The last week or so has been really stressful. Chris and I are going to Palm Springs on Thursday for my company's yearly trip. Then, next week, Irene will be flying in on Wednesday night to visit us. Unfortunately, our upstairs looks like a tornado blew through it. The guest bedroom is wall-to-wall filled with our toys because we've been installing the display cases in the toy room. We've spent all our free time the last few weekends and weeknights putting those display cases together. We're pretty much finished now, except for a few glass shelves. I've managed to put all the statues inside and now it's even more apparent that we'll never fit all our toys in the display cases. We just have too many!!! I really don't want to just put the extra toys into storage. What's the point of buying them if you can't at least look at them?! Grrr...need more display space!!

Just to give you an idea of how much crap we have...


Statues


Only 1 wall of the toys

I think this means I need to sell some of the toys that I'm not CRAZY about. *sigh*

On a lighter note, I started filling one of the cases with Mai and Chun-li collectibles and it looks really cool. A sea of red and blue. =)

The goal now is to move all the toys out of the guest room tonight so that the maids can clean inside there before Irene comes. That'll give us more time to continue filling the display cases without stressing over it.

I accept PayPal only (except on eBay auctions). I will combine shipping and ship internationally. I do not hold items. Items are sold to the first person who pays with PayPal.

Final Fantasy X-2 Play Arts Figures

I'm selling all three Final Fantasy X-2 Play Arts Figures (Yuna, Paine, and Rikku) on eBay right now:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZaznaphrodite

Ah My Goddess Statues

I'm selling 2 completed, painted Ah My Goddess models/statues: Belldandy (red version) and Skuld as Flower Fairy. They are 1/8 scale. Both were assembled and painted by AnimeFigureKit.com.

I will consider all offers on these two! Shipping per statue is $12 to anywhere in the U.S.

( See pics )

Thanks for looking!!

Chris and I attended Akimatsuri (Japanese Fall Festival) at the Fujitsu parking lot in Richardson yesterday. It was really, really hot. There were a lot of people and the food lines were crazy long. Basically, we spent an hour waiting going from line to line eating the food we got in the previous line. Many booths ran out of the most popular foods by 1 pm! The good news is that we had some great Japanese food that I haven't had in ages or never had before: grilled squid, octopus balls, taiyaki, cold soba, tenmusu (tempura shrimp wrapped in rice), and snow cones! Chris also had spam sushi. Unfortunately, the food wasn't filling and we spent almost $30. =(

Other than the food, there were several game booths, including fish scooping, toss games, and fishing for water yo-yos. It was also cool seeing lots of people in yukatas. I wonder if they are really cool to wear because I was dying in my t-shirt and shorts. There was also demonstrations for kendo, traditional Japanese dance, tea ceremony, and drums. I'm glad I went but hopefully, it'll be cooler next year!!


Akimatsuri photos

In other news, Gorgie has spent a full week living with Colby, Gouda, and Oreo now. Yesterday, I opened up the bottom of the cage so now they have access to all four levels. Gouda and Gorgie got into a scuffle this morning again but otherwise, things have been going well. Gorgie looks a lot happier with rattie friends again.

Muenster has also been doing really well living by himself. He has learned to walk on his wheel and he still loves digging in his blanket.


Oreo, Gorgie, Gouda, and Colby


Muenster in his new cage

Lastly, we've been making progress on installing the shelves. We completed 4 out of 7 now! It's not easy putting these shelves in. For each one, we have to do the following:

- Attach a halogen light to 3 shelves
- Build the display case
- Drill holes for the light wires
- Put the shelves in
- Put in the glass doors
- Anchor the display case to the wall
- Anchor the display cases to each other

Here is a photo of the first one we completed...

I'm going to Akimatsuri on Sunday!

I just joined the Texas Metroplex Cosplay Coalition and someone said that cosplay is frowned upon at Japanese festivals in this area! That was a big shocker to me since Sailor Jamboree was actually invited to perform at festivals in Little Tokyo. The kids LOVED us. They would advertise we would be at the festival and some of the young kids would cosplay Sailor Senshi to meet us! It wasn't just SJ either. All cosplayers were encouraged to come and were invited to be in the Nisei Week parades!! I'm told that the Japanese community here is more traditional and I'm sad to hear that cosplay is frowned upon at cultural events.

Anyway, I hope the festival is fun!

Part 2 of the Voice Meme:

12) What was the last movie you saw? How was it?
13) Do YOU think you have an accent? Talk about that.

VoicePost 354K 1:47

(no transcription available)

Stolen from reyrey:

Voice posts are fun, right? You get to hear funny accents if your friends are from far, far away. All we really want is to hear your voice... blah blah blah. So here's a list of typical meme questions that would otherwise be boring... blah blah blah. Answer these questions blah blah blah.

1) What's your name?
2) How old are you?
3) Where are you from? Are you living there right now?
4) Is it cold where you are?
5) What's the time?
6) What are you wearing?
7) What was the last thing you listened to?
8) What was the last thing you ate?
9) What was the last thing you watched on tv?
10) What's your favorite tv show? Why?
11) Quick! Find a book, or something with text on it! Flip to a random page and read some of it! GO!
12) What was the last movie you saw? How was it?
13) Do YOU think you have an accent? Talk about that.

VoicePost 1019K 5:09

(no transcription available)

My voice post got cutoff due to length so Part 2 is in my next post.

Weekend

Saturday was the pet show. It was an event I organized for our subdivision, Heritage Village. It was just a small meet-your-neighbors gathering on the greenbelt across from my house. We had a good showing...probably 20-25 people with their dogs. I also brought Colby and Oreo. I borrowed a red wagon and put their travel cage inside. We used a box for shade. Even though they are my most friendly rats, I was a bit worried about how they'd handle kids. They were wonderful! You could tell they were a little stressed & scared about being outside with so many people trying to touch them and talk to them but they were so well-behaved. I thought they were great rattie ambassadors! So many adults still think of rats as gross and dirty (even pet rats!). I'm hoping Colby and Oreo prevented some of those kids from having the same attitude.


More pics from the Pet Show

By the way, I'm now chairman of the Social Committee for Heritage Village. Yay me! We plan event for our subdivision and meet about once a month. So far, things have been going really well and we've gotten a lot of positive feedback from the residents.

On Sunday, we attended an event at Subaru of Plano. The Subaru World Rally Team came and the dealership was also having a garage sale. There was also free food and Subaru freebies, like tote bags, shirts, lanyards, and keychains. Chris winded up buying something for his car and I got a visor.


House Stuff

We're still slowly installing the shelves upstairs. It's a long process because we're also putting in lights inside the shelves as well as glass doors. Not to mention, we have to mount the shelves to the wall and to each other.

We got art work for our living room! They're all canvas prints by Don Li-Leger. We have to hire someone to hang them though since our walls are so tall and we don't have a ladder that reaches that high. We're also going to buy new ceiling fans for the rooms upstairs and have them installed too.



Lastly, we finally picked out photos and put up a photo gallery in our bedroom of wedding photos!




Rats

We got Muenster a new cage over a week ago. After having him interact with Colby and Gorgie several times, I just think he plays too rough. He always uses his teeth to get attention and I'm worried that he'll hurt another rat again. The good news is that he seems to like living by himself in his big cage. He has a ton of energy and constantly entertains himself by digging around and ripping apart his digging blanket or running on the wheel.

In the meantime, I've been working on introducing Gorgie to Colby, Oreo, and Gouda so he can live with them. The wound that Muenster gave him still isn't fully healed but the doctor said it looks good. I don't know if his fur will ever grow back though. Intros have been going relatively well. He spent the full day in the cage yesterday and if everything goes well today, I'll have him do his first overnight. The only issue is that Gouda sometimes bullies Gorgie. I find this very odd since Gouda is the omega rat and he is supposedly on his death bed.

Gouda has as a heart murmur and an enlarged heart. He's old and lost a lot of weight. The vet pretty much said all we can do is giving him meds for now until he declines to a point when it's time to put him to sleep. He barely eats half his food anymore so I find it weird that he has the energy to get poofy with Gorgie. Anyway, I hope they all get along so Gorgie can have friends again.

- Never marry a weak man.
- Never marry a woman who talks to her mommy 18 times a day.

Do I have a treat for you!! You get to see what I look like all day while I'm working!! =)

Photo Meme, stolen from natsukigirl:

Take a picture of yourself right now
Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... Just take the picture
Post the picture with no editing
Post these instructions with your picture



Unfortunately, you can't see my awesome silver hair clips...and my hair is pulled back into a giant scrunchie too. Fabulous!!

I'm not an Elvis fan by any means but Joseph Hall, the Elvis Impersonator, is my favorite act on "America's Got Talent". He's awesome!! Yes, that's him singing too!!



"Nuttin But Stringz" is awesome too. There are a lot of great acts this year but I'm a little disappointed there are so many singing acts. This isn't "American Idol" people.

I downloaded 7 albums today from Amazon.com:

- Jonas Brothers (self-titled)
- Jonas Brothers - A Little Bit Longer
- Camp Rock soundtrack
- New Kids on the Block (self-titled)
- New Kids on the Block - Hangin Tough
- New Kids on the Block - Step by Step
- New Kids on the Block - The Block

Irene and I are going to the NKOTB concert in a few weeks. I need to brush up on my old skool NKOTB and learn the new songs!!

Steph and I cosplayed as PGSM Sailor Moon and Venus at Anime Expo and we were interviewed by 2 purple tentacle monsters from NerdSociety.com.



We're in :36, 1:08, and 1:39 of the footage. They only used the footage where Steph talked and they didn't include her plug for her music or web site, unfortunately but oh well. It was fun!

Caller (in tears): I feel like I'm abandoning my baby everytime I drop her off at day care.
Dr. Laura: Then stop doing it.
Caller: But I have to work. My husband only makes $40,000.
Dr. Laura: There are many families that live off $40,000 and don't put their kids in day care.
Caller: I just don't see how we can do it financially.
Dr. Laura: When there is a will, there is a way. Just budget. Make some changes in your life. Make it work.
Caller: But we live in Los Angeles! We live in Southern California.
Dr. Laura: Well, that might be one of the changes you need to make.
Caller: ...ok...
Dr. Laura: See. It's all a choice.

It's all about priorities, people. That reminds me of a post I saw on FOL. Someone's friend was leaving their 9-year-old daughter home alone with a preschool-aged sibling. "Apparently the older child has been calling other moms to see if BOTH kids can come over until their parents get home from work."

o_O How can parents not see that their kids don't want to be home alone?! That's really, really sad.

By the way, I hate it when people say that they aren't "lucky enough" to stay at home with their kids. It's not about luck. It's about being responsible and having your priorities straight.

SPEEDING HAMSTER OVERTAKES RUSH-HOUR TRAFFIC
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/61299

I'm pretty sure given the chance, Lettuce would leave them all in the dust.

Hurricane Ike veered east after it left Houston so we were in the outer part of its path. We just got a few hours of rain but no big deal. We even went out to dinner. =) So we're all good!!

So I've been debating on whether or not to turn LoudTwitter back on. LoudTwitter automatically posts my tweets from Twitter every day on LJ. I've been tweeting a lot more lately (3-6 per day) so if I turned it back on, it will definitely post every day.

Here's an example of a LoudTwitter post:
http://aznaphrodite.livejournal.com/589252.html

So I'd like to get your opinion on whether or not I should turn LoudTwitter back on...

Poll #1258721
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

What do you think about my tweets from LoudTwitter?

Thanks for everyone who has expressed concerned for us about the hurricane! We are in the Dallas area and a 4-hour drive north of Houston. Many evacuees from the Galvaston and Houston area are being evacuated to Dallas actually. While parts of Dallas are in the projected path of the storm, by the time it gets over to us tomorrow, it should be severe thunderstorms with 50 mph winds. We might get some power outages but it shouldn't be worse than that.

We'll definitely keep you updated if anything gets more serious! Thanks again to everyone for your concern! We feel so loved!

An Iraq Veteran has a personal message for Barack Obama...



It's important to note that video was not approved or sponsored by McCain's campaign.

I'm not sure I agree with his opinions about the war but I think it's an interesting perspective.