T-Minus Sixty Nine Days

Beth was picked up in an (almost) timely manner. The flight delayed itself in Dallas/Ft. Worth due to slush/ice/snow and she ended up in Florida at a bright and shiny midnight! Having been up since eight AM, I was less than awake. Regardless, a lolita dress was worn in order to greet this Canadian arrival and all was well.

While waiting for her, I picked up a magazine at the airport. Shocked as I was to see something open at ten thirty in the evening, I just grabbed the most interesting looking magazine at the time. It happened to be a 'Scientific Mind' journal, with one of the leading articles about the internet and why social networks online are ruining the actual social networks in 'reality'.

It was an interesting article. In it, they said that blogs are made for the single purpose of trying to make a voice on the internet and to let everyone know exactly what it is they're doing each and every moment of each and every day.

Makes sense even when read aloud the first time. Of course, I had to think of my own blog and what it's purpose in 'life' is. I'm moving. It's a stressful time for me: I have less in the bank I need to make my car payment, I have other bills to add on to that and I have company until the 6th that makes me unable to work. Brilliant! So, the blog.

It's to help with the sanity, I think. I'm not expecting people outside of my close friends and family to read this, as it's of little interest to anyone else. The ramblings of some broke ass twenty something? Welcome to every other sob story out there on the streets. No, this is to keep everyone who worries about me in the know-all about what's going on. So Mom doesn't flip out, thinking I fell off the face of the Earth. If I don't call for a week? Blog says I'm out on the town, working overtime or something else equally time consuming. Fears abated!

Sounds rational. I like to think it is. Even when Dad sets out on the road, he can check every so often in case our phones don't connect or letters don't reach - something like that.

The internet is a place to be heard! It's something you go to in order to express yourself, to live your life. Does it destroy 'real' social networks by breaking down the barriers required to teach someone necessary social skills for the real world? Maybe. It depends on the person. For me, talking on the internet is a way of being able to communicate in order to BUILD on my social network.

Through the internet and forums such as Gaia and Livejournal, I've discovered many new friends - one of which is flopped beside me in pirate pajamas! It's why I'm moving, thanks to Darian and the backbone to actually do what it is I wanted to.

The job hunt starts on Friday. I refresh the resume and start sending it out to various places of (hopefully) future employment. Starting with the first paycheck of this new year, half will go into my savings account and remain untouched. No more buying books, games, take-out food - none of that! No! Bills, care payments, and that's it.

Fingers are crossed, my loves. Tomorrow brings with us a night of change, hyenas, and hopefully some good old fashioned roller coasters.

-Erin

T-Minus Seventy-One Days

Today, I pick up Beth! It will be an exciting journey, filled with highway, GPS systems and hopefully no being pulled over by the lovely boys in blue. That would make my day, quite honestly.

The last two days have been spent in a whirlwind of trying to get my godforsaken room CLEAN. This is hard, seeing as how I live in an utter sty. Somehow, with some little miracles apparently, I made this fantasy come to life. Pictures were taken to prove I did have it clean at one point or another in my life.

And so, we start:


Welcome to my bedroom.




This is what I started with, ladies and gents. Before this weekend it hadn't been properly cleaned in god knows how long.






About thirty minutes later, everything was out into the living room.





The room looks better!

And!
AND!!
DONE




TA-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Then I went, and had a drink.
Not necissarily in that order.

Thus ends the Odyssey of the UnClean Room.

-Erin

-Erin

T-Minus Seventy-Three Days Extended

Have been cleaning since 11.15am.

My room is indeed a horror. A good dent has been made and I still have two hours of the afternoon left before Birthday Dinner.

Yikes.

-Erin

T-Minus Seventy-Three Days

There goes my declaration to update each Tuesday and Thursday. I still have every intention of following through on such a decision - it will just need to come post holidays. Whether or not I will have internet in the next week or so is debatable, although I don't think I'll mind over much.

The last few weeks have been more around Beth's visit than the move to California. Beth and I have been planning her trip here for more than a year, her ticket purchased months ago, and I am just as excited now as I had been when we were talking about this. Beth is from Vancouver and is, happily, one of my very best friends. We've known one another for at least five years now, give or take a year or two, and she stuck by me through the horrid years of high school, the poor girl.

Living close to her is actually a thing of huge appeal when it comes to moving to CA. She'll be a days drive away as opposed to a full flight, seven hundred dollars worth, and that alone is fantastic. Living WITH Dare, living near Beth, not in Florida, in a place with a (mostly) clean slate...

Look't that. I'm getting all giddy again.

My Yule was fine, very dandy. While the actual holiday I celebrated went un-announced as quite a few people don't even know what it is and I wasn't in any sort of the mood to explain to the masses. Christmas went just as well, with a tad bit more fanfair.

Christmas Eve was spent with my father. My sister and I had actually spent the night at his house so we could wake up Christmas-Eve-Morning with him. I awoke to my sisters three month old puppy licking my nostril.

Breakfast was had and when I returned home from a rather good day at work, he gave me the best present I've had since my sister: an e-mail from a company he applied to about a job position.

There was much gleeful flailing. Afterward, I received a chocolate orange and all became right within the world. My aunt had driven from Miami! So we partook of delicious ham that night.

There was no puppy-breath Christmas morning, although my year and a half old Dobie-mix managed to sprawl himself on me during the night. Our five year old Beagle mix cuddled up against my feet as well, and my cat perched herself on the edge of the couch I passed out on. A good way to start, I thought.

Coffee cake, gifts. Mom bought me a jacket for the move, and a camera, saying she wanted pictures of the adventures. Also, brightly colored socks! Kelsey gave me a lovely scarf and a foot-tall Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion.

More time with the Daddio (in which I received a charmin to-go roll for toilet travels and seat covers, thanks to my aunt) and then dinner with my mother, sister, and sisters boyfriend. My sweet potato casserole didn't turn out horrid (I have pictures to upload, somewhere).

The days melted together in some sort of pleasurable family gathering, filled with food and nice words, and only occasionally marred by real life. Today, on the 26th, I said goodbye to my aunt, watched Snow Day with my father, and then went and spent time with Ashley.

Also, left a waitress my number. As Dare has gotten on my case about not flirting, I thought it worth mentioning.

Beth is due in on the night of the 29th. It means tomorrow is filled with cleaning and panic! Hurrah. It will be an adventure, I think, and I shall have to assert it as such.

Next update? Tuesday, before I leave. Pictures of my baking exploration and cleaning horrors will be present.

-Erin

T-Minus Seventy Nine Days

I'm off schedule this week; things have been hectic. It isn't that work is taking up all of my time, all twenty two hours of it, or that my mind is lost in the world of writing and drawing and all of that genius sorts of things. I wish that were the excuse, especially today, but, unfortunately, we just aren't that lucky - I am just not that lucky.

'Avatar' came out on the 18th. If you've spoken to me at all about it, you'll know my opinion well: the movie was a masterpiece. People are complaining a white guy saved them (seriously?) and that there are no gay natives in the film (are you fucking KIDDING me?) but - it is simply gorgeous. The story and character development live up to the CG, it had me on the edge of the seat both times I've seen it and, yes, I am planning to see it again. 3D by myself and then on IMAX 3D with Ashley. At least

It's the reason for my silence.

At the end of the movie, the first time I saw it, I was crying. I was crying because of the emotions I experienced, how well the story linked together, the meaning behind it all, what these people and so many years brought to life... And the knowledge that I will never, ever write anything as brilliant or original as the movie I had just seen on the screen.

It's taken me over three days to realize just why I will never do anything like that. The answer was stupidly simple: I've read my own writing, I know what I can and can't do, and I've always known deep in my heart that my words will never come out as they are in my head.

'Write what you know'. What do I know? I've been in this town since I was conceived, lived on the same block since I was six. I haven't lived. I haven't done anything. If something doesn't change, and soon, while I still have the nerve, I never will.

To anyone who wonders why I'm making this move all of a sudden: this isn't some whim of a girl in her twenties. I'd be smoking pot and fucking anything that struck my fancy if that were the case. This is about sanity. The move is about me being able to find that muse to write and be brilliant.

There's still hope, buried deeper than the knowledge of impending failure. It's hope that I can over come my artistic shortcomings and pull off the novel I've been working on for three years just how I want it to end, written how I imagine it, with characters as rich as those who are in my head.

So here's to sanity, to hope, to the muse that I'm crossing my fingers to. Go see the goddamn movie and pray for me.

T-Minus Eighty Five Days

This past week, there has been teeth and lists, a very fun combination. The lists consist of multiple to-do’s, such as Things To Sell, Things To Pack, Things To Do (And How To Do The Things To Do) and other such good things. My personal favorite is ‘Things To Pay Off’, such as my 500$ credit line with the bank, a few months of my car (just in case!) and as much of my store cards as humanly possible. It isn’t an impossible dream, simply a difficult one to achieve. Though if I were looking for an easy street, it would not be through moving across country to chill out with people I have not met before, wouldn’t it?

I'm contemplating making a list of which list to worry about first, or the most important thing on ech list. It isn't as easy as it sounds.

From the 'Things To Do' list, it may be compiling the notes for my novel, selling some of my things, or getting the AAA TripTik. When it comes to the 'Stuff to Sell' list... Well, pretty much all of it is important. Most will go via garage sale. 'Stuff to Bring' is ranged from bras to notebooks to knee-high socks.

All of them are fantastic and beautiful, of course. My lists are known for being awesome and obsessive-compulsive. Doubtless there will be much refinding, revising, and removing to the poor lists. It is their fate.

The best part about the lists, I have to admit, is the fact that I’m writing them at work. They aren’t being written while I should be doing work, but when we’re on a lull and there is nothing else to do. 'Post Codes' can NOT be considered work - those are a waste of time and something that we should not be doing on a daily basis. As things go, it's simply mind numbing, not an actual pain.

Either way, my plans to move are being formulated while at work, the job that I'm keeping in the dark about my plans to move until two weeks before I actually leave. There's no malicious intent going on here except for the knowledge that my boss would cut my hours if he knew I would no longer be his employee at the end of the year. I'm staying around for our largest show ever, so it really shouldn't be a problem, but better to err on the side of caution.

It gives me time to organize my thoughts, things, and how I will be handling everything. Will I be leaving December here? What kind of clothes should I leave? Can I find a mental health clinic to get my meds? What about a dental school so I could fix my teeth?

The biggest concern is money. It probably should be the fact that I've never met the girl I'm moving in with, the current lack of California job, and the moving across country but, no. It's the money. I need enough to get out there, keep the rent going, to not cut off all ties as I get up there.

This, of course, calls for more lists. :)

'Why Life Isn't Horrid' will be my next. It will be the shining glory of lists, despite being a short one. I've discovered that very few things are free, dental work being not one of them.

On Monday, I went to the dentist for a chipped front tooth. My dog and I had played outside one day and he came up under my chin, fast. I heard crack; the front left tooth felt flat and unnatural.

As a few may know, I've had a gastric problem since I was a kid. My stomach made far too much acid and as a result I vomited bile for quite a few yeaars. The end came to the Hiroshima of my enamel, destroying all hopes of a healthy mouth.

I've had multiple fillings, two root canals, and an extraction. On this particular visit, I was told I would need two root canals, two repairs/fillings, and an intense cleaning to prevent further cavities. The total will come to a little over five grand.

Luckily, I was approved for a medical credit line, enough to cover my fillings and cleaning. My therapist suggested a dental school, so that is something I will look into. Beth, one of my very best things, started a FaceBook 'campaign' to raise money.

Fingers are crossed that something crops up. It usually does!

As of Thursday, there will be little pictures to demonstrate what it is I'm talking about. Something cute or... Well, I just want to do them. Ha!

Till then,

Erin

T-Minus Ninety Days

Ninety days until I change my life.

Welcome to my blog. My name is Erin. For the next 386 dys, I will be documenting my preparation, move, and life in my move to Northern California. It will include budgeting, job hunting, lists, pictures, and a four day drive across the country as I will be starting in South Florida. The day of lift off? March 15th, 2010.

I started this blog to get my thoughts in order, work through my nerves, and share the journey with friends, family, and anyone else who stumbles here.

'Growing Up 'N' Out' may seem significant - it is. I see it as a statement that I am manning up and getting out of the rut that is my life. This is something that needs to happen; I'm almost twenty-three and I have hardly even lived. I'm in the same town I was conceived and born in, having literally lived no where else and experienced very little. This is unacceptable.

My goal in life is to be an editor for fantasy and science fiction novels. While my grammar is less than perfect, I cannot wait to learn more and fine tune the craft. Currently? I sell tickets for a theatre hall in the fall and a hardware store during the spring. I am one math class from an AA in English.

The only reason I still exist in Florid is for the 'in state' tuition and the fact that nearly all of my family is nearby. Also, fear. That will be eliminated.

Expect pictures, budgets, and moods ranging from triumph to fear to excitement while you're here.

This is going to happen.
This will change my life.
I will see this through

Till next time,

Erin