Miss Higher Power

Down here on my knees / asking for forgiveness

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:58:41 GMT

When was the last time you threw caution to the winds? And what were the consequences?

I very rarely throw caution to the wind. I like to pretend that I don't give a damn about consequences, but it's all just a facade. I'm pretty rigid about most things, but I tend to break my own rules. Not even break really, just change the rules. I'm almost OCD about having to live my life by a set of rules. It's why I like Gibbs rules so much.

Along other lines, I hate the mall. I was going to go last night after work and then hopefully have my dad pick me up. However, my mom and dad decided to take my little brother to the home and garden show. I still would have gone to the mall, but they told me that Colin was going to be out with his friends so the house would be empty. The lure of an empty house was too much. I thus decided to go home. Where I got 40 minutes of alone time, before Colin came home. I then had to spend my entire evening in the family room or else he would swoop in and steal the TV to play XBox 360. I rewatched the good parts of ER and then I watched The Office and Breach. Then I re-rewatched ER just for caution. The upshot of this longwinded story being that I didn't get to the mall until today. I thought I'd have to take the bus both ways, but my dad dropped me off and then my parents met me later in the day.

It was pretty dead when I first got there at 10:30, but boy did it get busy fast. And I wasted all the empty bits window shopping. By the time I left the Clinique counter, the mall was really busy. I hate shopping anyway, I mean sometimes I like to look at stuff, but crowds make me freak out. I don't know if that claustrophobia or agoraphobia, but whatever it is, I've got it.

As a bonus, my Twilight DVD arrived today. If I'd checked the mail last night, I could have watched that instead of watching Breach. That was not as good as I thought it was going to be. I thought it would be more edge of your seat than it was. It was mostly just boring. And Ryan Phillipe is not that hot.

Finally! After years of thinking that Dr. Hot and Neela were perfect for each other, I finally got what I wanted. I literally wept tears of joy. After Haunted, I suspected that they might head this direction. Although I'm sad that there's no more Neela. As much as I love Dr. Hot, Neela is my favourite character. Even through the icky, hot for Dr. Kovac thing, she was still my favourite character. I'm really going to miss her. But I think it makes it more real to say goodbye to the characters a little at a time.

Favourite bits: I loved that bit with Archie and Claudia at the beginning of the episode. Plus the bit with Neela and Brenner at the bar where she's telling him about how she's afraid to make mistakes. I sometimes feel like that. I also loved Neela and Haleh walking down to The Wall (as I shall now refer to it). I love that Carter's the only one not up there because it's defacing public property. The Abby part was awesome. And of course, the part where she and Ray finally reunite.

Tiva. Snapshots of an Unintended Life. Chapter 8 - The Second Scare.

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:53:39 GMT

Title: Snapshots of an Unintended Life.
Chapter: 8 - The Second Scare
Fandom: NCIS
Characters: Tony and Ziva
Word Count: 1,687
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Tony and Ziva deal with a life they never planned on living. A story in 10 parts.

AN: Bad, bad me hasn’t written anything in a dog’s age and sincerely apologizes. To all of you who are still interested in this story, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this little chapter.

The Second Scare

A cold, sinking feeling in his gut had woken Tony at 3:30. He’d known then that something terrible was going to happen that day. He’d lain awake watching Ziva sleep and had attempted to come with a reason to get her to skip her morning run.

When Ziva finally woke two hours later, he’d been unable to convince her. He’d also been unable to convince her to let him skip work and stay home with her. In fact, she’d gotten quite irritated with him.

So Tony DiNozzo had reluctantly gone to work, where, for an hour, he’d gotten absolutely nothing done while the feeling in his gut had clawed at him.

But then Raynesford had gotten a lead on the Anne Johnston murder. And for the next couple of hours, while he and his team were pounding the pavement, he forgot about his gut.

The feeling came back with a vengeance as he continued to search leads in the system. The minute the information appeared on his screen, he knew he’d found something. He picked up his cell and made his way out to his car.

“Boss, I’ve got something.” He said.

********

Gibbs had been very clear. He was to go straight home and stay with Ziva. Gibbs would call them when there was news.

As soon as he turned onto his street, the feeling that had previously clawed at his insides suddenly took over his entire being. Something was terribly, horribly wrong.

The garage door was open, as was the trunk of Ziva’s car. The trunk was full of grocery bags. This wasn’t unusual, as Ziva always shopped on Thursday afternoon on her way back from the ESL class she taught at the library. What was unusual was the fact that the door between the garage and the house was open, and Ziva was no where to be seen. They always unloaded the groceries from the car to the mudroom and from there to the kitchen. That way their frozen goods could immediately be put into the mudroom’s deep freeze, and it meant fewer groceries had to be carried into the kitchen. Why do extra work if you didn’t have to?

Tony had his weapon drawn before he entered the house. It played out much as his dream had done the month before. Only now as he searched the house, he knew with a certain dread that she wasn’t there.

Once he had cleared the house he returned to the driveway to call Gibbs. The reality of the situation hit him as he spoke with Gibbs and he had to make his way to the porch to sit down.

“She’s gone. I can’t…I can’t…find her. Gibbs, she’s gone.” Tony’s voice cracked with emotion on his final word.

“DiNozzo, Ziva can take care of herself. I’ll call when…” Gibbs was cut off by an emotional whisper from Tony.

“There’s blood on the floor.”

“Stay there. I’m on my way.”

********

When Gibbs and McGee arrived at the house a criminally short amount of time later, they found Tony sitting on the porch with his head in his hands. As soon as he heard the car pull up, he was on his feet.

McGee was quickly dispatched to check the house, while Tony started in on his plan of attack.

“We need to get BOLOs out. And we need a trace on Vance’s phone and credit…” This time it was Gibbs who interrupted Tony.

“Abby’s got a BOLO out on Ziva.”

“We need one on Vance, too.”

“We don’t know that he has her.”

“Is that what your gut’s telling you?” Tony asked Gibbs angrily.

“My gut tells me that Ziva’s a good agent.”

“Yeah, well my gut’s telling me that that son of a bitch has my wife. She’s not just another agent in trouble, Gibbs. She’s my wife. And if you think I’m going to sit around while my wife is missing, then something went really wrong in the last eight years.”

“It didn’t.”

********

Eighteen excruciating hours later they were no closer to finding Ziva, although they now had former Director Vance in custody.

Within the first six hours of Ziva’s disappearance, both Tony and Deputy Director Ross were read in on the complete details of the case against Vance. Eddie Ross, one of several NCIS deputy directors, had once been one of Agent Fornell’s minions at the FBI. Tony immediately knew that Ross wasn’t about to dismiss them out of hand. This, combined with the fact that he was Agent Sacks’ polar opposite, instantly made Tony like the man.

The twelve hours after that had been spent monitoring Vance’s home, while Ross briefed Sec. Nav. Their surveillance had come to nothing, but Ross had come up trumps. He made up for the lack of new information by providing a warrant for Vance’s immediate arrest as well as a warrant to search his home.

This had eventually led them to a warehouse, where they had found Vance and a rather large, burly black man. The large black man was unconscious and had been tied to one of the building’s supporting columns. Vance had been cuffed to a chair with what looked suspiciously like Ziva’s back-up knife in his foot.

There was, however, no Ziva. What made matters worse was that next to Vance’s chair was an IV system with a half-empty bag of what Abby later determined to be a highly potent mixture of sedatives. Ziva’s fingerprints had been found on a piece of tape that had been used to secure the cannula to the hand of the recipient of the sedatives.

Now Tony was standing in the observation room with Ducky, while Gibbs and Ross went toe to toe with Vance in interrogation. Tony couldn’t care less about this man’s 30 years of treason. As far as he was concerned, that paled in comparison to the fact that he had taken Ziva. He could rot in a solitary cell as soon as Tony got his wife back.

Tony wasn’t a praying man. In fact, he hadn’t uttered a prayer since the sixth grade when he’d told God he’d eat all his vegetables if God would help him to pass his geography test. He’d failed the test, and his father had expressed his anger with a wooden spoon. Needless to say he hadn’t felt the need to talk to God after that. He was praying now though. He wasn’t making deals this time. He was simply praying that Ziva was safe.

That was how McGee found him – with his forehead pressed against the glass, his eyes closed, and Ducky’s hand on his back as he prayed.

“We got a hit on the BOLO. A Jane Doe matching Ziva’s description crashed her vehicle outside Bethesda’s main gate.”

Tony was out of the room like a shot.

*******

The woman had crashed her vehicle right outside the main gates of Bethesda Naval Hospital. The woman was in serious condition and had no ID on her. She was barely conscious and clearly altered. An enquiry as to her name had yielded only the words “Find Tony.”

She was covered in blood, and careful inspection revealed a deep laceration to her temple. It was inconsistent with a motor vehicle accident and seemed to be several hours old. Her right wrist was broken, her left shoulder dislocated, and her left ankle broken. She had several bruised ribs, as well as numerous other smaller bruises and lacerations.

Her left hand was severely bruised and had recently had an IV placement. Given her altered state, they contemplated drug use, but her body showed no other sighs of being a continual IV drug user. Her tox. screen later revealed massive amounts of several powerful sedatives. It was at that time that they remembered the BOLO from NCIS.

Shortly after the group from NCIS arrived at the hospital, it was confirmed that Jane Doe in Room 815 was, in fact, Ziva DiNozzo, the wife of Detective DiNozzo. Detective DiNozzo listened intently to the medical staff. Between Detective DiNozzo and an elderly doctor, who was also with the group, an accurate picture of Mrs. DiNozzo’s ordeal was constructed. As soon as they were finished, Detective DiNozzo went to his wife’s bedside, a place he didn’t leave until she woke up.

********

He’d been holding two fingers on her bruised left hand while waiting for her to wake up. Tony had just dozed off when he felt her fingers squeeze his hand.

“Ziva?” he whispered. Her eyes flickered open briefly and then shut tight.

“Br…” she mumbled. Tony quickly lowered the lights. She licked her lips slowly, and Tony brought a straw to her lips.

“Here’s some water. Just a little bit. That’s it.” Ziva closed her lips over the straw, took a small sip and then slowly opened her eyes.

“You’re at Bethesda. You crashed your getaway vehicle outside the main gates. I told you your driving would land you in the hospital.” He joked half-heartedly, trying to ignore the real reason she was there. Ziva wouldn’t let him.

“Vance?” she enquired, speaking slowly.

“Taken care of.” His response was abrupt and firmly closed the topic. She had heard all that she needed. There would be time to talk later.

A doctor and nurse were brought in to check Ziva over. After an examination, it was deemed that she seemed to be out of the woods for now but needed more rest and wouldn’t be released from the hospital for at least a week.

After they left, Tony could see her fading again, but she managed to speak before the waves of sleep overtook her.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Promise?”

“Always.” Tony said as he tucked the blankets around her and dropped a kiss to her forehead.

********

Outside the room, McGee and Gibbs waited.

“He really loves her, huh, Boss?” McGee said.

“More than he ever thought possible.” Gibbs replied.

********

Certain events have the power to change lives. There would be no changes in their lives though. The second scare had only managed to solidify the inevitable.

********

This chapter took me forever, and I had to get past some major writer’s block. For the life of me, I could not come up with any follow through for Vance’s criminal activities. I hope no one is too disappointed. It’s not everything that I hoped it would be, but it does include some of the bits that this story was originally based around. And, as always, please review! It makes my little heart all warm and fuzzy.

Would you say the table's finally turned / Would you say I told you so / Oh I told you so

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:10:10 GMT

Why are some men such jerks? I go to bible study on Sunday morning. It's held at a coffee shop around the corner from the church. It's a nice relaxed atmosphere for the college and careers group, with the added bonus of not having to listen to boatloads of screaming children. Unfortunately, there is a guy that attends (he's actually our youth service coordinator at the church), and he is a complete jackass. He never shuts his trap. He's really rude about women. And he thinks because he's both a man and a cop, he's better than everyone else. He's always making inappropriate comments that I don't think are acceptable for a leader in our church. How do you make that known without being a total jackass yourself?

Oh well. At least Celebrity Apprentice is on tonight. We've never watched it before. It's really good.

I still believe in you / with a love that will always be / standing so strong and true

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:37:13 GMT

Snagged from leobrat:

Give me a character from any fandom you know I know and I will tell you:
a. My favorite thing about that character.
b. My least favorite thing about that character.
c. One person I would ship them with in their own universe.
d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat.
e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater.
f. Their nightmare ship.
g. Their song.
h. The title of their biography or autobiography.
i. The last bad dream they had.
j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already.

I'm actually very excited about this meme.

I've read some NCIS spoilers. Let's just say that again the Powers That Be are going to have me in a panicked state until the season finale, and then onto September. It's terrible! Ditto the writers over at Lost.

Let me entertain you...

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:32:45 GMT

I'm not a big fan of Law & Order. I don't like Special Victims Unit, because usually it involves horrific sex crimes against kids, but I've been known to watch it. Munch amuses me. I used to watch Criminal Intent, but I don't like Chris Noth. I've seen a few episodes of the original, but it's probably the one I'd be most interested in. I like Linus Roache. I like spotting the times that he really looks like his dad. I loved Conviction, mostly because of J. August Richards, but that's a different story entirely.

I am, however, totally excited about Law & Order: UK. I'm just wondering how long it's going to be before we get it here. We seriously need ITV Canada. What the deuce? I love Bradley Walsh. He was so funny on Coronation Street. Of questionable morals, absolutely, but funny nonetheless. Plus I like British cops shows way more than I like American cop shows, NCIS, CSI: NY, The Mentalist and Criminal Minds being the exceptions. I do like Medium, but I mostly like that for Allison's family. Bridget is one cute kid.

'Cause you know just what to say...

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:44:28 GMT

I just got back from a youth retreat at Camp Arnes. It was pretty fun, but I felt super old. I was the oldest person there who wasn't signed on as a "leader." I use this term loosely, because there were people who were much younger than I was, that just made themselves leaders. Way to be guys.

But the speaker and the band were really good. Although the speaker went from fun and happy to fire and brimstone pretty darn quickly. But he had a lot of good thought provoking stuff to say.

I am extremely tired. I think I'll be going to bed very early tonight.

Looking at all or nothing...

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:24:17 GMT

1. List 15-20 of your favorite old and new fandoms.

2. Have your friends guess your favorite two ships from each fandom.

3. Strike out the fandom when someone guesses correctly and put the name of the first person to get it right.

1. Stargate: Atlantis - dine7184 - Ronon/Keller
2. NCIS - dine7184 - Tony/Ziva & Tony/Kate
3. ER - dine7184 - Ray/Neela
4. Heroes - dine7184 - Sylar/Elle
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
6. Angel - leobrat - Angel/Cordelia
7. Gilmore Girls
8. Veronica Mars - leobrat - Mac/Dick & Logan/Veronica
9. CSI: NY - dine7184 - Danny/Lindsay
10. Bones - dine7184 - Booth/Bones & Hodgins/Angela
11. The West Wing
12. Ugly Betty
13. Lost - leobrat - Kate/Sawyer
14. That 70s Show - leobrat - Jackie/Hyde & Donna/Eric
15. Friends - leobrat - Joey/Rachel & Chandler/Monica

Name a character or pairing from a fandom I'm familiar with, and I'll give you a song lyric (or possibly a line of poetry) that I think fits.

Every time I look in the mirror...

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:15:56 GMT

So insanely busy at work today, I barely had time to catch my breath. But at least the day goes super fast. I have to cover reception tomorrow at lunch, which sucks, but then I don't have to do it again until next Friday.

Also, according to my brother and his dopey friend, this creepy guy at church who's been harrassing their girlfriends wants to date me. Greaaaat. Why can't I find a nice guy? Not some creep who asks girls about their underwear preferences. Guys suck.

Everybody got their dues in life to pay...

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:52:09 GMT

I've had a pretty boring weekend. The weather yesterday was pretty crappy, so the fact that I had to be the responsible adult for the last bit of my mom's recovery (I use this term loosely, as recovery actually takes about a month) wasn't a huge hardship. She's been able to watch TV, which I didn't think she'd be able to do, so we watched a crapload of Stargate: Atlantis, Season 5. I never thought I would see the day. But it happened. Ronon and Rodney McKay fought over a woman. The same woman. And I think she's picked Rodney. Why? Nine times out of ten I'm picking Ronon over Rodney. And the one time that I'm picking Rodney is because in this alternate universe Ronon never came to Atlantis. Jennifer Keller, what is wrong with you? Ronon looked so hurt when Jennifer told him that she was interested in someone else. I'll just to have to console myself with fanfiction. And let me tell you there is not a lot of well written Ronon/Jennifer fic. There's some, but mostly it's bad. So if someone would like to write me some Ronon/Jennifer fic, I'd be very appreciative. I do have to say that in the episode "The Shrine" David Hewlett did an AMAZING job. Like really fantastic. It's right up there with "Duet" as one of my favourite episodes. And given how I feel about Rodney, that's saying something. Also, I'm having trouble focussing on anything besides the fact that John Sheppard's ears make him look like he's descended from Keebler Elves. But he's hot and sarcastic, so I'll let it pass.

Caught up on some General Hospital this morning. Gotta love Spinelli. And this new hot Australian guy, Ethan Lovett. He looks familiar.

I think we're gonna do some more Stargate watching this afternoon. Thanks to my mom's cataract removal, we get the tv downstairs because it's too hard for her to watch tv upstairs. Not that I mind watching upstairs, but there's only one place to sit and your neck gets sore.

Flashing right before my eyes...

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 19:47:22 GMT

The weather has suddenly turned very crappy. I'm extremely glad that I'm staying in all day.

Into the river below...

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:36:00 GMT

Mom had her cataract removed today. Which I will go into further at a later date.

Work was pretty hectic. Sadly, I wish I could work tomorrow, because I just have too much to do.

You're my cure...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:31:59 GMT

Went to ladies book club for the first time last night. It was really good. The book was My Sister's Keeper. Our next book is called The Shack. I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm supposed to be watching Lost right now, but my parent's insurance lady is here. Eating into my Lost time.

She's a maneater...

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:47:21 GMT

I just discovered that I can get Season 5 of Stargate: Atlantis episodes free from Shaw On Demand. I love digital television. So that's what Mom and I are doing tonight while Dad and the boys are at the Curling. Awesome. I think we might even order in.

I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you...

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:18:08 GMT

I stayed up way too late last night, and got up way too early this morning, to read New Moon. My dreams were completely plagued by Edward Cullen and his absolute...I can't think of an appropriate word. I'll go with assholishness. Seriously, I realize that I haven't finished the book, so I'm sure there's a very good reason why he's picked up sticks, but he was so mean to her. I hope he gets his.

I got my haircut today. It was a bit scary, this being the first time I've gotten my hair done since our move to Winnipeg. All things considered, I think it turned out okay.

Speaking of Winnipeg - I hate winter here. When we said we were moving to Winnipeg, everyone was like "You're moving to Winterpeg?" My thought on this was that Edmonton isn't exactly Tahiti, but boy was I foolish. Edmonton got days where it hit -40 (-50 with the windchill), but generally just a couple of weeks, and then we were back to our regularly scheduled -20 (no windchill) weather. It might even happen a few times over the winter, but we always had some sort of respite. Not here. It has been almost solidly -30 (with windchill) since the beginning of December. We might get one or two days were the temperature rises above -20, but there's always a windchill making it feel worse than it is. I thought it was supposed to get warmer the further south you went. Long live Canadian winters!

Even the best fall down sometime, even the wrong words seem to rhyme...

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:57:05 GMT

This week's thefridayfive:

1. What would you do right now, if money were not an issue? I'd hop a plane to Europe.
2. What would you do for the next three years, if money were not an issue? I'd travel through Europe, build my book and DVD collection, maybe go back to school
3. What is bringing you the most joy right now that requires little or no money? Reading the Twilight books
4. What types of things do you find enjoyable that require no money? Reading, watching tv
5. Is there anything you've been meaning to do for a long time, but put off because of money? Travel

I'm so tired. I want nothing more than to take a bath and read New Moon. And then sleep. For hours.

I'm going to try to get a haircut tomorrow. My bangs are driving me nutty. I might also try to go see Twilight again. I just finished reading it and I feel it needs another viewing. Who cares if it will be the fourth time? That's not obsessive, right?

I don't believe...

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:53:36 GMT

Post this in your journal and have your friends recommend things to you for the new year!

Recommend a...

Book I Should Read:
Movie I Should See:
Band/CD I Should Listen To:
TV Show I Should Watch:
Website I Should Visit:
LJ User I Should Friend:
LJ Comm I Should Join:

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 04:39:29 GMT

1. Was 2008 a good year for you?
okay

2. What was your favourite moment of the year?
going back to Edmonton before Christmas

3. What was your least favourite moment of the year?
the day we arrived in Winnipeg

4. What are your plans for 2009?
nothing major, now that I have a real job, my SWAP dream is coming back to life

5. What countries did you visit in year 2008?
just the country where I live

6. What date in 2008 will remain etched in your memory?
July 12 - the day we came to Winnipeg

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
securing a permanent job

8. What was your biggest failure?
spending so long unemployed

9. Did you suffer any illness or injury?
just my regular fibromyalgia related stuff

10. What was the best thing you bought?
plane ticket to Edmonton (although it was actually my parents who paid for it and I owe them the money)

11. Who's behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
my brother, Colin

12. Where did most of your money go?
living expenses and DVDs

13. What did you get really really really excited about?
the season 6 premiere of NCIS

14. What songs will always remind you of 2008?
Tattoo, So What, Patience, When I Grow Up, All My Life

15. Compared to this time last year are you:
a) Fatter or thinner? thinner
b) Happier or sadder? hard to tell, it's been a bit of a roller coaster year
c) Richer or poorer? poorer

16. What do you wish you'd done more of?
travelling

17. What do you wish you'd done less of?
worrying

18. How will you be spending Christmas?
i spent it with my family

19. Which LJ/MySpace users did you meet for the first time?
Um...can't remember

20. Did you fall in love in 2008?
no

21. How many one night stands?
none

22. What was your favourite TV show?
NCIS

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
sort of

24. What was/were the best books you read?
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I mostly listen to random stuff, but I really enjoyed Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, Krezip, Keane, to name a few

26. What did you want and get?
Twilight

27. What did you want and not get?
a computer

28. What was your favourite film this year?
Twilight

29. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
my grandparents came to visit around that time, I let my feet recover from my disastrous funeral trip and we went to The Pancake House

30. What one thing would have made your year more satisfying?
not spending so much of it worrying about things and living in the bizarre limbo period we experienced

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
functional but cute, like my style icon, Ziva

32. What kept you sane?
fic, books, tv

33. Which celebrity did you fancy the most?
Michael Weatherly, John Krasinski & Robert Pattinson

34. Which political issue stirred you the most?
Coalition & American Election

35. Who did you miss?
my friends

36. Did you treat somebody badly in 2008?
I don't think so

37. Did somebody treat you badly in 2008?
not that I can think of

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year?
Sometimes you just have to let things unfold as they will

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year...
Does it ever get any better or will I feel this way the rest of my life

But I know that you've got your reasons...

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 02:52:45 GMT

It was so hard to get up and go to work today. Especially considering that a) I've never had to work between Christmas and New Year's and b) my entire family was still snug in their beds. Work was heinously crazy. It seriously went by in a flash, and I still have a bazillion things to do. A girl I work with was sick today (considering that I think she's a major party girl - is in her 50s and hasn't outgrown it - I'm doubting she was actually sick) and I had to cover off her rush work. I didn't get my rush work finished because hers was rush rush. If that makes any sense. In my Abby-brain it did. You know it's bad when the weekly to-do list you create on Monday is almost full before lunch.

Also, Patrick and Robin's wedding. So cute. I love them.

Umoja

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:25:10 GMT

Stolen from afteriwake: Instructions: List 10 different fictional characters from any fandom/s you like, and don't peek at the questions until you're done.

1. Tony DiNozzo (NCIS)
2. Ziva David (NCIS)
3. Don Flack (CSI: NY)
4. Penelope Garcia (Criminal Minds)
5. Neela Rosgothra (ER)
6. John Sheppard (Stargate Atlantis)
7. Donna Moss (The West Wing)
8. Josh Lyman (The West Wing)
9. Maxie Jones (General Hospital)
10. Claire McLeod (McLeod's Daughters)

1. Would 4 make a good mom/dad? (Garcia)
I think she'd be an awesome mom. The kind of kid every mom should have. She's going to let her kids try things, but she's still going to be fiercely protective.

2. If 2 and 6 are marooned on an island together, do they kiss or kill one another? (Ziva & Sheppard)
There could be a little of both. Undoubtedly, Sheppard would get the wrong end of the stick and go all Kirk, thinking that Little Miss Hot needs protection. Once she'd kicked his ass, they'd probably move on to the kissing. I think I might need some fic.

3. Describe 5 and 1's first kiss (Neela & Tony)
Neela seems to have a thing for guys who think highly of themselves. Then they really fall in love with her and she can't get rid of them. Tony seems to have a thing for brainy women who want nothing to do with him. I'm thinking they meet at a bar. He turns on the charm, she has too much to drink. They go at it with gusto. Again, I might need some fic.

4. How does 8 convince 7 to go with him/her on a date? (Josh and Donna)
Knowing Josh it would probably take a high level of insanity. And he probably makes her work late too.

5. 10 is moving in with 9. What do they fight about the most? (Claire and Maxie)
Probably not much. Maybe houseguests. Of the male variety.

6. 2 and 7 are together. Who is more protective of the other? (Ziva and Donna)
Good question. Probably Ziva.

7. Who is first going to say "I love you", 1 or 9? (Tony & Maxie)
Definitely Tony. Although neither one of them feels like they're worthy of or capable of love, Tony has prior experience with the L word.

8. What would 8 like to change about 10? Does 10 approve? (Josh & Claire)
Likely the fact that Claire's so cheerful.

9. Who suffers from pre-wedding jitters, 5 or 8? How does bridesmaid/best man 10 soothe them? (Neela & Josh, Claire)
They both get cold feet. Claire just reminds them how in love they are.

10. Your team is 3, 6 and 10. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge? (Flack, Sheppard & Claire)
Claire takes the social challenge. And while Flack and Sheppard realize that Sheppard might be in better physical shape (and doesn't seem to mind running or leaping), Sheppard takes the mental challenge (he did pass the Mensa test after all) and Flack takes the physical challenge (and prays for no running).

11. 4 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship? (Garcia & Tony)
After Garcia breaks the ice with a few dirty comments and makes Tony feel bad for being a jerk, they get along great.

12. 2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky? (McKay and Abby)
This could definitely, definitely happen. Easy as pie. Ziva gets sucked into Sheppard's world. They say she's there as an Israeli delegate to the Stargate program. Tony, of course, goes nuts over her absence, and when the team finally makes it to Atlantis (you know it's going to happen), he tries to start a fight with Sheppard, because he thinks that he's responsible. Eventually Sheppard and Tony bond over their lack of success with their respective women (Teyla and Ziva). Gibbs and Sam make eyes at each other. Rodney becomes a bumbling idiot because of Abby. McGee and Ronon laugh at everyone, and Keller shows Ducky the medical lab. Vance gets crucified by the IOA. Fun times for everyone.

13. 3 and 8 are challenged to circumnavigate the Earth in eighty days or less, using only forms of transportation invented before 1900. Can they do it, or will they be fatally distracted by sidequests or their own personality conflicts? (Flack and Josh)
They would never do it. Unless President Bartlet ordered Josh to do it. I don't really know how Flack feels about the President, but he doesn't seem to have a real liking for politicians in general.

14. 9 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make? (Maxie & Neela)
They might be able to agree on one wish, but definitely not three. It would have to do with America's Next Top Model. I know Neela's a fan, and given Maxie's penchant for fashion, she probably watches it as well.

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Stolen from <lj user="goddess_loki">: Instructions: List 10 different fictional characters from any fandom/s you like, and don't peek at the questions until you're done.

1. Tony DiNozzo (NCIS)
2. Ziva David (NCIS)
3. Don Flack (CSI: NY)
4. Penelope Garcia (Criminal Minds)
5. Neela Rosgothra (ER)
6. John Sheppard (Stargate Atlantis)
7. Donna Moss (The West Wing)
8. Josh Lyman (The West Wing)
9. Maxie Jones (General Hospital)
10. Claire McLeod (McLeod's Daughters)

<lj-cut text="On to the Questions:">1. Would 4 make a good mom/dad? (Garcia)
I think she'd be an awesome mom. The kind of kid every mom should have. She's going to let her kids try things, but she's still going to be fiercely protective.

2. If 2 and 6 are marooned on an island together, do they kiss or kill one another? (Ziva & Sheppard)
There could be a little of both. Undoubtedly, Sheppard would get the wrong end of the stick and go all Kirk, thinking that Little Miss Hot needs protection. Once she'd kicked his ass, they'd probably move on to the kissing. I think I might need some fic.

3. Describe 5 and 1's first kiss (Neela & Tony)
Neela seems to have a thing for guys who think highly of themselves. Then they really fall in love with her and she can't get rid of them. Tony seems to have a thing for brainy women who want nothing to do with him. I'm thinking they meet at a bar. He turns on the charm, she has too much to drink. They go at it with gusto. Again, I might need some fic.

4. How does 8 convince 7 to go with him/her on a date? (Josh and Donna)
Knowing Josh it would probably take a high level of insanity. And he probably makes her work late too.

5. 10 is moving in with 9. What do they fight about the most? (Claire and Maxie)
Probably not much. Maybe houseguests. Of the male variety.

6. 2 and 7 are together. Who is more protective of the other? (Ziva and Donna)
Good question. Probably Ziva.

7. Who is first going to say "I love you", 1 or 9? (Tony & Maxie)
Definitely Tony. Although neither one of them feels like they're worthy of or capable of love, Tony has prior experience with the L word.

8. What would 8 like to change about 10? Does 10 approve? (Josh & Claire)
Likely the fact that Claire's so cheerful.

9. Who suffers from pre-wedding jitters, 5 or 8? How does bridesmaid/best man 10 soothe them? (Neela & Josh, Claire)
They both get cold feet. Claire just reminds them how in love they are.

10. Your team is 3, 6 and 10. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge? (Flack, Sheppard & Claire)
Claire takes the social challenge. And while Flack and Sheppard realize that Sheppard might be in better physical shape (and doesn't seem to mind running or leaping), Sheppard takes the mental challenge (he did pass the Mensa test after all) and Flack takes the physical challenge (and prays for no running).

11. 4 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship? (Garcia & Tony)
After Garcia breaks the ice with a few dirty comments and makes Tony feel bad for being a jerk, they get along great.

12. 2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky? (McKay and Abby)
This could definitely, definitely happen. Easy as pie. Ziva gets sucked into Sheppard's world. They say she's there as an Israeli delegate to the Stargate program. Tony, of course, goes nuts over her absence, and when the team finally makes it to Atlantis (you know it's going to happen), he tries to start a fight with Sheppard, because he thinks that he's responsible. Eventually Sheppard and Tony bond over their lack of success with their respective women (Teyla and Ziva). Gibbs and Sam make eyes at each other. Rodney becomes a bumbling idiot because of Abby. McGee and Ronon laugh at everyone, and Keller shows Ducky the medical lab. Vance gets crucified by the IOA. Fun times for everyone.

13. 3 and 8 are challenged to circumnavigate the Earth in eighty days or less, using only forms of transportation invented before 1900. Can they do it, or will they be fatally distracted by sidequests or their own personality conflicts? (Flack and Josh)
They would never do it. Unless President Bartlet ordered Josh to do it. I don't really know how Flack feels about the President, but he doesn't seem to have a real liking for politicians in general.

14. 9 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make? (Maxie & Neela)
They might be able to agree on one wish, but definitely not three. It would have to do with America's Next Top Model. I know Neela's a fan, and given Maxie's penchant for fashion, she probably watches it as well.

<b?15. 1 and 2 are brainwashed by a one-time artifact that works even on people immune to mind control to attack and kill 4. They keep their normal personality, skills and competence level, except any Code vs. Killing has been turned off. Can 4 survive? How? (Tony & Ziva against Garcia)
Garcia has no chance. Tony has at least 10 years, probably more like 15 years, of law enforcement experience and Ziva's an assassin. She was probably putting together Uzis at 6 months. Garcia's going down. Which is sad, because I love her.</lj-cut>

Een En Alleen

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:56:43 GMT

When I was updating my iPod yesterday, I decided to do something totally crazy. I took all the music that I've been listening to recently and put it in a playlist. To that playlist, I then added all the music that I bought or uploaded yesterday and all the music I bought or uploaded a couple of weeks ago. I then went through my playlist and added all the works by every artist that I'd already added to the list. Then I added all the music that had a play count of 100 or higher, plus all the music that had no play count. As the playlist total was then over half of my entire total, I started deleting music from the playlist based on play count. Anything that had a play count of 1, then 2, etc. until was under 500 songs. So I've got some old favourites and bunch of stuff that I've never even listened to. Next time I update, I shouldn't have anything that doesn't have a play count, so then I'll try to bump songs from a play count of 1 to a play count of 2. It seems like a lot of work, but it was pretty fun. Plus I was getting really sick of my old music.

Everyone is out at curling and I have the house to myself. So happy!

The spotlight is on...

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:48:39 GMT

I haven't been online in so long. But I want to wish everyone a late Merry Christmas. I hope everyone had a nice holiday and got the gifts they wanted.

We had a pretty nice day. No major fights. Although I did make Lachlan cry after dinner. But one can only listen to annoying sounds before they snap. Plus he's overly sensitive. The other night he was crying because he hates being the youngest. To be fair, I wasn't the only one who was irritated during Christmas dinner, I was just the one who snapped first. Aside from that the day was pretty good. I had my usual overly large helpings of Christmas potatoes and I got called a pig, as per usual. Oh, how I love my family.

As previously mentioned, because of my absolute faith in Santa Claus, he brought me Twilight. I was very excited about this until my mom opened her first gift from my dad. He bought her the entire saga in hardback. The entire saga in hardback! Not even kidding. She said the laughter she got out of the look on my face was better than the actual present. I think that was probably what my dad was going for.

I also got tickets to see Brad Paisley. Although this was because my mom had suggested to my dad that he get tickets to see the Manitoba Moose for my brothers as part of their stocking present (my dad also got one). My dad's company is a part owner of the arena, so they get advanced notice and purchasing of tickets. My dad being my dad, forgot to buy the tickets and my mom thought that was the end of it, so she didn't think she needed to get me anything else for my stocking. Then, on Christmas Eve, after we've all gone to bed, my dad puts on his coat to go out to the car. My mom wants to know where he's going, and he says he's going out to the car to get the hockey tickets. So then my mom's really upset because my stocking is going to be short a present, she's not worried about herself, just my stocking. So my dad has to get on the computer and find something for my stocking. He gets the Brad Paisley tickets, but they ended up costing way more than the Moose tickets, which my mom just said served him right. The best part is that my brother, Colin, who loves hockey, would rather go to see Brad Paisley and now he's all jealous. The bad part is that the concert is on a Tuesday in February, and I've always said that nothing gets in the way of me and my Tony DiNozzo, but I'll just have to watch it on Wednesday. Apparently, Mr. Brad Paisley can get in the way of me and my Tony.

I also got a huge package of cardstock (300 printed sheets - it's super heavy), two scarves, long underwear, a Russell Peters DVD, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, the Twilight soundtrack, Knots Landing Season 1, an iTunes giftcard (with which I purchased two Keane albums and the new David Cook album), a bookmark, a pair of jeans, a sweater, a portable DVD player, $75 Christmas money from my grandparents, a $30 gift certificate to Cleo (for my work wardrobe), and the customary food stuff from my stocking (Christmas orange, chocolate letter, licorice, marzipan and wafer cookies).

Then yesterday, against my extreme protests, I went to Reitmans with my mom. And I made out like a bandit. I got a pair of dress pants, two dress skirts, two long sleeved t-shirts, a sweater and a pair of jeans. I got it all for under $150. I love Boxing Day sales. Plus the store wasn't even that crowded, which is good, because usually I don't get to take advantage of the sales because of my slight tendency toward claustrophobia.

Also, I got the job. I officially start Monday. I'm really happy. I'm super busy and stressed, but the good kind of stressed. It's good.

Mind, soul and zen...

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:17:47 GMT

Still no news on the job front, although they did start interviewing today. I hope they have me on their list.

I got my paycheque today. I'm glad I got it, but I'm grumpy because they don't pay me enough. When I lived in Edmonton, I was clearing $500 a week, after taxes. I'm not even clearing $300 here in Winnipeg. I realize that Edmonton was in a boom, but still. I owe my parents a lot of money.

I leave for Edmonton the day after tomorrow. I'm very excited.

Also, no new NCIS tonight, which sucks. The Christmas episode better be good next week. I'm talking Tony and Ziva under some mistletoe good.

One of these mornings...

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:24:07 GMT

The job frustration continues. After being asked to apply for the job that I'm temping in, and subsequently submitting my resume for, they haven't said anything else. Everyone's acting like I'm going to be staying, but I don't know anything. It's extremely awkward.

Can't even speak about it...

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:59:45 GMT

1. Reply to this post and I will pick five of your icons
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose if you damn well feel like it.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon glee.

afteriwake asked about these icons:

royal_iicons
I really love the Weasley's. I think they're so funny and real. This icon really showed that they band together when it's important.

nicole9514
Because I really, really do. It's like my greatest Christmas wish: Michael Weatherly on a silver platter. Plus the look on his face is so cute.

mf_luder_xf
It was a unique capture. The capture and text didn't really have anything to do with the episode, but considering the way things ended for Kate, I thought it was interesting. I also really liked the quality of the icon.

newkidfan
What I really loved about this icon was the background and the colour. I also really liked that it was one of the relatively few times that Ziva and McGee were paired together. They work well together, but they don't have the chemistry that she and Tony have. I liked that she needed McGee's help. Also, it's a good McGee face.

deadly_lemonade
I'm not even sure which volume of Harry Potter this comes from, but it just resonates with me. It's simple, but true.

Finally I figured out...

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:22:49 GMT

This week's thefridayfive:

1. Do you like the look of your country's currency (bills and coins)? Well, I think our money looks like it belongs in Monopoly. Seriously, when they found all that Canadian money on CSI: NY all I could see was how colourful it was. I guess that's sort of European, better than plain green American money.
2. Regardless of their actual value, do you like bills or coins better? Bills because I'm less likely to spend it and it's not as heavy.
3. What is your favorite foreign currency? And why? Euros because if I have them it means I'm in Europe and I love it there.
4. Do you collect coins or bills? Elaborate. Coins because they're easy to squirrel away for a rainy day.
5. Do you think human society could make do completely without money? Explain. I don't think we can. We're just not that evolved. It's basically communism and it's great in theory, but it doesn't work out.

I went to see Twilight again last night. Still just as awesome. Now I have to find someone who will go with me again. I just can't get enough of it. I was telling my mom about how I want the books for Christmas and she told me that she couldn't find them online. But that's okay. I mean, I have complete faith in Santa. The year that I really, really wanted one of those Cupcake Dolls,

Mom told me that Santa might not be able to bring it for me. But on Christmas morning there was one waiting for me. And the next year when all I wanted was an atlas, Santa brought that for me too. So I have complete faith in Santa. I told my mom all of this and she said that she thought Santa probably already had my books. To which I replied, of course he does, Santa has everything at his workshop. Silly Mommmy!