With my 28th (I know, I’m so old) birthday coming up in just 5 days, I feel a wish list is in order. If little kids can get away with it, then I have every right to have a list too. The items listed range from highly unlikely to possible, and are placed in no particular order. So with that…here’s my wish list.

New Washing Machine

If you happened to read the post yesterday about our shitty Sunday, you will know that our washing machine took a nosedive and practically flooded a good portion of our house. Since washing machines aren’t known to be a cheap appliance, it makes the perfect gift.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3

I know that Star Wars: The Old Republic is coming out next year, but if you’re a KotOR fan, you know it’s different. I’m talking about a proper RPG, not an MMO, and I want it to happen in the same timeline as KotOR and KotOR 2. Hell, I’d even love for Revan to be back, but I digress. BioWare and Obsidian made two fantastic games, and really gave us RPG fans something special. Should an Xbox 360 copy of the game manage to get into my mailbox on June 29th, who am I to turn it down?

A Winning Lottery Ticket

If you live in the United States, then you know that our economy sucks right now. The job market is terrible, and those who have jobs are constantly stressed about losing what they do have. People are losing their houses, having to file bankruptcy, and credit scores throughout the country are plummeting daily. Even though Chris has a secure job, and his salary is better than what others our age are earning, we still struggle like anybody else. I should probably clarify that we don’t live beyond our means, and have cut our budget and bills down as much as we can to try and give us something to stash away into savings. With Chris needing to do some major repairs to his car (he’s been driving around for over a  month with his check engine light on, been driving around for the same amount of time on a badly patched up tire, he desperately needs new brake pads and rotors, and I could go on and on), he still has his student loans to pay off, and in the near future we’d like to add on to our family. All of that costs money. Should I have a winning lottery ticket, I’d, first off, probably have a heart attack, but a lot of our daily stresses would be gone. I’d be able to give my daughter everything she could ever want and more, I’d be able to help take some of the pressure off of Chris, and I could pay BioWare to make me my own damn KotOR!

An iPhone 4

Who doesn’t want a new shiny?! I currently have an iPhone 3G, which is jailbroken (shhh, don’t tell) and I would love to have an iPhone 4. I really wanted a 3GS, but I knew that if I waited for the next one, it would be everything the 3GS is, and more. I want to be able to take great pictures, record and edit movies, and do everything the iPhone 4 is capable of. I just lack the funds to get one. Obviously an iPhone 4 is an expensive present (especially because I’d want the 32 GB version), but it’s something I would get continuous usage out of it, and I would be able to review the most recent iPhone apps/games without having to worry about OS compatibility!

A Sony PlayStation 3

Yeah, I said it. A PS3. Why? Well, for starters, I collect video game systems. We also would love to have a Blu-Ray player in the house. On World of Meh!, we don’t have anybody with a PS3 to review the games, so that would help out our site. We would also be able to play games exclusively for PS3 (hello Little Big Planet and Twisted Metal). Again, this is an expensive gift, but if a person doesn’t dream big, then why even dream at all?

A New Video Card For Our PC

Another tech item, but one that is desperately needed. Ever since we came up with the idea of hooking up my PC to our 42″ HDTV, we have gone through two video cards. The first one fizzled out in less than 48 hours. The second, and most recent to shit on us, lasted from about December until now, but that’s still a short time, and they aren’t cheap. The problem is that the fan will start screwing up, and eventually not working, causing the video card to overheat and cut off the feed to our TV. For awhile we were having a large fan of mine blow into the tower, with hopes of delaying the overheating, but one day the fan overheated and didn’t want to work. It’s also a pain in the ass because the fan isn’t quiet. So, yes…. new, nice, and shiny video card please!

Naughty Bear on Xbox 360

It has cute, cuddly teddy bears, and they are fabulously violent. This is a game that Chris and I have been looking at for quite some time. Coming out on the day of my birthday, I really hope I can get a copy, soon. From what I’ve seen in the trailers, Naughty Bear is going to be such a badass game. In one of the trailers, the main bear knocked another bear onto the ground, and then as the bear was struggling to get up, the main bear puts his foot on the other bears throat… crushing it and killing him. I know, it sounds evil and violent… and that’s why I want it. Tee hee!

Two Tickets To The Upcoming Local Deftones Concert

How strange that on the same day I announce on World of Meh! that our Blogathon charity is One Love For Chi, we also find out that Deftones are coming to Fresno on August 7th. I’ve never been able to see the Deftones in concert, but I’ve always wanted to. I remember a few years back they performed here in town on my actual birthday but I was unable to go. What sucks is that the tickets go on sale Saturday morning, making it impossible for us to save up and purchase them – and they are $32 per person (yow). Since it’s a General Admission show, and since it’s at a smaller venue, the odds are not in my favor. By the time we’d be able to afford two tickets, the concert would be sold out… so go birthday wish list!

A Puppy

You all know we have our evil cat, Moogle, but a dog would be great. The last dog we had, Donnie, was great but he had major flaws. One was that his previous owner abused him, making his interactions with Chris a little strange. I’d love to have a puppy so that we can train him or her right from the beginning, and not have any bad habits or traumas to worry about. Since we are in a house now, we have a backyard where the little one could run around, and we have a great dog park right down the street where they could play with the other dogs in our neighborhood. Another great thing is that right down the street, there is a fantastic vet place that does inexpensive spaying, neutering, and vaccinations. With me being home so much, it does get a little boring and lonely, so having a dog around would be a lot of fun. With cats, they are so bitchy and unpredictable, but with a dog, they are always happy to see you.

A Capture Card

If you are unfamiliar with what a capture card is, it’s a card (duh) that goes into your PC and you can record or stream the content of your monitor. Having a capture card would be one way we can connect with our World of Meh! gaming fans, by having our games and playtime constantly streaming on sites like Justin.tv or Ustream. When I would stream, I used our webcam and tied it up using pink ribbon to the tripod we have for our camcorder. Very ghetto, but it worked… sorta.

A Haircut

So, most of the items on this wish list are all tech related, so me throwing in a haircut probably seems strange as Hell, and I agree. Consider this – I haven’t had a hair cut since February of last year. Prior to that, I hadn’t had a haircut since late 2007. Why might you ask? Because haircuts for women are ridiculously expensive. It’s said that a woman should have a haircut about every month and a half, to prevent split ends and all of that other froofy shit, but at close to $100 for each time, that adds up really quickly. So yes, a haircut, and not some Super Cuts crap either. I’m talking about a proper haircut where the edges are even, and I don’t have to worry about getting all jacked up.

Chocobo Racing for PlayStation

Chocobo Racing was a fucking EPIC game. Sadly, it was stolen from me years ago. It’s a difficult game to find, and when you can find it, it’s either in bad condition or very expensive. I loved Chocobo Racing, and when I saw that it was one of my stolen games, I cried. All I want to do is be able to be Bahamut and zoom on the racetracks past Squall, Seifer, White Mage, and other Squaresoft (Square Enix doesn’t exist to me) characters. It was a sad, sad day when I lost my Chocobo Racing. Makes me want to pour out a 40 oz for all my dead homies.

An iPad

If I can want an iPhone 4, then I sure as Hell can want an iPad too! With Chris having to go to bed early for work, there are times where I’m not tired enough to fall asleep. Having an iPad would be great so that I can watch something and not risk him being woken up, like how the TV could. Some of you might say how I can watch videos on an iPhone, but remember… the iPhone has a significantly smaller screen than the iPad. The iPad would also make some games even more awesome, with the larger screen allowing me to see things easier than on the iPad. There have also been a couple of iPad games I had the chance to review, but had to turn it down.

A Real Lightsaber

A red, staff lightsaber would own. Hard. Why red? For the Sith! Why staff? Because that’s what I like. In any Star Wars game I play, I always opt for staff when possible. I’m not a fan of dual-wielding lightsabers, and I honestly don’t know why. Personal preference I suppose. Should red not be available, I am perfectly fine with silver. Blue, purple, or green would be too ‘Jedi’ and the Sith in me wouldn’t be too pleased. Also, I don’t want it to be one of those fake lightsabers, or a replica. I want the real deal people! Lightsaber… make it so.

Dark Phoenix Statue

I’ve wanted this statue for about 10 years now, and when I could find it, it was too expensive. Now, it’s both difficult to find and expensive. Sure there are other Dark Phoenix statues out there, but this one is the best, and I like the best. Jean is in a better pose in this statue than the others, and the Phoenix itself looks better than in the others. The Dark Phoenix is one of my favorite comic book characters, and this statue would make me a giddy fan girl.

GIR or HK-47

Both robots are different, but a shit load of fun. With GIR, I’d have the “Doom Song” and with HK-47, I’d have him calling humans ‘Meatbags‘. I know, HK-47 is technically an evil droid, but was he not loyal to Revan? I rest my case. If I had HK-47, nobody would fuck with me, and I’d have some thing intelligent to converse with – I can’t say that for most of the humans on this planet. GIR would be pure comedic value, and I’d also get the dog I’d want all in one. With GIR, we’d be able to watch TV shows together, discuss our mutual love for bacon, and eat pizza.

So there you have it…. some of the top things on my birthday wish list. Since I’m human, obviously I want more things. I admit it, I’m a greedy bastard, but at least I am honest about it! Odds are, I won’t get a damn thing from this list, but it’s still nice to hope!

- Me

Since it’s been awhile, I figured it’s only proper to update you all on what has happened these past several months. Actually, I don’t know who I’m kidding since nobody will be reading this, but here it goes anyways….

As of the end of last year, November I believe, Donnie was no longer with us. I should probably clarify that Donnie didn’t die, but he was re-homed to a wonderful family. Donnie wasn’t reacting too well with Moogle, he was having terrible anxiety problems, and apartment living just wasn’t for him. Since Chris and I weren’t too sure when, or if, we would be moving out of the apartment, we put Donnie up on Craigslist along with some pretty heavy prerequisites. One of them was that they lived in a house with a front and back yard, because he loved being outside and running around. Another was that he would go to a good home. Fortunately we found this really nice family that had children, they had another dog similar to Donnie, and the womans mother in-law was in school to become a vet. Before leaving Donnie at their house, we spent some time to get to know them, and when we saw that Donnie would be in good hands, we knew it was time to go.

In no way, shape, or form was it easy for me. I cried so hard because I genuinely loved Donnie, but he was going to a better home. For a few months I stayed in contact with the woman, and Donnie adjusted very well. He learned how to use a doggie door by watching the other dog they had, he had been fantastic at alerting them when people were near the house, and he bonded with their son so much that they would sleep together at night. I still get sad about Donnie, I still miss him, and I still cry about him being gone, but I know that it was for the best and that gives me comfort.

Moogle is still around, unfortunately, and she is as shitty as ever. We tried getting a new dog twice, and each time she attacked them so we promptly returned them. She is now over a year old, and pretty much rules the house…. as a mega bitch. Back in January, when we were still at the apartment, we were having problems with her. She kept attacking people, went after Chris in the face a couple of times, and was heavily clawing on our furniture, in which we had just purchased a brand new couch and chair. Another huge problem was that she would attack children. For awhile we were babysitting a cousin’s son, who was a little over a year old, and we had to always keep Moogle in the bathroom. If we didn’t she would stalk the poor boy, wait for him to walk on by, and would bat for his face… with her claws out. Nothing would work with Moogle either. Spraying her with water wouldn’t work, using sprays that are supposed to keep a cat from scratching didn’t work, special anti-scratch tapes didn’t work… and we were pouring out money we didn’t have to try and find a solution.

Finally it all became too much, because we were looking for a new place, a nicer place, and the last thing we needed was a destructive cat (oh, did I mention she was fucking up the carpet too?). So, again we tried to re-home an animal. I described her personality, described her needs, and I was shocked at how many people responded. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was free… I don’t know, but out of all the responses I received, I chose a family who had just lost a cat. They had another cat at home, a little girl who was either 4 or 5, and the cat they just lost had the same personality as Moogs. Perfect fit, no? No.

Within 16 hours of having Moogle, I received a phone call from them saying that they had to bring her back. Apparently our little bundle of terror was in demon mode the entire time. Every single second that she was at their house, she was hissing, screaming at them, trying to attack them, and being a fucking monster. What made me laugh so hard is that when they brought her back, which was in one of those cardboard cat carriers, as soon as she stepped out of it and was back inside our apartment, she acted like everything was just fine. Like nothing had happened, like she never flipped out and became the spawn of Satan…. nothing. So, thank you Moogle for forcing us to be stuck with you for the next 20 years. It’s going to be wonderful, ugh.

So yes, we are living in a house, although we don’t own the house. We didn’t have enough time to properly come up with a down payment to go towards a house, and our credit is shit. The house we are in now is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage. It’s close to 1,700 square feet, and it’s fantastic. We have a front yard, which is a very nice size, and a backyard that overlooks a small lake and golf course. On the inside, it’s perfect for us. I have a lovely kitchen with all new appliances, and a gas range. Loads of counter space, and we finally have enough cabinets for everything! We have a separate dining room, which is a first, and that room has windows overlooking the backyard. The sliding glass door to the backyard is right there as well. The house has two living rooms, but right now we only use one room. The room we are in is right next to the kitchen, has a lovely gas fireplace, and is a great size for the furniture we do have. The other room, which is in the front of the house, and behind the kitchen, is a large space, and could easily be used as part formal dining room, part formal living/entertaining room. Currently it’s being used as a Moogle room since we lack furniture for it, and also lack the money for furniture.

Our Master Bedroom is massive, and the closet is another room in itself. We even have an attached bathroom as well, and I like that because now we don’t have to worry about people coming in our bedroom to use a restroom. The bathroom has two sinks, a decent amount of cabinets, but the great part is the shower… more specifically the tub. It’s a garden tub. It’s a JETTED garden tub! Oh my stars, I can’t even properly communicate how freaking amazing the tub is. The jets feel so nice, especially when your back hurts, and it’s fun to put bubbles in it as well (yeah, I’m a big kid when I take a bath, so what?).

The other two bedrooms are a very nice size, and the second bathroom was recently redone. One amazing thing about the house is that we have a proper laundry room. At our old apartment our washer and dryer were, no joke, in our living room. Granted the space was covered and had two doors that closed it off, but could you imagine trying to watch TV with your washer going? It was annoying as hell, and pretty tacky. Now we have it on the opposite end of the house, there is the entry to the garage right there, and there are even cabinets so we can store the detergent and other items up there. Some other things are that the exterior of the house was freshly painted before we moved in, the carpeting is all new, the entry way, kitchen, dining room, second bathroom, laundry room, and entire hallway is all brand new, gorgeous tile. The garage door opener is brand new as well. We pretty much moved in to a brand new house, so it’s fantastic.

A couple of downsides, that we forgot to consider before moving in, are things in the backyard. I’m allergic to mosquitoes, and since the water in the lake doesn’t have anywhere to go, it’s a prime breeding spot for them. Almost the entire back section of our house is covered in mosquitoes, and you can see them on the window screens, sliding glass door, and all in the air. To say that there are easily over a thousand mosquitoes back there is not an exaggeration. Another thing is that there are a lot of plants in the front and backyard that attract bees. People in my family are heavily allergic to bees, and since I’ve never been stung before, I am not sure how I would react. Add that to the fact that I have no Epi-Pen, no Benadryl in the house, and that Chris is close to a 45 minute drive away from the house…. I should avoid getting stung because I could end up dead. That limits the amount of gardening I can do while he is away at work as well.

Even with all of the negatives, we’ve been loving it here. We were so unhappy at the apartment, and now we have a house where all of our stuff can fit, where we have room to grow and be settled for a couple of years, and where we don’t have to worry about crazy drunken bastards like we did with the apartment.

Another fantastic thing that has happened is that Chris and I celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary back on March 28th. It seems like yesterday we were in the apartment asking each other “hey, do you want to get married tomorrow?” This year with Chris has had it’s ups and downs, mainly coming from external sources, but I’ve never been happier. This is the first time either of us has been married, and it’s been everything we could’ve hoped for. He has been supportive and understanding with everything I have had to go through in my personal life, and he is the one person I know I can count on no matter what. I feel confident in saying that, in the many years to come, Chris will continue to make me happy, and I look forward to creating so many memories with him.

Finally, my daughter turned 7 a couple of weeks ago and that was fun. Her party was a blast, and all of the children loved it. It’s crazy how quickly they grow up. Sometimes I wish she was a baby again so I could just hold her, but now she is a big girl and I love the time I spend with her.

Other than that, I cant’t think of anything else major that has happened. Nobody close to us has died, I’m not pregnant, we don’t have any illnesses that can kill us, and even though the economy is complete and utter shit, things could be a lot worse. So… hopefully that catches you all up to speed, and if anything else important happens, we will be sure to share it with you all.

- Me

Our dog is a total spaz.  One of our visiting friends was petting him gently, when suddenly the yelping started.  I thought we were past this, but I guess once a spaz, always a spaz.

Way to spaz out, spazzy mcspazzerson.
-Because I said so

Last week we got a note on our door that the maintenance guys would be coming in our apartment for some routine stuff – changing air filters, checking smoke alarms, etc. Basic shit.

Well, they never came.

On Tuesday or Wednesday we got another notice saying that they were coming on Friday, yesterday, instead. Around 1, I heard some voices around and I poked my head out of the door. I saw the guys at the apartment across the way and asked if they were going to come to ours next, because I would need to put Donnie away in his crate so that he didn’t try and bite them. They said yes, so back inside I went to take care of Donnie.

About 3 minutes later there was a knock at the door, and it was them. One was the regular guy who is realllllly nice, and the other was this new guy and his big metal clipboard.

Technically we aren’t supposed to have Moogle because the complex is a rip off. In order to have Donnie with us, we had to put down a $450 deposit, and we have to pay an ADDITIONAL $20 a month for a stupid pet rent. When we signed the lease they told us that the pet deposit would be good for two pets. Later on when we asked about it, prior to getting Moogs, we were told that nope… we were misinformed and that it’s for 1 pet only. To get another would be another hefty deposit PLUS another $20 a month.

Fuck. That.

So I told the guys to be careful about the kitten and that we were watching her because Chris’s Mom was out of town on a cruise to Alaska. It wasn’t a total lie because she actually did take a cruise to Alaksa, it just happened in June lol. I said that she has leather couches (true fact), and that leaving a kitten alone with them wouldn’t be too good.

Clipboard dickhead goes, “well I have to let the office know that you have two pets blah blah blah.” Instantly pissed off I say, “no, we don’t have two pets. One is our dog that they know about. We paid the deposit and we have been paying the extra monthly pet rent. The other we are watching for my Mother-In-Law while she is away on a cruise.”

Apparently he doesn’t understand plain English because I had to repeat myself about a dozen times, but he kept on insisting that he had to let them know.

We can’t afford another pet deposit nor can we afford the additional $20 a month on our rent. With the addition of Donnie and the water/sewage, our rent is already a little over $850. Pet rent on Moogle would kill us.

If I get a notice or a phone call regarding this, Mr. Maintenance Man your ass is mine. I will tell them how rude he was, and say that he is no longer allowed inside our apartment, and that if he is… it’s so on.

Fingers crossed I don’t have to do this to the guy:

- She Who Has The Last Word