I am on vacation in Japan -- had a lot of traveling but managed to sleep during most of it.

The people here are extremely friendly and accomodating. I think it's because I'm a little American girl who obviously does not belong here, lol.

I am going to get some more sleep...but I'm here safely and will be taking a lot of pictures.

L<3ve Always,
Marie

Still wraith-like, wandering about these pages but not contributing to the community of friends I made on here all these years ago. It's amazing to see the progression many of you have taken with your craft -- I am amazed by the beauty you are creating.

I wish I could say that my life is full of adventure and wonder, but like most other people I've settled into a job (at least it's one I enjoy) that takes over most of my life. I don't even spend much time reading these days, I fall asleep with the computer on my lap or after reading a couple of pages of anything else.

Guess it's to be expected, working 50+ hours a week. I'm actually opening manager for the company I work for tomorrow, so I will be awake in just over 4 hours to be at work in 6.

Perhaps the everyday mundanity of it all is part of what inspired my decision last year, as I paid off the debt accumulated over the years -- I will leave the country at least once a year. It's the least that I owe myself.

Next month I will be spending ~1.5 weeks in Japan visiting a friend who has been doing the JET program over there. I'm super-excited about the trip. Maybe, just maybe, I will post some pictures. You never know.

L<3ve Always,
Marie

I've been absent in the journal and communication part of DA but whenever I get a spare moment, I've been going through all the deviations and the wonderful art people have been posting. It's been wonderful. *smiles*

Life's been busy - work is going awesomely, I got a wonderful raise and they've been putting more and more responsibility on me - to prepare me for when I get into management. *grins* It's been exciting, I like to see how appreciated I am for what I do.

I'm working on getting a passport - my father is taking us on a week-long cruise in the western caribbean this summer, yay. *smiles* The passport actually is not required this year, we checked, but we're all trying to make sure we get them anyway.

Anyway...there's so much to say and so little time to say it...but even if I haven't been commenting as often as I used to, I have been looking!

Lve Always,
Marie

I don't know who got me the subscription, but thank you! I wasn't expecting to sign on and see myself subscribed. Thank you again.

I need to get ready for work...I closed last night so I slept in until 10am...whoops. ('Course I didn't get off work until almost midnight and then travel time...I guess it makes sense.) I close again tonight, yippee.

Lve Always,
Marie

So I've driven more than 1000 miles this week, with driving back + forth and back + forth. Yay. It was so much fun. What was even more fun was having my car die as I filled up the gas tank before the last long haul down - apparently the cell of my battery shorted out right then - it wasn't even 1.5 years old, thank god I keep all sorts of warranty paperwork for my car in the glove compartment, right? So, yeah, life was an adventure.

I'm officially back in south Florida - I start at my new store tomorrow and that will be an adventure in itself, y'know? I have a feeling everyone is going to hate me because I'm just so freaking nice they'll want to strangle me, it's been like that elsewhere until people get to know me better. Whatever's clever.

I actually cried when I moved this time, I spent most of Friday morning bawling my eyes out. I'm really going to miss Gainesville, but it really is just time to move on.

So I'll be online more often - I have 9000+ deviations to go through (and you know at least a quarter of them will be deleted) so I'll be investing in a membership again, after I get my mother's house set up with something other than dial-up. This is killing me and I haven't even been here a full day.

Lve Always,
Marie