I've had a pretty great day so far, until about 10 minutes ago. The frat house next door alerted me yesterday that they were going to have a party...with lots of grimacing and apologies beforehand.

Truth to tell though, I don't mind.

Karaoke in the front yard? Whatevs. They usually do 80's pop, so no big. Competative beer pong teams? No sweat. Two enormo blow up pools and very little clothing? Eh.

But roman candles 3 feet from my windows? Not the-f on, dudes. Not on.

The neighbor child was screaming. Cagney looked scared.

I will NOT have another dog terrified of explosives.

I took the angry stomp around the corner to chat with the head of house. When I asked if the explosions came from them...through the sulphur smoke, of course...his response was "I don't know." He's nearly THIRTY! Isn't that the response of an 8 year old?

Then I got the sullen, "Sorry ma'am."

Sigh.

The parade this morning was a blast. Myself and the petcare manager had a lot of fun passing out swag and making contacts. From it, I made my very first ever video for publication and I'm pretty proud of it.

I hope everyone else's 4th has been a fun and safe one, free of any form of hearing damage!

I can see the fireworks display in the park from my patio. Some of it is hidden by the trees, but the fact that I didn't have to leave home to see fireworks makes up for it.

The party here went well. Lots of fun and good conversation. Fireworks were a blast. The city display was mostly obscured by their own smoke, but was still cool. But the neighboring cities displays were good. And the backyard pyromaniacs displays were great, and long lasting. It was like a heavy meteor shower. Where ever you looked, you saw flash. The new grill worked great. Only used about 1/2 lb of propane (1/2 a cannister). Oops, so I have 6 more. Guess I won't be buying gas for awhile. It was the first time using it for lots of people. Wasn't sure of how fast it would go through the gas. So, in all the stress of how much food should I get/how many people showing/last minute acceptances/no-shows, it all worked out fine. Lots of yummy things brought by party goers. Tons of left over food. Looks like burgers and dogs for a couple days for me!

All in all, a fun day! And I got to meet ND's cousin!

Hooray for a fabulous housewarming, Omnis!

First, ~mas to those who need it, and happy belated, sj.

And hi, y'all. Missed you too. smiles.

As said in Natter, that casual sneak in is kinnda what I'm trying to do. I mostly lurked ~40% Natter and ~80% of Bitches the past two weeks and didn't post until this very week, but I think it's an improvement from barely lurking here at all. I also have too much things going on right now, to the point where I don't even know where and how to start posting about my life here again. I'll just say for context's sake that things were though and rough and meh most of the past 18 months. Lots of health issues for me and folks around me. Some deaths, some lives, people, etc.. The past two months were extra hard, so much that in the past three weeks a lot of people told me that I looked bad and overstressed. Which I guess I am, because I didn't let these 18 months sink in and kept being the little engine that could, and now I'm working on trying to be less stressed and be more the little engine that said fuck it, I can't handle it all.

I'm not telling all of this for hairpats and ~mas, I'm just giving you context. Stress and instincts that worked in the past are pushing, and I try to tell them to go the fuck off. So one of the things I do is trying to get back here, because it's nice here and it's not something stressful and you're all nice to me and to each other. And I need more of this in my life.

However, I'll say that: I did the math and finance, and it seems very likely that I'll have to money to come to the U.S. on June 2014 (and maybe even stretch it out to July, too) for that OMG Much Needed And Postponed Vacation. I'm pretty sure I'll have the money for that. It's just the question of my parents' health and crossing fingers that nothing crisisy will occur that will require me to use the money for something else.

So not everything is bad, and there's this, which is good news and gives me something to look forward to (other than finishing my MLIS in 6 months).

Awww, Shir, that does sound like it's been a heavy load.

Sometimes when we're dealing with something difficult we don't notice the long term drain it makes on us until we're on an empty tank.

I'm glad to see you back on the board, and excited for your trip to the US of A! (knock wood)

Shir I hope things slack off for you and you are able to come to the USA! That would be great.

Shir, I think that I speak for most (if not all) of the Buffistas when I say that you won't have to worry about hotel reservations when you come to the US. ;)

Well, as long as she stays in cities with Buffistas.

:: brushes dust off Shir from tacklehug::

(((Shir))) ... Cuz it sounds like you could use a great big hug.

Shir, I think that I speak for most (if not all) of the Buffistas when I say that you won't have to worry about hotel reservations when you come to the US. ;)

And here comes the allergies. Thank you. I love you people.