Sweet Dreams

Last night was my first R.C.I.A. class at church. For those who don't know what that is, it's basically preparation for becoming a member of the Catholic church. I was baptized Catholic, but I never made First Communion or Confirmation, so that's what I'm there for.

The people running the class seem really nice. Deacon Steve is hilarious. We cracked up at least a dozen times, mostly at the expense of Father Brinkman, who came in thirty minutes late despite the deacon telling him several times beforehand that class started at seven. Being so shy, I didn't really talk to any of my classmates, but my mother, who decided to come along just to brush up on things, made fast friends with a woman who had just moved to town.

The only bad thing about this class is that it means I have to miss the Dancing with the Stars results show, along with American Idol's result show when it comes back again. :( Does anybody know who was eliminated last night on DwtS?

It's been a while since I actually wrote a real entry in this thing. O.o

Well, first of all, allow me to vent my frustration at Ch. 5 of ATR. I thought once I finished Ch. 3 and Ch. 4, things would be easier, but then I had to be stupid and stick something in Ch. 4 that I didn't originally plan to do. So, now I have to take that change into account in later chapters, and it's such a pain. Gah!

(Let this be a warning to anybody who might be tempted to "skip around" while writing a story. Don't do it. Just...don't. (Unless you have an extremely detailed outline or something of the sort.))

*screams* 

There, I feel better now. ^_^

What else has been going on? Well, Mama surprised me last weekend by treating me to a little shopping spree at Cato's, one of my favorite clothing stores. I got some really cute stuff. ^_^ Most of it is in layaway at the moment, but I did get to take home a rather sexy black lace T-shirt and a beautiful black-and-white dress that I think looks like something Jackie Kennedy might have worn during the days of Camelot. It's mostly black with a white satin sash around the neckline that ties into a bow near my left shoulder, and I absolutely adore it. The stuff in layaway is another black lace shirt, a matching long black skirt with lace around the waist, and two 2-piece (tank top with sheer blouse) tops, one black and one white. (I really didn't mean to just get black-and-white stuff; it just turned out that way. *laughs*) 

Mama liked the two brooches I got her for Mother's Day, and she gave me $25 for our family's made-up holiday of Daughter's Day (the day after Mother's Day). The money will most likely go into my "Buy a GBA" fund. ^_^

Speaking of video games, I've been feeling really nostalgic lately, ever since I found my old NES console a couple of days ago underneath my bed with Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom still inside from the last time my sister and I played it. (We finally beat the game on December 31, 1999. ^_^) I don't know where any of the other games are or even if the console is still in working order, but it really brought me back. Maniac Mansion, Vegas Dreams, Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, Gold Medal Challenge, Barbie... Good times, those were. ^_^ (And Samuraiter, gamer extraordinaire, is just in awe that I have the Princess Tomato cartridge.)

Lessee...what else?

I got the fifth disc of Cowboy Bebop from Netflix yesterday. It seems to beat the odd-number curse, since I actually rather liked it, save for that stupid episode about the Mad Pierrot, or whatever his name was. The Feng Shui and Cowboy Andy episodes were fantastic, though, so they kind of made up for that one.

Oh, and for Fruits Basket fans, if you're looking for good fanfiction, I highly recommend checking out Ysabet's stories at http://ysabet.velvetangel.net/fanfic/furuba/. She mostly writes Rin/Hatsuharu angst, but there are a few stories that have other characters in the spotlight. The Ceremony of Innocence, in particular, is a fantastic end-of-the-series fic that's sure to satisfy both the Kyo/Tohru fans (waves Kyoru flag) and Yuki/Tohru fans. ^_^

I'll just wrap this entry up by saying, "Go, Katharine!"

She and Taylor are moving onto the American Idol finale next week. Whee!

I finished up the ATR outline today and it looks like this baby's going to clock in at about twenty-two chapters. I might be able to condense it down to twenty -- there's one chapter in which I only have two scenes planned so far that could probably be added to another -- but, boy! I knew it was going to be long, but I really wasn't expecting that many chapters.

On the Olympics front, Sasha Cohen's in first after the short program! *squeals* Granted, she has only a .03 lead over Irina Slutskaya, but that has to be a big confidence booster. The other Americans are doing well, too, considering their lack of international experience. Kimmie Meissner's in fifth and Emily Hughes, filling in for Michelle Kwan, is in seventh. If they skate well in the free skate, there's a very small, outside chance one of them (most likely Meissner) could medal. (That's what I love about the new scoring system. It gives skaters a real chance to come up from behind.)

The real competition also started on American Idol with the girls. My favorites so far are probably Katharine McPhee and Lisa Tucker. Very, very talented girls.