LJ Secret... in the post made today... two secrets are mine...

http://community.livejournal.com/ljsecret/413855.html

It is now three days post op and I can finally say I am practically pain free... save for the occasional ouch when I laugh or sneeze, but yes, pain free and I am happy because I can move around now without looking like I tumbled out of a Benjamin Button movie...

So now it has come to the all mighty update post of what has transpired over this past week. The days have been eventful, so there is much to talk about (for once), however I shall try to condense it all so I don't end up writing a cheap biopic novel...

( IT'S A HARD KNOCK LIFE )

Surgery is over... sitting at sister's house for the moment so I can eat something, then I'm going home. Thanks for all the well wishes guys... it means alot. Talk to you all soon!

I'm just gonna make this quick, because I really should be in bed...
Surgery is tomorrow at 9:30am. I need to be at the hospital at 7:30am. Surgery was scheduled for noon, but for some reason, the hospital decided I needed to get up at the ass crack of dawn to get this done. I'm kinda glad it's a little earlier because I didn't know how well I would hold up having to go so long without eating (sugar tends to drop way low) but now that I get to go in first thing in the morning, it shouldn't be so bad... *crosses fingers*

I'll try to jump online when I get home to let everyone know how it went, but I can't promise what time that will be, or how 'with it' I'll be when I do get back home. The majority of tomorrow might just be spent sprawled on the bed in a pain pill induced sleep.

Anywho, I have tons of things to post about in days to come, along with pictures I've promised that I never seem to finish editing because I get distracted with other things Peggle.

So, for now, I shall wish you all a good night and I'll talk to you all again tomorrow!

I went through all of my LOTR collectibles and even some of my DVD's and decided to part with some last few things that I could do without in my collection. This will be the last post that I make offering some of my LOTR collectibles for sale, so get them while you can!

I'm trying to sell these things to help pay household bills and expenses while I'm laid up following my surgery coming up on July 14th...

ETA - only items left are Bilbo and The One Ring
Items that have sold were removed from the listing...

( PICTURES AND MORE INFO UNDER HERE )

Just finished uploading a new layout for my journal and I even added a brand spanking new picture of myself to my user info. I'm working on a photo post with pictures from my art museum trip and from the 4th, but resizing is going slowly. Here's hoping it's done tonight!

Today was Michael Jackson's memorial service. His tribute was the most heartwarming and touching memorial I have witnessed in many, many years. I am sure Michael is smiling down from Heaven, overjoyed with the beauty of it all. It was simply stunning!

Following the memorial I took a short drive and it seemed for a moment that the world had stilled. In a sense, it felt like something was missing, like the gentle breeze that filtered through the trees had held it's breath and the song of birds had fallen silent. I could not help but take a look into the Heavens as the sun began to shine from behind the parting clouds and then it seemed all was right with the world as the wind brushed my cheek and the chorus of songbirds lifted into the air. And so it is... this day... a day of remembrance... a day spent memorializing an icon of my youth... a day spent cherishing what is and what is to be and a day spent cherishing the moments of days long past. The days that will never be forgotten...

There are days when the world that unfolds within my slumbering subconscious are more fascinating than the reality amid my waking days. Last night I was wandering lost along the stone corridors behind the walls of a empty stadium. I later found myself sitting in a chair, alone inside a room and I could feel myself overwhelmed with sadness while tears fell gently down my face. I felt a warm hand against my head and then a figure sat beside me, softly asking me what was wrong. I remember speaking, but the words I formed are nothing more than a blur at this hour. I was then taken into a tight embrace and I felt a soft kiss touch my brow. I turned and there sat Michael, a bright smile full upon his face and I smiled in return, only to wake suddenly, finding myself back at home with the fan humming quietly next to my bed...

Not every dream has a 'meaning' and some have no rhyme or reason, but these are the dreams that I like to cherish. The dreams that allow me to have that 'moment' that I would have never experienced otherwise. Even though this dream may seem odd to anyone looking in from the outside, it had a rather deep meaning and I'm glad it came to me when it did...

Michael Jackson was an important part of my childhood and his music was the first to grace my ears from my Sony Walkman. I can remember staying up late, replaying my Moonwalker VHS tape over and over again until the songs still echoed in my room long after I fell asleep. This is a man who will be missed by many... by his family... his friends... and of course his fans. I will go to bed this evening knowing that when I wake in the morning I'll have one last chance to be a part of this man's history by sharing the honor of watching his memorial on tv with millions the world around. He was one of a kind and with that thought, I leave you all with these final words that I left upon one of Michael's online memorial pages...

I keep trying to find the right words, but each time they fail me... the impact you've had on the world can not be summed up in short sentences, nor can it be praised in song. The lasting impression you left upon everyone can only be summarized by the void felt within the hearts of all those you touched. You were taken far too soon, yet we all must remember that your spirit and your song will live on with an undying legacy.

I've posted this at a few LOTR communities and I'll also be posting this in my old journal as well (which has a greater following of LOTR fans) but I just wanted my friends and fellow LOTR lovers to have first dibs on these items before I resort to selling them on eBay.

( FIVE ACTION FIGURES - BILBO COLLECTIBLE - THE ONE RING )

I know I've promised to make an 'update' post for about a week now, but as the days have waned on, I found it harder and harder to actually 'talk' about the things that have been going on in my life. Part of the reason I have avoided updating is that I just feel as though my life has lost all interest to everyone who once deemed it interesting. Comments to my posts seem to be a rarity as of late and online communication with those who once talked my ear off on a daily basis has dropped to a quick hello once every few weeks or so. Anyways, if anyone is still wondering what my days have been like over the last month, feel free to read on. I really miss hearing from everyone too, so if you're still out there... show me a sign of life...

( PAINTED DESERT SERENADE )

TOTAL PROFIT - $253.00

Not too bad of a weekend if I do say so myself. I had a flea market vendor stop by on the last day and buy about $56.00 of stuff, so that was a nice way to end the sale! The only thing left at the end of the day Sunday was two small boxes of knick-knacks and two garbage bags of clothes. This morning I donated all the leftover stuff to the local thrift store here in town. All the money they earn from sales goes to relief efforts in Africa, so the donations were for a good cause, to help those less fortunate.

Yesterday I purchased a new camera to replace the Casio EX-Z9 I took back. I ended up buying a Kodak M1033 after playing around with it for over an hour. I'm also in love with the flat black color that shows less fingerprints and scratches and the controls are easy to use, picture quality is excellent and it has a macro feature as well as a HD photo and video mode. You can even take panoramic shots too! I managed to snag the camera for $149.99 which included a 2GB memory card. I know I'll be happy with this purchase since I was actually able to talk to an associate at the store who KNEW about cameras and who actually showed me some photos taken with each model I was interested in. So yeah... she sold me on this one and I can't wait to get it out of the box so I can actually start using it, instead of staring at it sitting on my desk!

While I was out yesterday, I also treated my daughter to a new toy and I took us out to eat at KFC so we could try out the new grilled chicken dinners. It's been a LONG while since we've been able to go out to eat somewhere, so it was a nice treat. I also purchased the Batman Returns DVD for myself, so I can now officially say my Batman movie collection is complete!

I mailed out three eBay auctions this morning, paid my internet and cable bill, bought some bread and left the store without buying kitty litter, which I must go back and get later, so after all my purchases were said and done, I'm now left with $35.00 from the yard sale. Some will go in my car for gas and the rest will be saved for when I run out of milk or other misc odds and ends I might need. Wow... hard to believe all that money went so fast!

Anywho, I should wrap this up and get back to cleaning my living room and the hallway. Both are a mess after tossing things into my apartment during and after the yard sale.

So yeah, this post is officially the 200th post to my livejournal... I shall toss a bit of confetti into the air and give a loud WOOT... although I'm not sure if there is really anything worth celebrating about at this very moment. Ponders... nope... not a thing...

In a nutshell here's why...

- paid account and extra icon space expired today
- got one hell of a sunburn from sitting outside all day due to the medication I'm on
- no one bothered to tell me the crap makes your skin photosensitive
- pill bottle had no damn label
- must sit outside with yard sale tomorrow wearing long sleeve shirt and jeans
- must wear said stuff to keep from turning into a cooked lobster

Only plus side of the day... I managed to rake in about $100 worth of sales and I have a few items on hold that customers are coming back for tomorrow. I also managed to get about $25.00 worth of quarters from the sale today... apparently quarters are the big thing to use at garage sales. You can't BEGIN to imagine how heavy my change bucket is.

Anywho... must get off of here and take a cold shower and lather my skin up in sunburn relief gel. Here's hoping I'll be able to sleep tonight without feeling like I'm baking in my skin.

I just got my Rolling Stone magazine in the mail with Adam on the cover and I just have two words to say... HOT DAMN ! ! !

Tell me again why I decided to participate in the community wide garage sales... oh yeah... need money to pay bills. Gah... it's WAY too early to be awake. I still have a few things to price and I need to make the sign that goes out in front of the apartment complex. I wanted to take a picture of the heap of stuff that has filled my living room for the garage sale, but silly me forgot that I sold my new digital camera to get money for the change bucket. Ah well, maybe I'll get enough extra from the sale to get another one that I like a little better.

Anywho... time for me to start organizing the mess in the living room. I also need to set up the tables outside, go put some signs down at each end of my road and eat breakfast. All before 8am... yeah right. Wish me luck guys... here's hoping I sell alot of stuff.

This is being cut, simply for the fact that this post is long and because it's filled with things that only about 10% of my f-list care about. If you're curious to know what's been going on with every aspect of my life these past few weeks, feel free to read on...

( TIME MARCHES ON )

Kidney infections SUCK MAJOR ASS ! ! ! I don't know if my antibiotics aren't working or what, but I've been in so much damn pain and just feeling so unwell it isn't funny. I didn't get much sleep last night because of it. I just want the yuck to go away!!!

Anywho, I have my website junksale up and running again with some more goodies I'm trying to sell to get my phone bill paid so I can turn it back on. I'm still $30.00 short, so if anyone finds anything there you might like to buy, please leave a comment!

Well, that's all I have for now. Here shortly I'm gonna be heading out to take my mom and daughter to see UP, because I got three free tickets to go. If I hadn't already promised them both we'd be going today, I'd just cancel because I feel so cruddy, but they're really looking forward to watching the movie and I don't want to ruin their day out because I'm blah.

I've been up since 1am tossing my cookies like no tomorrow... today was the day I was scheduled to take my COMPASS test for college too at 9am. I got online and rescheduled for June 4th. In a way it's kinda nice, because now I have more time to study, but DAMN why did I have to get sick. I'd just chalk the heaving to a stomach bug, but it hurts to even put pressure on the left side of my stomach, so I think something else is going on in there. I have a doctor appointment scheduled for 10:45 this morning... hopefully I'll know more after then.

ETA @ 12:54pm - Just got home from the doctor... I have a kidney infection :(

This past week has been a crazy bundle of stress, hence the reason for my lack of posting. This week will probably be just as stressful, if not a little more... if you couldn't tell, I'm not looking forward to it.

Tomorrow I'm scheduled for an MRI of my noggin... there are too many details to discuss now, however, in short summary, something is all wonky up there and it needs checking out.

Wednesday I have to take my COMPASS test at the college and I'm not too sure how well that is going to fair considering all the stress I've been under and considering that my head has been hurting like hell nonstop for a week. I haven't even studied, but in order for me to remember anything I take in, I have to do it at the last minute or I'll just forget it all.

On June 1st I have a consultation scheduled to see about getting a minor surgery procedure done. It's nothing major, so don't anyone worry about it. Just gonna be an in and out thing.

Ok, that's all I have for now... it's late and I need to get to bed! G'nite!

Let me just say, without spoiling it for my West Coast friends, that this season of American Idol, is officially in my book, the best season EVER! All the performances tonight were beyond words and the final performance of the evening blew me out of the frickin water!

Both Adam and Kris are going to sell their albums like ice cream in July. I'll be waiting like an anxious loon for those CD's to come out too. Just like I waited for David Cook's and David Archuleta's. I seriously don't know if ANY season of American Idol yet to come will ever top this one but DAMN... the winner... OMG... and 100 MILLION VOTES!!! WTF??? 0.o

Had a medical scare... major ACK... also selling some dresses and movie tickets... more info under the cut...

( LONG POST IS LONG )