I am now nearing the end of God of War 2. Sadly, or at least I’m getting close. I’m only about to defeat Kraken and then who knows what. I had to start a little later in the evening and wound up calling it a night after two hours… I had to do my nails. It’s been awesome, I think I’ve put in about 10 hours… unfortunately I didn’t press the correct pause button, so I logged more time due to being on the inventory menu when I was taking breaks. Honestly- it has *not* taken me 24 hours to play this! I have clean clothes, food in the cupboards, fed cats, and a loved child to show that I do have some semblance of a life.

I think the last save point was pretty far back, so if I quit now… I’ll have to pretty much start 15 minutes over again, although now since I made it through I can figure out the puzzle in a much faster time, kill the exploding soldiers and kick some tentacle butt.

Tomorrow is another doctor’s appointment. Yay. The last one jacked up my neck for these past two weeks and I’ll have to stop him before he makes me do the range of motion and places me in dependence of more muscle relaxers that he dispenses like candy. At times I keep remembering the many year of martial arts training (okay a ton of Bruce Lee, Jet Le, and a myriad of other awesome films) mind over matter. I am not my pain. Pain is merely an illusion. It’s temporary. It cannot consume me. I shall avenge my masters death.

On the lighter side of things- my hair is ridding of the brown and trying to push some of the blond/red through. Oy. It’s strange the effects of just a shade lighter hair has on men. The other day I was walking through the store and I had this very attractive male, possibly a couple years older than me (attractive but not my type- for one he was skulking around) following me from aisle to aisle and grinning sheepishly when I’d look up. From the hair care aisle to the register he made excuses to lurk around… staring, smiling… looking like he was trying to come up with an excuse to say hello… so I go to leave and as luck would have it… my Theft System went off and I was unable to turn the ignition for ten minutes. In that time he embarrassingly came out with his pregnant wife as they were parked right next to me. Sheesh, even in France they don’t look until the baby is born.

It was almost as tacky as when I took my son to the drive in and some guys in another car sent their 12 year old brother over to give me one of their numbers along with the drivers license so I could see he was legal (the guy was only like 22). I turned around, smiled, nodded a thank you and lied to the little kid by telling him to tell his brother or uncle (can’t remember) that I was taken.

Men… do not hit on women when you’re with your kids and do not hit on a woman while she’s out enjoying her time with her kid. Although it is flattering to be stalked in a store (if the man is attractive), it’s still very creepy.

Well alrighty then, now that I’ve had a good portion of my evening spent blogging away… I should get back to the game so I can defeat the boss and get to the next save point. I mentioned the Dr’s appt because it allows me to stay up an extra hour tonight because I don’t have to get up at five thirty in the morning for work, and I mention the hair/store stalker because- yeah baby, I’ve still got it. I mentioned my love of martial arts films and Bruce Lee because that just rocks.

Pics are of the cats today. I’m trying to steal their souls.

I am in awe of Google Streets. THANK YOU! Tonight I walked the same routes in my recent NY trip and then I headed WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY NW to Anchorage and traced my steps as a little girl walking to school. I really did know the route by heart! “That’s where I placed my sea shells on a mailbox and the lady came running out of the house with a broom and screamed at me for comitting a Federal offense… ooooh up there is the short cut we’d take to school through the woods… that’s where the family of moose jumped over my head! There’s Carrie’s house… there’s Lisa’s house… that’s where the crossing is!”

So I present pieces of my memory: Tyee Apts (the name has changed since then) it was the second place we lived up there, and where I spent most of my youth with my family of 6.

Baxter Elementary- the place I did my learning early on.

Carrie’s house!

Boniface Center… my brother tricked me into shop lifting and I was banned until I was 18 (long story, I was only 5). Being forbidden to go there made it difficult come Jr High when our bus stop was waiting inside the mall (each mall had an indoor foyer due to the climate- they’d keep it open for us kids early in the morning… it was cool because they had candy machines in the same area… so with a quarter to use as a screw driver, it was Runts galore!.

Then there is Wendler my Jr. High School. FFW to my adult years and I found McDonalds where I was a swing manager, the apartment my old boyfriend and I lived in and managed… and built a race at… and then on a darker note there’s the empty lot that used to be a gas station. When I was homeless I’d bathe in the sink and also wash my work clothes in there.

The lighter side of life: The library the kids and I would walk to almost daily and the park (no street view) where I took the kids to feed the geese.  Last but not lease, of course a google area map of my home town

OOOH and finally… the reason I will not take public transportation: I moved back to AK after high school (after being on a hiatus for a few years) things felt different not having my folks as the navigation pilots in that big land… sooooooooooo the first summer there, rather than walking, I decided to take the bus to approx. a mile from where I was staying… well… come to find out, if you miss ONE stop in AK, you can wind up 40 miles past your destination… SO (I think that’s the place in the pic), the kids and I sat on a curb for two hours waiting for the next bus that went back to Anchorage to show up and take us home. Since that day, the kids and I walked EVERYWHERE.

If Google Streets took it a little further, I could probably go for days capturing places and memories. Going to the bog where my brother and I built the raft (that sunk… with us on it), catching frogs and racing them, survival training for a week in the middle of winter on the side of a mountain when I was only 10, racing, modeling, learning how to ski, playing king of the mountain on the snow mounds that the snow plows would create, the wonderful construction sites that made for a fantastic play ground for a kids imagination, the best sledding spots, the worse places for break up season (slush season), where I buried my first pet, the short lived Drive In Theater (24 hours of sunlight in the summer made it close down shortly after it opened, the owners must have been from Cali), etc. I love you Alaska, thanks for making my childhood and a few years of my adulthood.

Well I tried to make it into work this morning. I woke up bright and early (5:45am) flipped on TNT, placed my mirror on the arm of my sofa, turned on my curling iron and although I felt a little nauseous, I proceeded with putting on my make-up. As soon as I started- BOOM. Luckily that time I normally spent getting myself ready was gone as I had to keep taking breaks getting Jonathon ready for school. Come time for his bus to arrive, it was a painful experience (I just wanted to run into the apartment!).

I slept off and on, played my game, and relaxed while Jonathon was at school- when he got home all was getting better and I crashed while he was watching tv. I woke up in time to put him to bed… and here I am. I’m still getting sick (I thought it was over) I’m bent (again) on going to work tomorrow. I don’t think I have any more PTO left and I’m just bent on being okay. I hate going to doctors for myself- so I’m doing what I can to assure I won’t have to go.

 Now to figure out how to prevent my nose from running and my food to stay in my stomach before morning comes. I WILL DO IT!

I fall ill about once or twice a year and I think this is the last of 2007. A lesson to people out there who are doing it all on your own: Take a break now and then. Take a personal day off. Know your limits and although pushing yourself comes natural, once in awhile you need to just STOP. I can’t recall the last time I took time for myself (maybe in 2005?) and it totally kicked my butt this week.

Alright, I’m finished whining about being sick.

I’m progressing in Resident Evil 4 and I’m totally in love with this game. I last played the series on PSX as Xbox did not carry the title. Now that I’m back on a Playstation platform, wow… the love of this genre is back (for Resident Evil- not a lot of games can pull this off). It hits you when you least expect it to- it allows you to rest when you feel completely worn and beaten “What?!?!?! You mean there are no not zombies here so I can collect ammo and health????!?!?!? I can breathe and twirl and just enjoy the creepy scenery???” Granted the graphics are a little blah and I get a feel of Silent Hill now and then, but all in all, I’m a happy gamer. My friend Ben did point out that my conversation pertaining to the game would cause alarm should the government be eavesdropping, “I’m trying to get my rifle up to par so I can pick those not zombies off one by one. I’m hoping to group them together so I can just throw an explosive and blow them all up at once.”

 Tomorrow it’s back to the grindstone and mustering up the mental and physical energy for photos, software reviews and journalism once the day job ends. Can I just happen across a winning massive lottery ticket so I can do the latter with ease?

Current Mood: calm

Well last night I didn’t get a whole lot done. Guitar Hero and requesting interviews for AG.

My Guitar Hero status… it’s coming along. Soon I’ll have to up the difficulty level in order to put my ego in check. Currently Free Bird is playing inside my head.

For those unfamiliar with Guitar Hero- you get a plastic Gibson about a 3/4 of the size of a real one. Each fret is a color and when the song comes on that strolls down the neck of a guitar, you hit the frets accordingly in order to crank out some awesome tracks. You choose your character, go on tour, get paid for gigs in accordance as to how well you play… AND you get a tight ass from shaking your booty while you play.

You play a variety of music from Crue, KISS, Kansas to the Butthole Surfers. Dude, I’m telling ya it rocks. You get to be a rock star with out the perks, but you also get to be a rock star without the downfalls as well. It’s a great way to release your inner guitarist if you happen to be musically challenged.

When I finally laid my head on the pillow (I swear it before mid-night), I opened my eyes to discover that I had 15 minutes before the alarm sounded. I didn’t feel as if I slept at all!

My days are off right now. Due to taking PTO on Monday and working a partial day on Tuesday- Wednesday shocked me that I was already in mid-week and today feels like a Tuesday. I can believe that tomorrow is Friday… but it still has a “I’ve a whole week to go to get there” sensation to it.

I’ve no weekend plans and I don’t plan on having weekend plans. With certain aspects of my life I have thrown my hands up in surrender and I’ve grown accustomed to the silence once more… with the exception of the sound of AWESOME guitar!!!! ROCK N ROLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Current Mood: Amused