Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic

The three R's. Obviously, whoever came up with that wasn't too bright considering that it's more like R, W, A or in another order RAW.

My early retirement has been going pretty well. I have indeed been reading, I have been writing (except not updating my blog as much as I said I would) and I have in fact been using some arithmetic... tutoring my friend's brother in math. Yes, I'm a bit of nerd.

So, what have I been reading? Well for starters a few books... yes all at the same time. I read depending on my mood. Here's the list:

1) Diana Gabaldon - The Fiery Cross (Outlander): This is book 5 of the Outlander series. My friend, E, got me totally hooked on the first book and I couldn't put it down. She bought the books, I borrowed, but to make it up to her, I bought the Outlander Companion book. Yes, I'm a fan.

2) Mario Livio - Is God a Mathematician?: I told you i was into Math. Not only am I tutoring, but I'm also reading about it. This is an interesting book about math and religion, almost a "which came first?" type thing. I haven't completely gotten into it, it requires a little more concentration that a regular book, but I will eventually finish it.

3) Brooke Allen - Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers: History, my other favorite subject. This is a great read for all of you who think our country was founded on religion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our Founding Fathers (and really, they didn't find anything, the country was already here), were very much for separation of church and state and a few of them were devout atheists. Go figure! I'm almost done with the book, I will be passing it on to my mother.

4) Charlaine Harris - Shakespeare's Landlord (Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 1): Another series from the author of the Southern Vampire Mysteries (aka the True Blood series). I needed something to start reading on my new Kindle, so I decided to get this one. I like the True Blood series (which I've read), so I figured I'll give this one a shot and maybe the rest of her series too.

5) FanFiction.net - Wow, this site has me totally addicted to its stories. I happened onto this site when I was checking out information on IMDB for New Moon (Twilight Saga) and I read the some of the posts in the forum. Someone mentioned a story "Wide Awake" that was a Bella/Edward story, minus the vampire theme. So I checked it out and now you can't get me to do anything else. Well, I take that back, I do other things and as you can see I also read. Anyway, there is FanFiction for almost every book, TV show, video game, etc out there. In other words, when you're not satisfied with a story, write your own version...

So that leads me to Writing. I was so hooked that I told my friend, E (the same as above), and she agreed too, that she should write her own FanFic of Twilight. And she did, check it out, it's called Bliss and it's a great story. She encouraged me to write my own Fanfic. Granted, I have a blog that I update, but that's not the same as writing a story. But I did, or rather I am. If you want to check it out (and review it), you can. It's called "Due To a Stalled Train Ahead." I won't tell you about it, just read it.

My ultimate goal in all of this is to eventually write my own original novel. I've always liked writing, but never had the time or motivation to do anything about it, until now. I certainly have the time and motivation since I'm not working anymore.

Oh and the 'rithmetic? As I said, I've been tutoring my friend's brother and I have to say it's fun getting back into math. It was always one of my favorite subjects in school and I always did well. One of the top in my classes...consistently.

All of this is making me nostalgic for my favorite show... School House Rock!!!!


3... is a magic number... oh yes it is....

Early Retirement

Did you guys miss me? I'm sorry for the delay in updating my blog, I've been busy enjoying my early retirement. It seems that my company (which shall remain nameless, but the owner's daughter was famously "kidnapped" and then later robbed a bank back in the '70s), decided that, even though it was sitting on a large pile of cash, they wanted to hoard the cash and lay off some folks. I was one of them. Was I upset? not about getting laid off, but just in the manner that it happened. It was really one of those "oh hey you're gone effective immediately, pack your shit and go" type things. So, I did. I barely said bye to anyone (but there's always facebook). It was 2 or so in the afternoon when I found out and I was rather happy to get the hell out of there.

I liked the job, don't get me wrong, but I have better things to do with my time then sitting in front of a computer working for someone else. I can be sitting in front of a computer, updating my blog, selling on ebay, writing a novel, reconnecting with friends, searching for real estate deals, etc etc. the list can go on and I can do all of this from the comfort of my home or wherever there is free wi-fi. As a matter of fact, my ex-boyfriend was kind enough to even tell me about adding amazon to my blog so I can make some money. Thanks HMM. (yes, I still keep in touch with my ex... no my husband is not jealous).

As it is, my forced early retirement was the best opportunity for me. First of all, I was planning on quitting soon anyway. This turned out better considering that had I quit I would not have received severance, an extra month of health benefits (3 if I go with COBRA), or unemployment for a year. WOOOOOHOOOOOO. I think I hit the jackpot. So, of course, yours truly was trying very hard to play the part of the sad laid off worker, in reality all I wanted to do was laugh and jump for joy. So what does this mean for me? Truly, I wasn't joking about doing more important things. I can't exactly reveal what those things are because most people won't understand, but should everything work out, I will NEVER have to worry about money again. What I (and my husband) are doing is such a long and tedious process though that working was hindering this getting done sooner. Now, in just the two weeks that I've been laid off, we're almost done. On top of that, I've been doing the one thing I love to do... read (that will be another blog post because I do need to tell you about my new addiction).

So, I won't write much more for now, but do know that I will be updating my blog more often. I can't wait!

(oh, I also finally received my kindle... I'll talk about that later too).

Ciao for now!
Yours in randomness....

P.S. I would like to thank everyone, though, for the kind words when they found out I was laid off. My mom, especially; she took it the hardest, she actually cried. Seems that everyone is helping me look for a new job and I'm eternally grateful. My own set of personal head hunters. Thanks guys!!! (but let me enjoy my time and hopefully I won't have to go back to work).

Friends... How Many of Us Have Them?

According to Facebook, yours truly has currently has 395 friends... and counting. I'm baffled that I know that many people. Well, let's truly think about this. Of those 395 people, I REALLY know about 100 and of those 100, I'm close to about 50 and of those 50, I talk to about 10 of them on a consistent basis. So really, how many friends do I have? 10, 50, 100 or almost 400?

So who comprises this lovely 395 number.

1) Family - I have to say that I've gotten closer to some family members because of Facebook. It's a beautiful thing. Sure there was e-mail, but for some of these people, I didn't even know they had any way of getting in contact with them until Facebook came around. So, yes, I'm grateful for that.

2) My true friends - why not. just another way to keep in touch with them. I love them just like family, they keep me sane.

3) Co-workers - common courtesy. I see them everyday, I occasionally say HI to a few them, it would be weird to sit next to them after ignoring their friend request.

4) School friends - This is probably the largest of the group. I went to 8 different schools in my life. Wow. I just realized I went to 8 different schools! I'm surprised I ever graduated on time. It's a good thing I was/am smart. Well because of all the moving around I developed many friendships around the country. I actively sought out some of these people since I was the one that moved. They wouldn't even know where to begin to find me if it were up to them. Lucky for me, they all remembered me (including the ones from kindergarten!) and they were curious about my whereabouts as well. Reconnecting with them has been a joy. Now, you have the others (mainly from HS) that are adding me as a friend. My first inclination is to ignore them. I kept to a select group of friends. Yes, most people knew me or knew of me, but a passing smile or hi, doesn't make me a friend. However, it still makes me feel good that they want to add me as a friend, it means I'm remembered. Or they just want to be able to look at the HS photos that they may be in. Who knows.

5) Other - this is the group of people that you've randomly met throughout your life, but can't classify them in a particular group. Online acquaintances, friends of friends... of friends... of friends, random people you meet in the street, even the husband's ex-girlfriends, which ironically enough, I am better friends with than my husband. lol

I have considered going through the list and removing some people that I really barely know, but I don't. I don't know if it's because there is something in me that likes the fact that all of these people know me and/or remember me; or if it's that I'm afraid of losing touch with them again and I'll have to wait until the next social networking site to come around to reconnect.... again. I would prefer to just leave them. Also, Facebook has made me realize how many people have been in my life, affected it in some way, shape or form. Some people are blurs, others are clear, but either way they made a great impact and in my case. 395 impacts. WOW!