- Kat -

Kris (aka krisluvsdogs) and her family have been having a hard time lately. In September, her mom was hospitalized for what was almost a heart attack, but we now know was caused by hypothyroidism that she's had for years and nobody knew about. For the next few months she had very little energy and was sick most of the time. She had surgery last weekend to have her thyroid removed, but now her calcium levels keep dropping dangerously low and until they even out, she won't be able to really start to recover. Please keep Kris' mom in your thoughts and prayers as she works toward recovery.

*props Horatio back up* I know of some people that you should tap a few times, Glo O:

It is true that the Japanese are an extremely polite people. We actually talked about that a few times when I took classes in high school. Because of all the mountains and rocky areas, a large chunk of the population lives on around 2% of the land. When there are so many people living right on top of each other like that, they HAVE to be polite, or they'd kill each other XD

I DONE BEEN TAGGED glo that was beautiful

XD every time I see those commercials I think of you, Horatio. And my hamster, since the blond one looks a lot like her. Sorry about the car problems, glad it's fixed!

Gee I wonder what show MW could be talking about? |D Let us know when you'll be on! I'm doing a whole lot of nothing. Someone employ me.

:3 The story is promising, and I'd like to say that I think you've improved a lot. I do have some suggestions. First and foremost, is that it's the third chapter, and I'm not really sure where the story is going. There's a conflict set up with the hostility between Warudo and the Opian region, and Niel is in place to learn about something that could set the plot of the story into motion, but nothing has really happened yet. While wanting to now more about the characters and world will carry readers forward to a point, something plot-relevant really needs to happen soon, or people are going to get bored. There are a few plot points that don't make sense to me. The assassinations that started the war, it's stated that not even those that could look into the future could tell they were going to happen. ...Why? That seems like exactly the kind of thing they'd be looking out for. And if both princes were killed, why would the Opian people decide so quickly that it must be an attack by Warudo? Was there hostility between the two before, or something? Neil explains that he won't work for his own king because he's a toddler, but why bother traveling to a hostile country to work for their king? Couldn't he find another job back home where he wouldn't be in such danger? Neil tells Destral that it's his nature to be quiet, but the start of the next chapter says he's outspoken. It's rather contradictory. Speaking of Neil...how old is he? I don't know what age I should be picturing him at. Why is Princess Tyu sometimes called Amkast? When I first heard him greet her by that name, I thought it was some sort of greeting in his native language. On the subject of language, even if he is gifted, it seems very unlikely that Neil could learn a whole language in one train ride. If he knew he was applying for a job in Warudo, it would make sense for him to study language and culture before he even left. He could still be reading the books on the train to review things before he reached Densetsu, though. (also, be careful with using words from other languages) In terms of writing, just be careful about some word choice and word/phrase repetition. There were a few times where the flow of the story was interrupted by a word that seemed oddly used, or by noticing that the same word or string of words was used in rapid succession. Also, the first time Neil and Tyu/Amkast meet, their in a garden, but it says that a guard opened the door to talk to them. I know that's a lot of concrit, but I can tell you're working hard on this story, and hopefully you can use what I've said to make it even better. I hope I was of some help that that you continue the story soon ^^

I've been checking in! Not much to report, waiting on my birth certificate to arrive so I can get my driver's permit and looking for a job. I've been reading the boards, just keeping quiet.

O8 that coffee is adorable

I do whisper to her, but she seems more preoccupied with trying to crawl out of my hands XD This week our movie theater showed all 8 Harry Potter movies, since Friday was the premier of Deathly Hallows pt 2. It was weird, watching all the movies and remembering what was going on when I saw them for the first time, who I was with and what else was happening in my life. I'd seen 1-4 about a billion times but once they hit 5, I started paying more attention. And of course the last one almost made me bawl, both because of everything that happens and because it was the final movie. Though, I didn't exactly feel like it was "the end" of Harry Potter. There's still the theme park, and JKR is opening a new website, soon. So even though I'm a giant, shameless HP nerd and it was sad that it was the last movie, I don't think it's over.

XD I don't think I could do that, Horatio. I'd need time to spend at home.

She is, indeed, fine now :3 Sunday is my favorite toddler's birthday party. I totally overspent on her present but she's worth it.

Yeah, after getting her out a second time last night, I held her for a while afterwards and she seemed alright again.

Double post. I'll commit seppuku for it in the morning. The 4th of July was awesome, as always. Lots of explosions and food and fun. Our perfect safety record was broken this year, but not by fireworks. One of our friends was stepping off the patio and happened to step into the hole one of their dogs has been burying, so she ended up spraining her angle really bad. Unfortunately, it was her house we were all gathered at, so she and her husband missed all the night time fireworks. We were going to save them for next year, but they really wanted us to get rid of everything we could (something about not wanting a garage full of half-illegal explosives). We were sad that they couldn't be there, especially considering that they'd bought pretty much all of it, but they were very pretty. We got a good haul this year. The afternoon was spent with the normal water dynamite and empty soda cans in a big metal tub of water, which is always fun. There was also lots of smoke bombs and fire crackers (at night we let off the 1000 string). At night, in an effort to get rid of everything possible, I personally set off 50+ ground blooming flowers and at least 20 jumping jacks. I felt accomplished. One of our other friends brought over a big commercial-grade mortar, so our grand finale was pretty much like a short professional show in the back yard XD that was sweet. And loud. When it got too hot for me (I spent most of the day with a bad headache and I hadn't been able to sleep at all the night before), I'd go inside and play with the kittens they were fostering, Moe, Larry, and Shemp. They are three ginger cats with a few white spots that are about 4 months old, and they are so adorable >w< especially when they're in the mood to cuddle. They purr like outboard motors. Moe was my favorite, because of his little white feet and his big soft belly, and he was the most mellow of the three, but dad is steadfastly against another cat. I think Sasha might have gotten a bit shook up yesterday while I was gone from all the commotion outside. I slept in most of today because I still wasn't feeling well, but she didn't come out of her nest until nearly midnight, and she's been very anxious all day. She doesn't want me to hold her again, and gave me a warning nibble when I tried. She actually managed to wriggle enough to escape and get on the floor, but I scooped her up into her ball from there. When I went to put her back, I just lowered the ball into the tank since she was edgy, but I tried to pet her and she'd run away. I hope she calms down, we were finally being friends D:

Things are progressing well! I, my mom, and my friend have all held her for a bit while she just sniffed and crawled on our hands. She's still antsy about being picked up initially, but once you're holding her she's more cooperative. We recently bought a lot of shredded lettuce for tacos at a party thing we had, so she'd been getting treats every time I see her XD I'm pretty excited for tomorrow! Our annual blowing stuff up promises to be quite the affair.

Well, last night, through a combination of her being too tired to fight me off and my hands smelling like fruit, I got to hold Sasha for a bit XD she was a bit squirmy and she seemed like she was going to start nibbling my hands once or twice, but she didn't bite and she held still while I put her back in the tank. I hope this means we're closer to being friends~

The sand probably doesn't make it any easier to climb x.x just walking in sand is awkward. Those trees are crazy XD

Well I do use it A LOT so the screen burning out isn't too much of a surprise. And the enter key, I think something got under it and made it pop off once, and then it broke the little mechanism that keeps them in place.

The hamster front is moving slowly, but progress is being made. I let her out in her ball for about an hour every night, and she does fine. I can pet her most times without scaring her, and my mom managed to hold her for a few minutes (or so she claims). I was missing for a few weeks because my faithful lappy's screen died, but it's all fixed now~ And they fixed my enter key that always used to pop off, so I'm pretty happy all around.

This old hunk-o-text still has a place in my heart as well. When we have our imaginary reunion, everyone should play.

Can't wait to see the pictures! there needs to be a way to taste things over the internet, you could have gotten us a piece of pie too XD

Happy birfday, MK! Hope you had fun!

My Memorial Day was spent relaxing, thanks to our troops ^^ And also because my friend who had lost her cat found her in the morning x___x

O8 You're going to Thailand? Awesome! Have fun and be sure to tell us all about it!

*hugs* I hope things are going smoothly for you now.