Second Graders Are My Favorite

~ They get crazy excited when they find out you have the same birthday.  To the point where they tell the rest of the class and when you walk in they all start yelling "happy birthday!" and giving you hugs.

~ The kid who asks you how old you are every day (and after the first month you say "the same age I was last time" and they get excited when they remember correctly) asks you how old you are now and you ask them to tell you and they get excited when they get it right.
           ~ Hey, adding one is a big task when you get to numbers this high!

~ They react in shock when they hear how old you are and say things like "You look like you're 16 or 17!"

~ They tell you how old their mothers are and the numbers are all shockingly low . . . or high.

~ Like the one who told me her mom was born a year after my own.

~ They come up behind you and give you hugs for no reason.

~ They tell you you're their favorite.

~ They take spelling tests on homophones and when they hear the word is "too, as in also,"  write "olso."

~ They hear the word is "their as in 'I'm going to their house'," and they write "house."

~ They only know half a dozen jokes but they love to tell you jokes so they scramble the jokes and punchlines.  It doesn't make any sense but they don't get why it's not funny anymore and that makes you laugh.  So they keep doing it.

~ And it gets to the point that they ask the question and you sit there for three minutes watching the little gears in their head spinning as they try to come up with a combination they haven't used before.

~ They're ready for summer but they're not completely burned out like the fourth graders.

~ They love telling you what time it is and how many more minutes there are until lunch (although they will apparently lose this skill within the next two years . . . don't even get me started).

~ They're still cute.


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You know what's crazy?  She's probably, like, seven or eight by now.  Yep . . . a second grader.

Also - we are so doing this.

What a Difference a Season Makes

It's amazing how in just a few months things have gone from this to this.  At this point I can't even believe I was so excited back in September.


~ So when Hook finds out who Bae is what will win out?  The part where he's Milha's son or the part where he's Rumplilocks' son?

~ Clearly Milha mentioned him . . .

~ Rule #6 . . . and I'm guessing that's all we're gonna get today so drink up.

~ Shouldn't Henry be, like, in school?  With al the other kids in town?

~ On that note, why the crap did Regina bring so many kids?  Girlfriend can really hold a grudge if she felt the need to bring a whole school full.

~ Yeah, the more I see of this "don't care about Bae" personality flip of Rumplilocks' the less I buy it.  Stupidest thing the writers have tried.  And they've tried some really stupid things.

~ Rule #3.

~ That's quite the app on his smartphone . . .

~ How the crap do your people know anything about any of this, Owen?

~ Dude, even if the theories are right and the Darling kids started the Magic is Evil Society after the events of last week that still doesn't explain how they know anything about magic in general or about Storybrooke specifically.

~ I'm sure it's quite reassuring to tell Henry he'll survive to see all the rest of you die, Regina.

~ Punch him again Charming!

~ Props on acknowledging that you keep screwing up, Regina.  I'm guessing it won't stick this time either.

~ Why are the Lost Boys all grown up and creepy looking?

~ So is last week's Creepy Shadow Peter, or just Peter's . . . agent . . . ?

~ And if they're seriously making Peter Pan evil that has got to be the most screwed up thing this show is done.  And easily their biggest mistake.

~ Hooray for Grumpy sighting - pretty sure this scene will be the highlight of the night.

~ I feel like I should offended by the "don't let her die as Lacey" line . . .

~ Part of the ship, part of the crew, Hook?

~ I'm guessing Hook's sob story is totally made up to get Bae to talk.

~ Oh look, a chase scene.  Bet no one saw that coming.

~ I'm all about people sacrificing themselves and stuff . . . but seriously?  This is Regina's redemption arc?  She spends a year flip-flopping worse than a politician and then she dies?  Epic fail.

~ And if they keep killing off all the villains it's going to be really hard to worry about any of the heroes.  Logical Writing 101, writers.

~ You know, the whole Rumplilocks/Belle thing has never quite lost its Twilight vibe.

~ I could make a list of people missing in that diner . . . but it would take the rest of the episode to list them all.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

~ Well now Hook's going to be after Henry . . .

~ I can't decide if I believe Hook's story about them talking about going back for Bae.

~ Clearly it is possible to leave Neverland, as evidenced by the fact that Hook is in Storybrooke.

~ And a double cross.  Another thing no one saw coming, right?

~ So many reasons to be angry at so many characters right now . . . and yet . . . I just don't care.

~ Interesting contrast to last year's finale . . . then they were beating each other up in a hospital, now they're working together.

~ Can I just say that having the town be eaten by vines was a really dumb way for the fail safe to work?

~ And now we see what the set-up for next season is.

~ Counting down the minutes to Monster's University, by the way.

~ So . . . that Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D. commercial?  Didn't the character who was talking . . . like . . . die in the movie?

~ If Greg and Tamara are so against magic why are they going through a portal?

~ Well, I think they just assured that we'll never be seeing any of the characters I've been complaining about missing again.  Or any of the ones we saw precious little of this season.

~ The whole thing about Henry being Rumplilocks' undoing . . . perhaps the undoing of Rumplilocks being the Dark One?

~ How convenient, Mulan and Aurora got Philip back and found Neil.  What do you want to bet that's a story that never gets explained?

~ That is a really cool globe.

~ I thought Greg and Tamara wanted to get rid of magic in our world?  What do they want with Neverland?

~ Of course, that does support the Darling children theory I mentioned earlier.

~ What the crap do they think they're doing making Peter Pan evil?  Of all the idiotic moves they could have made, that has to take the cake.

~ At this point I'm half convinced that this entire series was conceived as a way to cut down on the ridiculous, inexplicably long lines for Peter Pan's Flight at the parks.

So to sum it all up: what started out freaking amazing has taken a sharper nose dive than my math grades in junior high and a faster plummet than an Olympic diver.

 
 I may or may not be back next season, but I definitely won't be watching the Wonderland spinoff.  Because seriously, if your answer to dropped plots is spinoffs and your answer to plot holes is is selling "spinoff" novels  you are an incompetent screenwriter. (and yes, those are both things that exist.  and yes, it's as pathetic as it sounds.) 

What about the rest of you?  In or out?

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The perfect thing to wash away that unpleasant aftertaste?  Some 90s-tastic fabulosity.  Make sure you watch to the end. :-)

Once Upon Never Landing in Neverland

Previously . . . yeah.  All that stuff happened and nothing really changed.


~ If they try to start this off as an Oliver Twist type story, I swear . . .

~ Stealing bread . . . so they're going with the Les Mis angle . . .

~ They should have had her do the complete introduction.  Wendy Moira Angela Darling.

~ Yeah, I knew that off the top of my head.

~ That had to be an unpleasant bit of deja vu.

~ I will never understand why Rumplilocks and Regina always look so surprised that people aren't doing things for them.

~ Why are they suddenly fighting Emma every step of the way?  Not exactly good for parental bonding, you know?

~ Yeah, the parallels between Rumplilocks/Bae and Owen/Missing Dad are probably supposed to be poignant but they're actually just annoying.

~ That commercial had to be so much fun to film.  Plus it proves that someone out there hasn't forgotten what Regina was like last season.  Seriously, I see almost nothing of the characters from last season in the characters this season.  Forget the "we are both" crap, there's almost nothing left of either original personality and these new third ones suck.

~ Is it, like, a requirement for all Victorian/Edwardian houses to have secret passageways and hiding places?  Not that I'm complaining.

~ It's too bad there wasn't any chance of having the same actor play Hook and Mr. Darling.  That would have been a fun homage.

~ Love how they all have Peter Pan collars on their PJs.  Clever.

~ Snow, why does Rumplilocks have anything he has?  Of all the things he has, Regina's tears are actually one of the less surprising or confusing.

~ I think we all need another drink, Rumplilocks.

~ All I can see is the episode of Friends where Rachel has to use the eye drops and won't.

~ Holy crap that shadow is creepy.

~ Everyone is just so bland.  "Regina's missing." "Oh no." "We thought she was here." "I'm sure she'll turn up."  I mean, could there have been any less emotion in that exchange?

~ Don't give me that crap.  Emma and August were supposed to get together.

~ So does she really not know where missing dad is or does she have some magic way to withstand torture?

~ So Tamara is the Spanish Inquisition?  I suppose that was unexpected.

~ *rimshot*

~ What exactly do they have against magic?  I mean, why would they have anything against Storybrooke existing except for the part where missing dad went missing?  Why do they care?

~ Of course Snow didn't happen to notice Tamara there.  How convenient.

~ I think I need to finally actually read The Great Gatsby so I can go see and hate the movie.

~ Why does the shadow want a boy?  Is it supposed to be Tinkerbell?  I mean, for all that they've destroyed her original character with those stupid fairy movies, she did not exactly take kindly to Wendy.

~ Rule #3 - DRINK!

~ I find it more than a little odd that Rumplilocks is giving up on Neal so quickly, even if it is because of not-Belle's new personality. (it feels to weird to call her Lacey)  Seriously - he spends, like, hundreds of years grooming the perfect protege to enact the curse specifically to find Bae and two minutes after finding him and going back to Storybrooke not-Belle likes evil Rumplilocks and it's all like "Bae who?"  Talk about sloppy writing.

~ Of course Tamara's going to get away.  How convenient.  Ugh.

~ I wonder if this is going to make the lines for Peter Pan at WDW longer or shorter . . .

~ So you stay with Regina and he goes after Greg.  DUH SNOW.  Why has everyone evolved into an idiot this season?!

~ Still not sure how Tamara knew to spill the coffee on him in the first place.  Also not sure I care.

~ Nothing against him, but here's hoping Neal dies.

~ As far as I'm concerned that conversation never happened.

~ Where did you think the shadow would take you, Bae?  Did it seriously only just occur to you that that was where you were going?  Again, what is up with smart characters acting stupid?

~ At least we get a cute daddy/daughter moment out of this disaster.

~ Yes, Regina, she saved you.  And yet, next week you will be trying to kill her again.  It's quite the predictable cycle.

~ Why would Rumplilocks include a fail safe in the curse?  And if Regina could add her own fail safe why did she need the curse from Rumplilocks in the first place?  Why couldn't she make it herself?

Tune in next week, same bad-writing time, same no-answers channel.


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Koalas are officially the cutest things on the planet.  If I were the type to have an exotic pet it would totally be a koala.

Finding My Place

I used to be really good about writing in a journal.  All through high school I wrote consistently every week . . . well, I missed a few here and there, but not many.  That tapered off pretty quickly in college - and even though I much prefer actually physically writing, blogging has pretty much replaced it.  Which, obviously, has its pros and cons.

Anyway.  (Sort of) on that note I just want to take a moment to record for posterity how glad I am that the internet exists.  Because if I do have a place in this world, the internet seems to be it.

I've known this for a long time, but in some ways I'm rediscovering it: there is a niche for everyone on the internet.  You'd never guess it reading the comments on a random news article or youtube video, those seem to bring out the very dregs of humanity.  But dig a little deeper and you can find close-knit little communities dedicated to everything under the sun . . . and probably a few things over it too.

Sometimes I feel a little out of place on these sites.  I mean there are people who's lives appear to completely revolve around Stargate SG-1, or color guard, or Tamora Pierce books.  And mine . . . doesn't.  It almost makes me feel like I have ADD or something because I'm a casually-huge fan of sooooooooo many things, so I kind of hop from one "club" to another depending on my mood.  But even so, every time I've stuck my toe timidly into a new fandom pool I've been welcomed whole-heartedly.  And I've really appreciated it - especially considering how much free time I have to spend online.

It's just so nice to have a place(s) and group(s) where I'm completely and truly welcomed and accepted.  Heaven knows that has yet to happen to me in real life.  I'm a somewhat socially awkward person, and the larger the group the more awkward I get.  And that has led to groups where I was tolerated . . . or marginalized . . . or even made into a charity improvement project.  While I've always come away from a group with one or two friendship that have and will last a long time, I've never found success in group settings.  In fact, more often than not my time in them seems to end in some sort of over-dramatic explosion or implosion that's crushing, but deep down is also expected.  (I kind of can't believe I lasted as long as I did in my last attempt at a group, actually.)  And while I don't think my interests are all that out of the ordinary, it's always seemed like I'm the only one I know in real life who's into those things.  In one recent case one of my interests was so mocked that I've been hesitant to even mention it to anyone ever since - even online.

So yeah.  I'm glad the internet exists.  And that there are places on it where people are nice to each other.  I may know a lot of my friends only by screen name and avatar, but at least they don't get snarky when I mention a favorite tv show or movie.  I hope this post doesn't sound like I'm depressed, I'm really feeling more included and encouraged than I have in a while . . . possibly my entire adult life.  Like I'm moving on from some things, getting over others, closing chapters and all those other cliches.  I'm good.  As long as the power doesn't go out. :-)


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Another reason to love the internet.  How else could a bunch of bored Welshmen show off their absolute brilliance?

Once Upon No Progress Whatsoever

Previously . . . things got more and more predictable.  And now we're almost to the point that we can see every last thing coming.

~ And how the crap do two normal people know how to kill magical creatures?  Seriously?  Just how thin are supposed to stretch our disbelief?

~ At least we get some sweet Evil Queen Regina clothes.

~ So is that why Regina is ruling?  She told people that Snow killed the king?

~ Wait . . . did we actually get a question answered?

~ Except for the part where apparently no one in the kingom believes Regina . . . so we're still left wondering how she has any power.

~ Snow and Charming both have good points.  It's really a no-win situation.

~ Of course the random fisher-dude was Regina.

~ Ummmmmmm . . . you're evil, Regina.  Sorry to break it to you.

~ Yes, when they see you kill Snow they will see just how kind you are Regina.  Perfect logic, that.

~ King George . . . is that Abigail's father or Charming's not-father?

~ Oh, who are we kidding.  Like they'd mention anything about Abigail.

~ I really hate the way they won't let Regina have any character development.  I mean, seriously.  How many times has she tried the same thing and had the same result and she just keeps trying it again?  I really want to root for her and see her redeem herself, but they're not only keeping her evil, they're making her look like an idiot.

~ I can't imagine her disguise lasting very long if she keeps acting like the queen in those rags.

~ That was shorter lived than even I expected.

~ And now it's time to play the "who exactly is Hook double-crossing" game.

~ What do you want to bet Tamara set up that crash too?

~ Okay, name one movie or tv show in which the phrase "you can trust me" is NOT a massive red flag.

~ At least someone is acknowledging that August is dead.

~ Operation Cobra?  Holy back-from-the-dead plotline!

~ Man, too bad Snow jumped in.  Just how many times is it going to turn out that she spared Regina in FTL?  This is getting ridiculous.

~ Thank you for finally stating the obvious, Hook.

~ Yeah, destroying Storybrooke will totally put Henry in your camp forever Regina.  See what I mean about the looking like an idiot?

~ Yeah, gonna go ahead and guess that that bracelet thing is a sign that Hook's double-crossing Regina.

~ I thought Emma killed Maleficent?  So is that her . . . reincarnated?  Or someone else?  Regina implied that it was Maleficent, but again, didn't she die about a year ago?  Gah!

~ Also, now I'm curious as to just how much random crap Regina's hiding down there.

~ Wilma?  Seriously?  Holy dumb name, Batman.

~ (apologies to anyone named Wilma.  But it's a really dumb choice.)

~ Okay, I do like how Snow's telling the horse story, especially without mentioning that it was Regina.  Talk about a potential turning point in Regina's story arc.

~ My vote is for Operation Walking Stick.  Or Operation Purloined Letter.

~ Let's just take this moment to acknowledge that now that the stupid writers have killed off August, this show is going to end with Emma and Neal back together.  It's one of those things that's been really obvious.  And really sucky.

~ Okay, I do like the "I taught her that trick" bit.  That was fun.  It's nice to finally have a fun moment again.

~ Too bad it'll never occur to them to look in Greg's room.

~ It's so frustrating not knowing where these flashbacks are in relation to each other in the timeline.

~ See?  See?  There it looks like she's having a change of heart.

~ Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand busted.

~ Dude, just end it already Snow.  People only get so many chances.

~ Called it.

~ Really getting sick of calling it.  Remember how last season we never called anything?  And then this season everyone's calling, like, everything?  And how just now they just confirmed that I called, like three different things?  Dude, what is this, Dora the freaking Explorer?  The hidden details should be, you know, hidden.  Not excruciatingly obvious.

~ What happened here?  Who would do this?  They're making Snow look like a real idiot too.  Come on, who else is there in the town that would take the beans except Regina?

~ Seriously, how the crap did they find a scientific way to block magic?  That is the stupidest, most unbelievable thing yet.

~ I imagine the finale is not going to be nearly as devastating as they want us to believe.

~ You know what's really sad?  I'm not even excited about finally seeing Neverland.  That's how disappointed I've gotten since January.

~ Sooooooooooooooo to sum up - Snow spared Regina about a million times in FTL, which was pretty stupid of her; Regina kept trying to make every like her by killing them, which was incredubly stupid of her; the evil characters all double crossed each other (or attempted to do so) and the good characters are still pretty clueless as to what's going on.  Or even more clueless than it should be possible to be in the case of Snow.  Seriously, WHO ELSE IS THERE TO SUSPECT EXCEPT REGINA?  In other words, nothing really happened.


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So here's a trick I've long wondered about.  I knew Ariel was standing on a platform, but I was never quite sure how the tail disappeared - apparently it's velcro'd on and  supposed to get sucked into a hole . . . but sometimes doesn't, lol.  I love the part where you can see Max stuffing it down instead.  :-)

Once Upon a ME!!!!!

So I think we've all noticed that the writing of this show has taken quite the plummet downhill since Emma and Snow got back to Storybrooke from their little jaunt in FTL. (side note: MULAN AND AURORA BETTER NOT GO THE WAY OF CINDERELLA AND ABIGAIL, DANGIT!!)

(side note to the side note: all caps before the show even starts can't be a good sign)

Anyway.

You know what I love?  Shows like Stargate SG-1 who put the title up on the screen at the beginning.  It's awesome because then you have such an easy way to reference different episodes . . . mostly amongst other fans nerdy enough to know the names . . . but still.

Anyway.

Point being, all the cool kids know that tonight's episode is titled "Lacey."  I also know why (because among other stupid things the writers do, they don't even try to prevent little details and even spoilers from getting out) but we're going to pretend it was named after me.  Just like the town in Washington.  Which totally was.  Named after me.


~ Previously Tamara sucked.

~ And so did accident boy . . . probably.

~ AUGUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~ Still wondering how you freaking taze wood.

~ It must be so nice for Henry to finally have a birthday acknowledged.

~ Not sure I would've picked a wand.

~ Didn't see that coming.

~ Or the dream part.  Not bad.

~ Oh yeah, Regina didn't know who Henry's father was yet . . .

~ Rule #7, DRINK!

~ Who are you to lecture Rumplilocks about always choosing darkness, REGINA?

~ I thought Emma was the one who could read people?  Lame!  Come up with something new, writers!

~ Calling Rumplilocks a beast counts as Rule #6?  Drink!

~ Ominous glass breaking is ominous . . .

~ Oh look, another potentially awesome character who's probably going to be dead by the end of the episode.

~ Rule #3, DRINK!

~ And now I'm singing Les Mis . . . thanks Regina.

~ (I'll look to you to sort this out, and be as patient as you can . . . )

~ Yeah, what was that about choosing darkness, REGINA?!?!

~ GO AWAY TAMARA.

~ GO AWAY GREG.

~ YOU PEOPLE SUCK.

~ What's in the package, plutonium?

~ Oh look, now that he's dead they acknowledge August's existence.  YOU SUCK, WRITERS!

~ HI HURLEY!!!

~ I can't imagine why Emma would want to stay in our world anyway.  I can see being hesitant about going to FTL, but she's really gotten the crappy ending of the stick in this one every time.

~ Gonna have to add a happy ending rule.

~ Apparently we're in the Wonderland quarter of Storybrooke . . .

~ Wait . . . is that what's-his-butt from Alias?  Also played the pilot(character) on the plane in the pilot(episode) of Lost?

~ They named Belle after me too.

~ They even spelled it right!!!!

~ Is this a persona Regina just created or is this the girl who was in the asylum for 28 years?

~ Hello soon to be dead new character.  Sorry about your lack of story arc.

~ Where do the casting people find all these hot guys?

~ Look at that, an actual answer to my recent question?  Enjoy it kids, that's the last time that's going to happen for a season or five.

~ Yeah, get used to me, RUMPLILOCKS!

~ Props on the sarcasm, but I was beginning to like you Regina and now I hate you more than I ever did.  Get over yourself.

~ Heh.  Grumpy rocks.

~ Rumplilocks has a point about Cora killing all y'all, Charming.

~ Begs the question of whether there's even a sliver of Belle left after crossing the line and all.

~ If Rumplilocks had vanished one of my books I never would have seen any good in him.

~ Ever.

~ EVER.

~ EV. ER.

~ You're right Shay . . . the gold Rumpelstiltskin makeup is really funky this time around.

~ How does Charming know Rumplilocks needs a wingman?  What does he know about dating in our world?

~ (sort of) On that note, has anyone noticed that the entire town seems to just be going on with their Storybrooke lives except for the Charmings?  Not quite sure what to think . . .

~ I love the fact that Don Juan made a deal with Rumplilocks.

~ Take that, Regina.  Maybe people would keep you more informed if you'd quit trying to kill them once in a while.

~ She looks rather fabulous, thank you very much, Granny.  *raspberry*

~ Besides, I have yet to see Ruby wearing anything blue.

~ (notice how I'm not mentioning HOW WE HAVE SEEN ALMOST NOTHING OF RUBY SINCE HER BACKSTORY EPISODE.)

~ Question for you people who have characters with your name on tv all the time: is it always this trippy to hear people on tv talking to you?

~ That's a very solid glittery makeup line . . . makeup artist fail.

~ You know, that one twist I really can't get behind is the one where everyone in FTL knows Rumplilocks' name.  That was the whole crux of the story, not a minor detail.

~ The writers are certainly making good use of that back exit at Granny's.  It's actually getting rather ridiculous.  And why did she leave anyway?

~ Of course Marian's dying.  It's not like we can have a potentially interesting character around for more than one episode without them being related to the Charmings, can we?

~ And Belle just found the magic words.

~ Yeah, she might be hugging him but I'd still be holding a grudge about the book.

~ Wait . . . is that Sheriff Scumbag?  I am so not okay with that.

~ That wink was almost as hot as that leap, Charming.

~ And now Regina's found the beans.  The question is, does she destroy them now or string everyone along for a while.  (get it? beans? string?)

~ Yeah, should have kept that tongue the first time.

~ Oh BABY . . . now that might get me to forgive the disappearing book thing.

~ Also: Rule #6, drink!

~ Yes, you should have, but this "watching Gold cane the crap out of someone" is getting really old.

~ And you're glad?  What?  Evil Rumplilocks is turning not-Belle on?  That might be the creepiest thing I've heard of.

~ And the most twisted thing these writers have come up with.  And it's not like I need to remind anyone that they've come up with some twisted things.

~ I don't really see a problem with him carrying Henry like that Kayla.  Probably easier than using both arms.

~ GO AWAY EVIL NORMAL PEOPLE.

~ Of course it's Hook.  Things appear not to have been very silly-hijinks-ical in New York.

You know, that ending would have had me shrieking a few months ago.  But after August and Cora and Belle and everything . . . yeah, no.  Kind of saw it coming, kind of finding myself not caring.  I hesitate to say the show has been ruined by the writing in the last handful of episodes, but I'm coming to hope it gets canceled after this season.  What about the rest of you?




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Came across this a couple of weeks ago and it still makes me laugh.  I'd kind of love to see this version.

Seasons of Joy

So I recently read this book and I may be a bit of a word nerd, but it was pretty fascinating.  Among all the other bits if trivia about how English is the biggest hodgepodge of borrowings from every other language known to man was the part where English has lots more synonyms than most other languages.  And the great part about that is the part where you literally have a specific word for almost every possibility.

For instance, sometimes "happy" just doesn't cover it.  Sometimes the only word for what you're feeling is JOY.

And that definitely applies today because WE JUST PAID OFF MY STUDENT LOAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, in this case there AREN'T enough words to describe how excited Luke and I are feeling today.  So I'll have to express myself this way:  (in no particular order . . . well, alphabetical order because I just went down the list of gifs I've been saving up just for this blog post)

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . I'm assuming your computer is now running like you're using dial-up circa 1992. And I probably should apologize for that, but I'm going to be honest instead.

Because seriously.  I could go on.

But honestly, today is by far the happiest day of MY LIFE.  Better than getting married, getting engaged, even the day I graduated from college.  Because on every single one of those days I had this stupid student loan hanging over my head.  Even if it wasn't something I consciously thought about, it was always there in the background.

In fact, to go back to the last time I felt so uninhibitedly happy would have to be high school graduation . . . and we all know how long ago that was.  Because that was one of the last days when I still believed I'd get a grant instead of a loan.  Well, actually the last day for that was when Ashli applied for her financial aid.  I mean, let's be real here - in what world is it logical for a family to add a college student to their roster and then the original college student not only doesn't finally get a grant then but gets their loan amount cut?!?!?!  I suppose I shouldn't complain too much, at least my loan was still subsidized - Ashli's wasn't - but seriously.  I have yet to meet anyone to whom that makes sense.

But I shan't get into my financial aid rant today because I am just too happy.  There is such a weight off our shoulders . . . it feels like we might actually be able to make a living someday.  Assuming I ever get a full time job, which I'm thinking is not going to happen as long as we're living in this town.  But in the meantime where we can take a few things off the back burner and start actually moving forward.  And it.  Feels.  Awesome.  This is seriously exciting and the only thing keeping me from celebrating in Vegas or something is the part where I don't get paid time off.  :-)

The best part is this time a year ago we thought we still had two or three years left before we finally kicked this thing to the curb.  But along about five or six months ago the numbers started looking do-ably small.  So we crunched some numbers and it turned out that with a few financial changes and ramping up the bare bones-ness from Def-con 4 to Def-con 3 we managed to pull it off.  And now it's over.  And that still feels a little surreal.  In fact, I almost don't know what to do . . . maybe we should go buy a house . . . on the moon.

In a word -

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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There are not many things that could make today even better.  Underwater kitty mews are one of them.  :-)