Haunted Humpday!

I didn't know if I was going to be able to do Haunted Humpday this time because I have something going on already for the month of October. That was really stupid of me, because I can totally combine the two! 

So for this Haunted Humpday's meager offering, I am going to triple dip and post the two poems that I did for my poetry class and that are being put into the IEPG newsletter. 

Dance Samhain © Hannah Richardson 

Come to the dark forest

Follow the black cats

Hear the witches’ chorus

Put on pointed hats

Dance Samhain with vampire bats.

Samhain Night © Hannah Richardson

Skeletons dance, old bones a clattering

Air chilled night sets teeth a chattering

Merriment comes for Summer's work is over

Hearty feast and Soul Cakes shared with a lover

Ancestors honored at the thinning of the veil

Iridescent spirits from beyond do hail

Night leaves fall to the earth

Neatly crushed beneath our mirth

Immortal Gods of old are felt

Giving blessings to all who helped

Happy end to a long, drown out year

The coming year none will fear

Happy Haunted Humpday!

Things are finally happening!!!

Today, this is me!

This morning I took Amanda to her job interview, which she said she felt really good about. Afterward, we stopped by McDonald's so I could go to the bathroom and so we could get something cheap to eat. Then we went to Cathrine's so I could get two pairs of jeans (on a credit card of course) and then went to Lane Bryant to use her birthday cash to get her a skirt, shirt, and a duster- which we will share. From there I took her to work and came home to start my homework. Not but a few hours later, she called her parents to tell them that she got the job! She'd actually been called half and hour to two hours after the interview and they want her to start on the 9th of October! I am so freaking excited for her! Excited for us both too! We will finally be able to finish paying stuff off and get a place of our own! It will take a couple of months to get things squared away, but FINALLY! Things are looking up and moving along. I feel like the limbo we've been stuck in for the last couple of years is almost over. 

Aside from all of that, I'm feeling a little better in some respects. I don't know if it's just the change in season and the seemingly lightening of my depression and anxiety or what, but I will take it. I actually want to do things that I've had the want to do but lacked the drive and energy. Even yesterday, even though it was a bad day period and pain wise, I wanted to do stuff. I ended up pushing most of my homework off because I was in a lot of pain but the drive was still there. 

I did get some sad news from my parents. I think I mentioned it before, that my Dad's job is kind of iffy again and that my Mom has cataracts. I am hoping that my Dad's job issue can work itself out for the better. For my Mom, I don't know what to do. Kansas opted out of health care and my Dad's work insurance doesn't seem to really cover much as far as eye health goes. My Mom needs new glasses and surgery. The glasses might be doable if they can get enough saved up for them and she will need transition lenses because she's not supposed to go outside without sunglasses of some kind. The surgery is a bigger issue though. I am really worried because my Mom is already going deaf and has been for many years. I don't want her to go blind as well. She is going to try for disability, finally. She probably should have been on it a long time ago. 

At some point, after the stuff from Torrid comes in, I will probably do a post showing some of the cute clothing we've got for this fall and winter. 

Lastly, I finished all of my poetry class homework today and will start my Shakespeare homework tonight. I am loving this term of school, I thought it would be a heavy term, filled with huge assignments and lots of stress, but so far it's been wonderful. I'm managing to get everything done early, which is great! I love having some time to actually read a novel for a change.  

Halloween gift swap, Fairy, October challenge, catch up

The lovely Holly from over at Gypsy Spirit Rising sent me this lovely glass pumpkin, beautiful autumn cloth flower mix, and that cute pumpkin charm, for the Halloween gift swap Ms. Misantropia hosted this year. It was such a nice surprise in the mail, I only wish I had gotten to blogging about it sooner. It was the first Autumn/Halloween decoration that I was able to put up since Amanda's Mom doesn't want anything out until after her "brother/sister party" this weekend. Ha! I got to have this out because it came in the mail.

A couple of months ago Amanda, her cousin Kat, and I went to a little shop called The Mud Puddle. It is a ceramics shop where you can pick something to paint with either acrylic or glaze and later take home. I chose this cute little fairy and unfortunately the camera on my phone doesn't do all the color justice. For instance her dress is actually teal and her wings are jade. Anyway, we finally finished getting our respective pieces painted and the shop owner fired them. We picked them up yesterday and I am really happy with how mine turned out. I would love to do a series of these but I don't think my wallet would be to happy about it. 

Amanda and her friend Dani came up with a creativity challenge for October. Basically either by yourself or with a group of people, you need to create and finish something everyday during the month of October. I was invited to play along and it's such a neat idea that, I told a couple of friends about and now I am sharing it here.  More details are in the flyer  I made above. Anyway, we aren't really hosting this per se, just doing it to do it. So there aren't any prizes. This is just an exercise in getting the creative juices flowing. 

This week I have been babysitting my neighbor's youngest while her second child is at school, for a few hours. She is in college and it is harder than hell for her to focus with a 2 year old getting into everything, constantly talking, and constantly banging on things. A picture of what's going on is that she will set the kids up to play, watch a movie, or eat lunch and go out on her patio to start homework. Every five minutes without fail one or the other or both boys is at the back door, thus she can't seem to get anything done. So yeah, I've watched the youngest two mornings this week, and then gone home to work on my own homework. 

Amanda's birthday was this Monday. I think it was a nice little party, very low key. I would have liked to have done something bigger or more for her, but we didn't really have the time or money. I'm a little peeved that one of our friends asked what she should get Amanda as a gift. I told her a great idea and said friend decided that it wouldn't get here in time (which is utter bull shit) and decided to get her something else. Once again, if it isn't her idea, then she's not going to do it and that kind of shit gets old very fast. Moving on.

I have been having trouble with my period again. I woke up early this morning fearful of a mess and was relieved to not find one. However, I'm in pain from other issues and have sat at my desk about as long as I can stand for the time being. I also need to go eat breakfast of some sort.  But aside from that, school is going pretty well, the homework hasn't been too difficult this term- it is only the first week. 

One last thing. Miss. Narcisa slipped out of the house last night, probably through Amanda's Mom's bedroom window. We didn't even know until she was sitting outside our bedroom window crying to be let in. There was also another cat who was bitching at her. Anyway, I didn't know this since I was at the neighbors doing homework. Amanda was the one to rescue the little brat and then came over to tell me what has happened. I am getting really tired of her getting outside. It is not safe here. We have drunken stupid neighbors who don't pay attention to people or even other cars in the parking lot. There are other animals (like moose) in the area and construction going on behind our apartment. Besides, she knows she'snot supposed to be outside without her harness and leash. Guess I am going to have scare her again to deter her from wanting to go out. I hate doing that. 

When you sit outside...

Today was another of those asshole-ish days wherein Amanda and I were both depressed. She spent most of the day applying to jobs and I got a late start because I was in a lot of pain. I sat on the sofa with my coffee, the heating pad for my back, and the 4th volume of Sandman by Neil Gaiman. I ended up falling asleep, hence the late start. 

The rest of my day was pretty uneventful. I went to the neighbors a few times, watched a movie alone and another one with Amanda, and ate dinner. It wasn't until I went over to the neighbor's this evening that things got interesting. 

My neighbor finished a test, we talked, and coaxed Amanda out of the house to play a bizarre, hijacked version of Contract Rummy. My neighbor calls it Prison Rules, because we've tweaked it and made it so weird- not sure why she calls it that. Anyway, we played several rounds. Amanda and the neighbor drank beer, I drank water, and we ended up watching screaming goat videos on Youtube. 

But after awhile the cold got to be too much for me, so I came home and immediately found the space heater. Amanda doesn't like it when I am freezing and get into bed because my feet, legs, and yes even my ass are generally very cold. I don't much like it either because it takes forever for me to warm up. So, I've been sitting in front of our little heater in bedroom and am nice and toasty. Bonus, I am tired, so it shouldn't take too much for me to fall asleep. 

I did make some decisions today. 

1. We are going to stay home from the Mabon celebration with the IEPG. We just don't have the money for gas to go there and still have enough for Amanda to get to and from work. Also, it's Amanda's dad's birthday. 

2. We will probably also stay home from the Kemmetic class as well. I know some people are going to be disappointed, but we jut can't afford it. 

  3. Amanda and I have decided exactly what we are doing on Halloween. Fiona wanted us to come to her place and the twins wanted us to go to their place. Well, we don't really have the money for either and we're not letting our friends throw money for gas at us. So we are going to enjoy a nice night at home. Besides, we aren't going to have any extra money because we will have paid bills and spent anything extra on our anniversary. Given the summer we have had, we deserve a nice, big date day/night and everyone else can go fuck off.

Surprise? Switched some things around and books

For a couple of days it was miserably hot, but we are finally back to cool, fall weather. Whoot!

I got what I think may or may not be a pleasant surprise when I checked my grades for last term. First, let me say that I passed my photography class, although there were some bitchy comments left by my instructor to which I flipped off my computer screen, called her a hinky bitch and moved on. Very adult, I know. The point is I passed. I also got an A in my New Media Publishing class, but I knew I would. However, when I went to check my grades yesterday, I also checked on my new term classes, which I thought began today since yesterday was the end of my break week. Um... the open date for module one for both classes isn't until the 21st. I mean having an extra week break from school is freaking fantastic, but it is kind of weirding me out. Don't worry, I can handle change, I just want to be certain that I'm not going to be dropped from my classes if this isn't actually a break week and the school got something wrong. I'm going to sent my adviser an e-mail today and do at least the icebreaker posts in each class to secure my spot for the day. 

Friday, last week, I decided Amanda and I needed a change. Neither of us have been very happy lately and to say that we are struggling, is kind of putting it mildly. So, I switched some things around in our bedroom. Where my two bookcases were, the bed now sits and where the bed was is where the book cases are. I also moved the dvd media case and my bedside table and moved the rolling craft drawer thing over to become her bedside table. She liked this change at first, but when we came home yesterday she kind of had a freak out. Of course I think that's more to do with the fact that her parents were trying to be helpful (despite us telling them REPEATEDLY -I really can't stress that enough- not to do our laundry) and did our laundry. It was all laid out on the bed. As a result, we came home at 2 am last night to half dried laundry laid out on our bed and this morning Amanda went to get work clothes and they were more or less still wet, not damp, wet, in the hall way closet. The reason why we don't like them to do our laundry is because point of fact, we are fat girls and don't like our stuff shrunk in the dryer. Also, our clothing is a little more expensive and when a lot of what we have is dryed over and over again, it gets ruined. Anyway, so yeah, last night wasn't so great for the bedroom change. She was upset over some stuff impeding her walkway too, but that is an easy fix. 

Saturday, this last weekend, we went to our friend Chris' house to do a late birthday party for her. She had the house to herself this weekend. Anyway, I made her dinner and a birthday cake complete with black icing. We watched a scary movie, a comedy routine, and listened to music while painting. Amanda did some job applications while we painted. Yesterday, Amanda went to work and I stayed with Chris all day. Fiona had her Mom bring her so we could to the Spirituality circle. We went to that and then went to dinner at our new friend Birdy's. It was fun and after that, we went back to Chris' house to get our things, have some cake, and watched another comedy routine. I fell asleep while watching it and Fiona and Amanda had to wake me up. I hate doing that. But it was a fun and relatively peaceful weekend. 

On to books. I have a lot of reading to do this coming term. I'll be reading A Midsummer Night's Dream, Richard III, and Hamlet, oh and also Macbeth, all within 8 weeks. I can do it! I will also be reading poetry and writing it for my poetry class. Honestly, I kind of just want to read nothing but mass market paperback fiction. I have several Paranormal and Urban Fantasy novels that I want to curl up in bed with, coffee or tea included. I might do just that a little later. 

Writing. I am having some trouble writing and I think it all stems from the intensity of my depression and anxiety lately. I'm not having writer's block and I'm not too worried about writing crap or fucking it all up, because I know I can go back and fix it. I just think its the depression. When school is going, it partly has to do with that too, but otherwise, yeah, I've been so freaking frustrated and depressed- tired, to just do it. Even getting Amanda RP posts lately has been a struggle. This shit is getting old. And confession time, I'm starting to not even like writing anymore- which pretty much devastates me and breaks my heart ( feels like its the last piece of myself that's being snuffed out and there's nothing left but this hollow casing). It's such an utter struggle that I spend more time  agonizing over it than enjoying it. I guess that's what happens when people subtly suffocate you and say without saying that you're never going to be good enough for several years. No, I am not saying that I need my ego stroked, what I am saying is that when you can't even get certain key people in your life to actually read what you've written and you can't even let some people read it because of things they have said when some one shares another person's writing, yeah no. but I am just depressed today, whining, and lamenting my life in general. My choices and things out of my control really kicked the shit out me and I'm tired of trying to fight back, it's too exhausting. So for today, I'm not going to fight, I'm just going to be and if people give me shit, I'll throw shoes at them, because that's actually kind of fun.     

Migraine, free time, looking ahead

I wanted to start off on a positive note. Autumn is beginning to announce her appearance in my part of the world. The weather has been cooler- I actually got cold sitting outside last night, even had to wear a sweater. A few leaves, just a few, have already begun changing color. I, for one, am excited! I love Autumn! Of course not long after the change in season comes my favorite holiday, Halloween! Those things alone are more than enough to look forward to and everything else is just a bonus. Well, and my 8 year anniversary with Amanda. 

Moving on. Today I woke up with a migraine and it grew progressively worse throughout the morning. I finally had to take some advil and lay down in front of the fan. After a nap, I felt better but we have another round of company arriving today. I have plans to hide in my room and get some of the things I never seem to get done while school is going on, done. 

Yes, that's right. I have some free time coming my way and I plan to fill it with things I  want and need to do or get done. I plan to relax, to be sure and have fun too. Of course anything seems fun after that nightmare of a photography class I had. Excuse me, correction, the teacher was the nightmare- not so much the class.

The class is over and I am waiting to see what my final grade will be. I learned from another classmate that it's not just her or me that were having trouble from the instructor. Apparently, it appears that anyone not familiar and proficient with Photoshop had issues with her and everyone else was fine. She detailed how she was having a problem with an assignment and had to call the help desk and the help desk ended up contacting our instructor's supervisor. My classmate told me that after that, her grade plummeted. Which is utter bull shit. I included that in course eval of the instructor today along with my grievances and I have a record of everything for myself just in case. 

Anyway, that's over. I am looking forward to the next term. I am looking forward to getting some writing done too. I need to write a witch story for a magazine, edit, polish, and submit it. I have a lot of work still to do for my novels but I am going to focus on just one at the moment. Oh and Amanda, trying to help me out and get my back into writing, not just for school, suggested we do a written role place. I could start it, choose the setting, and so on. So I came up with an Elf, because I haven't really written elves in a long time. He is a magic user and that's all I am going to say for now because if I say any more it might spoil it for Amanda. We are only four posts in. I will leave you with what he looks like. Yes, I am designing his appearance off an art piece.