So in September, without my parents, I flew to Alaska and got on board a cruise ship for three weeks away from my mother, the longest time I have ever been away from her. The only day I was really homesick was on my 20th birthday when the phones weren’t working so I couldn’t call her. So I think I did fairly well considering how poorly I usually take separation from her.

I bought a new digital camera for the trip and took about three thousand pictures. A few of those I will try to put up on my website. However, the latest news of interest for me is that I just got a really nice flat screen TV placed in my office and my playstation 2 is connected to it and… It’s really fun!!! So… if you don’t see more pictures you will know I am enjoying my new screen:) Or I might be working… Maybe.

I love seeing the clouds from airplane windows.

On our way to the cruise ship we drove past majestic mountains and got to see a few glimpses of glacier ice.

This is the Diamond Princess. An appropriate name I thought for a cruise ship to have my 20th birthday on even though the “diamonds” I wore were Cubic Zirconium.

What’s my favorite part of a cruise? Well, primarily it’s the cruise experience itself but I definitely am fond of the deserts!!! They have sugar free… And it is so good…

I had a great time on the cruise. I made it to the finals in the Princess PopStar Competition. I went to lectures and craft sessions. I actually went to tea in the afternoons sometimes. I got to see incredible sights on shore. I got up on stage with a ventriloquist act. I got to play with a Wii:) I also called in to a live tv show! And for some odd reason when I was riding in the elevator very often people would look at me and then say something to the effect of “Oh, I saw you sing” or “You’re very brave to go up on stage” or some other such remark that made me feel quite important and very pleased about how many people knew me by sight by the end of the cruise. Of course, I did stand out from the standard passenger considering that most of the passengers were in the 65 and older catagory and while there were some younger passengers on board(as in the 30 to 65 category) there were very few twenty year olds. So I was unique. And I had a great time! And surprisingly, I only gained about a pound!

This morning however the books I was putting on my PSP were not in the public domain… However I had every right to put them on my PSP because I had written them myself. From the depths of my computers hard drive I pulled out Elaine’s Pearls and my more recent(though still a long time ago) Dragon Trilogy and converted them into Ebooks for my PSP that way I can read them again. And hopefully, they will inspire me to write more.

While I don’t think I have what it takes to write professionally I remember having fun doing it. Also, it’s a very inexpensive thing to do. And saying “I just completed writing a book” sounds a lot more impressive than “I just won a video game!!!” or even “I’m getting much better at jumping!!!” The last statement I have been saying lately. Jumping has in the past been difficult for me(in video games that is). It go so bad that when I got to a point in a video game where I would get to a point in which a lot of jumping was required I would start referring to it as “my bane“. However I would doggedly keep on trying, and trying, and trying because I wanted to see what would happen next in the video game and what the ending was and eventually I would make it.

In Kingdom Hearts one of the scenarios involves you following tigger’s moves exactly as he jumps from tree stump to tree stump. These tree stumps were of varying sizes and heights and placed at varying distances from each other and if you landed on the ground instead of the tree stump you had to start over…

When I initially failed miserably I didn’t try again for a while. But when I did try again… I made it. Then, all of a sudden, it was as if I could JUMP!!! YAY!!! Future jumping challenges became somehow easier. And while realizing that it is a very unimportant thing in the grand scheme of things to be able to handle platform jumping in video games I am still quite proud of myself for persevering and becoming better at jumping.

So that is why, before I leave, I am writing a code. so “a” might mean “Hi Mommy!” and “l” might mean, “I ate a really delicious desert”. That way I can quickly compose messages without sitting and pressing buttons for a long time. Admittingly, what I do could quite often be described as pushing buttons for a long time but some button pushing is definitely more interesting than others…

So I am very happy to have my new silver PSP!!!

In other, less pleasant news, I had my very first cavity/filling today. The cavity was discovered on Tuesday when I went for my regular dental cleaning/checkup and it was discovered that I had a small problem on one of my upper right molars.

I was really nervous this morning as I went to the dentist to get my very first filling. I mentioned to the dental hygeniest who prepared me for the process that I was nervous, having never done this before, and she was very nice and reassuring. So was the dentist when he came in. I had a local anesthetic in my mouth and the stuff they put in tasted weird and my mouth felt very funny for a while. The actual filling process didn’t take too long though. I just kept very still with my mouth wide open with the thoughts that if I moved suddenly it could possibly cause some drastic problem… I was really nervous through the whole proceeding however I felt quite certain the dentist and his assistant knew exactly what they were doing having done it many times before. It was my first time though. I am a little proud of myself for going almost twenty years without getting a cavity, albeit some of that time I didn’t have teeth! I am also sad that I no longer can say I’ve never had a cavity and I am now going to try to brush my teeth a lot more than I used to. Despite the fact that it wasn’t so bad getting the tooth filled, it’s not my favorite way to spend the day!!! Therefore I will try to keep those visits as infrequent as possible.

So what did I learn from this experience? First of all, that it is possible for me not to enjoy doing things in Excel. Secondly, if it is a choice between entering sales leads and brushing my teeth I will actually brush my teeth. Thirdly, putting off certain fun stuff until a big seemingly endless task is done just causes me to do semi boring and unimportant stuff while I procrastinate doing the long boring job so that nothing I want to accomplish or need to accomplish gets done.

And lastly, breaking a job down into smaller quantities helps! A LOT! Just counting how many sales leads I had to go helped change what was a like a looming black cloud of doom into something quantifiable that could be changed into little puffs of unpleasantness. Or something like that. Having smaller quantities that can be measured is very nice. Also, having a deadline, real or imaginary, also helps. Like knowing that somebody else could hit the buy it now on that beautiful silver PSP!!! When something you aren’t excited about is “due whenever” it generally does get put to back of the list when there are other fun things to do.

And my new game has just finished downloading from Itunes so I am going to sync my Ipod then be quite busy for a while:)

But here, at work there are no video game consoles(though my DS is a standard fixture in my purse but that is a “handheld” system as apposed to “console”). I also don’t have a bicycle here. And I am here for most of my waking hours because I come into work with Mom and Dad (I’m not driving yet) and thus am here until they go home around six (if we’re lucky, normally it’s later. Or so it feels like). And guess what? I work part time!!! So I’m not working the whole time and as I have plenty of fun time for the things I like to do, playing games, reading personal finance websites, walking out to check the mail even though I know it isn’t going to be there but I like to go outside and I like to have it at least look like I have a purpose for walking outside, and so forth. I think I lost my place.

Anyway, I have a lot more time here than I do at home. Thus, since I am now logged into my blog here I may post more!

The phone just rang. “Hi!” says the computer recorded voice, “You have just qualified for (insert telemarketer sales pitch here which I didn’t listen to since I have permission to hang up on telemarketers)”. Right now Mom and Dad are out so I am sort of “babysitting the phone”. I am very good with the phrase “He’s not at his desk right now, Would you like his voice mail?”. For some reason though when I say, “The Light Source, Elizabeth speaking” sometimes the person on the other end will say “Hello, Alyssa” so it’s possible my enunciation could use some work. That or I ought to change my name to Alyssa.

I’d nearly forgotten how much fun it is to post. Admittingly, I don’t think this would win out over my PS2 and the exciting Kingdom Hearts game I’m in the process of playing but it is definitely winning out over most of the things here, specifically entering sales leads… A while back, as in a few days or weeks, I’m not sure, I was given a task of taking a multitude of emails that had names and addresses in them and put them all into a nice neat excell spreadsheet.

I love Excell and making spreadsheets. For the fun of it, sometimes even over playing video games, I will make budget spreadsheets and spreadsheets about how much saved now will turn into enough money for me to live on when I’m a hundred if invested well (It’s only about $200.00 to grow into the equivalent of $40,000.00 in today’s dollars when I’m 100.) and I did all the way down to sixty which was several thousand dollars invested now to grow to 40,000 in today’s dollars. However, to get back to work, or at least writing about it. I discovered that when it comes to copying and pasting peoples names, addresses, zip codes, and email addresses and so forth into an excell spreadsheet… I really don’t like it! So for the past while I’ve been actively procrastinating doing it (I’m not done yet, but my blog is getting a post! Besides, I’m supposed to be answering the phone right now and at the moment it isn’t ringing(hopefully future employers don’t read my website!)). However progress has been made. The first list was so long… 647 different entries most of which had to have nine different copy and pastes each. Finally, some aid in motivation arrived when I saw a silver playstation portable(with accessories!) on Ebay with a buy it now of $100.00 and $13.60 shipping… I said to myself, “Self, you can’t buy it until the PLSN Sales Leads are entered… And somebody else could buy it before you do!” Before that day was over the PLSN sales leads were entered, the Playstation Portable was purchased(I really like video games) And without my realizing it, a large portion of my task was done as that was actually the longest list of the eight or so lists I had. All the rest have been much shorter. I only have two lists left and I’ve done three or more today. So… It’s getting down.

I have learned a few things while doing this. However, it is time for me to get back to work so perhaps I shall mention the moral to this story later. One thing, I’m going to be really glad when it’s all done. And I’m especially looking forward to having my PSP!!! I understand you can put RSS feeds of blogs on there so I can read personal finance blogs in the car!!!

One major thing is, I’ve discovered GAMESTOP!!! Walmart used to be my favorite store but that position has been usurped by Gamestop. Gamestop, that blissful store in which fun video games may be purchased for less than $10.00!!! Providing of course that they are used and several years old and for a video game system that has been replaced with the newest model. I had a Gamecube I purchased in August of last year as my birthday present and this year in August I got a Playstation 2!!! And a hoard of games:) So far I have spent $123.03 on my playstation 2 and games I have the new style “slim” system plus 10 games including Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. I really like the combination of Gamestop and Ebay that got me all of that. And i did trade in a few old GBA games to get some of the PS2 games but for total cash spent so far, I think I’m doing really well.

I’ve really been enjoying Kingdom Hearts. I love actually “being in” the disney worlds. Walking around in Wonderland and riding the magic carpet in Agrabah was really fun. It’s a really neat game, and the best part is, I’m only part way through the first game and I still have a lot of that game and the whole sequel to look forward to!!! It will be a while before I get to the eight other games I own:) The nice thing is that my spending for the next couple of months is likely to be down while I play with what I just got.

Incidentally… My 20th birthday is on September 26th and a Gamestop Giftcard would be a present that would get plenty of smiles and elation from me.

April however the ban on spending was to be lifted and naturally I have been looking forward to April for most of March.

On March 31st whilest browsing the used video games offered at Amazon.com thinking about what I planned to buy in April I noticed an incredible deal on a video game I had been wanting for some time now. However, it was still March, and there was only one of the video game… and I was determined not to break my resolve even though I would be sad that I missed the video game should someone else buy it before I did… Then I remembered that April started at midnight!!!

So at 12:07 A.M. April 1st 2008 I completed the purchase of my new video game. It was $8.98 including shipping. And despite being a bit sleepy today I am very glad I stayed up and got it and even more glad that I kept the goal I set for myself:)

Incidentally… If the pictures following show recognizable characters from certain movies and/or books they are not necessarily the same characters in the comic book, though there is perhaps some connection between the two. Or something like that. I most certainly did make the action figures I just bought them (Most of the ones used in this comic book were recently purchased this weekend:)(I had a fun time shopping!)). And now for the comic book! Or comic strip… Or whatever the following is… And I didn’t have spell check on the computer I wrote the dialogue on so some of the characters may be speaking a “dialect” or talking about objects that sound similar to other objects but in fact are not… And there is potential for a sequel. And hopefully without further ado, the comic book!

I wrote a valentine to “Someone”. I had just watched the Music Man in which movie is a song entitled “Goodnight my Someone.” so I was inspired to write “Happy Valentines Day my Someone.” I wrote the date on the valentine I carefully picked out so someday when I eventually meet/figure-out-who-is my “Someone” I can show it to him and he can know that on February 14th, 2008 on my nineteenth Valentines day, I was thinking about him. And I definitely wasn’t with someone else…

And since I am not expecting to get any valentines I thought that I would write one to myself from “Someone”. So I picked out one I knew I’d like and was appropriate to the occasion(and it matched the one I wrote him perfectly) and addressed it to “The most Charming, Gorgeous, Intelligent, Creative, and Talented young lady in this room.” I wanted it to be flattering but truthful and as long as we are alone when I show it to him I think it will be quite truthful. Hopefully when I actually have a valentine he will address my cards without the “in this room” and add even more pleasant adjectives:)

In the play “The Importance of Being Earnest” one of the heroines wrote letters to herself from her future husband. When she finally met him and said that she had saved all of his letters tied up in pink ribbon he said “I never wrote you any letters” and she said, “No, you didn’t. I had to write them all myself!”. I don’t think I’m going to go that far… But I did write a valentine:) And next year if I remember and if I don’t have someone else to do it for me, I’ll probably write another. My, next Valentines Day I’ll be TWENTY!!! That feels… Frighteningly Old. And by old I do not mean that Twenty is old but merely that when you are Twenty you are out of your teens and are probably going to be considered as an adult whether you feel like being one or not. One the bright side, my mother might consider me almost old enough to meet someone… In the meantime I am certainly waiting for the right “someone” and I trust that at the right time God will see fit for us to meet, fall in love, and get married. Nice thought