More Inner Ramblings
Monday July 18, 2005 ~4:20 am
Thursday July 14, 2005 - Sunday July 17, 2005
Well, I still haven’t wrote my entry about the Gathering. Maybe tomorrow? :p Here’s another nice, long update, though. :)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat
Thursday I went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat with my sister and mom. It was being put on by a community theater group at a high school, so the tickets were only $12 and all the proceeds went towards Meals on Wheels. The play was great! My mom absolutely loved it.
The best part was that one of the brothers in the play was actually someone I knew way back from Hebrew School choir. The Hebrew School choir accepts pretty much anyone (they let me in :p), as long as they meet the age requirement, or are a younger sibling of someone who does. The guy who was in the community play didn’t join until the year I left, though. But I remember going to see a performance when my sister was still in it. I gained new appreciation for what horrendous types of torture parents have to go through when they go to their children’s recitals. :p But I remember that this guy and his two younger brothers had solos and they could actually sing, really sing! (Imagine that in a choir. :p) In any case, my last memory of him was when he was still in elementary school, so it was really cool, but also weird, to see him all grown up now. He’s 21 and in his senior year of college, the same school I went to for undergrad!! It’s hard to believe. I’m definitely glad he’s still active in performing, though. :)
Karate Tutoring
After the play, the guy I’m supposed to tutor in self-defense called me. Now he wants to just call me the day of instead of actually setting up a specific date. I told him that was fine, but there’s no guarantee that I’ll actually be free. By the time we actually do have a lesson, I would have really earned the $40. I’ve probably already spent 2-3 hours on the phone with him just trying to set up appointments because he talks FOREVER! I still don’t feel I’m really qualified to teach self-defense, but I can definitely teach him the basics. So I’ll give him one lesson and see where to go from there… that is if we ever have the lesson.
Speaking of karate, I helped teach class on Wednesday, but then completely forgot to go on Friday. I was so busy helping my parents and sister clean the house. I feel absolutely awful about it since my sister and I have been the only instructors there lately and my sister was out with friends that night. I just completely forgot it was Friday and kept thinking I had karate the next day for some reason. I hope our sensei had someone else there to help him teach.
Interview
Thursday, I got a message from the main office of the clinic I visited the other day. They said to call back tomorrow to set up an appointment for an interview. Called them back Friday, and I now have an appointment set for Wednesday at 2 pm. I still have a lot to do practicing interview questions, updating my portfolio, and contacting my references to double check that I can use them. I’m nervous and not nervous at the same time. Definitely don’t like the idea of having to ask for a certain salary. I’d really rather they just offer me a number and I either like it or not. And feeling insecure about my skills as a physical therapist really doesn’t help all that much either. On the plus side, based on my interests and experience, I’d make a nice fit for the clinic, so I’ll see what happens.
I’m still waiting for my friend to get back from vacation so she can help me set up an interview at a nearby hospital where she got a job. From what she’s told me, it’s a great place to work. I’m still debating about applying to any other hospitals in the area, though. Maybe I’ll look into that the week after next.
Studying
I’ve finally started studying for my licensure exam over the past few days. My parents keep bugging me about studying, and I know I have to do it, but it’s just so hard to focus at my house. My room feels too cluttered and my desk is too small to spread out on. But if I study at the dining room table, I can hear the TV blaring from the family room or my parents arguing and the phone is constantly ringing and my mom will interrupt me every 15 minutes with random questions. I can’t study at the library or Barnes and Noble because there’s too much stuff I would need to take with me like all my text books and my lap top and my anatomy flash cards and everything. I think I just need to choose a quiet time of day when my dad and sister are at work and my mom is busy with something.
I bought a study guide book that everyone says the real exam is centered around. The only problem is that I feel like I’m just reading a bunch of words and nothing is registering. I finally decided to give up and just study from my text books. It’s going to be much more time consuming, but at least things make more sense and I feel like I’m really learning something. I think the problem is that I just have a completely weak foundation of knowledge. People keep waving me off and saying, “Oh, you’ll do fine.” But I really won’t. I have fairly good intuition when it comes to treatments, but my knowledge base if extremely deficient. I even have to go back and review almost all of my basic anatomy. But at least I feel like I’m actually getting something accomplished while I’m studying now. I think I’ll stick with the text books for now, and hopefully also review my class notes, and then return to the study guide as a sort of review. The main problem is that it’s going to take me a lot longer to study now, so I may have to push the test date back yet again. Originally I was planning to take it in July, then August, then September, and now I’m even considering October. *sigh*
At least I don’t have any loans to pay back, so I don’t have to rush to work like the majority of my friends. Since I’m living at home right now, my only real expenses are gas, the occasional food, energy work classes, and books (my main weakness :p). I still have a bit of money put away in my checking account, but it’s quickly getting emptied out and I’m not sure if it’ll last until October or not, not to mention I still really don’t like the idea of not having medical insurance. The head PT at the clinic said I could probably even work part time until I’m ready to take the test and then work full time. The only problem other than having to balance work and study is that if I fail the exam, then I lose my temporary license until I take the test again and pass, and it would be absolutely horrible to tell them, “Sorry, I can’t come into work today because I failed the test.” Also, if I fail it three times, then I can’t take the test again for another year.
I think I’m going to get really focused this month and put in a good 30 days of studying, and then see where I am then and decide from there when to take the exam. In the mean time, I’m going to tell my interview sites that I’m hoping to start work in early to mid October. Better to estimate later than to estimate earlier and not be able to follow through. If I feel ready earlier, I could use the extra time off. (That would also give me time to go the Jedi Meeting they’re setting up in MA.) Or, if I’m ready early, they might even want me to start as soon as possible. So either way is fine by me. Also, September and October are around the Jewish High Holy Days, so it would probably be a pain to have to take off a bunch of days when I’ve just barely begun.
E-Bay Addict - Shinais and Jedi Apprentice
Thursday night I decided to order some shinais through e-bay. I’ve never used e-bay before, so I was just learning the ropes. I found a good seller about a week ago, but I wasn’t sure what length I wanted yet, so the bid ended. It ends up the same seller had multiple sales, though, so I just signed up for the bid ending Thursday night. The sale was for two shinais for $9.99. The shinais usually cost about $20 each, so that’s a great deal. The only problem is that the seller was charging $25 for shipping which was ridiculous, but still a good deal. There were no other bidders, so I just bid the minimum. But then someone outbid me by 50 cents 3 min before the sale ended. My internet connection was so slow, I couldn’t even put a new bid in. :p It was ok, though, I just bid on the next sale which was ending 4 hours later. I was again the only bidder, and no one stole it from me that time. The seller had good reviews, and I think it was the same one Falco ordered his shinais from, so I’ll see how they are when they arrive. I decided to go with the 37 length. Was thinking about maybe 36, but was worried that it might be too short, and 37’s were the ones I was using at Brandel’s.
So after buying the shinais, I decided to check out e-bay for the Jedi Apprentice books. Everyone keeps saying what a good series it is. The only problem is that I just learned that the majority of the books are out of print. :( I used to buy all the new Star Wars books as soon as they came out, but then when I hit college, I didn’t have as much time to read, so I just figured I’d buy them later when I had more time. I only happened to get books 1, 2, 4, 8, and 9 which happened to be at the book store at the time. I never ended up reading the series, because I like to read things in order and I was missing 3 which never seemed to be in. Now I’m really kicking myself for not buying them, because the Special Edition ones are selling for up to $136 for what was originally a $4.99 or $5.99 book.
I actually did find all the books either at Amazon for the few that are still in print, or on e-bay, but it’s definitely going to cost me quite a bit of money to gather them all. Especially Jedi Apprentice Special Edition #2 The Followers. That’s the really rare one. I tried bidding on two different copies on e-bay today, but I was just too hesitant to go over the $45 mark, so I was outbid in the last minutes. That’s a heck of a lot of money for one little kid’s book! Hopefully I’ll see more copies on sale eventually. Have to decide how much it’s really worth to me, though. I figure if worse comes to worse, I could always buy and then sell it again on e-bay if I really want to. There’s one seller who’s actually selling the full set of all 18 books, plus both special editions for $250, the original selling price of which was about $100-$110. Insane! Especially since they’re not even in Mint, or even new condition. The scary part is that I’m actually considering it, especially for that rare second special edition one. :p I think it would still be cheaper to gather the books individually, though. Especially since I already own a few of them, and can get a few more fairly cheap. Maybe I could buy the set and sell the extra ones that I don’t need, though. But don’t know if I really have the money to spend on all that. I still have a few more days to decide.
In the mean time, I did end up buying a small collection of books 6, 7, 8 and 14, first edition, never read. Those books are actually all available on Amazon too, and I probably spent a few extra dollars than I would have on Amazon because I didn’t get free shipping, but I wasn’t sure if the Amazon ones were still first edition, or a later publication date. There’s another small set I really want to get that has a few duplicates of ones I already have, but also has quite a few out of print books in it. The books are in good condition, but not new, so I’ll see what I’m willing to spend. I still have the philosophy that I can resell any books that I don’t decide to keep, so I don’t feel like I’m completely wasting my money at least. :p And I really do want to read those books! I’m just waiting for book 3, hopefully in that second set, so I can get started. :)
And so my e-bay addiction begins. . . :p
Earning Money
Since I’m jobless right now, I’m finding alternate ways of earning money. I had a yard sale just before the Gathering where I actually made $150, all of which, plus probably about $50 more, went to gas, tolls, food, and cabins during my weeks of travel. Definitely came in handy for helping to fund my Gathering trip. I was actually going to try to have another yard sale today (Sunday), but it was so hot and humid and there were heat warnings, and it would have been more work than it was worth to set up and move all the stuff to my neighbor’s yard at the old house since that’s the only place where people would have actually seen it to stop by. Just not worth it.
My other method of earning money is those silly gimmicks they offer with my credit card. I never charge anything that I can’t pay for, and my credit card earns a 5% rebate on gas and supermarkets and 1% rebate on everything else, so it comes in extremely handy. They also keep trying to get you to sign up for things like Shopper’s Advantage which charges you $10 a month where you do some weird thing like purchasing gift cards which somehow ends up giving you some kind of discount. I don’t know. Definitely had no interest in actually doing it. But they tell you if you sign up for a one month free trial period, they’ll send you a $25 gift card from Walmart. As long as you cancel before the end of the trial period, you won’t be charged. Sounds good to me. So I sign up, fill out the forms they send me for the gift card, then call to cancel at the end of the month. They tell me ok, but they hate to lose me so how about I sign up for this other thing free month trial period with this other program they have and not only get another Walmart gift card, but also a $25 gas card too. Sure! So I sign up, fill out the paperwork, and call to cancel. They tell me again how much money I can save and how about I just give it a bit more time to try it out, and they’ll give me another Walmart gift card for my trouble. I tell them I’m going on vacation and won’t be back in time to cancel the membership. They say that’s ok, if I get charged and I still want to cancel, they’ll remove the charge. I’m not completely sure they’ll follow through, but I figure a $25 gift card minus a $10 charge is still pretty good, so I agree. I return from the Gathering, my credit card has been charged. I call to cancel and tell them that the last person said they would remove the charge. The guy actually says, “No problem,” and cancels and removes the charge, no questions asked! Absolutely amazing! All the other times I tried to cancel they just wouldn’t take no for an answer and finally bribed me with more gift cards. Yet when I really, absolutely wanted to cancel, they gave me no hassle at all. So now I have three $25 Walmart cards and one $25 gas card in exchange for about a half hour of my time on the phone and filling out forms. I’m going to go to Walmart tomorrow and see if they actually work. :p
So my total income for the past three months is $250. :p Good thing I’m living at home for now. :p I just hope my savings account holds out until October. I’m considering getting a part time job at Barnes and Noble. 30% discount on books, plus some spending money, not to mention I absolutely love books and love being a cashier. The only problem is that I’d only be working for them for two months before leaving for a physical therapy position, and then my available hours are so chaotic between all my family obligations and my energy work classes and karate. It’s something to consider, though. But if I’m going to be spending the time working at Barnes and Noble, I might as well just be working part time as a physical therapist. My friend just got a job there so maybe I’ll talk to her about it.
And of course, there’s always the karate tutoring if that ever comes through. :p
Thunderstorms, Moving, and Energy Work
Saturday, I spent the morning moving all the furniture and boxes out of the den so the movers could put the furniture from the other house in there. My sister was at a training workshop and my parents were at the other house with the movers, so I did it solo. It wasn’t too bad since most of the furniture was pretty light.
When I finished, I did some odds and ends while waiting for my parents to get home. It was incredibly humid outside, and not too much later, I could hear the loud cracks of thunder and see the flashes of lightning outside through my window. I went outside just as the sky opened up in a torrential down pour. I took an umbrella with me because I didn’t feel like explaining to my parents why I was completely drenched and they already think I’m weird enough for always going outside at night.
I spent the time simply enjoying the thunder and lightning storm and doing some energy work with my bonsai tree that I bought while in Michigan. A wasp landed on my bonsai. His wings were drenched and he really didn’t look all that good. I held my umbrella over him to give him some shelter from the rain. I was a bit wary of getting stung, but finally got up the nerve to pick up my bonsai tree and dump him on the dry porch under some real shelter. I would have felt incredibly guilty if I didn’t help him because of my fears and he died. He ended up dying anyway, though. I found him this morning laying dead on the porch. :( But at least I did what I could.
The rain finally settled down to a drizzle and I put away the umbrella to sit and meditate. I thought I would feel a lot more energy because of the storm, but I just really wasn’t very energetic that day. Maybe it was lack of sleep. My parents finally arrived with the movers. They were from Abba Moving, and since Abba means father in Hebrew, I wondered if they were brothers. It ends up that they weren’t brothers, but they were all Israeli. They kept speaking Hebrew back and forth to each other. I think half the time they just didn’t want us to understand what they were saying. I know a very few Hebrew words, but definitely not enough to understand them. We didn’t have too much to move because we’d been moving all our stuff gradually and just needed them to move the really bulky and heavy stuff like the den furniture and bedroom set, some huge file cabinets, the treadmill, and a few other things. They got about half the furniture in the house before it started raining again. Even thought it wasn’t a lot of stuff, they were having a rough time, especially with the file cabinets which were bigger than they were and incredibly heavy. I offered to help, but they declined, either because it was their job to move the stuff, or because I was a girl and they didn’t think I could handle it. I know I’m definitely not looking forward to moving that treadmill. My dad still has to finish the floor in the den, so he can’t move the treadmill into the right position until it’s done. That thing is HEAVY!!! My sister and I are used to moving heavy things, but even with my dad, sister, and I working together, I’m still not all that sure we’ll be able to move it. Even the three moving guys had an incredibly rough time of it. I am absolutely thrilled to have a treadmill at home, though. It’ll definitely help out with my workouts since I know longer have access to a gym and there are no sidewalks or even shoulders on the roads around my house.
I thought it would be less humid after the storm, but it was just as humid, if not even more so. Later at night, it stormed again, mostly lightning this time. It wasn’t raining hard, so I went out without an umbrella and in bare feet to meditate and do some Force Building exercises. I’ve been wanting to learn either Tai Chi or Qi Gong so I could do a form of energy work that also involves moving my feet, but the Force Building exercises I learned at JEDI and JRA will have to do for now. I felt the energy, but again, not as much energy as I would have liked. I think I just felt rather drained that day in general. The thunderstorms were definitely beautiful, though, and it was very calming to be around them.
Physical Workouts
I decided to get back into regular physical workouts and make them a priority in my daily schedule. I did the basic boot camp Tae Bo workout on Friday, then ran for a bit on the treadmill on Saturday. My shoulder seems to be much better now and didn’t give me any issues. I took it a bit easy on the treadmill, though, because my right thigh is still tender to heavy jarring such as the high impact from running. I think I ran a little over a mile at a 13 min/mile pace. I also wasn’t wearing proper socks and I could feel a blister forming on my left foot, so I just stopped rather than push myself too far. It ends up the next day (today) my left hip was sore, so maybe I was compensating with it because of my foot. I’ve also been having issues with my hips in general where I can feel the bone shift a bit in and out of socket. Not completely dislocate or anything, but a definite shift that I’m not too crazy about. Maybe I just have lax joints in general. That would explain my chronic knee and wrist issues and my recent shoulder issues. I also turn my ankles very easily, but have fortunately never sprained them. I’ll just have to watch what I do a bit more and not push myself to causing myself inflammation.
Goals
I think I’m going to go back to setting up weekly goals to help keep me on task. My goals for this week are:
1. Study at least 2-3 hours a day. (Not including this weekend when I’ll be away with friends.)
2. Work out at least 20 min a day, 6 days a week. ( I can vary it with Tae Bo, jogging on the treadmill, or my own personal combinations of things. I didn’t work out today because my hip was bothering me so much and I made studying a priority, but at least I got a semi workout helping my dad move boxes from one house to the other.)
3. Meditate at least 5 min a day. (I know I should be doing more, but what I really need to work on right now is my focus, and that’s easier to do starting off with short periods of time. I’m hoping to combine the Force Building exercises and breathing as a point of focus for my mediation, which leads me to number 4. . .)
4. Do Force Building exercises at least 6 times a week.
5. Do Manna’s second sight energy pathway exercises. (Not really sure what to call it, but it’s supposed to help with seeing auras.)
6. Mindfully water and say thank you to my bonsai every day. (I have more to day on that, but I’ll save it for another entry.)
And with that, I’m heading to bed. I have another 4 page entry, but I figure I’ll save it for tomorrow since this one’s already over 7 pages long and it’s already 4 am and I’ve been writing since midnight. :p Night to all. *Hugs*
--Moonshadow
P.S. Any one have any Jedi Apprentice books they’re dying to get rid of? :p
Thursday July 14, 2005 - Sunday July 17, 2005
Well, I still haven’t wrote my entry about the Gathering. Maybe tomorrow? :p Here’s another nice, long update, though. :)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat
Thursday I went to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat with my sister and mom. It was being put on by a community theater group at a high school, so the tickets were only $12 and all the proceeds went towards Meals on Wheels. The play was great! My mom absolutely loved it.
The best part was that one of the brothers in the play was actually someone I knew way back from Hebrew School choir. The Hebrew School choir accepts pretty much anyone (they let me in :p), as long as they meet the age requirement, or are a younger sibling of someone who does. The guy who was in the community play didn’t join until the year I left, though. But I remember going to see a performance when my sister was still in it. I gained new appreciation for what horrendous types of torture parents have to go through when they go to their children’s recitals. :p But I remember that this guy and his two younger brothers had solos and they could actually sing, really sing! (Imagine that in a choir. :p) In any case, my last memory of him was when he was still in elementary school, so it was really cool, but also weird, to see him all grown up now. He’s 21 and in his senior year of college, the same school I went to for undergrad!! It’s hard to believe. I’m definitely glad he’s still active in performing, though. :)
Karate Tutoring
After the play, the guy I’m supposed to tutor in self-defense called me. Now he wants to just call me the day of instead of actually setting up a specific date. I told him that was fine, but there’s no guarantee that I’ll actually be free. By the time we actually do have a lesson, I would have really earned the $40. I’ve probably already spent 2-3 hours on the phone with him just trying to set up appointments because he talks FOREVER! I still don’t feel I’m really qualified to teach self-defense, but I can definitely teach him the basics. So I’ll give him one lesson and see where to go from there… that is if we ever have the lesson.
Speaking of karate, I helped teach class on Wednesday, but then completely forgot to go on Friday. I was so busy helping my parents and sister clean the house. I feel absolutely awful about it since my sister and I have been the only instructors there lately and my sister was out with friends that night. I just completely forgot it was Friday and kept thinking I had karate the next day for some reason. I hope our sensei had someone else there to help him teach.
Interview
Thursday, I got a message from the main office of the clinic I visited the other day. They said to call back tomorrow to set up an appointment for an interview. Called them back Friday, and I now have an appointment set for Wednesday at 2 pm. I still have a lot to do practicing interview questions, updating my portfolio, and contacting my references to double check that I can use them. I’m nervous and not nervous at the same time. Definitely don’t like the idea of having to ask for a certain salary. I’d really rather they just offer me a number and I either like it or not. And feeling insecure about my skills as a physical therapist really doesn’t help all that much either. On the plus side, based on my interests and experience, I’d make a nice fit for the clinic, so I’ll see what happens.
I’m still waiting for my friend to get back from vacation so she can help me set up an interview at a nearby hospital where she got a job. From what she’s told me, it’s a great place to work. I’m still debating about applying to any other hospitals in the area, though. Maybe I’ll look into that the week after next.
Studying
I’ve finally started studying for my licensure exam over the past few days. My parents keep bugging me about studying, and I know I have to do it, but it’s just so hard to focus at my house. My room feels too cluttered and my desk is too small to spread out on. But if I study at the dining room table, I can hear the TV blaring from the family room or my parents arguing and the phone is constantly ringing and my mom will interrupt me every 15 minutes with random questions. I can’t study at the library or Barnes and Noble because there’s too much stuff I would need to take with me like all my text books and my lap top and my anatomy flash cards and everything. I think I just need to choose a quiet time of day when my dad and sister are at work and my mom is busy with something.
I bought a study guide book that everyone says the real exam is centered around. The only problem is that I feel like I’m just reading a bunch of words and nothing is registering. I finally decided to give up and just study from my text books. It’s going to be much more time consuming, but at least things make more sense and I feel like I’m really learning something. I think the problem is that I just have a completely weak foundation of knowledge. People keep waving me off and saying, “Oh, you’ll do fine.” But I really won’t. I have fairly good intuition when it comes to treatments, but my knowledge base if extremely deficient. I even have to go back and review almost all of my basic anatomy. But at least I feel like I’m actually getting something accomplished while I’m studying now. I think I’ll stick with the text books for now, and hopefully also review my class notes, and then return to the study guide as a sort of review. The main problem is that it’s going to take me a lot longer to study now, so I may have to push the test date back yet again. Originally I was planning to take it in July, then August, then September, and now I’m even considering October. *sigh*
At least I don’t have any loans to pay back, so I don’t have to rush to work like the majority of my friends. Since I’m living at home right now, my only real expenses are gas, the occasional food, energy work classes, and books (my main weakness :p). I still have a bit of money put away in my checking account, but it’s quickly getting emptied out and I’m not sure if it’ll last until October or not, not to mention I still really don’t like the idea of not having medical insurance. The head PT at the clinic said I could probably even work part time until I’m ready to take the test and then work full time. The only problem other than having to balance work and study is that if I fail the exam, then I lose my temporary license until I take the test again and pass, and it would be absolutely horrible to tell them, “Sorry, I can’t come into work today because I failed the test.” Also, if I fail it three times, then I can’t take the test again for another year.
I think I’m going to get really focused this month and put in a good 30 days of studying, and then see where I am then and decide from there when to take the exam. In the mean time, I’m going to tell my interview sites that I’m hoping to start work in early to mid October. Better to estimate later than to estimate earlier and not be able to follow through. If I feel ready earlier, I could use the extra time off. (That would also give me time to go the Jedi Meeting they’re setting up in MA.) Or, if I’m ready early, they might even want me to start as soon as possible. So either way is fine by me. Also, September and October are around the Jewish High Holy Days, so it would probably be a pain to have to take off a bunch of days when I’ve just barely begun.
E-Bay Addict - Shinais and Jedi Apprentice
Thursday night I decided to order some shinais through e-bay. I’ve never used e-bay before, so I was just learning the ropes. I found a good seller about a week ago, but I wasn’t sure what length I wanted yet, so the bid ended. It ends up the same seller had multiple sales, though, so I just signed up for the bid ending Thursday night. The sale was for two shinais for $9.99. The shinais usually cost about $20 each, so that’s a great deal. The only problem is that the seller was charging $25 for shipping which was ridiculous, but still a good deal. There were no other bidders, so I just bid the minimum. But then someone outbid me by 50 cents 3 min before the sale ended. My internet connection was so slow, I couldn’t even put a new bid in. :p It was ok, though, I just bid on the next sale which was ending 4 hours later. I was again the only bidder, and no one stole it from me that time. The seller had good reviews, and I think it was the same one Falco ordered his shinais from, so I’ll see how they are when they arrive. I decided to go with the 37 length. Was thinking about maybe 36, but was worried that it might be too short, and 37’s were the ones I was using at Brandel’s.
So after buying the shinais, I decided to check out e-bay for the Jedi Apprentice books. Everyone keeps saying what a good series it is. The only problem is that I just learned that the majority of the books are out of print. :( I used to buy all the new Star Wars books as soon as they came out, but then when I hit college, I didn’t have as much time to read, so I just figured I’d buy them later when I had more time. I only happened to get books 1, 2, 4, 8, and 9 which happened to be at the book store at the time. I never ended up reading the series, because I like to read things in order and I was missing 3 which never seemed to be in. Now I’m really kicking myself for not buying them, because the Special Edition ones are selling for up to $136 for what was originally a $4.99 or $5.99 book.
I actually did find all the books either at Amazon for the few that are still in print, or on e-bay, but it’s definitely going to cost me quite a bit of money to gather them all. Especially Jedi Apprentice Special Edition #2 The Followers. That’s the really rare one. I tried bidding on two different copies on e-bay today, but I was just too hesitant to go over the $45 mark, so I was outbid in the last minutes. That’s a heck of a lot of money for one little kid’s book! Hopefully I’ll see more copies on sale eventually. Have to decide how much it’s really worth to me, though. I figure if worse comes to worse, I could always buy and then sell it again on e-bay if I really want to. There’s one seller who’s actually selling the full set of all 18 books, plus both special editions for $250, the original selling price of which was about $100-$110. Insane! Especially since they’re not even in Mint, or even new condition. The scary part is that I’m actually considering it, especially for that rare second special edition one. :p I think it would still be cheaper to gather the books individually, though. Especially since I already own a few of them, and can get a few more fairly cheap. Maybe I could buy the set and sell the extra ones that I don’t need, though. But don’t know if I really have the money to spend on all that. I still have a few more days to decide.
In the mean time, I did end up buying a small collection of books 6, 7, 8 and 14, first edition, never read. Those books are actually all available on Amazon too, and I probably spent a few extra dollars than I would have on Amazon because I didn’t get free shipping, but I wasn’t sure if the Amazon ones were still first edition, or a later publication date. There’s another small set I really want to get that has a few duplicates of ones I already have, but also has quite a few out of print books in it. The books are in good condition, but not new, so I’ll see what I’m willing to spend. I still have the philosophy that I can resell any books that I don’t decide to keep, so I don’t feel like I’m completely wasting my money at least. :p And I really do want to read those books! I’m just waiting for book 3, hopefully in that second set, so I can get started. :)
And so my e-bay addiction begins. . . :p
Earning Money
Since I’m jobless right now, I’m finding alternate ways of earning money. I had a yard sale just before the Gathering where I actually made $150, all of which, plus probably about $50 more, went to gas, tolls, food, and cabins during my weeks of travel. Definitely came in handy for helping to fund my Gathering trip. I was actually going to try to have another yard sale today (Sunday), but it was so hot and humid and there were heat warnings, and it would have been more work than it was worth to set up and move all the stuff to my neighbor’s yard at the old house since that’s the only place where people would have actually seen it to stop by. Just not worth it.
My other method of earning money is those silly gimmicks they offer with my credit card. I never charge anything that I can’t pay for, and my credit card earns a 5% rebate on gas and supermarkets and 1% rebate on everything else, so it comes in extremely handy. They also keep trying to get you to sign up for things like Shopper’s Advantage which charges you $10 a month where you do some weird thing like purchasing gift cards which somehow ends up giving you some kind of discount. I don’t know. Definitely had no interest in actually doing it. But they tell you if you sign up for a one month free trial period, they’ll send you a $25 gift card from Walmart. As long as you cancel before the end of the trial period, you won’t be charged. Sounds good to me. So I sign up, fill out the forms they send me for the gift card, then call to cancel at the end of the month. They tell me ok, but they hate to lose me so how about I sign up for this other thing free month trial period with this other program they have and not only get another Walmart gift card, but also a $25 gas card too. Sure! So I sign up, fill out the paperwork, and call to cancel. They tell me again how much money I can save and how about I just give it a bit more time to try it out, and they’ll give me another Walmart gift card for my trouble. I tell them I’m going on vacation and won’t be back in time to cancel the membership. They say that’s ok, if I get charged and I still want to cancel, they’ll remove the charge. I’m not completely sure they’ll follow through, but I figure a $25 gift card minus a $10 charge is still pretty good, so I agree. I return from the Gathering, my credit card has been charged. I call to cancel and tell them that the last person said they would remove the charge. The guy actually says, “No problem,” and cancels and removes the charge, no questions asked! Absolutely amazing! All the other times I tried to cancel they just wouldn’t take no for an answer and finally bribed me with more gift cards. Yet when I really, absolutely wanted to cancel, they gave me no hassle at all. So now I have three $25 Walmart cards and one $25 gas card in exchange for about a half hour of my time on the phone and filling out forms. I’m going to go to Walmart tomorrow and see if they actually work. :p
So my total income for the past three months is $250. :p Good thing I’m living at home for now. :p I just hope my savings account holds out until October. I’m considering getting a part time job at Barnes and Noble. 30% discount on books, plus some spending money, not to mention I absolutely love books and love being a cashier. The only problem is that I’d only be working for them for two months before leaving for a physical therapy position, and then my available hours are so chaotic between all my family obligations and my energy work classes and karate. It’s something to consider, though. But if I’m going to be spending the time working at Barnes and Noble, I might as well just be working part time as a physical therapist. My friend just got a job there so maybe I’ll talk to her about it.
And of course, there’s always the karate tutoring if that ever comes through. :p
Thunderstorms, Moving, and Energy Work
Saturday, I spent the morning moving all the furniture and boxes out of the den so the movers could put the furniture from the other house in there. My sister was at a training workshop and my parents were at the other house with the movers, so I did it solo. It wasn’t too bad since most of the furniture was pretty light.
When I finished, I did some odds and ends while waiting for my parents to get home. It was incredibly humid outside, and not too much later, I could hear the loud cracks of thunder and see the flashes of lightning outside through my window. I went outside just as the sky opened up in a torrential down pour. I took an umbrella with me because I didn’t feel like explaining to my parents why I was completely drenched and they already think I’m weird enough for always going outside at night.
I spent the time simply enjoying the thunder and lightning storm and doing some energy work with my bonsai tree that I bought while in Michigan. A wasp landed on my bonsai. His wings were drenched and he really didn’t look all that good. I held my umbrella over him to give him some shelter from the rain. I was a bit wary of getting stung, but finally got up the nerve to pick up my bonsai tree and dump him on the dry porch under some real shelter. I would have felt incredibly guilty if I didn’t help him because of my fears and he died. He ended up dying anyway, though. I found him this morning laying dead on the porch. :( But at least I did what I could.
The rain finally settled down to a drizzle and I put away the umbrella to sit and meditate. I thought I would feel a lot more energy because of the storm, but I just really wasn’t very energetic that day. Maybe it was lack of sleep. My parents finally arrived with the movers. They were from Abba Moving, and since Abba means father in Hebrew, I wondered if they were brothers. It ends up that they weren’t brothers, but they were all Israeli. They kept speaking Hebrew back and forth to each other. I think half the time they just didn’t want us to understand what they were saying. I know a very few Hebrew words, but definitely not enough to understand them. We didn’t have too much to move because we’d been moving all our stuff gradually and just needed them to move the really bulky and heavy stuff like the den furniture and bedroom set, some huge file cabinets, the treadmill, and a few other things. They got about half the furniture in the house before it started raining again. Even thought it wasn’t a lot of stuff, they were having a rough time, especially with the file cabinets which were bigger than they were and incredibly heavy. I offered to help, but they declined, either because it was their job to move the stuff, or because I was a girl and they didn’t think I could handle it. I know I’m definitely not looking forward to moving that treadmill. My dad still has to finish the floor in the den, so he can’t move the treadmill into the right position until it’s done. That thing is HEAVY!!! My sister and I are used to moving heavy things, but even with my dad, sister, and I working together, I’m still not all that sure we’ll be able to move it. Even the three moving guys had an incredibly rough time of it. I am absolutely thrilled to have a treadmill at home, though. It’ll definitely help out with my workouts since I know longer have access to a gym and there are no sidewalks or even shoulders on the roads around my house.
I thought it would be less humid after the storm, but it was just as humid, if not even more so. Later at night, it stormed again, mostly lightning this time. It wasn’t raining hard, so I went out without an umbrella and in bare feet to meditate and do some Force Building exercises. I’ve been wanting to learn either Tai Chi or Qi Gong so I could do a form of energy work that also involves moving my feet, but the Force Building exercises I learned at JEDI and JRA will have to do for now. I felt the energy, but again, not as much energy as I would have liked. I think I just felt rather drained that day in general. The thunderstorms were definitely beautiful, though, and it was very calming to be around them.
Physical Workouts
I decided to get back into regular physical workouts and make them a priority in my daily schedule. I did the basic boot camp Tae Bo workout on Friday, then ran for a bit on the treadmill on Saturday. My shoulder seems to be much better now and didn’t give me any issues. I took it a bit easy on the treadmill, though, because my right thigh is still tender to heavy jarring such as the high impact from running. I think I ran a little over a mile at a 13 min/mile pace. I also wasn’t wearing proper socks and I could feel a blister forming on my left foot, so I just stopped rather than push myself too far. It ends up the next day (today) my left hip was sore, so maybe I was compensating with it because of my foot. I’ve also been having issues with my hips in general where I can feel the bone shift a bit in and out of socket. Not completely dislocate or anything, but a definite shift that I’m not too crazy about. Maybe I just have lax joints in general. That would explain my chronic knee and wrist issues and my recent shoulder issues. I also turn my ankles very easily, but have fortunately never sprained them. I’ll just have to watch what I do a bit more and not push myself to causing myself inflammation.
Goals
I think I’m going to go back to setting up weekly goals to help keep me on task. My goals for this week are:
1. Study at least 2-3 hours a day. (Not including this weekend when I’ll be away with friends.)
2. Work out at least 20 min a day, 6 days a week. ( I can vary it with Tae Bo, jogging on the treadmill, or my own personal combinations of things. I didn’t work out today because my hip was bothering me so much and I made studying a priority, but at least I got a semi workout helping my dad move boxes from one house to the other.)
3. Meditate at least 5 min a day. (I know I should be doing more, but what I really need to work on right now is my focus, and that’s easier to do starting off with short periods of time. I’m hoping to combine the Force Building exercises and breathing as a point of focus for my mediation, which leads me to number 4. . .)
4. Do Force Building exercises at least 6 times a week.
5. Do Manna’s second sight energy pathway exercises. (Not really sure what to call it, but it’s supposed to help with seeing auras.)
6. Mindfully water and say thank you to my bonsai every day. (I have more to day on that, but I’ll save it for another entry.)
And with that, I’m heading to bed. I have another 4 page entry, but I figure I’ll save it for tomorrow since this one’s already over 7 pages long and it’s already 4 am and I’ve been writing since midnight. :p Night to all. *Hugs*
--Moonshadow
P.S. Any one have any Jedi Apprentice books they’re dying to get rid of? :p