do it yourself.

Signs are great, they help us know where our exits are, where the best fast food is....

and then I see this.



"No, and again we have to clarify, no. We will NOT change your baby's diaper for you. Do it yourself."

And check out the compass rose, such a sophisticated gas station.

thought is was weird.

Frequent Flier Trials

I wouldn't say I'm a seasoned flier, but I know the general navigation tools to get me from one gate to the next, however, with a time limit, some lost luggage, and some silly security officials, I got a bit frazzled...

I had been flying all night, hadn't really peed in 36 hours, and desperately wanted to get to my last flight and pass out. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be that easy.

You see, when I boarded in San Francisco, they were offering to store our carry on on the plane instead of in the overhead compartments. Purely optional mind you. Well, in my previous flight, mine had not fit into the overhead, so I said they could take it. Little did I know, that choice made a big difference and almost cost me my next flight.

We land in Philadelphia, and as I walk off the plane, there are no suitcases lining the walls as there had been on my other flight. Where was my carry-on??
I was going to wait till everyone got off the plane and go back to ask, but I got yelled at.
Nope, no turning back apparently. The security lady says to go to baggage claim.

In my head I'm thinking, " No...it wouldn't be there with everything else...."

Nevertheless, I head over there. Half way I stop, call my sister, and turn to go back and ask someone who knows what they're talking about.

Nope, can't do that. They ALL yelled at me. Now I had to go through security again, which had an amusement park length line.

My flight was in 30 minutes. Awesome.

Below, I am showing you the route I took in this horrid airport to find my bag, and my gate, without missing my flight which was at 7:30am, meaning they probably board at 7:15am

(click on map to see bigger)



Yeah, the long part of the red line? That's the roadway for the buses, I ran the entire length of the airport.

The US Airways lady, literally saved the day. I went to talk to her downstairs in baggage claim, told her what was happening, she asked me what flight I was on and which I was trying to get to. I'm practically yelling at this point since my flight was in 20 minutes! She was great though, she said, "You better run honey! Just run all the way down, take the elevator up, and get to your gate, I'll take care of your bag."

One question as I'm running, "Which floor?"

I get to the elevators. Go up? Ok, top floor. Nope. That's the roof.
Ok, 2nd floor. Looks like parking.
I saw an airport looking person and yelled, how do I get to gate F???

She must have seen how desperate I was, and I was clearly lost, if I'm looking for a gate in the parking lot. She took me to the right floor and told me which direction to run.

Finally I'm at the entrance to gate F and there's a small line for security. Sigh.

But wait! It's 7:09am! I may not make it!

I seriously felt like pushing my way through the line, but I didn't. I was sweaty and tired now. People kept their distance....

I get to security, walk through fine...and my purse beeps. I left my stupid water bottle in it. Awesome.

So, I have to walk back to take it out, but I can't get my shoes on, and NO, I can't leave my shoes, I have to pick them up and carry them back. Take out the bottle, it has to go back through the scanner, all the while, I'm forcefully telling the attendants.."My flight LEAVES at 7:30. I HAVE TO GO."

Once through, great. More running. And let me tell you. I'm not a runner. Not even a jogger.

People were staring. Gaping really at this heaving mass stumbling passed old people, nearly getting ran over by little lazy people jeeps, when finally.......

I'm here! It's 7:15am. I gasp for air as I ask if it's boarding yet. Nope.

Yes. everyone is staring at me. I am quite out of breath, and quite moist...it's pretty gross.

I don't even care. just get me on that plane.

I checked if my bag was there, and right as we were boarding, I saw them load it on. I wanted to kiss the luggage loader I was so happy. No, no I didn't.

Once on the plane. I was out. If I snored, I apologize to all my fellow fliers. I didn't care. Just get me on the ground.

I hate flying.

PDA: a pet's display of affection.

Death comes in many ways, and it's not always a sad occasion.


Such as when it's given as a gift....of sorts.
Here let me explain.....

I house-sit for my brother and his wife, who live downtown. I LOVE it. One of the reasons why I love it, is their amazing cat.

Meet Cookie.



I know my reputation with pet-love has been less than admirable...however, this particular feline is exceptional.

She is very eccentric for her species.

She has thumbs.



She snuggles with you and watches movies.
She gives you reassuring kisses just in case you are doubting her love for you.
She communicates her unending needs to go in and out(quite loudly)....



And she comes bearing gifts displaying her........talents.



I woke up one morning to find this display of affection waiting for me. Luckily she only gave me the "pretty parts" of the bird, excluding everything but the feathers. So thoughtful.

If I had to own a cat, she'd be the one to have. She's got spirit and she's not afraid to show you who's boss....




and she's pretty ( and knows it too) :)



even if she is a bird killer.

Morning-mares...

Have you ever had a morning-mare?

They happen in those last few hours of sleep where we're unconsciously aware that it's morning, but physically still zonked out.

Well, this morning, I had such an unfortunate experience.

I can't remember all the details, but here's what I can pull together:

It was a mixture of:

• scenes from Miss Pettigrew lives for a day
• wandering through a creepy warehouse from a horror film
• and the impending event of my friend's wedding

It was a mess of getting lost, being found by a gorgeous man, whom I cannot recollect, and ultimately meeting my friend's mother, who was very angry with me.

She wanted me to cut my hair off, why I don't know. But it HAD to be done before the wedding. I thought this was weird since in "reality" this woman loved me and on top of that, adored my hair. So this dream-version of her was just ridiculous.

Dream-mom-of-friend next said she was sorry and begged for forgiveness for her insistence and I forgave her, thinking she was back to her nice self. She offered me her favorite comb to brush part of my hair as she played with the rest....

The next thing I knew, she had sliced through my long locks with some scissors, leaving a jagged, horrifying mess behind. Her evil cackle sounded in my ears as she gloated over her cleverness. In my surprise, she proceeded to cut off the rest with the same lack of precision.

Now, in order to understand the gravity of this horror in my mind, one must know that long hair is kind of a big deal in my family.

We're not those crazies who grow it down to their ankles, or worse...



Samara??

but we all have nice, think hair that we kinda like to show off, a little bit.



I had my very first haircut when I was 10, and it was a traumatic, yet relieving ordeal. Once it was gone, I didn't have headaches and could take a shower in 10 minutes versus 60.....

Gradually, I became more comfortable with hair cutting, but I never have done anything too drastic.
This was as short as I ever went, and it was curled under, making it look shorter than it actually was.



BUT, recently I've been growing it out again, which has taken awhile. So this dream really gave me a fright, as well as frustrated me.

To give you a feel for what I saw in this horrible vision, I found some similar situations:



This is actually quite close. If you have ever seen the film Harriet the Spy (and if you haven't you should, it's brilliant) than just remember the scene where Harriet snips off the lusciously long braid of the girl in front of her. A heartless act to say the least.



Thankfully, my head was safe from buzzin', but I can empathize with his expression...



But, I really felt more like this, and was probably making the same moaning sound as I awoke.

Luckily, my locks were intact. But I checked anyway.

So, save yourself from future turmoil and don't go back to sleep if you wake up too early.

Beware of the morning-mare.

Start them young.....

Baby showers are always fun, for women anyway. And the only way to make them funner, is if all the attendees( or most of them ) are LOST fans as well...

I'm always trying to think of ways to get the perfect, non-traditional gift, for events like these. I don't like getting typical diapers or pacifiers, I like getting things that are worth remembering.

So, given that this was Lyrica's baby shower, of whose house we would all meet weekly for our LOST ritual...it was only fitting that her gifts would be LOST themed...

This first one is probably my favorite. I forgot to take photos of the real things before I gave them away, so I had to make "paint" versions. I'm such a geek.




It just seemed so studly of an outfit for little Mose V to start life in.
Notice the Security Star Dharma logo, for Sawyer....

It came with some navy blue shorts that i tried to put LOST on the butt. It didn't turn out the way I wanted, but it was still legible.



This onesie was super cute too. There was a cute little sailboat on the front, which fit perfectly.



I really liked this one too. Probably because it took so long and turned out perfect. The "Not penny's boat" is Charlie's handwriting, but I couldn't find just a black and white version of the letters. So, I had to take the picture of his hand, take out the color, and go into "paint" (I'm too poor for photoshop) and slowly but surely erase the hand from behind the letters, leaving the finished product! It was fun, and i felt crafty ironing on all the labels...

Now I have a bunch of the iron-on sheets left over.....:)
So, there will probably be future posts of my new LOST t-shirt creations. My first project will be putting some of my head sketches on one. So excited!!

Passenger side Pleasures.....

So, my roadside photo talents have been put to use once more, but this time, thankfully, I wasn't driving.

My college choir took a roadtrip and the scenery was amazazing.




I felt like singing a hobbit song. I wish I knew one.




This was something that had to be exposed to the world. You'd think they would say "my place" or "my spot". But no. It's Myspace. Jesus can be your top friend now apparently.



I wish my hometown had buildings like this.



Kind of Batman-esque.
done.

8 months of turmoil ahead...

How could this day come so quickly? Why must I wait 8 months to see my beloved Lost once more? Such a sad day....

BUT, nevertheless, FINALE night was awesome...

We all agreed to partake in our usual custom of costumes, since we'd been slackin' for a while.

Carina was Rousseau. Check out the Claire-claws....



I chose to be Mikhail. Something about that Russian accent...



Turns out The Dollar Tree doesn't sell knives or plain black eye patches, so I had to color the white skull cross with marker...so dedicated....



Funny how we all kept to a theme of deceased characters.



Her Aunt ended up choosing Locke, I borrowed her sweet knife for some shots



Carina wasn't too happy about the newly added prop, not so proppish, more slice your head off realish...Although my hand is resting against the wall, it sort of looks like I'm yanking her hair back, ready to slash.....yipe!



Mikhail may surface again, he could have swam away.....triumphing once more over death...

Speaking of Death. Juliet most definitely got the short straw.



Could she have died any worse? This was the most gruesome, merciless death we've yet to witness. Will it work, will history be re-written? Or are all the main characters dharma-goo from the blast? (gasp! Jack....)



One aspect of the show pleased me immensely. For years I have toiled over the forgotten DS ring. Killing Charlie was bad enough, along with the destruction of his 5 greatest hits for Claire (thanks Des...), but leaving it behind to be lost forever?! So, thank you Damon and Carlton.

One complaint however.

One of these things is not like the other....



Conventional wedding vs. traditional? I doubt they would've had two weddings, so what's with the inconsistency of attire? eh...I'll get over it.


I'll miss it terribly. I'll have to start working Wednesdays again....oh the horror.