KAMsnaps Giveaway!

KAMsnaps is giving away a snap press! Deets are here!

Some family peektures

My mom and my grandpa


Terry and his family at the park


My cousin Renee, Bob's oldest daughter, and cousin Sydnee, the youngest. Bob is my mom's oldest brother; Renee is 13 and Sydnee is 3.


ME! With the pink hair of doom!


My soda bottle was very lonely down there on the ground.


Victoria's face was so incredibly dirty.


And here she shows off her candy. The girl in the background is Amanda, the older of Jim and Renee's daughters.


Sunset on the way to the pageant. It was so prettiful. ^.^


My grandparents with Terry's family. From left to right:
Front row: Teresa, Grandma Barb, Grandpa Lou, Angela
Back row: Joe, Matt, Terry

ZOMG! Blog Post!

Hahaha! Three months (nearly) later..I'm finally posting something. Actually, I just want to point you all in the direction of my oft-updated Live Journal. I'll try to post stuff here, but really there's only about two people that read this when I do update...so check it out at mela-chan.livejournal.com . <3

Sci-Fi Quiz

Serenity (from Firefly) 100% SG-1 (from Stargate) 94% Moya (from Farscape) 88% Millennium Falcon (from Star Wars) 88% Galactica (from Battlestar: Galactica) 81% Nebuchadnezzar (from The Matrix) 81% Bebop (from Cowboy Bebop) 75% Enterprise D (from Star Trek) 38% You scored as Serenity (from Firefly). You like to live your own way and do not enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you that you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you. Coming on December 1, 2005: Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? The Sequel Which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? v1.0 created with QuizFarm.com

Quiz Fun!

Your Aliases

Your movie star name: Popsicle Louis

Your fashion designer name is LeAnne Paris

Your socialite name is Le New York

Your fly girl / guy name is L Rus

Your detective name is Cat Manhattan

Your barfly name is Cheetos Cosmopolitan

Your soap opera name is Lynn First

Your rock star name is Chocolate Cheetah

Your star wars name is LeAgin Rusmic

Your punk rock band name is The Bored Cat

The Amazing Meganame Generator

An Interesting Quiz

Mela took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Longs for a tender and sympathetic bond and for a ..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

Okay...six weeks later...

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to good manners and elegance. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage something you've always wanted... though you haven't really thought about it. In this moment, you think of love as something you can get or discard anytime. You're feeling self centered.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

...blonde, anyone?

100% BLONDE.
OMG, you are the blondest of blondes. You are
KNOWN for doing the dumbest things, are ALWAYS
having blonde moments, and even your PARENTS
say you are a total bimbo! lmao, BLONDES ROCK.


THE BLONDE TEST
brought to you by Quizilla

I guess that settles it: I really am a blonde...

You are a Social Liberal (71% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (18% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

It's Friday! AGAIN! OMG

Whatever will we do??? It's yet another Friday. Someone should alert the presses. I am in a very...odd mood today. If you couldn't tell that already, you should probably go bang your head against a wall for several minutes. A soft wall. Not like a brick one or anything. As usual, I have not updated for...awhile. Two weeks, actually. Not a record, for certain. ^_^;;;

Well, to move onto the important stuff. The last couple weeks have been busy. Not hectic-busy, just busy. I had a test in my US Politics class. I got a very high B. 89.5%. But you don't really want to hear about how boring my classes are. Or read about it, either. I know what you all really wanna hear about...Tori and kittens. In about that order.

Victoria is loving preschool. She loves the kittens too. In fact, she loves some of them more than others, and this was evidenced quite glaringly when we took the kittens to visit her preschool class on Thursday. Whiskey and Kir and Vader were fairly resigned to being fawned over and loved on by fifteen three and four year olds. Scotch didn't seem to mind overly much either, but he got tired of it after awhile. Guiness, on the other hand...took one look at that room full of little grasping hands and ran away. Or tried to run away. At least three little boys chased him, further scaring him, and I was the lucky one who finally caught him. Poor guy. He just curled up on me and shook. He definitely needs to be loved more often.

Tori is getting so big. She continues to make sure we all know her full name. In fact, she imperiously states it whenever you call her by a nickname when she's not happy with you. She's so cute.

The kittens are also getting big. They have started using the litterbox and eating dry food. They continue to follow Gin around and nurse, but they do so less and less and for shorter periods of time. They have taken to sleeping on my bed with me, in shifts it seems. I start the night with two or three of them, and in the morning there's a different set of kittens in the bed with me. Often, I wake up with 7 cats in my bed. <3 Their eyes are changing, and they have such distinctive personalities. Guiness is rather a loner, who likes to fight but not to cuddle or be petted. Whiskey likes to cuddle, and is quite the accomplished jumper. Though he's barely 8 inches from nose to butt, that kitten is a fearless jumper; the only one who will jump off the bed without creeping down the side several inches first and prefering to span the distance between the bed and the barricade (it has quilts hanging on it and the cats like to sit upon it) in a single wild leap. He's so damn cute. Kir likes to run about and fight with his brothers, but when he wants a cuddle, he's the sweetest kitten on earth. He's one of the kittens who likes to spend the entire night in my bed. Scotch is a sweety. He likes to chase string. And little mice. And Gin's tail, much to her dismay. He also likes to sleep with me. Vader...Caleb's kitten. Such an appropriate name it is, too. Vader, who terrorized the Jedi. His namesake, who terrorizes his brothers regularly. This kitten is an accomplished climber. The only one of the five to get atop the banister thus far, which scared the hell out of me. And three of his brothers, who were napping on the floor below when he lept from the banister and landed in their midst. To be more precise, when he landed with one paw (at least) on each of them. I'm sure they were not amused by my laughter, though Vader seemed quite pleased with his prank as he strolled away. He does similar things, leaping off of chairs, the coffee table, the davenport, the bed, and steps onto his unsuspecting parents and siblings. They definitely light up and lighten my life.

The kittens are quickly learning about clothing. Victoria likes to wrap them up in blankets and is now trying to put clothing on them. hee hee. Barb and I used to do that to our kittens. And our cats. The best part is, I didn't even teach her that! She just started doing it. Soooo cute. Poor cats.

Anything else I can bore you with today? Not really, I guess. <3

Random quote: There are those who think the world would be a better place if we shot fewer films and more actors.

Friday!

Yes, it is finally Friday! w00t. This week has been...interesting. Thus far, I am acing my Japanese class (with 16/15 points possible). I have a test in my U.S. Politics class on Monday, with a review session on Sunday at 8 pm. Don't think I'm going to make it, though... And I had a quiz in my Intro to Comp. Politics class today. Of the ten questions, there are two I'm not sure I answered correctly.

My kittens have mastered the stairs. Are they old enough for that yet? They're so cute. Vader is definitely the runt, but very appropriately named - he terrorizes the other four regularly.

Something I forgot to mention in my earlier post: Victoria started Preschool at the Manhattan Headstart on the 29th. She seems to really be enjoying it; she is more relaxed and easier to get along with, so in turn, I am more relaxed when she's around. happiness.

I had dinner with Micah last night. <3 That was nice. We're both sick. I think he's had it worse than I have, since he had a major attack of allergies about the time the cold kicked in. We went to Carlos O'Kelly's (I <3 free chips and salsa). Unfortunately, we were both having to go do other things (we both think that clean clothes are important), so we just met for dinner. But it was nice to see him; I really enjoyed it.

Sunday is Sara's Bridal Shower. I haven't gotten her anything. I'm going to, but I won't have it before her wedding, I think. Eddie (her fiancè) is coming in from England tonight, so he'll be there, too. yay!

And now...I must run away to work. u.u; BUT I UPDATED! TWICE IN ONE WEEK! CALL THE PRESS!!!

^____________^;;;

Scotch! Kitten #5!

Kir, Guiness, and Vader...

Whiskey! Kitten...

Relationship Help for the Clueless

School, and Birthdays!

We got back from Otakon just in time for school to start again. w00t. Thus far, my classes have been okay. Not bad, just okay. Except for Expository Writing...the teacher is rather confusing; that is, she is often overly verbose or vague, and it makes it hard to get the point. We have a paper due today, and I have no idea about it. I'm seriously thinking of using my one late paper on it, but I don't want to really. As soon as I get off, I'm headed for the library to finish it. Bleh.

My US Politics class and Intro to Comparative Politics class are both interesting thus far. The books, on the other hand...put me out cold. Which is not happy at all. It could be worse, I suppose. But it still sucks.

I am really liking my Japanese class, though. I'm learning (amazingly enough) quite quickly and pretty easily. The teacher is a sweetheart. So...yeah.

Birthday! Mom ... celebrated the 23rd anniversary of her 21st birthday on Friday. She went with a friend to a Willie Nelson concert. Apparently, she enjoyed it. All of us, however, forgot. Well, we didn't really forget. But she thought we did. On Sunday, Scott was home and we had a few people over for dinner and had cake and ice cream. Apparently, Mom thought that was her party. Whatever. We are such good children. On Monday evening, we invited a crap-ton of people over (like...30) to surprise her. Danita - one of her friends - took her out to dinner, and when she got back there were at least 25 people there. We managed to get her in the house before she realized, and she was shocked. She cried a little. <3 Steven totally planned the party and invited everyone - he even went so far as to go by the houses of a few people when he couldn't find their numbers - and all I had to do was get cake (cheesecake, Mom's fave, supposedly). So, hats off to our new master party planner. w00t!

However, I am now sick. I have a cold, and I lay the blame right where it belongs - on Rita. She was sick last week, and then came and sat next to me during one of our classes. Now I'm sick. Damn it. Ah well. It could be worse, I suppose. Micah's sick too, and he's got it worse than I do. Happy thoughts for both of us to get better soon, please.

Kittens!

While I was in Vegas, my cat had her kittens! Five, all boys, and all cute as buttons (where did that phrase come from, anyway???). Thus far, at least three and possibly four of them have homes with friends. They are sooo cute! And growing...they were four weeks old yesterday. OMG. Pictures: http://photobucket.com/albums/v490/mela_777/Kittens/

Second! OTAKON!!!

The trip I have been preparing for all year! And now it has come and gone. Le sigh.

Otakon was so great! I finished Micah's costume literally the night before the con. Like...at his grandparent's house (we stayed with them) in Baltimore on Thursday night. Despite the last minute touches, it still looked awesome. He got tons of compliments and requests for pics. Unfortunately, neither of us won anything in the costume contests, but I still felt like our costumes were a marked improvement from last year's. Micah went as Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia, for those who don't remember, and I went as Robin from Witch Hunter Robin.

Outside of the cosplay side of things, the con was really neat. The dealer's room was huge this year! They had easily 150% of the space they had last year, and since a few major dealers were missing, the room seemed much bigger. I found some awesome deals on souvenirs and manga. I got Victoria the cutest little 'Hello Kitty' plushie, and for Ben I got a men's clothing set in blue and red. Steven I got a Neo (Matrix) style coat, which he claims to 'love'. I got Mom a really awesome souvenir from Vegas, and I didn't really find anything for her at Otakon, unfortunately. But she liked the Asian-style shirt I got her.

And of course, there was the anime. Unfortunately, it seemed like we always had something going on during the showings we wanted to see, but we did manage to squeeze in a viewing of the first four episodes of 'Genshiken', a really interesting anime about and anime/manga club at a Japanese university. I really enjoyed it.

The masquerade was rather disappointing. After last year's awesomeness, this year's masquerade skits were rather lifeless and dull. There were a few that were really neat, but overall the masquerade was rather 'blah'.

Then, there was teh ToS gathering on Saturday. Micah was one of three Lloyds, and by coincidence there were three Collettes, too! Of the Lloyds, I can honestly say (having also been told this by many many people) that Micah's costume was the most accurate, detail-wise. With all the work I put into it, it damn well better have been the best! Everyone loved it. There was a huge group of characters from the game - I don't think we were missing any of the main characters, and we even had an Undine (a summon; the girl's costume was amazing!) and a wonder chef. It was really fun.

I am squirming with anticipation for next year! ^____________^

P.S. Otakon Pics can be found at my Photobucket account: http://photobucket.com/albums/v490/mela_777/Otakon%202005/

First, Las Vegas!

Wow. Can it really be a month since I've posted? I should be...kicked. Gently, of course. But kicked none the less.

SO. I spent the first full week of August (7-14) in Fabulous Las Vegas! Micah's grandparents celebrated their 50th Anniversary, and to celebrate, their kids took them to Vegas and were kind enough to invite me. w00t. Vegas was a lot of fun. We mostly just wandered around the casinos and took in the free shows. On Tuesday, we went to the north rim of the Grand Canyon, which was really neat. Otherwise, we stayed in the city. Micah and Josh (Rita's boyfriend - Rita is Micah's sister) gambled a little, as did Mike (Micah's dad) and Pop Pop (Micah's grandfather). Two of Micah's cousins on his dad's side and one of his dad's brothers and his wife came as well. The cousins stayed with us, and they were really cool. We got on very well. We stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Resort, which was about a mile or so from the strip but nice anyway. And free, so that was good. I don't really know what else to say about Vegas. It was hot, but not humid like Kansas gets. Overall, I really enjoyed myself. It was nice to get to spend some time with Micah and his family and get to know them a little better.

Oh. Wednesday night, Barb, Rita, Grandma, and I got to go to a show with the cousins. (Barb is Micah's mom) It was a variety show, and while some of it was a little odd, there were a few acts that were hilarious. Unfortunately, it's rather hard to describe the funnier acts, because you really had to be there. The jokes just don't come off as well...<3

Helpers...

As I mentioned earlier, I've been making costumes and working on them like mad. I've taken a few pictures of the help I've gotten, and thought I'd share those with all of you! <3


He was laying stretched out on his back, attacking the fabric as it came through the feeder, but when I turned on the camera he sat up - sort of - to give me a dirty look.


I had tried the sleeves on while Tori was watching me, and then the phone rang. I left the sleeves and the child and went to find the phone, and when I turned around, there she was! She has one of my WHR sleeves on each arm, and an extra round cuff piece on her head.


I was sitting on the couch attempting to sew buttons on a costume. Tonic was attempting to subdue the string, and Tori was attempting to sit on my lap before accosting the cat. The camera was handy, and this shot was completely accidental. But I still like it...


Tonic was rolling around on the floor while I was trying on my WHR skirt after I finished the hem. He looked so cute, so I decided to take his pic...I ended up putting the camera on the floor (after several shots from above that I wasn't happy with) and this pic was the result. He's so cute...

I've had so much help, I don't know how I've gotten anything done! XD

I'm Lazy

Yes. I am Lazy. With a capital L. ^.^; But because I love you all, here's another update of my life at this moment. The power source on my compy has apparently died, so I'm currently using the Sony lappy while I'm at home. The Sony has no working cd-drive, so that means I have no music and no dvds until I spend the money to buy a new power source for my compy (the converter thingy that you put the plug in...). Fortunately, those are cheap. Unfortunately, cheap doesn't equal happy...or even affordable at the moment. Ah well. I will live with the lappy for the time being and get a power source after I get my student aid check in a few weeks. Besides, I'm going to be on vacation next week and most of the week after, so I only have one week at home with the lappy. u.u;

Victoria has been accepted full time at Headstart, beginning August 29th. Yay! She's excited about going, and I'm happy to get her out of what appears to be a bad situation at daycare - the child who normally can't wait to get rid of Mommy when dropped of with a sitter (I take her to a friend's on occasion or when my mom or my former in-laws have her) screams her head off and throws tantrums when I leave her now. It's been going on for a couple of months now, and it's just getting worse. I think it specifically tied to one other child there, but I'm not sure and since Tori's leaving, it doesn't matter much. I think it will be good for Tori to be in a more structured environment with children her own age. Also, it's a huge relief financially since I am going back to school and taking a huge paycut to do so. w00t.

Costume Pics!

Pictures of the costumes-in-progress. An easy way for someone lazy like me to update! ~.^;

First, my Witch Hunter Robin costume! It is mostly done; I just have to make some gloves. These pics were taken by Logan Adams. <3







Next, Micah's Lloyd Irving costume, from Tales of Symphonia. His costume is nearing completion...As you can see, I got all the buttons on the shirt, but the pants need some work. o.o;; These pics were taken by me!









Comments and critiques welcome and appreciated! <3

Update! OMG!

Yeah. So I just realized I haven't updated in nearly a month. x.x;; Sorry!

Well...life's been pretty busy for me, or else I would have updated. Duh. I've been busy working and making costumes and getting ready for vacation and school. So we'll take thost things more or less in order and discuss them all, in what promises to be one of the longest updates ever!

Work: Sucks. Completely and totally. Here's the deal: I'm trying to go back to school full time. I spoke with my boss about this in JANUARY and he approved for me to go part time in August to go back to school. Apparently, though, he didn't get approval with his boss. So a few weeks ago, I was talking with the boss's boss, and I mentioned that I'd be going to thirty hours and how that would suck because my pay was going to go down and they'd just started to take retirement out of my checks and my benefits cost was going up. So, he talks to my boss, and they decide that they're not willing to let me go part time. I was not happy and more than a little stressed about that. However, they have since changed their minds and decided to give me a student worker position at 20 hours a week, and I've been offered a part time job a a gaming store as well - the store job is just 12 hours a week, but it will be most nice.

School: I'm going back to college to get my degree in Political Science. yay!

Costumes: I've been making costumes for myself and my boyfriend to wear to Otakon. I am making him a Lloyd Irving costume, from Tales of Symphonia, and I am making myself a Robin Sena costume from Witch Hunter Robin. Mine is 99% done, and his is at about 60%. w00t. Logan took some awesome pics, which can be seen in my photobucket gallery. If you want the link, ask; I'm too lazy to go look it up right now. ^.^;

Vacation: Vegas in a week and Otakon/Baltimore in three weeks! Happiness! Basically, I'm going to Vegas with Micah and his family for a week, and then he and I are going to Baltimore for Otakon the weekend after we get back. I'm so excited!

More updates soon, I promise! <3

Cleaning...

So...I cleaned my apartment today. Most of it, at least. The hallway and the living room, and I started on the bedrooms. I had an ulterior motive: both of my air conditioners recently decided it would be a good idea if they watered my carpet. Fortunately, the only thing hurt by this was the carpet, but I haven't had a/c in my livingroom for over a month (I'm lazy...) and the bedroom a/c started wetting the carpet on Thursday. So today I cleaned so I could get to the air conditioners to remove them from the windows. My very cool little brother, Steven, came over and helped me take them out of the windows and downstairs to the porch where we took them apart and hosed the insides down to get all the gunk out.

Being the practical person I sometimes am, I decided we should start with the unit I thought would be easiest to get out: the one in the living room. Well, last summer some birds decided to build a nest in there, and I've heard some intermittent high-pitched squeaks that I thought nothing of. So, after we get the window open, Steven grabs the right side of the unit and I grab the left side. My hand runs into something slightly fuzzy, but I was just thinking it was feathers from the nest that was there. Hah. So we lift the unit up and out and there's this sudden burst of movement. Apparently, the fuzzy thing I felt was a bat. As in the brown furry thing with leathery wings. It squeaked and flew off. Talk about a good way to startle someone. I thought I was going to drop the a/c, I was so startled. By the amount of guano in the windowsill, that bat's been there quite awhile.

Fortunately, the removal of the second air conditioner was uneventful, though enlightening. I found the reason it had been leaking: whatever idiot put the storm windows up caulked the bottom, and so water was collecting in the window well and after the storm on Thursday it filled up and started leaking. So now I have to take the a/c back out sometime when I can con someone into helping me and remove the caulk; it's much easier to do from inside than from a ladder. Until then, I'll have to keep an eye out for leakage. I was able to remove a little today, but Steven had to get home so I couldn't take the time to get it all done. I was so grateful for his help. I have a/c again! yay!

In other news...Mom had a bbq last night, and Micah's family came. Micah did not come. He had to work. Likely excuse. ~.^ Sharon and Matthias brought their kids (they have two and four year old boys and three week old twins), Lisa and Wayne brought their two girls, Rita, Micah's sister, came too, and Steven's friend Clint and Ben's girlfriend. Danita came with Sarah and little Robbie, and one of Mom's hospital friends came with her son and his girlfriend. It was a lot of fun. We had hotdogs and hamburgers and brats and potato salad and beans and macaroni salad. I ate way too much. There was fruit and watermelon for desert, and that was really good too. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Random quote: "Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly." Winston Churchill (replying to Lady Astor's comment "Sir, you are drunk.")