My last day with my current job is tomorrow because I was hired somewhere else! That's right- I'm going to be a teacher again! My new hire orientation is this Wednesday and my exam for certification is this Friday. (I'm a little nervous about the exam as I had to pay $200 for it and it's 4.5 hours long.) But I'm excited! It didn't feel real at first but wow. It's feeling a lot more real now.

Only problem is money is going to be really tight until I get that first paycheck.... in MID JANUARY. I had my heart set on getting the last of my cats fixed before the end of the year as kitten season is March. I can't afford that right now so I'm going to do my best to sell off collectibles, books, games, and of course artwork and chainmail via commissions. I have one small dice bag commission right now that I just got the rings in for. I also made a sale on Etsy last night! Woohoo! I have 12 cats, ya'll. I do not need more. I mean, we've got Francis roaming now and our plan is to get him neutered as soon as we can get friendly enough with him to get into a cat carrier. But the priority is Talena, Delaney, Connor, and Victor.

With a steady, predictable schedule, I am absolutely planning on being active again! I know I say that in like every journal I write, but life has a way of messing up my plans. Now, with retention in the works for late 2018, I feel like I may finally be in the clear. I've already got Thursday game nights established and I've just decided on Wednesday being a sorta Girls' Night with my bestie, TK over Skype. Monday and Tuesday are craft nights while I watch two of the three shows I keep up with. So I'd love for Fridays or Saturdays or both to be for my gaming/streaming nights. Yes, really. I have a Twitch and YouTube channel just for my gaming! I mostly play Skyrim and The Sims 3, but I've also played Hellblade and have many other games in my Steam library to play, too. Also, I have a PSN account so I can stream while playing PS4 games. I'm not planning on becoming Twitch famous or anything, but it's super fun to play games, ya know?

Anyway! Just wanted to share the good news with everyone! A new job, back in the field I WANT to be in. Clear skies ahead. Finally.

Going to use the same layout as my last journal as I thought it kept things nice and neat.

My job situation...
I applied for a ton of jobs and finally got hired by one. The longer I stayed at my last job, the crazier things got. My boss stopped paying me via direct deposit and would give me a paper check days after payday. She'd ask me to work 10 hour shifts for two weeks with the perk that I wouldn't work Saturdays but then turned around and gave me smaller shifts so she could schedule me to work basically every Saturday. By the time I got hired elsewhere, I was just happy to leave her. But then my new job- the one I have now- is just as bad but for totally different reasons. They hired me on as part time. For less money than I was making before. At first it was OK because I was out of the last job and I'd been told I was going to be a manager trainee and get an actual state license through the new job and my hours would increase with the additional training. That did not happen. 3 weeks in and I'm only getting 23 hours a week and my manager doesn't even give me my training materials; I have to get a shift manager to print them out for me. The manager didn't do the things he said he would do and the company policy is ass-backwards in that it basically encourages its customers to steal from them in the form of coupons. (Customer buys item on sale and uses coupons to make it even cheaper. Customer comes back the day after the sale to return the item. Computer doesn't seem to realize they bought it on sale or that they used a coupon. Computer refunds them full price.)

Looking for a new job...
After being there for like 2 weeks, I started applying to jobs again. It didn't take long at all to see that I wasn't going to survive on 23 hours a week for that level of pay. By keeping me at part time on purpose, I am not eligible for health insurance or retirement or vacation days or sick days or anything. I have heard back from 3 jobs already. One called me to ask about an interview; said she would ask her boss about it and never called back. Another one called and scheduled an interview a week from now. A third one I only found out about because a person I have on my references list told me they had been contacted. So there's possibilities there. 2 of those 3 jobs are full time. 1 is freelance, which I figured would supplement the income of the job I have now if I can't get anything else. I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

My cats...
We lost Ginger Cat on Saturday. He was our yard's protector, keeping other cats at bay. Yesterday we had a new male cat (I have to assume he's a male.) in our yard who was bold enough to go right into our garage and eat the food in there. Getting a good look at him, my theory is this new cat is the father of Delaney, Connor, and Victor- given how similar they look. Our plan is to get friendly with him and as soon as we can, take him to the vet and get him neutered.

Life in general...
Outside of work, things are going pretty well. I'm at a point in my life where I'm overcoming my pack rat tendencies and have been cleaning out my house of old crap we don't use or need or even want. I'm going to the dump with bags of trash and more bags of recycling every single week, sometimes twice a week. I've filled bags of usable things and donated them to libraries, schools, and churches. My house is looking cleaner every day. I've also realized that the cleaner I get my office, the more I feel like making stuff again. I want to draw more and create more. I've gone through my old art piles and recycled most of the papers and kept only things that inspired me and that I wanted to finish. I hope when (not if) I get another new job and things become less stressful in terms of trying to figure out how I'm going to pay my bills, I would like to start being more active here again.

As always, thanks for sticking with me!

I'm going to give you the TL;DR version of what's been going on, so hang with me...
My job was awesome and I was basically running my boss's business all by myself. As such, I felt I deserved a raise since what I was getting paid what the same amount I made at my last job as cashier. I work through some stuff, getting all caught up and make the occasion right for asking and then? Her Etsy store gets shut down unexpectedly. The Etsy store which, by itself, paid my wages. She lays off my co-worker but doesn't tell her for 3 days and then waits another 3 days to give her her final paycheck. She sends me a threatening text message about the possibility of me getting laid off, too. After a few days go by, she finally speaks to me again (she was unreachable) she wants to keep me but can't give me a raise at any time in the foreseeable future because she can't afford to. Instead of switching me to part time, she says she wants to keep me full time but gives me DOUBLE the responsibilities and puts me in charge of managing her OTHER business, too. So now I run BOTH of her businesses for her and getting paid shit. I'm only going to stay until I have secured another job. I have an interview this morning and another interview Monday morning. Based on how she's been treating me these past 3 weeks, I'm not sure I have it in me to give her a two weeks' notice, either. She also gave my personal cell phone number out to a man I did not know without my consent or knowing. She has turned into a nightmare boss.

My 12 cats...
Yes, 12. I now have Jing, Cole, Dandy, Sugar, Callie, Eira, Saga, Talena, Bowie, Delaney, Connor, and Victor. Bowie's leg bones have calloused together and he will not need amputation surgery! My current goal is to get Talena, Delaney, Connor, and Victor spade and neutered BEFORE the end of the year. (Kitten season is March!) However, I think my husband jumped the gun with Connor and Victor... I highly suspect they are both actually girls and not boys. It's still hard to tell at this point. Regardless, all of the cats are doing very well!

Art and other creative stuff
The stress of running two businesses I don't even care about anymore is incredibly stressful. Getting phone calls at work for interviews and telling my boss I'll come in late because of them is also stressful. Job hunting, application filing, interviews- they all take time and effort and I haven't made anything in ages. But yesterday a customer came in and spoke with me for almost an hour. She's a great woman and she inspired me to get my shit together and after she left, I actually felt like creating things of my own again. I will slowly work on this and I'd like to start uploading here again. You can expect to see pictures of my cats uploaded into Scraps and maybe some other stuff!

Fall Cleaning
Before I upload anything, though, I'd like to clean up my FA profile. The folders, the scraps, the journals... It's about time for that anyway. I haven't been active on here for over 2 years so I think this page needs some freshening up!

Thank you!
Thanks to everyone who even reads these. It means a lot to know there's someone out there willing to take a couple minutes out of their day to catch up with me!

First, let me start this off with some good news... I still LOVE my new job. I've gotten a raise, a key to the building, an alarm code for the building, free reign on designing all new products... I basically run the show at this point and my stress levels- in terms of employment- have never, ever been this low.

But, as the title suggests, something is terribly wrong.

As you guys may know, I am a Crazy Cat Lady. All of my cats are rescues or offspring of rescues. Currently, I have 13 cats. Four of them are perma-indoor cats; Jing, Cole, Dandy, and Sugar. They are all fine. One cat is both indoor and outdoor as she's allowed to come and go as she pleases; that's Callie and she's fine. Then there's the outdoor cats: Eira, Saga, and Talena. They are fine. Talena had four kittens in March. Her kittens are fine. Bowie is an outdoor cat. Or was. He is NOT fine.

Bowie disappeared for like a month. This is unusual. Our outdoor cats may go "missing" for a day or two, perhaps 3, and then show up for dinner as if they were never gone. We are used to this. But a month? We'd basically written Bowie off as dead. After all, I live in the woods where there's many birds of prey, coyotes, wild boar, bears, and of course humans with their cars. But then Bowie showed up and he was limping really badly. It took me 2 weeks to be able to get near him and catch him. Upon taking him to the vet, the worst of my fears were confirmed. His right hind leg was broken. But not just any normal break. No.

SOME FUCKER SHOT MY CAT.

That's right. The x-ray showed multiple pieces of buckshot in his leg and body. There's even a piece in his forehead. The leg is BADLY broken. My vet used the word "shattered" to describe it. The bones are over lapping each other, the broken ends passing each other by over an inch. This will not heal on its own. Ever. My vet gave me 3 options.
1. Amputate it for $1,500.
2. Take him to the UF AH for them to reset it and pin it for $5,000.
3. Take him home for 2 months to figure shit out. $??? for ongoing pain medication.

I went with option three because I don't have that kind of money. If you read my last journal, then you are aware I owe $2,550 in back taxes because I messed up on my tax filing back in 2015. I certainly don't have $5,000. But I think I can drum up $1,500 for an amputation. My vet assured me that because Bowie is young (just a bit over a year old) he'll do just fine with 3 legs and cats adapt very well to things like that. At least I got him neutered, but his visit cost me $412. That's more than a week's worth of pay.

So what do I do? My plan is to make money, obviously. Not only do I have debts to be taken care of anyway, but this is Priority #1. My credit card balance and taxes can go to hell. I need to take care of Bowie. (I also need to get Talena spayed and her kittens fixed so we don't end up with MORE kittens.)

My current plan is to sell off a bunch of my belongings. I've got books and collectibles I'll start with first. I'm going to re-open my Etsy store this weekend, too. I've also already started making new chainmail items to showcase and offer commissions for and to sell. I've been drawing but I know I'm not active enough on here to gain any attention. I've been too lazy to scan things, edit things, etc. But shit just got real. I need money. I need Bowie healed, one way or another.

So why all the drama in a long FA journal? I dunno. Mostly to vent. Mostly to let my friends on here know what's going on. I'm not asking for handouts. Not asking for donations. Just. Damn. Someone shot my cat. With a shot gun. What the fuck? I'm doing the best I can. I cried, first. Then got angry. Then cried some more. Then I started planning how to get money for amputation surgery. Now I'm just determined to help my cat.

If you see me posting actual submissions, this is why. I've got motivation and drive to be seen and to make money. This isn't about me. It's about Bowie.

The Good
On the 20th of March I started my new job. I now work as a metal stamper creating customized pet ID tags, key chains, and jewelry. I work Monday through Friday, 9-6 (hour long lunch), wearing normal everyday clothes (no uniform required), and getting to listen to my own music. No one hovers over me. There are no customers (the building is closed to the public). And when I have questions, I don't ask a manager and hope they have the answers- I can speak directly to the owner, aka my boss. I only have a 25 minute drive now, instead of 50 minutes. Everything is so laid back and easy going. When I make mistakes (as I am still learning) I am allowed to try and try again as many times as it takes to learn it and get it right. There is no pressure. And, on Friday last week as well as today.. I got to work from home! I have been given access to the websites and social media accounts to edit as I see fit. And I haven't experienced a single anxiety attack since I started. My stress levels are way down. I love this job. I love my boss. I love what I do.

The Bad
I had to pay $950 in taxes this year because one of my old jobs royally screwed me over. But because I no longer work there and cannot access any of the paperwork I submitted, I can't prove that I did everything I could to correct a problem early on (they input my W4 data wrong) and so I was responsible for it in the end. I put it on my credit card because, really, who has nearly a grand just sitting around?? Also my car battery died like three days later and that was another $150. At least I have one that's new and actually fits my car. (Long, long story.)

The Ugly
I got a letter from the IRS two weeks ago. I owe $2,500 in taxes from 2015. I reviewed the seven page document they sent me and I apparently fucked my own self over 2 years ago when I submitted my taxes and left some information out that I missed when I double-checked it. (I do my own taxes because it's cheaper than having someone else do it. Unless you fuck up like I did!) I am in the process of getting a payment plan figured out because my credit card limit can't handle another two and a half thousand dollars on it. No idea what the payments will be but I can only hope that I can afford them.

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For future use.

For future use.

For future use.

Last updated on June 15th, 2017.

My Friend Code: 3411-0363-9494
Town: Cardigan
Name: Mizuki

Fruits: all of them

Current Villagers: Margie, Del, Dotty, Deli, Poncho, Jacques, Mott, Muffy, Tex, Papi

Shops: All of Main Street; I also have the Cafe and Police Department

Rules:
-Please don't trample my flowers, I put a lot of work into them!
-Don't chop down my trees!
-Take whatever fruit you want or need
-Fish and bug hunt all you want
-If you find a dig spot, ore, or whatever, it's all yours :)

That's about it! If you add me as a friend, let me know so I can add you back!

Just for my rambling thoughts as I brainstorm and world-build.

Kiwi has a boyfriend, who is also a cat? The boyfriend works at a gym and helps others with training. He's muscular and whatnot. Kiwi meets him by going to the gym with Pom. The boyfriend is like instantly attracted and chats Kiwi up. Kiwi says he's really only there for Pom and doesn't even know what half the equipment in the gym is for because he's not really the exercising type. Kiwi continues to go to the gym with Pom only to see this guy and eventually the guy makes the first move and asks him out. They go on a few dates and finally become an official couple. Even though he's the SO of a main character, this guy does not have a fruit/alcohol name. Still needs a name though. And I need to decide if I do want him to be a cat or not. Maybe something different for variety's sake?

Kiwi has some body image issues, which he often discusses with Honeydew, since she and him are longtime friends. Honeydew tells him as long as he is healthy and happy, whatever he looks like is fine. Kiwi takes this to heart and alters his image to please both himself and his boyfriend, which Honeydew is only to happy to accept in stride.

For ref sheets, other than front and back views, I want a little section for Canon info. This would include their gender, sexual identity, romantic identity, and stuff like that. Canon would be for comics and stories, but spin-offs and fics and AUs or whatever could break canon. (Such as Persi is canon-straight, but could be bi or gay in a fic.) This also goes for fertility, since I have already planned on two of them having a child.

More later.

Last updated June 15th, 2017.
For personal use.

Open savings account: not done
-Save one month
-Save two months
-Save three months

Make/Get new light box: not done

Revamp Etsy store: WIP

Complete full inventory: not done

Clean and organize office: not done
-Clear surfaces
-Label everything

Complete Excel schedule: not done

Last updated on June 15th, 2017.)

Jing is the oldest. We celebrate his birthday on September 9th (2006). He is a grey and white tabby and the original grumpy cat. We suspect he has arthritis due to his tendency to move v e r y s l o w l y everywhere he goes.

Cole is my lap cat. His birthday is August 20th (2008). He is a solid black cat who is very polite and friendly. He 'yodels' and plays with all the cat toys in the house when he thinks no one is watching him.

Dandy is the youngest cat. We celebrate his birthday on June 13th (2014). He is a grey and white tabby and though he is the youngest, he is now our largest cat. Dandy's favorite human is my husband, Mercer.

Callie

Eira

Saga

Sugar

Talena

Bowie

3 Kittens

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
Melissa
Missa
Mizuki

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU'VE GONE BY:
MissaBlitz
MizukiManor
Daega

THREE THINGS YOU'VE DONE IN THE LAST 33 MINUTES:
Fed a cat
Cleaned litter boxes
Texted

THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
Eye color
Hair color
Creativity

THREE THINGS YOU DISLIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
Weight
Laziness
Hair style

THREE PARTS OF YOUR ORIGIN:
Russian
English
Polish

THREE THINGS YOU'RE AFRAID OF:
Death
Being homeless
Being poor forever

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
Shorts
T-shirt
Ear cuffs

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
Food
Husband
Cellphone

THREE IMPORTANT OBJECTS:
Rings
Notes
Bed

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS:
Linkin Park
Nine Inch Nails
Nightwish

THREE WAYS TO BE HAPPY:
Friends
Pets
Torchwood

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS AT PRESENT:
Blue Sky Action by Above & Beyond
Colors by Tritonal
Take Me Home by Cash Cash

THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS:
Get a tattoo
Better job
Travel

THREE THINGS YOU REGRET:
Passing up the clerk job last summer
Not going home that one January 18th
Losing friends over stupid stuff

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
Equality
Companionship
Respect

THREE IMPORTANT THINGS YOU'VE GIVEN TO THE WORLD:
Encouragement
Friendship
Ideas

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE:
I'm in love with more than one person.
I want to advance in my current career.
I don't like where I live.

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX PARTNER(Or whatever sex or lack thereof):
Height
Hands
Smile

THREE EMOTIONAL THINGS YOU LIKE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX(Or whatever sex or lack thereof):
Trust
Empathy
Humor

THREE THINGS YOU JUST CAN'T DO:
Cockroaches
Spiders
Human babies

THREE THINGS YOU MISS FROM YOUR PAST:
Not having adult responsibilities
My dog
Family vacations

THREE GIFTS YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE:
Second computer monitor
Tickets to a concert/convention/movie/thing
Cat tower thing for my kitties

THREE REASONS WHY YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE:
Friends
Music
Husband

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
Video games
Chainmail
Reading

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
Sleep
Watch TV
Play games

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
Teacher
Professional organizer
Management

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO FOR HOLIDAY:
Wales
Ireland
England

THREE CARTOON CHARACTERS:
Shuichi
Sokka
Kuzco

THREE BOYS NAMES:
Blake
Rhys
Keegan

THREE GIRLS NAMES:
Helena
Braelyn
Alani

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO:
Hang out with friends
Have monthly date nights
Learn poi

Sometimes when you commission me, I have NO idea what to draw for you! This form is here to help! And even if I do have some inspiration... this form is here to make it better!

When you commission me for art, please fill out this form and send it to me via Note or email. Thanks!

Theme examples: spring time, bowling alley, sleepy, music, warrior, etc.
Inspiration pictures: meaning if you have a pose in mind, or a color palette, send it to me!
Inspiration music: link me YouTube videos and I'll pick one to draw to!

---

Name of character:
Species:
Reference sheet:
Character's favorite colors:
Themes:
Inspiration pictures:
Inspiration music:

Care Box: Starts at $40
--Includes art (badges, ATCs, bookmarks, etc.) and other items
--The more you pay for a Box, the more you get IN your box!
--Price includes shipping
Examples: one, two, three, four, five

You decide you want a Care Box and you commission one for $50. You will fill out the form (below) and I take it and begin to fill your box with stuff I think you might like, based off of the information you give me. Everything in the box will be a SURPRISE.

In the examples above, I have included small toys, art, stickers, figures, glowsticks, etc. However, sometimes it's hard for me to find things I think are appropriate. If this turns out to be the case for you, I'll include more art than trinkets.

I will always make sure you get at least that $50 worth in your box. I often strive for more because, hey, since everything's a surprise, you might not like what I got you. But that's the risk that comes with care box commissions.

Please note that care box commissions may take up to 2 weeks to complete! I have to have time to go out and find cool stuff for you, draw things, make chainmail, etc.

When commissioning a care box, you MUST fill out the form below so I know what you like. Without the information, I won't have a clue, except what what I find based off of your FA profile (your user info, gallery, favorites, journals, etc.).

Copy and paste the form into a Note to me to allow me to get started!

---

Your real first name:
Your birth month and day:
Three favorite colors:
Three favorite animals:
Favorite scent:
Lucky number:
Favorite season:
Favorite element:
Would you prefer fun items or practical items?:
What are your hobbies?:

Your mailing address:

---

You may absolutely include more information than this! The more you give me, the more I can find to put into your box! :)

I have finally established a streaming channel, which can be found here: http://ustre.am/1e2wn

The chat is open for everyone to use and talk and ask questions. I am aware there is a lag issue with streaming but I will do my best to respond to anything I see. :)

Most streams will involve me doing chainmail or drawing. However, I may also be sewing, editing photographs, or other crafty things.

I will often play music in the background and I am happy to take requests; so long as I have the song on my computer, of course!

If I am sketching, I may even take requests! I will ask if I feel so inspired to! And I will certainly ask for opinions on whatever it is I am working on!

The main thing is, just be nice. Maybe not to me (I can handle it) but to the others watching and participating in the chat. We're all adults here. (And if you're not, I still expect you to act like one!)

I am also willing to stream commissions! If you would like to see your commission in the making, please just ask and I will work with you to schedule a time that works for the both of us. :)

Last updated June 15th, 2017.

This journal will be used as a place holder; a spot for information regarding my chainmaille.

Over time, this journal may be deleted or may simply be full of links to other places with more current or thorough info.

Here are links to other places you can find me.

Deviant Art: http://missa-chan.deviantart.com/

Weasyl: https://www.weasyl.com/~mizuki

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smileyfivestudio

Tumblr: http://smiley5studio.tumblr.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Smiley5Studio

Flight Rising: http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=.....e&id=50497