So I busted my left arm...

RIGHT! It's been a while since I've updated this thing! I fail so hard sometimes. orz;;; Forgive me? I thought you would. :3

Anyways!

What's been going on...

Well, I've been doing good in my weapons class, and came out as King (well... Queen xD) of the Hill the last time I went. Which was about two weeks ago... >.>; The reason being that not yesterday, but last Friday, I was grappling and sparring with a kid named Zack at my lesson, and I must have over-exerted myself too much because I screwed my left arm up pretty bad. The bicep is wicked strained and if I move too fast, jiggle it too hard (I can't even jog wtf?), or stretch it too far; I end up in some serious pain. There are bruises that show up on it too, which sucks. So I just sat and watched on Monday when Munchback-sensei was doing a guest lesson (*tears*), and I didn't go to weapons today either. I did do my private lesson last night though, since I didn't have to worry about anyone but me. We focused entirely on kicking and stretching, so that we didn't hurt my arm. Though I did try this accuracy striking drill, and I was doing good at first until I got too aggressive and put myself in a good amount of pain. >.>; I gotta hand it to Steve though, he is really good at getting rid of pain. Like, it hurt at first when he started rubbing, but not long enough for me to not be able to handle it, and my arm has felt a lot better since.

We went out to dinner afterwards, and stayed and chatted at Pizza Works until closing. He wanted my opinion on some of the things for the dojo, and I was happy to help. Plus we were able to just plain chat about life, and since he's as good a friend as he is a teacher, that is always enjoyable.

But man, I'm so glad he made my arm feel better because it was a gamble as to whether I'd be able to use my camera anytime soon. And I was able to. :D

I did a good amount of photography today so that I could list new items on my etsy for sale. So nothing for the DA really. I'm crossing my fingers that people want my stuff though! Everyone says it's cool... xD;;;

It was so funny though, since we did the photos for the scarves outside, and we had to climb through the snow. Climb and wade, that is. The snow is up to my shoulders in most spots (I'm about 4'11) and when you got on top of it you sank in to about your waist in some spots. o_o;;; But we had fun and I got some nice images to use to sell my products, so it was all good. :3

On the job front, I did an interview thing with FiveGuys Restaurant, so I'm 90% sure I have a job with them starting no later than Feb 25th. The guy wrote down at least that I was available sooner for training, but I'd prefer to wait. So cross your fingers, because I really need it! It starts at $8/hr, plus equally-split tips (there's no waitressing and stuff), plus employee incentive programs that has had people walk away with an extra $300 during a month sometimes. So it looks like a really good place to work. And I'm super happy, because they're just opening up down in Saratoga, so that's the one I applied for, via the Clifton Park branch. Hooray for Craigslist (where I found out about it)!

In the mean time I've been playing Rumble Fighter with my friends and trying to enjoy life as much as possible on a no-income budget. xD

That's about my past couple weeks in a nutshell. Later! And please visit my etsy!

Stalker wut?

First things first, as of yesterday at 5pm, I have no job. I am officially laid off from Borders. So it's back to square one of looking for a damn job. Crap. So yeah, I'm job hunting now and hoping I find something good. Saw this great one in Australia... but my chances of getting that are slim to none. :< Whatever, I'll try anyways.

So that was yesterday's joy. Today's joy was just... so much better. /sarcasm

My best friend for life, Nikki, and I were finally, FINALLY able to hang out for a while. It's been like... god, six months since I last saw her. She has been busy with school and work, and I was busy with work, and we just never had a day that we could hang out. So while she had a day off and was on break, and since I'm unemployed, I messaged her and asked if she wanted to go to Uncommon Grounds with me in 'toga. So we did.

Before I continue, let me tell you about Saratoga. It's a wonderful city with a very low crime rate. Downtown Saratoga is very safe, and very littered with cops because the station is RIGHT THERE. So shit just doesn't happen in this place. And when it does, everyone tends to know.

So Nikki and I went to Uncommon Grounds, and she got herself hot cocoa, and I got white hot cocoa with whipped cream, and we were chatting. And this guy followed us over to our seats. Which is fine, because we were in the center area where there were four overstuffed chairs around these two coffee tables, and it was crowded, so it wasn't unusual for him to sit in the chair sorta next to me. I say sorta because there is a good gap between the two.

Nikki and I chatted a while, and we both noticed that he was staring. And staying. And listening. And he didn't have a drink we soon noticed. Nor an iPod. Or a book. Not even a laptop. He was just sitting there, watching us, listening, and probably waiting.

Well, Nikki and I weren't about to leave. Oh hell no, not when he could follow us out. So we kept chatting, and he kept sitting. And waiting. And watching. And listening.

This went on for three hours. THREE HOURS.

The guy finally left about 9:25pm. Nikki and I waited until about 9:40pm before we headed out the door, because shit, he could be waiting. And during that time this other guy came over and was told us we should have moved and made a statement, and that what he was doing was wrong, and people had noticed. And when I told him that I did have self defense and martial arts training so I wasn't too worried about taking care of myself if need be, he told me that didn't matter and it wouldn't help too much probably. ORLY? Well whatever. It was nice of him to come over and say that, and tell us his years of being tuned to be observant through work had paid off, but I agree with Dad that he was a coward for not coming over to us before hand and saying loudly "Is that guy bothering you?" or something.

Dad things we should have left first, too, to see if the guy followed us rather than waiting because he could have waited for us out front, but really, either way we would have been screwed. We just figured he'd get too cold and leave. And apparently we were right. Though when we left it felt like someone was following us for a bit. Thankfully, we made it to the car uneventfully. o_o;

But I really was mentally preparing myself for him to possibly attack, and to have to put into use everything I've learned so far. And that's not much, but it's enough to hold my own--I'd hope. And since there were two of us and one of him, we did have the better numbers. But holy crap, talk about creepy. That kind of shit just doesn't happen in Saratoga. Wow.

Dad said I should have called him and he would have come down with the pistol in its holster. Ahahaha, that would have been a riot. I mean, he is licensed to carry so it would have been legal. But things worked out fine and that's all that matters. I just still can't fully believe it happened. And I wouldn't if Nikki hadn't been there with me, and that guy hadn't said anything to us.

And OMG, when Nikki went to the bathroom and I was alone, I could feel him staring holes into my head. And I mentally dared him to come chat with me, because I would have made a scene. Enough of a scene to have gotten the cops called or something. Because he was one creepy ass mother effer. Good god. o_o;

That was my interesting evening. All that matters though is that we got home safe and sound. :3

So I have no idea what's wrong with me lolfail

THE CLIFTON PARK KIOSK IS DONE. GONE. KABOOSH. HOORAY! I am feeling so free. ;w; It was a long, long, LONG month and a half, but somehow I survived.

Alix and I were there yesterday from 9:30am-noon, and we got everything packed up and FedExed out. After that I was free to go, and I went to Saratoga where I got Animal Crossing for the Wii with WiiSpeak, and some stuff from Bath and Body works that was on sale for ridiculously cheap prices.

I then had my lunch and headed home, 'cause I wasn't feeling too great and my eyes were bugging me because the sun was so intense. And after the ulceration in my senior year, they can be pretty photosensitive.

So I just went home and laid down, and canceled my private lesson and decided to do it today after weapons instead.

Um... I still felt like shit today... but I went anyways >.>;

I played Animal Crossing until about 3am last night and made lots of friends and had a great time, so granted my bedtime wasn't the best, but I had napped the day before, and I didn't get up until 10:30am. It wasn't like I was running on next to no sleep.

Brendan and I got to class by 1pm, when we were supposed to be there. And I did okay at weapons. I was sluggish though, and I could feel it, but I figured it's just because I don't enjoy weapons as much as I enjoy martial arts. Weapons are beautiful, but I just love fighting with my body more.

I still managed to hold my own in weapons though when we did king of the hill, basically, and I won the first two out of three fights I was allowed to do. We were switching out no matter what after three just to give everyone a chance and stuff. After the second one though I was shot. It's no easy task defending your championship. But dammit, when I'm determined... well... xD

Any whodoodle, after that class we had some guests and I was pummeled with love from a puppy, and then it was on to my private lessons. Brendan got to play along today too, since it was only nice.

Well... my health dropped rapidly after this. Steve slowed the pace by a lot, and I could only do some moves a few times before I just had to stop. Especially the spinning back kick. That... did not end well. >.>;

When we actually got to grappling on the ground, he was watching very closely, I can tell. But I managed to figure the rubber guard out on my own to his shock, and actually apply it two or three times to both him and Brendan. And I tapped him out today with a move he's used on me before and he went "It's scary just how rapidly you're improving." Awesome. :D I did accidentally bloody Brendan's nose though. ^^; It's not broken though, which is good.

And this was well sick. Because when it was over and Steve looked at me he went "D: Kid, you okay? Your eyes are glazing over." I definitely wasn't. At all.

That's about when I left with Brendan though, and two other guys that I brought home since I could make them on my route with no issue. And when I got home I pretty much just passed out. Dad and Mom were pissed because I wasn't going to my Aunt and Cousin's birthday parties again, but whatever. I'm sick, and I don't care. And Mom wasn't going either, she had her own family thing to do. And even though Dad promised we wouldn't have been staying late (I was not and still am not alert enough to be driving right now), no one is home yet. At this time in my typing it's 10:40pm, and they're not home.

Yeah, not late my ass. :P Granted it's snowing something fierce, but shit.

Oh well, I wasn't going and I didn't.

I don't know what is wrong with me. It could just be I'm run down from closing the kiosk and all the panic attacks I was having and stuff, who knows. Maybe it's the flu. I'm clueless. But here's what I got, basically:
-No appetite, I force myself to eat.
-Possible slight fever
-Off stomach
-Headache and mild dizziness/disorientation
-Nausea
-Mild joint discomfort, not pain or hurt, just some discomfort here and there.
-Lethargic and tired a lot

So yeah... no idea what it could be. And if it's just PMSing or something... I will be PISSED. xP

Sucks though, because there were photos I wanted to take that I just couldn't muster the energy or caring to go get. And I just... don't really care right now. So whatever it is I got, needs to go. And fast.

Freak Blizzards

So today I got up and got ready and went out to get the ice off my windshield... only to find it was not going to just slide off on the snow that was under it. Ohhhhh no, we had to use the scraper like a bat to whack holes in it, and then as a lever to pry and pop the ice off so I could pull it off my car. It was not easy, my hands got very cold, and I got a late start. :P

I figured that'd be fine though, I'd still make it by 9:45am, and all would be well.

YEAH, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

So like, I'm driving and it's flurrying a bit, and by the time I made the second section of Jockey St it is a FULL BLOWN BLIZZARD. And since the roads were already wet they turned to ice with snow on top so it was like... 10mph traveling conditions as the wind made you slide all over the place. I WAS NOT A HAPPY PERSON.

So much for 9:45am. >_<;

I didn't make it in until 10:20am thanks to those two set backs. I mean, by the time I hit 146 it was sunny as could be! No more blizzard! But I passed five vehicles in ditches, plus one County Waste garbage truck in a ditch. o_o; Yikes.

Not like it mattered. Huma, Andrew, and I got the kiosk open, and Alix was delayed due to her own car troubles. And in the end we accomplished what we set out to do, which was to pack up all the merchandise.

And let me tell you, THAT WAS A BITCH. Having to fill out tons and tons of inventory sheets for each box. UGH. I'm glad we decided against trying to organize them. That would have been MURDER.

Mark was still pushing for us to stay open until Sunday, but we pretty much told him no flat out. And we're not doing it. Because it's just pointless.

So tomorrow I go in to help Alix with the FedEx stuff, and we're shipping it all out. Then all we have to do is wait for the movers to say they're coming. Susan is being awesome about all of this too, and letting the kiosk stand while we wait for that confirmation ourselves. It's going to be a short day tomorrow though, and I don't care. Just means I can get some stuff done that needs to be done and be happy.

The weather was shitty going home tonight too. :P

Health wise I've been having random panic attacks for no reason, still, and I hate it. But they're occurring less and less, so it'll be all good soon enough.

AND MONDAY I'M BACK IN MY BELOVED SARATOGA! *clings to*

That's pretty much it. I'm still on the hunt for a new job, and Saturday I'm going to go down to the Saratoga Borders to inquire about that cafe job. Not exactly what I want to be doing, but shit, with the economy the way it is beggars can't be choosers and it'd keep my foot in the door. ;_;

With that I'm off to bed. Busy day tomorrow. Work, karate, refinancing my student loan, and just plain being awake. lol

Oh la la, Photos~

Got some new photos for ya. These are from my sister's party. Everyone was in bikinis. By no means are these the only ones, but they're all I have retouched so far. x3


Demure Fan by =Saknika on deviantART


Thoughtful and Reminiscent by =Saknika on deviantART


Protective Jealousy by =Saknika on deviantART


Close Bonds by =Saknika on deviantART


Shall I Dance for You by =Saknika on deviantART

No, you cannot have my time

So yesterday it was slow as hell, once again, at the mall. Slow enough that I watched episodes 28-33 of Soul Eater and was hardly ever interrupted by people. The holiday season is totally over, so no one is buying stuff anymore really. Now's the time to go back to work and school, and as such the foot traffic is down to a crawl. The food court hardly even fills up at lunch anymore. So yes, it's really slow.

I guess some lady went bitching to poor Susan (mall manager) though because we sell "indecent" (she means the playboy type) calendars, and kids can see them, blah blah blah. Susan was telling me about this, and she took a look just to see what that woman was upset about, and she told me that it's not like you could see anything, and that it wasn't anything illegal. She wanted a number to Borders that she could give the lady, but sadly I only had ones for Kiosk Support. So Susan said she was going to look up one online that would take the lady AGES to get through to someone that mattered with. x3 Sometimes, I really love Susan.

I also had several rude people come over with food in hand, eating and talking, and demanding to know calendar prices and asking which ones were cheapest and stuff. And it was like... gross. I'm happy to help, but please don't come over and talk with your mouth full and chew in my ear for a calendar. I'm sure such an important purchase (and neither even bought a calendar wtf?) can wait until after your lunch, thanks.

My sensei and friend, Steve, stopped by two days ago to bother me. That was pretty cool. He has a job with Success Magazine now, and he's going to see if he can't help me get a photography position there. That would ROCK. In the mean time, I'm going to check out Borders Cafe, and other places.

I didn't go to work today though, because I wasn't going to do the two-hour drive from hell through bad weather again for a company that's laying me off at the end of the month. So Huma had to take my shift, and I'll be in tomorrow when we're supposed to shut down.

Now, I say supposed to because Mark called yesterday wanting to know if we could stay open until Sunday, the 13th. Which we can't, because we're down to three of us (myself, Huma, and Andrew; Heidi has wedding stuff to take care of now), there isn't enough traffic to warrant it, and if we do this it's going to make for a nasty schedule and unnecessary stress for Alix. Because this is what her schedule would look like:
Close CP Kiosk on the 13th
Close Wilton Kiosk on the 14th
Close the store between the 24th and 31st.

This only sounds easy, because you can't see the work. And the big issue with the CP kiosk is that if the LDT machine doesn't work for this once, we have to type the SKU numbers in by hand for every single calendar left over before we send it to Crossgates. And that will take FOR-EV-ER. And then to close two kiosks in such a short time? Nothnx. So I told her that I figured we should just do as we please and ask Susan if we can't leave the empty kiosk. Because they also still don't have an exact date for us anyways. Friggin stupid for sure. :P

And besides, Alix already told me she needs my help up in Wilton with how crazy things are getting there as well. So. :\

*sigh* Oh well. I'm not going to worry about it. I had enough panic attacks all through yesterday, don't feel like repeating them tonight.

Mish-Mosh of a Happy New Year

First off, I'd like to say HAPPY NEW YEAR.

In other news...

So the CP Kiosk closes this week. FINALLY. I am SO HAPPY. I have been waiting for this since it OPENED. >.<; After that closes I'm going to help close down both the Wilton kiosk and the Waldenbooks. :< MY POOR BOOKSTORE. I miss it already. QAQ

I am really going to miss it too because of my coworkers. We just have a lot of fun together. But the ones I'll miss the most are Bonnie, Caitlin, Cait, and Alix. Megan left two days ago before the CP Kiosk was closing, and it was such a sense of loss... I hope she's doing well out in Maryland. If you're reading this Megan, best of luck!

God, and CP... the drivers are AWFUL. I almost got killed on Friday. Friggin, I was in the left hand lane coming up to a red light on Clifton Country Road, and this hunter green Subaru Forester SWERVES AT ME. Because he wanted to be in my lane too, and WAS TOO GOOD TO LOOK. I was into the oncoming traffic's lane to avoid him, and had the roads not been slippery he would have gotten quite the horn blowing aside from the bird after I regained control of my vehicle and quite a string of adjectives in several languages. I WAS PISSED. I took down the license plate too, but I didn't get a chance to call the cops. Which is a fucking shame. >[

But yes, at the CP kiosk we're down to myself, Huma, Heidi, and Andrew. So it's going to be a crammed work schedule with no room to call out this week. And I don't plan on it, since I need the money. lol

I also got wind that Borders downtown is looking for cafe people, so even though I really dislike food service, I'm going to go speak with the manager this Saturday when he gets back about filling one of those positions. Because it'd be a job, and it'd keep my foot in the door at Borders. I... just don't know where I'll park. x'D;;

My sensei and friend, Steve, is also getting a job with a magazine (I can't for the life of me remember what one) and is going to see if he can't get me in as a photographer too. So if I could move into my field of study permanently... well... that would be amazing. OwO

I have learned something though about retail. The first is that telling someone that you're reading the Gothic and Lolita Bible magazine is a no-no. The poor woman though I was reading the American Girls (wtf? I'm not that young! lmao) and when she pressed me for the name... she was horrified. ^^; She wouldn't speak to me after that, nor say thank you, and practically fled that kiosk. Oops.

I also learned that fangirling over things in aforementioned magazine will get you odd looks. BUT IT HAS ONLY STRENGTHENED MY DETERMINATION TO MAKE IT TO ANIME EXPO. <333

In the photography front, I attended First Night Saratoga to try and get some shots, but due to bad weather and the poorest planning I've ever seen from Saratoga, it was a flop. So I came away with something, but not much. I personally prefer the sepia-ish one, but it's a toss-up of personal taste really.

I finally purchased my business computer as well. AND I AM IN LOVE. <333 Brendan and I picked it up from Best Buy yesterday after our weapons class, and we set it up, and I had to spend at least five minutes petting it. It's a quad-core 640gb computer with a 22" viewable HD flatscreen. <3 LIFE DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER RIGHT NOW. Goodness... editing my photos on that is going to be AMAZING. OwO <3

Speaking of weapons class and Steve...

I was there three days this week. I ran down on Thursday to discuss what we were doing on Friday, and he asked if I wanted to play with the boys. So I threw on his spare tank top and warmed up with them. And dammit, I refused to be treated any different, and he wasn't about to go easy on me anyways. The boys did get nervous though when I started tossing the 100lb bag around... >.>;; But it was fun, and I learned some new moves and got to grapple. Shit, Steve even came out of no where and attacked and I won! I know he was holding back, but I still managed to hold my own and get a submission out of him. YAY!

Afterwards we sat around chatting for a while. Which is nice. I really enjoy intelligent conversation.

Then I visited him on Friday for my private lesson, already sore and battered from Thursday. It was really fun and I learned a new move in the moi tai style that is meant not to injure the legs, but to destroy them. Both of them. WHOO YEAH BABY! It's... one of my favourite moves now. x3

Saturday (yesterday) I did weapons with him. And I ended up with two smashed fingers, and somehow a lack of a bruise on my neck where I was hit. oO; Odd, but okay. I did win when sparring against Brendan though, 5-4. So it was a close call, but he was fearing for his own fingers because I told him I would run his over if he hit mine again. x'D I was only joking, but still. Guess he didn't notice or something. LMAO

One thing Steve did note to the others though, was that because I was so small they had to watch out for my speed; because I make much smaller movements, I can move faster because of it. That, and I am also a much smaller target. I love being small. ;w; <3

Then last night was also Mia's 16th/18th combined birthday party. I was a shameless playful flirt with Martel because he's cool, and it was fun.

Other than that nothing much is going on. My sister and her friends want to do a bikinis in the snow photoshoot today, but so far they're not ready yet and the light is fading, not to mention the heat. Stupid girls. Oh well, not my problem really. *shrug*

So we'll see what comes of it.


Nestled in Snow by =Saknika on deviantART


Nestled in Snow .Sepia. by =Saknika on deviantART