Points of note

2 points of note: 1 good for the heart and one insanely stupid.

First: Check out this site for social microentrepreneurship (say that 3x real fast). It's called kiva.org. I Will Teach You Too Be Rich introduced me to the site and gives a really great explanation of the site and has an interview with the founders. When ever I start donating to charity again, this is one I'm going to start contributing to. I love the idea of helping low-income entrepreneurs start a business with even a small amount of money ($25!).

[T]here is a large *social* return with Kiva.org. For example, if you help finance a $100 irrigation pump for a low income Ugandan farmer, this farmer could increase her annual income from $120 a year to $800 a year. This increase helps create a sustainable livelihood for her family -- and allows her to repay your loan.

I encourage y'all to check it out.

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Second: Insanely stupid

So, the other day, I commented about how lucky I was that I didn't have to go to work. Well, today, I found out that my office comes to work no matter what. Nobody called me because I had called in sick and they didn't hear from me! And, of course, since I thought we were closed, I didn't call! Agh! I didn't get in trouble - it was an honest mistake - but now I have to use up my sick and vacation time to compensate for it. Damnit!

**Update** Because it was a legitimate mistake, my boss is not making me take the time off! Woopee! I have to take off for Monday, obviously, because I was *cough* sick, but not for Tues and Wed. Yay! At least now I know the procedure...

Sunshine

I must be losin' my mind!

Well, I had a whole post planned out and it was going to be funny and witty and just plain great. And wouldn't you know that I FORGOT what I was going to write! It's not like I had this planned a week ago and forgot, it was, like, 10 minutes ago. I realize that I'm only 27, and dementia probably hasn't set in yet, but I think I'm losing my mind. I mean, really, 10 minutes ago?. Naturally, Murphy's Law will prevail and the moment I get away from the computer and can't write a post, I'll remember what I was going to write. Why does that always happen?

Sunshine

Shout out to all the people stopping over from Tripping on Words!

Welcome, come in, kick off your shoes, make yourself comfy, leave a comment or three, and have a great time!

Sunshine

Itelmens of Kamchatka, anyone?

Well, I'm finally done with my paper. Anyone want to know about the Itelmens of Kamchatka, Russia - anyone? Ask me, please! LOL

Well, I would like to point out the irony of cramming, literally, down to the last minute to write my paper, going so far as getting sick *cough, cough* for work and now, because of freakin' tropical storm Ernesto, school and work are closed for 2 days! I am happy about being out of work and all, but couldn't school have been closed 12 hours earlier? Huh? Well, at least now I have uninterupted time to get ahead on all of my reading for next class...

Just a note to the wiser, don't try to work full time, work part time, go to grad school part time, have a relatively good relationship, and try to be sane all at the same time. Not the brightest thing to do.

Sunshine

Fish anyone?

I am writing/studying away, Folks...

Don't you just love Adsense? One of my ads that just came up was for "Fishy Vaginal Odor". How funny as that. I'm sure it came up because of my post on smelly people.

You, too, can get rid of fishy vaginal odor in just 7 days, or you can receive a full refund. (Hello, can you say Monistat 1 day pill? Do NOT ask me how I know that...)

Hysterical!

Sunshine

Masochistic tendencies...

Why am I surfing the net and writing on my blog when I should be writing my 10 PAGE paper that's due on MONDAY?!?! I must be a masochist, because the longer I put it off, the more stressed out I'll be and the later I'll have to stay up on Sunday, finishing this paper. But, then, that just goes along with my previous post about no sleep...

Sunshine

Fiending for caffeine...

I am soooooo tired right now. It's days like this that I wish I drank coffee - English breakfast tea only has so much caffeine in it AND I NEED MORE!

Nobody's fault but my own. I know damn well what time I need to get up and how much sleep I need to feel refreshed. Obviously, I should know what time to go to bad. Well, I do know what time to go to back, my problem is actually getting to bed.

I am a very blessed person in that I have no sleep problems (except the aformentioned). Seriously, 'T' likes to compare me to my puppy, Skittles, who can also fall asleep at a moments notice. I can sleep anywhere anytime - You know, the a friends couch, a tiled floor, when I'M DRIVING A CAR. I've never actually fallen asleep when I was driving, but sometimes I really worry. I've had to sing to myself to stay awake.

Need caffeine - can anyone Priority FedEx me a Red Bull?

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz..............

Sunshine

I am at the library right now (research already!) and somebody near me smells. Like old people in nursing homes. You know that smell. It's the type of smell that you don't know if it's body odor, dirty diapers, or cleaning supplies. I always fear that it's a combination of both. More likely, it's body odor. And that's just nasty! (not body odor, that someone next to me smells that way!) Ugh!

School's back in session!

Today is my first day of class for my Master's studies. I am extremely excited, but also a little scared.

I'm excited because I'm finally going to start my Master's! I went back to school briefly in 2004, but life got in the way and I wasn't able to finish. (This is actually a good thing, because the 5 year break has given me some time to really ferret out what I want to do with my life and what field I want to work in - Public Health, BTW.) Now, I'm finally back on track and I'm gonna get my shiz done! I'm only going part time for now. I decided this was a wise decision, what with my new job and all (Plus, I need to make sure I have time for me and my baby!). Hopefully, next year, when the job starts paying for most of it, I'll be able to swing full time.

(For an extremely uplifting story about getting shiz done, go check out Single Ma's post. I suppose if I was really determined, I could do that, but I don't need to right now. Anyway, go give her some love!)

Anyway, I'm a little bit scared because of the daunting workload that I may face. I have taken a class with the professor before and, while he was an awesome prof and a cool guy, he gave a damn lot of work! I mean, reading and reading and reading! I'm really not worried about doing well - that comes naturally - but, I also want to keep my sanity at the same time.

I know that I can do it!

Y'all will definitely hear more about this...

Sunshine

More of me

Part 2 of the Random Things About Me series. Check out Part 1.

26. I am an only child, by my mother.
27. I have 5 brothers and sisters.
28. I am half Puerto Rican.
29. 28 explains 26 and 27.
30. I love my father anyway.
31. I have never met my younger sister.
32. I have not seen my younger brothers in 9 years.
33. This upsets me greatly.
34. Thank God for Myspace!
35. I am a cancer survivor.
36. 9 years and counting, baby!.
37. I cry if I hear of anyone else who has cancer.
38. Especially children.
39. I hate getting headaches, because I think it's brain cancer.
40. My favorite TV show is House.
41. My second favorite show is CSI Vegas.
42. I think Sarah, on CSI Vegas, is gay.
43. I think everyone is gay.
44. Because I know this can't be true, I can never figure out who is really gay.
45. Therefore, my gaydar sucks.
46. 'T' says that because I am bisexual, I was not given gaydar privileges.
47. I think this is incredibly unfair.
48. I am very good at making a meal when there is “nothing” to eat.
49. I am very proud of this.
50. My best so far is a ‘bruschetta’ made from a tortilla, canned tomatoes, really old mushrooms, and Havarti cheese.
51. I love cheese.
52. My favorites are Havarti and Goat gouda.

Sunshine

SCUBA diving!

Good news! Good News! Good News!

Last month, I posted on how I probably wouldn't be able to scuba dive because of my bad ears. Weeeeeell, that might not be the case. Woot!

OK, OK, let me tell you what happened. I was talking to the Diving Safety Officer (DSO), whose name is Bob (Is it bad that I always crack up when I say that name?) Anyway, where was I? I discussed my concerns with Bob and he told me that having bad ears does not preclude me from diving - WOOT! I just need to make sure that the doc gives me the ok, and then I'm good to go. Bob said that I only really need a basic physical, but I feel more comfortable going to my ear doc and having him give me the OK. Bob also said that it's up to me and how I feel physically whether I can do it or not. Furthermore, apparently, ear problems are something that every diver faces at some point in their life.

I am a little hesitant about the initial cost of taking lessons, but Bob reminded about the Dive club here on campus, which I had totally forgotten about. They have their own gear and the lady who runs the club is an instructor. Bob said that she'd work with me on making me really comfortable with diving and my ears.

I am SO excited!

'T' is going to be so happy!

Woot!

*dancing around the office*

Oh, yeah, here's some links that he gave me to check out, so I'm passing them on:

Check the video lecture on this page.

The oh-so-interesting page on inner ear barotrauma (diving related ear injuries).

A DSO over in Michigan, River Rat.

Sunshine

God of the Day

Because I'm probably crazy, I put that "Deity of the Day" box on the side.

(Personally, I don't really get that whole "God" thing. Actually, I get the "God" thing, but what I don't get is the religion thing and how some people spout off that their God is the right one - I mean, if that's true, than aren't we all going to Hell?)

Anyway, because I like to learn about all sorts of things, and because of that afroementioned craziness, I put the box up. What's neat is that it lists deities from all religions/cults/whatevers from ancient civilizations to current times.

*Lest I offend anyone, I may not be religious right now, but I do try to be open minded about different religions.*

Sunshine

www.godchecker.com

Traveling on a budget

I have this love of travel, right. But, I don't get to travel much *cough - at all - cough*, because of a little thing called MONEY. Realistically, I know that I can travel on a cheap budget, but there is some serious work involved with doing it that way and, sometimes, I don't know where to start.

Amanda over at Young and Broke has just made things a little easier for me. She's doing a weekly series on major travel planning on a budget. She's breaking down the series a follows:

- Research
- Budgeting/Saving
- Reservations
- Itinerary
- Spending

Since Amanda's a personal finance (pf) nerd as well, the post on budgeting was very useful.

'T' and I are planning a trip to PR next year. Hopefully, I'll be able to implement some of Amanda's suggestions and have a great vacation without blowing the budget.

Sunshine

Tome of Communism

New blog to check out: The Tome of Communism

It's a little hard to explain. The author hates all things commie - Well, actually, all things he hates, he calls communists. He wrties very angrily, but I think that that's just his way of making a point. It's generally political and definitely liberal, which is probably why I like it. The writer claims to be 15 and, while I'm not so sure of the actual age, he does seem young. Careful, though, he's uses the 'N'-word prolifically, but I actually think it's kind of funny. Anyway, his posts are pretty well written and I like his point of view. Check it out, you'll see what I mean.

Sunshine

African adventures

I updated my "Savvy Travel Desires" section to include an African Safari and the Egyptian Pyramids. Both of these would be so cool to do.

I'd like to go to Africa in general, particularly since I have a background in Biological Anthropology (I'd love to go see some of the places that I read about in all of my Human evolution classes.). But, the entire continent of Africa is so big and just saying Africa as a whole is a bit arbitrary, so I'll just pick those two things. Plus, I might have more of a chance to do those things anyway.

Sunshine

Fabulous information about Savvy's Baby 'T'

Readers (!) (Woot! Go Claire & Lara!) have been plying me for information about the mysterious 'T'. Well, here it is...

'T':

1. Loves Flashdance, the movie.
2. has a huge crush on Jennifer Beals.
3. is on Myspace.
4. loves Elmo.
5. has 4 tattoos.
6. one of which is Elmo.
7. hates spiders, with a passion.
8. actually hates any sort of bug and makes me kill/rescue them.
9. has more hair products than every female in our house and probably your house, too.
10. actually uses most of these.
11. is an artist at heart.
12. has not done any art in a few years.
13. wants to have kids really bad. (Hello! Are 2 puppies not enough?)
14. loves cafe con leche, made right. (Ugh!)
15. is Jewish. (Challah!)
16. celebrates Christmas
17. and Easter.
18. took 11 years to get her bachelor's degree.
19. has been in several serious car accidents.
20. loves the color teal.
21. was a soccer goalie.
22. used to be a clown. (For real, with make-up and all!)
23. can make a mean ballon animal.
24. is incredibly romantic.
25. wishes that I was as romantic. (I try!)
26. did not contribute in any way to this survey...

OK, Claire and Lara are doing the very enviable thing of trekking to the Mt Everest base camp, so they will not be able to respond to this for a bit (I know this and, yet, I still keep checking their blog. I must be crazy...). However, if anyone else has any questions about 'T', please let me know...

Sunshine

Ugh! Y'all, I've been going through some ish at home and I haven't been up to writing much. Keep y'all posted...

Single again?

Folks, for the first time in my adult life, I am facing the very real prospect of singledom and it's scary. Not so much in the way of loneliness and missing the other half of me (Though, I expect that, as the situation is more finalized and reality slams into me with a fully-loaded tractor-trailor, this may change.) It's actually more so the fear of losing my best friend ('T'), my other friends, and my social circle.

Before 'T' and I got together, I was young (21) and inexperienced about all things life (Death, sure, but that's a post for another day.). I worked hard, studied hard and did NOTHING ELSE. I mean, it was all work and no play for me. I dallied a bit in the dating world, participated a bit in school clubs and functions, but I had no social life to speak of (Seriously, y'all, during college, I actually worked Fri, Sat, and Sun nights on purpose - that's how hard I worked.).

After I met 'T', everything changed and my life just got livelier. I gained a best friend (previosuly not having had one.); I went out dancing; I met new people. And, to top it off, my new buddies were interesting and dynamic and a little nutty (always a good trait to have). I really started to enjoy life - it's corny but oh so true.

Now, I'm part of a circle of close friends. I tell ya', it is so nice to finally be who I am without fear of judgement. Know what else is cool? I can call every one of these people at 3AM. And now, I am faced with losing that.

You know how it is. When a couple breaks up, it always seems like one person gets to keep the friends. With us, 'T' would be the one to keep the friends and I would be the one who's SOL. So now, I might have to make some new friends. This is going to be damn difficult because, except for this blog, it's really hard for me to open up to people I don't know. Also, without my other half to bring along some ready-made friends and/or someone just throwing people at me, like in college, where am I gonna find these people? (Remember back in school/college when everything was just set up for us? There were the dorms, clubs, functions, classes, etc., where a person would have to work at not meeting new people.)

So, I need to figure out what to do. Some things I can't get around: working at my day job; going to school part-time; and, possibly, working part-time. While that's already a full plate, I still have a few choices. I can dive into my work and school, wallow in trashy romance novels, not have any social life, and just come back up for air when school's over. Like when I'm 32. But, uh, yeah, that's just a little boring and intense. OR I can pull myself up and keep on keepin' on with my friends, while working on developing new friends (y'know, those people-who-I-know-and-are-nice-but-I-never-bothered-to-get-to-know-them-because-I-already-have-friends type of people). Which is what I'm gonna do. My only problem with hanging with the group is that I've always been part of a couple with them; I've never cultivated an individual realtionship with them. Plus, I have no idea how the group is going to recover from this (once, when we when we added another person to the group, it screwed us up for a year.). But, I do believe that we'll work it out. And, I think I know a few people that I can start developing friendships with.

Sunshine

Sunshine in Dutch...

Completely random thought for the day:

My name in Dutch is Zonneschijn.

How cool is that?

I know that because I used my trusty translator that mangles translations. You should try it sometime.

Sunshine

An Inconvenient Truth

If you've seen An Inconvenient Truth already or are going to see it, let the folks over at Ecoist know. They'll plant a tree for you.

I'll be honest, I haven't seen it yet, but I plan to. By the time I get to go see it, though, I'll probably have to see it at the cheapie theater. (Don't laugh, y'all. I love the cheapie theater. Where else can you get two movie passes, popcorn, and a soda for under ten bucks?)

I found this by way of Greenthinkers.

Go see the movie!

Sunshine