frustrated... sort of

***warning: the following post is not going to be interpreted for people who don't know photo speak. i'm sorry, i'm just not in a mood to translate, besides, even if i did, it wouldn't really make it more interesting!***

I was using CS3 for a month on a trial version while I wait for CS4 to come to me... however, my trial ran out two days ago. And i've still not gotten the new version. Therefore I had to revert to using CS2 which is still on my computer... unfortunately, the bridge's default for opening raw is set to CS3... which means, quickly, that I can't open ANY OF MY RAW FILES on my computer!

I looked around for a good portion of the afternoon trying to find a solution... to no avail.

I have a whole lot of pictures that i've been preparing into some (what i think are) great Christmas posts. But without the software it's a pile of stupid numbers... err, or something.

Segue, looking on the bright side, it has forced allowed me to take some time off from this stuff. Thankfully I've caught up to a point where that is actually ok. And my last order went in this morning! The order where if you didn't order, then you ain't getting stuff from me for Christmas... yah.

Well, maybe you'll get a love note (ahem, alicia)

finally

Today is Wednesday. It is also 3 days before the wedding, 2 days before the rehearsal and 1 day before the bachelorette party. However, there is one thing that today IS that those coming days are NOT. Today is the first day in 24 days I have not had to go anywhere besides work!

My plans for the day are to pretty much do nothing. This is such a nice break... almost the calm before the storm? I am really excited though about the next few days.

Last night I worked on nailing down my decorating ideas for the cakes... but much to my dismay all my plans fell through. Basically they became either too complicated, or just plain didn't work :( But I am confident that I have come up with some solutions that will work yay!

I'll definitely have pictures of this thing when it's finished... but for now... i'm gonna go do some more nothing.

the story of my car

THIS is my car. It is a lovely 1995 Eagle Vision. I have owned it for 3 1/2 years now... and today it almost came to its end. I've had a few close calls with her in the past few years, struggling with thoughts of saying goodbye, but none ever as close as today.

Last night whilst driving home from small group, the car stalled two times. Once when I was parking the car, instead of me turning it off, it decided to turn off by itself. I am not sure yet if it thought it was being cute or funny, but i can assure you that I found it to be NEITHER. The next time it decided to do this was over the bridge on 390 between avon and lima. It was dark, and there were a lot of cars oddly enough.

After that, it continued along at it's usual pace plus some intermittent "jumping" as it was having an issue with shifting into the next gear. *LOVELY*

When i got home, i explained all of this to my dad. He in turn looked very solemn and confirmed my worst fear and exactly what i had presumed. The transmission was a goner.

So this morning, i woke early and cleaned out the car (not the way you think, like when you move into another one. i was just taking the garbage out of it so that whoever had to get in it didn't have to see what a slob i am) and left the house with my mom's car. Which by the way has an automatic starter that i was able to utilize and consequently enter into a fully heated car.

My dad took the car up to the mechanic and they did the diagnostic on it which produced the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with it. That was odd, since there most surely was something wrong with it. They took it out on the road and drove a few miles while it was hooked to the diagnostic and all the while the car exhibited its symptoms and the test kept reading negatory.

So they opened the hood and started poking around only to find a loose belt that has something to do with the air conditioner. Just as an aside, the air conditioner in my car has not worked since before i got it. Hence my alternative of 60x4 (60mph times 4 open windows) and a sweaty back all summer.

to make this long story end, the final conclusion to the problem was to cut the wayward belt that served no actual purpose OFF. And the car now works fine.

I am really really happy about this. I mean i was totally ready to go and buy a car this week, and while technically i can afford to do that, i have been trying very hard to save that money for something else... and i didn't want to have to blow it on another stupid car.

the adventures of elmo in grouchland

I only have one final left and it's on saturday. I'm really not worried about it... therefore in my mind school is over. I am so relieved! The stress is literally draining from my body :) however, all that draining is leaving me excessively tired. thank God i don't feel sick anymore, but i am just wiped out.

So this morning i was watching dragon tales (which i hate by the way, but A loves it) and he just looked up at me and said, "manna, you not feelin good?" I replied and said that i feel just fine but i'm kinda tired. So he hopped down and ran up to his room and got me his special car blanky and told me, "lay down and take nap manna."

Great idea! I turned on the adventures of elmo in grouchland which is one of the newest favorites he has and i laid down. Granted he was crawling all over me the entire time i snoozed, but if he hadn't been i wouldn't have been able to get any rest because i would have been worrying about what he was doing! I actually dozed for an hour and i feel so much happier now!!! yay for 3 year old encouraged naps :)

more chocolate problems

As per the post before last, I was hoping to be done with topics having to do with any kind of chocolate specifically chocolate phones. However, I am not psychic and cannot see into the future. What happened between yesterday and today is so far fetched that if i had not literally seen it with my own two eyes i would not have believed it.

(as a disclaimer, I am starting to feel alicia's pain... and am actually starting to believe the WILD stories she tells me about her phone troubles)

It all started last night. I was online doing my banking and noticed that one of my savings account had a significant amount missing from it. I opened the account and found that verizon wireless had made a $296.02 e-check withdrawl from my account. here are the preliminary things that ran through my mind.


1) how can an e-check be withdrawn from a savings account

2) how did verizon get this account # when I am not an authorized user on our verizon acct

3) the total of $296.02 was over $150 off from what our bill that was already paid for last month was!!!


so i went through all the necessary channels to begin the process of straightening this whole thing out but the very soonest it will be resolved at this point is monday. it's a good thing i wasn't counting on that particular money for anything in the near future.

OK, so onto my other problem. At about 2:35 this afternoon my phone ceased to make outgoing calls. I have no idea whether or not it was receiving calls because, as you might have guessed at this point IT WASN'T WORKING.

So I decided to power it down and then back on again. when it powered on, it flashed a screen about "full system reset do not power off". When it finally powered up it read on the main screen read "service required" and a little picture of a phone with a slash through it.

Lovely.

the entire phone was stripped clean... no more contacts, no more pictures, no more settings... literally everything was reset to factory settings and to top it all off, it had NO SERVICE.

So, again, I am back on the good ole standby... i switched back to the old phone until i can get into verizon and get this whole thing straightened out. There actually is more to this drama, but i don't want to write/relive the whole thing, and even more than that, i know that you don't want to read about it.

melissa told me today that i always have the greatest stories to tell... is that because the craziest stuff actually happens to me or because i am a dramatist. neither. i like to think that my life is just naturally exciting, and not let things that feel truly out of control ever actually GET out of control.

THAT'S the key.

stress induced artwork

The beginning of this week and all of last week are going down in my personal history chronicles as one of the most stressful weeks of my life. i really didn't think that i was all that stressed out. I don't usually get cranky so much, I just exhibit physical symptoms of stress... therefore i don't realize how bad it is until something really traumatic happens to me!

For example, this summer as a result of many stressful situations I started losing my hair... thus the reason i now have short hair. But this time I have contracted the weirdest cold/virus i have ever had. I don't feel sick in my body like all day, then all of a sudden it hits me like a load of bricks and my throat swells up to the size of a pencil and i am so tired i start getting vertigo. and then i take a little snoozer and am good for another few hours. and it's not that i'm not getting any sleep, because i definitely am.

But at any rate, I am coming out the other side of this stress and I am starting to feel really great... not physically, but emotionally. I have been in this great drawing class all semester and I wanted to post my two points of pride and joy for everyone to see. These two pieces almost make this stress bearable :)



the leaf one was done all with soft pastels and then the black and white one is with india ink... they make me happy