holidays

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St. Practice Day

March 12, 2011 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Last night was pretty awesome. Went to the shooting range again with Irish, AngryGinger, and Gadget. I kept having terrible luck with guns jamming and misfiring. I don’t know if it was me or the guns but I went back to a Sig instead and had better luck. Still jammed but not as bad. And at least the clip was a lot easier to load than the others. They clearly don’t clean their guns properly at all. But here’s the results with the Sig:

I’m pretty proud of this. And I did it pretty quickly too cuz the place was closing in a minute.

Afterward, we went to get drinks and food at Applebees since they were doing their Saint Practice Day specials, it being the Friday before St. Patrick’s Day and all. We got green beer and boneless wings.

And of course after a pitcher of green Yuengling, I had to grab a green margarita… Which are normally green in color but oh well, tequila!

Overall, a fantastic way to start the irishest week of the year.

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Pro Tip #2

February 15, 2011 in Mindpieces | 2 comments

When a girl mentions in passing that she’s not into all that cliche Valentine’s Day stuff… ignoring it is usually a safe bet.

Case in point:
While talking to Irish a few weeks ago, I had mentioned my Valentine’s Day experience from last year, including how Jay had gotten me everything – teddy bear, balloon, flowers, card, chocolates, etc. – because I had never gotten any of that stuff before. But in that case, it was too little, too late. Damage had been done to the relationship that just couldn’t be undone with cute or tasty gifts.

Well even after hearing that, I received an edible arrangement, teddy bear, and balloon at work yesterday. It was awesome and I was squeeing like a fool. Unfortunately it was after 5 so most people had gone home, but I still texted some friends and ran to my girl upstairs to have a girly squealing fit together. And to share a chocolate covered piece of fruit.

I had already received a box of chocolates from Irish that he had AngryGinger grab for him, and I figured that was all I’d be getting. I was wrong. And I’m glad I was.

Also, when he was making the steaks for dinner (so very delicious), I checked my email and saw he had sent me a gift certificate for Squishable.com so that I can get myself a fox when it comes back in stock. I started squeeing again and ran over and hugged him for ages. It was awesome.

So the safest bet when it comes to Valentine’s, or really any holiday, is to get your girl something small at least, just to show you care. Even if it’s just a card. But if you think she’s more receptive, then go bigger, because it will be appreciated, and you will get hella brownie points.

Even is she says she doesn’t want to exchange gifts, you should still get her something. Saying that you’re not going to get each other gifts on a holiday for financial reasons or something is a TRAP. Better safe than sorry, and in this case it’s better to err on the side of giving too much, to an extent of course. Keep it sweet and simple.

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Quick Hit

January 20, 2011 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Just wanted to do a quick post before I leave for the day. And I just finished up a project today that’s called a “quick hit”, hence the post title.

Monday morning I woke up sick. And I mean siiiick…. It was pretty terrible. I had apparently eaten something bad on Sunday. I didn’t even leave the bathroom all morning and still went to work, then was sent home after my work for the day got distributed to others and I finished whatever I had to do then. I only got docked 4 hours and that’s out of my sick time anyway, so it’s fine.

Irish was off for MLK day and I got him to hit CVS for some Imodium and Powerade. Granted, he went out of his way and got himself lunch while he was out, even though CVS is 2 minutes from our house and I was miserable…. but anyway…

I slept and laid around all day and he played Red Dead Redemption, ignored me and my pain, and enjoyed his day off. I felt like I was imposing on him or something, since he didn’t get to have the house to himself as he wanted.

I had found all 4 Resident Evil movies recently, so we watched the first 2 that night. They were better than expected. I was afraid I wouldn’t sleep well because of them though, but I was fine. Slept like a rock in fact. And thankfully so, cuz I woke up feeling better, not 100%, but better. I went to work, ate weird “safe” foods, and muddled through.

I’m feeling a lot better now though. And although I don’t want to cut this short, it’s 5pm, and I’m outta here.

Later.

 

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Last Valentine’s

January 13, 2011 in Mindpieces | Permalink

After that whole fandango went down, we were talking about our previous Valentine experiences. I told him how until last year, I hadn’t had the stereotypical gifts on V-Day (candy, card, balloon, bear, etc.), but Jay changed that. And it was stupid and terrible. Also, it was made worse by the fact that I didn’t love him anymore, but that’s beside the point.

I mentioned that other than the gifts, I couldn’t remember V-Day being all that good with Jay. Then he said, “I think WE were together on Valentine’s Day.” This was a huge memory shock. I had almost forgotten about that. We went to Don Pablos for dinner and had the Fajitas for Two Valentine’s Special (which I found amusing, and now ironic) and then we saw Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief. I remember using AngryGinger as my cover story since Jay hated the mere idea of Irish, let alone me being alone with him. And for good reason I guess.

So here we are, and we’ve come full circle. I’m a college grad now, I’m no longer on psych meds, I’m employed at a good company that is actually 9-5, we’re living together, and he’s finally learning to be a boyfriend, kinda.

Life isn’t perfect. It’s an adventure.

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Valentine’s Fail

January 12, 2011 in Mindpieces | Permalink

I already had my big plan for Valentine’s Day all worked out. I was going to drive Irish to the Verizon Store, and he could pick out his new phone, in all likelyhood the Droid X, and I would buy it for him. And an Otterbox case for it if he wanted one. This weekend ruined that.

I paid the $200 electric bill this month. I paid $400 toward the rent. So he had some extra money and decided it was a perfect time to buy his new phone. I told him he should wait, say, a month, just to be sure it’s what he wanted. And since I had to drive him there, I said I was okay with shopping for it, but not buying just yet. I didn’t want to tell him why he should wait, ruining the surprise, but figured he’d wait anyway.

I was wrong. Shocking.

Within 5 minutes of talking to an employee he said “alright, I’ll take it” and my jaw dropped. I was speechless, confused, and frustrated. I barely said a word after that until we got into the car and he asked if I was upset about it. Well, duh.

I explained to him that I was gonna buy him one for Valentine’s Day, if he would’ve just waited. And that yes, of course I’m upset about it. He didn’t listen to me. He didn’t trust my opinion on it. And he didn’t get the hint to just wait when I said it over and over and I’ve done this kind of thing before with him (I told him not to buy something because Santa might be getting for him, he understood then). He just thought I was trying to tell him how to spend his money, which I wasn’t. Admittedly, there’s part of me that is bitching inside about how he wanted me to help with rent and BGE and then he goes and spends that money on other stuff, but whatever.

He also apparently wasn’t expecting me to get him anything for Valentine’s, cuz no girl’s ever given him something before. So we decided that we were just going to call it his Valentine’s present anyway. And I told him I might still give him a card and a blowjob as a placeholder. Maybe 2. To this, he had the perfect response: “What am I gonna do with 2 cards?” Brilliant! I haven’t decided how I meant it yet. I just hope to get laid that day/weekend. Maybe twice if I’m lucky.

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New Things

December 30, 2010 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Oh and just because I feel like I should say something about it, some things have changed on the blog. I added some new widget stuffs, including a hit counter and the email subscription button. Right now, I’m going through my old posts from when I started the blog as “private” and I’ve realized that none of my posts since then have been private. So I’m going back to the older posts that I imported as private and making some of them public. Not all, cuz some are just too juicy for all eyes to read.

Also, it’s snowing. But only til January 4th. So neat.

UPDATE: As of January 3rd, all posts that will become public have done so. I’ve omitted the parts I’m not keen on everyone reading and kept those pieces private.

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Last Working Day of the Year

December 30, 2010 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Just one more hour to go. And I’ve finished everything I have to get done at work this year. Here’s hoping nothing plops onto my desk at the last minute this time. And as long as I have the appearance of being busy, the girls shouldn’t be shunting anything off onto me. *fingers crossed*

So in the interest of enjoying my new iPad, using the iTunes card my supervisor gave me for Christmas, and also getting back into drawing stuffs, I bought Sketchbook Pro for $3 (normally $8ish) on the App Store, and after seeing reviews for Inspire Pro, bought that too, for $1 (also normally $8ish). And since I know I’m hopeless at drawing with a fingertip, I went ahead and bought a Pogo Stylus on Amazon.com for about $8 (normally $15). I have just received confirmation that it has been delivered and I can pick it up from my doorstep when I get home. So excited to play around with it! I need some drawing ideas though. That was always my biggest problem: inspiration. I can draw from life just fine, but when it comes to drawing randomness from my head… well I suck.  In fact, there’s really not anything random in my head as far as visuals go. Not anymore, if there ever was.

And now I’ve killed enough time that there’s only 45 minutes left til my 3-day weekend starts. Yay.

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Holiday Craziness

December 28, 2010 in Mindpieces | Permalink

So I realize that I said I would try to do at least one post every week, but have not held myself to that. Well I blame the holidays and general schedule craziness. And I got a job. So that’s very whoo-hoo!

I started a Web/Graphic Designer job on the 6th and haven’t had much time to do anything besides work and sleep since then. The first week of the job, we had a Christmas party and the company-wide gift was an iPad. And I got one. I had just been thinking about the possibilities of owning one and how I could blog so much easier on an iPad. Then I get one, but never used it to post. Granted I’m still not using it for that. It’s been an e-reader and video game system so far. Even this post is being done at work cuz I’m on lunch and work is light – for now. The rush was last week.

I’m loving the job so far and it’s actually in my field. They also are wanting me to do some animation/video work at some point since I’ve got experience with that. The most animation involved thing I’ve done so far was a photoshop animated gif with text, but they were impressed. The other designers hate web/animation work so that works fine for me.

I’ve also been sick these past few weeks…err… month. General flu-like stuff and then lots of coughing/hacking. I’m finally getting better again though, so hopefully that holds out. I’ve been sick my whole time at work so far too, which sucks, so no one has gotten to see the true/regular me. Hoping for a clean bill of health in the new year. Fingers crossed.

So yeah, I got an iPad after a week of working here. The next week was the building party, where I got a red cashmere scarf. The next week I got a Christmas bonus. Best timing ever. Win. Then a 4 day weekend for Christmas and a 3 day weekend coming up for New Years (which I still have to find plans for) and that makes this week a 3 day work week. So much win.

Christmas was pretty cool this year and I didn’t have to drive 7 hours this time. Spent some of Christmas Eve at Irish’s parents’ place, opening presents with the kids and having dinner. I got Assassin’s Creed for 360 and a gift card. Then we went to my parents’ house for Christmas Eve snacks and hangouts. I brought my iPad to show my parents and use as pretense for a present. I had just gotten paid that day and wanted to give them some moneys toward what I owe them from being unemployed all that time, and gave them a check for $600, saying: I thought you might like the iPad, and I was gonna buy you one, but figured I’d just give you the money for one instead. It was intended as a joke, knowing it’d go towards what I owe them. It went right over my dad’s head though. Ugh. Ridiculous. At least my mother knew what I meant by it. So after that awkwardness was over, we kept chatting and snacking until finally heading home after midnight.

Christmas morning was cool too, since Irish and I got to open presents just the two of us. He seemed to like everything I got him, so that’s cool. I bought Fable 3 and Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition on Black Friday, but couldn’t wait so those were early gifts to us. But I did give him Fallout: New Vegas and Bioshock on Christmas. I also gave him a shiny new Casio Solar Waveceptor watch, a leather left gauntlet for his rennfest costume, slippers, and assorted football clothings. Good haul for him, I’d say. He gave me Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii (wanted for years since it came out), a bottle of Davidoff Cool Water perfume (always loved but never owned), and some pretty swooshy design diamond earrings (which I just found online here).

Then it was time for Christmas dinner/lunch at my parents’ house. It was surprisingly good and we stuffed ourselves. Then presents happened and I got the obligatory Best Buy gift card from my brother (we always get each other the same thing) and a Dragon 2011 planner from his new wife. We all got cards with $30 from the parents, even Irish, so he was surprised with that. Brother gave the parents a present that I nudged Irish about, saying jokingly: Hey it looks like an iPad with a screen protector attached to it. Then it was. I was laughing my ass off, and so was Dad. It was even better that I had brought my iPad over the night before, so he knew he liked it. It’s really for Mom, cuz Dad’s always on the computer and she never gets to learn or do anything. But since all they use it for is email, internet, and games, it works perfectly.

It also made sense of Brother’s silence/awkwardness during my check presenting the night before.

We hung out a bit there, had some cake, then headed over to Irish’s parents’ house to watch Inception, since I’d given it to IrishDad for Christmas. It was just as good as I’d remembered it to be, especially cuz I couldn’t remember the ending at all. So that was cool.

The rest of the weekend was after-Christmas shopping, video games, and such. I had off yesterday so I played some Fable 3 then hit up Borderlands with Guardian for awhile til Irish got home. Then had some dinner and went to exchange gifts with TinyFists. I got her some earrings and she gave Irish and me a $100 gift card to Duclaw. I was shocked and surprised. I hadn’t expected such a pricey thing from her, but that’s awesome.

Brought the first batch of peppermint bark I made for Christmas into work today and left it in the kitchen. I think it’s been slaughtered by now. I was going to take it to karaoke, but I don’t think that’ll happen. Oh well. I’m still gonna hit the bar tonight and ArmyGuy is gonna be there too, whom I haven’t seen in ages.

I think that pretty much takes care of the catchup from this past month. If I’ve missed something and you’re wondering about it, just leave me a comment and I’ll post about it soon.

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Girlfriendship

May 3, 2010 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Girls Night with TinyFists was really great. Chocolate martinis, wine, crab stuffed mushrooms, hot tubbing, and girl talk. We talked about her life and the dating situations we’re both involved in right now. Her aunt  kept asking me about Irish and getting small details that made her say “dump him” a lot, but I just laughed it off. She said it mostly because he hasn’t paid for my food and such all the time, though I disputed it a bit. He’s paid a few times, and so have I, but usually we go dutch. Our most recent trip to Wendy’s he paid, and then he makes pizza for the two of us, and yesterday we went to his parents again for a steak cookout, which he paid for, saying that the leftover cuts would be for us at a later time. It made me realize he intends for me to be there for dinner very soon. Yay steak!

While at his parents house, his mother asked if I was coming with them to Tennessee for their reunion. I told her I hadn’t been invited. She said, “well now you are, because I’m inviting you.” Then she asked IrishSis, who had just walked in, “Wouldn’t it be great if she came with us to Tennessee?” She thought it was cool, but apparently thought I was already coming. Irish brought up the problem that he didn’t know where I’d be sleeping, and his mom and IrishSis said that he’s an adult and we’d be staying in the same bed. I tried hard not to blush, but I’m sure I failed. So then I said to Irish that he should try to get off work that whole week so we can go to North Carolina with ArmyHusband and BoobsMcGee, then just drive over to Tennessee. He agreed that it’s best, but he doesn’t know if he can do that. So it’s fairly final that I’m going to Tennessee at least, which is unexpected but awesome.

After we got home I asked him if he actually wanted me to come with him and he said, “Yeah, I mean, if you want to.” Then I asked what the controversy was with the sleeping arrangements. He said it was because his grandmother is paying for the hotel rooms and he didn’t think she’d like him to bring his girlfriend. My breath caught. “So I’m your girlfriend now?” “Well yeah, I mean after all this and everything and it’s been awhile, so it just should be that by now I think.” I was still taken aback. I told him I had been trying to ask him about it recently, but failing at bringing it up. “I know. I’ve been ignoring it.” “Nice…so…you’re my boyfriend then…” “That’s usually how these things work” he laughed. “Ha, I know, I’m just trying to let my brain process it.” He went back to playing Batman and later when we were going to bed, I brought it up again. “So how long have you thought of me as your girlfriend?” “Well we got home from my parents about 4 hours ago…” “Really? Seriously just today? I mean, that’s fine, but I just was wondering…” “Stop being girly and go to sleep.” I had no response to that. I couldn’t even make words. Ever since then, I’ve been girly and squealing inside, and I don’t know when it’s gonna end, but I’m not complaining. Plus he kissed me goodbye again today.

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