Beware: The Chibis Have Taken Control!

*deep breath* I've been thinking lately... this is not where I thought I'd be this time last year. My life has had some pretty dramatic upheavals in the last 12 months and it has led me down roads that I never thought I'd travel. And it has been one hell of an interesting journey. So, I thought I'd take a brief exploration of the trip, a little comparison of where I've been at Rosh Hashanah's past and present.

( Cut for excessive rambling. Hey, it's my LJ, I'll ramble if I want. ^_^ )

*deep breath* In short... I've come a hell of a long way in a year. My life now bears almost no resemblance to my life of last year. And do you know something incredible? I don't miss that old life. That old me was depressed, tremendously overweight, had very few friends and had long since misplaced many of the things she used to love most about herself. This new me feels good, is energetic, has made some awesome new friends because she was brave enough to reach out to them and hold on once she had them, and has discovered and rediscovered a hoard of new hobbies and interests that she'd long since forgotten. She's happy. She has a purpose in life. She feels like she's moving forward into a bright new future when before there was only darkness. I can't even begin to express what an unbelievable feeling that that is. So, though I never thought I'd even think this, much less say it... I'm grateful for my back injury. I'm grateful for this year. Most of all, I'm grateful for my family and my friends, without whom I would never have made it this far.

L'shana Tovah tikateivu v'teichateimu! -- May you be written and sealed for a good year and thank you all so very much!

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*coughs* OK, I'm not done. I need to brag about one last thing. ^_^

And I never thought that the single most exciting thing that would happen to me on Rosh Hashanah 5771 would be that I would buy tickets to go see Hair for a sixth time... in New Haven... on October 23rd, 2010. That's right, folks -- I have my tickets!!! :D zoicite was kind enough to let me bully her into coming with me. I have had butterflies in my stomach and a racing heart ever since I gave the lady on the phone my credit card number. To quote myself... "It's been too long. My heart is too full for words." And to paraphrase from my people...

"Next year in Jerusalem, sure... But next month in New Haven, first!" ;D ;D

Dinner last night was a blast! My 32 week old niece was adorable in her little dress and tights. *_* She's got a smile that could make Morla (from Neverending Story, for those who didn't catch the reference) grin like a goofball in response. ^_^ And she was so well behaved! She didn't make any noise until right at the end when we'd been there for almost 1½ hours, and even then it wasn't much noise... and she wasn't the only one getting fidgety by then. ^_^

And they had this carrot cake... *_* *drool* Suffice it to say... it was good. And totally worth the 8 points for the half of my Uncle's slice that I ate. *_* Sometimes, you just have to splurge a little. Besides, the fact that my sister and I spent 80 minutes working to clean up my parents' basement and hauling out trash earned me a few activity points. ^_~ Scary thing? We hauled out 7 full bags of trash... and only barely put a dent in what we need to throw out. But you can see part of the floor! It's amazing. Anyone who knows me in real life and has seen that basement... you understand what a monumental task we've undertaken. O_O

And I forgot to mention! My niece is officially crawling and able to sit up on her own! *beams* How freakin' adorable is that? :D ^_^ :D

OMG... I'm in such deep shit. She's already got me wrapped around her little finger... and she's barely over half a year old. -.-;;; G-d help me when she's actually old enough to ask for the things she wants... *twitch*

Fandom: Power Rangers
Pairing: Andros x Zhane, TJ x Ashley... and beyond that, I'm not telling. ^_~
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: Total -- 56,556; shortest part is 3866 words, longest is 6831, most fall somewhere in between. I tried to keep them uniform... it just didn't quite break down that way. :-P
Warnings: Slash. Not mine. Don't sue.

Summary: Andros and Zhane have fought many battles together, both with and against each other. And no one can cause you pain like the one you love, a lesson they have to learn the hard way. Add in three other Ranger teams and a long-lost sister and even that lesson won't be easy. Sequel to Taking Root and Forget Me Not.

( A Rose By Any Other Name, Part 6 )

Questions, comments, cantaloupe?

Coming Soon: The Space Rangers have taken off for parts unknown, leaving the Earth Rangers behind to guard the planet. But something is wrong... and only Trini seems to notice. Fortunately, she won't let go until she's gotten to the bottom of things.