Feeling Miffed

Hey, Everyone!

I'm a bit miffed today.  Here's why:

As you know from last week's post, I recently got 1/4th of a new tooth from the dentist on the 29th of last month.  It was great!  However, when I came back in on the 1st of this month to get my required cleaning... Not so great.

The hygienist was the worst hygienist I've ever had the misfortune of encountering.  She was very inept with her prodding while creating my periodontal chart--using unnecessarily excessive force and a bad attitude!--and she didn't even perform the cleaning!  She claimed she was "overbooked" and didn't "have time" to do the cleaning I was scheduled for.  She ordered that I buy some $20 mouthwash and come back again in two weeks when she felt more like dealing with me.  (What??).  Anyway, foolishly perhaps, I did what I was told.

What followed that visit was a full list of horrors occurring in my mouth.  I won't go into details because it's super gross, but needless to say I've been in a LOT of pain since that day.  I finally broke down and called the dentist's "emergency" line over the weekend...and they said they'd see me on Monday (today). 

The doc's diagnosis...?

That's right.  I was told to "deal with it" and was sent home.

More specifically, I was told that the $20 mouthwash that the stupid hygienist made me buy had created a horrific allergic reaction in my mouth and that there was "nothing we can do about it."  I was told that I just have to "wait a week or two for the body to heal itself."  Then they tried to scam me into seeing an outrageously expensive "specialist" and still wanted me to come back for my scheduled cleaning on the 18th (the appointment the hygienist would have "had time" for).  Needless to say I said "No, thank you" and not only refused to see their "specialist" but cancelled my appointment for the 18th.  Forget that!!

My original dentist might be 5 towns away from where I live now, but at least he never destroyed my mouth and said "oh well" afterward!  Once I'm healed up in "a week or two," I'll be heading to him.  (Maybe this is what I get from straying from my loyalty to my dentist?  ...But he wasn't open on Friday when my tooth broke!  I didn't mean it!)

Anyway, here are a couple of great Harry Potter (and Twilight) related pictures Ramiro found for me on the Internet to cheer me up:

So that's pretty much been my week: Pain, pain, and more pain.  And work, work, and more work.  I recently took on a second "real" job ("real" as in it's another writing job with regular hours & a payroll and stuff like my writing job with WTR) for the month of August.  Plus I'm still writing dog articles and working on my own projects on the side. 

Speaking of which...

I wrote an e-book on how to do what I do!  :)  I had so much trouble figuring everything out when I first left my "day job" to become a professional writer, I figured I'd write it all down so others wouldn't have to go through what I did.  It's going to be available for sale on my website on August 17, 2011.  Ramiro designed the cover!

That's all for now.

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.com

McNuggets and Mid-July

Hey, Everyone!

I had chicken McNuggets for lunch today. We ran out of food to have for lunch and my paycheck hasn't come yet, so we thought to ourselves "What's something SUPER CHEAP that we could eat..." As it turned out, McNuggets were a "safe" fast food option. I was excited. I hadn't had a McNugget since A Bug's Life was in theaters! (Don't ask me how I remember that). Not exactly a "healthy" choice (especially since I'm trying to lose weight!), but it was cheap and it did the trick.

Anyway, moving past what I had for lunch today...

I interviewed Paul Grimshaw of House of Secrets and Art of Fiction fame(?) last Friday. Here's a blooper pic from our interview session:

Paul started cracking up when Amy (HoS worker) wouldn't stop taking pictures of us

Paul's going to be my "Mr. September" for my "People I Know" interview series on my Official Website. For those of you who don't know, the "People I Know" series is a collection of mini-interviews (5 questions each!) with various amazing writers, freelancers, and entrepreneurs I've met over the years. I post these interviews on the first Wednesday of every month. So be sure to keep an eye out for those!

I've also been very busy with my job at WebTalk Radio. And I'm still writing dog-related articles for Sarasota Dog, Bradenton Dog, and New York City Dog. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd... I've been working on a couple writing projects of my own. One of which should be ready to show off/sell by the middle of next month. I'll keep you posted!

That's all for now!

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.com

Happy Fourth of July, Americans!

Hey, Everyone!

I went rollerblading at the Moonlight Rollerway with my parents on Saturday night.

The rest of the week (and weekend -- including today!) has been spent working.

WebTalk Radio, Sarasota Dog, and my own projects. Here's a sneak preview of one of the illustrations for an upcoming post on my Pro Blog:

Only slightly exaggerated...

Writing -----> Sit-down job -----> 10 inches on my waistline since this time last year.

Speaking of which, I've gotta go take my daily walk (I've started exercising again!) and then get back to writing articles for clients.

Also, don't forget to tune in Wednesday (July 6th) to my Pro Blog to read a great interview I did with Roxy "Balboa" Richardson!

--Lauren*

http://littlezotz.webs.com

Been a While Since We Last Had Cat Pics...

Hey, Everyone!

I had another week where I was insanely busy, but, when it comes down to it, there's not much to talk about. "Work, work, work, and more work" just about sums it up. I had a very busy week with my job at WebTalk Radio and I wrote a few more articles for Sarasota Dog.

We got Robert a Scratching post:
Which Ringo used to his advantage to have a go at the pile of other toys they own (which Robert is normally very possessive over):
That's about it for now.

As usual, I've got a few things in the works, but nothing I can talk about yet.

See you next Monday!

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

My First New Computer

Hello, Everyone!

I got a new laptop:Yes, I'm aware that my desktop wallpaper is awesome. (Ramiro and I recently got into watching Doctor Who -- 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors).

Super 3D Glasses

My laptop from Steff finally broke down last week. It was around 6 years old and held together with rubberbands...It wasn't exactly a surprise. It ("Kurt") served its purpose though and it was a gift that ended up changing my life (if she hadn't given me that laptop, I might still be working at Del Taco!).

Fortunately, my laptop broke on the day after I received my first WTR paycheck in the mail! Good timing.

Unfortunately, when we went to Best Buy to buy my new computer, my bank card kept getting declined. As it turned out, Bank of America refused to believe it was me! "Why," you may ask? Because I'm super cheap and never spend that much money at once! Anyway, I was on the phone with BofA for a little over 2 hours and they STILL wouldn't let me use my card. "Lauren Tharp never spends this much money." Arrrrgh!! I was like "Well, I am TODAY!" haha. It was terrible. Eventually I sat down and thought about it and came up with the solution of "Well, if the problem is me spending too big of an amount at once...what if I buy the laptop in small 'Lauren appropriate' increments?" So, in the end, the cashier had to run my card through a BUNCH of times with baby $50 payments.

So, in the end, it all worked out. (Obviously! Look at my new laptop!!)

This is the first NEW computer I've ever owed! All of my previous computers were hand-me-downs that were already old when I received them. I'm super excited.

Then, on the weekend, Ray came over for a visit. He and Ramiro spent most of the time playing video games. Including L.A. Noire.

We were all pleasantly surprised when my friend Dan Roebuck turned up in the game!

I won't give any spoilers, but suffice to say he's a bad guy and you're going to have to do a lot of running to catch him.

The boys were also very excited when they saw that this was posted on Netflix streaming:They insisted that we watch it. I was very...confused.

"Let's get sticky!"

I had never watched The Power Rangers before. I didn't watch much of any TV in the 1990s. It often makes it very hard for me to relate to my peers. So while the boys were having nostalgia flashbacks all over the floor, I was left going "huh?"

I'm told that scantily clad women didn't usually show up on the show

And since I wasn't viewing the movie through magic nostalgia goggles, there was a lot of "Wait...why are they doing that...?" on my end.

I'm told that the television show was "much better!" than the movie. *shrugs*

The bulk of my weekend was spent writing. Either for clients or for myself. For myself, I wrote a few more posts for my Pro Blog (gotta get another buffer going!) and drew up the accompanying illustrations. Here's one of my drawings (before I coloured it in):

Sneak preview!

That's all for now. It's almost time for me to "go" to work! :)

See you next Monday!

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

Electric Weekend

Hey, Everyone!!

MANY APOLOGIES FOR THE LATE UPDATE!! I'm sorry if I worried any of you. (Paris...)

I got a bit mixed up because of the holiday weekend. I worked through it (so it kind of felt like work days) but then there were also parties going on for all three days (which felt like the weekend). I don't know. It was weird. ~_~

Anyway, here's what I did:

I worked on stuff for WebTalk Radio and Sarasota Dog...
We celebrated my mom's 57th birthday...
Saw Dorian...

My mom tamed that squirrel...it's very friendly!

And Robert tried to kill us...

But he looks so peaceful... O_o

Wait. What?!

It was an accident. (We think... *suspicious*) Robert decided he wanted to sit by the window, got his collar caught in the blinds, started strangling, panicked, knocked over a bottle of water, broke a lamp, and electrocuted the floor! JEEZ!! Anyway, his breakaway collar broke (just like it's supposed to!--Yay!!) and he got out of there just in the nick of time; but it LITERALLY scared the crap out of him. He let out the fart of a lifetime and then ran for his box. It was intense. And smelly. The whole living room smelled like...burning...and cat fart. Whew! We managed to get everything cleaned up without dying. Thank goodness.

And here we always thought Ziggy would be the one to try and murder us...

Shown here with dynamite (ah, how we miss her...)

We also took Robert to the vet. He's gotten into the habit of crying when he uses his box. BUT...only when Ramiro is out of the room! Well, we know that Robert is very neurotic and insanely attached to Ramiro, but that was taking it a bit too far. So, we did what any good pet owner would do: We took him to the vet to check for a UTI.

We were originally going to take Robert to the vet next week (after my first paycheck) to get his shots updated, but if your cat is crying in its litterbox you ALWAYS need to get them to the vet ASAP! So there ya go. Anyway, his lab results came back today: Everything was negative. Sooooooooooooooooo... Robert's just crazy. And Ramiro has to watch/talk to him while he pees or he cries. lol. Silly cat.

At least he got his shots updated while he was there.

In other news, I interviewed Ramiro on my Professional Blog. Be sure to check that out.

PEOPLE I KNOW: RAMIRO ROMAN, JR.

I've started up a new section on my Blog called "People I Know." Check HERE for upcoming guests/interviews!

Again, I apologize for the late update. Hopefully it was worth the wait!

See you next Monday! (For sure this time!)

--Lauren*
http://littlezotz.webs.com Ramiro updated my Official Webpage -- Check the Contact and Links pages for new stuff!