duchesspariah

I've now been in Texas for two weeks!

My first couple days here, I met a few new people. They were awesome enough to help carry all of our apartment stuff up to phoenixsansfyr (Fi) and my second floor apartment. Considering I had a 16' truck filled to the BRIM with furniture and boxes, that is saying quite a lot about how much they love the Fiesta.

Our first real experience in exploration was going to the original Salt Lick. The food was delicious! The sandwich was massive, filled with meat. And the pickles were nummy. Fi was kind enough to purchase dessert for us. I'm not a big fan of cobbler of any kind, but the blackberry cobbler was delicious! The crust was definitely the best part.

We also took trips to walk through Zilker Park. We went to San Antonio to visit the Alamo. And in the middle time, Fi was working as Laura and I tried to get the apartment together. Laura kicked butt; she put the kitchen together almost entirely by herself! Then she left, and I realized that this isn't just an awesome vacation. This is... home.

Everyone keeps asking me how I like Texas. I love it. The city is beautiful at night/early morning. I go through Austin via I-35 pretty often for work, and seeing it lit up against the dark sky is pretty amazing. I've been caught in crappy I-35 traffic once. MREH. Sucktacular, really. However, I love the over-overpasses. It is pretty amazing to be that far in the air while still driving a car... at least without water beneath you.

Fi and I visited Enchanted Rock State Park. We both took some amazing photos. It was a steep climb up, but we photographed our way to the top. Once up there, there was this middle-aged couple. Two pretty cute guys. And they were just GLOWING with happiness together. Holding hands and pointing to stuff and ... it was completely adorable. And there Fi and I was talking and photographing. With like twenty other people on the top, they approached us to ask us to photograph them. They both had obviously new tattoos and what looked like commitment rings. The expression on their faces as they approached was pretty wary but just oozing happiness. Anyone who dared tell them no would have been a nicer person if they lived their life kicking puppies. I saw the camera, and the look on the guy's face. He didn't even have to open his mouth. I was like, "We'd love to." And just accepted the camera from him. And they both looked ECSTATIC. They looked at the photos I took (I took a close-up to get the ring and tattoos and a distant ones to get all of them with the awesome view) and their eyes watered... I wanted to cry too. It was so freakin' cute!

Now the apartment is mostly in order. We are still tweaking things, but there are pictures on the walls and whatnot. Still need to get curtains up, but the blinds are good enough for now. We are going through about a gallon of 2% a week (which is crazy!) but most everything we eat is either low fat, fat free, or nutricious. Our plan is to go to the gym thrice a week for an hour each go. Once it warms up a bit more, we'll likely throw in some non-strenuous swimming and such on our "nights off."

Started working at the local Lifetouch. We get gas cards to pay for our gas to the schools. I'm finally getting all my pending raises! Also for every school where we get 8s-10s on our report card, we get a $5 bonus. That is up to $25 per week. It is doled out at the end of each photography season (so twice a year). The drives (so far) are shorter. Other than the basic, same-old shit that you get at every school with scheduling and stupidity, it is much better.

I like living with the Fi. I think, so far, we are both doing our share to keep the apartment clean. We both are tired and a tad grumpy when we get off work, but it is to be expected. Here is to hoping that we have a lovely, lasting roommate friendship that continues to be wondermous!

Laura boarded her plane back to Kentucky this morning at about 6:20a.m. Fi and I stayed at the airport until 6:40a.m., just waiting to hear that her flight had been cancelled so she could come back to the apartment with me. But it didn't happen. I made it past the horrid sign (I'll explain in a later post, after I have a picture) and all the way to the Fiesta marketplace before I started crying.

Mia sorella is on her way back to Kentucky. I won't be able to see her again until June. We can chat now (thanks to the awesomeness of Fi's Jason giving Laura his old laptop!) and we can text and pic message, but Laura is going to be in freakin' Kentucky. I don't like it. I don't like it at all. I wanted her to STAY.

Now Fi is at work until 7p.m. Laura is on a flight to Kentucky. I'm home alone with the Evil Kitty Alliance, no where to go and nothing to do.

Cody just called me. They just arrived at their new house in Colorado. Cody said it was beautiful and very, very big! Apparently he has a mountain view from his backyard. I'm so happy for him and the Stephanie! They finally have their own place together! For the win!

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Any comments are helpful. A few of the photos aren't actually meant to be incredibly artistic, but feel free to assume they are. :) General comments ("I like that one." "I hate them all.") are also welcome.

( Week 01 Challenge Photos )

Sooo... I have to go to druidspell's journal at least once a week, because my friends page takes it in spells to not display her new messages. If I don't see one from her during the week, I check it. Just in case. (I also sometimes do this with other people's lj's, as needed.) I was back browsing, as she hasn't posted recently (*cough*), and I found the Covert Bingo Gamepiece. The first time I saw it, I just looked at it and went on browsing my f-page. I'm exhausted to the point of inability to think (yes, it is only 4:30 in the afternoon), and so that means no posting until after I take a nice long bath and drink a shit-load of fluids. Thus, I'm going to check off my gamepieces. (Sort of.)

( And, I play the game )

BTW, Dad and I burned a huge pile of brush today. He brought up the back-hoe and tore up some stumps and tore out some trees. Jason, his brother, and I (though to a lesser extent) scraped the peeling paint from the roof. Tomorrow, we repair one place and paint it.

I've been avoiding LJ for a while, mostly because of things that I didn't want to write about. In May, I lost my baby (my puppy, Orion). I knew that--should I want to continue an accurate journal-- I couldn't leave that loss out. However, I just couldn't bear to write about it. So I stopped writing. At the time, it seemed logical.

However, I've decided that I can't avoid the topic forever. Also, I shouldn't avoid LJ forever. After all, it is my only journal now that I'm not keeping a dead tree one. So... I'm going to start writing again.

Promise.

Because it made me think of you, Mael: http://threnodynvelvet.livejournal.com/210819.html

( Stop sodomizing me. Kay? Thanks. )

Seriously, God. Seriously.

Not. Funny.