Trying out the DVDs.

Originally uploaded by SparklieSunShine.

I just uploaded some pictures onto Flickr. They were all taken well before my old camera was ruined. Apparently I have a limit of photos I can upload a month. I tried to upgrade, but my card was declined. It is not uncommon. So if you feel so inclined go ahead and check them out. I’ll post more when I upgrade or on August 1st…whichever comes first.

On birthday and Christmas posts I always like to take a moment to say that I mainly write down everything I got to keep a record for myself because you have never met anyone with a worse memory. Okay? Just wanted you to know.

So remember about how I was feeling pretty much indifferent to my birthday and I didn’t know how to get out of it? My actual birthday cleared all of that up!! (I also found out today that Dooce and I share a birthday. Neat!) So I was allowed to open one present from The Mrs. the night before. It was Transamerica, which I am going to watch this weekend, and Patch Adams. I love Patch Adams, but I already own it so I have to return it. Bummer! I am excited about Transamerica because I heard it’s funny and it would be nice to watch a movie about transsexuals where they don’t die.

Then we went to sleep and The Mrs. wanted her cell phone to be set for 1:30 am when I was born, but instead it went off at 7:30 am. We had wanted to sleep in and The Mrs. got up to turn it off and was going to back to sleep for a while, but I woke up and remembered the other gifts and I was too excited to sleep. So she brought over the boxes and I started with the cards which were just too sweet and then the first box was a gift box from Gap and it was a purple dress that fit me perfectly and I wore that day. The next box I opened was a Coach gift box. (what?!) So I freaked out a bit before I opened the box thinking of other smaller Coach things she could put in a box like that. No. It was a purse!!! There was also a little starfish cell phone charm I had been wanting. The purse wasn’t the style or color that I liked and I was worried about that, but she saw it and said it was okay to exchange it so that was nice of her. I didn’t want to seem selfish or ungrateful, but I also wanted something from her that I would love and use all of the time. So we went back to sleep with plans of going to Coach. The first purse was nice, but it was the satiny white material so I would be worried about getting it messy and blue and also the shape doesn’t fit right on me.

into

We woke up did shower stuff and then we went to get Kyle. He handed me a cute gift back with a funny and very sweet card. He bought me The Family Stone, which I loved and really wanted. As much as I hate going to the movies and having CDs I love owning movies. Then we went to Coach.

My wonderful friend Tara works there so we saw her and I went on a search for a great new bag. Immediately when we walked in the door I saw my bag. Some of you who have been reading me for a while may remember the Gold Pleated Hobo I wanted last October. It was there. I knew it would be way too much, even with Tara’s discount. So I went to the clearance wall, but nothing seemed me. I did fall in love with a great little lilac bag which had really soft leather, but it was a handbag. It wouldn’t go over my shoulders the way I like. We went back to the table with the gold bag and there was a white one that was much cheaper. We decided to get that one so we went out to the ATM to get cash and The Mrs. and I were talking and she wanted to know how I was feeling and what I really wanted and our talk turned to the gold one and how much I wanted it and she took initiative and said “That’s it. You are getting that bag.” So she went back in, had me pick it out and handed it over to Tara so she could pay. Ahhhh! We had to wait a while until Tara could buy it because she had to wait for the manager so we were looking at other things. We were by the iPod cases and there were these little cases. We thought they might be for razor phones, but The Mrs. tried hers and it didn’t fit. Kyle thought a business card might fit and I tried mine and they fit perfectly. Kyle and I had been talking about me getting one of those a few weeks ago so he decided to get one for me. All of the Coach and presents were making me feel a bit faint and like I should sit down and it was all too much, but I was able to keep my cool. The purse fits under my arm like it was made just for me. Soon after we were done and on our way.

The business card case.

Our first stop once we got there was at Panera Bread for lunch. It was delicious. Then we went to the Mall and I bought some goodies at The Body Shop. We stopped in a few more stores, but didn’t find anything worth buying. I had transferred all my stuff into my new bag and I was feeling pretty great. Next it was off to Barnes & Noble (the only book store around) where we browsed for a while and then I bought a magazine and we relaxed in the café where I got a Blackberry Green Tea Frappachino, which was amazing. Once we finished we went to Old Navy and Kyle waited in the car while The Mrs. and I shopped. I tried on a ton of different clothes and I finally found some pieces that looked great on me. I got three skirts, two sweaters and two tank tops. Once we finished at Old Navy it was time to go meet my parents for dinner.

This one in Khaki and Army Green.

A long sleeved Henley light weight sweater in Brown and Cream. (I can’t find a picture)

and

We headed to Don Pablos and we got there a bit early so we let them know to expect our party and we waited. Soon my parents arrived and we went inside. A few minutes after my sister and her boyfriend Javier came in. Yay! Time to start the party. I put on a party hat I got from party city and my pin that said Birthday Girl. While we were waiting for our food my parents passed around there present to me. They got me a sweet card and a picture of my dog, Sebastian, saying he was upset he wasn’t invited. They also got me the new version of my camera that got ruined in the pool!!! I couldn’t believe they remembered exactly which one to get. I was so happy. Later in the night I put my old memory chip into it and all those pictures were there. I was very happy about that. I didn’t want to lose those memories. Then my sister gave me a card and a cute plaque about sisters. I was so happy. Then we had dinner and a lot of funny conversation. The waiters sang to me and I put my 22 candles in my fried ice cream. I made a wish and blew them out. It was great. I was sad when dinner ended and then we had to go back to Kyle’s house.

When we got to Kyle’s house we started watching the train-wreck that is this seasons Project Runway. I can’t believe Vincent and Angela are still there. I think they are leaving them for entertainment value.

After the show The Mrs. and I went home. I put my starfish charm on my new purse and I put my clothes away. I honestly think this is the best birthday I have had in years. Thank to everyone who made it special.

So it is the day before my birthday and usually I am filled with pre-birthday giddiness, but I stayed up way to late last night, got yelled at first thing at work and I keep getting spam comments. I detest spam comments and I don’t know why they would waste their time anyway since clearly I have been deleting them all. I also had a special surprise planned for the 500th comment, but I think we are past that number by now. This is not what I wanted to be doing with my day, sitting behind a desk while spammers make merry with my comments.

I had a pretty great weekend. I had a party on Saturday and it was for Ariana who is one of my best friends. I love seeing her and her family and they make me laugh a lot, which is sort of rare. I was also completely surprised when Ariana presented me with a birthday gift. She made me the sweetest card ever that would have made me cry, but I made jokes so I wouldn’t and also a cell phone charm from Coach that is beautiful. It also makes this great little noise when I pick up my phone. I LOVE them. Then I did the party and afterwards when I was cleaning up Ariana remembered she had something for me in the fridge. She went in there for a bit and then they dimmed the lights and it was a birthday cake! FOR ME! With candles! I made a wish to myself and blew out the candles and then we all had some cake. I don’t know how I got so lucky to have friends like her. That really made my weekend. I hung the card up in my room so I can see it all the time. We really need a more recent picture of the two of us. :o)

Here is a picture of the charm!

Tonight I am going somewhere special with my aunt. I have been hinting big time that I want to go to Lee’s (this Japanese hibachi restaurant) so hopefully that is where we end up going. Tomorrow I am taking the day off of work. I am also sleeping in, taking a nice long shower and then we are all going to Allentown to go shopping at The Body Shop and Barnes & Noble and some other places and then at 7 my parent’s are coming up and we are going to Don Pablo’s (a Mexican restaurant) for dinner. Yay! I am hoping that my parent’s remember that I want a new digital camera for my birthday. My other one broke when I fell into the swimming pool and I miss taking pictures. One of my new year’s resolutions was to take more pictures so that has been shot to shit. Normally they get me a $25 gift card for somewhere so I know a camera is a stretch, but we’ll see. I don’t want anything fancy for now. I would be really happy with the new version of my old one. That way I can perhaps retrieve some pictures from my old picture cartridge.

I really want to get back into writing. I don’t know why I took a break and started writing little sporadic entries, but hopefully things will start getting back to normal.

This is going to be my last entry at age 21. I don’t think I am going to miss this age. I did go one my first vacation with The Mrs. where we really felt like a family. I also planned out my 3rd tattoo which I should be getting this year. I started my own business with The Body Shop at Home. All in all though it seems to have been my least eventful year so far. Hopefully 22 is more exciting and I am able to let myself have fun. I have been sad. This past year was hard for me because I felt like I didn’t have a place of my own anymore and maybe that is still true, but hopefully I will learn to be happy anyway. I’ll see you on the other side.

Thursday July 13, 06

I feel like when you have gone a while without updating regularly it becomes harder to do. It’s easy to forget why you write in the first place. You feel like no one could possibly care about what is going on in your life in the first place. Writing your feelings out and putting them up on the internet feels so vulnerable and also like you should really have BIG NEWS when you are going to update and over here in Angela land that type of news just does not come around very often. I guess I just need to remember the things I talked about in my last post. I need to keep writing for me. This is a way for me to do a little daily self check-in. It is also a way for me to aid my lousy memory by keeping an account of things. I need to keep doing that because I know in the future I’ll regret it.

I have been thinking of doing another at home company, but I don’t want to do anything that is going to take away from my business with The Body Shop I would just really like to be able to supplement my income with something else. The company I am thinking about going with is Lia Sophia. My up-line with The Body Shop does that also and she has been having a lot of success with it and she says it sells easier than The Body Shop and so she makes more money. It might be an area thing, but I don’t know why people have such reservations about body care items. I mean it’s your body! Don’t people want to smell good and have healthy feet, hair, hands and skin? I know I do. I can understand that it cost more than drugstore brands, but you can also be a lot more confident about where your money is going and you can feel good about your purchases. Also if money is a problem that is what is so great about hosting. You can get the things you want for free! Like I said though it might just be the area I live in. I still love The Body Shop and their products and even if I do start with another company I would look at it as a means to advance my other business. I’m talking to my up-line about it this week and I will go from there.

Saturday July 15, 2006

Why I can’t finish an entry anymore is beyond me. Do you know where I am right now? I am in my office at work. Do you know what I am wearing? I’ll tell you. I am wearing pink gap sweatpants and a brown gap t-shirt that says “Aloha” in teal letters. I stopped in the office to get supplies for my show tonight and my dad (boss) asked if I could watch the place while he went to a viewing. Apparently one of my great uncles died last week. So here I am in my pajamas with my hair pulled back working in an office. I also have little terrible (my Cocker Spaniel, Sebastian) with me so when someone comes in they have to deal with barking and a severely unkempt receptionist. I swear someone is going to write to What Not to Wear about me today. Bah!

So I have a party tonight for one of my closest friends in the world, Ariana. I am so happy to be doing it at her house tonight. I love seeing her and her family. It should be a really good time and I want to earn her a ton of free stuff so I have been collecting preorders for her party also. Hopefully it will stop raining for a few hours so we can do it outside. It’s fun to do foot parties outside. I am going to be leaving for her home at 5:30pm tonight. I also need to take a long shower, give myself a pedicure and do my make-up nice. I am wearing a cute black dress with a deep purple cardigan and my gold Banana Republic flip flops. Hopefully I won’t fall into anymore pools in them. Tonight I want my structure to be really relaxed and I just want to have fun with it.

Yesterday I went out with my friend Kyle, who is up from Boston for the summer, to pick up my copies from Staples and I also needed to go out to Party City to pick up some hats for my party. I also ended up getting two of the 2 candles and some other cute candles for my cake. Then I got a cute gift bag for my hostess gift for Ariana and the perfect hats for everyone to wear. I don’t care if we are at a restaurant I am still going to wear my hat and I also have a ribbon that says Birthday Girl so of course I am going to wear that. I wear it every year!

Also the night before my birthday I am going out to a special dinner with The Mrs. at a Japanese Hibachi restaurant!! The Mrs. doesn’t really like it there so it’s a special treat.

I am ready to get 21 over with. It’s such a clichéd age to be and I just quickly tired of it. I like the way 22 sounds. I like saying it. I think it’s going to be a great one and I am excited to see what it brings me. I am going to start letting go of where I feel I should be at this age and embrace where I am. I often feel badly because when my mom was 22 she was married with a house and two children already. I know she isn’t happy with the way things are now and I wonder if she could take it all back, even if it meant losing all of us, if she would. I think about that sometimes. I guess life sometimes happens to us and we just need to hang on for the ride and see where we are taken. Still I think it’s going to be great. I guess I prefer to be hopeful.

This is from Heather’s blog. She was asking questions to be answered in a comment or your own blog and I never miss a chance for an easy entry so here is mine. The topic is transparency. Sometimes I post things that I am not comfortable and often times I will post things because I am not comfortable with them. I guess I’ll just get to the questions.

Just how MUCH should I reveal about myself?

• I’m not to sure how much I should revel about myself, but in the past 2 and a half years I revealed a lot. I find it much easier to write things out then talk about them. In the past I have talked about my depression, how I feel about death, cutting, my period, sex, my relationships with other, friendships, my marriage, my aspirations for my life, my want for children, the things I am disappointed in, emotions, etc… There is really no topic I will not talk about and sometimes I don’t know if that is such a good thing. I think this journal has been very helpful to me. Times in the past when things might have been too much for me to bear I can write it out and I feel better. It has caused some problems with my relationship with some of my friends and The Mrs. Not yet with family so that’s good. I try not to talk about my friends and family much anymore, but The Mrs. is so much a part of who I am now that it would be impossible to remove her. I do think sometimes it is a bit to much. I have had entire posts in the past about which sex toys I bought when I went online shopping with even sometimes a follow-up. I don’t talk about thing graphicly though. I feel if you wanted that you could find it else where online. So that is most likely taking things to far, but also in my honesty I feel like I have connected with some people and I do get a lot of e-mails from people who have questions about sex or need help navigating the world of sex toys. In that way I feel it is worth it. I used to want to be a sex therapist. I like talking about what no one else likes to talk about. Luckily The Mrs. doesn’t seem to mind. I try never to embarass her. One topic I avoid at all costs unless I push myself to remark on it to try and help myself out with my embarassment is poop. I have serious problems with pooping, burping and farting. Unless you are The Mrs. or my cousin you will never ever hear me burp or fart or have the inclination that I may be pooping.

What are my standards for a post? Do I even have any or do I just brain vomit on the screen? Do I edit? If so, how do I decide what goes and what stays?

• Ha-ha. I have very low standards for my posts and for the record I apologize for that. I put two questions together for this one because for me they go together. I pretty much just brain vomit. Sometimes I have specific things I want to rant about or topics I want to discuss, but usually by time I write them out they sound stupid to me because I have looked at them to long so they get saved in a file on my computer and forgotten about. I think if I paid to much attention to what I write nothing would end up getting posted. I also never edit. Ever. It might be better if I did do that because I know there are often spelling errors and I am dyslexic so many times the order of my words gets mixed up. Sometimes if something I write offends someone I care about I’ll take it off or I’ll expand on it. It depends, but usually I just write out everything I am thinking about and I put it up. I also have terrible grammar, but I realise that about myself so it’s ok. Right?

Who am I in the blogging world - does that match who I am in real life?

• Interesting question. I don’t think I am anyone in the blogging world. I am uncommon and I don’t fit neatly into any certain category. I don’t like writing about any one topic because my life isn’t about just one thing. I don’t have children so I’m not a “mommyblogger” and I am starting to realize that some people only want to read blogs where they have the same main things in common. Meaning no matter what they aren’t going to read what I have to say because I don’t have children. Also just writing about one aspect of my life seems to be so binding. I am in a lesbian relationship, but other chatting about The Mrs. fairly often I don’t bring it up much and that isn’t because I am ashamed of who I am, I just feel there is so much more to me than who I choose to sleep with.
• I am also not too adventurous with the sites I read. I find blogs I like that make me laugh and whose writers don’t seem to full of themselves and I stick to that. I guess that I blog more for friendship than anything else. I am stuck in an office for 40 hours a week where I work by myself and usually after work I go home and wait for The Mrs. to get home from work. That doesn’t lead to a whole lot of contact with other humans so I like to keep in touch with the outside world through blogging and if it keeps me saner in the process it’s all icing on the cake.

Who do I think really READS my blog? And - am I writing for them or me?

• I have a few people who I know read my site regularly whether they comment on it or not. Some are people I am friends with outside of the internet and some people I know only through blogging. Most people who read my site have been reading it for at least a year before I got my own website. I do get people who randomly stop by and sometimes the return. I always try to return the favor by visiting their sites in return and leaving a little comment. Most people who stop by don’t leave a comment. I see that in my stats. Really it doesn’t matter to me. Though I do enjoy getting something to read.
• I also write for me. I have to. If I wrote for anyone else it would be pointless. I do censor myself sometimes and keep some things private that I would otherwise put up. I talk a lot of talk, but I am really sensitive and I worry about sounding stupid. If something I want to say sounds to unintelligent to me I won’t put it up. That is another reason that I don’t edit or you would never hear from me. I also don’t like to complain about my problems to much. I mean my site name is SparklieSunShine. You can’t have a name like that and be a ball of depression all the time. So sometimes if I am having a bad week (like a week or so back) I won’t make anything public. Truthfully though I do have a history of depression and anxiety that is sometimes very hard to deal with and writing out my emotions helps so much in clearing my head and helping me move forward. I hear talk of it being labeled as “trendy” or “copy-catting” and I think that is ridiculous. I think there is something therapeutic that comes from blogging that draws a lot of people who have the same kinds of problems together. I think it’s good to talk about and I am glad the topic isn’t getting brushed under the rug anymore. Even if from time to time I choose to keep mine to myself.
• The other reason I write for myself is because I enjoy being very goal oriented and I like to keep those goals in view and in order on my site. I never realized how focused on goals I am until I started having categories and that one started filling up. There are things I want for myself and my life and I think keeping a blog is helping me figure out how to achieve that.

Thank you, Heather for giving me the chance to write all this out.

Hello there!

I am really excited to be writing this announcement to you. Some of you may know that I have the wonderful opportunity to go to the The Body Shop at Home conference this year. I am working on building up my team more before I go because when I come back I am going to have a lot of great training and I want a bigger team to share that with. It is also a great time for you to start your own home-based business in the lovely months of summer before the holiday season gets going. I am offering amazing joining offers for the month of July that will not be offered again this year. One of the offers is from the company itself and the other two are from me personally.

When you join in July you get:

• A business kit full of all the products and supplies you need to get going. ($600 worth of items for only $220!!!)
• The Aloe line which includes Aloe Gentle Face Wash, Aloe Calming Toner, and Aloe Soothing Day Cream.
• An extra pack of catalogs sent by me to your friends and family with an announcement that you are open for business.
• Also your choice of 500 business cards professionally printed with your information or the new Almond Oil Hand Collection. You choose!!

I love what I do and you can too.

Angela
E-mail: SparklieSunShine@Hotmail.com
Website: www.thebodyshopathome.com/web/kkeiper
For More Info on Joining: Join Info or Fill out my Find Out More sheet.

I don’t know what the deal is with me not updating with the same frequency that I used to. There are things going on. I was actually really sick for the entire work week last week. I’m not 100% right now, but I am much better than I was. I didn’t even call of work the whole time. That is dedication…you know or I’m just crazy. I think it was actually fear. I hate calling out. I would rather just pass out at my desk.

The whole thing is that on Monday I got my period again. Yes, again! I was at exactly the 22nd day of my cycle. Just so you know the first day of a period is the first day of the cycle. So I actually had my period just 15 days before I got it again. So I was pretty annoyed about that. It wasn’t normal either. It completely kicked my ass. So I was dealing with that and also my friend Kyle came home from Boston so I have been spending time with him and The Mrs. We went to see The Devil Wears Prada on Friday night, which I enjoyed. I also joined a new gym that both The Mrs. and Kyle go to and I am going to have to try and cancel my other gym membership so I am not paying for two at the same time.

Also last week every single night I was babysitting my niece. Which normally I wouldn’t mind, but when you feel like curling up in a ball on the bathroom floor and falling asleep it is not the best time to be twirling and dancing with a small person who loves Boohbahs. Have you ever watched that show? I guess her parents put it on for her at some point in her short life and she loves it. That show is terrible! I don’t see what children can learn from it. The Boohbahs themselves look dirty and they don’t even speak English. They do weird dances and have their creepy story people. Awful. That show would make me feel suicidal. I will say one (and only one) good thing about the show. Good racial diversity. There is usually only one white kid in the mix which I think is good because I get really sick of looking at white people. (I went to a food and wine fest last month and was just amazed at the volume of white people surrounding me. Too many. Great festival though. It rained a lot and we had to leave a nit early, but I got a bottle of really great wine. Next year is going to be a blast. It better not rain.) So whenever she wants to watch Boohbahs I switch the topic to Barney because she will also sit through that and I put that on and she is happy and dancing. This child though…I have never had a 22 month old request a TV show. She looks at you and says “TV? Boohbahs? TV?” I have also witnessed her eating chips! The baby! Chips!!! The day I see her take a sip of soda I will really be in shock. We had a lot of fun though. She says my name correctly now and she also can now say starfish (like my necklace) and freckles (like on my face and chest). She also thinks it’s funny when I say “fishy, fishy, fishy” real fast and also when I talk with an accent. It’s nice watching her grow up. Now if I could just go back in time and murder the person who thought up Boohbahs before he did things would be a lot better.

Yesderday was Independence Day and I didn’t do anything much. I went to a small picnic at my Aunt’s house and spent some time with my cousin. Then I went home and had dinner and watched my niece while everyone set off fireworks. So it was really just like any other day only with a lot of noise towards night time.

Tonight I am going to the gym again and working out for about an hour and a half. I am putting Curves on the back burner because all of my friends are using another gym, but I’ll be going back to Curves soon enough. I really did like it there. I am trying to go at least 3 times a week. It’s a lot easier to go when you have other people to hang out with there.