It Seems Like Years Since It's Been Clear

So, today I got Frankie. She and Draculaura are sitting on a little doll-sized pillow next to me.
idk why, but these dolls are so amazing to me. The fact that something this stylized is doing well and is supported by Mattel? So fabulous. And each one has her own face sculpt! Frankie's face is much more angular and long than Draculaura's round face and smaller chin. Target's had a sale for a little while, so I ran in and snapped her up (with Boyfriend's money, of course). I had wanted the Dawn of the Dance Frankie, but they didn't have her, which made my decision easier because I was torn between Original Frankie and Dance Frankie. Decision made for me! Done.

I almost spent my own money later in Wal*Mart on a Bratz dress, but it was strapless, nearly 5 dollars, and not worth it, especially since the size might be off. Hopefully I can get over to a dollar store of some sort and buy some cheap knockoff Barbie clothes and then bring out my trusty sewing kit and try to alter them to fit. We shall see!

I mended a Barbie skirt that, while big, fits their hips if I don't mind a gap in the back. It had a lot of stray threads and the velcro was coming off. Then I went cross-eyed and made a teeny weeny beaded bracelet for Draculaura. Now that Frankie is here, I'll make one for her too. She already has a bracelet on one arm! So perfect.

Anyway, all my sims have graduated from college! So you'll get a giant college spam soon. I haven't given up on sims updates! They've just been really boring and not worth posting. I moved them into new houses, and tried something new with some of the couples and I'm really excited about it.

In real life news I've actually started to prepare a resume and I am not happy about it. Also, I hate fall. Go away fall. Bring back my summer :(

-5:17 AM

So I'm making my own custom content for the sims 2, having found a version of body shop that will run on my computer (sadly it's the pre-release version that only has a few options... sigh) and I was just searching google, as I do because it is hard-wired into my child of the new millenium brain (wait, I'm 22, do I count? idk) to always google first before asking anyone else, and I typed "applying" because I want to apply textures to things. So I type that...

and the first thing google suggests is "applying for foodstamps".

It's depressing on a snarky level because who doesn't know where to go for foodstamps? I mean, duh.

But it's also depressing on a "THIS IS THE VERY FIRST THING GOOGLE SUGGESTS OH MY GOD EVERYONE IS POOR" level. As someone who has been on foodstamps before, when I was a kid and during a rough patch in high school, I can tell you that being on public assistance is neither easy nor fun. It is not an easy meal ticket. It does not buy you enough decent food, or decent clothes, or decent anything. Unemployment does not give you enough money to live at middle-class level no matter how many coupons you clip. I know a lot of people see the people on welfare as lazy slackers. Some are. Definitely, some are. Some people are content to live in cramped apartments eating cheap crappy food, sabotaging interviews so they don't have to work. But a lot of people who are on assistance? Are people you wouldn't expect. People who still dress nice. People who are still trying to work. People who try really, really hard to maintain a standard of living for themselves and their families. It's a terrible stereotype, that of the welfare kings and queens cheating the system. But I'm reminded of how very many people are having to bite the bullet and ask for help, these days. My family is not the kind of family that wants handouts. We're people who like to do things for ourselves or not at all. And so many families like mine are having to admit they can't do it on their own, and that must hurt so much. It must be so horrible to lose a decent job, no fault of your own, and have to tell your kids "No, honey, we have to get the cheaper brand, we can't afford that one anymore". My boyfriend lost his amazing job last week. It's a family business. And he's not family. And they're losing money due to the economy. You see where this is headed.

I don't know where I'm going with this. I'm just... frustrated. I'm frustrated that so many people think decent, hard-working Americans don't deserve help. I'm frustrated they need it in the first place. And I'm frustrated that this is happening on such a widespread level that even google is convinced that I most likely want to know how to apply for foodstamps.

-4:11 AM

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A hug. It's something only you can give, and a lot of times people who have "everything" have it at the cost of building up their personal relationships.

That said, no one knows what to get me for my birthday, because I have everything and need nothing. This is kind of depressing.

Told my boyfriend to get me one of the nailpolishes from Claire's that has three colors in it. It seems like it would come out looking like crap, but I really want one for some reason.

OMG MY BIRTHDAY IS SO SOON CRAP


DNW TO BE 22 :(

-9:37 PM

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KYLIE. God. She's touring the US but she's nowhere near here. If I had the money, yes, I'd go. But I doubt I'll ever have enough money to just pick up and go wherever my favorite celebrity happens to be. It seems like a waste, despite how badly I'd like to see her. Especially if she brought her sister, that would be amazing. You know how much I love it when people have sisters.

Also, I bought glow in the dark nail polish today. Somehow, my life feels more complete.

-4:05 AM

So my bedroom is magical. This is something I've known for quite some time now, actually. The first magical thing I noticed is the occasional visit from who I like to call the Clothing Fairy. Every so often I'll open my closet and discover a shirt, a pair of pants, a bra, underwear, socks, or some other article of clothing I have no recollection of ever having before. And yet, there it is, brand new but without any tags and smelling like both laundry detergent and that smell clothes get when they've been sitting in the closet for awhile. So I take out the clothing item and ask my mother, "Have you ever seen this before?" And she'll say "no?" Which is how I know the only way it could have gotten there is by MAGIC. Sometimes the kind fairy will even bring clothes she knows I need, like that time I wanted a new long-sleeved shirt and then found one.
And then there's the rattling door mystery. Okay, it's not really a mystery so much as it's just plain weird. My bedroom door (and none of the other doors in the house) rattles. A lot. Sometimes it rattles for obvious reasons, like really loud thunder. And sometimes it just... rattles. For no reason I can tell. My mother's witnessed this, and, in fact, tried to hold the knob so it wouldn't rattle only to have the door vibrate in her hands. Spooky.
The next magical thing is that Bad Things don't enter my room. My toilet overflowed once, and the water didn't go in my bedroom despite the fact that the rooms are next to each other. And if there are bugs in the house (Florida houses seem to attract a lot of insects, for whatever reason) they don't go in my room. This is pretty neat.
My room also magically stays REALLY FREAKING COLD all year round. I'm... not too fond of this magical aspect, though.

The last, best magical aspect of my room is the fact that money seems to pop up every so often. I find coins and bills tucked all over the place. It's probably just money I've misplaced, but sometimes I have no recollection of ever having, or losing, the money. It's just... there.
Speaking of money, I've got forty dollars in cash and a fifty dollar giftcard to the Citrus Park Mall, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to spend this money. I have some ideas, though. Ideas involving used book stores and thrift shops, because I am cheap. Plus, I won't spend any money until after Christmas, in case I accidentally buy myself something my parents have already gotten me. Also, YAY SALES.

Also, it's raining! Yay, I love night rain. :)
-2:13 AM