It's been a year since I've posted my last journal, but I am alive!

I will be attending Anthrocon next week, staying at the Double Tree Friday and Saturday nights, and checking out Sunday. I anticipate arriving around 3pm Friday for check in, will need to head over to register my badge (I wasn't sure if I was going and let the pre-reg deadline pass), then will just be roaming around.

I hope to reunite with friends and meet new faces.


Life has been busy with my non-art job. My cats are well. I got a raise in March, which helped me a lot. Uhhm.....I bought some Copic markers to try out.

Thanks for reading this. :3



(edited to set this as my featured journal--sorry if you see this entry show up twice.)

This year I'm going and will be staying downtown for the whole event. I managed to reserve a room at the Double Tree for myself and a couple friends, checking in Thursday, June 29th, and out on Monday, July 3rd.

I won't be a Dealer or in the Artist Alley though--just roaming around. I'm looking forward to catching up with friends and meeting new folks.

The con is fast approaching. I can't wait!! :D

I'm trying to plan ahead for my car inspection coming up at the end of September, so I am opening for a limited number of commissions now. It's been a long time since I've taken on new projects, so I don't want to overload myself.
These are NOT first come, first serve. I have included a short form below. Worry not if your idea isn't chosen this round--depending on how much interest there is--I may set up a waiting list.


Time frame: I'm going to have some free time to work on these at my job this month. Estimated completion time is by end of October. There are two smaller projects I'm aiming to finish coloring before I begin these, for Jaslyn and ShadowHuskie.


Option 01 -- 9x12 Monochrome Portrait---$100
Mixed media on Bristol paper, gray tones only, comprised of Prismacolor marker and pencil.

Examples:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6481939/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/498266/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1313672/

(2nd and 3rd examples don't have backgrounds and are a bit old)

- Single character.
- Full body, unless you specify otherwise.
- Nudity okay, but no porn, or fetishes, please. No underage characters.
- Includes background, specified by you. I can create my own for you, if requested.
- No extra charge for characters with wings or extra limbs.
- Original mailed to you; the cost of shipping is included in the commission price.
- Payment upfront through Paypal, USD only. I will invoice you.

Option 02 -- 4.5x6 Small Colored Portrait---$47
Mixed media on toned paper, full color, completed in Prismacolor marker and colored pencil.

Examples:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20289839/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/19703204/

- Single character.
- Not full body, unless character is feral or chibi style.
- Nudity okay, but no porn, or fetishes, please. No underage characters.
- Includes a limited background, specified by you. I can create my own for you, if requested.
- No extra charge for characters with wings or extra limbs*.

*Please keep in mind that anatomy such as wings or extra limbs may fill up most of the background, but I will do my best to keep the composition from looking crammed.

- Original mailed to you; the cost of shipping is included in the commission price.
- Payment upfront through Paypal, USD only. I will invoice you.



$100--Monochrome Portrait Slots:

1.
2.

$47--Small Color Portrait Slots: - - FULL

1. - portrait of Seven
2. - portrait of Shar


Please comment below with the following information:

Theme or desired idea: (such as, "I would like to see my character doing this", or, "I like such and such. I would like to have these included in the composition")
Character References:
Species of Character:
Your choice of either Option 01 or 02


For example:
Theme or desired idea: My character, insert name of character, walking on the moon.
Character References: (this one is pretty self explanatory)
Species of Character: Dragon tabby cat hybrid
Option 01



I will send a sketch for you to proof before any of the final rendering begins. Once you've given me permission to proceed I cannot go back and make changes. If I have drawn something in error, please, please, please mention it when I send you your preview. <3

Refunds can be requested at any time. Projects not started will be refunded in full. Projects that are started will be refunded, minus a fee agreed upon by both the commissioner and myself for work completed. Anyone who charge-backs after work is completed will be blacklisted.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. :)

I wanted to put it out there that I signed up for Furry Network recently. I am not leaving FA, and everything that has been uploaded here will stay. I don't typically delete or wipe my galleries if there is a fear of that happening. There are a few older items I uploaded on FN, but I'm not going to transfer my entire FA gallery over.

My Deviantart account has the biggest collection of my art dating back to when I first started sharing my work online.
I do consider FA as the main place I post my art, even though I don't have as many submissions as I do over on DA.

Furry Network looks really promising, so I'm going to give it a whirl.



https://beta.furrynetwork.com/guyver47

(Currently under construction)

I don't keep a waiting list, but keep an eye out for journal entries offering slots.
FYI: I do not take commissions through Skype chat. If anyone is asking you for money through Skype assume it is not me and avoid them.

Openings for commissions, art trades, and requests will be announced in advance via journal entry, and selected based on IDEA, rather than on a first come-first serve basis. I don't want folks to feel the need to throw their info together sloppily in a rush to get a spot. Applicants who are not chosen are welcome to submit their idea again in the future and may have their character selected at a later time once a round of prior commissions has been completed.

Payment for orders $100 and under is expected in full upfront. Orders exceeding this amount can be paid in parts, such as 50% upfront and the remainder due upon completion of the final approved sketch.
Payment must be in US dollars. Payment is via Paypal invoice I will send to you. Anyone who tries to obtain a commission without payment via charge back after completion will be blacklisted.

Full refunds are offered for incomplete work. Partial refunds will be issued for work partially completed, unless I'm cancelling the commission. In that event a full refund will be issued to the client. I reserve the right to cancel a commission if a client becomes abusive or if I'm unable to satisfy their requested project.

Private commissions that can't be posted online cost considerably more due to restricting the piece from being displayed as an example of my work. This "fee" does not apply to art that is kept secret temporarily, such as gifts made especially for a holiday or anniversary.

There are certain things I will NOT draw. If you are unsure if your idea has subject matter I won't deal with, please ask! I'd rather that you feel comfortable talking with me if we're going to do business together. :)

For reference, I will NOT draw:
- underage/minor characters in adult or suggestive situations of any kind
- diapered characters, including cubs/babyfurs and adults (whether in soiled or unsoiled diapers)
- prolapsed or stretched out orifices (exaggerated beyond normal penetration)
- penetration that is intended to show internal bulging in the stomach region due to large genitalia
- unbirthing
- oviposition or egg-laying, adult or non-adult
- scat/fecal play/watersports

Stuff I love to draw:
- female characters
- chibis
- badges
- wings

Things I will draw, but I'm not very specialized in:
- soft vore (non-dismemberment or high gore content--no dissolving views or stomach shots)
- ferals and taurs
- foot worship/paw play
- weapons and intricate mechanical objects (such as vehicles, planes, mecha, etc.)
- hyper and macro (adult content must be discussed)
- muscled characters
- male on male
- size play
- transformation
- non-con (must be discussed first)


Tools:
Traditional media--Prismacolor colored pencils and markers. I use a lot of mixed media comprised of pencil, ink pens, gel pens, acrylic paints, and pastel.
Digital media--Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

The last couple of months have been busy for me. I ended up getting sick for the last two-ish weeks and haven't done much beyond crawling into bed after coming home from work. The office I work for is very small and calling off isn't really an option. My co-worker and I bounced this illness off one another after she shared it with me. Mucinex saved my life I tell ya what.

My job situation also changed at the beginning of the new year. I am now working one job Full Time!! I'm so happy--this is something I was striving to get for myself for the last 4.5 years. I bowed out of my other job with the larger medical practice earlier this month as well.

I have two cats now! Beans and Nibbles were feral kittens visiting my patio that I have gradually tamed since August. They've both been to the vet for their shots and neutering/spaying. They've come such a long way in their socialization and I love them so much. I was hesitant to ever get another pet after the loss of my last kitty in 2013, buuuuuuuut I got attached. Love them love them love them. Beans is more outgoing than his sister, but they both love to snuggle with me in bed. Did I mention how much I love them? Team SNUGGLE!

To say the least, I'm very behind on projects and messages, so I'm now back on the grind to catch up.

P.S. I love Kylo Ren too.

Nuffin to see here yet.

I was informed yesterday that someone is pretending to be me on Skype and have been messaging random friends and acquaintances.

I haven't signed on to Skype in over a month. I only use ONE username and that is "guyver47".

I will never IM anyone to tell them who I am.
(I prefer to let people IM me first, honestly, to be sure they want to talk to me.)

I do not use my real name in conversation online. I list my name on my accounts for general information only because I sign my art with my real name sometimes.

I will NEVER ask anyone for money through Skype.
I do not approach other people to ask them to commission me and I would never do it through Skype.
My commission openings are always advertised through journals and it is done only on this FA account and my deviantart account.

My only e-mail addresses are g4774(at)hotmail.com and guyver47(at)gmail.com
I never use United Kingdom e-mail addresses or domains.

If this person targets you please just ignore and block them. People who do this thrive on the attention they get by pretending to be other people. I'm know I'm giving them the acknowledgement they want by posting this journal, but I want to prevent folks from getting scammed.

Thanks for reading.

So, I'm a week into starting my new job and it's going well. My head was spinning after the first day, but things are going better now. It's been years since I had to look up vision insurances and authorize services/benefits, but thankfully nothing in the process has really changed. I'm doing less technician stuff, but I'm learning new skills, like measuring the pupil distance on glasses and base curves of the lenses. It has been hard for me to switch my brain back and forth between the new job and the old one as I'm still working there one day a week. (I'm happy to still be able to--I didn't have to say goodbye to my co-workers and they're happy to see me once a week.)

Last week was too busy for me to work on any art after work (I was so tired, haha), but I'm ready to set a schedule for art now.

Day Job Work Hours:
Monday: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm (laundry night or grocery shopping after work)
Tuesday: 8:20 am - 5:00 pm
Wednesday: 9:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thursday: 9:00 am - 2:00 pm
*Friday: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm (*typing letters/scheduling surgeries at old office)

Art Schedule:
Tuesday: 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Thursday: 4:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Friday: 6:30 pm - 12:00 am
Saturday & Sunday (all day with breaks, as needed, for chores)


Projects at the top of my list are a badge owed to Jaslyn, and portraits for both Zyrena, and Jaskie.


Thanks for reading!

It's been a while since my last journal, but I've been quite busy with things offline since July.

Teef!

I had my bottom wisdom teeth extracted on August 18th. They weren't viable teeth anymore and were becoming increasingly more painful. One had a giant cavity in it. I was awake and had them yanked by my dentist using a local anesthetic. I had the top two taken out before they grew in while I was in high school and I wish I would have gotten rid of all of them at once. My dentist at the time said the bottoms weren't impacted and would not affect my tooth alignment. While that was correct, these teeth started to decay while they were breaking through my gums and eventually became problematic.

About two days after the extraction, the right side of my face swelled up, possibly due to dry socket. I started an antibiotic that day and the swelling took several, several days to come down. Thank kitty litter for Hydrocodone! I had a lot of trouble eating anything that wasn't either smashable or drinkable and ended up losing about 8lbs. (I've been keeping it off, too!) It was too painful to even swallow my own saliva at times. I expected there would be a higher risk of complications due to my age (32) and the fact the teeth had well developed roots. Everything is fine now, though! I even got to keep the teeth as souvenirs. Haha.


Jurb!

I'm starting a new job on October 19th working with an Optometrist and her staff. It's a very small office compared to the one I've been working in since 2011, but I don't view that as a negative point. The work is similar to my Ophthalmic medical assisting job, but is less tech work and incorporates front desk duties as well. The pay is higher and I'll have steady hours. I also get to wear the scrubs I have now, so I don't need to invest additional money in a work wardrobe. I get my health insurance through the marketplace, so I'm going to keep my current provider.

This means I won't be working two part-time jobs anymore and I won't be cleaning after the 16th of October. I'm hoping having this one job will provide stability in my life so that I can recover financially. I had to juggle some bills and put more on my credit card than I had liked to since April. My car was also due for inspection in September; I had to buy two front tires and replace an oxygen sensor to pass. Two close friends of mine loaned me some money that I'm going to be paying back to them little by little. They saved my butt big time.

I also expect to have more time for art once I start my new job because I won't have to get up either really early to clean the office before work or have to stay 1-2 hours after in the evening. I'm excited, but also very nervous. I hope I can prove myself to their satisfaction and keep this job. It's going to be really hard to leave my co-workers as I've been working with them for years and I've grown quite attached to them, but I need to do this for myself.

So that's all for now. :)

I'll be at the convention on both Friday and Saturday. I live local to the con and will be driving there and back each day rather than staying in a hotel.

There's a few friends and folks I'm hoping to catch. Aside from that, I do not have any plans. I'll just be roaming around or in the Zoo, so don't be shy. I'm kind of shy at first when meeting new people, but I don't mind hugs.

I can be reached through Twitter guyver47 if you don't have my cell phone number.

ETA: ...uhh....I need to get a shower first and pack some things. I aim to be there by noon.

Just wanted to show a sign of life!

I'm still working two part-time jobs for the same medical practice, mainly as a technician and then cleaning the office and its optical shop five days a week. Sometimes I clean before we open for the day, so I'm often working 12 hours if I get there around 5am. I change in to my scrubs and dry my hair there, so I've got this horrendously giant bag with my hair dryer/flat iron/products in it that I bring with me. Sometimes I want to throw myself and that bag down the stairs to get to my car faster, but those are inside thoughts.

There are some changes going on at work that I can't discuss at length here, but I can say that working two jobs is becoming a little bit taxing on me. I'm noticing a huge impact on how much energy I have left over at the end of the day, so I stopped trying to make time for my art. My last upload before today was two years ago. Anything that I tried to work on I just put away so I didn't have to look at it. My feelings about my past work and the future became very negative.

...so...

I reached out for help. I have been taking Escitalopram 5mg since February 2015 for generalized anxiety. It has helped quiet my anxiety down which always felt like it was constantly eating at my guts every waking second for years. I tried my hardest to hide it all and put a smile on. I've noticed I've been more focused and less consumed with racing thoughts, or by having too many thoughts going at once. I was afraid of side effects, but it was nothing compared to not trying to help myself.

I'm finally ready to share some of the things I've been working on and revitalize my connection to the nice folks I've met out there across the years. I faded away, but will never quit. I'm still working on respecting deadlines and not letting down clients. I hope to share more with you again soon.

This is a follow up to my last journal questioning setting up a possible Patreon for myself. The response I received in both places where the journal was shared was what I had been expecting—there were less than a handful of replies, but that did not upset me like it may have a few years ago because I understand why.

I just haven't been active in art and it's natural for folks to move on if they think an artist has vanished from the Internet. I have been very, very quiet, but I will not disappear from my accounts with the intent of never returning without informing people first. I still want to be involved like I used to be.

The last year was very rough for me and all of my sketches and in progress projects got packed away quickly when I had to move in May of 2013. It took about five months to sort through 9 years worth of junk hauled out of storage within two days time and I've recently been trying to get my art organized so I can pick up where I left off. I thought we were going to lose the apartment within a month of moving in because my partner lost his job two weeks after the move, but we made it through. He is working full time again and I've been working two part time jobs since 2011. I know my personal life shouldn't get in the way of me getting through my owed commissions, but I simply couldn't function beyond my work as a medical assistant. I chose to push my commissions to the back burner because I had to keep up with rent and a car payment added on to my other bills, but I never kept the people waiting on me updated personally and that was wrong.

My plan is to proceed with setting up a Patreon, but it will not be immediate. I'm going to try to juggle as much as I can because I need to be active in art for the sake of my mental health. My strategy is to work on one owed project at a time until it is completed because picking at several at once has lead me in circles. By the time I've got something done on one, the other sketches look outdated to me and I end up doing it all over. It's wasting my time, ends up making my customers upset and that's not okay.

I have my master list as a PDF on my desktop. I have refunded several projects over the last two years. I will continue to offer refunds regardless of when I took on the project(s)—even for the fundraiser projects I arranged to benefit my brother. I learned not to take on so much work again because the fundraiser for my brother turned out to be a no-win situation. The money raised did not make a difference in the end. I am still thankful for the response from the online community, but failed on delivering in a timely manner the rewards for donating. I took the trust of others for granted and feel awful for making people wait years for art.

I need to start off in baby steps again and I'm hopeful that as I slowly become more and more active online that the people familiar with my work will someday return. I also hope to attract new interest in my work and eventually be able to replace that second part time job with commissions and Patreon.

Lastly, please, please, please do not be afraid or hesitant to contact me if you'd prefer a refund. I've never really fleshed out a TOS, which is one of the things to get done for the future, but I will always offer a refund on unfinished work. Anyways, thanks for reading. I'll be around.

With the dawning of websites like Patreon, I need feedback from my watchers on whether or not there is enough interest out there for me to set up a Patreon for myself.

I've been working as a medical assistant for the last three years and cleaning the office on top of that to survive, but I am burned out. My time for art is limited to the weekends and too many of them have gone by where I've been too depressed to work on owed projects. It kills me. When inspiration hits I'm in the middle of scrubbing a toilet or I have to go to bed to get enough sleep to put in a 10-12 hour day the next day. I want to make a change, but not take such a risk if there is no audience to participate with. It has been several years since I've been very active in uploading so I know it is natural to have a loss in watchers. I just need to know so I can continue forth with my battle plan.

I've been held back with outdated computer hardware, but was given great parts from my boyfriend after he updated his own this month. I'm living in a safe place now since May of 2013 and I share an apartment with my boyfriend. There is rarely an interruption or unexpected visits. My current projects are not forgotten; I don't have my list online at this time and I accept that some may write me off for still owing them art. I haven't forgotten these folks. I'm keeping track and I haven't given up.

My goal is to make enough money per month to replace my cleaning income while still keeping a part time job to maintain my health insurance. I also have several responsibilities to keep up on, such as paying my share of the rent, light and Internet bill. My future goal is to save up for a tablet monitor or similar product.

I've been identifying the risks. The benefits would be better mental health for myself and increased self fulfillment.

This does not mean I'll hold my work hostage and keep it behind a "pay wall". I haven't produced much content lately because I'm working two part time jobs, but everything made for myself or for Patreon supporters will be posted publicly. I've been making notes for ways to give back to monthly pledgers.

Patreon is a way for a person who may not be able to afford a lump sum commission to pledge even a single dollar if they want. If 30 people each pledged a dollar, that's $30 less I have to worry about pulling in every month. My other ideas for rewards are stacking discounts for Patreon pledgers who renew their pledge for more than one month. For example, an individual who pledges X amount per month and continues to do so for X number of months in a row would be entitled to X amount off a variety of commission types. In the case of a third party printer, such as Storenvy, I would offer discount codes to Patreon pledgers on items. Each month someone would win something like a badge, icon or 5x7 inch pencil-shaded sketch.

So, I just need to know—is there interest in supporting me through Patreon?

Thank you for your feedback.

Clicked over to the big 3-0 on July 27th.

ヽ(°◇° )ノ


(ノ°ο°)ノ



(ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ

I'm driving down to attend Anthrocon for Saturday only.
There are a few friends I'm itching to see and most of them are only in town for the con, so I hope to make the most of the day. I'm hoping to fit in time for lunch or dinner with those who are available. In the evening, I'm planning on camping near ShujinTribble to watch him record his broadcast live from the Zoo. I'm aiming to stay until midnight or until I get sleepy. I don't want to drive back home while too tired.

Registration opens around 10am, so once I get my badge I'll be milling around somewhere.
I'm coming alone, so I don't have a "clique". I'm friendly. I like conversation. I'm relatively harmless.
I love cats. Hugs are fine. I'm bringing my camera. My photo on my profile is old - I'm no longer blonde and my hair is curly now. If I think I know you and spot you first, I hope you won't mind if I approach you to say hello. XD

Friends have my cell number. I have Boost mobile, so everything including texts is unlimited for me.

8D I'm so excited to go for just the day. I'm keeping my eye out for some feline wares and to grab something from a certain awesome artist attending this year. *flails*

My boyfriend got fired yesterday. He reached the end of his 90 day evaluation period, so at the end of his shift Thursday he was given his final pay and told that was that. No exact explanation, just that the owner of the company (small) decided to terminate him.

I feel bad for him because I know he feels sore over this and has to search for a new job urgently. I'm also scared because we just moved in to an apartment not even 3 weeks ago and keeping it is so much easier when two people split the rent. (一。一;;)

Stuff is still unpacked. Not much time to really do anything after I get home from cleaning.

Yesterday I started my training of sitting in with the doctors and recording their findings during the patient exam. I really need to study and learn more of the terminology. Each doctor has his own routine, so I have to accommodate each of them and meet their standards.
I'm getting more hours this month than I was originally going to. My schedule can change if any of the doctors go on vacation because if there's not enough patients coming in that day, then there's not enough to keep 4 techs busy. When that situation happens, the head tech tries to work things out so I don't work too few days if it can be avoided. I still have my cleaning job on weeknights.

I know we can make it through his - we have to.

The good news is and I found an apartment within our budget that is in a safe neighborhood about 5-10 miles away from each of our jobs. We signed our lease today and spent a short moment laying on the carpet together enjoying the peace and quiet. (We bought a couch from my co-worker, but we won't have that until Saturday.) I had packed my car with some items to bring in after we got the keys.

We have a van rented for this weekend to move the furniture and heaviest items. My ISP will be disconnected on Monday. We don't have that set up yet at the apartment, so I'll be unreachable this weekend, except via my phone.

The bad news is my relationship with my mother is deteriorating quickly. I got in to a fight with her earlier this evening after she threatened to sue me for money if Verizon hits her with an early termination fee. We renewed the Triple Play bundle for 24 months before she told James and I to leave. I called Verizon a few days ago to ask if getting rid of only the FIOS portion counted as "terminating early". My grandma is the only one who uses the land line phone and watches the TV the most, so she pays for those two services. James and I split the FIOS 50/50.

The rep I spoke to said there would be no cancellation fee, but the bundle pricing would change, the $10 bundle discount would no longer be deducted and mom wouldn't get her $120 Visa pre-paid card as the promotion for 24 month renewal. I texted her (because we're not really speaking) and told her all of this. She got mad because I never told her when the FIOS will stop, because I haven't called them back yet, so she called them. She's not good on the phone with most human life, let alone a tech support person. She says the rep said the early termination fee must be paid and got really angry with the rep, threatening to sue me while on the phone for that amount since "she's getting the silent treatment from her kid." Does she still expect us to be buddies after all of this? This situation just reeks of abusive "look what you made me do" bullshit.

As much as I think this overall situation is STUPID, I feel I have valid reasons to be angry at her and she feels like I don't. If she had kicked only my boyfriend out, I still would have left with him, but mom is doing everything she can to stick it to me as well. This whole magistrate thing is a clear example of how irrational she has become. She has no control over her emotions and I'm not worried about her empty threats.

In two or three months we would have left after my college loan and dental debt were paid in full, without all of this drama. I don't know, however, if the apartment would have been available at that time, so I'm thankful we have a place to go when we needed it.

Art is going to pick up once my working space is set up.
Thanks for bearing with me!

I can't sleep, so I might as well type this up now while it's fresh on my mind. This might get a little long, but I need to catch everyone up on the main reason I'm posting this news.

It's not very well known because I don't update often, but I work Part Time as an Ophthalmic Tech and have been one since August of 2011. While my monthly income is just enough to cover my bills, there's not much left over to put in to savings.

Sometime last year, my co-worker no longer desired to clean both the office and optical shop on our floor. I took over cleaning that shop two nights a week for extra money. In February 2012, that same co-worker was scheduled to have major surgery and was going to be physically restricted from cleaning, so I took over cleaning the entire office, as well as the optical store. In total, I was cleaning five nights a week. February was a very financially stable month for me because I also received my tax return.

In 2010, after moving out of my ex's place in NY, my goal was to find stable employment. I have that and moved on to the next goal of paying off my longest held debt, my college loan. The remaining balance is now under $600. I was aiming to have that wiped out in a little more than 3 payments.

In 2011, I financed my first car on my own with no co-signer. My monthly payment is $250 a month and I am going to have this debt for a while. After the college loan was done, I was intending on putting the "freed up money" towards the car loan.

I then needed to have multiple cavities taken care of through Aspen Dental in 2012 after a filling from a different dentist disintegrated while I was at work. I was approved for Care Credit and picked the 48 month repayment option because if something were to happen* and I couldn't pay the $1,500 off in 18 months, the daily back interest they'd slap me with would ruin me. I put $800 of my tax return on this debt in February and have under $250 left to pay back.

I gave my ex $375 towards half of the neutering bill for Yoshi, the cat we adopted from a friend of his when we were dating. (Yoshi lives with his cat daddy in Brooklyn.) The procedure was costly due to his age (6) and also because his testicles never matured properly, so they had to be more invasive to find his kitty nuggets.

I needed tires during our winter season this year and my mother used her credit card to pay for them under the condition I pay her back monthly. I've been doing so at $100 per month.

In summary: My money is going out as quickly as it comes in, but it's all towards bills and very rarely for pleasure - like dining out, movies, buying work clothes or toys.

*The bad news - My mom wants my boyfriend and I to move out in 30 days.
In January 2012, he moved in after driving all the way from El Paso, Texas. He had finally saved enough to afford a car, then packed up all he could and drove over 1,000 miles in under 2 days. My mother lives elsewhere, but this is her house and we share it with my grandma, who has been living here since I was very small. When my grandma has errands to run, like going to the bank or for groceries, I take her. She doesn't drive, but is still mentally sharp for age 85. She needs help here and there, but for the most part she requires little supervision.

My mom was engaged to a man she is still living with, but things didn't work out and she has been making preparations to move back in to her house.

The good news - We have 30 days to find an apartment, which is better than 7 days and far better than NO days. Very recently, my boyfriend changed jobs from Part Time to Full Time with weekly paychecks. He has been able to save up some money since the contract his employer is working on required overtime as soon as he was hired.


Things are going to become very crazy, to put it lightly. I don't really know what is in store for us at the end of the 30 days, but there is a high likelihood I won't have access to the Internet, except for at work. I knew this situation was coming because my relationship with my mom has been deteriorating over the past few years. There are a few places I'm hoping we can snag within our budget. As long as there's enough space to keep warm and dry (that my mother won't be anywhere near), then that's all that matters to me.

I have to sit on my commissions this month until I know things are taken care of. I was picking at them during the weekends, but progress had been slow until recently. And then this giant shit storm came barreling through. I have two badges that I promised to finish before Anthrocon and two that don't have an official deadline, but need to be addressed. I still intend on keeping the deadline for the AC badges.

This also means any plans I had of attending Anthrocon, even just for one day (since I'm sort of local to the con) have to be cancelled.

Good news - One of the techs accepted a job offer and will be leaving soon. I have the opportunity of becoming certified, working directly with the doctor in the exam room (instead of starting patients only) and hopefully getting a raise as well.

Bad news - Studying for an Ophthalmology Medical Assisting Test while apartment hunting, packing up your life and throwing away clutter all within 30 days has me stressed quite a bit.

Lastly, my remaining cat passed away on the morning of March 6th, 2013. She was no spring chicken (born in 1998), but her health declined quite rapidly over a week, which made her passing even more difficult to deal with. It seemed like she was her same old self at the end of February and then I noticed her behavior changing in March. My grandma was really attached to her as well because Booger would lay by her feet all day long while I was working.
I uploaded a memorial I put together for her in my scraps: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/10318360/

So, things will continue to get interesting. I'll try to update as soon as things look up. For now, I'm going to try to fall asleep again because I have to be up for work in 3 hours. Today is my "long day"when I'll be cleaning both the optical store and the office. There's a lot on my mind and I'm going to have to gather up some boxes. I'm not alone in this though and thankful I have the support of my partner to keep me from breaking. I'm also thankful for the online folks who are there for me as well.

Happy 2013, everyone!

I've made some changes to my gallery and have gone through and adjusted multiple art submissions to correct colors, remove folk's real names from images, make watermarks less glaring and alter descriptions to have less rambling "blahblahblah ^___^" content. I noticed one evening that my badges looked far too dark or had the overall presentation taken away from by using a random towel for the background, so I've fixed several of them up with a more professional and plain texture.
The textures I used can be found for free on lostandtaken.com.

There are still descriptions I have yet to edit because my submissions are so numerous and I tend to jump around between projects. So, that's why something may look a little different here and there without notice.

Something else I was picking at was a bare bones commission list website used only to display current project status, previews and info organized per client. I'm using Dreamweaver and thought about utilizing my ISP web space, but then I began to wonder if I was complicating things for myself. I could easily just throw text up on Google documents, bold things and have it ready...but the designer in me craves moooore. I guess even a journal entry would do. I just don't want to spam people with journal edits and such.

My free time after work will be a little more scarce during the month of February due to a co-worker taking a leave of absence. They will be undergoing a surgical procedure and the office has worked it out for me to take on her additional cleaning responsibilities at the end of each day, in junction with the cleaning I've also been doing at our Optical shop. I need the extra money to throw at a dental bill. My weekends are still reserved for picking at owed commissions.

January 2nd marks one year since drove himself all the way from El Paso, TX to live with me near Pittsburgh in PA. Time has gone by pretty quickly!

That's all for now. Stay tuned and thanks for reading.



My Weasyl account:
https://www.weasyl.com/profile/guyver47

My Tumblr:
http://guyver47.tumblr.com

My Tumblr may be NSFW at times.
My posts are frequently centered around cats and Amon from Legend of Korra, but a few exclusive art previews go up here and there.

It's about time to wipe some of that dust away that is collecting here on my page. D8

I wanted to say thank you to everyone for their comments and favorites on my most recent upload for Ryoku and Gravewalker. This piece is pretty important to me because of the length of time it took to complete and even more so because I saw it through all the way to the end. It was all worth it for sure when I made good on my word and saw how happy the recipients were when their wait was finally over.

I also feel a little more confident in what to appropriately charge for something of that detail and size. While the piece is only 8.5 by 11 inches, the amount of hours invested was far beyond what I estimated. I refunded the full price, in person, to the commissioner at Anthrocon 2012 because I did not feel comfortable being paid for the work I made them wait so long for.

Most of my time for working on commissions is limited to the weekends only. I work part time Mon - Fri at a medical office and took up cleaning our optical store next door two nights a week for extra money. I'm considering picking up a 3rd job just for the holiday to bring in some more money to pay off a new debt.

I applied for a CareCredit card to pay for some dental work through Aspen Dental (no insurance) and I have 48 months to pay off $1177.50 @ 14.9% interest. I'm banking on wiping this debt out with my tax refund because of the higher interest rate instead of paying off my college loan as early as I had wanted.
I have $1,092.63 left on the college loan, not deducting the next payment of $115 coming out at the beginning of December. I was really hesitant to apply for CareCredit because I've never owned a credit card before and I'm very, very phobic about anything that may put my car loan at risk. I'm hardcore on time with paying my bills, but I have no savings for emergencies. I would have post-poned getting the dental stuff done until early 2013, but a filling "disintegrated" from December 2011 and it needed to be taken care of sooner than later. This card is for medical things only though, so I won't be going on any shopping sprees with it, haha!

My next investment will be upgrading my computer. The poor thing is struggling with its 2006 hardware and I'm trying to be patient with myself, but it feels like I'm getting nowhere financially. Things have been frustrating here and there because my partner has not been contributing to the house bills - not because he doesn't want to help, but because his income is lower than mine. He just paid off his car this very day, which should now enable him to begin pitching in. He is working part time in retail until he can find something else and I have faith that things will lighten up very soon for both of us. If he does back pay his share of the Fios bill ($30) from the past 8 months, that money could go right on CareCredit or to savings for computer hardware.

I've noticed that custom character adoption auctions can yield some quick money and that's something I'm contemplating doing between owed commissions. No new commission openings are being planned due to my limited schedule for it. I'm not sure how much interest there would be for adoptables or original pieces made for auction between commissions. I'll figure something out that impacts my owned commissions as little as possible. I have a renewed passion for my art and I've been

I do not foresee any chance of a raise at work because they've been on me recently about the length of time it takes me to start certain patients. The head tech is happy that I'm thorough, but it's causing problems at times it seems. One of the doctors will joke about having to wait "forever", but I've heard it so much it's no longer funny and hurts my feelings.
For example, on Friday I had the last patient of the day, who was new to the office. New patients require a little more time because I have to gather and organize their medical history and determine if it's safe to put their dilation drops in. The head tech poked her head in twice to see how I was coming along because everyone was eager to get them seen so we could leave early. The patient's wife was with him, neither had a medication list and were guessing at what he was taking. I should have stopped them both before too much time was wasted and went over the meds last. I tried really hard to get all of the most crucial information down first, but it just wasn't fast enough.

Situations like that make me feel very frustrated to the point of breaking down because I will have days with no issues at all and then I get tripped up, negating everything good I've done. It makes me feel incompetent and question whether medical assisting is a good match for me. I don't really know what job is a "good match" for me anymore. My poor self esteem chimes in when I'm scrubbing the toilet in the optical store - that's something I can do without derping it up.

I am thankful they haven't fired me yet because they don't need to be patient with me or keep giving me chances to streamline myself. I'm just worried about the security of my job every day. It's just up to me to keep trying, or find something else. It wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to move on to another job. No matter how hard things get, they could always be worse and I'm pretty fortunate compared to some folks.
Not intending to be a downer, so I'll end that portion of life events. Thanks for lending an ear. :3


Weasyl

I'm on Weasyl also, but I've been pretty quiet about it. Only new stuff will go on there since I already have the bulk of my art mirrored here on FA and on Deviantart.

https://www.weasyl.com/profile/guyver47

I also have a tumblr primarily for sharing random stuff I love (like super cute kittens and Amon from Legend of Korra), but some exclusive art things may go up here and there. I shared some photos and detail scans of my most recent art upload:

Part 01
and
Part 02

Other stuff

Great music:

https://youtu.be/E8HA6_rj9hk

https://youtu.be/Poai36T8arI

Something funny! Mr. Blobby:

https://youtu.be/C-tKToKmCFU

I've got my webcam going, streaming random nonsense while I have some cake flavored vodka with ginger ale. Stop in and feel free to chat until I can't see straight. :D

Friday night fun!


http://ustre.am/1vkv

Today I just turned 29. :D

I was kind of dreading it earlier this week, but I feel much better about today being THE DAY.

In other news, I've also been feeling much better when it comes to stress.
I stopped taking all caffeine supplements because I think even the smallest dosage was too intense for my system. Beverages seem to go through fine, but I rarely even drink anything caffeinated anymore. I noticed I was much less irritable, no longer on edge and more mellow within a week of stopping the alertness aid. The only pill I take now is a B-12 1,000 micro gram once per day.

My forearms are still itchy, so I'm going to have to follow up with the doctor who diagnosed it as Contact Dermatitis back in June.

Other than that, things have been going well. Work is not as stressful as it was. I've been gradually taking on more responsibility and the head tech even pulled me aside to discuss possibly taking a certification test.

Art progress is not so good... *sigh*

...but other good news is that we had central air conditioning installed on July 9th and 10th.
It is SO much more comfortable in the house now thankfully. (Now I owe my mom even more money. @__@ )

I've got GREAT news. A friend gave me money to cover a one day admission to the convention as an early birthday present, so James and I will be attending for Saturday only (after he gets out of work that morning)! 8D

SO HAPPY! Note me if you'd like to meet up and don't currently have my cell number. ^^

OH! And my hair isn't blonde anymore - it's back brown and I looka lika 'dis:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150867880102688&set=a.4053792687.361.512632687&type=3&theater

Yeah, this journal entry sucks.

I will not be attending Anthrocon this year after all with
He wasn't able to secure the time off and I've decided to seek out a doctor to address anxiety and some other health concerns, which will wipe out my savings for the convention. I was really eager to see a few folks this year and I do apologize.

This leads to the next issue:

My con roomies need replacements - 2 people.

If you know of anyone seeking room space, contact or
The room is at the Westin.
Check in 6/14/12 (Thursday), check out 6/18/12 (Monday morning)
Split 4 ways = $150 total per person

Serious inquiries only - I am not in charge of the room, please contact either Verm or Shujin Tribble directly.

Thank you ~