Four New Members

Tene and I welcomed four new members to our family on Saturday: Anise, Ai, Absinthe, and Moe.

Having had a few days to play with them, I've found them to be all adorable and sweet. Moe is the most courageous and curious - she enjoys being out of her cage and interacting with Tene and I, and we enjoy playing with her. Anise, Ai, and Absinthe are sisters, and are all very shy. I'm going to have to spend a decent amount of time trust training them, but I suspect that they'll come to enjoy spending time with Tene and me.

I'm very happy that I have rats again; I've really missed having affectionate little pets. Just knowing that they're around helps me, mentally and emotionally, deal with a lot of things. That might sound weird, but it's how I feel.

Tene and I are thinking about getting other pets too: we're considering a cat, or possibly a parrot (or some other intelligent bird). For now, though, we have our rattie girls, and we're happy.

In other news, Tene interviewed again with the New Company on Friday, this time in person (I really missed him while he was gone for two days). Hopefully today we'll find out how the interview went.

Well, that's everything going on right now.

Decisions Decisions

Lately I've been trying to decide what I want for my near- and far-term future. Looking at near-term as within the next year (possibly 2 years), and far-term as 2 to 5 years in the future. I've been having a lot of trouble trying to decide.

Some basic problems I've come up against are that I no longer know what I want to do for my life. I don't think I want to teach anymore (unless I'm teaching college), and I'm pretty much completely certain that I don't want to teach English anymore (unless I can teach creative writing). I don't know what I do want to do, though, just what I don't.

So, here's what I'm debating:
Near-term (from 2010-2011)

• I don't know if I want to continue going to school here in SLC at the Community College. In investigating what I would need to do to get my AS I found out that it's very possible that the schools in San Francisco I would likely apply to wouldn't accept my AS as completion of general education requirements. I was originally planning on completing my AS here because I was afraid of my credits "expiring" (due to some misinformation), which won't happen. So now I don't know what to do.
• If I don't go to school I think I'm going to focus on my cooking and baking, and my writing.
  
• Tene and I were planning on moving to SF after I finished my degree. Now that I might not be finishing my degree here ... should we move sooner? I'm afraid of moving out of UT, and as a side effect away from 95% of my friends.
• I'm trying to decide if I should get a part-time job (regardless of school or not). It would be nice to have some extra income, but I had so much anxiety just with school this semester that I don't know if I would be able to handle a job, even a part-time "monkey-push-the-button" job.
  
• I'm now going to be seeing a psychiatrist for my mood problems. Before we move I would prefer to be on a stable set of medications, if only because I don't want to have to wait even longer to find a psychiatrist (I'm not going to be seeing my new doctor until January ... so ... ).
• I want pets. When and where ever we move next I am so going to make sure that our apartment is pet-friendly. I hope to have three (maybe four!) rats, and possibly a kitty.
• I want to get my digestion problems figured out. I'm debating beginning an Exclusion, or Rotation Diet within the next year.
  
• I want to have our Commitment Ceremony on June 12, our one year anniversary. I mentioned it to my mother, and she pointed out that it might be weird to have this ceremony so long after the "real" wedding. I don't think this is actually too much of a problem. I'm basically going to treat the ceremony as our wedding.

Long-Term (2012-2015)

• I don't know what I want to do with my life. I'm currently debating between some form of Biology (following the lead of friends Jekka and Kayleigh - I am considering Marine Biology), or possibly Physics (with the end goal of teaching college). Another consideration is to get a business degree, or just open a coffee shop, cafe, or clothing boutique (or some other small shop).I'm also considering aspiring to be a housewife - an idea that sounds very nice to me.

That's actually all for now. It's late and I'm having a hard time thinking. So, probably more later!

Nothing Creative Comes to Mind

Good Happenings
- I am enjoying my job
- I am lowering my Lamictal, and should be completely off of it within a month - which means I'll be completely CRAZY MED FREEEE!
((HAPPY DANCE!!!))
- My new Nalgene water bottle is BPA free, which I didn't know until 2 seconds ago :D (But have been worried about all day ... )
- I'm starting to get to a place where I can do the things I want to with my life
- The new cage is almost complete, and I should have 3 new girls in the next week or so

Not-So-Good Happenings
- I am nervous about school starting in a month
- My anxiety attacks haven't gone away yet :|
- I may need to get a second job, but really don't want to
((the raise I was expecting to have a few months ago [after I was done "training"] still hasn't come my way ... ))
- Gas prices suck
- Still can't draw or write decently at all
- I broke my laptop

All in all, I'm doing good - I can't really complain much. Most of my problems are manageable, or will go away with time :) Which I'm grateful for.

Sorta here

Hello all! Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while.

So ... my life ...

((Also, yes this is almost a perfect copy-paste from devArt))

Work
At the moment I'm very much enjoying my job. My coworkers are awesome, my "boss" is one of us, and in all I feel welcome there. They're even accepting to the fact that I have issues at times :D That's really cool to me.

School
Well, you all know I dropped out of SUU spring semester. Since then I've applied to go to SLCC (my GPA was/is too low for the U of U), and have registered for classes this fall. I'm a little worried that I won't do any better here than I did in Cedar. :|

I'm also severely missing Cedar City - or more accurately, SUU. I've had a couple of episodes of randomly crying because I want to be at SUU, but I realize that it isn't ... healthy for me to be there. I'm too far away from my doctors and from Tene, and I just seem to get sick in Cedar :(

My hope is that I'll do well at SLCC this semester, and probably next spring, and then I can transfer to the U of U.

Home Life
Can I just say that I don't like living in this house? That's all I really need to say, right?

Rats
Min and Avi are both doing great. Min's tumor is getting quite large, but so far it isn't inhibiting her ability to get around. Until it does, I'm going to be keeping her around :)

Other
I've been trying to be more social lately, but I think I've been failing horribly. I sorta feel like I've been failing horribly at just about everything lately. It sucks :( I'm trying to improve myself, but I feel like I'm stuck somehow. I can't improve ... but I'm also not getting worse :| Confusing

I'm writing a bit more than I used to, but not very much. I'm also working on my second unseen Kyoot! comic, and have ideas for lots more. Those will probably start getting completed soon.

And, I can't think of anything else to say.

--Michelle "Washi" Maxfield

PS: It is too bloody hot right now. I HATE SUMMER D:

Jobs, Birthdays, and Crazy Meds

Hello again, at last! I post after nearly a month of silence! I promise to be better about blogging in the future :D

So, good news in my life: I've got a job! I work at a company called APS as a receptionist and data-entry clerk. I'm still training, but I really like the people I work with, as well as the general atmosphere. I don't have many hours, but the hours I do have are great for when I start school this summer (or fall, depending on some other stuff).

Also, I am now 21! I am completely and utterly legal! Which doesn't change much except allowing me to purchase alcohol. Which I don't drink. Or gamble, but I don't have money ... hmmm ...

My girls are both doing well, yay for rattiness! They're so cute, although they're back into their small cage. First paycheck is going to go toward buying a new, larger cage. Joy.

Bad news? I'm getting off of my crazy meds (Lamictal and Zoloft), which is taking a while. My doctor finally said it was okay to lower my Zoloft and then go off, and we'd look at Lamictal later.

The good part about this is I'm feeling alive, my creativeness is coming back in force, and I feel more energetic and - in general - happy. I can't say for certain, but I think I've started laughing more, which is good.

The bad part is that I'm finally off of my Zoloft, and I've been having the worst withdrawal symptoms. Headache (constant, piercing, and it seems immune to painkiller), dizziness, tingling in my hands and feet ... I've had horrible nightmares, night sweats, and general problems sleeping. I'm tired all the time (which could be from mono ... ), and it 's hard for me to concentrate. I hate it. The headache is the worst part. That and the tingling.

Well, that's all for now,
Fare thee well!