CBEST Results

I passed the CBEST.

I sat staring at the email for several minutes. Initially I was excited and then I experienced an odd state of terror. There is a series of things I told myself I would do the moment I discovered I passed. And now I have to do these things. I'm going to give myself the night to let it sink into my brain, but then I have to take action. ...I'm going to be so stressed, but hopefully it leads to something good.

Speaking of stressful things, I'm editting Piper's Debt right now. Most of the beginning is the same, but I just ran into a chapter I think I may want to replace with something completely different. I'm having major doubts about my capability right now, but am forcing myself to keep going.

And in other news, I'm in World of Warcraft again. I'm on a different server, where I'm a guild master, playing a new character. A mage. Making things explode does a lot to make me feel better after stressing about the above things all day. KABOOM! It's so much easier to level now so I'm considering making a warrior too. Leveling two warriors to 70 just isn't enough torture, apparantly.

My Hate List

Want to know who's on top of my hate list today? Crystal Images USA. I'd link their website, but that might help their google ratings and I don't want that. I don't want that because they have made me very very angry. How did they do that? Let me start at the beginning...

My sister has planned a subtle Disney theme for her reception. This includes some beautiful centerpieces, each featuring a Disney couple. These Disney couples would be on custom crystal ornaments. Sounds nice, right?

Well, my sister finds the pictures of the characters she wants, but then starts getting rather stressed out about it. Me, being Maid of Honor and an all round caring sister, say, "Don't worry about it. Give me the pictures and I'll take care of the ornaments."

So, I go online and search for places that do this. I find Crystal Images USA. Knowing that Disney can have crazy copyright issues, I shoot off an email asking them if they can do this. They say sure, send the pictures and submit the order. I do so, asking to please send mock-ups before making the ornaments because sister is worried that the pictures won't translate well. They send three beautiful mock-ups. I say it looks great! Add the wedding date, and ship these on out!

Over a month passes. I ordered in late November, figure I'll wait until Christmas is over, then send another email. I say I'm understanding about the Christmas rush, but could I get the ornaments soon?

I get a reply almost immediatly. Yes, they were very busy and they're moving offices. They should be settled by January 28 and the order will go right out.

January comes and go. This brings us to about a week ago. I send another email. I want to know where my ornaments are.

A week passes. No reply.

Now I'm starting to freak out. I grab the phone. I call them. I ask about my ornaments. They ask for my last name. I tell them. And guess what they say? Go ahead! Here it comes: We can't do Disney pictures.

WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS TO START WITH?

That's what I should have said. But no, I'm nice. I take a deep breath and ask for my money back. He tries to tell me that I can get different pictures! My sister does not want different pictures. She wants Disney pictures. That's the whole blasted point.

Anyway, I'm getting a check in the mail and trying a place that actually has a contract with Disney to sell from their parks. I think I asked once if they could do Disney characters and they said no, but I'm trying one last time. If you don't see beautiful custom crystal ornaments at my sister's wedding, don't ask me about them unless you want to hear this rant. I won't be able to help myself.

V-Day

Happy V-Day. May you have lots of candy and love.

I bought myself some candy. I feel that I'm worth it. I also went to Disneyland yesterday and bought myself some pretty earrings which I am wearing now. Wearing pretty things always makes the day better.

Wait, yesterday was a Wednesday. Don't I work on Wednesdays? Normally, yes. But yesterday I had a consultation about Lasik surgery. I'm going to have it done near the end of March. I will be able to see without any blasted contacts or glasses. This is a very very good thing and I'm excited about it.

Oh, and last weekend I took the CBEST test. I won't know the results until the end of the month. I'm starting to have worries like did I put all my math answers in the reading section? Did my answer sheet have the right name on it? Was there a fourth secret version of the test that I missed? Did I answer the questions that were actually on the test or did I somehow make up my own questions thus making my answers very wrong? AAAH!

And this is what spurs me to write more. Being crazy = more writing? Yep. It helps ease my chaotic mind and lets me pretend there's always that bit of hope I'll get published and the world will fill with rainbows. And unicorns. Unlikely, but it's nice to think about.

Happy V-Day, all.

Super Tuesday

Happy Super Tuesday, everyone! Did you remember to vote?

I did. I was planning on voting at about 7:30pm since I wouldn't have time until then, but voting late in the day is lame. It is especially lame if they go ahead and announce results before you've had a chance to cast your ballot. And so, when I hopped in my car at 6:50am this morning, I thought, "What the hey. Why don't I vote now?"

And I did. Right around the corner I zipped to stand in the cold morning air for five minutes waiting for the polls to open. I was the second person to vote there and am now proudly wearing my sticker.

Some other fun stuff outside of Super Tuesday -

1) I found a really cute webcomic. It is called When Curiousity Met Insanity. The artist works at Disneyland and is basing this off the relationship as she sees it between Alice and the Mad Hatter there. I thought that was a very weird fanfic pairing, but it's actually very cute and fitting. Go read it.

2) I wrote a short story. It's only a little over 1,000 words, but I think I'm gonna rewrite it to give it a humerous twist and make it a little longer. Then maybe I'll submit it to a few places.

3) I'm still playing lotro, and might get a lifetime membership. It would be really cool to see the game when they finally get to Mordor, but that will be awhile. I also don't anticipate the population getting much bigger. In fact, by then it will probably be smaller. And so, point 4...

4) I'm probably gonna buy me some Warhammer Online when it comes out. I'm watching for open beta/ stress testing in the meantime. (I did sign up for closed but haven't gotten in.) At first I thought it would be a lame WoW duplicate, but after I actually gave it a closer look it seems very fun. I'm leaning towards the side of Destruction right now, but my main would be wherever my friend's are.

5) I'm slogging through the CSUN application process. Getting into the school is easy. Getting into the credential program is a pain in the butt. I swear, it's the most convuluted application process I have ever seen, and I've done big long interview/ auditions. I have to interview to see if I need to take a test, I know I need to take another test, then I need to interview after the application is finally in. I have a whole lot more I could say about that, but it isn't very nice so I'll end here.

Happy Super Tuesday, all. Get out there and vote.