This is theO Administrator Gail's personal blog for random thoughts and ramblings.

When life throws you pies, make pie-monade.

Time for a much needed update. Life has been a bit crazy as of late. My mom had been very sick for a long time. Around the holidays her poor health became even worse. In and out of the hospital and eventually into hospice. At the end of February she past away. I miss her terribly. It's bittersweet. She was sick and in so much pain for so long I am glad her suffering is over... but I wish she was still here. With Mother's Day right around the corner it's going to be a difficult time to get through.

My RA (Rheumatoid arthritis) has been out of control so things have been tough. Recently I had some lab work come back abnormal which has resulted in more test which again resulted in yet more test which thus gave us no info at all. So now I get to go see another Doc which will probably refer me to yet another Doc. I think they all just want my co-pay. BTW, May is National Arthritis Month. I'm really not sure how one is suppose to observe/celebrate/acknowledge this, but I guess I will do so by going in to have some medications infused! WooHoo! meh.

Posted an update on Ashton's World if you would like to see a picture of his "new" brother and sister. Oh, and yes, they have anime inspired names.

On theO front: Not much to report on my end. Things have actually been pretty quiet. Remember, scans from manga and screen captures from anime do not count as your personal fan art.

Keep on keepin' on, laters ya'll.

Earthquake, Tsunami and Missing Loved Ones in Japan

This has been a very stressful past few days. Phone calls have been flying around family members and friends here in the States as well as those in Japan. As of now so far we have been very lucky and everyone is safe. I feel completely drained but I can't even imagine the level of stress those in Japan right now are feeling.

Most of our friends and family are based in the Chiba and Tokyo area. They are in the area where there is no power. My brother's childhood best friend lives and works in Iwate. When we contacted his parents they were unable to get a hold of him at first but then he called to check in to let them know he was actually in Mexico on a business trip!

Best. Timed. Trip. Ever!

He is unsure if he has anything to come home to. We are pretty sure his apartment is gone. As for work, he hasn't been in contact with anyone yet. So as of last report he is going to stay in Mexico until things get sorted out a bit more.

My aunt's sister avoided the tsunami by making her way to the roof of the 12 story condo complex she lives in. They showed the rescue on NHK of residents getting airlifted off the roof. My aunt and uncle were watching it on tv. It's just so surreal.

My mom is making more phone calls tonight to try to get in contact with a few more friends we have not heard from yet. Hopefully the good new will continue and everyone is fine.

Please continue to send your thoughts and prayers to all those in Japan. This is going to be a very long recovery.

TheO is out to get you!

So, just a bit of ranting from me today. I am not sure if any of you guys have noticed but when a member has been banned/frozen, gets a warning from the mods or has their worked denied, it is not because there might actually be an issue with the member breaking the TOS or something up with their work but because the site is out to get them. It's like they assume that there is some giant conspiracy to "get them" like the site is oppressing them and we are plotting and planing to cause them harm. Do some members honestly believe that a fan site dedicated to anime otakus is out to get them? I mean, come on! How in the heck can the staffers have any time to plot and plan against random members when we, in fact, are busy plotting against Adam*?!

There is a contact link at the bottom of the page for a reason, there is no need to assume things when you can just email and ask.

*If Adam is reading this, there is no plot against you. I was just kidding. Really. Nope, no plans at all...

Not enough hours in the day...

I have returned from the great void. Hey, at least it didn't take me a year to get this update done! lol Thing have been crazy busy as always. In a nutshell: Ashton has been doing really well in his obedience class, site stuff has been pretty steady (if your stuff is getting denied, check your spelling. "Angle" is not the same as "angel".), went to a friend's wedding on the other side of the state which was wonderful, had a nice BBQ with friends on the 4th, work at the vet clinic has been good, I have a bit of a cold, trying to plan an Oregon coast vacation, may be going to Blizzcon, going to Seattle this weekend... phew, so much stuff, so little time. If only I had millions of dollars and a personal assistant, then I would be set. lol

Now there is a question for you: If you were given 1 million dollars, what would you do with it?

So, you come here often?

First, I want to begin by saying sorry for the epic fail in updating my site. Things have been really crazy in my life and I think the only ones who have been able to kind of keep up on it is Beth, James and Adam. Only because I complain to them when we have our staff meetings. So, in other words, count yourselves lucky I haven't been boring you with stories of sitting in an infusion chair for hours listening to chemo patients getting sick. ugh.

Anyway, here is what is going on in a nutshell. Health wise it has been a roller coaster of feeling great to feeling like death. Add to that too many doctor appointments and that is really the biggest chunk of my time. No worries though, you all know I keep on keeping on. I am still working as Practice Manager at a vet clinic. My boss there totally rocks and I couldn't ask for a cooler boss then Dr. Maier. He is ok with me working when I can and if I feel bad it's no big thing to skip work. He is a saint!

My dear sweet shepherd mix Heston past away from cancer. When we took him into surgery we were hoping for one of those big nasty tumors that you take out and it's gone forever. His spleen was covered in tumors so we removed that. Unfortunately the cancer had spread. My boss gave him a couple more months. As long as he was comfortable we were going to give him the best. He had canned food and plenty of treats until his last day. When it came time we gave him his own chocolate bar since I believe every dog should have chocolate once in their lives. My heart still aches for him and I miss him every day. John and I planted a memorial rose bush in the backyard for him. In the end, we gave Heston a full life filled with love and happiness.

On a much happier note we adopted a cute Corgi whom I have made a shrine named Ein's Real Folk Blues. Be sure to check it out when you get a chance. I'll be posting pictures of him over there. ^_^

I guess that is about it. I have a pile of anime to review so hopefully I will have a new review summary up in a few days. Phew! Hope this huge chunk of text didn't totally put you guys to sleep. Now that I have updated you on the past year all my future updates will be much easier. *crosses fingers*