I still need to do some things, like fix up the repeating background, add more to the about section, do something more with the footer. But it’s coming along! Nothing is ever really finished anyway.

What else is new? Well, as of some point in January, I obtained a friend who is a boy. A boyfriend, you might say. His name is Adam and he’s fantastic. I won’t get all mushy and lame and girly here (I’ll save that for the livejournal). So far so good! He recently bought me a 5 lb bag of gummi bears; clearly he is so into me.

Other than that, I’m not sure if there’s anything big to update on. The cats and the dog are doing great. Not together, but in general. The cats still hate the dog.

I’m not up to anything too fascinating. Hence the no blogging! I’ll try to come up with topics to talk about. Want a parting recommendation? Watch Big Love! Wonderful show.

I’m the type of person who is very organized. Messes just make me feel chaotic. If I set something where it doesn’t belong, it doesn’t stay there long. But my parents just love to read a newspaper, and then leave it on the table and/or countertops. For days. Bills? Stacked on the table or countertops. Newspapers should go in the recycling when you’re done reading it, and bills should go to your desk/office! Not sitting a week in the kitchen!

I’m also the type of person who turns a light off in a room as I leave it, if I’m not immediately returning. This is a habit that was drilled into my consciousness by my parents. The very people who now have a problem turning lights off after they leave a room. They also have to turn on, like, every single light possible. I guess I’m more familiar with my house than they are, and their eyes aren’t as good as they used to be. So I understand a little bit why they turn on every light in a room. What I don’t understand is why they can’t turn the lights off. You moved in to save money, but you’re wasting electricity!

I do not have a dishwasher. So dishes have to be stacked by the sink until they’re washed. I put the silverware in a pile, and stack everything else neatly. Rinse everything right away so it doesn’t get smelly. My mother always leaves her spoon in her bowl or her fork on a plate when she sets them by the sink, making it annoying to stack other dishes. My father likes to leave dishes in the sink, making it a pain to use the sink, because you first have to pull out anything that’s in it.

I’m used to living alone, so having to deal with other people’s quirks is definitely a struggle. So far, luckily, it’s trivial little things that are bugging me. But damn! I learned my neatness mannerisms from these people, and it’s like I’m going to have to train them to be neat and not wasteful of electricity! So weird.

Also funny: my dad was really against me getting a dog. But every time he’s here now, he’s playing with her, or letting her out of her crate after I’ve put her in there for the night. Giving her table scraps (which I hate!). That’s my wacky old dad. A softie for pets. I just find it amusing that he’s spoiling the dog he didn’t want me to have.

So how are things going? Well, not superb. I’ve been battling a bad bout of depression. I’m trying to keep in mind that moods are temporary, and even though things are rough right now, it will eventually go back up again. …Eventually! Now I’m taking medication and just trying to power through.

My mother moved in with me a couple weeks ago, to help both of us save up some money. I’m hoping that will eventually help with the depression thing. Anyone who says “money can’t buy you happiness” doesn’t know what it’s like to have not enough! It’s a huge, huge, huge stressor for me.

Last week I had a bit of a stomach flu, and now this week I’ve had a nasty cold! As if things weren’t crappy enough! I’ve also had some strange chronic pain in  my leg the past several weeks. They’ve looked for a blood clot, and not found any, so it’s probably nothing serious. Just annoying. Yay for lortab!

I wish I had more positive things to say, but there’s not much positive going on. Let’s see… Things are going well with my new dog. I’ve had her since July now. We’re still getting used to each other, so it’s been a bit of a struggle. But it’s going much better now. I’m a “cat person”, so all the demands of a dog were new. But she adores me, and I’m adoring her. Since I’ve had this cold, we’ve spent several days snuggling on the couch. She’s a super sweet dog, she’s really perfect for what I was looking for in a dog. Super friendly, keeps me motivated to exercise and take her for walks, really sweet and playful. Sadie (the dog) is loving that my mom moved in, and sometimes my dad is here. She loves the added attention. I’ve taken her to the dog park a few times. There are some pics in my Flickr here. She loves to play with other dogs. Run run run!

Hotter than Fergie.

So weird. I find something more hilarious every time I watch it. More the actual video than the wacky lyrics. Spin around, ninjas!

Fun song, something about the stick figures really gives it that special something.

Gotta love the middle cat chowing down. Brilliant!

Love this song. The MP3 has been in my iPod for a couple years.

Definitely need to check out more videos from these ladies. Genius.

This is sound advice. Listen to ChiCity, fellas. He knows what’s up.

If you’re unfamiliar with Louis CK, that is a pity. He is piss-your-pants hilarious.

A compilation comparing the many films of Harrison Ford involving his wife, his family and or his wife and his family being terrorized. Cracks me up every time.

Every time I laugh at this, I think I shouldn’t. But I can’t help it!

I’ve got a new project in the works. It’ll basically be a blog/resource site. I’m going to offer links to free tutorials, free graphics, free themes, free fonts, free advice. Maybe have some guest bloggers. Mostly it’ll center around web design and/or freelancing. I know there are plenty of other sites like that out there, but I’m hoping to give it a little something different. I definitely want to focus on free. And maybe have a bit of a ladies’ point-of-view. Most of the sites like that that I’ve seen have been written or run by men. Or if they’re for ladies – they’re for moms. There are plenty of us professional ladies out there who aren’t necessarily moms, or that isn’t a big focus on our professional side. I’m not saying there won’t be anything for moms, but that won’t be a big focus.

Still in the works, of course.

Been trying to put some work into my portfolio site as well. Right now I’m doing the one-page portfolio thing, but I want to amp it up a little bit more. I haven’t quite decided which direction I want to take it, but I’ve got some ideas up my sleeve.

I had thought of doing the new resource site project on angelakoskela.com, but I think I want to make it a separate thing. On the off-chance the project takes off, I’d like it to be its own entity. I guess we’ll see what happens!

At this point, I’m still working on the logo, and then I’ll get into the design. And at the same time, I’m getting the Wordpress blog for it all set up and ready. Work work work. I want it to be a success though, so I don’t want to half-ass it!

–Update September 28, 2009 – Anthony’s situation is still very precarious. It is possible he may lose his coverage in the next 10 days. If you can help and bring attention to his cause, please do anything you can!–

Almost a year ago, I met a very sweet gentleman online. We got to talking and slowly became closer and closer friends. It wasn’t until months later that he told me had ALS – Lou Gehrig’s Disease. His name is Anthony. I believe the reason he took awhile to tell me about his disease is because he wants people to get to know him for who he really is, for the real person inside. With or without the disease – I consider him to be one of the greatest friends I’ve ever had.

That’s the thing with Anthony – he is not just his disease. He is just like anyone else. He has family and friends. He has likes and dislikes. He has good days and bad days. He has dreams and passions and desires. He is brilliant and funny and sweet. He reaches out to people and makes friends. Every day.

I traveled 1,000 miles to visit him not once, but twice this summer! I am proud and happy to call him my friend, and cannot wait to visit him again.

Anthony was diagnosed with ALS in 1997 – when he was only 29. The prognosis for ALS patients is usually 2-5 years from diagnosis. He has been living with the disease for about 12 years now. Over the years he has lost the use of his limbs. He is paralyzed from the neck down, but still has full sensation. He can use his computer and keep in contact with the entire world with the help of a headtrack that moves the cursor with his head movements. Anthony cannot swallow, eat, or breathe on his own for very long. He lives his day-to-day life with the help of friends, family, and 24 hour nurse care in his home. He is on a ventilator and feeding tube, and has to have suction of his lungs every several hours. Patients with ALS usually die of respiratory infection and failure. The fact that he has made it 12 years with this disease is a testament to his spirit and strength.

From his Facebook group: “I tell you Anthony’s story because he has just learned that he will be losing his TennCare coverage beginning September 9, 2009. Without this coverage, he will be unable to receive the private nursing care that he requires. This will leave his care solely in the hands of his friends and family in order for him to remain at home. This would be a tremendous undertaking, especially considering that both of his family care givers are disabled. His only other option would be a nursing facility. However, there are no facilities in the local area who will accept a patient on a ventilator, so Anthony would have to go to a facility that is hours away from the family and friends who have helped him to fight for his life. Taking this day to day contact away from him is tantamount to a death sentence, if not in body then certainly in spirit.”

Help!

If you would like to help, please join his Facebook group and/or contact the elected officials in Tennessee. Even if you do not live in Tennessee, it couldn’t hurt to contact these people. If you don’t use Facebook, in the Facebook group, there is a sample letter to send to elected officials, and information for how to mail, e-mail, and call each of these people.

If you are a journalist or blogger and can share his story publicly – please do! Share this story here, or from the Facebook group, or from other articles. Some articles that are already out there:
Lou Gehrig’s Patient Kicked Off TennCare (Nov 6, 2009)
Lou Gehrig’s patient loses TennCare fight (Oct 2, 2009)
‘Tank’ battles bureaucracy and Lou Gehrig’s disease (Video) (Sept 20, 2009)
Hardin Co. Man Fights for Healthcare (Video) (Sept 8, 2009)
Facebook Friends Rally for ALS Victim Facing Loss of TennCare (Sept 6, 2009)

Imagine… living with ALS.

Please help spread the word with just a click, using the buttons below!

I’ve had Sadie for a week now, and it’s going pretty well. She’s had some stand-offs with the cats, but no one seems in any danger. Mostly the cats are scared and letting Sadie know, but Sadie just wants to playyyyy!

Sadie gets a little rambunctious sometimes, in the house and on walks. But she’s still a bit of a pup, so I can’t get too upset. Just keep working on her discipline and make sure she knows who’s boss! (Hint: me.)

Two weeks ago, I went to Tennessee! I visited Graceland, and my sunshine Anthony. I had a fantastic time! I’m hoping to go again in late August. I didn’t want to go home! ♥

Some random good news: I got myself a raise at work recently!

My new doggie Sadie. 1.5 yr old lab mix.

She’s really sweet. Needs some discipline work, but she’s pretty good. Wants soooo much to play with the cats! But the cats ain’t havin’ it. Last night she had a stand-off with Lewis (cat). Sadie’s tail wagging, trembling, whining. Pretty much saying “play with meeeee!” Lewis was poofed and arched and growling. Pretty much saying “GTFO”. Haha.

Sadie has encountered the cats a couple times since then. Kinda barks and chases them, but it looks like she’s playing (or wants to play). Not like she’s going to hurt them. So I’m feeling pretty good so far. I have her on a blanket next to my chair in the office right now, hanging out. She goes in the crate when I’m not home and at night. So far she seems pretty alright to have her loose when I’m here and not paying too close of attention. Like I said, she’ll chase a cat if she sees her, but it seems ok. She hasn’t even been here 24 hours, of course… So we shall see how it works out!

Haha, she’s a bit of a fraidy-dog. She gets startled really easily. Tonight I’m going to put her shock collar on (I’m only going to use the tone) and play with her out in the park. Let her run free, play some ball.

I went to NYC in May for my birthday! Mucho fun and adventures. Last year when I went, I was a bit timid. I didn’t go see too many things, and I didn’t take a lot of pictures. But this year I decided to embrace my inner tourist and just go wild. Up and out the door every day around 9am, didn’t go back to the apartment I was staying until after midnight usually. I remembered to take the time to sit back and really enjoy myself when I was seeing and doing stuff, but I made sure to keep busy. I took tons of pictures, you can (hopefully) see my NYC gallery on Facebook, it should be public. A few self-photos, which often turned out halfway decent, yay. The iPhone was fantastic for taking pictures and then sending them to people right away to make them jealous. I did some cheesy bus tour things, which were awesome, because I was able to see a bunch of great places in a short amount of time, without having to figure out how to get there! Ate great food every day, rode the subway, got to see my pal Mike Lavoie!

I had also taken a day trip to Philadelphia, to see the Mutter Museum and have a real Philly cheesesteak in Philly. Sadly, the museum did not allow photos. But I assure you, it was my favoritest thing in my entire trip. I even got to ride a train for the first time! I wish we had Amtrak where I live, that was comfortable and convenient.

Other than my trip, life has been fairly boring, which I’ve been trying to change. Lately it has been my goal to focus more on freelance work. I’ve been working on getting better organized and official with some of the stuff I do; like keeping track of my schedule, being accurate about time spent on things, and invoicing in a more businesslike manner. So far Google Calendar, SlimTimer, and Billing Manager (all free!) have been the things I’m testing out. So far so good. I think these have helped keep me motivated and on task to increase my turnaround time. Why trying to buckle down lately? The image to your right is an accurate representation of how I look every day at my 8-5 job. (Also, favorite ani gif ever!)

On the home front, I have still been looking to get a dog. As it turns out, my aunt is looking to give her dog away! So a couple weeks ago, I went over there and visited and met the dog. Very sweet! Needs a little discipline, but she seems like a promising choice. She’s about a year and a half old, and my aunt has cats that she’s grown up with. She says the dog will kind of “play” with the cats, which the cats don’t care for. But it sounds like she won’t try to eat any cats, so that’s the important part. A lab mix. I decided to wait and think it over for a little while before getting the dog and throwing myself into a mess without proper thought. But I am fairly sure I will be getting her sometime in the near future.

I am currently sitting outside on my front porch! Summer has been slow to come to northern Minnesota, but it does seem to finally be on the horizon. It’s a bit chilly out yet today, but I still want to enjoy the fresh air. I have ordered a nice bistro patio set to have out on my porch soon, so that will be lovely for laptopping in the summer! Just last weekend I weeded and planted my little flower garden just off the side of the porch, so it’s already quite lovely to sit out here. Come on, summer!* Funny thing, after I planted my garden and was sitting outside for a bit, my neighbor noticed and started giving me plants from out of her garden! So all the non-flower plants in the photo are freebies from my neighbor! Nice!

*Cut to a month from now when I’m bitching about the heat and humidity, while worshiping the air conditioning gods.