I’m so excited! We’re either driving tonight to Orlando or leaving first thing in the morning. Mostly it depends on how we feel this evening. But that specifically  means that this is my LAST DAY at work for like…two weeks. It’s not that I don’t love my job, because I do, it’s more like I haven’t had a vacation in over a year and I need some time off! And…Disneyworld? Talk about fun!

I will miss the puggies, but they’re going to be having a blast at our Vet, Dr. Jere’s place - they will actually be staying at his house with his dogs sleeping on his couch. So they will probally not want to leave and come back home.

Terry has set up four timers for various lights and radios to come on at random times during the day for security. Not that we really have anything to steal. We just don’t want it looking like no ones home…you know?

We’re mostly packed, just a few last minute things to pack tonight before we go. I’m so excited! Oh, and don’t despair, we’ll probally post more  on vacation than we’ve been doing in a while because we’re taking the laptop and I also have the ability to post from my cell phone…so check back frequently for amusing posts and pictures of us on vacation at Disneyworld.

Sorry I haven’t posted much (or at all lately) but I’ve been CRAZY busy here at work. One of my many managers (the Traffic) manager here at work is on vacation and I’m here back up. It’s very stressful and complicated as well as a lot of work. She’s used to it because she’s been doing it for 10 years. I’ve been doing for what amounts to a few weeks (stretched out with a day here and a day there) over the past 6 months…but I always had my ex-boss (the one who was fired) here as a safety net because he knew how to do the job. But now that he’s not here, it’s just me.

So…today is my FIRST day completely by myself doing it. I’m doing good, I think. Let me see what I have to say when it’s later in the day, right? It’s only 3:00pm right now.

Sorry, no exciting pictures today. Don’t think I’ve taken any…? I’ll try to rectify that soon!

Everyone I miss you guys!!! We’re doing good on our new “low-carb” diet that we adopted for Terry’s diabetes. I’m totally craving ice cream though. Which is rather weird because I have maybe eaten it one or two times in the last 9 months? And a hamburger (with the BUN!) and french fries…YUM!

I have no idea what we’re going to do about vacation. Are we going to go wild off the diet? Or ”try” to be healthy. We shall be at Disneyworld in a little over a week. Hooray for us!

Manicdote has had a bit of a makeover. As Terry said in his last post - we were shocked to realized that people had no idea that (TWO) different people were the posters on manicdote. If a post was about the pugs, scrapbooking, cooking and random life stuff…it was probally by me, Allison (Nevis). However if it was crazy, about comics, Star Wars, movies or video games…it was probally written by Terry (Van Redd).

After months of debate we’ve decide to split out our two identities to two seperate blogs. Obviously each of us will continue to post the stuff were interested in, but now the posts will be on different blogs. I’m still here but Terry will now be posting on Van Redd Online.

Also I’ve got a new look to manicdote. Hope you like it! Personally, I can’t decide if I like this better or not. There are elements I like better than the old theme. Let me know your thoughts…

**SITE NEWS** Nevis and I are going to soon be posting on different pages to avoid confusion over who is writing what. It seems kind of funny but some people didn’t realize there were two posters. You can check out a preview of Van Redd Online.

by Van Redd

We live in an uncertain world. One uncertainty is ethics. All of the websites, magazines, and podcasts about gaming say they have intergrity and that their reviews should be trusted. The bad news is that many of these places can’t be, at all.

The most notorious recent example has to deal with Gamespot firing Jeff Gershman over his review of Kane and Lynch. They claim he was fired for other reasons but we all know that is bull****. Another even more recent examlpe is Atari trying to bully some smaller review sites into keeping their so-so reviews of Alone in the Dark quiet. They claimed it was because they were breaking a street date on reviews…yet they also admitted that good reviews could go ahead.

The fact of the matter is that gaming is a bussiness. I understand that. Game publishers need to make money to publish more games. However what cannot be allowed is the buying and selling of game reviews and out and out lies to the public.

The movie industry has gone though similar growing pains. We have all heard the stories of movie studios coming up with fake reviewers to give a movie a tag line. They got caught a few years ago so that practice stopped. The problem with video game journalism is the ease at which people can be tempted. Game studios might fly you up to their offices, let you play on their really nice gaming rigs, and even provide you with awesome food and drinks. You would kind of feel bad to give a ****ty review then huh? A game studio can also pressure a magazine by giving them an exclusive only if they guarantee a great review. Another tactic they use is to pull advertising if you give a bad review. Just ask Ubisoft about that one.

The point I am trying to make is to be cautious and be more then willing to rent a game if your concerned about your gaming dollar. Look at your favorite gaming magazine really close and see if their reviews are consistant. I also recommend that you not support Gamespot in anyway.

**Now, to be fair, I don’t really know if EGM or Gamepro have any corruption. I was just using their images transposed with that of the Skrulls from Mavel Comics recent Secret Invasion storyline to make a point. That being said though, the recent shake-ups with Dan “Shoe” Hsu leaving EGM make me worry.

So lots of big news around the manicdote household. First of all (and most importantly) Terry was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. This means a lot of changes for Terry…well, both of us, really. First of all Terry has had to cut out all the soda (Mt. Dew) that he used to drink. We’ve looked long and hard but currently “Coke Zero” has been the best-tasting choice for him. And I have to agree, it does taste pretty darn good! If blindfolded I’m not sure I could tell the difference.

The doctor seems to be hopeful that through diet, excersie and possibly some diabetes medication that he will be able to control it all. So cross your fingers…the “South Beach Diet” was recommended to us by his doctor and today is our first day on it. As you may or may not know, on the South Beach Diet one consumes more low-glycemic carbs, or good carbs, such as whole grains and vegetables. These are absorbed gradually into the blood stream as to not trigger the spikes in your sugar/insulin cycle.

I’m also doing the diet with Terry because (A) It’s supportive, (B) I do all the cooking and I’m not going to cook two entirely different meals, and additionally (C) I could stand to loose a few pounds myself. We’re in what’s called “Phase One” which lasts 2 weeks. It’s the most restrictive of the phases but it’s full of a lot of stuff I actually LIKE to eat so I don’t really feel like I’m missing out. I had eggs for breakfast, a salad with grilled chicken for lunch, and I’m going to have steak and broccoli for dinner with a dessert of jello. I’m not hungry. I know I’m only on day one but I’m pleased that I’m not already wishing for food that I can’t eat. I know those feelings will come but with someone actually doing the diet with me…I feel much more confident than I had in the past when it was just me. You know?

Outside of that not much else is going on. We’re still deep in planning for our upcoming trip to Disneyworld which happens in 13 days. HOORAY!!!

Oh, like I tripped and fell the other day. Well, about a week and a half a go. I fell right on my knee as I walked through a doorway - I swear I flew up into the air before soaring down and landing entirely on my left knee. I was wearing jeans so I got rug burn all over (painful!) and right now it’s like that sickly mottled yellow-purple bruise color all over it. But about a week ago I noticed that my foot was swollen.

I didn’t really think much about it as it’s been SO HOT here and humid here, but I started noticing that they were swollen in the MORNING! And my foot was getting so swollen it HURT.  So my doctor wants me to have an X-Ray taken of it. Yikes!

I’m not afraid of having X-Rays taken but I’m afraid that one of the little bones in my foot might have broken - I can’t be wearing a cast right now…I’m going to Disneyworld! I hope it’s just a bad sprain or something. Although I just don’t know how I managed to sprain it. When I fell, I fell on my knee…I don’t remember hitting my foot? However the knee might have hurt so much that it overrided any pain in my foot. Who knows. Just keep me in your thoughts!

Also, I’m quite annoyed now. My boss here at work got “fired” on last friday because an employee filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Oh, the rumors that have gone rampant around here. What annoys me is that aparently he got fired over some supposedly “sexual” text message that he sent an employee. But aparently the entirety of it was that they were texting back and forth and she said that her boyfriend dumped her and he said that she could “do better”. That’s it. THAT’S “sexual harassment” these days? How insane is that!? I even heard that her and her father were out “celebrating” last friday night after he got fired. How tacky?

First of all - this employee is a total drunk and terrible at her job. Everyone around here believes that she only filed this lawsuit against my boss because she was probally on the chopping block and about to get fired herself. So it was just a “preemptive strike” as you might say. He was a great boss - ! What annoys me more than anything is that someone who actually cared about the company and was a hard worker was let go - but this girl who’s a terrible employe, barely competent at her job is still here. Seriously, I don’t understand this at all.

My point in even bring this up is that this boss was one of my main reasons for even staying at this job. It’s not a good job! The pay is terrible! The commute is really long. I went from making twice what I make, having an expense account, employees under me, a personal assistant, holding staff meetings, going on bsuiness trips, taking clients out - to being a “secretary“. I took the job because it was the first job offer I got here when I moved - but I KEPT the job because of my boss. He was a great boss and a great loss to the company. It definatly puts a lot of thoughts into my head like…why am I still working here?

*sigh* Oh, although on a happier note…Ruki is today’s PUG-A-DAY - ! Go see her and vote for her . She must be numero uno! My baby girl deserves no less. Click here to go see and vote for her! Thanks in advance! http://www.pugaday.com/

In conclusion, here’s a picture Terry took of Napoleon. It cracks me up because I love the expression (”What…another photo? I’m trying to sleep here!”) on Poley’s face. I also love that he’s using one of their bricks as a pillow (we’ve got bricks acting as stairs so little Ruki can climb into the litterbox). And don’t pity him. They’ve gone through about 6 beds (some EXPENSIVE!) in the last 6 months, and ruined all of them. So no more beds for them right now. They have a nice bath mat to sleep on. Once they get past their puppy-chewing-destroying-stage they’ll get a bed again but right now they’re bad little puggies and have to sleep on the floor. Although I don’t make them use the bricks as a pillow. That’s his choice. That’s how he rolls. Don’t you judge him!

Oh, and you can see his favorite toy, the “keys” in the picture- he’s even sleeping with them in his paws grasp (probally so Ruki can’t get them). Other favorite toys are “Sir Elephante” and the “Doggie Dumbell” you can see in the background.

A lot of people have been complaining about the new Indiana Jones movie. They say it is the worst movie and now makes Temple of Doom the second worst. People who prefer Raiders and Crusade have only one valid point, that they are stupid. I am here to tell you that those people who put TOD down are turdburglers and are not to be trusted.

Temple had a much darker story then any of the other films. It delt with an evil cult, child slavery, and asian sidekicks. The main villain, Mola Ram, pulled a guys heart out with his bare hands…his BARE HANDS! If you don’t think that is awesome you obviously have no idea what awesome means (FYI: It means pulling someone’s heart out with your bare hands). This is also the film that created the PG-13 rating. So suck on that G and PG!

I will now show you with indisputable proof that Temple was the very best of the Indiana Jones films and had it all. Including:

So there you have it. If this is not enough to convice you then you are hopelessly lost.

CAPTION this PHOTO and win something!

Contest ends 6/27/08.

P.S. This is the view from my backyard.

P.S.S. No, can’t swim in it. Not sure I’d want to. It’s kinda shallow and the guy who owns the park “fishes” in it. It has lots of frogs and tadpoles. And flies. And mosquitos. Frankly, I don’t go near it - I admire the view from afar.

Edit: JUST got back from Dr. Appointment. The tumor was nothing; it wasn’t cancerous! Hooray!!!

Nothing new to report, however I did see this video and it cracked me up. I mean, c’mon….What’s more hilarious than a hip-thrusting Darth Vadar?

And to answer someone’s question where this took place? Surprisingly…Disneyworld!

Edit: No, still haven’t heard on biospy. Will advise at soonest.

Well, I’m still waiting to hear back on the biopsy, but I just wanted to drop a note and tell everyone how their thoughts and prayers have made me feel very loved.

No, haven’t heard about the biopsy yet - not supposed to hear until 5-6pm today.

I thought I’d post a few cute pictures of the puggies meanwhile.

Terry captured them while they were alseep yesterday. I love the disgruntled look Poley is giving the camera.

And it cracks me up that you can totally see how much Ruki uses Napoleon as her personal pillow.  Isn’t she adorable?

Also, here’s one of my most recent layouts I scrapped. I’ll let everyone know as soon as I do about the biopsy.

Edit: Heard back from the doctor. They didn’t receive the results from my biopsy from the lab yet. Nurse advises me that I should hear back tomorrow night at this time. Ugh! The suspense is killing me!