Stop glamorizing self-harm.

NOTE: The images and content of this post may be triggering to anyone who has or currently cuts or participates in self-harm.

That people romanticize and glamorize cutting pisses me off. There's absolutely nothing romantic or glamorous about self-harm, so there's no need to be setting up such a pretty scene for a picture when you're slicing into your skin, hurting yourself.

Stop drawing hearts and flowers on your arms, thighs, etc around your bloody cuts. Stop taking pictures of your arms whilst undressed in cute lingerie. Stop the pictures of you and your friends cutting together, smiling and laughing. Stop trying to make it look artistic.

It's not cute. It's not funny. It's not art. It's not a fun activity to do with a friend. It's not sexy and exotic. It's not something that needs to be made to look whimsical and romantic or set up to look tragically beautiful.

I'm not being judgmental. I used to cut, a lot and often. I mostly cut on my thighs so no one would see them and sometimes on my stomach and upper arms. Anywhere I could keep hidden in regular clothes worked best for me when I was cutting because I didn't want anyone to see what I was doing. I wanted what I got out of it without having anyone know because I knew it wasn't healthy and wasn't good for me to be doing. I knew if people saw the cuts and the scars they would question how it happened because it's not fun, cute, silly, romantic, sweet, pretty or anything other than ugly, dangerous and harmful.

I hate seeing pictures like that pop up on my dash on Tumblr and hate seeing it on a blog as I'm browsing stuff on blogger, wordpress, etc. There's no need to try and glamorize cutting or any other form of self harm. There is no tragic beauty in what you're doing and a lot of people don't do it to get attention. By glamorizing it, you're only helping people who don't understand it continue to treat it less seriously and think of it less as a real problem. And that's not helping anything, only hurting even more and making it harder for people who wants to get help for it to do so because it's so often seen as a "cry for attention" instead of a real problem. So stop this bullshit.

TMI Tuesday!

‘Tis better to give than receive…?

For this week’s TMI Tuesday why don’t you tell us:

1. What was your favorite gift that you received (gift giving holidays Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or heck even if you had a birthday in the month of December that can count)?

Probably my Michael Kors coat (it's so warm!) or the lovely Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I seriously love everything I got this year although I feel like I got way too much stuff. (Not complaining, lol.)

2. What was the most practical gift that you received?

The coat. I didn't have one so a lot of nights I've gone out just in one of my hooded sweaters and been really cold because none of them were heavy enough.

3. What was the silliest, most fun, crazy or impractical gift that you received?

I didn't get anything silly. I got 5 new kitchen toys and those would be the most fun, for me anyway. The impractical thing would be that I got almost 20 different items from Bath & Body Works given to me. I won't need new body wash or lotion for MONTHS. So I guess that's actually practical in a way since I won't have to buy body wash or lotion for a long while, haha.

4. If you had a special holiday meal, what was your favorite food?

I didn't have one. The boyfriend worked, I saw my family the day before and my mom wasn't feeling well enough to come do anything Christmas Day so I stayed home by myself. I had a pretty awesome grilled cheese sandwich and an apple for dinner, though.

Bonus: Share the recipe of your favorite food from the holiday meal.

N/A.

Bonus, bonus: Whatcha doin’ for New Year’s Eve?

Going to a Stars game! They're playing the Bruins so hopefully the Bruins go back to Boston sad after their last game of the year. Then probably going to go have some drinks with the boyfriend and maybe some friends after the game. Not sure what exactly but there will be some fun had after the game! :)

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How to play TMI Tuesday: Copy the above TMI Tuesday questions to your webspace (i.e., a blog). Answer the questions there, then leave a comment below, on this blog post, so we’ll all know where to read your responses. Please don’t forget to link to tmituesdayblog from your website!

Happy Tuesday!

Medicated answers...

If you missed it yesterday, the final Toys for Tots 2011 Fundraiser post is up. Pictures, details, story about a cashier that helped me out and such. Scroll down after this or click here to check out the post. And thanks again to everyone who helped in some way.

ONWARD! I have some random and not-so random questions to answer today. And I'm a little drowsy/loopy thanks to some medication right now, lol. Enjoy.


Make a list of 5 things that you can see without getting up:
TV, Apples to Apples, Stars calendar, NERF gun and a pirate hat.

Do you think they should make scented toilet paper?
They do. I think? I think that would be weird, anyway.

How do you style your hair?
I don't usually. I just leave it as is, lol.

What are you wearing now?
Green plaid pajama pants and an Ian Kinsler Rangers t-shirt.

Do clowns creep you out?
They do.

Who was the last person you hugged?
Boyfriend.

Are beans really the magical fruit?
I've never seen one play an instrument so I'm going to say no. Though if I ever saw a bean rocking out on a ukulele? That would be interesting. And weird, definitely weird.

Dog person or cat person?
Dog. I'm allergic to cats and not a big fan of them anyway.

When was the last time you changed a diaper?
A couple weeks ago. Not a fan. Glad I don't have kids.

What was the last thing that you purchased?
Presents for people. They might see this so I can't say what exactly.

If you could afford to go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Right now? Somewhere with a beach that serves drinks with stupid little umbrellas and beautiful clear water.

The last movie you've seen?
In theaters? I can't even remember. At home, I just watched "Battle: Los Angeles" yesterday.

Would you eat snails ever?
Not likely. Maybe if I was starving and hadn't eaten in weeks and my only chance at survival was to eat a big ol' batch of snails. Otherwise, not happening.

How do you feel right now?
Drowsy, from the medicine but overall I feel quite pleasant. Which is probably also because of the medicine, haha.

What is ONE TV show you really love?
Modern Family.

What's your go-to candy?
GUMMY BEARS. LOVE. Reese's are pretty good, too.

What instruments do you play?
Piano. And some drums.

What does your deodorant smell like?
Awesome.

Would you get laser eye surgery done to correct poor vision?
If I ever needed it and could afford to, probably.

What other languages do you speak fluently in?
Sarcasm. Seriously, it needs to count. Sarcasm is truly lost on so many people, I might as well be speaking a foreign language more often than not.

Look to your right, what's the first thing you saw?
A big bottle of delicious purple electrolyte perfection. Or as it's more commonly known, Gatorade.

Happy Friday!

ALL DONE! Toys for Tots Round 3 Final Pictures & Details.

I got the pictures to cooperate so it's time for the last Toys for Tots post you'll see out of me this year. I know plenty of you guys were sick of seeing me post about it but it really is one of my favorite charities and doing the blog fundraiser is a great way to earn money to be able to donate a lot of toys for it. I do a lot of charity and volunteer work and it's always sad to see how much more is needed. At least with this particular charity, I can try to reach out to others and get some help with it so some kids who would have otherwise gone without got something to brighten their Christmas morning up.

The first year I did this, I ended up with 83 toys.

Last year was the second year I did it and I was beyond stoked when I ended up getting 105 toys.

This year actually turned out even better than last year did with a grand total of 132 toys.

If you're wondering what 132 toys laid out on our bed looks like, allow me to show you.....



It took a lot of creative piling and tightly bunching all the toys together to get them to all fit. It was only a minor frustration when I started laying them out and was almost out of space on the bed yet still had 6 more bags of toys to lay out. I stopped and had to push everything I already had out back. There are some toys you can't even see because I stacked other stuff on top of it. Then after all the stacking and what not, I ended up with barely any space left on the bed. The toys to the left that are almost cut off from view are at the very edge of the bed. I always forget how much work getting the picture proof is until I have to lay out and then bag up and box all the toys again, lol.



I didn't spend more than $10 on a single toy. Most were in the $5 to $7 range. Some even in the $3 - $4 range. I did a lot of price scoping when planning my shopping trips out to find good deals on toys. And as usual we got everything from dolls, action figures, cars, dress up stuff, pre-school toys, learning toys, arts/crafts stuff, legos, a few books, activity books, puzzles, random games, things that light up and a couple things that make obnoxious noises without the requirements of batteries. I try to get a varied selection of gender specific and non-gender specific toys in all age ranges. It's a lot of fun doing the shopping but also a lot of thought and planning goes into it as well.



That box is from a fantastic friend of mine. It's actually rather deep and has around $150 worth of stuff in it. I was quite happy when I got the box of toys to add to the stuff I had already purchased and super happy with the diverse selection of toys inside.

I break this down into multiple shopping trips. So it's not too overwhelming on myself, my helper (I bring along someone to help me shop. Last year it was The Lawyer. This year my awesome boyfriend Shane did it) or whatever worker that ends up having to ring up all the toys at the register. I always go late at night or super early in the morning so there's not too many other shoppers to contend with.



I also always buy the toys I'm donating with my own money first (pictured above) to kind of kick the fundraiser off in a way. Plus I think it helps for people to see I'm actually donating stuff myself and not just waiting for people to give me their money to go buy stuff. ;)

A cool thing for my first shopping trip was the woman working the register that late night (it was after 1 AM) asked what we were doing with all the toys. We explained they were for Toys for Tots and she said we were sweethearts. She had a problem with the register she was on so we had to take all the toys off that one and move them over to the lane on the other side. By then, we had 3 ladies come up who were all going on break and all buying sodas and Lunchables. We let them go ahead of us and the woman ringing the toys up ended up using her employee card to give us an employee discount on the toys because we were so nice and she thought it was such a wonderful thing we were doing. That gave me an extra $40 to spend on my next toy shopping trip and I was incredibly excited by that and so happy at her kindness.

Anyway, here is the slide show for the first big shopping trip:



And here is the slide show for the second shopping trip:



It takes some creative stacking to get the toys all neat stacked in the cart, too. Mainly I have some mild OCD so I need my shopping cart to be as neat and organized looking as I can keep it while I do this so I can easily keep count of what I have. Also so I can keep up with what kinds of toys I've got and what I still need to get. I like to be organized, okay. :)

We had so many toys, we couldn't fit them all in the trunk of the car even though the trunk is actually pretty deep and can hold a lot. So what couldn't fit into the trunk went into the backseat then we headed off to the Toys for Tots warehouse to drop the stack of toys off.

Here's another slideshow. The toys loaded up in the car and being dropped off at Toys for Tots:



I want to say thank you to those of you who donated. Whether it was $2, $10, $25, $50 or more; it doesn't matter. I appreciate it and I know the families that benefit from Toys for Tots doing what they do appreciate it, too. I have so much fun being able to do this. I look forward to doing this again next year, too. :) I also want to say thank you to everyone who posted on their blogs, tweeted links and otherwise badgered told their friends and readers alike about what I had going on in hopes of getting more donations. To everyone who donated or helped in some way... thanks so much! You're wonderful and I heart you. :)

If you want to go look through the photostream of all the pictures I took, just click here. I used all of the photos in this post whether they were posted separately or included in one of the slideshows but if you'd rather look at all the pictures on Flickr, have at it. :)

Thanks again to everyone who donated and helped out this year. That's a wrap until it's time for round 4 next year. ;)

Happy Thursday!

Toys for Tots Year 3: Update

I will have the Toys for Tots post with pictures, final total, etc up (HOPEFULLY) on Thursday or Friday. I was going to do it last night but I spent all day busy and doing stuff. I was going for about 13 hours yesterday then I got home and was having issues transferring the pictures to my netbook. I was feeling too tired/stressed/drained to figure it out and just ended up frustrated and decided to just leave it alone for the night. Today will probably be busy but I plan on watching hockey and being lazy in the evening time. So, I should be able to work on it and figure out what the hell the issue is with the pictures not transferring. And if I can't, I'm sure the boyfriend will figure it out for me since he's awesome at things like that.

I do have one I got with a camera phone during one of the two shopping trips I did for the fundraiser....



Sorry it's kind of small. That was near the end of one of my shopping trips. I tend to break it down into multiple trips so I can take advantage of different deals and also so I'm not in line for an hour waiting on several hundred dollars of toys to be rang up. The boyfriend was amazing help this year and helped me on both trips and did the toy drop off at the Toys for Tots warehouse with me this year. I do have better pictures and plenty of them. Once I can get them onto my damp computer. Anyway, enough whining and bitching about that. :) I wonder how many people notice me randomly taking picture of the shopping cart as I fill it up with toys and wonder what I'm doing. In the three years I've done this fundraiser, I either toy shop later at night or early in the morning. Though, I've caught people staring and then looking away quickly but no one has ever asked me why I'm taking pictures of the cart as I shop. I'm such a curious person at times, there's no way I'd see that going on and not ask about it, haha.

I'm so thankful for everyone who donated this year to help me be able to get so many toys. And I appreciate all the help from people who put buttons on their sites, made posts about it, tweeted, put up links on Facebook, etc. So many people were such a great help and I really do appreciate it. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Toys For Tots Blogger Fundraiser: Year 3

***NOTE: THIS POST WILL REMAIN AT THE TOP OF THE BLOG UNTIL I'M DONE WITH THE FUNDRAISER. Scroll down for new posts. :D ****

TOMORROW (Dec. 16th) IS THE LAST DAY TO MAKE A PAY PAL DONATION!!! ALMOST TOY SHOPPING TIME!! :D

EDIT: New update here! 16 days (as of 12/1/2011) left to donate.

EDIT: There's a new button (in two different sizes! ;)) you can use on your blog or in a post to help spread the word about the fundraiser. Scroll down or click here for the post and to snag the button. :)


Edit: I went over the weekend and got the first few bags of toys for the TFT fundraiser. If I got 7 toys for $38 here. It really doesn't take much to make a small difference in a less fortunate kiddo's life so come on! There's just 3 WEEKS (as of today, Sunday the 27th) left to donate. It's for a really good cause and $5 or $10 really will help out a lot.



Every year I donate some toys to Toys for Tots. I pick and choose other things to donate to as well through out the year. I don't think I can make a big dent of change in the world but I can do little things to make things a little better for other people. Be it with toys during the holidays, money for food, donating clothing, etc. I bitch about things that I wish I could fix but really, all that bitching does nothing if you're not willing to step up and do something to help make it better. So, I do what I can when I can to help out. It makes me feel good to know I've done something good and I help out with a lot of different things.

In 2009, I got an idea to do a Blogger Toys for Tots Fundraiser. I got the idea damn late it the year though so there wasn't much time to work with for Toys for Tots. I did it again last year in 2010 as well. And now I'm doing it again this year. Don't know what that is? Let me inform you before I get on with the rest of the post.

Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, an IRS recognized 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity is the fund raising, funding and support organization for the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. The Foundation was created at the behest of the U. S. Marine Corps and provides support in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commander, Marine Forces Reserve, who directs the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. The Foundation has supported Toys for Tots since 1991.

The mission of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.


Like I said, I donate something every year. Sometimes in toys and sometimes in money. Sometimes more and sometimes less. Sometimes I don't have much money to spare but I do a little bit anyway because I know even if I'm hurting a little, some little kid and their family is hurting more. I prefer doing toys, though. I like going in to a store and picking out toys that I know will make some little kids happy. I never see the kids who get these but I always wonder if they liked what they got or if they were just happy for something, anything.

In 2009 and last year as well, I did a Fundraiser for Toys for Tots on my blog. The results were far better than I had expected in 2009 and they were amazing in 2010. I was beyond touched at all of the help and support I got. I got so many people who donated little amounts and it all added up to so many toys that I went and purchased. I take plenty of pictures and get it well documented on the blog because it's important to me (and lots of you!) to get pictures to show that I was doing as I said I would. I had so much fun going to get the toys in 2009 and 2010. This year, I'm doing it again and starting earlier in the year.

The final results from 2009: Here
The final results from 2010: Here

If you want to see more posts with more details and pictures, then just click here or go to the Toys for Tots tab at the top of the blog on the tabs section.


On the right side of this blog on the side section under my profile, you will find that there is a PayPal donation button there.
If you want to donate money to help buy toys for Toys for Tots, just use that.

I will take all the money that gets donated and go buy toys. For proof that I'm doing what I say I'll be doing with the donations, there will yet again be pictures of the toys as I buy them and pictures of all those said toys being loaded into the car and more upon being delivered to a Toys for Tots location near my house once I'm done with the fundraiser.

I know with the economy being what it is, things are rough for a lot of people (myself and my boyfriend included) BUT if you can spare $5 that would be enough. With $5 I can buy an action figure, toy cars, Legos, a stuffed animal, various kinds of dolls, PlayDoh sets and various other things. $5 will buy a toy and in some cases more than one toy. I can get 8 or 9 Hot Wheels cars on $10 so no amount would be too small. If 15 people donate 5 dollars, I have $75 and that will buy quite a few toys to brighten a child's day. You can do something to help and leave all the work up to me.

I'm not expecting a huge outcome from this because like I said, I know life financially sucks for a lot of people right now. If you can give just a little bit though, you'll be making some faceless nameless little child happy and doing something good. It's not that big of a deal to let go of $3 or $5 to a great and very worthy cause.

And yes, I know Christmas isn't about the toys and other presents but imagine being 7 and not looking forward to waking up Christmas morning because Santa couldn't bring you anything this year. It's a bummer.

If you want, please feel free to post about this on your blog with links and send people over. I would appreciate that quite a bit. If you do pimp this post out on your blog, email me after you do so with the post link so I can include you in a post that's to come later on. Also feel free to tweet about it or post it on Facebook. A few dollars from a lot of different people goes a long way. :)

This post will stay at the top of the blog for quite a while. Actually, it will be up at the top until the time I'm done with the fundraiser. The cut off date to take donations will be in December. Probably around the 18th but I haven't decided yet. I'll post an update on that when I figure it out.

There's also a tab Toys for Tots at the top of the blog if you want to go check out all the previous posts and pictures from the previous two years.



The tab just has pretty much what this post has plus links to the posts I did last year including all of the pictures as well as a donation link.

Have a good weekend, y'all!

Wherein I rant about bisexuality & narrow minded people...

First: TOMORROW is the last day to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. Once again, thanks so much to everyone who has donated or helped out in some way. You're all awesome, lovely, generous people. <3 Moving on...

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I was with a male friend of mine recently. He wanted me to help him pick out some new clothes because he was meeting his new girlfriend's parents for the first time and he wanted to look a little nicer than his usual ripped up jeans and a tshirt. I tried my hardest to get him to pick another female, any other female, because I hate shopping. And that was the reason he wanted me to go. He knew I would just want to get in, get shit taken care of and leave. So, I agreed and off we went in search of something he wouldn't be horribly uncomfortable wearing yet still look nice in.

In one store we went into, we had the amazing joy of running into an ex-girlfriend of his from a little over a year ago. We attempted to avoid her but she saw us and rushed over to say hello.

I had changed my hair style up since she had last seen me, which she noticed and had to comment on. The exchange went like this:

Heather: "Wow Ashly, your hair looks great like that. I like it all wavy and messy in layers."

Ashly: "It's usually wavy in messy but the layers is new to you. Thank you."

Heather: "You're welcome! And it really does look cute. And so you know I'm not coming on to you or anything so please don't think that."

Ashly: "Why would I think that?"

Heather: "Oh because if I remember right you're bisexual, correct? I just didn't want you to think I was hitting on you, that's all. No offense."

Except, shit like that is offensive. Or more so in my opinion, completely fucking obnoxious. It doesn't offend me so much as it just pisses me off but I do know some people that it does offend. Either way, it's a narrow minded and judgmental way of thinking. Of course, Heather isn't the first girl to jump to that conclusion and think I'll assume she's hitting on me because she said something nice to me. Or the first to assume that since I'm bisexual that I clearly just want all the vaginas everywhere all the time.

I hate the assumption that because I'm bisexual, I CLEARLY must want every woman in the world. So no woman can compliment me without me taking it as her trying to get into my panties and thus I can't compliment a woman unless I'm looking to get her into bed. Which of course I am doing that because she's a woman and being bisexual means I want every woman alive, okay.

It's ridiculous and it happens far too often. I'm very open about my sexuality and in doing so, I face a lot of crap for it. So sometimes when I compliment or just say something nice to another girl, it turns into awkwardness due to them acting weird about it because they assume I'm flirting with them.And I'm not talking random girls here, I'm just talking girls I know mutually through other friends and in a few cases people I thought were good friends. It's hilarious in that "that's pretty homophobic and judgmental and not funny at all" kind of way that me complimenting them is a come on. Whereas a heterosexual female could have given the same compliment and not a second thought would have been given about it after all the gushing over said compliment ended.

I don't flirt with every girl I see. I'm actually quite picky and don't find myself attracted to most girls. Which goes against another narrow minded misconception but we'll leave that one alone today because this would get pretty long if I attacked every stereotypical misconception about this subject. Trust me, if I'm flirting with you, you'll know it. I don't flirt with any female I already know isn't interested in girls anyway.

Just because I get a compliment from another girl doesn't mean I'm going to assume she wants me. I don't take it as anything more than it's presented as; a compliment. It's not that hard of a concept to understand.

I can compliment someone on their hair, a particularly badass shirt, a piece of jewelry, their overall appearance that day etc, and it doesn't mean anything more than that; just some truthful kind words given with no intentions other than to be nice. Just because I say you look pretty in something doesn't mean I'm attracted to you and want to send you into orgasmic bliss the first chance I get. It's highly unlikely that's the case and assuming so is pretty arrogant on top of being obnoxious, homophobic, judgmental and stereotypical.

Whew. Now that I got that out of my system for the time being.... Please feel free to comment with any thoughts or opinions you have. Comments are always much appreciated, especially on rants like these. :)

Happy Thursday.

And remember, tomorrow is the last day to get in a Toys for Tots donation. And thanks again to everyone who has helped in some way. Xo!

Two days left for Toys for Tots donations...

There's only 2 DAYS left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser.

I'm so close to hitting $500 in donations so I'm hoping I can get a couple more donations via pay pal or maybe some of the people in my real life will be able to follow through with their promises to help. Even if $500 doesn't end up getting reached, I'm super happy about the amount of money I've managed to raise so far. And of course I'm excited about getting to go toy shopping and then delivering them all to the Toys for Tots drop location.

December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal. :)

So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated.

Even if you don't donate anything to my project here, I encourage everyone to give a little something back where ever they can. Be it donating a little cash to a good charity, picking a child off an angel tree, dropping a few cans of food off at your local food pantry/shelter, donating some old warm clothes you don't wear much or at all anymore. There are a lot of ways to help out the lest fortunate and most don't take much time, effort or a large amount of cash. Some are easy as making some extra room in your closet or kitchen cabinets. :)

Happy Wednesday!

Porn, omelets, sneezing & other stuff...

Random thoughts post time! But first.... Oh yes, that's right.....

There are only 4 DAYS LEFT to make a paypal donation to the Toys for Tots fundraiser. Yes, only FOUR more days of seeing me talk about it all over the place, I know. I get tired of saying it but it's for a great cause so I do what I do, even if it's annoying. I was hoping I'd reach a certain number but I don't think that will happen since I'm still about $70 away from the number I was hoping to reach. But that's fine! I've still done well so far and I really appreciate everyone that has made a donation, you're awesome. :D And.... it's ALMOST TOY SHOPPING TIME! I'm excited. My favorite part of this is actually delivering the toys to the Toys for Tots drop location. I get super excited the whole way there and feel really happy the whole way home.

Now... Onward with typing whatever comes to mind. :)

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One of my friend's and I had a really weird discussion about porn yesterday. It was weird because we were talking about going to the zoo and that turned into him remembering something he saw once in a porn that made him almost throw up. It was fairly disturbing. I asked if he'd found it online again and tricked his boyfriend into watching it yet. Kind of like Rick Rolling someone in a really disgusting, twisted way. That will make them wish they could bleach the thought of it from their mind. I didn't even see it and I wish he'd never told me because the mental image is... bleh. And no, I will not say what it is because I can't bring myself to type it out in fear of thinking about it again in detail might make me throw up the scrumptious omelet I just consumed.

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By the way, speaking of omelets.... If you say the word "omelet" 10 times fast, it sounds really weird and you start to sound a little Russian.

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I always get amused when I say the words joint, blunt, high, bowl, smoke and papers in a conversation that has nothing to do with drugs and someone starts snickering at the double meaning in the word. Way to give yourself away there. ;)

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I get really tired of people acting like it's the end of the world because I say I don't want children. There's enough kids in the world. And really, there doesn't need to be a miniature version of me running around. Also, and most importantly, I have absolutely no interest in being a mother or raising children. I'll never understand why that's such a hard concept. I get the explanation of why it's so hard to understand from a societal standpoint but come on. I'm happy that so many people are super happy to have children and love being parents. Cool for you but that's not for me. Depending on how you broach the subject, I'll either quickly explain or Snarky McSnarkerson will roar to life. Most people fall into the "insulting" category with how they approach the subject so I don't often end up explaining. No big deal honestly because I shouldn't have to explain. You don't often hear people asking other people why they want to have kids and then going off on tangents about the benefits of not having kids. It's not like I hate kids, I don't. I'm even really good with most kids. I just don't want any of my own, lol.

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Sneezing in the middle of a cough is a really weird feeling. It doesn't hurt, it just feels awkward.

Sneezing in the middle of brushing your teeth only hurts if the toothpaste goes into your nasal cavity and comes out your nose. Also, on top of being disgusting and unpleasant, it gets pretty damn messy. It goes EVERYWHERE.

Sneezing while gargling mouthwash is pretty unpleasant, too. That burns coming out of your nose. I also have the automatic reaction to try and vomit so I don't swallow a bunch of gargled mouthwash.

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Oh and last but not least; I have no clue on that aforementioned omelet theory. Though I wonder how many of you tried it after I said it. :D

Happy Monday!

One week left to donate to the Toys for Tots fundraiser...

There's exactly one week left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. Yes, only 7 more days of seeing me talk about it all over the place, I know. I get tired of saying it but it's for a great cause so I do what I do. And my most recent donations were two separate $5 donations I received yesterday. Most of the donations have been small amounts and that's great, every little bit helps and it all adds up. So I'm super happy and love doing this each year.

December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself.

So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. Several donations have come from a few friends pimping me out to people so really, I appreciate the help I've gotten from people with this.

It's almost toy shopping time! Hopefully I'll have a friend help me with the shopping again this year. The Lawyer was awesome and helped me with it last year. It's always nice to have an extra set of eyes looking for bargains and helping get pictures as I shop. :)

Even if you don't donate anything to my project here, I encourage everyone to give a little something back where ever they can. Be it donating a little cash to a good charity, picking a child off an angel tree, dropping a few cans of food off at your local food pantry/shelter, donating some old warm clothes you don't wear much or at all anymore. There are a lot of ways to help out the lest fortunate and most don't take much time, effort or a large amount of cash.

Happy Friday!

The Great Online Cookie Exchange Extravaganza....

The Great Online Cookie Exchange Extravaganza, hosted by JZ, is today!

I have three different recipes I'm sharing today because I couldn't decide which one of the three I narrowed it down to I should go with. So, I'm posting Mint Chocolate Chip cookies, Frosted Gingerbread cookies and Peanut Butter M&M cookies. :) Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 sticks of butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1.5 tsp. peppermint extract
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup mint baking chips (If you can't find any, Andes mints chopped up work too)
• Green food color gel or food color liquid
  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars on high speed. Beat in egg. Stir in vanilla and peppermint extracts.

Mix together dry ingredients and add to butter mixture slowly. Stir until just combined.

Add in food coloring gel/liquid until you get the desired shade of green you want. I like using the gel because you get a more vibrant color and it doesn't effect the taste or texture but food coloring liquid works fine, too. Stir until well combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and mint chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a cookie sheet. (I actually use a small ice cream scoop.) Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove immediately and cool on wire rack.

You can also make these easier by using a package of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix instead of dealing with the flour, baking powder, etc. Just make the mix according to direction, add the mint extract, baking chips and boom. A little bit of a quicker and easier version.

Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg

Icing:

• 1 pound confectioners' sugar
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 drop lemon juice or vinegar

Directions

For the dough, add the dry ingredients (except sugar) to a mixing bowl and stir well to combine. Beat the butter and sugar, adding one egg at a time. Continue beating until the mixture is smooth. Beat in half the flour mixture, then stop and scrape the bowl and beater(s). Beat in the molasses, scrape again, and beat in the remaining flour mixture, just until combined.

Divide the dough into several pieces and press each piece into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Chill the dough for at least one hour or until firm.

Set the racks in the middle upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Roll the dough, one piece at a time, on a floured surface, just to make the dough flat and even, but not much thinner. Cut with floured cutters and arrange on the pans an inch or two apart. Repeat with the remaining dough. Reroll the scraps immediately; or press together, chill and reroll later. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until firm when pressed with a fingertip.

Cool the cookies on the pans.

Meanwhile for the icing, combine confectioners' sugar and egg whites in a mixing bowl and beat until combined. Add the lemon juice or vinegar and continue beating until fluffy. Use a paper cone or the snipped end of a plastic bag to pipe icing on the cookies.

Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup shortening (or butter for a flatter cookie)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1/2 large bag of M&M’s or 3/4 bag of mini M&M's
  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.

Ceam together the shortening (or butter), sugars and peanut butter. Stir in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Using a wooden spoon, carefully stir in the M&M’s.

Drop by tablespoons onto baking sheet and lightly press down with a fork to barely flatten cookies. Bake for 10 minutes.

******************************************

Make sure you go see the rest of the Cookie Extravaganza participants!

Aisha
Alice
Ally
Another Suburban Mom
Ashly Star
Beau
Beth
Conina
Elysia
greengirl
Hedone
Jack & Jill
His wyld rose
Infidelity Chronicles
Jz
Kirsti
Krissy
lil
Linda Long
Little Monkey
Lola!
Mijena
mouse
Naughty Kitty
nilla
ponderouspet
ronnie
Rose
Ryan
Sara
selkie (her recipe here, her blog here)
Sephani Page
Serenity
shadesofblue
striving for peace
sin
Tempting Sweets
The Missus
undercovermetamorphosis
Viemoira


Only 9 days left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. I'm sure y'all are sick of seeing me talk about it but oh well. :) December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself. So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. :D

Happy Wednesday!

Airing out that dirty laundry...

Before I get into this post, I have two things I want to cover then we'll get to the dirty laundry, so to speak. First, thanks to everyone that commented, emailed, texted and tweeted me after reading my emotional mess of a post from yesterday. I appreciate so many people relating and reaching out. :)

Secondly.... You know what's coming.... Only 10 days left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. I'm sure y'all are sick of seeing me talk about it but oh well. :) December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself. So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. :D

Now, on to the post.....

I have two friends that never fail to make a group outing awkward. He was my friend first but then she sort of just fell into that category by default of always being with him once they started dating. I used to have a lot of fun hanging out with them and inviting them out with other friends of mine. But... They've been together for quite a while and they've gotten to where they fight a lot. They have no problem airing out their dirty laundry in front of everyone. It's rare that I'll go out with them any more just because I know they will make snide, passive aggressive remarks to one another all night and then end up having a serious argument. Which in turn becomes them either ignoring each other the rest of the outing or spending it making snarky and at times, down right mean comments in each others' general direction.

It's flat out awkward and generally unpleasant being around two people who act that way all the time. That's too much drama for me so I don't hang around them often any longer. The female half of the couple noticed and had no issues asking about why I don't seem to like hanging out with them anymore. I told her bluntly that it seemed that way because I didn't enjoy being around them and explained very honestly why.

Of course, she didn't react very well to the blunt honesty I served up nor did she appreciate the answers I gave to the few questions she ended up asking. But that's not my problem.

I feel like personal and serious issues should be kept between you and your significant other. I don't mean you should never talk about it with other people. I have friends I bitch and vent to at times when I need to. It's good to have people to talk to when you need to about things like this. Whether it's to obtain advice or just blow off steam, it's good to have a friend or three you can vent to. I don't get why some people like to advertise all their personal problems to everyone be it by causing scenes in public constantly or posting something on Facebook or Twitter every time.

Once in a while, I get it. If it's something that's not a big deal, I can also understand. Like bitching about how your significant other always gets out a new roll of toilet paper but just sets it on the counter as opposed to changing out the empty roll. Or complaining about how they don't clean out the sink after they shave or any other little minor annoyances like that. But with these two, it happens all the time and it's rarely over anything minor. It might start that way but then they start dragging out the serious shit and that's where it gets really awkward and unpleasant more than it already is. They do the same thing on Facebook and Twitter as they do when they go out in groups to hang out with friends. Passive aggressive tweets taking shots at one another over social media or sometimes just openly taking shots at each other and putting all their business out there. I can tell you more than I care to know about their finances, bad habits, sex life and tons of other things just from having them argue in front of me and across social media as well. And that seems really unhealthy to me. And for a lot of people around them, it's just awkward and unpleasant to deal with. And makes them want to spend less time around said couple to avoid having to sit there staring at their phone or trying to make conversation with someone else whilst trying to ignore the argument going on in front of them over a dinner table in a restaurant. Or when it happens on Twitter, I just want to tell them to shut up and stop fighting on there, too. Instead, I mute them so I don't have to see that crap in my timeline but don't have to deal with two friends being butthurt over me unfollowing them. And I know some people would say to just drop them as friends and really, I wouldn't mind not speaking to her again but him, I adore. When he's not around her and he's acting like a more sane person. He's a really great friend, truly, and those aren't easy to come by.

I get pissed off at my boyfriend when we're out in public at times. Sometimes it happens when we're with friends or around family even. but I don't ever go off on him in front of anyone else, no matter how bad I want to or how pissed I get. Our problems are no ones business except our own. Which is also why I don't blog or tweet about our issues or the things he does that piss me off. I don't outright call him out or post passive aggressive crap on any venue of social media. That's between us and I don't need to tell the world when he's done something that pissed me off or acted like an ass about something. Much in the same way he never does that to me when I've acted like a jackass, pissed him off or lost my temper over something silly. I hate arguing in front of people because I don't want to make them uncomfortable and I don't like people being involved for the most part in my relationship problems. I understand that everyone else isn't like that and some people have no issues fighting in front of other people and letting everyone know what their problems are. I just really don't get that when it comes to serious and personal issues.

So if anyone is still reading this at this point, what's your view on this? Not my friends and not my boyfriend and I but just your general views on airing out your dirty laundry so publicly. Something you do sometimes, not at all, why, etc.

Happy Tuesday!

Excuse me while I get emotional...

Excuse me if I end up rambling and not making much sense or repeating myself at all the further into the post you get. I'm a bit emotional and I can't really get my thoughts and words to cooperate with one another for the sake of being articulate. I need to write this out and emotions are messy, ugly things sometimes which I'm sure will be reflected in this rambling post. Anyway...

I was talking to a friend yesterday about Christmas type stuff. She asked me how my blog's fundraiser was coming along and I admitted it hadn't gone as well as the first two years. I wondered in part if that's because I just wasn't putting as much effort into it as I had the previous two years but that's not the case. Though, I almost didn't do it this year because when I thought about it, it seemed like I might not be able to get into the spirit of doing it. But, I'm glad I did because it's given me something good to focus on and doing it really does make me so happy and I needed something to be happy about during the holiday season. I love helping people and through this, a lot of families will get help during their financially rough holiday season. (Which by the way, there are only 11 days left to donate to the Toys for Tots fundraiser.) That conversation led us to the topic of presents for our friends and loved ones. We were talking about what we planned to get our families and in my case what I had already gotten for mine since I'm almost done with my gift shopping already. I really just wanted to get it over with and out of the way with as quickly as possible. Then we started talking house decorations and such. I started thinking about how this would be my first Christmas without Grandpa here. I forgot what I said exactly but it was something to do with decorations and my grandparents house.

Which caused this response from my friend....

"You know, you still always refer to it as your grandparent's house or your grandma and grandpa's place, right? But it's been almost 6 months since he died, don't you think you should just refer to it as your grandma's house by now?"

And the thing is, she wasn't trying to be rude or an ass. She was just asking because she was generally curious if I realized I still did that. And I hadn't really realized that because it was just the way I phrased it out of habit. She didn't even realize it might be an insensitive thing to say until I started crying. Then she was freaking out, apologizing and then crying herself because she felt so bad. She's never had anyone close to her die before. Her worse experience with death so far in life has been having to say goodbye to a few goldfishes before.

Maybe I should stop referring to it as "their" house but I don't. I still think of it as their house even though he passed away this summer. They lived there before I was born. It was their house long before I was even thought of, before my parents even knew each other. That's the house I spent many weekends, Spring Breaks, weeks at a time during Summer break and so on and so forth in. It's a place I grew up at and a place I spent a lot of time at. And it was "their" house for my entire life up until this passed June when he passed away, in that house. I spent 25 years spending time in that house and I've always referred to it as "grandma and grandpa's house" or "my grandparents house" and I cant seem to wrap my head around getting myself to think of it differently, even though he's been gone for almost half a year.

When I go visit my grandma, I say just that, that I'm going to visit her. It's not like I haven't accepted he's gone. It would be hard to be in denial about that after seeing his lifeless body at his viewing. I understand he's gone. I go visit my grandma and I still see so much of him there. Pictures, his chair, his room, his bed and tons of other things I've always associated with him. It's hard not to think of it as "their" home when there's sill so much of him there, including the urn that has his ashy remains in them, lol.

A few people told me the holidays would be hard. I thought that it would be difficult but I didn't really understand how it would feel. I got mad at myself on Thanksgiving because I found myself standing in my aunt's kitchen cooking and wishing he would be there to eat the macaroni and cheese I was making from scratch because he liked it so much. I almost cried while I was standing there melting the cheeses because I just missed him so much at that moment and wished he could be there for it. Then I was angry at myself for being upset because I sometimes feel like it shouldn't hurt so much still. And even though I know that's silly, I was grateful for that because I hate crying in front of people and that anger at myself kept me from bawling into the mac and cheese in front of my family. And I was happy for that for another reason; because it was my grandmother and my mom and my aunts and he was their father and they weren't crying. Maybe they wanted to but they were holding it together and making the best of the day even though I knew my grandmother was hurting horribly. I didn't want to be the one that set everyone else into a depressing mood or a crying fit.

Now as it's Christmas this and Christmas that all over the place, it's hard. I look at the Christmas tree we have in our living room and I remember the last cute little tree they had at their house and I wonder if my grandma will even bother with putting one up this year. I wonder if she'll stay with my mom and aunt or my other aunt for a few days so she doesn't have to be alone on the holiday. I thought about how I wouldn't have to get him any of the things he always wanted every year for Christmas but when I go somewhere and see any one of his favorite things, I wish I had a reason to buy any or all of them still. It hurts in such a deep aching way and sometimes, I don't know how to deal with it. I feel grateful that he's gone because he's not suffering in any way any longer. I want to laugh and smile because I feel so lucky to have had him around for so long, to have had such a good relationship with him, for him caring so much for us and for the good memories I have with him. And I want to cry because I miss him and it hurts that he's not around anymore.

I remember Christmas when I was 10. We lived in this two story house that had a tiny little front porch on it that held two chairs. My grandpa always sat outside on the porch for a while. He liked to just sit out there and watch the world go by and think. I remember that year I sat outside with him in a Tasmanian Devil t-shirt, a hideously ugly jacket that I thought was awesome at the time and track pants with a Santa hat on and asked him why he liked sitting outside so much when it was so cold. He said being outside was calming, relaxing. It was quiet and there was just nature and his thoughts if he wanted to think or reflect. Being out in the open air, seeing the trees, the grass and smelling those things was a nice place to be. I remember pointing out that it was icy and cold and you couldn't really smell anything besides cold. He laughed and asked me what I thought cold smelled like. I said ice cubes and he did a little half smile and agreed with me. Then I just sat out there with him for a long time and didn't say anything else until we went in to eat.

And it's memories like those that I try to focus on right now because I have plenty of good memories of him. And plenty of great ones from all the Christmases he was around for. The thing about focusing on the happy times though is knowing you'll never have more like them but trying to be thankful and happy that you had them in the first place. I often end up sad whilst thinking of good memories of him I have just because it makes me miss him. Sometimes I end up crying and a times it's out of pain and sadness, other times it's more of a happy yet bittersweet feeling.

Death is such a weird fucking thing to deal with.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing: The Blue Memory Meme, Part One

1) If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?
How long do I have? Haha. I'd read the definition to the word "accountability" and then tell everyone to stop pointing fingers elsewhere when the blame for so many things is staring at the in the mirror every morning. It's pathetic how many things people are responsible for yet will blame on anyone or anything else given the chance. Step up and stop being such babies.

2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?
Can I just see my grandpa again? I'd give up the chance to meet anyone if I could spend another few hours with him.

3) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?
FIJI!

4) What do you think about most?
There's no one subject I think about most. I think a lot and a lot of the times it's about varied and random topics. My mind is always a whirlwind of thoughts, lol.

5) You have the opportunity to spend a romantic night with the music celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?
Romantic? Pfft. I'm not big on romantic evenings, I'd rather do something crazy and fun, especially if I've only got one night.

6) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?
I wouldn't. I almost drowned in a lake, had a gun held to my head & was assaulted during a robbery, almost died in a car accident and some other really crappy situations. But, I think all of those things helped me become the person I am now so even though they really sucked and some things I've gone through put me in a bad place for a while, I wouldn't take them away because then I might not be who and where I am now.

7) What's your strangest talent?
I can play air guitar and cook at the same time.

8) What would be a question you'd be afraid to tell the truth on?
I can't think of one. I'm pretty open and honest.

9) Ever had a poem or song written about you?
Yes on both accounts.

10) When is the last time you played the air guitar?
About half an hour ago probably. I play air instruments on an almost daily basis.

11) Do you have any strange phobias?
Who doesn't?

12) What's your religion?
None.

13) What is your current desktop picture?
Naked yard gnomes square dancing in the middle of a rain forest. Or maybe it's just a picture from a Dallas Stars game I took last month.

14) When you are outside, what are you most likely doing?
Jogging, rollerblading, reading a book, archery, photography, street hockey, sketching, baseball, walking somewhere that's close enough I see no point in driving to, drinking on a patio somewhere. I do a lot of stuff outside. My allergies hate me, by the way.

15) What's the last song you listened to?
"Bright Lights" by Matchbox 20.

16) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?
Incubus. I have so many favorites it's hard not to list 20 bands/musicians right now.

17) What was the last lie you told?
"I'm fine, just really sleepy."

18) Do you believe in karma?
Indeed.

19) What is a saying you say a lot?
I have no idea. You'll have to ask someone who pays attention to the things coming out of my mouth.

20) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?
I'm impatient a lot of the time. I'm very determined to get things done and go after what I want.

21) Who is your celebrity crush?
I don't have one. I don't pay much attention to celebrities and don't watch a lot of TV or movies and don't like most mainstream music.

22) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word: heart.
Blood.

23) How do you vent your anger?
It depends. Sometimes I punch things, sometimes I yell, sometimes I go for a long walk, sometimes I rock out to really loud music, sometimes I write it all out.

24) Do you have a collection of anything?
Shot glasses from all the places I've visited. Baseball cards. Hockey cards. Batman stuff. Graphic novels.

25) What is your favorite word?
Depends on the mood I'm in. ;)


There are 14 days left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. I'm sure y'all are sick of seeing me talk about it but oh well. :) I posted an update on Tuesday so check that out if you haven't already. December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself. So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. :D

Happy Sunday!

Silver linings aren't always easy to see...

I have this habit of trying to find a bright side to something that annoys me. It keeps me from being in a worse mood when I'm already in a bad mood and often keeps me from being grumpy at all when my day has been sucking. It's easier to just let yourself be in a bad mood than to look at the bright side of something, or try and find a bright side at all. But when I let the bad stuff set in, it always seems to just keep rolling in and piling on, which I'm not a fan of. Honestly? Sometimes, there really is no silver lining and I let myself be pissed off about something. Usually, I'll find a plus side to something crappy and it helps me deal with it and not be in such a bad mood over it. It's also easy to let little life annoyances that really don't matter in the grand scheme of things put you in a bad mood. You know it's something insignificant but you can't always help what sets you off. Again, when that happens, I just look for the silver lining if there's one to be found.

I'll use a few examples from this morning.

Dislike: Being awake at 6 AM and my Keurig maker being injured. Being awake this early and no coffee? ACK.

Like: My Keurig is still covered under warranty so it's being replaced free of charge. Also, I can afford Starbucks this morning.


Dislike: That I woke up shivering this morning because the vent in our bedroom was shut thus not allowing any heat in and I get cold easily, especially when I'm not feeling well.

Like: That I have a comfortable bed and a roof over my head every night. And warming back up only takes opening the vent or snuggling under another blanket closer to my human heater boyfriend.


Dislike: That I have some rather unpleasant things to do today that I really don't want to do but will do because I'm responsible.

Like: That I get to go to the Stars vs Senators game tonight when we originally weren't going to be able to.


Dislike: I'm going on day 8 of fighting off a nasty sinus infection.

Like: That it's almost cleared up and I haven't had a fever the last 3 of 8 days. Which means that my supplements for my immune system really are working, slowly but surely because a sinus infection usually knocks me out for 2-3 weeks every single time.


Moving on from that. There are 16 days left to make a paypal donation to my Toys for Tots fundraiser. I'm sure y'all are sick of seeing me talk about it and again, I don't care. I posted an update on Tuesday so check that out if you haven't already. December 16th is the last day I'm taking donations via paypal unless you email with a reason why you need an extra day or two which has happened several times before. It only takes a few dollars to help out a really great cause and I do all the toy shopping so you can donate toys without having to go shop for anything yourself. So come on, $5 or $10 isn't that much and it's for a great cause. Please help out if you can. Thanks to everyone who has donated and all who have helped spread the word thus far. It's greatly appreciated. <3

Happy Thursday!