LittleZotz.com (This is Going to Be a Long One!)

Hey, Everyone!!

First of all, I would like to direct your attention to...

LittleZotz.com!!!!

That's right! For at least the next three years (and hopefully forever after), I am the proud owner of littlezotz.com. And I built the website myself! I know that it looks very plain right now, but I'm learning--with the help of books & a few savvy friends--how to make it look better. Be patient.

My Pro Blog shall be updating from that address from now on as well, so please update your bookmarks. (It still updates Wednesdays as usual).

I had a fantastic weekend! My friend Steff came over for a visit:
I hardly ever get to see Steff anymore since she moved, so I always get really excited when she comes up for a visit. :) Even though I talk to her every day, it's still a treat to see her in person.

She gifted Ramiro & me with a digital camera! Which we immediately used to take cat pics:

Robert standing guard over his two favourite things: Toys & Food

Ramiro and I then went to Descanso Gardens, intending to bring along our new camera, but, of course, we were already on the road and halfway there when we realized we forgot to bring it. And, OF COURSE, we ended up seeing all sorts of amazing things. (Isn't that just the way of the world?). Here's a crappy cell phone pic I took of some geese we saw:

We also saw beautiful dragonflies, gigantic spiderwebs, and spectacular views.

Ramiro and I conquered three mountains and were about to take on a fourth when I felt a "pinch" on my right thigh. When I looked down, I was bleeding through my jeans. Remember how I was in the ER for puncture wound last October? All the exercise we were doing split open my scar.

Olive View, being the worst hospital ever, did a really shoddy job on my leg... They told me it needed stitches, but this was before my freelance writing career really took off and so I couldn't afford to pay. When they heard that I wasn't a paying customer, they decided to chintz out and give me "butterfly" stitches instead. So basically they put a couple strips of tape on it, gave me some ointment & pain pills, and sent me home. Ramiro and I had a devil of a time trying to take care of it on our own. It never healed properly; but, until yesterday, I thought it had healed "good enough."

Then, when we got home, we noticed that a HUGE bruise had appeared. We traced it, just in case. If the bruise grew any larger (if it went outside our outline), it would mean I was bleeding internally and I'd have to go to the hospital. Fortunately, that didn't happen. The bruise is big and gross-looking and my leg's a bit swollen and painful, but, other than that, I'm fine.

I don't want to gross anyone out with a picture of my leg (plus bruises never photograph very well), so here's a picture of the sunburn I got instead:

I had to put a picture of SOMETHING there. Too much text...

Anyway, this has put a damper on my exercise routines for the time being. (I had been doing daily walks & going rollerblading on Saturdays). Sort of ironic considering my next Pro Blog update was about just that subject. :\

I'll have to think of something else I can do to get fit in the meantime.

All things considered, this was still the BEST weekend I've had in a long time!! :D

I also got to work on a lot of my own writing and I played a lot of my fave PC games:

Bookworm Adventures

And I even teamed up with Ramiro and played some Portal 2. Hilarious results.

And, of course, I became the proud owner of...

LittleZotz.com!!!

So happy.

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.com

An Entry Entirely About Potatoes

Hey, Everyone!

I know I just made an entry yesterday, but I wanted to make another one to let you all know how the potato harvest went!

We emerged triumphant:Ramiro was triumphant too but a.) he was the one taking the pictures and, b.) he didn't want me posting any sweaty/dirty pics of him. ;P

Our grand total was 56 potatoes! That we could find at least. (and not counting the one we ate the other day). Here's a pic of our pile early on:
We had a pretty wide variety of sizes. Some of the potatoes were full grown and some were itty-bitty. We replanted the smallest ones.

As we were digging, this lil guy surprised us:
A potato bug!! :D I guess that makes sense though, right?? There were a couple of gross/decomposing potatoes in the soil that he must have thought were a tasty treat.

This guy didn't bother us. We continued digging long after we found the potato bug, an earwig, several pill bugs, and a centipede. What finally made us stop digging was when we ran into a nest of...something. BLEH!! We still don't know exactly what it was we saw. They weren't maggots or grubs... They almost looked like white-colored fleas or something. Anyway, that's when we finally went "gah" and decided to stop digging. We're sure there are more potatoes down there, but it just wasn't worth it to us.

Ziggy, who loves to dig, was especially interested in our adventures today. She kept trying to steal the smaller potatoes to play with (like balls) when we weren't looking. She had a lot of fun today:And that's what happened with the potato harvest.

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

PS: Some of you also asked about the loquat tree that we replanted. Here it is:
The End.

IFS Paid Me!!!!

Hello, Everyone!

Last night's Blog entry caused QUITE the stir!!! And I would just like to say: it was all worth it. Not only did I regain my self-respect, but I gained the respect of several other people as well. And...I got paid!

The IFS contacted me this morning. Both the owner/promoter and his freelance associate were very cordial and respected my reasons for leaving. They also appreciated my giving them the articles and notes. They were polite, respectful, and--best of all!--they paid me for the one article that was published.

We're square and there are no hard feelings. So, if any of you were still thinking to boycott the event on my behalf--there's no need. Please, feel free to go and enjoy the show. The tie-breaking final "rubber match" between Baxter "One-Armed Bandit" Humby and William "The Bull" Sriyapai is bound to be a good one and I wouldn't want any true fight fans missing out because of me. :)

I also held up my end of things and promptly went to the Post Office and mailed them back their tickets:
They should be receiving their package tomorrow.

And, they've already hired a new writer! Best of luck to LISA, the new IFS writer/publicist!

And THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO SENT THEIR LOVE AND SUPPORT MY WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It really, really meant a lot to me. I was surprised and very happy that I not only got love and support from my friends and family (who kinda have to...jk), but from strangers as well! Everyone (except for that one guy--and he, literally, was the ONLY one) really rallied behind me. Thank you all, again, so very much. If I can ever do the same for you someday, please, just let me know.

Whew!

I'm glad that mess is over and done with!!

Let's get back to the usual Lauren nonsense. Check out how big this egg was:
Ramiro and I were making breakfast the other day and were surprised to find a HUGE egg in the carton. You can see how big it is compared to one of the normal-sized eggs. But here's a picture of it in Ramiro's hand for even more size comparison:
And--here's the best part!--when Ramiro cracked it open...
...it had two yolks! TWO!! Twin yolks. How awesome is that?!

In other news, we replanted our loquat tree (it was potted, but it finally got big enough to be put into the ground) and we'll be harvesting our potatoes tomorrow. The cats dug up one of our potatoes today and it looked pretty good, so we thought we'd see what else was down there. Those of you who remember my potato-related blog entry from a while back will recall that we planted 43 potatoes... I'll be sure to keep a tally of how many those turned into when we dig them up tomorrow.

We also, finally, got the trap to capture Rebel from FixNation. FixNation has been so busy that it took several weeks for a trap to become available. Ramiro managed to take some pics of the cats on the deck:Ziggy, Rebel, and Robert
Ziggy and Rebel (see? they aren't the same cat!)

We also got one of FixNation's new brochures. And we were surprised to see this:
ROBERT!!

lol. Poor Robert. They took a picture of him on the worst day of his life. He peed and pooped all over himself and looks just terrible. I guess they thought having a really pathetic-looking "feral" cat picture would help their cause. And I hope it does!

Okay, that's all for now. I've gotta hurry and post this. A lot of people are waiting for this entry...

Because everyone wanted to see an egg with twin yolks. ;)

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Edit (3/4/11): It has been "suggested" to me that I take down my last Blog entry. I don't want to. It was a good lesson for me and I think it could help other freelancers as well. It taught me not to stray from my "Deposit up Front" policy! A policy that I clearly outlined in that entry for future clients. And, as I said in the entry, if future clients are "threatened" by that entry, then "they probably aren't worth working for anyway."

However, I've been told that I should make something more clear: The IFS did not pay me because of this Blog (or so I've just been told) but because a board member stuck up for me and pushed for me to get paid. Which I greatly appreciate. And I'm happy they were able to find another writer so quickly.

There were mis-communications and mis-understandings on both sides. And this could have happened with ANY company, not just the IFS. And I would have gone though the exact same course of action if it were any other company! Those of you who remember this old blog entry from last July will recall that I don't just send out letters of complaint, but letters of praise as well. I'm quick to point out the bad things, but I'm also quick to point out the good--which is why I wrote this entry. I didn't have to. I could have taken their money and not said anything! But I didn't. I went online immediately after they paid me to thank them and praise them.

And, if you scroll up, you'll see that I also encouraged people to go to the IFS' upcoming event! And I meant it. I was at the Press Conference. I've seen the fighters, I know what's coming, and I honestly think it's going to be awesome. If you're a fan, you should definitely go!

Muay Thai in the United States is a rare thing. And there are some great people involved in it. It should be supported.

And, as I've said, the IFS and I are square now and I have absolutely no hard feelings and bear them no ill will. AS I'VE ALREADY SAID. Honestly, why do people even come to my Blog if they don't want to actually read what I have to say...

I am not without fault. If I hadn't been panic-stricken and desperate for money to pay off my never-ending stack of bills, I wouldn't have taken the job in the first place. I should have known better than to stray from my payment policy. And I think that should be a lesson to other freelancers. As I said, issues like this could happen with ANY company--ANY client--and we, as freelancers, need to remember to protect ourselves. NEVER STRAY FROM THE DEPOSIT-UP-FRONT PAYMENT POLICY!! And read all contracts very, very carefully.

Again, and I feel I have to say this because apparently people only skim my entries rather than actually read them (maybe if I say this enough times, people will actually see it?), the IFS and I are square now and I wish them the very best. I have nothing against them and I love the Muay Thai community as a whole. I think it's a great, exciting, sport and that it is filled with wonderful people!

If my stance on the matter STILL isn't clear after all that I've said then maybe I really am a terrible writer. Personally, I think that I've made myself VERY clear.

Now, please, can we all just move on?

Thank you.

Edit: If anyone is interested, The Science of 8 Limbs heard about me/my Blog (word travels fast in the Combat Sports circle) and stated their own opinion on the matter here: http://thescienceof8limbs.com/2011/03/04/ifs-and-the-tale-of-the-delay-paid-writer/

Another Grand Weekend

Hey, Everyone!

So, I got to see my friend Steff on Friday. I've been trying to make an effort to be more social this year... Unfortunately, I only saw her for an hour. We were supposed to have the whole day together and go out and do all sorts of fun things, but she and her pen pal (who was visiting her from Chicago) got stuck in traffic on the way here from DisneyLand/California Adventure, and by the time they got here, it was nearly time for me to be back home to take care of the cats. Oh well. Next time.

Then, yesterday, Ramiro took me out to Descanso Gardens (we hiked around the grounds for 5 hours!!) and then to the Slender Sweet Shoppe to get me a nice sugar-free treat! Mmmm.

Then, when we came home, we saw this:

Ziggy. On the roof.

She was like "Mew mew mew!!!!!!!!!" and running around on the roof like "How'd I get up here?!" It took us over half an hour to get her down again.

We were surprised that this happened to Ziggy. She's always been the smartest/most savvy of our cats--and she loves to climb trees!--but she was stumped by that roof.

Robert got stuck on the roof once. That was expected though. Robert's pretty dumb. He's a sweetie-pie though and was fairly easy to get back down. He's such a happy lil guy...soon as he saw me climb up the ladder he was like "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!! I'm being rescued!!" He only started flipping out when I lifted him up off the roof and into my arms (and he saw that he was up in the air), but even then it was fairly easy to get him down. With Ziggy, she started freaking out just when she got near the edge of the roof.

Anyway, we got her down. And, if she has the same reaction Robert did to his roof adventure, we're hoping she never goes up there again.

Hope everyone had a good weekend and that you all have a good (or at least bearable) Valentine's Day tomorrow! I'll probably be writing again Wednesday or Thursday.

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Tufted Ears

Hey, Everyone!

My schedule is getting pretty crazy and I know I'm going to have a lot to blog about. So rather than doing it all in one overly looooooooooong entry, I'm going to try to break down what I'm up to into smaller entries. That means more updates than usual in the upcoming week.

Check this out:I got a picture of Rebel from the front! (You're welcome, Paris!) She/he has such pretty tufted ears. It's a shame that one of them is going to be clipped once we capture him/her to get neutered at FixNation. :\ At least we'll finally know what sex Rebel is...

I've written some more articles for WP Pro Business. I'm particularly proud of this one. It talks about successful business women. I hope that you'll check it out!

On the other hand, you won't be seeing any more US Combat Sports articles from me. At least not until I can afford to work for free. Rather than have me try to explain why, check out what my "boss" there wrote to me when I brought up that I hadn't been paid for my work:

In the first quarter of 2011 our plan is to see which reporter's are willing to immerse themselves in their local scene's community and be able to provide enough content to be a paid member of the team. Your first two articles were excellent and got you off to a great start. In the first four months to a year we want writers to make their names known to their local gyms and the online community. We couldn't be happier with your start and hope you want to keep upon the path of being promoted and eventually becoming a paid USCS member.

...

Bummer.

I told him very politely that being paid "eventually" didn't jive with me where payment for my work was concerned. [I do NOT work for free--I (literally) can't afford to!]. There are no hard feelings. And I'm still involved with the Combat Sports community. Another opportunity has opened up in that arena already. (This time with someone who WILL pay). I'll talk more about it as soon as I can.

In the meantime, I've got WP Pro Business, other freelance gigs, and I've been selling scarves again!

Photo credit goes to Sarahe.

I had knit a bunch of them, but then the warm weather hit and kinda killed my sales...locally at least. I just sold a bunch of them to someone on the opposite side of the world!

Anyway, as I mentioned, I'm going to be very busy this upcoming week. For instance, on Wednesday, I'm going to be returning to my high school to talk to the Publications/Journalism class(es). I used to be head writer for my school newspaper back in the day... My old teacher found my website online and contacted me and invited me to come speak to the kids (since what I do now is pretty much what I did then, only for money).

Well, it's just past 1:00am and I barely got any sleep last night (up 'til past sunrise!), so I should log off now.

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Superbowl Sunday 2011

Hey, Everyone!

Just to be clear right off the bat: I'm not watching the Superbowl today. Not even "for the commercials." The title is mainly for me, so that I can retrace my steps and find this entry/day again later in life. haha.

Anyway, look who came to visit today!!

Robert's Mom!

She's doing really well. She looked really healthy and had her winter coat (that's why she's so big/fluffy!). When we came home from grocery shopping, she was hanging out with Robert out on the deck. She still loves her little boy.

In other news, I'm going to be writing two Blog entries/articles a week for WordPress Pro Business. You should check it out! Or, if you're just interested in the articles that I write, those can be found here.

That's about it for this week!

One more picture:
Robert's Mom, Rebel, and Ziggy.

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Rebel Exists

Hey, Everyone

I made $32.80... For the entire month.

Pathetic. I hate myself.

The whole of that money was from the same wonderful client (and I'm extremely grateful to him!--especially for paying in advance) and the articles he hired me to do are due tomorrow. So I'm going to try to keep this entry short.

Anyway, I've also been super busy this past week talking to/interviewing lots of interesting (and very nice!) people for US Combat Sports:

• Gary Finnerty
• Roxy "Balboa" Richardson
• Goran Karamfiloski
• Kason Chan
• Joe Schilling
• Mike "All World" Ryan
• Al Franco

All of them very interesting and very helpful and just all-around awesome to talk with. And they made for some GREAT interviews. I've got to get back in contact with a couple of them to double-check a few last details, but I think I've got the makings of some really great articles to submit in the very near future. Unfortunately, USCS is a little bit strange when it comes to how they pay their writers. Basically, since they're an online only Combat Sports News site, they pay their writers based on how many hits their articles get. Like a dollar per person or something (probably less). The minimum I could get paid for each of these stories is $2.00 and the maximum is $100.00. So...pardon me in advance to my friends, family, and whoever else reads this blog, for spamming the heck out of these articles once I get them posted. I'm a sad, sad, person who's desperate for the sweet, sweet, coin. Thank you for understanding.

Last bit of news has to do with my "Subject" line: Rebel Exists.

A couple of wise-ass friends of mine have joked that Rebel doesn't actually exist and that I'm just taking pictures of Ziggy from another angle and saying she's an entirely different cat. Because "I never see them together!" Well...that's because they hate each other. :\ Anyway, this morning, I saw them NEAR each other out the kitchen window and I decided to take a really crappy cell phone picture to share with everyone:For those of you who are new to my blog, Rebel is a feral cat that hangs out in our backyard. She has half a tail and is either a full or half sibling of Ziggy's (same mom). Our area has a whole big trouble with feral cats (which you can read about in other entries) and Ramiro (my guy) and I work to capture them and have them fixed.

This is Ziggy--the cat people confuse with Rebel because they're both white:
As you can see, Ziggy has her whole tail. Also, she's pretty much ALL white (except for her tail and that spot on her head). Rebel is very spotty. Hopefully that'll help everyone tell the difference. :)

Here's a cute picture of Robert & Ziggy (Ramiro & my cats) from the other night:
Robert will be 2 years old in April 2011 and Ziggy just had her 1st birthday in October 2010. They were both born in our backyard. For their whole stories, see my blog entry that has their (and their mothers & siblings) Catster pages: http://littlezotz.blogspot.com/2010/08/our-cats-are-on-catster.html

We also take care of Ramiro's sister Sarahe's cat, Ringo:
He likes bags.

In other news, I'm still in pain, I haven't been sleeping, and when I do sleep I have terrible nightmares. Also, I updated my LinkedIn page! Feel free to connect with me. People have been leaving me really great reviews. It's so nice that even though I feel so SO crappy that people still think so highly of me.

And that's all the news that's fit to print in the Life of Lauren these days!

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Feeling Better, New Bed, Christmas Lights

Hey, Everyone!

Thanks to all of you who wrote/texted/called me to see how I'm feeling. I'm doing much better now; thank you. I threw up again once at work last Thursday (tomatoes were too much for my still-sensitive guts), but other than that it's been smooth sailing! I've been eating solid food again. I have to stick to fairly bland things still, but at least I'm not on a diet of nothing but baby food anymore!

Also, thanks to anyone who tuned into the season finale of Champions of Champions Elite. :) We don't know yet if there's going to be a season 2, but they're keeping Ramiro & me around for a while longer until they find out. I'm still going to be updating their Official blog twice a week, if anyone cares.

In other news, Ramiro and I got new bedding:Pretty nice, huh? But it didn't take long before it looked like...
Oh, CATS!! You're all so silly.

I also hung out with my parents yesterday and we ate steak & potatoes and went around looking at Christmas lights. Here's a picture I took from my cell phone of the Balian Ice Cream House:
If you search for "balian house" on Google, you get a lot of great pictures of this place. It's really something. You see the GLOW from this house for a couple blocks away... My picture's a bit bad because a.) it's a cell phone pic, b.) I was in a car that was in motion and, c.) it was raining like CRAZY (and still is!!) here in Southern California. If you're ever in Alta Dena, California around Christmas-time, you should check it out.

Anyway, if I don't write again until after the fact (and I probably won't), I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas (even if you don't believe in Christ--I still hope you have a happy day!). :)

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Haircut, Soy, and Other Stuff

Hey, Everyone!

It's been a few weeks...

I've been super busy with work. For the past two weeks (except for Thanksgiving), I was working 12 hour days. For those of you who don't know (or have already forgotten), I write this: http://blog.coc-elite.com That's the Official blog for Champions of Champions Elite, the #1 Muay Thai show in North America. Anyway, I write their blog and I'm also in charge of their Facebook and Twitter and I write e-mails to Muay Thai people... yadda yadda.

Thanksgiving was good. Ramiro and I went over to my parents' house for dinner. We got to see my mom, dad, and my mom's brother. And Dorian:
And, on Thanksgiving, I looked like this:Two days later, I had my friend Jaz over at Vous Hair give me a haircut and now I look like:

I like it. It had been over a year since I'd had a real haircut (I don't count haircuts I give myself because they suck) and it feels soooooooooooooooo good. I love it. I think it suits me, don't you? I trust Jaz so much when it comes to my hair that I only tell her one thing: Don't go any shorter than my jawline. Other than that, anything goes! Haha, actually, this time, when I told her that she said "What about in the back...?" (It's the back, who cares!) I knew she had something special in mind.

Anyway, things were humming along really well in my life until the other day, I ingested soy. Now, those of you who know me well (or are avid readers of this blog) are probably saying "Oh no!!!" about that. And you'd be right! Soy + Lauren = Not good. For, as some of you know, I'm very very allergic to soy.

What happened was, Ramiro and I went to IHOP the other day. I had them check everything that I ordered for soy--and it was all safe--however, that doesn't really matter when they end up serving the wrong thing. I had ordered Ranch dressing (safe!), but the waiter gave me Bleu Cheese dressing (isolated soy protein). I don't blame him. It looked exactly the same. Anyway, I took one bite, looked up at Ramiro, said "This is wrong," and then I was barfing like crazy. ONE BITE. I got all puffed up (even my tongue!) and I was non-stop vomiting and ALL of my joints hurt. My elbows are always the first to go for some reason, but before the end of the day every single one of my joints was in horrible pain. I became acutely aware of just how many moving parts there are in my body.

When I get soy'd, the aftermath can last from a few days to a few weeks. I never know. Since my smaller joints (fingers/toes) are already starting to feel better I'm hoping it'll only be a few days...

Of course, now my guts are all messed up. For the first day I lived off of water & original pedialyte (that's all that would stay down), but the next day I had a small cup of brown rice and half a piece of bread. Today I tried to really "go nuts" and made myself a plain turkey sandwich (bread, 2 slices of turkey, and minimal mayo) for lunch and ended up throwing up at work. So it was back to brown rice for dinner. I'm going to be on a diet of brown rice and baby food for the rest of the week and then work my way back up to normal food starting next week. I always have to do this when I get soy'd, but it had been so long since this has happened that I'd kind of forgotten (I'd also forgotten just how horribly painful it is!)...plus I'm impatient. I want my guts to be better now!

The really sucky thing is, my parents were going to take Ramiro & me out to dinner at the North Woods Inn this weekend. For those of you who don't know, that's where white people go around Christmas-time to enjoy a steak the size of their face while being surrounded by the heads of dead animals. It's glorious. Unfortunately, we had to cancel because there's no way I'd be able to keep it down...

In other news, I got a message from an old friend today... Which I mistakenly (thank God!) thought was his way of telling me he was planning to kill himself. Sure. It's funny NOW. Anyway, I was so concerned that I actually called him up (even though I loathe talking on the phone). It was all a comical misunderstanding and I'm sure you'll all be happy to know that he plans to remain alive for quite some time (provided he isn't hit by a van...again). I'm still in quite a bit of pain, so I was grateful that he took up the burden of doing most of the talking. And supposedly he's going to write a song for/about(?) me. We'll see.

In conclusion, here's a picture of Robert & Ziggy (Ramiro & my cats):

They're very sleepy. Shhhhhhh.

Until next time...

--Lauren*
PS: Yes, it is very hard to have one condition (Hypoglycemia) that dictates I eat all the time with another condition (being "soy'd") that won't let me eat anything. Sigh. Pray for me?

http://littlezotz.webs.com

Meeting Roxy

Hey, Everyone!

Here's a very dimly-lit picture of me with Roxy "Balboa" Richardson:Roxy owns Roxy Fit Gym and is a Women's Muay Thai champ! I wrote about her in the Official blog for work...

I'd been in contact with her all week online, because of work, and I really, really wanted to meet her. I'm happy I did.

I regret not being able to see her put on her live demonstration though! You see, there was a Live Event for Champions of Champions Elite last night and there was going to be live Muay Thai demonstrations, contests, giveaways, and everyone was going to watch the Kings Cup. However, it was very unorganized. They told us (Ramiro & me) that it was going to start at 6pm. Then, the day before or so they said that it had been pushed back to 7pm. "No problem," we thought. We'd get there a little before 7pm and leave a little after 9pm and everything should be roses! We'd get to see all the fun stuff (the live demo) and get the gist of the Kings Cup show and leave before my blood sugar went wacky and get home before our cats started having anxiety attacks about our being gone so long (they've been having trouble adjusting to us having full-time jobs--Ziggy in particular has been going through some pretty bad separation anxiety).

Sadly, when we left a little after 9pm, the event hadn't even STARTED yet. Plus, none of my friends showed up... We were very disappointed. We hope it got really awesome after we left!! They were supposed to get it on tape, so I guess we'll see it once that gets put up online. But it's just not the same as seeing it in person, you know? :\

Still, I'm glad I briefly got to meet Roxy. :)

Well, I have to go for now. This is the day we go buy groceries for the rest of the week.

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Rebel Rebel

Hey, Everyone!

Just wanted to say that congratulations are in order for Ramiro as well. He's working at the same company I am now:That's the view from my cubical looking into his (there's a window).

Sorry, I didn't mention it before. He was on a "trial" basis at first and I didn't want to announce it until they made him a legit employee... And they did! Yaaaaaaaaaay!! Congrats, Ramiro! :)

Also, a while back I mentioned a "stranger cat." Since then, that same cat has been hanging around a lot. We don't know whether she's a boy or a girl, but we call her(?) "Rebel." Ziggy's Mom had her before getting spayed (another litter of one!). She hangs out with Ziggy's Mom and Robert's Mom. She looks a lot like our Ziggy, but much smaller (she's a lot younger) and she only has half a tail. My best guess is that someone ran over her tail with their car (like she was sleeping under a car and it rolled over her tail). I knew a squirrel as a kid who had their tail run over by a car and it looked very similar to Rebel's.

Anyway, here are some pictures of Rebel that I took this morning:Other than her(?) messed up tail, she's a very beautiful cat. It's a shame she's feral.

When we can, we're going to get a trap from FixNation and take her(?) in to be fixed. Go through that whole rigmarole again... Sigh.

That's about it for now.

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

A Little About Me

Hey, Everyone!

For the past few days, I've been spamming everyone I know with the Champions of Champions Elite stuff. I can't help it. I'm very excited about this job!

Anyway, those of you who have Friended me on Facebook know that I promised to make an entry about what I've been up to personally.

Saturday the 2nd, I went to the Montrose Oktoberfest and supported my dojo as they did their yearly demonstration. I was mostly there to help Master Dannon film the demo so that he could edit it and turn it into his YouTube debut. That hasn't happened yet, but here's a picture of him showing off his good balance that you can look at in the meantime:
The prices at the Oktoberfest were outrageous this year, they only blocked off half the street, and there wasn't a whole lot going on... It figures. It was Ramiro and Ray's first time ever going to it. That was pretty much a gauruntee that it was going to be lame. It seems to be one of those unwritten "laws" of life that whenever you want to show a friend something really cool (an event/show/game/band) and they say "It's my first time experiencing this," it ends up being really lame. :\ So, we didn't really get to do anything there (again, the prices!!!), but we did get to play Scott Pilgrim VS. The World: The Game on Ray's PS3. We played far into the night and got alllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the endings.

Sunday the 3rd, I was in the ER. Olive View again. I ended up cutting/puncturing my right thigh with a pair of scissors. I was doing something stupid. Anyway, a bunch of blood & fat came out and I had to get stitches. (I'm purposely not saying too many details because a few people I've told became physically ill just from hearing about it). I was walking around on crutches for a couple days because whenever I tried to put my full weight on my right leg (incredibly painful!!), the muscle would flex and I'd start bleeding all over again.

I popped a stitch on Monday (my first full day at my new job!) but we were warned that might happen and we had an "emergency kit" to patch me back up again. Since then, it oozed a little yesterday as I was getting off work, but it's healing nicely. Today, everything was as it should be. No blood. Substantially less pain. I'm going to be fine. Don't worry. <3

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd... Work is really really awesome. I absolutely love it.

Check this out. I made it today: http://youtube.com/user/COCEliteOfficial



I didn't make the videos. I just made the channel. Just a little something extra I ended up doing. Like I mentioned before, my actual job is as an in-house writer. Unfortunately, I can't tell you exactly what I do because I'm under contract not to. Hope you understand :3

Our kids (the cats: Robert, Ziggy, and Ringo) are all doing well. We fixed the cat door so they can come in and out as they please (it was broken before and they could only go out, but had to scream at us when they wanted back in). They've been staying in a lot in this SUDDENLY RAINY weather (it's hard to believe that it was 113 last week!!--what happened?!).

Oh, and today (Oct. 6) marks Ramiro and my third year of being a couple. :) <3

Guess that's about it for now.

Until next time...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

Yard Work & Other Things

Hey, Everyone!

I'm back. :)

Things have been going really well for me lately. KNOCK WOOD.

I've gotten several writing assignments done lately and I seem to be getting noticed more and more. Hopefully I'll have some "big" news for you soon, but we'll see. Cross fingers!

In other news, I've been helping my parents a lot with their yard work lately. You know, raking leaves, trimming back overgrown plants; stuff like that. Sometimes Ramiro comes too, but today he stayed home to work on other things. Which left me to tackle the left side of their house on my own. Here's a "Before" picture of that:See all those leaves on the ground? All that needed to go. You can sort of see that they have some fancy stepping stones on the ground on that side of the house, but they had been completely buried. I also needed to hack back a lot of overgrowth, particularly their bougainvillea. Did you know that bougainvillea plants have lots and lots of thorns? They totally do! My arms got torn to shreds. haha. I was actually inside applying Bactine when I got a phone call from a potential employer.

You'll notice that I have no "After" picture of the left side of their house. Funny/Sad story. I actually had to stop halfway through because my parents' next door neighbour (a very senile old man) came up to me and accused me of stealing his "piles." He was very very confused. He thought that the piles of yard waste I had made and was picking up and putting into the green waste barrel were his and that I was taking them from him. :( He really needs to be in a home. I feel so bad for him. He used to be a very nice man (when I was a child growing up there), but now he didn't even seem to know who I was. This same old man sometimes steals the decorative rocks from my parents yard and puts them in a pile in front of his house. Anyway, my picking up the leaves agitated him so much, I stopped halfway through. I even left one pile there for him to look at. He seemed so attached to it. I'm going to finish the job next week.

My mom used to work at an Old Folk's Home. She said that the senile patients got a lot worse in the hot weather. If something like this happens to you--if an elderly person dotters up to you and is horribly confused--please, just be patient with them. They're not doing it on purpose to annoy you or to be mean to you. Just stay calm, and try to be as nice as you can.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm... What else...

Ramiro and I found this in the corn field in our back yard:
I thought since a few of you have been writing about all the UFO stuff that's been in the news the past few days, you'd get a kick out of that. It's an alien!

In other news, I'm going to be going to the Montrose Oktoberfest on Saturday. I've been asked to man the camera while my pals at the dojo do their yearly demonstration. :)

Ramiro's fine. He's been working on a new comic called Dollworld. The cats are doing pretty well too. Ringo (the old man) has been cranky in the heat, but we've been doing our best to keep them all comfortable.

I'll probably be making an update again pretty soon.

Until then...

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com

EDIT: I have a big job interview tomorrow. Wish me luck, Everyone!! <3

Sunday Update

Hey, Everyone!

My revamped website has been getting me a lot of attention! People are finally starting to take me seriously. :) For those of you who haven't seen it yet, you should check it out here: http://littlezotz.webs.com

Also, weird thing, at the beginning of last month, I had nine (9) friends on Facebook--half of which were members of The Click Five--and now, at the beginning of this month, as of this posting, I have one-hundred and fifty (150!) friends on Facebook. What the heck happened?! lol. I'm suddenly popular again!

Yesterday, Martha (Ramiro's mom) gave me keys to the house. I'm not just a house guest anymore. I really officially live here now! Not that I didn't before, but there's something about having keys that makes it seem just so much...more-so...than before.

And now, your cat updates/pictures:
Robert came in with that football a couple weeks ago as a present for Ramiro. When he first showed up with it, it was dark and Ramiro was afraid he was bringing him a rat. We're not sure who Robert stole the football from, but it's definitely his now. He is SO proud of it. He still struts around with it! And, as you can see in the picture, sometimes he sleeps with it. I thought it was very cute that he took his two favourite toys onto the chair before taking his nap.It's been getting cold at night/the early morning lately and Ringo's old and gets cold easily. He's taken to climbing into bed with us. This is the face I've been waking up to (in my face!) the past few mornings.
Ziggy's been enjoying the slightly milder weather. She likes to stay outside and sleep in the front yard's "flower" bed.

The weirdest thing happened to me the other day, involving the cats. We like to let the cats play outside (weather permitting) for a few hours before feeding time and then we let them back in for the night. Anyway, I went to the back door to let in our three cats to be fed; and three cats came in, but they weren't OUR three cats!!! It was one of the most shocking things to ever happen to me in my life. Can you imagine going to feed your pet and having a DIFFERENT pet of the same breed show up in their place? Anyway, the three cats that came running in where Robert's Mom, Ziggy's Mom, and a Stranger Cat. I finally got them out and then OUR three cats came in and ate normally. So. Weird.

Anyway, in closing, please check out my revamped webpage if you haven't already! I'm really proud of it. http://littlezotz.webs.com

Until next time...

--Lauren*