I only worked 3 hours today! Woo hoo! But I am getting paid for 5! Woo hoo! We got new computers today and they are lovely. Flat screens! Yay! I am getting half of my desk back! Another yay for not having to be into work until 2pm the day after a holiday!

I am floating through a head cold fog today. Have been since Friday or Saturday. But today it seems quite noticeable. I went to the movies and saw X-Men:Last Stand anyway! And it was the high point of my day. Gotta love Wolverine! Ha ha ha! Actually, I realize a lot of people have issues with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine but I am not one of them. I try to keep the movies separate from the comics in my head. I'm happy when they include alot of stuff from the comics into the movie but I don't expect it. So I am never too disappointed with movies because I go in thinking, they are gonna screw the x-men up. It is not even going to be remotely like the comics. That way when it is, I am pleased. See how this works? So, yes, I enjoyed X-Men 3. I especially liked the beginning with Prof. X and Magneto going to get Jean Gray as a child, and Warren (Angel) trying to cut his wings off as a child. That was cool back story stuff they didn't have to put in but added depth to those characters. I loved that Storm was able to fly and throw lightning bolts like she does in the comics. Disappointed with Rogue, she has turned into a wuss when she actually has a mean streak. Phoenix, hmmm, kind of disappointed but then again not. She looked awesome but it seemed like for the end of the movie she just stood around and looked impressive. Phoenix wouldn't have stood around waiting for Magneto to tell her what to do unless she had a good reason to. And I don't think that was a good enough reason. I don't want to ruin the end for people who haven't seen it yet so I'll stop there. Well, 2 more things from the end. Wolverine's healing abilities-those of you who have seen it know what I am talking about. And stay until after the credits people! Those of you who haven't seen it yet, there is a scene after the credits! Okay, that's all. I was in my head cold fog so I actually want to go see this again after I am well. See if my opinion of it changes at all!

A splendid day today. As I mentioned before, Mike and KC are in town, and today is their last day here. They fly out tomorrow morning. In celebration of their visit, Mike's parents had a cook-out today. And who doesn't love a good cookout? Burgers, hot dogs, sausages, beans, potato salad, fruit salad, cole slaw, watermelon, on and on the food list goes. Playing silly yard games that only ever get played once before they are packed away and hidden down in the basement with only mentions left to them "hey do you remember that time we played croquet?" Eating till you can't eat anymore, or at least until the next bowl is passed by you and you say to yourself, there's always room for fruit, right? Sharing embarrassing stories and laughing at ones you've heard so many times they just shouldn't be funny anymore, but they still are. Shooing off the never ending assault of flies and bees. Leaving takes at least an hour and even then it seems abrupt-everyone needs to tell you one more thing, or pack up food for you to take, or show you something, or just one more hug. Cookouts are great but not something that my family does often. I am so glad I got to go to one this summer!

I was driving home from Pete's house Saturday night, enjoying my Angels and Airwaves cd when before just above the trees appeared beautiful fireworks. Little explosions of color in the sky. So pretty. And just the perfect visual companion for track 7 on the cd, if I hadn't been on I-97 going about 75 in the fast lane, I may have pulled over and enjoyed the show while listening to the tunes. It was a beautiful sight-the reds, blues, greens and golds. They weren't the crazy fireworks of an official display but the illegal ones that are bought in Virginia and smuggled in. Somehow I like those better. There is just something more satisfying about them, knowing some idiot is setting them off in their backyard and might just lose a finger on them! Or at the very least get caught by the cops and arrested. Do they arrest people for fireworks? Maybe just ticket them. Doesn't matter, I am getting away from the point. How beautiful those spontaneous fireworks are. Glorious in their unexpectedness as the appear suddenly in fountains of red and blue above the dark trees.

Another decent day where I maintained my good mood all day. It was a nice day at work for a Friday. We joked and laughed all day and I actually got some work done in preparation for conversion on Tuesday. Very nice. The highlight of today was the unexpected gift of music from Pete. Over the last few weeks I kept hearing this amazing song on HFS. I found out it was Angels & Airwaves. I had been debating picking up the cd when it came out on Tuesday but I didn't because I just didn't know any of the music. I am one of those people who likes to know a couple songs on a cd before I buy it. Pete got it and tonight gave me a copy of it. I listened to it on the way home from his house and I must say, this cd is amazing! Layered, textured, melodic, great lyrics. Every song I kept turning up louder and louder. Great guitar lines remiscent of the Edge, rolling pounding drums, a little bit electronic for texture and I can't forget those great bass lines! Yes, I love this cd! Angels & Airwaves - We don't need to Whisper

Today I had training for the new teller system we are getting. Actually, I was in training yesterday as well. I like the change of rountine that training always offers. I wake up at a different time, take a different way to a different place where I see new people and learn new things. Then I get to eat lunch someplace new for an hour instead of a half hour and then to top it all off today, we got out early! 1pm. That was excellent. I am still fighting this cold and stopped at Walmart on the way home but I was still home 2 hours earlier than I would normally have been. Yes! And my positive mood is still holding up! 4 days! I hope it could be like those signs that you see at workplaces. Safety first! 4 days since our last accident! Yay!

Mike is in town. After another good day at work-I wasn't in the branch, I was in training-I came home and then headed over Mike's parents house. We ate dinner and then walked and talked. For about 2 hours, just walked around the neighborhood and talked about everything. Aliens, sasquatch, his job, my job, KC, dreams, ghosts, his parents, food, music, movies, negativity, selling the house, Denver, Rocks state park, on and on. A beautiful evening, not too hot, not too cold, no bugs. Just two good friends walking, talking, getting barked at by dogs, serenaded to by drunk neighbors and dodging lawn sprinklers. Yay!

Tuesday was another glorious day off from work! Why can't all days be like this? Willow and I went to Rocks State Park and went to this amazing waterfall. I have been to Rocks before but not to this part of the park. It is a separate place away from the main section where everyone goes rock climbing. There was no one there when we arrived and it was fantastic! We could get right up next to the waterfall, hell we could have got in it if we wanted to! We climbed over all the rocks and boulders, found little caves and a neat rock shaped like a dog's head. We sat next to the river, hands in the cool stream and just chilled. It was great. Then back to Willow's house for an excellent apricot chicken dinner that he prepared. And off to the movies to see the Da Vinci Code with Pete and Jess. Which I also really enjoyed, I haven't read the book yet but the movie was good. I don't know what all the fuss is about though. So what if Mary Magdalene was Jesus' bride? It doesn't negate anything he did or his sacrifice. And it's a fictional book people! I am super excited for the X-Men movie coming out this Friday but you don't see me preparing for the war between Mutants and normals! Even though I wish...!
Waterfall at Rocks

Tuesday 

FYI
I had to enable word verification on my blog comments. This means that if you want to leave a comment, you have to type in the word you see on the screen (like when you buy tickets online). Please don't let this deter you from adding your comments! I have just started having problems with spam comments and supposedly this will make them stop.

I did notice a difference today with trying to stay positive and keeping my negative thoughts and words in check. I didn't yell or curse at anyone while I was driving, and that is just amazing. My troubled co-worker, Clytee, and I actually had normal conversations today-compared to Friday where we said 2 words to each other. That was a really good change, because not only is she my co-worker but she is my boss and we really need to function as a team. I forgot that I wanted to try putting salt at the front of my teller station, where the customers stand, and see if that made any difference in the attitudes I recieved. I'll try that Friday. I guess the coolest thing was-this is where Willow and Mary smack me-is that I actually tried cleaning my shields during the day. I know, some of you are saying WTF? Don't worry about it. Or if you are really interested, email me and I'll tell you all about shields and bubbles. Instead of actually smudging myself, which I don't do as often as I should, I visualized smudging my self and wiping all that crap off my shields like windshield wiper blades. And I noticed a difference right away! I felt more clear and focused, not drowning in my bad thoughts. I only wish it had helped with this head cold I seem to be coming down with. Started today, lots of post-nasal drip and scratchy throat. Thought it was allergies but now I am beginning to suspect not. Here is another test, though. Maybe I should keep telling myself it is only allergies and it will be! In the meantime, I'll get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids and take my vitamins. And I will kick this off before it turns into anything unpleasant!

It was kind of synchronistic that Friday I wrote about turning a negative into a positive. That was what class was about tonight-well sort of. It was about shielding/bubbling and negative thoughts and that sort of stuff. Trying to keep yourself positive. Canceling those negative thoughts. I left class in pretty good spirits and I fully intend to keep those practices in mind for tomorrow. I am definitely having enough problems with a co-worker that I need all the help I can get to make our working relationship more positive. And wasn't that the whole point of this blog anyway? To remember the positive of each day and move away from the negative? Only I can turn myself away from all the crap and keep myself in good spirits.

I like looking at home stuff. This evening Jamie and I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and I liked just walking through and looking at the stuff. Imagining what I would like in my own place one day. I was there helping Jamie pick out stuff for her bridal registry. It was fun. Like I told her, one day for my wedding when I register there I will be unstoppable with that scanner. I'll scan everything in the damn store! In the meantime, it was fun to walk around and look and dream about my own place.

Turn a negative into a positive, right? That's what I will do. Lunch tasted so good today! I was starving, having been at work since 7:45am and not eating until 1:30pm. So when I finally sat down to my chicken and ribs and beans and cole slaw and cornbread from Dave's BBQ, it tasted awesome! Really good. And then the utter relief of leaving work after a torturous(sp?) 11 hour day sitting at the drive thru all day. I wish I had better highlights for my Friday but that was about it. Or at least the things that provoked the strongest reactions!

Thursday? Why can't I remember Thursday? Oh yeah. Thursday evening was very nice. Hell, the whole day was very nice. I had the day off from work! Yay! For the first time since the beginning of April, at least, I didn't have anything scheduled to do that day. I didn't need to pack, buy anything, set up for anything, clean for anything, shovel dirt or rake leaves or install a tent. It was a true day to myself. Sure, I had stuff I wanted to do, but nothing that I had to do. And that made all the difference in this day. I spent hours on the computer and hours reading my book and hours watching the X-Files. It was lovely!

Noise noise noise. Most days noise really bothers me. Random, disjointed, harsh, noise. Especially at work. At the end of the day, all the tellers get excited to be getting out of there and they start talking louder. The phone is always ringing at the bank. The printer is always beeping, loudly, because it has jammed, or run out of paper, or needs envelopes or somebody breathed on it the wrong way. We have a lot of sensitive information so we are constantly shredding things. The ATM behind the teller line is so loud-envelopes being deposited, money being dispensed, the 2 minute ceaseless beeping and chiming when someone leaves their card behind! Desk people yelling across the branch at the tellers to do something or not do something. Plus the slamming of drawers, ringing of coin as it is counted, the money counters spinning the bills, the validators at every teller station that print so noisely that you can't hear your customer speak. And don't forget the vacuum tubes rushing in at the drive thru, the dinging of the bell at the drive thru, and the never-ending noise of the customers! Oh yeah, and we invariably have music playing as well! It is too much most days for my poor sensitive ears to take. So at the end of the day when I have to work late, it is such a relief when most of it stops! Everyone leaves except for one desk person and myself. No customers. Minimal phone calls, no shredding, no printing, no one asking questions or yelling across the branch. No drawers being slammed, money being counted, validators printing. Blessed quiet. Or as quiet as can be. I love that moment after everyone leaves, I turn off whatever annoying music they were playing and I put on something nice. Today it was Sigur Ros (thanks Mary!) and it was so good and harmonious and pleasing to my ears after all the other crap! Ah, I love quiet!

Tuesday. Can't believe I have been home for 2 days already and I am still tired! This evening I came home from work and collapsed on the sofa, a little bit in a down mood. Then, lo, my eyes beheld the wondrous spectacle that is my favorite episode of the X-Files. Titled "Bad Blood," the episode guest stars Luke Wilson and is the funniest episode. It is the one where Mulder stakes a vampire and then both he and Scully re-count the tale from their separate points of view. Funny funny stuff! It picked my spirits up immediately. I left the house after it was finished to visit my Dad in a much better mood than if I had gone up there straight from work. And my Dad is usually in a bad enough mood that I don't need to be showing up there grumpy as well! I need to pick up his spirits, and I did, since I was in a good mood from the X-Files.

Today I got to know Ken's friend Marvin. We had a talked a little on and off the whole weekend but we are both quiet people with strangers so we hadn't said much more than polite stuff. Until Saturday night, when we had a shared experience at dinner. I was going to say it was a miserable experience, but it wasn't. Mary was there, Ken too, Mike and his girlfriend Nicole-and of course Marvin and I. Let's see-Mary has a friend, who seems like a good person, with the exception of the company she keeps. Well, she brought this company with her to dinner. And this company was awful. Not the kind of person I would associate with on any level and of course she sat at our table with us. :( But if it had not been for this unfortunate occurance, I would never have been able to talk to Marvin as much as I did Saturday. And find out just how cool of a person he is. Sunday morning, Marvin and I rode together to the airport and we talked. Now, I have conversation issues-I don't do it very well. But not once during our ride did I feel uncomfortable or feel like I was forcing myself, or him, to talk. I think Marvin and I have a lot of things in common-not stuff, like movies or music, but world views and opinions. I won't rattle on here too long. I just wanted to say that Marvin, I think you have a beautiful soul, I am so glad that I met you, and that I hope we can keep in touch. Thank you for keeping me company Saturday night and Sunday morning! By the way, Marvin is on the left in the picture, Mike is on the right.
Sunday

I am not sure why the picture is not showing but I am supposing that it is too big. If you click on the red x, though, then it will take you to the picture. Goth wedding anyone? It was awesome getting all done up in the makeup and dressing up. Everyone looked great, the guys looked like a goth band and Mary was beautiful. What a great time we had Saturday! No problems during the ceremony, which was amazing considering we had no rehearsal. We got there in plenty of time, not too much last minute rushing around. With the exception of the marriage license! Ken, where is it?! Oh well, there always has to be something and at least that one is easily fixed. Spending time with my closest friends from high school was great. Mike is going to photoshop in the 2-3 missing friends from our group with a picture that was taken of the 4 of us on Saturday. That will be funny! Mike looked awesome in his clockwork orange makeup (too bad no cod piece!) and it was even better when his girlfriend Nicole pulled the eyelashes off! All the shaving cream on Ken's car was great and I am glad it came of with no damage. The evening was less than stellar but the day was awesome! I had such a good time! And if it hadn't been for Marvin sitting next to me at dinner, the evening wouldn't have been anywhere near as pleasant as it turned out to be.
Saturday

What a busy Friday, running around and getting everything finished for the Big Day! Picking up the food, the cake, make-up, jewelry, gifts for the bridal party. Lots of driving around. And it seemed where ever we drove to, I couldn't take my eyes off the mountains. Craning my neck in the back seat of the car, twisting my body so that I could always keep them in sight. I asked Mary if she has gotten tired of the views yet and she says absolutely not. This is the view from my bedroom in Mary's house. I would stand there every morning and gaze at the mountains for a while before starting my day.
Friday

The options are unlimited today for highlights. Mountains. Real snow-capped rocky spires reaching 14000 feet into the sky. Driving the cool Jeep Commando, which handled beautifully, for hours over plains, foothills, rivers, and most especially up and down winding mountain roads all the while listening to Dead Can Dance and Delerium. Seeing loads of wildlife along the drive-prairie dogs, chipmunks, marmets, mountain squirrels (which have funny tufted ears), elk and coyote! How cool to see a coyote?! Chatting pleasurably on the drive about anime, music, friends, family, movies, tv shows-anything and everything! Coming around a bend in the road to a parting between the foothills to see looming ahead of us the bright white peaks of the largest mountains I have ever seen. Finding in the Rocky Mountain National Park gift shop these postcards with some of the most lovely poems I ever read on them and buying one of each one they had. Driving up steep grades and tight u-turns, through snow and almost past the timberline until we reached the highest point that we were allowed to go-2 miles above sea level or 10,560 feet-because directly in front of us a gate blocked the road with a big sign saying road closed. We could go no further because the road wasn't plowed yet. Realizing that the snow bank I was driving beside was taller than the Jeep, and witnessing some adventurous soul snow-shoeing up the side of the mountain with his snowboard strapped to his back so that he could come back down the exciting way. Not getting altitude sickness at 2 miles up after hearing all the warnings from everyone about headaches, nausea, puking, etc. that almost made me nervous sick just in anticipation of being that high and maybe getting sick! I still lost my breath after a slow lap around the parking lot and almost froze my fingers off though! It was worth it for one of the most breath-taking views in my life. Seriously, this one ranks up there with the volcanoes in Hawaii. I could have stayed up there all day. After squeezing out every precious moment would could spare in the park, finding a great rock shop just outside of the entrance with gorgeous crystals and gemstones. I could have spent all my money in there! As it was I bought a lovely crescent moon pendent with a larimar gemstone that I am just in love with. Seeing a town blanketed with elk, they were every where! Lawns, parking lots, shopping centers, driveways, fields. Can you imagine? Elk where ever they damn well felt like being. Finally, after another great drive in the Jeep around curves and down mountains, back home and meeting up with friends to go out to dinner at an excellent asian cafe that served alot of food for not much money! Can you pick one thing from that? I don't think I can!
Thursday

Here I am in Denver! Woohoo! And it was such a good day all around. Work was good, I got out of there in plenty of time to get home, grab my luggage and make my plane. No problems. The ultimate highlight was being with Mary again. It was like we had never been apart. No awkwardness, no uncomfortable silences as we remembered what it was like to be around each other again. We just slipped right back into our friendship like an old glove. Not that we ever slipped out of it but when you haven't seen someone in almost 2 years, things changed. Well, none of the important stuff changed and everything is great. Other high points of my day, seeing a tumbleweed tumble across the runway at Denver. The ladies restroom in the airport had a tornado shelter sign on it. Walking down the escalator at the airport made me winded. I got a Jeep Commander for my rental car-this thing is awesome! Like a Hummer but it's a Jeep. And the glorious golden sunset behind the amazing Rocky Mountains. Hell, yes. Good day!

I had a really busy day today getting ready for my trip to Denver tomorrow. I found the perfect shoes to wear with my dress. But that wasn't the high point. I went up to see my Dad, which I haven't done recently, I've been really bad about it. My Mom didn't tell my Dad that I was coming up so he was really surprised. Like brought tears to his eyes, which of course made me feel bad that I hadn't been up sooner. We talked for about an hour and a half, it was really good. Now I can't wait to come home Sunday and go back up to see him! I miss my Dad and I hope he comes home soon.

Weather class! Woo hoo! I finally had my Skywarn spotter class and now it is official, I am a spotter for the national weather service. Well, it will be soon. They have to enter my paper work into the computer and then assign me a spotter ID number and then it's official. So is it wrong to say that I can't wait for some crazy thunderstorms around here? The class was absolutely interesting, for a big weather dork like myself, and taught by a meteorologist from NWS. I got a cool sticker, which through great restraint on my part I have not affixed to my car yet. We saw amazing weather videos of floods and tornadoes and got a bunch of handouts on severe weather. I really loved it and can't wait to get out there. Of course, they'll probably only call once in a while. Next will be to take some of the other classes they offer! But not right now.

An interesting comment was made at class tonight that got my mind going. Make a new mistake. Dear God, please let me make a new mistake today instead of the same old ones that I always make. It's not that I want to make a mistake but it is inevitable and unavoidable. No one is perfect. So why not make a new one? The implication there being that I will have learned from my past mistakes and moved on. To continually make the same mistakes over and over again is pathetic and disheartening. I would like to make a mistake, learn from it, learn not to do it again and move on. To fresh new mistakes where I can start the process all over again!

We went to the beach today. It was lovely. There is just nothing like the ocean. The sounds, the smells, the colors. So mysterious and powerful. Makes me start to sing Jimmy Buffett! I only wish we could have stayed longer but I was not feeling well. :( Next time, as long as Laura doesn't demolish the beach house!
Saturday

Hanging out with my friend Shawn in the cool beautiful evening, just chatting the time away while we waited for Pete and Jess to show up. Sure, we could have waited inside the house with Pete's parents. But the sky was the perfect shade of indigo after the sunset with just touches of pink and gold, the stars beginning to put in their twinkling appearance. A good conversation with a good friend on a lovely spring evening. What more could a person ask for?

Well my terrible Monday continued so that I had an awful nights sleep that night. I was a zombie all day at work. How pleasant it was to finally go to bed! To change out of my stuffy work clothes and into my loose, comfortable pajamas. To take out my contacts and brush my teeth. Turn out the lights and slip between the cool sheets, my head on the soft pillow. Curl up onto my side and pass out. Yes, I love sleep!

At first, this one was really hard. I had an awful day on Monday and some of you may have noticed that it has taken a couple of days to put this up. I think I was trying to forget the day. but I can't do that, it would defeat the purpose of this blog. Which is on bad days to remember the good stuff, that it isn't a completely bad day. So for this monday I have to go with the thing that makes every Monday pleasant. And reveal how much of a dork I am-most of you already know that! On Monday nights the Sci-Fi channel runs a marathon of my favorite show. 5 episodes of Stargate SG-1. Woo hoo! It drives my mom crazy but I love to lay on the sofa all night and watch episode after episode. I made it through 3 episodes Monday night before my mom had had enough. And it was glorious! Sigh...Daniel Jackson. He's so cute! Alright, moving on from teenager moment! Yeah, mindless entertainment on a Monday night, that is good and relaxing.