Journey through Faerieland

Today my mother, brother, and me went to see the new Shrek movie. I actually woke up earlier than this morning than necessary to go to the 10:45am showing. We went to an early show because they were cheaper. We didn't see it in 3D because I didn't want to. I dislike 3D movies and they make me nauseated. IMAX films make me way more sick than 3D and I can't look at the screen at all. I get motion sickness very easily. I really liked the movie:-) I want to buy the Shrek movies someday... They aren't very expensive from amazon.com. It's storming and raining now. My mother's dog is terrified of storms. I will do some more brainstorming for the story I want to do (young adult fantasy) and paint borders on my paintings. I also have to finish the book I borrowed from April. Tomorrow I can get new books from the library. Yay!

From: http://www.tenthousandquestions.com/search/label/gratitude
Giving thanks
What sacrifices have people made for your benefit, so that your life could be better?

My mother stayed at home when I was younger so she could spend time with my brother and me. We rarely had babysitters. My parents also paid a lot of money for me to be privately tutored my last two years of high school because public school made me overloaded and crazy. My parents also worked very hard so we could go to Disney World every year (which I love). My parents did a lot for me, even if I have had a lot of problems with them in the past.

From: http://www.tenthousandquestions.com/

Standing between two trees

Which side of the family do you feel more connected to — your father's family, or your mother's family?

What is the most obvious difference between the two sides of your extended family? What are the best strengths of each? In what way do you (and your brothers and sisters) embody the combination of these two family lineages?

I feel about equally connected to both sides of my family. My mother's family has a lot of eccentric people (some who were probably autistic) and a lot of introverts. Some, like my mother's mother, were extroverts, though. Some were interested in the occult (more my mother's father's side) and some were very religious Lutherans (more my mother's mother's side). My mother's coat of arms has a unicorn on a pale blue background with the hand of God reaching out of a cloud. I identify more with this coat of arms.

My father's side is filled with charming extroverts, drunks, drug addicts, some bad cops, and some actors. A lot of them are bipolar or otherwise mentally ill and I relate to them in that way. My father's coat of arms is red and yellow with a lion and I think a sword. It matches the family well, but less me. Though I guess I can be lion-like when I get prideful or vicious.

I look like a cross between both sides of my family, but I'm the shortest/smallest of them all for several generations at least.

From: http://www.tenthousandquestions.com/2010_01_01_archive.html

Strong memories
What events, places or situations dominated your childhood experience?

Going to other children's birthday parties (usually the children of family friends), beer (that I didn't consume), bright colors, cartoons, Disney World, being quiet among chaos and enjoying it, severe stress from school making me sick and crying from it, the Disney bedroom my brother and I shared, being bullied by school children, feeling dumb, feeling blissful happiness with my family and some friends -- despite my father's alcoholism and mental illness, fairs and festivals in the summers, going to the neighbors' homes to be with their children and going along with their games, drawing, playing video games with my little brother and mother all day long.

Lots of good memories and the memories earlier on of my father's sickness, my mother's extreme punishment of me, and the school bullies didn't effect my happiness level very much at the time. Those things bother me more in retrospect and have left more permanent effects on my adult personality. Though I'm still pretty happy when my bipolar and anxiety are under control:-) In fact, I would say I'm happier than average when my medication is working. I've always loved all of the little pleasures in life and never became jaded. When I'm very sad I'm never jaded -- just feeling way too many emotions that cause me grief.

Today my obsessions haven't been as bad. Though I was a bit overloaded in the grocery store. My mother and I went to see the first showing of Alice in Wonderland since it's the cheapest. My brother was the one obsessed with going, but he said he didn't sleep well so he didn't come with us. I'm not really into 3D, but since everyone seems to be seeing this movie in that way, I was a bit curious about seeing it in 3D. I liked the movie. I also really like the original Alice in Wonderland books and have the recent annotated version.

Today I also decided I would adopt a cat. Even if Joey needs surgery or is sick, I was still thinking about getting a cat afterward. I just really felt like it was time to bring in a third. The cats I saw there were already numerously different from the cats I saw over the weekend (many adopted or transferred -- I'm so glad the 13 year old cat that couldn't be around children or other animals was adopted! She was half-price because they really wanted her to get a home). I ended up picking out a small, short-haired female orange tabby named Bunny. That got a little confusing at the desk, telling them which animal I wanted to adopt. Bunny was one of those cats given up because the owners were "moving"-_- They should take their cats with!

Bunny just became available for adoption yesterday. She was very affectionate and quiet. This time when I adopted they said to keep the new cat separate from the other cats for about a week, slowly introducing them to each other. Right now Bunny is set up in my backroom and there is a baby gate blocking the way. The baby gate idea was suggested to me at the shelter. My two cats could jump over it, but so far they've just been staring at it. Hopefully it will work. I'm supposed to take her to the vet in 1-2 weeks after adopting her, even though she just saw a vet and got shots, etc. yesterday>_< It feels so unnecessary... She doesn't need shots and I'm assuming they also did a fecal test on her. But I will see about doing that and annoyingly I have to pay $20 to change Bunny's microchip to have my information instead of her previous owners (who adopted her as a kitten from this place). Hopefully Bunny will adapt well. I'm glad she's here and Joey just sniffed at her through the carrier when I brought her in -- he didn't hiss, which is a good sign. Mrs. Bates won't be a problem because she ignores all other animals.

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My father. It didn't work.

Okay, a fun post. Earlier today I was talking to my brother. He said "I talk to people you can't hear." My response was "What?" thinking he was hallucinating again. We went over this a few times and finally he said "I pray." I asked him why he didn't just say that and he said "The bible says not to tell what you pray about." I pointed out that he could say he prayed without saying what he prayed about. Then he went on about the Bible and the Koran. He has a bunch of copies from jail and has read them. He's all into religion now whereas he used to be an extreme atheist. Somewhere in the middle he revised the Bible to be a Harry Potter-type universe and I guess that eased him into the whole religion thing.

Someone stole my mother's new, expensive lawn mower from my grandfather's house. It was probably someone who saw her mowing the lawn and new the house had been vacant for a long time. Why must people be so selfish and inconsiderate??

I had a major meltdown today over finances. I already spent too much this month (especially on gifts) and then the computer problems happened. And the news kept getting worse and worse. The latest is that my processor is bad and that's what destroyed my mother board and it's just as cheap to get a new and better motherboard with a new processor as to get a new processor by itself with my "new" yet old motherboard. $130 on top of the money I already wasted buying a motherboard and an adaptor, so more like $200. I freaked out. We went to the store so I could buy a thumb drive and I was acting really bratty and stubborn. I started hitting my head in public, additionally.

Later on I apologized to my mother and she told me she was giving me "a very good birthday" by paying for all my computer stuff! I offered to chip in and she said she'd see what the final cost will be. I'm still uptight but this greatly relieves me. I keep trying to save money and problems keep happening.

Today I found out my great aunt's surprise birthday party is the same day I am going to the ballet. We will miss the surprise part, but my mother and I (and possibly Michael) will be going to the party after the ballet. I will bring at least one book to read with me... This same great aunt used to collect unicorns and we've discussed by email about meeting so I could take some of her collection. My mother would accompany me. Maybe we can sort that out at the party.

Overall today has been a calm day. I tried rewatching the second Lord of the Rings movie and I still couldn't focus on it. I might try it yet again. I'm not sure yet. I'm tired and might just read and listen to music for now.