Everyone's talking so much about change these days.

The biggest form of "change" in my life is that I'm feeling perpetually tired of xanga. I don't want to read my subscriptions, I don't want to post, etc. I just don't care. I'm surprised that it's happened, seeing as how much time I've poured into this dear blog for the last 4.5 years.

Life is busy. It's going to get ever busier as I head into the craziest time of the year for work. But apart from that, I'm also trying to run another business on the side. And still trying to write, here and there. I've joined a writing group. I'm skeptical about its benefits, but I'm going to give it a chance.

Life on xanga feels stagnant to me. It's not because of the people here - because I have made some great friends. To be sure.

I guess sometimes, as much as I abhor change, I need it.

So I am leaving xanga.

I am not going to delete my site. I'll still periodically read my subscriptions here ~ but this time, my xanga vacation is a relocation.

Of course I'm not giving up on blogging. And no, I'm not moving it to facebook. (That would be absurd, considering my general distaste for FB as a whole.)

But I am trying something new. In due time, I'll link to my new blog here. But I'm not ready to unveil it just yet.

In the meantime, keep on xangaing on. I realize that my leaving is just a drop in the ocean - I don't have any silly notions of popularity. So this isn't some ploy to get people to beg me to stay. This has been in my mind for a long time now - many months, at least. I'm not really the type to just do something on a sudden whim.

My mind's made up... and I'm off.

I'm going to miss this best-show-there-ever-was.

Last night's episode of BSG had me feeling all mournful and melancholy. The two-hour series finale is next week. There are still quite a few questions that need answered. I read an interview where the producers/writers said that they have not seen anyone (on all of the messageboards, blogs, etc.) correctly predict the ending of the show. Wow.

My dad said this morning, "Oh great - that means it's going to be Baltar, Six, and Hera." Like Adam and Eve 2.0, I suppose. But that doesn't make me happy at all. I want Lee and Kara to be alive at the end. Not stupid, frakking Baltar. But however it ends - it will still have been the best show ever.

I haven't accomplished much yet today. Responded to a few work emails, done a few things at work, and now need to move on to some of the other tasks at hand (that I have been avoiding).

The kitty is healing nicely, and is also happy to be frolicking in the 40-some weather.

I'm glad it's Saturday so that I don't have to put in a full day of work, but I also don't like Saturdays because I never get much done. I'd like to take a nap, but that usually feels like such a waste. Maybe I'll hold off on sleep and just go to bed early tonight. :)

Last night's episode of The Office was hilarious.

> Knock, knock.

> Who's there?

> KGB

> KGB wh--

> (Slap.) The KGB waits for no one.

It's kind of weird that it's already Friday. The week has felt both long and short, which is an inevitable side effect of returning from vacation time. I have so much to accomplish over the next three days, and I feel like doing none of it.

I'm playing kitty caretaker for Motor's cat-bite wound on his neck. Warm epsom salt compresses a few times a day, as well as removing any scabs that form so the wound can continue to drain. Can I get a collective EWW? I have never had much tolerance for blood or puss or oozing wounds. (But then, who really loves that stuff?) But kitty is being a very good patient. (Unlike the other cat, typically lazy and laidback unless you come at him with medicine -- look out.)

Also, of course I'm looking forward to the second-to-last episode of Battlestar Galactica tonight, and another installment of Dollhouse awesomeness.

Continuing my television-themed blogging, I just found out yesterday that Season 1 of Earth: Final Conflict is going to be released on DVD this May. You'd better believe that I'll be getting it. I've been waiting for this for years.

What's funny is that, yes, I do know how cheesy it is. I even thought the effects were cheesy back when it originally aired ('97 through '02), but it didn't matter. The concept was so intriguing. I mean who wouldn't want to imagine an Earth where sterile aliens showed up and tried to ultimately use humanity to destroy their own crazy alien enemies?

What's funniest to me, though, is that I used to have such a crush on Liam:

He's the one on the right, of course. The bald, clearly-a-woman-in-a-wacky-costume is Da'an, a Taelon.

(The more I write about this, the stupider it sounds. Why did I like this show again? Oh right, the concept. The concept.)

Anyway, my 15-year-old self had a huge crush on Liam, even with his perpetual wide-eyed look and bad acting skills.

As I've gotten older, my tastes have clearly improved. I mean, who cannot love Nathan Fillion?

Or Jamie Bamber (Apollo in Battlestar Galactica, for those not already obsessed with this brilliant show)?

Or James Roday (from Psych).

Wait, what? Yeah - he's totally insane on the show, and were I to meet him in Real Life, I'd have to clobber him several times over - but we all know that television never crosses over into reality.

I mean, if TV did suddenly become unfiction, let's be realistic. The kind of guys I'd fall for would be Psych's responsible Gus...

...Galactica's nice-guy Billy...

...or Firefly's perpetually paranoid doc, Simon. 

Of course, none of those would be too awful of a reality that I couldn't handle it. ;)

I'm back from Virginia. It was an awesome trip (of course), but I am SO glad to be home. If anything, vacations are wonderful things to remind me how much I LOVE being at home.

It's always great getting to see people and doing fun things, but it is so exhausting for me. I have a sore throat again, but am trying to avoid falling back into complete sickness.

I did manage to take pictures, which I will post sometime in the next day or two, but here's a brief rundown of the extended weekend:

Thursday - we left Indiana at 5:30am and arrived in Virginia at 7:15pm local time (which was 6:15 central). We had dinner at Capital Ale House with friends, hung out for awhile, and then I went to sleep around 1am.

Friday - Was picked up by Amanda and Brooke at 12:30pm, and we had a picnic in a muddy park (lots of melting snow & freshly thawed ground makes for an icky March mess...but the upper 70s weather was a fair trade off), went bookshopping, and had a lovely dinner at a quaint cafe.

Saturday - Had breakfast with A&B and then rejoined my siblings + friends and headed for Washington D.C. at noon. We got back to Richmond at midnight, where we had Brinner (breakfast for dinner). With the time change, I got to bed at 4am.

Sunday - Left Richmond at 11am local time, and arrived back in Indiana at 11:30pm central. This time zone thing always works out better on the way home. But I was never so happy to GET OUT OF THAT CAR. I stumbled inside, grumpy (as the rest of the car companions were), and went directly to bed.

Today I am back to work, grateful to be home, and quite willing to deal with things that felt so mundane last week. I'll probably be perfectly content not to leave home again for a very, very long time. Leaving is so exhausting and expensive. But in the end, is worth it.

I still have lingering effects from this cold - seriously, I'll be glad when I'm no longer blowing my nose every 5 minutes and I get my normal voice back.

I have three days - THREE DAYS! - until I leave for my spring break trip with my siblings. We are headed to Richmond to visit with friends, and while I am there I am ALSO getting to spend time with dear xanga friends Lauren, Amanda, and Brooke! Such a lovely, lovely time we will have. (And this time, I'll be sure to take numerous pictures of the event. I know, it was lame that I didn't take one picture when previously meeting up with Josh and Lauren and Amanda.)

In the meantime, though, I have a terrible amount of stuff to accomplish, including but not limited to:

Laundry, packing, cleaning my room, working, working at my other job, grocery shopping, cleaning out my car, shopping with my sister & grandma, and compiling multiple files of tedious information for several other projects...

It kind of feels like too much info for my head to contain right now. But if I can manage to get all work-related stuff taken care of, I shall be able to put everything else out of my head until after the vacation.

We are leaving at 5am on Thursday. I am NOT a morning person, but when it comes to roadtrips, I am always quite inspired to get up and on the way. There's no use in putting off the start of a very long roadtrip.

Since it will be me and my siblings on a 12+ hour roadtrip for the first time ever, I'm quite interested to see how many arguments we have over music. We all have very different tastes, and none of us are really very tolerant for more than a short time. Soooo...it will prove most enlightening, I'm sure.

And with that, here are some photos to add color to an otherwise tedious post:

The bouquet of flowers that I bought myself, which are now going on Day 12 and still look pretty good.

A stack of paper & a stack of books. My room is a series of haphazard stacks, it seems.

Another stack of paper & two lovely fleurs.

Part of the random things I've stuck to the wall above my desk. 

The bathroom sink serves well as a shelf...

My unfortunate desk. I'll spend the evening excavating the poor thing. 

I love lightbulbs. I can't exactly explain why.

 
Flair pens & Crayola crayons. Two things I love dearly. 

My stuffed lion. (Since Amanda mentioned hers, I felt mine should also be properly introduced.)

My new haircut. (Well, new 2 weeks ago. Little late on the picture.) 

(P.S.  I think it would be awesome to have mini-photoshoots with Amanda, Brooke, and Lauren to create some fabulous Richmond-inspired profile pics. What do you say, ladies? I'm bringing my camera...)

I'm not thrilled, by any means, that there is a fugitive on the loose this morning so very near my house. Or that last week, an out-of-towner swept into my little city and robbed a bank after showing a gun, and actually managed to escape.

It ticks me off, actually. People from the crime-infested northern part of the state (Gary, Indiana, anyone?) or Chicago get out of dodge and bring their dodgy selves here to inflict fear into our smalltown families. The crime rate for this area has gone up shockingly since several dairies have opened over the last several years and illegal immigrants have flocked to work for them.

(No, I'm not saying that ALL dairy workers are illegals -- but it's a known fact that quite a few in this area are. They have been responsible for numerous car accidents that have caused untold damage and heartache to families from this area, because they do not speak English, or they don't know how to drive, or simply don't pay attention. People have died, or been severely injured, because they blow through stop signs. They are uninsured. So they typically walk away from the accidents, and are never heard from again. One dairy farm actually took up a collection to send someone back to Mexico so they couldn't get in trouble for the accident that they caused. It's thoughtless, selfish, and disgusting. But that's another issue entirely.)

I know that evil will take up residence where it is welcome, or where there is a vacancy. There are a lot of vacant hearts and minds, because pain doesn't fill the void. And there is a lot of pain, sorrow, and heartache in this world.

The fact that the bank was robbed is probably evident of a man suffering from a home foreclosure, or a lost job, or unpaid family medical bills. It doesn't excuse the crime, and I certainly hope he is caught and punished for his act. But I can't hate him for what he did. If he is never caught, he will never be able to deal with what he has done. It will haunt him forever.

This man who abducted a girl from the northern part of the state, at knifepoint, and then abandoned her and her car just 10 miles south of where I live -- and apparently remains on the loose and in the market for another ride out of town -- is probably in similar dire circumstances. Only desperation or insanity drives people to these sorts of acts.

I hope this man is caught, soon, without causing anyone else pain or fear. I've been jumpy most of the morning, but ultimately I know that I am not unwatched or uncared for. As cliche or trite as it may sound, God's hand is on this. Life is not a free for all where, in the end, we all end up losers.

I don't know this man, and I certainly hope never to meet him, but I do pray that he will face the consequences for his actions, and that in the process, his soul and spirit will be rescued.

Because you can't hijack your way to freedom, or safety, or heaven.

- I adore Vicks inhalers. When I was a kid, I always saw my grandpa using these, and never knew what the heck he was sniffing. "Old people stuff", I assumed, whatever that meant. But I've grown up and realized how lovely these things are when one can't breathe through one's nose.

- I have also come to the point of realizing that I love Chapstick. Yes, plain boring waxy chapstick. Not the flavored versions, not the off-brands, not the elite competition (Burt's Bees, hah). Just give me my black-and-white Chapstick, and I'm happy. (And if I'm adding lipgloss with it, I only like the C.O. Bigelow minty clear gloss from Bath & Body Works.)

- I've rediscovered my love of logic puzzles. I was in Walmart with my mom the other night, getting groceries, and we happened past the magazine aisle. I picked up one of those books of logic puzzles, and remembered how much fun I had when we'd have to do them back in second grade. While the other kids whined about filling in the charts and it being "impossible to figure out which different kind of animal belonged to Sandy, Harry, and Sue", I would do the puzzles gleefully, because how lovely was it that anything could be solved by simple and straightforward logic.

- I am officially a fan of Dollhouse. Joss Whedon is brilliant, as so many have said.

- I am also, officially, a fan of Castle, even though it doesn't premiere until March 9. Why, you ask? Well, that's because Nathan Fillion is back on TV, on his own show, that is not on Fox, which means that there is a strong likelihood that it won't be canceled after a meager four episodes. (I still mourn the loss of Firefly and Drive.)

- Random other favorites that I'm not going to devote entire paragraphs to:

Big Red (the gum, not the nickname I was given once due to my red hair)

Bottled water (I know, bad for the environment, blah blah, but I never drink enough water if I can't keep it everywhere with me, and no, I'm not going to stop by a water fountain and fill it up when I'm out and about, eww)

Spring weather (not that it's here yet, but I'm still hoping)

My car (because it's just so darn reliable and cute, even when it's covered in winterfilth)

Ink pens (that work the first time you use them -- especially those cheap Papermate ones)

College ruled notebook paper (that is bright white, and not that icky yellowed color -- oh, and I hate recycled paper, because it has a greenish pukey tint and is wafer thin)

Vitamins (because they're what has me back to blogging and not sneezing up my lungs for the thousandth day in a row)

 

Today so far:

- Slept in 2 hours later than normal

- Exercised

- Put some time in at both of my jobs

- Took my dad to lunch

- Played with the kitties

- Took a countless number of vitamins

Despite the fact that I am still sick, I feel somewhat better knowing that I have not been utterly void of productivity. I have some responsible stuff I have to do at home, but I also think I will make time for a nap and a movie, as well as getting early to bed.

I wish the cold weather would leave. And I wish it were already 2 weeks from now...