and said he was ready.  he was quite distinguished-looking, all silver-haired and suited & tied.  but was hilariously funny.  i explained my problem to him, to which he responded, "well you were just in the wrong place. you've come to the right place now!  let's see what i can do to help you."  i said, "i need a biology class."  he pushed a couple of keys on his computer and said, "yes, there is room available in an online biology 101. *click*  there you go! you're in."   i smiled widely and said more confidently that i also need to take art history 107.  he did the same thing he'd done for the bio class.  "you're in!"  i asked him to please take me out of those other two stupid classes that are not priorities for me.  he did so.  i thanked him profusely and wanted to hug him and ask him to be my friend.  i picked up my new schedule from the printer and was on my way.

FINALLY.  so i am now officially a college student once again.  i'm taking two classes online this semester:   art history and biology.  of course, i'll have to go to campus once a week (wednesday nights) for the lab, but that's okay.

now that all that was done, i could concentrate on telling my broker that i was going on a hiatus....which scared me to death.  but now i think that this entry has been way too long and involved. so i'll save that one for the next entry, which i PROMISE (cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye) i will write soonly. 

OH, and p.s.  i spent this morning updating my listography website!  i haven't done that in like a year or something!  you can view it at http://listography.com/tiffy





*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*

& thank goodness, b/c what a gloomy weekend we had!  weatherwise, anyway.   :)

willy, ashley, & i went to see "sweeney todd" at the performing arts center friday night.  IT. WAS. AMAZING.  it was so beautiful, i cried. yeah, i know--it doesn't seem like something subtitled "the demon barber of fleet street" would bring tears to your eyes (unless it was that scary or gory!)  lol.  but the thing is, it was so bohemian & lovely.  there were ten actors, & the actors were the musicians as well as the stage crew.  all of them were on the stage at all times, & the background never changed.  they just used props to signify the changing scenes. like i said, very bohemian & wonderful.  willy even loved it!

on saturday, ashley & i went to the mall. we found a new singstar game (karaoke for playstation 2) on clearance at target for only $13!  so of course we snatched that right up. heehee.  we found perfect birthday presents for both curtis & chuck, & we got new fall hats (i got two--a houndstooth one with a little bow on it & a black one with a silver buckle). i also found the cutest necklace at charlotte russe, one of my fave places to find fun jewelry.  it has two strands--one has a black & white cameo & they other strand has faux pearls. i'm wearing it today. :) 

well, as promised, i took some pictures of my new office area.  i also wanted to take a pic of the halloween theme patty & i created on the office bulletin board last friday, but i don't have that little usb thingy that uploads my pics. so oh well. i'll post a pic of it next time.  in the meantime, here are my office pics:


a view of the whole cubicle--those neato things overhead are storage compartments!  who'd have thought i'd have more storage in this cubicle than in the whole nursery?



close-up of the left side.  that's my bulletin board that used to hang on the wall above my desk in the nursery. but i can't stick anything on the walls of my cubicle.  pushpins fall right out, & velcro doesn't even stick!  so i just have it leaned up against the wall. hmm, what else...there's my printer with my little "boo" sign i got for halloween....and the pic of willy & me at dunn's river falls in jamaica.  


the other side. duh.  there's my laptop (with fanfic on the screen, of course. lol)  a random mug i borrowed b/c i needed coffee badly & forgot my mug.......my disney calendar....my cute fake flowers from tj maxx....my phone of course.....a spider web candle holder with a fake tealight......oh & that cute notepad hanging on the storage thingy has a dilbert cartoon & the little guy is saying, "i used the week to develop some new coffee-sipping noises."  teehee.


while i'm at it, here are a couple more pics:


willy & me at aunt sharon & bill's wedding.




ashley & erica with decorated booties at the wedding.



my hot new favourite shoes i got for $18 at ross!  i've been searching dillards & all the department stores for a cute pair of these, & i found them at ross!  did i mention they were $18?  and that's *with* tax*!



so that's all the showing off i have for now.  i'm going to leave you with a little poem that i got out of a book i have.  it's called "poetry to make you smile".   it's just a little yellow book, which makes me smile in & of itself.  i got it from anthropologie, if you're interested. they have other versions of it, too.    anyway, in flipping through it today i found this perfect poem for emmett from "twilight".  this one's for ash, sam, & angela. teehee.

"toast to appetite"  by roy blount, jr.

i intend to eat the bear
that you see over there.

my dog would like to eat it, but
i have too well trained the mutt.

the bera is mine
first, some wine,

then i'm going to eat the bear.
broiled, mostly, medium rare.

eat it all, from zotch to goozle.
small bits fried in lard, as usual.

may well eat it all tonight.
couldn't, without appetite.

appetite! every bite

i take i owe to you for being there.
and now, i'll be off with my bear.


*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship?
i'd call six years of marriage a pretty serious step. haha.

02) What was your dream growing up?
only one? sheesh!  i wanted to work with dolphins. seriously. and i wanted to have a loving & cute husband (check) & adorable dogs (check, but they are bad dogs. lol).

03) What talent do you wish you had?
being able to play music by ear. i'm a pro at reading music & i can memorize it, but i wish i could just pick up my guitar or sit down at the piano & play without music in front of me.

04) If I bought you a drink what would it be?
if it's alcoholic, probably a beer. right now i'm into the oktoberfest brews or the lime ones.
if it's non-alcoholic, an iced coffee with nonfat milk. ;)

05) Favorite vegetable?
uh-oh, this is hard. i love all vegetables!  i guess i'll go with spinach.

06) What was the last book you read?
the last one i completed was "breaking dawn".  i'm in the middle of several books, which is why i haven't completed any of them. the one i most desperately want to finish is "the story of tibet: conversations with the dalai lama".

07) What zodiac sign are you?
sagittarius. i'm right on the cusp of that & scorpio.

08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
none whatsoever. which i had the guts.  i used to want a sun tattoo on my hip. but after talking with my sis the other day, i'm thinking i'd rather have a peace sign on my hand or wrist.  and as for the piercings, i'm seriously considering having my ears pierced today. for the first time ever. lol.

09) Worst Habit?
procrastinating.

10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
of course!

11) What is your favorite sport?
football & tennis.

12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
i'm definitely an optimist.

13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
i'd probably talk your ear off about "twilight". LOL.

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?
hmm. this one's hard b/c i consider everything that's ever happened in my life a learning experience. so i don't really look at them as all bad.  i guess at the time, having my fiance' break up with me & leave me sobbing in the middle of the mall was pretty awful. but now i am SO grateful that that happened. he was a jerk & from what i hear he has a pretty sad life these days (and he's just as whiny & self-pitying as ever).

15) Tell me one weird fact about you.
o lord this list could go on & on.......how about the fact that i'm obsessed with fictional characters? LOL. but you already knew that.

16) Do you have any pets?
i have three dogs:  axl (named after axl rose), diesel (he needed a strong name b/c he's little), & lola (after charlie & lola, and also the song by the kinks).

17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
that would be fun! 

18) What was your first impression of me?
she's so nice!

19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
well i guess it depends on what they look like...

20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
ha!  i'd make my weight problems go away for good.

21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
partner in crime!

22) What color eyes do you have?
blueish grayish.

23) Ever been arrested?
nope.

24) Bottle or can soda?
i don't drink soda. unless it's diet dr. pepper......then i guess i like it in a bottle.

25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
pay off bills!!!  and pay for a vacation.

27) What's your favorite place to hang out at?
i love to go downtown & sit in the park or whatever.

28) Do you believe in ghosts?
sometimes. except whenever i psych myself out & scare myself in the dark. then i tell myself i don't. lol.

29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
read! and shop!

30) Do you swear a lot?
i have been lately.

31) Biggest pet peeve?
eating noises. slurps, smacks, etc. gross.

32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?
fabulous.  jk.  probably thoughtful.

33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?
i do.

34) Favorite and least favorite food?
i love pasta.  the least favorite is hard, b/c i just love food in general. lol.  so i'll go with........squid. lol.

35) Do you believe in God?
i believe in a higher power, & i believe in having faith. i used to personify God as an old man with robes & sandals & long white hair & beard....now i recognize God as nature & good feelings & love......it's hard to explain, i guess.

36) Will you re post this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?
sure!

...because i've moved out of the nursery.  on monday, my broker told me the other agents from the trolley road office (whom we inherited when cbunited bought out weichert & sandlapper a few months ago) are going to start moving over here, & that since i've been here for two years i get first pick over them.  so i moved out of my big, luxurious built-for-four-or-five-agents office & into a cubicle downstairs next to charline & patty.  my cubicle is nice & roomy, & i wish i had my camera with me so i could take a picture of it.  i'll do it on friday.  by the way, we called that room the nursery b/c when i first started here, all of us new agents were in there. then when everybody else made the horrible decision to leave, i had the place to myself. heh heh heh.  turns out i had a lot of stuff to move.  i did it all by myself. i even moved my heavy file cabinet.  and p.s. i was wearing a short sweater dress & heels. lol.  i was crawling around on the floor & thanking the good lord that all the men in the office happened to be out.

so anyhow, that's that. i like my cubicle.  i even bought a couple of little halloween decorations for it today.  :)   the only problem is i can't hang my certificates & stuff on the walls, b/c pushpins won't stay in--they fall right out.  i tried velcro, but those fell too. oh well.

it's a gorgeous day outside!  it's so sunshiney & it's hot again....i could do with that nice breeze we were having last week. but i'll take sunny blue skies any way i can get them.  when it's so pretty outside, it makes me feel so wonderful & just plain happy to be alive.

i'm totally procrastinating, by the way.  i have umpteen things i should be doing.  like working on some mail-outs (i haven't done prospecting in forevah).  actually, i haven't really done anything pertaining to real estate in a while. i've been burnt out for the last few weeks.  over the summer, i was superbusy & successful.  but then everything fell apart.  i don't know what it was....everything just happened to come up with problems all of a sudden.  i was really down & thought it was something i did, or that i wasn't a good agent.  but once i finally voiced my feelings, everyone in my office came to my rescue.  :)   they told me that they have *all* experienced periods like that, where they were doing great, & then all of a sudden all their deals fell through.  they said it happens every now & then, & you just have to suck it up & realize that you really are a good agent & did the best you could.  so i've been feeling better about it.

but i'm still going to start substitute teaching again.

with the market as crap as it is right now, a lot of people are actually doing stuff on the side.  so i figured, while i'm not very busy, why not make a little extra spending money?  yay for shopping!  plus, we've been needing a vacation for months now, but haven't really been able to afford it since those couple of closings i had coming didn't happen.  so maybe i can sub enough to save some moolah for a vacay.  also, willy says it will help me feel validated, b/c i always tell him i feel guilty when i'm not bringing in money.

sooooooooo what else can i write.............ugh i can't think of anything & i may have to actually do some work...........

i'm addicted to fanfiction.  after the twilight series ended, i felt complete & had closure.  but we are all so obsessed with it that we can't stop ranting & raving!  so there are websites where fans post their own writings with the characters of the books, etc.  they can be different points of view of the same story,  or different endings to the books, or parts that they feel were missing, or completely different settings/themes altogether (called alternate universe).  it sounds nerdy, i know, but don't you all realize now that i *am* a total dork?  anyhow, i love fanfic now.  it's this whole other world that i had no clue existed.  there's fanfic for lots of things too---harry potter & buffy, for instance (after all, angel & buffy are THE ORIGINAL edward & bella)---i bet there's even fanfic for something *you* love!  you should check it out.  i found so many i wanted to read last week that i actually stayed up all night just reading.  yikes.  actually, i just wasn't tired, so i didn't go to bed.  yeah, i know that's not good for me.  but i don't do it, like, ever, so it's okay.

i've also decided that i'm a hippstier.  it is a combination, by my own definition, between a hipster & a hippie. i made it up myself.  b/c yeah, i am a hippie with my ideals & stuff, but i'm not completely crunchy. i shower & shave my legs, for instance. haha.  and i don't smoke pot.  though there have been times in this business of real estate when i've wished i did. LOL.  but seriously, i love all things natural & i love being a free spirit & i really have decided that i am a nomad at heart. 

so i guess i should do something else now.  i'm working on a couple of projects.  one of them is doing mail-outs for breast cancer awareness month. i got a roll of pink grosgrain ribbon to make some breast cancer awareness ribbons, so be on the lookout for your october mailouts.  i need to get back to doing those monthly mailings for real estate purposes. sigh.  i'm just not into it lately, the whole real estate thing.  hopefully i'll get that excited spark back in the next few months.  it's about to get to the slow time of year anyway (i mean real estate-wise, but busy with every day life).  k, now that i'm a teensy bit motivated, i'm going to write up a letter.

p.s. sorry it's been so long since i've updated.  i just saw at the top of my sign-in page that it's been 7 weeks. yipes. 

*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*

so last night, i had a meeting at the dog & duck in summerville.  who did i meet with?  the other senior class officers from shs class of 1999. and why, you ask, did we meet? we're planning our ten year high school reunion. yikes. 

since we were all still in college (ahem....yes, some of us still aren't *through* with college....) i've always thought, "wow, it'll be really neat to see how much people change in 10 years & to see what everybody's up to."   i never thought it would get here so quickly! sheesh.

i was really nervous to meet with the guys at first. we had our first meeting last week at the kickin' chicken (note to self: class reunion planning is great excuse for sitting around for three hours drinking beer).  i honestly haven't seen many people i went to high school with over the last eight or so years. i mean, when i was at college of charleston i was always seeing people i went to school with. but then getting married & moving far away afforded me the opportunity to get OUTTA HERE & discover the "real world".  and in some cases, i'm very glad my life took me on that path instead of the stay-in-college-and-party-and-live-on-mom-and-dad's-dime-for-as-long-as-possible-without-really-learning-all-that-much-anyway-plan.  not to be conceited or anything, but i've always been just a little more intelligent & mature than the people i was in school with. it's a simple fact. i'm not saying in any way that i'm a superintelligent being....duh, i'm really not at all. i just grasp things pretty quickly.  that's the reason i haven't finished college. i just can't tolerate sitting in a classroom while people beat a dead horse, asking the same questions over&over&over&over again & arguing a moot point. it drives me nuts. that's one of the reasons i hate the 2.5 of ethics training we realtors have to take every year. people will analyze & argue a hypothetical situation til they are blue in the face & the original hypothetical question is forgotten.  ugh. 

anyway, i sort of got off track. 

so we're planning our ten year reunion.  we've got a few details decided. like the fact that it's going to be july 24th & 25th, 2009. so that gives us a full year to get everything smoothed out.  friday night is going to be a more casual affair--we're going with a luau/barbeque theme & it'll be held at the boat club in summerville.  saturday night will be the semi-formal type party.  we're not sure where it will be held yet. we have it narrowed down to a few places, though:  the shriners' place on hwy 61, the club at wescott, & coosaw country club (coosaw doesn't charge you anything to rent the building as long as you use their catering, which we thought would be nice).  i thought the shriners' place would be great, b/c it's big & has ample parking, plus its own bar---which would release us from any liability, i think. i hope.  that's something we were talking about last night. matt c. is going to call about liability insurance today so none of us get sued if anything were to happen. when we were discussing that, willy said, "this sounds more like a 30 year reunion than a 10 year reunion!"  hahaha. but hey, we're smart people! 

we were going to go with a casino night theme for saturday night. but we're second-guessing ourselves now. it's been done. i think the class of '98 did that one.  so one of my duties is to think of themes. i figured i'd get mom involved in that one, since she's so good at that stuff. (buttering her up? why, whatever do you mean? never!)  i haven't thought of anything yet. suggestions are more than welcome! 

so anyway, while we are by no means "getting up there" in age, i did notice a few signs of change in some of my classmates that i've seen here & there since moving back to the charleston area.  it came to me with quite a shock last night when we were at the dog & duck (where we saw two other male classmates hanging out):

the boys i went to high school with have bald spots & receding hair lines. 

yikes. scary. and although 4 out of the 5 of us that are planning are married, none of us have kids. so that's a little comforting, somehow. having kids makes it seem like we'd really be grown-up for real.  i refuse to grow up. "i won't grow up, i will never wear a tie, or a serious expression, in the middle of july!"  

while the boys have those typical *physical* aging signs, i think we gals are holding our own pretty well. ;)  heehee.  but i *am* going to tell you a super-top-classified secret that you can't tell anyone else (good thing i'm posting it on the internet....) 
a few weeks ago, i glanced at the mirror & noticed, at the very front of my hair---right there, above my forehead, for the world to see---a........lighter-colored-than-the-rest-of-my-hair-hair.  i refuse to say the "G" word. i choose to believe it was a lone blonde highlight poking through since i quit dying my hair.  at any rate, i yanked that sucker out by the root faster than you can say "you're being ridiculous".  i hope you're saying that, since you obviously think i'm so young & beautiful & smooth-faced & gorgeous & graceful that there's no WAY i could have a g-- i mean, highlighted strand of hair.  

i'm not in denial or anything.  ;)

*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*

okay, so maybe this vote isn't necessarily "patriotic".   i know i've told everybody that i post my best photos on flickr.com all the time.  WELL, today i got an email from a member of flickr who also is a member of a team that does a website called kaboodle.com.  well, they're doing a contest with marie claire.  it's a magazine i read frequently. 

so anyway, that email said that she thought one of my photos was perfect for the contest. SO i entered it. i don't have any huge hopes or anything,  i've never entered any contests or anything.  but i figured it would be fun. :)   

so click on the link below and VOTE FOR MEEEEE!  the grand prize is a trip to new york & a $1,000 shopping spree (o lord, they found my weakness). 

yesterday i didn't do much.  real estate's slow these days, so i've been doing a lot of internet surfing while on phone duty or what have you. my most recent addiction is flickr.com.  i love seeing the photos people take (a lot of professional photographers post their work there) and the angles & original ideas.  so anyhow, i was looking at the "groups" section yesterday, & i joined a few of them.  i.e. wardrobe_remix, where you post a picture of your cute outfit each day & comment on others. SO FUN.  at first i thought i'd just like to post mine for fun, but then seeing how i got five comments on yesterday's outfit got me excited!  then i discovered today that i love to browse other people's outfits for the day & get cute ideas & comment on their cuteness too!  another group i joined was "daily self portrait". pretty self-explanatory. but you aren't allowed to use photos that are already in your photostream. you have to actually do a self-portrait every day. if you know me, you know i love to do self-portraits. ;)     there was also "what's in your bag?"  (where you periodically empty your bag & arrange everything in an interesting way & photograph it, then explain each item)  and "daily favourite" (where you post your favourite photo you take each day).  i thought joining these daily ones especially will help me take photos more often!  then i had a self-portrait photo shoot in the backyard.  heehee.... here are some of the results from that.  


my wardrobe_remix for yesterday



got my red shoes on





spring=short dresses & open-toed shoes & bright colors!





you say weeds, i say wondrous.





splendor in the grass!




lola infiltrated my shoot.....but it's my favorite photo of the day!




in case the sky falls on our heads.......




beauty is as beauty does...




sad eyes, turn the other way.....




you're always on my mind.....




ask me something deep......


those are my most favorites from yesterday.  here are just a couple i've taken so far today... now that i'm doing daily photos, i may just have to start a whole separate photo blog!!!



for my "a day in the life"  group i'm starting. you have to post pictures of your daily routines.  fun!




today's wardrobe_remix!  i think i look cute today.  heehee.




what i did during phone duty today:  browsing flickr.com with my feet up!


okay, that's all i'll bug you with for now.  phone duty is over, so now i'm off to take some pictures around town.  :)   


*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*

to be honest, i don't have much to say. i just thought i'd better update since it's been a couple of weeks. 

willy & i took a long weekend a couple of weeks ago & went to universal studios in florida. we had a really great time. it was exactly what we needed.  but then we had to come back to real life, which sucked.  i want to go on another vacation. actually, i want to be on perma-vacation. i really wish we could just travel from place to place & come home every now & then for holidays or what have you.  like have a plane drop us off in london or dublin or paris or  something & just make our way around the world.  we could probably do it if we didn't have a mortgage & other bills to pay.  blahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. 

speaking of travel, we bought a timeshare while we were in florida.  it's one that goes by points. so we can go wherever we want, whenever we want.  right now, we get a total of 84,000/year, which is equal to a week-long stay in a one-bedroom condo on disney world property in the wyndham resort (which is where we bought it).  from the balconies of the upper floors, you can see the epcot ball,  mickey's sorceror's hat at mgm, and the ear-ful tower at mgm.  also, the tower of terror.   as we get older & pay off more bills, etc we can upgrade our number of points.  we also got 300,000 bonus points, which we have to use by 2010.  it's a lot like the carnival vacation club membership we have.  which reminds me, we have points to use up by the end of 2009. a cruise sounds sooooooooooooooooooooooooo good right now.  i can so see myself lounging in a deck chair right now in the sun, sipping an icy drink---instead of sitting cross-legged at my desk in my office, sipping coffee & freezing my hiney off (why won't the heat kick on?!), and trying to find things to do instead of actual work. also, staring out the window at the gloomy day.  

i hate this weather.  the weather really affects my mood.  yesterday i stayed in my pajamas all day long and willy & i watched movies. i didn't even take a shower (gross).  i want it to be sunny & warm again!

oh, saturday evening mom & dad took me, willy, & ashley to medieval times.  we had a blast.  our knight was the black & white knight, but he had a big ego.  and i think he had a thing for uncute, frizzy-haired girls, b/c those are the only ones he threw flowers to.  even though ashley & i stood up & cheered & blew kisses.  hmph.  the yellow knight was our favorite.  not only was he adorable, but he was very chivalrous, as a knight should be (teehee).  after the show, we asked to take a picture with him, & he was very obliging. he even asked us how we liked the show.  we said we loved it!   



p.s. the red knight was a cutie too!  and they laughed when ashley joked about being in a "knight sandwich". 

on the drive up to myrtle beach, ashley & willy were boring & just sleeping. so i passed the time by doing my usual thing when i am excited about going somewhere & have a camera on hand......i took pictures of myself.  so i made a collage of the photos i took in the car:


ain't i a stinker?


also, i like to browse flickr.com for interesting photos to use on my myspace page, bogs, etc.  i came across this one yesterday, & i think it is my favorite yet:


it really got me to thinking.  there really are a number of things i've held myself back from b/c of fear.  for example, opening my own store like i've wanted for a few years.  moving to austin (now that we aren't forced to move, that's a tough decision to make!  but i'm used to moving every year & a half or so now, so i've got the moving itch right now!).  skydiving.  selling my art.  

just think about it. how many things are you missing out on b/c you're afraid? 

anyhow, just a thought for the day.  i've been having to do some soul-searching lately b/c i'm in one of those depressed phases & it's been tough to pull myself out of this one.  usually i can do it pretty easily (ever since i had therapy with dr. booth, that is).  but for some reason, this time has been hard.  i'm not really sad....just uninterested.  i can't be bothered.  i think i've come up with a plan, though.  part of which is getting back to daily workouts.  

weelllllllllllll i guess that's about it for now.  nothing else really, except i have reallyreallyreally been missing my candace lately & long for the fun & ease of our friendship.  i want to visit her soon!

*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*

i'm very sad. we had to put ty to sleep yesterday.

he had a broken leg. and it was infected. just to diagnose him was going to cost $500. after that, treatments would have been at least $1500. we just couldn't afford to pay that much to maybe fix it and then have him go through so much pain. especially since there was a good chance that he'd have to have surgery. he had a heart murmur (which we always knew), so just putting him under anesthesia was a huge risk. 

so we made the hardest & most heart-wrenching decision possible. 

we were both so upset. we got to have a little time alone with him, so we just sat there hugging him & sobbing. i told him he'd be okay, he wouldn't have to run from lola anymore, and he wouldn't be in pain. he was in so much pain he wouldn't even purr. anybody who knows ty knows that he purrs if you just look at him sweetly. 

anyway, i just wanted to let everybody know. we have good memories with him, & he lived a wonderful life & was veryveryveryveryvery loved. we miss him greatly & will always remember him as the sweetest cat ever. 

Willy is doing his second sleep study tonight. They're fitting him for the mask and all. And Petey is in Florida. So Chelsea and I are hanging out at her house. Drinking coffe, reading interesting articles, talking about relationships...

It's so nice to have girl time. As much as I love Willy and want to spend all my time with him, sometimes you've just got to have your girlfriends. Willy is my confidant and protector and my Superman--he can always save my day. But there are times when just comiserating with my girls is the one thing that helps me feel completely better about things. No matter what situation you're in or emotions you're feeling, 9 times out of 10 your girlfriends have felt or are feeling the same things as you. It's so nice to talk and realize you're not the only one. :)

I'm so grateful for the friends I can always have those kinds of conversations with--candace, chelsea, katie, jocelynn, kristen, tiffany j...

It's so great when one of us brings something up and the other's eyes light up and she speaks enthusiastically and openly because she knows exactly what the other one is talking about.

Anyway, that's just something I was thinking about. Back to girly time. :)

*tiff, goddess extraordinaire*