Third Life

Bad Blogger

2009-09-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

I know. I'm the worst blogger ever. It's just so much stuff has been happened I kind of let this blog fall by the wayside.
I started my job at the casino. It's a very easy job but I like the people I work with and on slow nights I spend most of time talking with them or reading or writing my zombie novel.

Rick and I got married! The wedding was in March in Las Vegas and our families all came. It was amazing. We had so much fun and it wasn't stressful at all because the wedding chapel planners did everything. Our minister seemed really nice and he was...it's just that he was completely different during the ceremony. All of sudden he had this crazy evangelist preacher southern accent. And before and after the accent was gone. So I had to concentrate really hard on Rick and sort of tune him out so I didn't collapse into giggles.

My youngest sister got married a few months later in Jamaica. We had so much fun there! I can't wait to go back. Jamaica is beautiful and it was a great wedding even though it started pouring rain as soon as the ceremony started. We were all drenched but it was very memorable and we had a great time.

I also got very sick a few months ago with bronchitis. And so I decided to quit smoking which has been extremely difficult. Rick quit with me and I couldn't have done it without his support. For a little while there I really felt like I was losing my mind. I didn't realize how strong this addiction can be. I'm sure I was very difficult to live with too. Poor Rick :( There were lots of times he just held me and tried to make me laugh while I ranted and raved about how life was just not worth living without a cigarette. How jealous I was of people who were still "allowed" to smoke. It gets a little easier every day but I still have alarming relapses in my thoughts sometimes. If they aren't around I won't want to smoke them but otherwise...it's something I will have to be vigilant about for the rest of my life. I have to keep telling myself it's worth it. I want a long and happy life with Rick. I like being able to breathe and exercise without coughing up a lung. I LOVE the way food tastes now. And I don't smell anymore! Those are real tangible advantages.

I'm trying to write a book now. I've always wanted to write books. It's the only "career" I could see myself doing when I was young and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I've been an avid reader my whole life and there is nothing I love more than a good book. I'd love to write good books that people would get lost in. About a month ago, I thought how fun it would be to write a book about my favorite scary subject. Zombies! There is nothing that scares me more (in a good way) than a good zombie book or movie. So I've been working out outlines and characters and actually starting to put my story together which is really fun and exciting. Even if it never gets published it is still a joy to be writing it.

Bridget the Cat is doing well. We moved to an apartment that allows cats and dogs so we don't have to hide her anymore. She loves to hang out on the balcony and watch the hummingbirds. She also likes to escape onto the roof. And once she jumped down onto the ground and spent hours hiding in hedges and I was in tears and Rick was so tired of searching for her. We went home and I was just hoping she would come home and she did five minutes later. I heard her meowing at the door to be let in. She knows where we live and comes home when she damn well pleases. I'm still not comfortable with letting her wander wherever she wants. I know she can take care of herself. It's just there are a lot of things out there which can hurt her.

So that's my update. I'm sorry it's been so long. I'll try not to let another half year go by. :(

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-28T20:42:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season! Christmas was great here. Santa was good to all of us. He even brought presents for Bridget. It was a gloomy, rainy day and we just stayed in and snuggled up. I've been away from my family before on Christmas. It's just not possible to always get together when we all live in different places. I've come to terms with that. However, it was the first Christmas when all my siblings were separated. All four of us were in a different places so that was a bit strange. Last Christmas, I could phone my mother and hear all my siblings in the background having a great time. I talked to all of them but it was still a little sad. I think we all missed eachother.
Tomorrow, I start a new job! It's at a resort and casino and I'm working in room service. It was a very long hiring process as I had to get a gaming license even though my position has nothing to do with gaming. It involved an extensive background check and lots of paperwork and the whole process took about a month but everything cleared and I start tomorrow. I'm a little jittery and nervous about it. I always am when I'm going into a new place. I think that's normal. I just hope I can sleep tonight!
I haven't been able to be on SL for any extended period of time lately but I did pop on a few times to pick up some of the great freebies my favorite designers were giving out. It was great!
I don't seem to have much to say tonight. My mind is too full with all the things I'm supposed to memorize from my new employee handbook. I keep running over the company motto and the mission statement.
I want to let my friend Joonie know that everything is fine with me since I know she worries about me when I'm not blogging or on SL as much as usual. I'm sorry I've been so distant. My New Year's resolution is to write in this blog at least once a week! It's good for me to write here and I love the blogger community.
I wish you all the best New Year! I hope it brings blessings to everyone.

Another Winter Picture

2008-12-02T22:00:00.001-08:00

Alicia's Winter Picture Challenge!

2008-11-30T13:24:00.000-08:00

I'm not a very good photographer. I still don't know how to play around with Windlight although I have tried. But I like dressing up and taking pictures and thought Alicia's challenge sounded fun. So I dressed up warm and put on my skates and went to this beautiful sim I found called Midsomer Meadows. I don't know how to put in SLURL's either but if you go into search and put in Midsomer meadows you will find it. There is a winter wonderland there!

Astrid is also a much better skater than I am.

Making snow angels!

And lastly, my favorite kind of winter. In the hot tub in my beach tree house! With my bright pink Christmas tree!

A Treehouse

2008-11-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

Rick and I rent a beautiful little piece of land in the Estate of Mind sim. It's a quiet neighborhood and the people who live there have created a beautiful neighborhood. We've had it about a year now and recently I thought I'd like a change. We had a simple house before and it was nicely decorated but I have a thing for treehouses and thought I'd like a change. So we went shopping last night and found a great one!

I spent a long time rearranging things and placing my furniture and here it is! Astrid and Frey's beach treehouse!

A romantic picnic spot on the beach.

A campfire and swing

The first level of the treehouse.

The only enclosed room in the treehouse

And the top level with a little hot tub!

I love my new SL home! Come and visit sometime! IM Astrid Foulon for the Landmark!

Updates

2008-11-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

Wow! A lot of things have been happening. I haven't blogged in so long. First of all, Bridget's spaying went very well. She had to wear a lampshade collar for ten days and she hated that. I just took it off her a few days ago and she was so happy. She spent a whole hour cleaning herself and running all over the place. About a week after the surgery I noticed a strawberry sized lump under the incision. We took her to the vet and she had an infection. It didn't seem to bother her but it't important not to ignore these things. So she is taking Amoxicillin now for a week. Twice a day I squirt the medicine into her mouth with a syringe. It smells like bananas. I think she likes it. The bump is going away.

Now all this Bridget stuff happened a week before we were supposed to move to Utah. It was very stressful. We weren't sleeping and everything was packed so we were eating off paper plates or just getting fast food. Rick had some health problems and we went to the doctor. All this stress started making us think. And we started talking about things we had just pushed to the back of our minds because we didn't want to think about the disadvantages of what were thinking of doing. There were a lot of things to think about, risking all our money on a business venture that may not work out. And since the business is on park land, it may be hard to sell should we ever want to sell it. The current owners are having trouble selling it because of the bad economy. We also didn't have a place to live. We could stay in the cabin during the off-season but we'd have to buy a house trailer eventually.

And it's not like we hate it here. I love living here. The traffic gets to me sometimes but we have everything we need here and we love our place. We decided not to do it. In some ways, it was sad to let go of the dream but in other ways it's a relief. I just want us to be together no matter where we are. So we've given up on this dream for now. But I have lots of dreams and they are coming true every day. Rick and Bridget are both doing really well now and I'm so happy about that.

Yesterday I bought a wedding dress! It was a lot of fun, trying on all these fancy princess gowns. I felt like I was in SL! The second gown I tried on was "the one." As soon as I put it on I couldn't stop smiling. It felt perfectly right for me and I've never felt so beautiful. So I bought it and put it in my hall closet which we never use. It's in a garment bag, but even so I want it kept far away from kitty claws. I also bought some beautiful shoes! I'm posting a picture of them here. The dress pictures will have to wait until after the wedding because of all that superstitious stuff. I don't believe in it but my mother would be upset if Rick happened to see the pictures before the wedding so out of respect for her feelings I'll go along with all the hoopla. But the shoes don't count! Do they? I don't know anything about this wedding stuff. haha.

Cat scratch fever!

2008-10-23T13:36:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been a bit difficult. Bridget has been acting strange. Yowling and crying at all hours of the night so we don't get any sleep. She has just been acting very agitated and I thought she might be sick but she is eating fine. Then I did some research and found out that she is at the right age for her first heat. Poor Bridget! I wish there was some kitty Midol I could give her.

So we made an appointment to get her fixed on Monday. I know it's a routine, standard procedure and most likely she will be fine. But I am very worried and I wish we didn't have to do it. But I think it's a good idea. Cats can go into heat very frequently and it will help her to calm down a bit. I just hope it goes well. Please pray for Bridget on Monday or send good thoughts her way!

Only a few more days!

2008-10-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

Rick and I are counting down the days now. Almost everything is packed and ready to go. We spend our time watching movies and playing with Bridget and talking about how excited we are to go to Kodachrome. We've also set up a website/blog! It's kbcabins.com and the link is on my list. Go check it out! Right now we're just killing time waiting to go. Waiting to get started. It's very exciting but why is it that the quicker you want time to pass the slower it goes? And vice versa!
I'm enjoying the California warmth while I still can. It will be a cold winter in Utah. But not as cold or long as the winters I'm used to in Canada. It might even be kind of fun to see some snow again! From the window of a cozy cabin. With a mug of hot chocolate!

Food meme. Yummy!

2008-09-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Alicia and Dyami's blogs and I love food so I thought this would be fun! I excercise every day because it gives me energy and helps me maintain a healthy weight. But I'm not a dieter. I believe it's good for me to enjoy anything I want in moderation. Otherwise I feel deprived and resentful and that's not fun. I'd rather enjoy my food than be a size zero!
So on to my favorites!

Breakfast: Anything from IHOP. Especially the Rooty Tooty Fresh n' Fruity. Or the new fruit crepes they are advertising now. Thin fluffy crepes filled with a sweet cream cheese and fruit filling. I celebrated my successful driving test with one of those! If I'd failed I would have had one of those to cheer myself up!

Pizza: I like thin crust pizza with olives, tomatoes and feta cheese. Poor Rick likes pepperoni and mushrooms or bacon so we don't usually share an order. We both love a nice Sangiovese red wine with our pizza. Yummy!

Ice cream: I can't choose. I love all ice cream except for bubblegum flavored. I love hot fudge sundaes. I love Coldstone most of all!

Caffeinated beverage: I love flavored coffee but I can only drink it in the afternoon or evening because it upsets my stomach in the morning. So I don't end up drinking a lot of caffeine beverages because they'll keep me awake at night.

Vegetable: Asparagus and certain types of squash. At Christmas my Grandmother made this turnip dish with maple syrup, brown sugar and apples. It was like a dessert. But I'm not sure that counts as I'm not a big fan of turnip if it isn't drenched in apples, maple syrup and brown sugar.

Fruit: Granny Smith apples and peaches.

Dessert: How do I love dessert? Let me count the ways. I love chocolate cake with thick gooey icing. I love creme brulee. I love ice cream cake, cheesecake. You name it, I love it. My newest favorite dessert is something called a "Mormon Scone" I don't like scones as I've known them. They are dry tasteless tea biscuit type things. But on a recent trip to Utah I had the mormon version of a scone which is a yummy, fried, doughnut type thing with sugar or cinnamon. It's amazing. And so fattening. I could feel them settle right on my thighs. And it was worth it!!!

Fast food chain: Being from Canada, I have to say Americans know how to do fast-food! There is so much more available here!!! And I have to go with Alicia here and say Sonic is my favorite. I love their drinks and burgers and wraps and their cheddar poppers and how you can get breakfast any time of the day.

Store bought soda or beer: I like Coke Zero. It tastes better to me than diet coke. I'm not a big beer drinker at all but I've been known to enjoy a Corona with lime.

Type of cuisine: Mexican, Italian, would sushi be considered Japanese cuisine? Because I love sushi.

Wow. That was fun. I'm really hungry now too. Time for dinner!

Seven Ultra Lounge

2008-09-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

What a night in SL! I've been hearing a lot about this new club "Seven Ultra Lounge." It's supposed to be very exclusive and fancy and you have to pay to get a membership. I thought it would be fun to buy one of their land passes so I could check it out. But I didn't want to go alone. So I asked my dear friend Joonie if she would go with me. So a ravishing redhead and a beautiful blonde got all dressed up and set out in the night to rub shoulders with the beautiful people.

It was so much fun! I really liked the place. I wasn't so sure about the music as it isn't really my personal taste but I will say that the genre of music they were playing certainly suited the ambience of the place. And they had a great dance floor with lots of fun animations. Joonie and I had a blast with those. My speakers weren't working so I attached some outside ones and wasn't that impressed so I turned them off. I was having too much fun to need music anyway.

I might buy a month's membership just for fun. It was fun to dress up and swish around. Joonie recognized a few famous avatars. One of whom was drinking himself into a stupor. Clearly fame isn't everything as Joonie said! hehe

It was hard to take pictures with all the neon lighting. But I got a good one of us dancing. For some reason, Joonie's hair wouldn't show up when I took pictures of us at the bar so I took a picture of us from behind the bar where the glare wasn't so bad. And because I have a shoe fetish I had to take a picture of our gorgeous shoes.

I had a great time. I would definitely go back. But I think the main reason I had so much fun is because I was with my friend. Thanks Joonie! We have to do it again sometime! I've missed you :)

September is awesome!

2008-09-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

I took my second driving test today and I ......PASSED!!!!! I am so relieved and so happy. I don't know what I would have done if I failed it again. We are moving to Utah soon and the closest DMV is very far away from where we will be living so I really wanted to have my license before we moved. I didn't hit the curb this time thank goodness. The poor kid who went before me went over the median and popped a tire. But everything went smoothly and I'm a licensed driver now and it's amazing how much more fun driving is when I don't have a test looming over me.

I also recently came back from my sister's wedding in Canada. It was so much fun and so good to be with my family again. Rachel looked beautiful and it was such a good reception. Everyone was relaxed and happy. Even with my divorced parents and aunts and uncles and the various new spouses. Everyone was considerate of Rachel's special day and put all their tension aside. The family dynamics can be hard sometimes but I was proud of them all for being gracious and mature and kind to one another. It was actually the first time in years that I saw my father and mother in the same room. And it was nice that they were civil to eachother. Even friendly. I'm so glad it was good for Rachel because I know she was worried about it.

And Rick and I are officially engaged!!! He surprised me one night and I said yes. And I'm happier than I ever imagined I could be. I never thought about marrying someone until I met Rick. It just feels right and natural and wonderful.

Just a pic of my family after the ceremony. My mom was the minister and I'm on the left. And an adorable picture of Bridget that Rick took. She's such a camera star!

What was I thinking??

2008-09-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

I just love the look on this girl's face as she surveys the hot mess that is me.

A vision in blue latex and tie-dye!

2008-09-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

I really love SL fashion blogs. Especially ones that poke fun of SL fashion tastes. I was looking through my inventory at some of the first outfits and hair styles that my confused noobie self thought were simply ravishing in the good old days.

I thought to myself how much fun it would be to actually make it into one of those fashion mistake blogs. So I hauled out my blue latex catsuit and gorgeous blinging color change shoes and headed off to Armidi! I also found an old outfit appropriately titled "Tie-Dye Nightmare." The name alone should have been a clue.

I don't think I was spotted by any of the fashion police :( But it was fun to totter around in my sexy shoes and swish my stiff horror of a hairdo around!

Some pictures

2008-08-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

Zion National Park
Bridget the travelling cat
A very phallic rock in Kodachrome Basin State Park
Beautiful!
Rick and I

New adventures and Hedwig

2008-08-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

I've been away for quite a while. We went camping in Southern Utah and went exploring. It was a great trip and it's led to the discovery of a new adventure we are going to be embarking on. There is a business for sale in Utah. A camp store, guest cabins and stables in a state park. We're thinking of buying it and moving there. I can't believe we might be living in such a beautiful place. I'm also excited about being my own boss and learning how to run a business. I've been wondering what kind of job I'd like to do and I was getting a bit discouraged. Now this has kind of fallen in front of us and it's perfect. I can't wait. I hope we can do it. I'll have to learn about horses though because we would be doing trail rides. That will be a huge adventure in itself! I also saw a great movie called "Hedwig and the angry inch." It's about a transsexual rock star from East Berlin and I just loved it. I loved the music and the singing and the characters. I would highly recommend it. Here are the lyrics to my favorite song from the movie "The Origin of Love" and the video from Youtube if I can figure out how to put it on here!

When the earth was still flat,
And the clouds made of fire,
And mountains stretched up to the sky,
Sometimes higher,

Folks roamed the earth Like big rolling kegs.
They had two sets of arms. They had two sets of legs.
They had two faces peering
Out of one giant head
So they could watch all around them
As they talked; while they read
And they never knew nothing of love.
It was before the origin of love.
The origin of love

And there were three sexes then,
One that looked like two men
Glued up back to back,
Called the children of the sun.
And similar in shape and girth
Were the children of the earth.
They looked like two girls
Rolled up in one.
And the children of the moon
Were like a fork shoved on a spoon.
They were part sun, part earth
Part daughter, part son.
The origin of love

Now the gods grew quite scared
Of our strength and defiance
And Thor said,"I'm gonna kill them all With my hammer,
Like I killed the giants."
And Zeus said, "No,You better let me
Use my lightening, like scissors,
Like I cut the legs off the whales
And dinosaurs into lizards."
Then he grabbed up some bolts
And he let out a laugh,
Said, "I'll split them right down the middle
Gonna cut them right up in half."
And then storm clouds gathered above
Into great balls of fire
And then fire shot down
From the sky in bolts
Like shining bladesOf a knife.
And it ripped
Right through the flesh
Of the children of the sun
And the moon
And the earth.
And some Indian god
Sewed the wound up into a hole,
Pulled it round to our belly
To remind us of the price we pay.
And Osiris and the gods of the Nile
Gathered up a big storm
To blow a hurricane,
To scatter us away,
In a flood of wind and rain,
And a sea of tidal waves,
To wash us all away,
And if we don't behave
They'll cut us down again
And we'll be hopping round on one foot
And looking through one eye.

Last time I saw you
We had just split in two.
You were looking at me.
I was looking at you.
You had a way so familiar,
But I could not recognize,
Cause you had blood on your face;I had blood in my eyes.
But I could swear by your expression
That the pain down in your soul
Was the same as the one down in mine.
That's the pain,
Cuts a straight line Down through the heart;
We called it love.
So we wrapped our arms around each other,
Trying to shove ourselves back together.
We were making love,
Making love.
It was a cold dark evening,
Such a long time ago,
When by the mighty hand of Jove,
It was the sad story
How we became
Lonely two-legged creatures,
It's the story of
The origin of love
That's the origin of love

One more!! haha

2008-07-29T21:06:00.001-07:00

More fashion fun with Astrid

2008-07-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with Astrid and shopping. Oh I love shopping in SL. I tried to wait for the Lucky chair at Crimson Shadow to get the beautiful blue dress I saw on Alicia's blog but I couldn't wait and a friend of Rick's ended up just giving me the lindens to go get it. haha. Thank you Tommy!! I love it!

Channelling Martha Stewart!

2008-07-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

My little sister is getting married in early September and I am a bridesmaid! I live so far away that I was feeling a little bit sad that I couldn't really be there for her to help with the planning. I can't even be there for the shower. I did get to go to her dress fitting when we were in Canada last week and she looks gorgeous! She was telling me that she was having trouble deciding on what to do about favors for the people at the reception. This wedding is on a pretty tight budget and she was worried she wouldn't be able to afford anything nice. Then the light bulb went on in my head! SOAP! So I told her I would do all the favors for her and she was so happy! So the past few days I've been making 120 little heart and rose shaped soaps with a honey almond and apple raspberry scent. I've been wrapping them in ivory tulle and tying them up with ribbon. I feel like Martha Stewart or something!
It feels good to know I'm helping her out in some small way and she has one less thing to stress over. Although she is a very good bride- to- be. Not at all a bridezilla. She's only had three months to plan the wedding so she tells me she doesn't have a lot of time to stress over details because everything has to be decided so quickly. It's going to be a very interesting wedding. She's walking up the aisle to a string quartet playing "Smashing Pumpkins" and the reception is in a barn out in the woods. My mom is a little bit horrified. But I think the wedding will be just like my sister. Laid-back and unpretentious and lots of fun.
Bridget the cat is doing well. She is finally flea free and is putting on some healthy weight. She's into EVERYTHING. I'll find her in cupboards or up on top of book cases. And she wakes us up promptly at 5 am every morning. It's a little bit exhausting but we love her :)

Bridget

2008-07-19T07:36:00.000-07:00

We have Bridget with us again! Last night we picked her up from Rick's daughter's house. She looks so healthy and she's put on weight. She's also got a lot more energy. She wants to play ALL the time. I slept ok last night but she woke us up very early.
I'm not sure what we will do with her. We aren't supposed to have pets here but we feel kind of responsible for her now. Do we just bring her to a shelter and hope for the best? We've given her a good start. It's just hard. What if she doesn't get adopted? Or what if irresponsible people adopt her? We are involved now! Unfortunately, she still has fleas. Not as many as before but enough to be a nuisance. We'll need to take her for a flea bath and a vet visit. I can't stand them. They are so creepy and ugly. I found one on my arm this morning. She doesn't seem bothered by them but I sure am! :)
She's sitting on a chair right now staring intently at my pet fish and my toad. She's such a magnificent hunter!

I'm Back!

2008-07-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

The trip to Canada was a great success. Nothing bad happened. The flights were easy, the luggage was not lost, no car accidents or injuries. It was very interesting to be back in my hometowns again. Everything looked lush and green. Southern Ontario in the summer is like that. And very humid. I've become accustomed to the the dry California air so it was a bit of a shock. Like breathing in wet cotton. But it was so good to see my family again. And I loved having Rick with me. It was the first time he met my father and my sister and brother. My mother came to visit us a few months ago with my other sister but the rest of the family had never met him before. It kind of brought my "two worlds" together at last.
My mother is recovering well from her surgery even though she had a bad relapse just before we arrived. She's feeling better day by day and I was glad I could see her and know she will be ok. She put us to work doing all the things she can't manage right now. She's a bit of a taskmaster actually. Even when she isn't sick! But that's my mom and I love her.
Even though we had a great trip, I was so glad to get home and be in our own place and our own bed again. I think we are a bit tired from all the running around. And I'm glad to be back online and catching up on all my favorite blogs!

Just some pictures :)

2008-07-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

Rick and I leave for Canada tomorrow to visit my family! I'm so excited. We're very busy trying to get everything packed and ready. Bridget is doing well with Rick's son and daughter and I'm really glad she has a safe place to stay while we are gone.
We've both been on SL a bit lately, catching up with friends. Rick likes to surf. I like to shop and I've been redecorating our house in SL! I had a good talk with Joonie and joined the Ch'know group! I'm looking forward to going to a hump day party lol.
Here are just some pics of my dolphin Luna, a groundhog I found that is just adorable and really moves, and me lounging in my beautiful new beach bed!

Update on Bridget

2008-07-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

Well Rick and I are exhausted. It's so hard taking care of a kitten. We've also been waging war on the fleas for the past two days. She's doing a lot better now but we don't really know what to do with her. The shelters are not very easy to get in touch with and the no-kill one we wanted to bring her to wouldn't take her because we don't live in that particular area.
Rick's son and daughter decided to take her for us because we're going to Canada soon. When we get back we can try to find her a good home or a good shelter.
When we dropped her off she was all calm and sleepy in my arms. Then she saw the dog. It's the nicest dog. Just a big puppy. But Bridget went crazy when she saw him and dug her claws right into my skin and howled and hissed like a demon. I guess she doesn't like dogs very much. But she has a nice safe place to stay in one of the bedrooms and they will take good care of her.
I miss her. I know we will sleep well tonight. I was too excited to sleep last night. She was very good and slept the whole night but I kept waking up in case she started crying or had a problem.
Now all there is to remind us of her is her food dish and a few stray fleas. I hate fleas!!!

Bridget the Lost Birthday Kitten

2008-07-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long! I've been pretty busy and haven't made time. Rick and I are going to Canada in a few days to visit my family. It's Rick's birthday today. He doesn't like to celebrate it very much. He doesn't even want a cake with candles!!! But this morning a little birthday gift showed up on our front doorstep.

Her name is Bridget. We named her after Bridget Marquardt from "The Girls next door!" She's so tiny. I think she belonged to a wild mother cat who we saw roaming around the apartment complex with two little kittens. I don't know what happened to the mother but I very much doubt this kitten would be alone if she was alive. She was such a good mother to them. She was crying so much. She's very thin and ate some turkey bacon hungrily. Rick went out and bought some shampoo and flea medicine because she was crawling with fleas. I've never seen anything like it. We gave her a bath which she hated. All the fleas crawled up to her head and we tried to get them all off but it was hard. I think we got most of them off and the medicine we put on her back will kill the rest. She's exhausted right now from all the excitement. She's sleeping comfortably on the couch.

We are going to keep her until we find a no-kill shelter that will take her. We would love to keep her but we're not allowed to have pets in our apartment. She's very sweet and lovable and trusting. She loves to be cuddled. If anyone reading this lives in southern California and would like to give Bridget a home, contact me at aimeepug@hotmail.com.

Blogging

2008-06-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

I was reading Cen's blog today and she was talking about how free you should be to post anything you want on a blog. This is an interesting issue for me because of past experiences. When I first started my SL back in 2006 I started reading personal blogs about SL and I thought I would start one. I love to write and it helps me sort out my thoughts. I wrote about everything that was going on in my SL and about how I was falling in love with Rick. I was completely open about my feelings. I also wrote about the pain of our break-up on that blog and what I was going through.

I never wanted to hurt anyone with my words. It was just a blog about my feelings. It was a place to pour out my heart and get some relief. I couldn't talk about what was going on to anyone in RL because I didn't feel they would understand at all. It was my words and my feelings. I didn't name any names. But my blog was out there in cyberspace for anyone to see. And what I didn't understand is that other people who knew me in SL and knew my blog could take my words and write about them. (Kind of like what I'm doing now because I was inspired by Cen's post!) And this person wasn't as careful as I was not to name names. Out of a misguided sense of loyalty to me they wrote their own viewpoint on things and it was hurtful to others and an invasion of their privacy. I didn't want any part of that and I was so upset that I'd indirectly caused that. I deleted all the posts on my blog because I felt so bad. I didn't know how to delete my whole blog so I just wrote a post saying that I was taking a break from blogging for awhile and left it at that.

I'm blogging again because I love having a place to write and I like the sense of community bloggers have. But I'm also more aware now that I only have control over what I put out there. And I can't necessarily control what happens to my blog after I've posted something. So I'll be careful that it's not something that will cause pain or hard feelings for anyone else. I've learned now that I can always write a post and save it as a draft. That way I can read it again when I'm feeling more objective and decide if it's worth posting. Or I can use the privacy controls. I didn't know any of this when I deleted my blog. I was such a newbie! So I guess my guidelines for blogging involve making sure I don't post anything when I'm overly emotional and making sure I know how to use the blogging controls! I just learned how to insert links into my text so I'm doing a bit better! :)

Hi again!

2008-06-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

I've missed my blog! I've been on the go the past few days and haven't been near my computer long enough to post anything. Last weekend, Rick took me to wine country for the weekend and we stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast and had a great time. It's been really hot here recently so on Tuesday we went to a water park and had so much fun on the water slides and in the lazy river.

My mother had a hysterectomy today. I was so worried about her. Her surgery started at 9AM EST and so at 6 am PST I was up and praying hard for her. I spoke with her tonight and she was so high on morphine that she was slurring her words and sometimes she would just stop talking mid-sentence for about a minute and then wake up again. She seemed very happy though. She raved about the turkey dinner she ate that night and how she was lucky enough to have a private room. Apparently her roommate got really annoyed with her drugged up rambling and asked to be moved! She got a bit weepy at the end of the conversation. She said she was sad to see her uterus go. I told her she should be proud and it served her well. Now she will be free of it and won't have to put up with all the troublesome things it does. That cheered her up some. She even suggested she get it bronzed. Then she started giggling again. I'm sure she won't remember the conversation tomorrow.

Do any of you have guilty pleasures? I've gotten hooked on this show called "The girls next door." It's about Hugh Hefner and his three girlfriends, Holly, Bridget and Kendra. It's been on for awhile but I've never seen it before last week. The three girls are really bubbly and funny and have their own individual personalities. And their lifestyle is so ridiculously over the top it's fun to be a voyeur on that kind of lavish living. And they are all so young! And Hef is in his eighties now! I used to think there was a big age difference between Rick and I but we've got nothing on Hugh and his girlfriends! I asked Rick if he would like three girlfriends and he said that he's more than happy with me. And I have three personalities; Astrid, Sorcha and Aimee. He says that's quite enough for him! hahaha Good answer baby!

And finally, both my little sisters are getting married! My youngest sister just got engaged and they are getting married next year. And my middle sister has been engaged for about five years and finally set a date for September of this year! Which only gives her three months to plan it. I'm a bridesmaid at both so all they talk about when I call them is weddings weddings weddings. It's exhausting. I've never been much of a girl for fantasizing about big weddings. My wedding to Rick in SL was a fantasy and all I had to do was point and click to get a dress and flowers etc. And I didn't have to deal with all the family politics that my sisters are dealing with now. Ex-spouses and estranged relatives and all that stuff. When Rick and I get married, I want it to be small and quiet and we'll say our vows from SL to each other. But I'll try and be a good bridesmaid to my sisters. I've always wanted to be a bridesmaid so it's kind of exciting :)

Sorry about this rambling post!! I've just been writing about what's been on my mind lately. I miss the BBB challenge. Maybe I'll do one for myself and set topics for myself everyday!

Astrid's a Model!!

2008-06-15T00:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went on SL to buy Astrid some new clothes and hair. I had such a good time! I found a complex of stores called "Adam n' Eve." I love this place. It has shoes and hair and clothes and skins. I bought a beautiful dress there and the cutest shoes I've ever seen. And I got some lovely hair at Tickled Pink. Then I took Astrid on a photo shoot.

I used to LIVE in SL. Because that was where I could be with Rick. But now I'm with him and I can touch him and talk to him whenever I want. But I still love SL and I had the best time with Astrid tonight!

The last day of the Big Bad Blogger Challenge

2008-06-13T17:41:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry it's over! I had a great time with it and it really helped me get back into blogging. I loved discovering all these new blogs so thank you Alicia! It was a great idea and I'm so happy I did it! I'm going to try and keep it up every day even when I don't have anything "blog worthy" to talk about. It's a good writing exercise and helps me think through any issues or thoughts I have going around in my head.

Last night I had quite the experience. I was watching a show on ghost-hunting and it was very entertaining. I went on the internet and searched for haunted places in my area. Lo and behold I found something immediately about the bridge over the river Rick and I go to all the time. Apparently it's got quite a spooky past and has had numerous ghost sightings and weird happenings. So I told Rick and he suggested we drive down there at midnight and try and catch a ghost on film. I know this might seem weird but sometimes we get carried away with just being silly. We packed the camera and a rattle to scare away ghosts. We packed a hideously ugly "voodoo doll" we had and a baggie full of crushed garlic just in case there were vampires. We were laughing and just being silly. We even brought the guitar for some strange reason. The car was packed full of junk. We drove down there and spent about 10 minutes trying to take pictures but we couldn't really capture anything because it was so dark. It was very creepy. Almost pitch dark with the mountains looming above us. We heard some very strange, loud, metallic sounds and were starting to let our imagination run away with us. We both headed back towards the car and Rick got really freaked out when he almost tripped over the backpack we had left on the side of the road. He swears it moved.

We hadn't driven a mile when three police cars stopped us. They had police dogs barking their heads off in the back and they all got out and came over to us to question us. I wasn't nervous because I knew we hadn't done anything wrong and we didn't have anything to hide but it was a bit strange and I had this insane urge to start laughing hysterically. Apparently it's a big drug area there at night. People go there to do their nefarious business because it's so dark and isolated. So the police thought we were up to no good. They asked Rick all these questions about who he was and how old and where he worked and if he's ever been arrested. Then they asked me the same questions. They even made Rick sit on the ground while they questioned him. I got to stay in the car. They were VERY suspicious and weren't buying the explanation that we had gone out there to try and catch a ghost on film. Rick said they could take a look at the car if they wanted. This was when the fun began.

The police searched very thoroughly. Out came the guitar and the voodoo doll and the rattle. One cop pounced gleefully on the bag of garlic and then looked very disgusted when he smelled it. One cop scrolled through all the pictures on the camera. Mostly of darkness, a few of some random trees and some graffiti on the bridge. A few of Rick holding a flashlight up to his face and looking spooky. I was almost hysterical with laughter at this point because it was just so hilarious watching the cops go through all our strange, random props. The car needs to be cleaned. It's very cluttered. I felt kind of bad for the police having to sift through all our stuff. Sleeping bags from a camping trip, a bag of toothpicks, so many CD's and tapes and candy wrappers and a broken dashboard hula monkey.

Eventually, the cops had to admit that they hadn't found anything incriminating even though we were obviously some of the most eccentric people they had ever questioned. They just couldn't fathom why anyone would want to go ghost-hunting at midnight. They were quite nice and polite after they realized we weren't doing anything wrong. They apologized for the inconvenience and just warned us that it might not be a good idea to wander around out there at night. Rick and I drove home laughing our heads off and I've been laughing all day about the incident. I loved seeing how strange we are through other people's eyes. I'll never forget the sight of that poor police officer with a voodoo doll in one hand and a bag of garlic in the other!!

My Dad

2008-06-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

The BBBC topic for today is to write about something that is important to us. I'm going to write about my father because father's day is coming up soon.

I've always been a "daddy's girl." When I was a little girl, I thought my father was the be all and end all of the universe. He knew everything there was to know about any subject. And even when he didn't know the answer to one of my questions he would make something up that I believed without question. Once we were driving past a hayfield and the hay stacks were covered in white plastic to protect them from rain. I asked my father what the big white blobs were and he told me in all seriousness that it was a marshmallow farm. I believed it. And it wasn't until I was about 13 years old that I found out the truth about the "marshmallows." But that's what my father is like. He has a great imagination and if something can be improved with a little magic or silliness he'll do it. He's great at telling stories and reading aloud. He read me stories every night. When he was out for the night my grandma or babysitter would offer to read to me but I'd always refuse because they weren't nearly as good at telling the story as my dad was. He's a teacher now and I've seen him read to his students. They hang on his every word just as I used to.

When I was about 14, my parents split up. It was a messy divorce with lots of bitterness and it was hard to see my mother so broken up about it. I became her best friend and confidant at an age when I shouldn't really have to hear about grown-up problems and the intimate details of my parent's relationship. I love my mother and I understand what she was going through and how she needed to talk to me but it was still difficult and it led to a lot of anger and bitterness towards my dad. I couldn't believe he had left ME. Everything is about yourself when you are a child or a teenager. I couldn't comprehend the fact that my parents were individuals with their own feelings and struggles. They were supposed to be perfect and they were supposed to cater to all my needs and never have any problems of their own.

There were years of estrangement from my father. I refused to go see him or talk to him. I cut him out of my life. Sometimes, I'd be filled with so much anger and hurt that I would write him long, hateful letters and send them to him. I'd blame him for everything that went wrong in my life. "If dad hadn't left, this wouldn't be happening..." etc.

But my dad has always been a hero. From the time I was a baby he was always there for me when I needed him. When I was five, I lost my Snoopy in a shopping mall. I have had Snoopy since I was a couple of days old and I still have him. He's a bit ragged now but I slept with him every night and took him everywhere so he's been through a lot. That night, I was being tucked into bed when I realized Snoopy was gone. I was frantic. I could not be consoled. My dad drove back to the mall in the dark of night and spent two hours searching through the snow and the slush on the off-chance that I'd dropped Snoopy in the parking lot. And he found him!!!

He's always been my rock. Whenever something awful happened he was there. Fights with best friends, humiliations, the pain of having a crush on a boy that didn't know I existed. When I broke my leg he was with me every day in the hospital and helped me recuperate when I got out of the hospital.

And last year when my ex beat me up after I broke up with him I called my father and he drove eight hours to come and get me and bring me back to his house. I had no money and no home and I was broken and scared out of my wits. But my father took me in and helped me get well and made me feel safe again. I stayed with him for six months and I'm so glad we spent that time together because I reconnected with him and I know now that no matter what happens in my life my dad will always be there for me. I'm so grateful to have a dad like him and I hope I can be a good daughter to him.

"Sail on silvergirl, sail on by

Your time has come to shine

All your dreams are on their way

See how they shine?

If you need a friend, I'm sailing right behind

Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind..."

-"Bridge over troubled water" Simon and Garfunkel

My self-esteem has taken a beating!

2008-06-11T13:46:00.001-07:00

Well.....I flunked my driving test. It was horrible. I was so nervous this morning I thought I would throw up. I managed to keep it together and started the test. Everything was going well. I was signaling, checking my mirrors. My lane changes were perfect. I was just starting to calm down and relax when the driving instructor asked me to pull onto a deserted side street. I did so and she asked me park on the side of the road. Which I did with no problems. But then she asked me to back up the car straight along side the curb about three car lengths. I tried and my back wheel went up on the curb. That's an automatic fail. If I strike any object, even a curb that's it. I FAIL. It was terrible. I thought I would cry but I managed to keep it together. Rick took me out for breakfast and even managed to make me laugh a little bit. And I guess next time I take the test I won't be as nervous because I'll know what to expect. But I wish I had passed. Now I have to make another appointment and it could take forever! My mom sent me a nice email telling me she is proud of me anyway and not to give up. Then she said she always goes up on the curb which made me laugh but it also made me wonder how she ever got her license because she is the worst driver I've ever seen. haha

Onto better things... the BBBC question of the day is about SL weather and RL extreme weather experiences. I think I'll talk about my RL adventure with weather because it's more interesting for me.

In 1998, Quebec and Ontario experienced the Ice Storm. It was a freak storm that brought over 80 hours of steady freezing rain to these areas. I was in Montreal at the time. It started off like a normal winter storm. Nobody thought anything of it until the freak storm system collided with the small storm front. It was just insane. The power went out region after region. The ice was so thick it was destroying all the power lines. Some people had generators but most people had to go to emergency shelters. Some people died because they either froze to death in their houses or they died of carbon monxide inhalation from poorly ventilated fireplaces. The city was declared a state of emergency and the military came in to evacuate neighborhoods and make sure nobody was looting or staying in their houses without power. I was working at a bar and going to school at the time. My school was closed and I just lived at the bar. They had a generator and we just became a shelter. The cook made lots of soup and sandwiches and we had sleeping bags everywhere and it was actually quite fun. It wasn't fun for everyone though. The entire power grid had to be rebuilt and there were some places in the rural areas that didn't regain power for two or three months. The main city was up again in a few days but my apartment didn't have power for two weeks. It was crazy. But really beautiful too. The ice was everywhere. It destroyed a lot of trees but they still looked amazing all outlined with ice. I've never seen anything like it. I probably won't be seeing much ice now that I live in Southern California but I've already seen the wildfires here which were very exciting but scary too. I'm glad I don't have to drive in the snow or ice. Not that I have my driver's license yet. Oh nuts. Now I'm all depressed again. I'm going to go pout for a little while.

BBB Topics for Monday and Tuesday

2008-06-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I woke up with a very sore and irritated ear :( It's bothered me all day. I'm not sure what is wrong with me because I don't feel sick. My ear just really hurts. I think it may be a bug bite or something right inside the ear canal. I also spent almost all day in the car yesterday practicing for my driver's test which is tomorrow!! Rick and I drove to the DMV and spied on people doing their tests. We wore dark glasses and hats and followed them so I'm pretty comfortable with the route now and know what to expect tomorrow. I was pretty wiped out after we got home and my ear was hurting so I didn't get online to blog. I'm going to stay on top of it from now on though so I hope I'm not completely out of the game!

Monday's topic had to do with luxury and shopping in SL I love the shopping in SL. In my RL I don't really like shopping. It makes me nervous and I start to sweat. I usually like to go with someone who is fashion savvy and will just pick things out for me. My sisters are good for this. And Rick is good at it too. I just stay in the changeroom and try on the things they bring me.

But in SL it's so different. I can find anything I want. Totally extravagant ballgowns and bikinis I would never wear in RL. I can change my hairstyle with the touch of a button. Hair color too! It's heaven. My favorite experiences shopping were when Rick and I set up our home in SL. I loved shopping for furniture and plants and trees. I have so much stuff and I rotate it according to mood and season. I also liked shopping for my wedding dress in SL. Wedding dresses in general are so princess-like and magical. My favorite shops for clothes in SL are Nyte n' Day. I can always find something I like in there. I also like Casa del Shai. She designs really beautiful and unique items. For hair I like ETD and Sirena hair and fashion. I like being a blonde and a redhead. Sorcha was a blonde. Astrid was a redhead. Now I just go with whatever I feel like being that particular day.

As I said before, I'm not that into shopping in RL. However, I do love buying toiletries. I love nice lotions and bath products and shampoos. And makeup is always fun. I also like going to the used book store that sells books for 1 or 2 dollars. I can go with ten or twenty and come out with an armload of books to read. Those are my weaknesses. Books and beauty products. :)

The BBB question for today is about relationships. Within SL and online relationships in RL.

Rick and I met in SL when his avatar was a month old and mine was two weeks into it. I was still very noob. I even remember what we were wearing. Sorcha had a particular horrendous hairstyle from Lashed. And she was wearing black capri pants and a pink and white wrap top. And huge platform heels with lots of bling. It wasn't pretty! But I was quite proud of it. And I still like the pants and shirt. I did a search for "irish pubs" and found one called The Blarney Stone. It's quite an established place in SL. It's been around for awhile. I tp'd over there and started dancing. I was chatting to several people when I saw this guy sitting at the bar. He was wearing board shorts and sandals and had messy surfer style hair. He was also smoking a pipe in the shape of a little fox and it gave off colorful puffs of smoke. I liked that pipe a lot. It was the first time I'd seen anything like that. He sent me an IM that said I was very pretty. I said I loved his pipe. He gave me the landmark for the shop where he'd bought it. I went shopping! lol. When I got back to the bar I sat beside him at the bar but I couldn't stop dancing. I still wasn't very good with dance balls. It usually took me about half and hour to figure out how to work them. He helped me figure it out and we started talking. I'd talked to a few guys in SL. I had some male friends but I always thought the guys who threw out pick-up lines were dumb. I thought the whole concept of having a boyfriend in SL was dumb. But I didn't think I'd meet someone who I clicked with right away. I had no shyness because he weren't face to face. So I was my truest self with him right from the beginning. And it was so easy. And so much fun. We were inseparable after that. We'd go exploring, we'd go on silly adventures, we'd go dancing or we would just sit on the bottom of his fishpond and talk for hours.

The thing is, it started to feel so real. It WAS real. We were both being ourselves and loving each other and it felt more real than anything else ever had. Which was a bit scary because SL is a virtual world. But gradually, we'd brought it out of SL. I knew who he was, where he lived, I'd seen pictures of him. I'd talked with him on the phone. And he knew me. And we both wanted more. I wanted to touch him for real and be with him for real and he wanted the same. But this was scary to us too. We broke it off because it got too intense. That time apart was awful. I couldn't talk to anyone about it because they wouldn't understand. They would think I was crazy. So I poured it all out in my old blog. And I eventually deleted that. In the hopes that it would all go away and I could forget. But I couldn't. And life just seemed so empty. I knew what love was like and now it was gone.

We ended up getting back together . Both of us had our own issues to work through and we did. We decided to meet. I was so excited. I had one moment on the plane where I thought to myself "WHAT AM I DOING??" But then we landed and I saw him there and I ran to him and kissed him and that was it. It felt completely natural and wonderful and it felt like home. We had an amazing ten days together and not one moment was awkward or uncomfortable. Except for the countdown of days until I'd need to fly back again away from him. That was always hanging in the background.

There were obstacles. Life circumstances, distance, there is quite an age difference. My parents thought I'd gone crazy. My friends didn't understand. But I had to be with him. None of that mattered to me. He was just my soulmate and I knew it from the beginning. Everything worked itself out because we wanted it to. And we're together now and I don't regret a moment of it. People have said that it's impossible to find love in a virtual world, it's just a game, it's not real. But it can be. For me and Rick, the medium through which we met enabled us to be ourselves and see the other person clearly. I could see his soul and he could see mine. Without SL, we probably never would have met because of geography. Even if we had met we probably never would have talked because of barriers that we put up and preconceptions people have about people and age. I'm eternally grateful to SL for teaching me how to open myself up to love and to be able to look at people and see who they are inside. I realize not everyone is themselves on SL but I think it's wonderful when you connect with people on that level and you always feel it when it happens too. It's a great thing.

Here are some pictures of me and Rick. We're working on putting pictures of us in SL with photoshop. I think that would be fun!

WOW!

2008-06-08T22:59:00.000-07:00

Rick came back from work tonight with some of those scratch tickets for me. We never get these but he thought it would be fun! I started scratching them and I didn't win anything until I grabbed the last one and lo and behold I WON! One hundred dollars! Yes! I've never one anything before so it was pretty exciting! I'm going to go cash it in now! Hmmmm. What will I get with my newfound riches? :P

Big Bad Blogger Challenge!! Day 3

2008-06-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

Well the Big Bad Blogger challenge topic today is "What would you get rid of in your RL or SL?" I love SL and there is nothing I would get rid of. I understand that SL's medium is the computer and there are always bound to be problems on a computer. That's just the way things are! It does frustrate me when I can't log on when I really want to. But it eventually gets fixed. There are some things in SL that annoy me. I didn't like all the casinos but I never went to them either so they didn't really bother me. And now they are gone anyway! The sex clubs aren't really my thing either although I recognize that it's different strokes for different folks. (Eww....no pun intended) The wonderful thing about SL is that you can make it what you want.
There are some things in my RL that I would like to get rid of. Last year I got out of a very bad, poisonous and dangerous relationship. The major reason I got out of it was because I learned what real love is from my relationship with Rick. But I'd stayed with my ex-boyfriend for years and years and I always knew it was a bad relationship but I lied to myself and ignored it until SL finally helped to WAKE ME UP.
Things are so different for me now. For the first time in my life I'm with someone that I know loves me for who I am. I don't have to pretend or think before I say things. He knows me and loves me just the way I am. I still feel stupid sometimes for lying to myself for so long. I know everyone makes mistakes. But I still experience some of those bad feelings sometimes. I'd like to get rid of those. Rick helps me with that every day. Thoughts of worthlessness and stupidity aren't good or helpful. They don't help you grow. My wish is that I and everyone else can get rid of those bad feelings and see the beauty and the hope that there is in life. Here are some pictures from the river near our house. Rick and I love this place so much!

Dreams

2008-06-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

I'm a vivid dreamer. I can usually remember my dreams except on those mornings when as soon as you wake up the dream starts slipping away. It's like trying to hold on to water. My favorite dreams usually have me waking up laughing out loud. My face actually hurts because of the big smiles and my throat hurts from laughing. It works the other way too though. Sometimes if I have a sad dream I'll wake up with my pillow wet from tears.

When I was in Second Life a lot I started dreaming about it. I would dream that I was actually Sorcha and I could fly and I had the perfect body and a magnificent wardrobe! But most of the time I was Sorcha in my RL. And in my SL dreams I was myself.

I remember one dream I had just a few weeks before I went to visit my sweetie for the first time. I dreamt we were in a desert we had found in SL a few days previously. I was worried that the sand would be too hot and would burn my feet. I was also a bit concerned as to how I would manage to climb up the mountains of rock all around us. Rick was with me in the dream and he had some special boots he gave me. They were silver and looked like what I call "moon boots." When I put them on I could walk on the hot sand without burning and I could bounce up the rocks like they were nothing. It was such a feeling of freedom and ease. I woke up smiling and feeling so giddy. The dream stayed with me all day and I still remember it so clearly. I wasn't nervous about meeting him at all after that dream!

Here are some pictures of Astrid dreaming at our home in SL. I just love her new shoes!!

"Though the dawn may be coming soon

There still may be some time

Fly me away to the bright side of the moon

And meet me on the other side"

-"Dreamweaver" Gary Wright

The Big Bad Blogger Challenge

2008-06-06T22:38:00.000-07:00

One of the blogs I read is by Alicia Chenaux. She is a prolific blogger!!! And she has thrown out a challenge to try and get people to update their blogs more often. Every day she will suggest a new topic for people to blog about. I think it will be fun so I'm accepting this challenge.
Her topic for today is "Why did you decide to blog about your Second Life?"

I was never much of a computer person. Much less a computer gamer. A friend told me about Second Life which she was obsessed with. I decided to give it a try because I liked what she told me about it. Especially the fact that she didn't describe it as a game so much as a virtual world that you can do with what you want.
I installed it and logged on for the first time. I loved creating my avatar Sorcha. It was amazing to be able to look anyway I wanted to look. And I loved the fantasy of shopping. The clothes! The hair! I wandered around spellbound for the first couple of weeks at all their was to do and see in this magical world.

After a while, I noticed a change in myself. I've always been extremely quiet and shy and always a bit uncomfortable in social situations. I had a fear of being myself with people. Yet the anonymity I found in SL was allowing me to overcome these fears. I was more comfortable talking to people and getting to know others. And this was translating to my RL too! It was these new experiences that made me want to start a blog. I always loved blogs and I'd found some very interesting ones about SL. I found it was good for me to record my new experiences and thoughts and adventures. It helped clarify them for me and also helped to exorcise any sad feelings. The friends I met through my blog were the biggest blessing to me.

I fell in love in SL. I met the love of my life. That certainly gave me a LOT to blog about. It was insane. I thought I was going crazy. How could a love found in a virtual world feel more real than anything I'd ever experienced? There was a lot of fear and doubt and one day in a panic I deleted my whole blog. I miss it but it was all I felt I could do at the time to try and find some peace.

I ended up creating an alt and I got back together with my love as Astrid. I didn't blog though. Now I'm with him in RL and I wanted to blog again. Second Life taught me a lot about myself. And it gave me a lot too. Magic, love, creativity. I'm in my Third Life now but I hope to bring a lot of what was good from my Second Life into it!

New things I'm working on

2008-06-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

I don't have a driver's license. I lived in cities where you didn't really need one. Public transit was easy and affordable and reliable. But now I live in Southern California where the cult of the car is strong. So I've been learning to drive. I got my learner's permit a few months ago and I've been practicing. And it's been an experience. I was scared to death. I still am sometimes. I used to have nightmares about driving. It was never something I could envision myself doing. Slowly but surely I've become more comfortable in the car. I still get nervous from time to time but I CAN drive and I've learned I can control the vehicle. My driving test is in four days time now and I keep thinking about it and hoping I pass. Nightmare scenarios flash through my mind. I forget which is the gas pedal and which is the brake. I turn on the windshield wipers for no reason and then can't remember how to turn them off. I cause a massive accident. Oh my goodness. This is not productive. I need some positive thoughts. I'm working on it!

In order to calm myself when thoughts of driving disasters overcome me, I've been making soap. This new hobby is great fun. Rick and I found a book in the library that inspired us and ever since then we've been making soap almost every day. The apartment is full of soap and stinks of lavender and plumeria. Or apple and honey almond. We are so clean because we have to test drive all our batches. We are constantly bathing. We have soap stacked everywhere. It's very relaxing to make soap and it looks and smells so pretty it gives me a lot of satisfaction. I'm not much of an artist. Rick is always painting and sculpting but I'm pretty hopeless with visual creativity. I'm not even good at posting pictures on this blog! But I can manage to make really nice soap!! If you want some let me know! ;)

Animal encounters

2008-06-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. My honey and I had been housebound for a while because we were both had colds that hung around for a long time. So we decided to take off for a little camping trip.

We had a great campsite right on the lake and set up our tent. We hiked all the way around the lake. It was a nice level hike which is my favorite kind! No crazy mountains to clamber over. I'm originally from Canada so moving to California has been quite an experience. I still marvel at palm trees and the ocean. Not to mention the mountains! And I love the flowers and foliage. There is so little rain here that the plants have to be pretty drought resistant. The lack of water even makes the trees look different - magical. They're all twisted and crazy looking.

After our dinner of cheese dogs and beans we sat around the campfire. Rick found a big lizard and caught it. He can hypnotize lizards just by stroking their belly. He can hypnotize me when he strokes my belly too but that's a topic for another post.

Later that night he went to go get more firewood and when he came back he had a huge bullfrog in his hands! It was the biggest frog I've ever seen. Rick had to hold him with two hands.

I was up most of the night because I could hear all these mysterious animal sounds. It was amazing but a little bit scary especially when an unknown creature of some size made off with our garbage bag. I could hear him outside the tent jumping up and grabbing it and then trodding heavily off with his loot. I was too afraid to look outside.

When you go camping it's not always a very comfortable night. So you wake up very early because there is no point in remaining in your musty sleeping bag. Rick is a morning person. He popped open a can of his favorite coffee energy drink and set off on an early morning hike. I managed to munch on a granola bar and drink my juice in our comfy camping chair but I was not up for the hike.

Rick came back with a big grin on his face and a huge bull snake in his hands. He never ceases to amaze me. I like snakes. I think they are beautiful and I love how they feel. I won't pick one up though unless I know it's disposition. Bull snakes are not venomous but they can be aggressive. This one was nice and mellow in Rick's hands.

I'm posting some pictures of our animal encounters.

When I met Rick in Second Life, we were always having adventures together. And we are still having adventures. Every day with him is an adventure. We aren't in SL much these days. We've tried it since we've gotten together. It's just hard for me to look at his avatar and mine when I know he's right there in the same room as me. We still have our home in SL because we love it and we created it for each other. And we both pop in from time to time. I love the new effects for water and sky in SL now. It's beautiful. And I love sculpty prim shoes! Finally, Astrid has shoes that look real and sexy instead of kind of dorky and awkward!

SL is a magical place. I'll always love it. But right now, there is so much magic in this world with Rick. It's like I've stepped into SL. Except I don't have Astrid's and Sorcha's fabulous wardrobes. Or hair. I don't mind though. I'm not very good in heels. Even in SL I was always walking off cliffs or plunging to the earth from a skybox!

"We live in a beautiful world. Yeah we do..."

-Beautiful World, Coldplay

I got this from Joonie!

2008-06-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

50 ODD Things about you! Now that you are reading - you too have to fill it out!Learn 50 things about your friends and family, and let them learn 50 things about you!
1. Do you like blue cheese? Yes. I'm crazy about all types of cheese!

2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No

3. Do you own a gun? No

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at sonic? I went there once and added peach to my iced tea.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Sometimes. I save my panic for visits to the dentist.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I don't give them a lot of thought but I do enjoy them. I like them with chili or cheese.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Carol. Oh and Elf with Will Ferrell.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Orange Juice.

9. Can you do pushups? If I must.

10. Age? 28

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My Japanese ganji necklace that Rick gave me.

12.Favorite hobby? Nowadays it's making soap!

13. Favorite Actor? Steve Buscemi, Mel Gibson, Woody Harrelson

14. Do you have A.D.D.? I don't think so.

15. What's one trait you hate about yourself? I can be easily frustrated by simple problems.

16. Middle name? Elisabeth

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? I wish there was some orange juice in the fridge, I need a shower, my nose tickles-I think I need to sneeze.

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday/today: A congratulations card for my sister who just got engaged, a Subway sandwich and some sculpty prim shoes in SL!

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Orange juice, water, tea

20. Current worries? I need to see the dentist soon :(

21. Current hate right now? I'm learning to drive and I hate driving in small cramped parking lots.

22. Favorite place to be? With Rick.

23. How did you bring in the New Year? We watched old scary movies, drank too much champagne and fell asleep before midnight. haha

24. Where would you like to go? I'd like to go to Sedona, Arizona. I'd like to visit New Mexico because I've never been there and I'd like to go to Glacier National Park in Montana.

25. Name three people who will complete this ? I don't know.

26. Do you own slippers? No

27. What shirt are you wearing? Shamefully I'm still in my jammies haha

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I have never slept on satin sheets. I'll put that on my to-do list!! :)

29. Can you whistle? I'm a good whistler. I whistle a lot without even realizing it.

30. Favorite color? Blues, greens and pinks

31. Would you be a pirate? I'd like to try it out and see what it's like.

32. What songs do you sing in the shower? Whatever song is currently stuck in my head. Yesterday it was Raspberry Beret by Prince.

33. Favorite girl's name? I've always loved the name Scarlett!

34. Favorite boy's name? Rhett!

35. What is in your pocket right now? A cucumber. hehe

36. Last thing that made you laugh? Rick trying to make hummingbird calls.

37. Best bed sheets as a child? My cozy flannelette sheets

38. Worst injury you've ever had? Broken leg from falling down the stairs with my laundry basket.

39. Do you love where you live? I absolutely love it! I moved from Canada to California and I can't believe how beautiful the south west is.

40. How many TVs do you have in your house? Two. But we only use one.

41. Who is your loudest friend? Probably my sister Rachel.

42. How many dogs do you have? None right now. But I have a fire-bellied toad named Mongo, a fish named Topaz, and some hummingbirds.

43. Does someone have a crush on you? I hope Rick still has a crush on me. I hope he's not too put off by the singing in the shower.

44. What is your favorite book(s)? Oh man. This is a hard question. Right now I really like books by Anita Shreve and Fannie Flagg and Tawni O'Dell.

45. Where were you born? Boston, MA

46. What is your favorite candy? Whoppers...and Heath Bars.....and black licorice.

47. Favorite Sports Team? I have to go Canadian here and say the Montreal Canadiens.

48. What song(s) do you want played at your funeral? Blackbird by the Beatles. And Dancing Queen.

49. What were you doing at 12AM? Chattering.

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I'm not very good at thinking in the morning. I can't remember any coherent thoughts lol

Copy/paste/and spill it!

Back to blogging!

2008-06-01T18:17:00.001-07:00

I've missed blogging. I like having a place to write down my thoughts and explore my feelings. It's my own little corner of cyberspace. It's my little voice making itself heard. I started a blog last year. I had immersed myself in a virtual world called Second Life and it really had a big effect on me and how I saw the world. It helped me become more of the person I wanted to be. And I needed a space to record all those thoughts and feelings.
A lot of things happened to me in Second Life. I made really good friends and had adventures and I changed. I became more outgoing and more confident and this carried over into my real (first) life as well.
I also found love. A real, true, amazing love more powerful than I ever thought existed. This was exciting and wonderful but it was also a little terrifying. Because how could a love like that exist when it was born in a game? A virtual world?
But love is a powerful thing. After a lot of turmoil and heartbreak and fear and doubt, we found the courage to live our love outside of the boundaries of our virtual world. And it's been so much more magical then I ever thought it could be.
So this blog is about my third life. And how I'm learning how to bring the magic I found into this life. I hope you enjoy it!

"Sounds of laughter, shades of life are ringing
through my open ears, inciting and inviting me.
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns
and calls me on and on across the universe"

-"Across the Universe" by the Beatles