The good news is: I got a raise. Yep, my boss said he noticed I’d been working really hard lately and that I earned it. What he doesn’t know is the reason why I had been working so hard. Not only did I have to spend $700 to fix my car, the next day I had to put up half the rent. I was left with $26 in my bank account. Granted, this job pays every week so I am assured my balance won’t stay that low for too long. Within a day, I had $400 again. Still, that was painful to look at. Here I am working a 9-to-5, that extends into overtime hours a lot, and I just barely paid my dues. It’s depressing. Thankfully, that raise will help a lot. A LOT.

The bad news: Audi still wants to leave Florida. He and I had a HUGE talk about it yesterday. I told him, “I can’t leave Florida. Not right now. I have a solid job where my boss just gave me a raise, and I could possibly be earning more in the future. I can’t afford to lose this job just because I’ll be trying to decide where I’m gonna live in the next 2 months.” He agreed with that, but still said he wanted to leave.

I told him he needs to seriously think about it more. A LOT MORE. Yes, I was pissed. It’s not fair that I need to uproot my life, a life I need at the time, just because he doesn’t like Florida. I don’t like Florida, either. But now is not the right time for me to leave. If he decides to leave me here with this apartment, fine. But he needs to seriously consider what he’s leaving behind: a woman that loves him that has put up with his mood swings, has stuck around despite his multiple break-ups with her, and has never asked for anything other than his love.

Amongst a lot of other things, I told him, “Do you think another woman is going to have the same patience as me?” to which he replied, “What makes you think there would be any other woman?”… Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure how to take that. Does that mean he feels he won’t be able to get another girlfriend? Or that he thinks I’m the one? I don’t know. I’m still trying process it.

There was a lot of crying, a lot of anger, and a lot of comforting. If nothing else, I am grateful that Audi is a REAL man when it comes to treating me well. He doesn’t just bail on me or act like I’m a leper whenever I feel sad. After all of that, he said he would think about it more. I told him, “You know, this little shithole apartment may not be much, but at least you have a place to come home to with a  woman that loves you.” He said, “I know.”

*sigh* TROUBLE IN PARADISE.

Anyway, I’m off to work today. Need those extra hours, ya know! After that, I’ll be heading over to my cousin’s house since my parents are coming up from Miami. I’ll also be working tomorrow (Sunday) and after that, I’ll hopefully be hanging out with my neighbors to celebrate 4th of July. I hope.

Ciao!

Audi, Family, Friends, Job, Life, Rants apartment, Audi, florida, Job, raise

Things have been looking up lately, especially financially. It feels really nice to have some expendable income now, along with the funds to pay for the important stuff. I’m so grateful for this job. Not many people can say that they get paid to do something they really love. ;D

I am really hoping that my car is fixed by tomorrow. The guy at the auto shop said that it would cost about $300 to fix. Seems the cause of the car’s over-acceleration and very high idle was the vacuum regulator, or something along those lines. *shrug* Either way, I am praying and hoping that this is the solution to my problem, and that I won’t have to worry about car problems for the next… month. Heh.

Tomorrow my cousin is coming to pick me up so I can spend some time with the family, specifically my godchildren. I’m also hoping that my cousin and I can go shopping, but that might not be so plausible. We’ll see.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. Ciao.

Family, Life car, finances, godchildren, Job

So, thanks to my new job, and the very generous and kind offer by my new boss, I am able to take home my laptop from work. I’ve now got a mini-station set up in my bedroom, where I’ve got internet access, and my 500gb drive hooked up. For the time being, I’m back in full swing, and hopefully, I’ll be able to buy that new hard drive soon. I’ve uploaded a new photomanip to my deviantart.com account. You can see it here: Summoning of the Muse

Both Random House US and Random House AUS have approved the images they’ve commissioned from me, and if all goes well, sometime this week I should be getting paid. Once that money comes in, my hubby and I will have a very nice financial cushion to sit on.

I’ve got to do some updates to my website, preferably today. I don’t want my site to just sit there, and I’ve definitely got some new art that I can add. I’m also thinking that, since the Random House US commission has been approved, I’ll add that image to my commissions as well. Although, I think it might be best to wait until the cover is out, and it has all the text on it, but I can always replace the image later.

Anyway, I need some food. Off to have myself a bagel. Yippee!

Ciao!

Art, Fun, Job, Life Art, hard drive, Job, laptop, website

Thank the heavens, it seems the good news just keeps pouring in.

So I got a call from that art gallery/business, and they want me to come in tomorrow around 12:00pm to talk to them some more. Oh, lordy, I DO hope I get this job. This $10/hour is SO needed at the moment. Wish me luck!

The other good news is that the latest issue of Advanced Photoshop magazine has come out, and they’ve featured my work in it. I’m currently trying to find someone on deviantart.com who has a copy that can maybe scan the pages I am on for me. *giggle* I’m so excited!

I am praying and hoping that things just continue to go well.

Art, Fun, Job, Life advanced photoshop, feature, Job, magazine, studio

So I was contacted by Random House Australia, and they’re going to be printing Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’ “The Shapeshifters” in Australia/New Zealand. They want to use my work “Dirige” for their covers as well! Hooray!! I’m so happy and excited.

I called the art gallery/business I visited last week, and it seems they still haven’t filled the position. So, here’s to hoping they call me up! *crosses fingers* I’m still looking around at other potential jobs, since I don’t want to hang all my hopes on just one location.

On Sunday, I went down to Miami to spend some time with my parents and my best friend Chris. Sunday night we went to the movies to see ‘Shutter Island’. It was pretty intense. It’s the kind of movie that you need a really strong stomach to watch. I don’t mean in the sense of gore or bloodshed, but some of the subject matter is just… wow… like a punch in the face. I thought it was really great, though. The story was definitely unique and gripping. Now, I’m even more interested in buying the novel it was based on to see what might have been edited in the film.

Right now, the hubby is over at our friend’s house helping her out, since she is very pregnant and has a busted ankle. I would have gone with him, but I just wanted to enjoy being home today. I’ll be going over there tomorrow.

Anyway, I must continue my commission work. Ciao!

Art, Audi, Family, Friends, Fun, Job, Life Art, book cover, chris, Job, miami, shutter island

Yes, yes I am lonely. Why? Cuz my hubby has been away at his dad’s house for the last few days and I want him back. Now, preferably. Thankfully, he just called me and let me know he’s on his way. Yay! While I do enjoy having the bed to myself, I do miss having him in the bed with me. Awww. How romantic. =P

I’ve got some great news. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes and her agent seemed very happy with the book cover, and after fixing just a few minor things, I’ve sent off the (hopefully) final revision. Wee! I’m so excited. Plus, I’m so grateful because we really needed this money. Things are getting tougher every day.

I’ve sent out a BUNCH of resumes and job applications in the last few days, but I’m most excited about this one job in particular. An artist with a studio literally down the street from my apartment needs someone to work in-house with digital photography, Photoshop, event planning, etc. I am planning on going down there tomorrow and dropping off a resume in person to accompany the one I sent via e-mail. I am really hoping that they haven’t gotten someone to fill in the position already. It pays $10/hour, which is excellent considering right now I’m making $0/hour. Haha.

I’ve also entered a contest on deviantart.com being held by a OOAK (One of A Kind) miniature and figurine sculptor. The premise of the contest is to use a photo in her gallery of her dolls and create a digital work with it (meaning a photomanip, digital painting, mixed media, etc). You can see my entry here: Fairytale. I REALLY hope I win, because the prize is either a custom doll, or the cash equivalent once she sells it on eBay. To be honest, I’d rather have the money since I could definitely use it more. Thankfully, the lovely lady holding the contest is understanding of this, and said that if the winner prefers the money, that it would be totally fine. Here’s to hoping I win! *crosses fingers again*

Still busting my butt on those commissions. The hardest part is actually finding the stock. The three ladies I have left to do commissions for had A LOT of demands for their works, so it’s taking longer to finish them. *sigh* But, that’s OK. I don’t mind a challenge.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Now, just gotta wait for my hubby to come home. Ciao!

Art, Audi, Job, Life, Love Art, Audi, book cover, Job, studio

Yesterday was a very VERY rough day. I got in to work at 9 am… and I was there until 6 am the next morning. Today at 12pm was the deadline for the manuals to be sent to the FAA for review, so Dustin, Carolina, and I were there working our butts off on finishing the manuals. Dustin graciously let me go home at 6am, but the two of them stayed there to keep working on the few manuals they had left. I got home, took a shower and slept until about 3pm.

I can’t wait for July 14th. Audi is coming back down to Miami for about a week, so I’ll get to spend some more time with him. Things are going really well, and I’m really praying that things continue to go well.

I’m going up to West Palm Beach tomorrow to visit my family, and to celebrate my goddaughter Naomi’s 2nd birthday. We’re all going to some Zoo or something, I forget. It should be fun, and I plan on taking lots of pictures.

I don’t know what else to talk about so… ciao.

Audi, Job, Life Audi, birthday, Family, Job

So far, I dig this job. I can do the work, nobody bothers me most of the time, and the people who work there are nice. =) I can even listen to my iPod while I work since it’s only me and Dustin in the office.

Since I’ve been a loyal AT&T customer for almost 8 years, apparently I might qualify for a full discount on a standard iPhone upgrade on the 15th. It just so happens that Apple is going to release the iPhone 3G (S) on the 19th. I don’t know if I will be able to get a discount for the newest model, but I think I am going to wait until the 19th (or after), anyway. You never know. 

I’ve been missing Audi a lot lately. It is starting to hit me just how hard it is to move on from him. We have so much history, and we know each other SO well. I know that we could likely have a wonderful life together, and it seems that the fates are against that possibility. It sucks… a lot. =( I can only hope and pray that he realizes what he lost and comes back to me. *sigh*

Anyway… ciao.

Audi, Job, Life, Love Audi, dustin, iphone, Job, work