Amber's National Vacation

Dear Blogger,

I am leaving to go to Colorado. My flight leaves early tomorrow morning so I will be staying in Phoenix tonight. All of my laundry is done so I can choose which outfits I want to wear. I was thinking of having a T-shirt made with a picture of me, my friend and my arch enemy back in the college days where we were all dressed as hookers. I thought that would be the perfect shirt to wear around the first day I am there. It would really piss off my arch enemy and get under her skin because she is now a "holier-than-thou" type to a T and probably wants no record of herself ever sinking to the level of dressing as a hooker for fun. Although in college, she was the one showing all the guys the picture when I didn't want it shown to anyone. It was really just a joke between the three of us. We no longer have jokes between the three of us, so this might be a good new joke!

I shall resist the urge. I think.

I am very much looking forward to visiting with my best friend and her boys. Her husband kind of stays out of our way which is fine with me. My friend and I have a little too much fun most of the time and I don't think we have ever been drunk together. We just click. Same sense of humor, close personality types without being exactly the same so we can still get along.

Last night I had a dream about my arch enemy and her husband saying that their kids were crying because their kids could sense that I was possesed by evil spirits. I woke up trying to figure out why I have to see them. Why?

I think because (being that I believe in things we can't see) that I honestly have to deal with this beotch and apply all that I know now and all that I am now to that broken relationship. I don't need to be friends with her ever again, but I have to heal or everytime someone talks about unforgiveness, I will know she is my one unforgiven.

So wish me luck. Luck that I will have a blast. Luck that I won't kill said arch enemy. Luck that I will succeed in finally just getting over the whole thing and put it behind me.

I might have time to post. If I do, it will probably just be pictures as my brain will not be working due to the fact that I will be surrounded by five kids and said arch enemy.

Blow Off

I have been robbed! I feel cheated. It's all my sister's fault. Well, we always blame everything on Nathan, so we'll say it's Nathan's fault.

She has been bugging me for weeks to go on an early morning hike with her in Sedona. I have been busy. Last night I got a call that freed me for half the weekend so over the martinis, I asked her if she wanted to get up early today to go on the hike.

She said no.

And why can't she? She can't go hiking today because she has to clean a bathroom! (In whiny voice: "But it's top to bottom.")

I feel like I just got the blow off, "I can't go on a date tonight because I'll be washing my hair."

You know the real reason? In my absence over the last few weeks she has found a new hiking buddy AND Josh called her to go hiking on Monday. So she knows she's gonna get her hiking quota filled this weekend. I swear, life with Annalisa: Enter man, Exit Annalisa.

I guess I need to find a new hiking buddy. It shouldn't be too hard being that I live in the nature capital of the world. Plus, making new friends is always good.

I've Been Liberated

Make hay while the sun is shining.

It has been shining and I have been as busy as the proverbial one legged butt kicker or one armed paper hanger. (That's really busy in case you didn't know.)

So I was convinced I had to work all weekend long. I had a day off on Tuesday but all the days are a blur and as far as not thinking or talking to anyone relating to work on my days off- that hasn't happened in a month.

I had high maintenance lady to work with this weekend. She is even dragging me out tonight to work with her because it was all the time she had. Then, she had me commit to her all day tomorrow and possibly most of Sunday.

Hallelujah! Her cat got really sick so she has to take her cat in for surgery tomorrow and wants to spend time with her cat so I don't have to work with her until Sunday afternoon.

I have a whole day and a half off. What am I going to do with myself?

Well, in 27 minutes I am celebrating my emancipation with an apple martini. I am hoping to fit my Star Wars movie in there somewhere. (I had to bring it up, yes.)

I am a Hiker

I think I would like to be a writer in theory because I admire the ability of good writers to be able to tell a story in a way that creates a movie in my head and holds me through the end. I like sitting in bed reading, unable to move because I am mesmerised by what I am taking in to the point I will get up and interrupt the story for an emergency potty break sometimes.

But in reality, I have to be able to be on the move. I have to have the responsibility of managing a thousand different tasks at one time and knowing that I create my own wealth and paycheck by my ability to do business. I have to strategize timing. I have to choose which activities to perform and figure out which tasks to write off and no longer pursue. It is feast or famine by my own doing (although I strongly believe in the blessing of God).

I like everyday to be different. I like the ability to work a total of 10 hours one month and blog all day and the following month to work 12 hours a day, six days a week and four hours on the seventh day. I like that somedays I will spend 15 minutes at the computer in the morning and the rest of the day is taken up with phone calls and driving. I like prioritizing and taking off in the middle of the chaos for five days to go to Colorado for the hell of it.

And I don't think writing a book could ever get that crazy or change so drastically so much from one day to the next. I have great respect and a tinge of jealousy towards those who can use words as an art form and turn them into something worthwhile. I think books leave a mark on society (when widely read) that allows the author to continue to be known way after they are gone or no longer writing.

I know what I am doing in business is dust in the wind so to speak. It is why my volunteer work is so important, and yet that only lasts for a generation after me at the most.

Yet I am happy. I am fulfilled. I don't wrestle with demons. I don't loathe aspects of my life. I am able to look everything that comes my way in the proverbial face and deal with it and make it fit into my life and continue on. I don't lay down and take less than the stars because I only got to the moon. I keep pushing until I get where I want to go and I will die trying. I will have purpose until I breathe my last breath. I will always have something more beautiful, more meaningful to strive for. I have never reached a mountaintop and not seen another one in the distance to strike out for. I have never felt that I have arrived. I have never given up because I have felt like I should have arrived by now.

I have never gotten angry because there was no easy way to the top. I have never felt guilty for getting to the top because half the people quit and were still sitting in the valley. I am proud of the fact that I always get up. I rest. I find still pastures. I enjoy the scenery on the way. Heck, I even stop to smell the roses. I am rarely the first to the mountaintop, but I thouroughly enjoy the trip up.

I strap my boots on and take routes that are rarely trod. I balance many aspects of life where most can only concentrate on one or two. I spend time on what is important to me and I don't let my values get trod on to get to the top. I see the most spectacular beauty in life because of the ways that I go.

I Ran Out of Time

Bizzee as a beaver- you best believe her.

That is 90s rap, thank you very much. Yes, it is classy, high brow stuff. Glad you noticed.

Have I mentioned lately that life is fun? Well then, let me tell you- Life is fun.

I will finish posting later- must go now.

Ta-ta!

Books on the Brain

Star had questions about my reading habits. I said it earlier and I'll say it again, I love these things. Woo hoo. And I do a lot more reading than listening to music or watching movies.

1. How much do you read?

Every day. Sometimes just for five minutes, sometimes for hours."

2. Favorite genre(s)?

I like fiction novels that have lots and lots of action. Spy novels are great. Therefore, I could never be part of Oprah's book club. I have never read those great modern books geared towards females like "He's not that into you" or anything.

3. What qualities must a book have to keep you up reading all night?
Fast paced plot. I cannot put a John Grisham book down once I start.

4. How do you find something to read?
I have plenty of books at home. I also will go buy books at WalMart. I take what’s readily available. I go to the library sometimes but when I forget to return a book on time, I always feel guilty and quit going for a while.

5. Favorite books and why?

Gone with the Wind- The pictures the author paints in my head are amazing. I also love the characters.

Til We Have Faces by CS Lewis- This is the myth of Cupid and Psyche retold. It is a really good read and so intense I am sure I miss at least half the meaning.

Walking Drum by Louis LaAmour- (Not a western.) I like it because it shows so many areas and customs and gives a lot of history of the world in the 12th Century.

Addtional Favorites: I love almost anything by Clive Cussler, JA Jance, John Grisham, Robert Ludlum, Michael Crichton and Dean Koontz. I used to get very involved in Tom Clancy books but he is too long winded in his descriptions of stuff that doesn’t add to the plot but just shows he did his research. I recently became interested in Vince Flynn.

I grew up reading all of the time. 99% of the time I could be found riding a bike or reading a book in my free time. I had a sophmore high school level reading skill in 3rd grade and a college level by 5th grade. I read a lot of fluff for fun because honestly I just like to turn my brain off and get lost in a book. I have read many of the classics, but I have to concentrate to read them. :)

6. What are you reading right now and is it any good?

Funny enough, I am reading "The Walking Drum" right now. I reread books quite often. I am also reading “What’s So Amazing about Grace” by Philip Yancey. I think he is a great Christian author. (My favorite one he wrote was “The Jesus I Never Knew”.) I am also constantly reading the Bible. I can see how people who don’t believe in God or Christ would get a lot out of the stories, too. They are universal truths and can apply to anyone on so many different levels.

7. Paperback or hard back?

Paperback. I have really, really old hard back books written in German from some ancestor in my house. I only buy hard back if they are on sale or if a book I was waiting to be released comes out.

8. Any great quotes?

Never play leapfrog with a unicorn. Actually, I am a quote nut and I would bore everyone to tears.

I'M GOING TO COLORADO!!!!!

God has a sense of humor, or he at least likes irony.

Guess what???????????

My sister is the best sister ever. She wins the hero award of the day. She found a roundtrip ticket for me to Denver for $130!!!

So I bought the ticket and then called my best friend. The dates were a few days later than we had discussed. I will miss the Bolder Boulder. She said the new dates were fine and I replied, "Good because I already bought the plane ticket."

So we are talking and having much fun and hillarity is abounding and the shoe drops. She has a house guest right now until the end of July. Who might that be? The one person in the world that I can truly say I do not like.

So God has a sense of humor cuz I was just reading a book last week about forgiveness and feeling all guilty because of my shortage in that area where this house guest is concerned and I even wrote a six sentence letter to her that I had intended to mail but never called to get her address.

I guess I now know what her address is.

This was blogger spam that V sent me. It is so exciting! (I really do love these goofy things.)

Films
Total number of films I own on dvd?
95

The last film I bought?
Napoleon Dynamite

The last film I watched on TV?
Twister

In the cinema?
Monster In Law- I actually hate these kind of movies but my sister and I were drunk and couldn't drive and needed to hang out somewhere for a while to sober up. It was starting when we weaved our way over the the box office.

Five films that I watch a lot or mean a lot to me.
1. Dumb & Dumber
2. Star Wars Trilogy (I KNOW)
3. Harry Potter movies
4. Sleepy Hollow
5. Evolution

No movies mean a lot to me, I just watch them over and over.

I'm passing this onto:
Whoever wants to give it a whirl!!!

Who Is Their Chauffer to the Nut Farm?

The Sedona crazies are a common occurrence. We have had our share of characters. I don't know if they flock here because being a large hippie-new age town they figure they will be accepted or if they are crazy because of all the shrooms and stuff over the years.

We have our local favorites like The Bird Lady who got the name for standing in a busy intersection in town and flipping everyone off going north/south and then turning ninety degrees to flip everyone off traveling east/west. She then walked through the intersection on her happy way after displaying her evident displeasure with the citizens of Sedona on the whole. She will be seen walking around town often swearing and arguing with her cup. (I could blog about encounters with her for a while.)

We also have Jesus. He wears a large diaper looking thing and nothing else. He walks all over town with his long, long hair and barely clothed body. Rumor has it that he shows up to court in Armani suits. (I should mention Bird Lady also is a very rich heiress.)

There is The Ninja Guy. He walks around swathed in full black even during the summer. He has been arrested for hacking a harmless bush in Uptown with the sword he always carries on his back while raving about the injustices the bush had inflicted upon the ninja man.

We have The Waver. He is truly in the Guinness Book of World Records for a record number of waves. He walks from the Village of Oak Creek to West Sedona every day waving at people. He is only here during the cooler months though. I do not know where he goes to wave during the summer. I once gave him a ride. I don't remember much about it.

I have heard about several other crazy people, like the purple guy who painted his house purple, wore purple everyday and even painted his dog purple. However, he jumped off of a bridge to his death. Purple must not be a happy color.

And yesterday, I found someone else to add to the list of Sedona nuts. I was waiting at an intersection (oddly enough, it's the same one where The Bird Lady earned her name) with my clients. We were waiting at the red light and in the cross walk, this guy in his 30s was walking across. Walking is a loose term here. He was the worlds slowest man. And I don't mean he was slow moving like some old people in the grocery store who shuffle. It looked like this guy was literally moving in super slow motion. He took one very infinitesimally small step every couple of seconds. He did manage to get across the street without anyone running him over, but I am pretty sure it took him about 45 seconds to pass the width of my car.

My client said, "I sure hope he doesn't have to walk up any hills. He won't make it."

I added that if he tried to go up a hill, the rate of his speed would be countered by the speed of the earth's rotation and he can walk and never go anywhere at that rate.

Now you know why I am somewhat accepted as normal in this corner of the world.

Porkchop handed the stick to me. So, here we go.

01. Total volume of music files on my computer?

I don’t know. I have used about half of my iTunes storage. We have 500 real CDs so burning them to the computer seems like a waste of time, really.

2. The last CD I bought was?

I ordered a whole load from BMG recently. I got Eric Clapton, Alicia Keys, Genius Loves Company (with Ray Charles), Jeremy Camp, Hoobastank, Kelly Clarkson (Shhhh…that’s our secret), Building 427, Seven Places and Skillet.

03. Song playing right now:

Lincoln Brewester- Nothing but the Blood

04. Five songs I listen to a lot or that mean a lot to me(in no particular order):

1. One- U2
2. Dare You To Move- Switchfoot
3. If Tomorrow Never Comes- Garth Brooks
4. One Way- Hillsong
5. Shut Up- Black Eyed Peas

05. Which 5 people are you passing this baton to, and why?
1. Annalisa- Because she is a music freak
2. Gruveb- Because he is a music freak
3. Greg- Because I am curious what kind of music he likes
4. Star- Because I would be interested to know what Star listens to
5. KelBel- Because I have never picked her for anything

The Countdown Began Yesterday

Today is my faux day off. Being self-employed with clients, it is hard to have a real day off. So today I decided I would relax and take a break from my huge money making scheme. I have to work tomorrow and probably Sunday and then start a week all over again, so today is my weekend.

I woke up at 10:08. I am off to a great start. I have to go to the high school graduation ceremony tonight. I know 5 teens that are graduating and one of them is singing the National Anthem. Should be really dull and boring. I shall have the feeling of gouging my eyes out at least twice but I will survive.

So wish me lots of laziness and wasted time today as I strive for relaxation!

I Want

Can we talk about me now?

Oh wait, this is a blog where that is essentially all we do. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of "Let's Talk about Amber".

I have two things I want very much right now.

One is to go to Colorado over Memorial Day weekend. I was going to drive to Denver. My ride dropped out. Now I have no one to ride with me and I don't want to take that long trip by myself. My bestfriend from college lives in Longmont and I miss her. Haven't seen her in over two years. She has had a child since and everything!! Last night I had a dream that I went to see her and her 3 boys drew me pictures and taped them up on the walls so I would feel special when I came to visit. My friend and I have a connection that is timeless and I am sad because I am not going to be able to go unless God sends someone my way this week. I haven't had the courage to call her and tell her yet because it was set in stone...apparently it was soft stone.

The second thing I want is to go see the Star Wars movie that just came out.

I should be able to get at least 50% of what I want I guess.

Buckle Your Seatbelt. This is a Convoluted Ride.

The lion hat...why would I post a pic of myself in the lion hat?

Well, I figured image is everything, especially in blogland. You can't hear me. You can only read me and visualize me. What better way to introduce myself as myself than to post a pic of me in a gay lion hat?

The expectation is that maybe that is a camouflaged helmet so I don't hurt myself from being the immense retard that I truly am. I mean, you wouldn't want me to hurt myself after the shots of vodka and Diet Dr. Pepper, right? Plus the picture shows that I truly find things amusing and I can't be all that bright or hard to please. That sums me up: Not to bright and easy to amuse. I think someone wrote that in my yearbook once. I think it was because of the time I was running into class and slid on the tile and somehow ended up in the splits when I don't do the splits. It was quite cool.

I have a suspicion that my newly acquired roommate’s girlfriend (soon to be fiancée) is jealous of me. I stopped at Wendy's for a salad at lunch and The Roomie works near there so he sat with me while I ate. The gf called. He walked outside and talked, came back and was saying, "I work all day. Where do you think I am........I probably didn't answer because I was working.......She stopped to get lunch.....We were talking about making bucket-loads of cash so I can buy you a big fat ring....."

He got off the phone and said, "As you can probably tell, she's mad at me. I don't know why." He seemed truly confused. She seems truly jealous. Maybe not of me. Maybe she's just suspicious of him all the time. I wouldn't know.

A Sigh

I feel like the white rabbit with the watch. I keep running and thinking I am in a hurry. Plus, I lead curious people astray. I am in the middle of a busy day and probably shouldn't even be blogging. I will be late. OH well. Then I can look at my pocket-watch and say, "Oh my whiskers!" That should be fun.

I sent money to India today through Western Union. It was quite exciting. They have weird names, addresses and phone numbers. I can imagine him going to the local 7-11 to collect. Should be fun!

Hey! Hey..Hey! Baby I Got Your Money!

My life of laziness has been interupted with actual life of productivity. I mean, I have multiple client meetings tomorrow. I realize this isn't nearly as exciting as multiple orgasms or anything, but it is still not all that common. (Don't even start!)

I decided to actually establish a monetary goal for the rest of the year. I am tired of living with a bank balance of a just graduated college student. It has gotten better recently, but I am sick of it. Plus, I need another ring for my other hand with more carats than previously. I think I should be able to afford my dream ring. (Platinum band, princess cut carat diamond. Very simple but very expensive. I know there is some "new" cut out there, but I want what I want.)

I also want to move in the next couple of years. My neighborhood is becoming ghettofied. I realize that in Arizona, there are more Mexicans than white people. And I don't dislike Mexicans on the basis of being Mexican at all, but when the 13 year old punk boys who wears a wife beater, has a shaved head except for that dumb ponytail thing at the base of his hairline and walks in the middle of the street when cars are coming just to show he's tough and isn't afraid of 4 tons of metal coming at him, it is time to move (or the obvious alternative of running him over but then I would feel guilty). I have a gorgeous house with gorgeous views and an even nicer payment and the cost of a new house is stupid so I have to make enough money to be able to find a house that I can pay for and keep my payments I have now. I don't think God wants me to be mugged by a very ignorant and young wannabe gang banger. So, I figure if I put in the work, the money will come.

In fact, just working this past week after a six month hiatus and I already have almost more business than I know what to do with. Which leads me back to the beginning of this post- multiples.

I think I have to go now......

Amberland Will Resume Its Regular Scheduled Programming

Heeellllooo blogger peeps. I'm back in full swing which in real life means I am hanging out in my pajamas and being lazy again.

This past week was interesting. My house stayed completely clean. I got projects done. I enjoyed work. I missed commenting on so many funny things, but my life was better for it. Seriously. So I need to find some sort of system or balance in this goofiness of blogging because as interesting as you peeps are, real life is truly more interesting.

I actually watched the sunrise last week. I took my cup of coffee and listened to the twittering birds and watched the pink and light blue turn to orange and red as the sun came along. It was quite cool.

See, cleaning my husband's room started this all. That piece of Amber that had lay dormant for so long came crashing through and started to clean up everything. Everything is in its place. I want to be the helper, the nuturer. I want to see things come together and just be available in any way I can be. I make dinner. I called friends. I was all about real life. Not sleeping, reading, watching movies or blogging. I was ready.

If I'm not available to do something important and I'm supposed to be, then what happens? If I am supposed to be at a certain place or to think of a certain person and I am all involved in something else that consumes me, then what? Is life a quagmire of thousands of possibilities at any time, or can we only do the one thing we are supposed to? Can we resist the feeling to do what we are supposed to and do what we want to do instead?

This is Posting, Not Commenting, Right?

Withdrawls are hard. Addictions are powerful. I want to comment. I truly do. I have so much to share with the world it is hard to be silent.

Martinilove- You cracked me up with the whole foot stealing guy. Keeps a necklace of toes. Lovely!!

Annalisa- Letuce tentacles? Eeeew.

V- No more driving on May 11th. I am glad you are safe.

(This constitues as blogging, not commenting, right?)

Luke- I don't understand not liking Star Wars. I love Star Wars. I am not a freak about it, but I think they are great movies.

TG- I was going to ask in Luke's comments if you name was Luke as well.

Greg- You should open an all you can eat Mexican buffet. That should mix the two cultures together well. Plus, it sounds really really good. MMMM. I just made myself hungry.

Philip- I wouldn't know if that is why I named you as BET. I will just nod and smile, okay?

And I am glad everyone liked my Channel Blog. It was fun to put together.

Oh, and Star- you won't be around to read this but I hope you have fun in New Orleans.

Jyn- Congrats on finishing your studies for now.

Amber in the Middle

I can't NOT post. I have nothing to say and I feel that I must say something.

SOMETHING!

Okay, I am going to confess. (This is my confessional after all. Too bad I'm not Catholic. I wouldn't have to see a priest. This would be my cyber priest and he could tell me to clean the house for pennance or something. Why do they believe in pennance if they believe that sin was nailed to a cross and the ultimate sacrifice paid? Anyway...I digress. Sorry.) I am not commenting on my blog or any other blogs this week. I am trying to be more constructive with my time and see what happens. Don't worry, I will be back to slacker-ville on Monday. I will have to blog about all the comments I wanted to make. It isn't as hard as I thought it would be, but my fingers do itch to click on the comment link and join in the merriment.

Alas, I have grounded myself. I have not been grounded in a very long time. I think the last time I was grounded was at the age of 17 when I told my parents I was out until 2 in the morning because I had to work late. Turns out that 1- I am a bad liar and 2- They had called work looking for me. Who works until 2 am at a place that closes at 10 pm? It seemed rational to me at the time somehow.

Wednesday is Good

A whole day without posting! Where does the time go?

Yesterday I had to sit in a class all day because we have new state contracts I had to learn about. I am now more educated than last time I posted. Wonder if there will be any difference?

We have had AJ here for barely a week and it is already very, very good. I don't know why, really. He's not here too much but when he is, he likes to be deep (he's 20 and deep so therefore kinda like Greg) in his conversations. My husband stayed up late last night talking to him and ended up in a really good mood. AJ is good for us to have around. Plus, my house is staying clean because I am anal about my house being clean when "people" are here. If my sister was staying with us, it would still be dirty. If my older brother was here, it would be dirty. If my little brother was here, it would be clean. My level of sloppiness is directly related to my level of comfort with you. I even wear a bra at night until I go to bed because I wouldn't want AJ to see my nipples through my shirt. I hate wearing bras after hours.

So I think I am still nutty as ever. Education didn't change me that much. Oh well, have a nice day.

Which Channel Are You?

Don’t ask me how I got on this tangent of thinking, but I did. If blog sites were television stations, here’s how I think everyone would match up.

Annalisa- Scrambled Porn- Reason: None what so ever.

Greg- FX- A little of comedy, a little bit of strangeness. A whole lot of intrigue.

That Girl- TNT- Big time entertainment,large audience appeal, and the tag line "We know drama."

Waldemar- Court TV- Easy way out because he is studying to be a lawyer.

Luke- OLN (Outdoor Living Network)- Well, if this isn't self explanatory, then never mind.

V- BBCA - Bringing British culture to America!

Dan- TLC- So helpful

Martinilove- Nickelodeon (mixed with Vodka)

Star-A&E - A unique blend of broadcasting!

Kel Bel- TBS- The Superstation- Everyday stories and super sized humor.

Bug’s Butt- Comedy Central- He's always, always, always funny and highly entertaining. Maybe a wee bit offensive at time, he fits his channel to a "T".

Cindy Lou- MTV- Popular culture and the essence of coolness.

Ali- She doesn't take life too seriously except for friends and family.

Porkchop- Fuse- A twist on the ordinary pop culture, but surrounded by it.

Denny- TV Land- Always bringing back the old favorites.

My Journal- Word- Well, because it's a spiritual journal.

MJ- Lifetime- A variety but always dealing with deep stuff.

Eric- Discovery- A whole documentary on popcorn. Hello!

J- Spike TV- Man's world personified.

Jake- USA- A bit of everything, humor, sports and sometimes explosions.

GruveB- BET- No reason what so ever and I was running out of channels.

Jasmine- Bravo- A bit of culture mixed in with some quirky favorites.

So do you agree? Disagree? Which channel would you say you are?

Weekend at Amberland

Here's something fun for your weekend.

Happy Mother's Day to TG, Star, Sarah and all the other moms out there!

Your #1 Match: ENTJ

The Executive You are a natural leader - with confidence and strength that inspires others. Driven to succeed, you are always looking for ways to gain, power, knowledge, and expertise. Sometimes you aren't the most considerate person, especially to those who are a bit slow. You are not easily intimidated - and you have a commanding, awe-inspiring presence. You would make a great CEO, entrepreneur, or consultant.

Your #2 Match: ENTP

The Visionary You are charming, outgoing, friendly. You make a good first impression. You possess good negotiating skills and can convince anyone of anything. Happy to be the center of attention, you love to tell stories and show off. You're very clever, but not disciplined enough to do well in structured environments. You would make a great entrpreneur, marketing executive, or actor.

What's Your Personality Type?

Amber McCrack(en)

Today AJ is moving in. J is a bit apprehensive as he is a homebody and doesn't like to share and likes to be sullen when he wants to be. So, this shall be a stretch for him. I doubt AJ will be hanging out here too often as he has a girlfriend (almost fiancee soon) and a full time job and lots of friends.

So this whole week (We shall refer to it as "crack week". What was up with this week anyway?) I cleaned out my home office room, cleaned J's room, and tried to assemble furniture. I have been cleaning like a mad woman and my house is still in chaos. But at least everything is ready for AJ's arrival and the kitchen and floors are clean.

J is going to install another bar in my closet to fix the problem of too many clothes and not enough space so I can finally get our master bedroom cleaned. I have this syndrome- if things are clean I keep them clean. But if there is one thing out of whack, I just start throwing stuff wherever. So in the master bedroom, I had that pile of clean clothes waiting their home. Since there was a pile of clothes, I started laying my jewelry on top of the cabinet where they belong and all of my boots and shoes I have worn in the past couple of weeks are scattered on the side of my bed. Then there are the books stacked on top of my dresser. Oh, and on the chaise I have another assortment of clean clothes along with some odds and ends from my office room I don't know where to put like a random set of drapes and a porcelian doll with a broken leg.

So it will be quite nice to get that bar installed so I can clean the room. Because if I clean it now, there will still be the pile of homeless clothes and the cycle shall start all over again and again and again and again.

I'm not neurotic. Not me!

Now Accepting Donations

Tomorrow I have just under 49 errands to run. It is going to be hectic.

Saturday I have to work for half of the day.

Sunday is my wedding anniversary and Mother's Day. I do not have a gift for my husband. Not even an idea. And taking him out to dinner isn't gonna happen because he has a finicky stomach to say the least. So I can't get off with just a dinner and valleys of fun after.

Any ideas?

I Love a Rainy Night

Amberland is a fly free, gun free zone. This is Amberland, not Iraq. Please contain your wars to your personal space. Thank you.

Now everyone, I want you to imagine (without closing your eyes because you have to read) that you are in the middle of a cool, green field. You hear rushing water, the sun is beating down on you warming your muscles. Butterflies flit among the wildflowers. There is a trolley in the distance.

Now, moving on.

I am cheap. I buy some items that are the assemble it yourself type of furniture. It is $80 at WalMart instead of $1000 at the furniture store. The catch is that I had to assemble it myself. J would've helped but I like to think I can do things on my own. Last time I built one of these doo-dads, it didn't work out well at all because I was missing pieces and using the wrong pieces for the wrong things.

So this time I decided to follow the instructions and lay everything out and make sure it was all accounted for. Check.

Then each step took about half an hour. I started at 6 and wasn't done until 11 last night. I would take breaks between the steps so I didn't go ape on the poor innocent prefab pieces.

I was down to the end of assembling this thing, I had even nailed the back on that made the whole thing rigid and held it all together. I go to put the door on and I figured out I had the bottom piece on upside down. There was a hole I needed to put the door into and it wasn't there. Being the resourceful woman I am, I started to drill. I drilled for about five minutes and it was looking ghetto, but I got the door thingie to fit.

Only thing is that the door itself was way too small for the space it was supposed to cover. It fit on the top, but at the bottom, there were 1" gaps on both sides of the door. The two sides of this long cabinet were not equally wide. When I inverted the bottom, it had the wide side on what was supposed to be the skinny side.

I went to go watch the Simpsons while J talked to his friend about his bass. ("Yeah, when I slap it, nasty stuff comes out of the box so I am getting a new one.")

He finally got done talking on the phone and asked me how it was going. I explained my dillema and told him I had tried to pry the nails off the back piece but it wasn't moving the nails, just destroying the back piece. He went to the garage and got some more tools. After much muttering under his breath, he got the back piece off enough to allow us to manuver the bottom piece only to find out there were screws and dowels and all sorts of other fun things holding in the bottom piece.

Long story short, we got it flipped around and I got the shelves in. There are two drawers to assemble but Jeremy will do those tonight. I have decided assembling cheap furniture is not my skill. I will continue to look for my skill.

Why Do You Blog?

When I first started blogging, it didn't occur to me that people would actually read what I wrote. The sole purpose in blogging was to get rid of some of my thoughts so my mind wouldn't race around and grow fat on the same thoughts anymore. I could fully follow my line of thinking through writing and I didn't have to obsess about why I like country music or why people can't drive or why WalMart sucks so much.

Then people started reading and commenting. I started writing more things for the audience. You peeps! I would throw in fun quizzes I stole from other bloggers. Stories about my life became written in a universal fashion so most people could relate. At one point, I realized I was censoring myself from posting pictures because it was "taboo". I remembered this is my blog and I can do whatever I want to do. So I started posting pics. And others sent me their pics. I feel happy in my blogland. It's a comfortable place to be.

I have fun in blogland. I even met Jyny and Martinilove. That was a blast! I really enjoy my time here, even though it has gotten to be less time lately due to the crack in the water or air supply. So thanks for reading my daily crap and commenting.

So why did you start to blog? Has your original reason changed at all?

A place for every thing and every thing in its place

Someone slipped a supply of crack into my water or air supply. I love it! I have so much energy! Woohoo!!! I woke up at 4:11 this morning. Can you believe it? 4:11! And I didn't go take a nap afterwards.

Yesterday I spent most of the day emptying my home office room for AJ to move in. I vacuumed the room twice, set up my computer system in my husband's music/car/hobby/office room. Then I looked around his room and DAMN!! I knew it was cluttered when I would walk by but this is just ridiculous. It looks like an elephant graveyard for computers. Plus his mom kept all of his stuff from when he was a kid and gave it to him a couple of months ago. The boxes were still on the floor which is why the two guitars and huge speaker box for his amp bass are in the living room right now. It is a good sized room and he had no floor space. I had to step over things to make to the desk where the computer sat and it didn't look so much like a desk- more like a wayside for forgotten papers, magazines, reciepts and CDs. When he came home from lunch yesterday he told me not to clean his room. (Men and their territory.) So I started rearranging his room and "dusting" while he was gone. He came home and asked what I was doing.

BUSTED!

So I went out to the living room and pouted for a while as he played his video game. I sighed loudly and of course he asked what was going on. I told him he ruined my whole night's plans of cleaning his room. I told him that Mondays he watches all those car shows on the Discovery Channel so I had the whole night planned in his room organizing. (I'm a freak. It sounded like fun to me.)

He was pissed that I did exactly what he told me not to. I defended myself and said I wasn't cleaning, I was only dusting. I whined a little and asked him if I could at least store the stuff his mom brought so there would be more space on the floor. He said he would "think about it". Agony! Agony! Once my mind start organizing, it won't rest until the last paperclip is in place.

Mikey called J to say he was on his way over to help tune his new drum heads. DOH! (Drums are in the room I wanted desperately to set in order.) Jeremy told me I could put away his kid junk before Mikey came over. Done!

Boy was I happy. By the time Mikey showed up, I was whistling and making dinner. The guys started banging on the drums and were entertained while dinner was in the oven and I watched Friends.

After dinner I did the dishes and still couldn't stay still so I went and pulled weeds in the backyard until it was too dark to see the weeds anymore. I didn't want to step in dog poop after all! Once I got back in the house, I checked on all the blogger peeps. Then Mikey left.

J caved and let me clean his room with dire warnings not to throw anything away. As if I had dared dream that things would go that far! So, eight storage containers (with three of them having 10 drawers) later, I am about 75% done.

I went to sleep a happy camper last night and woke up at four this morning with my mind racing. I had to get up and zip tie all of the cords dangling behind the desk!

Your Inner European Self

Star had this over on her blog sometime yesterday. It's just a cute quickie!

Your Inner European is Italian!

Passionate and colorful. You show the world what culture really is.

Who's Your Inner European?

The Connection

Connections are important. Greg blogged about how he would love to people really understand him because it creates instant connections. I have been thinking about this, but in different terms.

I am at a great place in my life right now. I am surrounded by people that for the most part only want what is best for me. They aren't in competition with me to get "there" first. They just want to lend a hand to help me get to where I need to be. It is the main reason I was struggling with the idea of moving.

I never really felt like people completely understood me as I was growing up. I never seemed to really fit in anywhere. I wasn't good at sports. I didn't like to dress up or be girly. I wasn't part of the popular crowd. I wasn't part of the geek squad. I was just me with a few friends that could put up with me. I remember having deep thoughts at the age of five very clearly. I never took much of anything for granted. I grew up poor. My parents never really had extra money for things until after I had already moved out of the house. I was extraordinarily blessed in other ways. But I was into enjoying the small things in life like laying in clover on a warm sunny day while bumblebees buzzed around my head. I liked the coolness of the river. I liked hiking where there was no one around me for hours. I was a people person, but I took time to notice other things in life. And I had a spiritual recognition at a young age. Even growing up in a family that had the same basic beliefs as I did, they didn't completely understand me. Bits and pieces of me fit here and there when I would meet people in life. My new age grandmother understood some things about me. My dad understood other things. My siblings were the fun part that understood my imagination. But there was no wholeness in any relationship.

Even when I met J, there were things he didn't get about me. He does now but not during our first years of marriage. My friends in college understood much about me. But still, there was a piece that didn't belong anywhere.

But now I am surrounded by people (including J) that get me. I can use a few words to paint the framework of what I mean, but they understand the deepness behind it. It would take a week to explain things that are on my mind thoroughly but because of the connection, they understand the depth immediately. I don't feel judged. I don't feel like I have to hold something back because people will think I am weird. I am so free in this area of my life, I have gotten to the place where I truly don't care if no one else understands. I feel a fullness about who I am so that I don't want to compromise the fullness for a fake "Hello".

Greg chose me to do this exercise. It is an opportunity to be a child again and say, if I could be anything, this is what I would be and why. Only, instead of everything, I had to choose from a list. And I must keep the game going by choosing three of you to do this as well. So, Annalisa, Martinilove and Jake, choose three professions and write about them in any way you want. Add your profession to the bottom of the list and choose three more people.

If I could be a racer...I would be a race car ya-ya with bad looking pin stripes and flames to help me go faster. I would be the best chick racer ever and win all the cups from the hillbilly men. I would be the toast of every female redneck and they would learn to have more fashion sense.

If I could be a doctor...I would work outside of the system and provide health care to the people in my community who work so they aren’t given welfare but who don’t get benefits and can’t afford to go to the doctor. I would charge a normal rate of medical service that a regular person could afford. I wouldn’t be a whore for the insurance companies.

If I could be a farmer...I would wear overalls everyday and cook stuff from my own garden. I would own a house with wooden floors and say “yee-haw” quite often. My tractor would be sunshine yellow.

If I could be a missionary...I would be one right where I was at instead of going to Africa or Asia. I would not wear long cotton dresses or live in a wooden shack. I would be all about showing people acceptance and love and living in peace in all the ways that I could because most people don't know any of these things.

If I were a scientist...
If I could be a chef...
If I could be a writer...
If I could be a musician...
If I could be a scientist...
If I could be a farmer...
If I could be a musician...
If I could be a doctor...
If I could be a painter...
If I could be a gardener...
If I could be a chef...
If I could be an architect...
If I could be a linguist...
If I could be a psychologist...
If I could be a librarian...
If I could be an athlete...
If I could be a lawyer...
If I could be an innkeeper...
If I could be a professor...
If I could be a writer...
If I could be a circus clown....
If I could be a llama-rider...
If I could be a bonnie pirate...
If I could be a servicemember...
If I could be a business owner...
If I could be an actor...
If I could be a rich girl...
If I could be a witch...
If I could be self employed…