mandaloo

today has been absolutely nuts. i got my work bonus yesterday and decided to use it on productive things before it got spent. my check engine light has been on for two weeks, so i took my little beetle to the vw dealership and some oxygen sensor thing was out. the bill was $320. i was not a happy camper. between this and the $730 vet bill from last week, my plans of moving out have been severely delayed. nar. i did manage to get two new front tires, though, which rocked b/c i needed them badly (the back ones were replaced late last year). i am happy to say that everything is running much more smoothly.

i took my little brother out to chili’s tonight for his 18th birthday. pam, jeromy, and daniel came along, too, which rocked. come to find out, all of these people from church happened to be there and they sung happy birthday to him. we were all going to do something afterwards, but my brother started feeling sick and i took him home. i’m waiting for my parents to get back from home depot so that we can do the “family thing.” or whatnot. alan was thrilled with the gift i got him – a framed autographed picture of amy lee from evanescence. it’s his favorite band and he told me that it was the coolest gift he has ever received. and i was tickled. (more…)

i’m sitting at home watching bacon sleep b/c out of absolutely nowhere, she’s acting all sick… exactly like what she did before i took her to the vet last week.  no good at all.  so she has an appointment for first thing tomorrow morning.  gosh, i hope she gets better soon…

work was a blast today.  my coworkers and i were just havin’ at it and joking all day.  there were tons of paper ball throwing, good jokes, and lotsa laughs.  and somehow, i even got work done.  even my lunch meeting was good, as it consisted of yummy food and a short presentation.  it all made up for the fact that the rest of the week has been crawling.

my little brother is turning 18 this saturday… which totally trips me out  b/c he’s now a legal “adult” or whatnot and i’m feeling really old.  and it got me thinking and feeling that i’m too old to be in the phase that i’m in right now.  i’ve got a lot nailed down and solidified in some areas, but with the unexpected turn of last year and having to start over with so many aspects of my life… it just overwhelms me.  because i thought i was set and had it figured out.  there have been some recent experiences, though, that have shown me that i had not even scratched the surface of it all.  basic words are being redefined and set on an entirely new scale. 

i see the events of last year as a blessing in some ways b/c i know what i want more than ever.  and i know that i can be happier than i ever imagined b/c i’m beginning to realize that i was never going to have what i really desired in the situation i thought i was so satisfied with.  just last night i was expressing some anxieties and worries for the years ahead to someone close to me, and he pointed out how much more i know now and how it’s going to hopefully keep me out of bad situations.  and i hope he’s right b/c i am so ready to take it all on.

okay – i’m really not a looney tune posting about my dog all of the time (except for the fact that i’ve been posting about my dog all of the time), but i have had so many people inquire about bacon that i thought i would post an update on her coming home.

she is doing TONS better. when i showed up at the animal hospital to take her home, she immediately ran to me and was super excited to go. after paying the massive bill (which i now feel sick from), we got home and she was thrilled to see everyone. she still isn’t eating a whole lot, but she’s definitely on the mend. i appreciate all of the concern about my sweet sweet girl…

an x-ray of bacon’s tummy (i figure that if they’re $120 a pop i should be able to post it for everyone to see)…

dr. morris – the sweet vet taking care of my bacon…

update: things are getting a bit better in the world ‘o mandy. it all has mainly to do with the fact that my dog is improving. she’s still at the vet and she still isn’t eating on her own, but i did go see her last night and she was actually walking around and sniffing stuff. much much better than the sad state she was in on saturday. the vet said that her vomiting had stopped and that her white blood cell count was still good. she’s a fighter – and i’m hoping that she’ll be home later this week. i miss her so!

the horrendous vet bill that is sure to follow will probably delay my efforts to move out, but that’s okay. i’ll just be patient b/c i’m just grateful at this point that i had the financial means to get bacon back into good health. i had lunch meeting (free turkey sandwich!) and i scored a free t-shirt from a manufacturer. and this one has fish all over the back of it – which really tickled me b/c most “free” t-shirts are lame (aka – a solid with a logo on the front left corner). (more…)

days have never seemed as long as they have lately. it’s kind of cool, though – it feels like i’ve had a lifetime happen in three months. last weekend was awesome. wizard took me driving and we saw his property out by the lake. then we went to tsn’s lan party in tyler, tx. i didn’t do much gaming… more of “carding,” as i am more effective at uno and swap than i am at the computer games. go figure. but it was awesome to meet everyone from the spot and spend time with people i care about. tyler is more of a hopping town than i thought… their olive garden was packed and they totally ran out of black tie mousse cake right before i had ordered it. here are some pictures from the weekend: (more…)

it’s now 2006. when i walked into work on tuesday morning, i threw away my 2005 calendar … and man, it sure felt good. i dutifully hung up my 2006 calendar (a calendar of cows, mind you… excellent) and got a good feeling all over. this week has mainly been used to recover from the chaos of last weekend. to review:

thursday: my good friend, sean, was in town from louisiana. so sean, kyle, jeanette (sean’s girlfriend), wizard, and i went to putt putt and played two rounds of mini golf. i didn’t do too well, but i think everyone had a good time. i hope that kyle emails me the pics of the evening b/c there are some funny snapshots. i know that his computer is down for the time being, but i look forward to seeing the picture of me petting the giant turtle and biting the rhino’s ear. yeah. craziness.

friday: got off work early and took care of my car inspection and got my oil changed (it was SO overdue for one, too). hung out at wizard’s house until the evening and then he and i met up with kyle and laura at the gypsy tea room for the rocket summer show. the opening act (fish boy) was not too impressive (i thought), but we managed. the rocket summer put on a great acoustical sing-along type show and i scored me a new t-shirt. it has the rocketeer on it. upgrade. ’twas a very special evening that lasted into the wee hours.

saturday: went to the gun range with dad, jake (my cousin that was in town). wizard, ron (my coworker), and ron’s two little boys all met up with us. i’m not very good, but i’ve vastly improved my pistol shot since my last visit. afterwards, i went to a family new years party thing with wizard. i managed to start the night off in true mandy fashion by hitting the ball over the fence before the game even started. so embarrassing. my athletic prowless did not improve over the night and it was soon figured out that if the opposing team just served the ball to my general area, a point would soon follow thereafter. nar. when everyone was taking a break, i got to play “badmitten” (aka – everyone just swing their rackets around) with the kids which is much more on my coordination level. the new year was rang in and the villagers rejoiced.

sunday: went to church and had a great time. came home, ate food, and then jake and i went to neo’s apartment (hereafter referred to as the “pizzy”) for the new year party. a bunch of people from the-spot.net came. (for those of you who don’t already know – the spot is an awesome site and all of you should join in.) it was super fun. we watched matrix, consumed mass quantities of food and soda, played card games, and had a good time.

monday: spent a good chunk of the morning raking leaves… those jerk trees spreading forth their litter all over the ground. naw… it was fun and not too bad. bacon looked so freakin’ cute going through the pile. wizard picked me up and we went to my storage unit to take a look at how much stuff was in there. i’m looking at moving out in the near future and am trying to get an idea of what i have and what i still need. and i’m overwhelmed. but it will be taken care of one way or another. we headed over to wiz’s sister’s house and enjoyed some hamburgers from the grill… mmm. and i totally schooled wiz at checkers. we popped in at fhe at church, but when i saw it was dodge ball, i opted for an early exit. i can neither “dodge” nor “ball” very well, so i don’t need to be giving frequent demonstrations of my ineptness.

today and yesterday have mainly been spent recovering from the busy busy holidays. i must admit that it’s kinda nice to have everything back to normal. everyone at work has been semi-lethargic from all of the holiday craziness. dad’s watching ut play the national championship thing right now… i hope that texas wins just b/c i know he’ll be in a super good mood. hook ‘em horns!