This is where I bitch.

I didn't know the Web 2.0 was so simple to understand. Like how I use it all the time. Time to add that buzz word to my resume.

I'm trying to decide what to spend my tax return on. We decided we can each of a little of the money for ourselves, since it's been a stressful few months (like eight of them). I'd like some iTunes money so I can get more music (mostly Glee tracks). I'd also like the extended version of Avatar and Supernatural season 5. And a new hoodie. Choices, choices.

Not much new. Mom and dad are flying out tonight to visit Laura and family for Christmas. I'm working at least 11.5 hours on Christmas eve. Not sure about Christmas day yet.

I'm very, very stressed about money and my ulcer is acting up. Also I think I pulled something in my back last night at work. So Paul got me a back brace to help with lifting. We'll see how it works tonight. We've also been kinda slow at the post office this week. At least slow enough I haven't had to work any overtime. The money would be welcome though, so I hope it picks up again.

We spent a few hours last night figuring out a budget. Hopefully this will help things run smoother. Kinda stressful though.

We might be out of work now. Not that we don't have a ton of things to do and quickly approaching deadlines. But when the customer won't get the files back to us, we can't do anything. I am very happy now that I have been on the same grade this entire time. Since I'm doing it all I know what needs to be done and it's done well. Helping on the grade that a) was from a bad vendor and b) has been passed amoung a lot of people here, is a headache and a mess.

Skipping volleyball tonight to hang out with Paul, not sure what we will do yet. This will be two weeks now not seeing Em, we've got time to make up soon.

I've been listening to some of the Dresden Files books that B has on her iTunes at work. While I like a lot of the world and plot, the people annoy me too much to continue. They all react too strongly to too little info. Everyone's actions are so extreme, it's not even realistic. I have a hard time believing that police officers will arrest people and jump to assumptions without getting all of the info or listening to explanations. Just too much to accept. James Marsters as the narrator was fun though.

I'm caught up on my part of the project, so am now helping other people. The overtime might drop off a bit until the customer gets files back to us.

I made inroads into fixing financial problems and such today. A bit concerned, as I always am after large life decisions, but I'm sure its for the best.

No plan this week so Paul and I can hang out more, since next week he starts school and will be very busy. We will have less time to spend with each other with his full time job, school and homework.

The parade for pride was fun. Not a huge crowd, but we got to wave at friends. JP came along too, can got many compliments. The best float was Club 5's, as they had their foam machine on it and were blowing foam all over the Capitol square.

Volleyball at pride was a lot of fun too. The wind was pretty intense over the lake and ball control was an issue. I played a bit of pick up before our games and had a lot of fun with the best team in the league, I always enjoy playing with people better than me, it forces me to play better. Sore today, grass courts can be brutal.

Day 4 of nothing to do at work. Today I resorted to walking around and talking to people, as opposed to just emailing them. Still nothing. We are in a "lull". Oh well. I don't mind the occasional day of nothing, gives one a break, can catch up on podcasts and industry magazines, etc. But this is just boring.

Went to the vet last night, puppy is fine, have a appointment in November to get him clipped. No more humping his toys and hopefully a little mellower.

I'm not doing as well with juggling finances as I thought, we need to renew the "don't spend money" resolution.

Unfortunately our hot water runs out very quickly lately. So I need to get someone in to look at that. It might just be the pilot light, but ew can't find it. It's a pretty old water heater, I hope we don't need a new one.

The Queen Mother likes to Wii bowl.

I somehow messed up my alarm and it didn't go off, so I woke up an hour late. Still got in by 9, so it's all OK. First game of the new season tonight at Pooleys. Em is back on the team! Very excited. Can't wait to see Kiki too, been a long time, it seems.

Work is fine. Want a new project now, tired of working on other people's stuff where I only know a small portion of what's going on.

Read the first book of The Golden Compass. It was interesting. I like some of the concepts. The ending seemed anticlimactic, but since I have the second book and I can flow right into the next story, it will be OK.

Paul is quiting smoking, mostly due to the price increase. But also to just move onto a new phase in life. I'm being supportive, I think. Apparently small rewards at milestone dates help. Or maybe he just likes presents. ;)

January and February have filled up mostly, so much for a quiet second half to winter. My fault though, and I'm not complaining. It's nice to be busy. The gay volleyball league is starting up again after some scheduling issues. I'm on a new team, so hopefully the members won't drive me batty and I will go more often.

Generally life is good right now. A few concerns/worries, but nothing that will tear holes in the tummy (I hope).

I've been thinking I might find a good financial planner to help go over finances and figure out saving and investment options. About time to start thinking about getting a new car and house. Em has one, I will try to remember to talk to her about it tonight.

EDIT: Also I've lately had the urge to draw/make art again. I hope I can produce something before the interest fades.

My hair looks stupid. It looks really goond on other people, Imust just be too boring/stright laced to pull it off. Basically the top third is blonde now. I am not sure what I was thinking but today I'm getting startled looks and querries such as "What did you do to your head?" ANd anyone who says it looks good, or cute, is probably just laughing at me on the inside. On Tuesday I'll call Mitch and see if we can tone it down, or maybe just cut it all off.

I also took a stab at laying out a budget to try and get my money stuffs figured out. I think I'm forgetting something or else I've been spending way, way, way too much on lesuire. Not sure How I can blow that much money in a month. I'd like to think I'm not that irresponsible.

The good news is I got there more units in on the project I've been working on. Which should keep my busy for a few days. My other project has been pushed back to the end of the month, hopefully not while I'm in New York.

This week I have to start calling in to see if I need to go in for jury duty. Never done it before, so I have no plans to dodge it. Though if it over laps with New York I'm going to see if the nice lawyers and the judge will give me a break since I've put a lot of money into this trip already.

Satruday we went to a wedding of a friend of Paul's. Sunday I cleaned a lot and was generally productive at the house. Stayed up waaaaay to late and thus got in really late. Had breakfest at PDQ again and will probably get done at the same time as Paul, so I doubt I'll have time to finsih the chores I wanted to tonight.

Well I wipped though the small projcet I have. Its done even before I was given the due date. So I will be beggging for work very soon. I'm getting tired of hunting to keep my self busy. Maybe I'll work on my wish list for birthday/Christmas that Paul has been bugging me about for a while now.

Not much else going on. Need to look at finances tonight and make out a budget. I've never been on a budget before, I've always been able to just juggle it in my head. But times are geting to the point where it is needed. Especially since the birthday/Christmas season is comeing up.

I would also really, really like to finish the livinng room, since I've been about 2-3 hours away from that for a few weeks now. Life just dose not coroporate with these things.

Volleyball was fine. I feel I played well, as a team we played decent. We lost all three, but again the other power team was really good. We came close to winning once. The ankle brace worked well again, though it is a bit sore this morning.

I'm kinda depressed about the financial situation today. I'm getting to the point where I will have to do something about it. I feel I'm kinda a failure in this aspect of my life, I should have handled my finances better and not gotten into this state. I forsee five to six years of boredom ahead while I try to fix this. New York will be my last big bash, my last party before I accept that I am an adult now and can't just do what I want. 30 seems a good age to settle down.