sporadic rambling

Is this thing still on?

2010-12-13T20:38:00.001-08:00

It's been a while, I know... I've always had a hard time knowing what to write about on this thing. Guess I should have figured that out before I started, but it's too late to worry about that now. I've been married for a year. OK, more than that, but we haven't been in geographic proximity for the whole thing. Know what I've learned in that year? Being married isn't easy. I know, I know... All married people seem to mutter that at some point to their unattached friends and family. They also offer that sage wisdom as you're preparing to get married. But really, hearing that it's difficult isn't the same as that instant you finally say it to yourself. Spending vast amounts of time together with anyone is hard. I do remember all those years with my family. I guess I never considered that I'd had my whole life as an adjustment period for all the quirks and foibles. Getting married was starting from scratch, and my husband just doesn't have that ocean of shared knowledge and groupthink that growing up with someone brings. So he doesn't always see the foods I love as delicious, or even in the realm of edible. He completely overlooks the details of my carefully considered habits. He communicates differently. And by differently, I mean that he does.
I didn't want my blog to turn into some absurd "Today I went to the grocery store and this is what I made for dinner." cry for attention. I can be honest enough with myself to realize that my day-to-day isn't that interesting, and I don't have the skill to separate out the wheat from the chaff. That doesn't mean that I haven't thought about posting, though. Admittedly, the stumbles are when I really think about it; the times that I'm frustrated or lonely or confused. But after thinking the situations through in my head, carefully planning the words and phrases to share what's going on, I generally come to a thought that stops me. I don't want to focus on the problems and faults I see in my husband and with my marriage. When it comes down to it, I can't seem to forget the irritations and hurts. Writing them down to remember them is unnecessary. It's much harder, I'm realizing, to remember the reasons why those quirks are endearing, or at least unimportant. And so, in an attempt to grow up, I don't write the petty things. In an attempt to avoid being a bore, I don't write the mundane things. Sadly, that doesn't leave me with much to work with.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you can go nearly two years without writing a word.

Ska

2009-04-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

I occasionally buy music online; usually when I'm not sold on the whole album but I love one song. Today I found myself itching for some new ska, so I went through the genre filter to see what they've got. I got a new song!! It's even a song I already liked, which is a nice bonus. But in addition to the more mainstream ska music (Streetlight Manifesto, Sublime, Goldfinger..) I found a few surprises lumped in there. That 40's song "My Boy Lollipop", the Charlie's Angels theme, Desmond Dekker. Yep.

Good News

2009-04-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Z took me on a dinner cruise. Dinner on a boat as we cruised the bay. After dinner we wandered the ship and finally settled on an empty balcony. We shared quiet conversation and enjoyed the view. Then he got down on one knee and proposed. I, of course, said yes and there was much rejoicing. We don't have a date planned or anything, in case you were wondering. Updates as they come.

2009-02-23T18:36:00.000-08:00

A year ago last Monday, Zach and I went on our first date. Since Mondays this month have been awful with our schedules, we celebrated on Saturday, smushing it in with/replacing Valentine's. It was kind of entertaining, because Z had been worried about doing something big, while I was hoping for something low-key. I told him I would be very happy to just rent a movie and hang. When he mentioned that to his work buddies, they told him it was a trap. More correctly, that it was a test. They were filling his head with all of that stereotypical girl nonsense. I tend to really just think of things like that as completely fictional, until it seems like everyone - boys and girls - is spouting them as fact.

Anyway, I really just wanted to gush somewhere over the fact that he rented the movie we saw on our first date.

2009-01-25T15:06:00.000-08:00

My parents work well together. It's an easy statement to make, and it's backed up by nearly 30 years of marriage. They've both got their personal strengths and weaknesses, and they do well balancing each other out. But sometimes I wonder about what it's really like to be married.

As I mentioned, my parents have been married for 25+ years. In that amount of time, you must surely get to know the quirks and tastes of the other person. I know that in that amount of time, I've got a fair idea of what things are likely to set off which parent and which to apply to for specific requests. So I know that my mom appreciates it when my dad takes the burden of cooking dinner off her. She likes the food he cooks (ok, except for the amount of fat and grease he usually includes), but at the same time she's exasperated by the fact that he uses nearly every dish and cooking implement we own.

So I'm left wondering if he's really oblivious to her preferences at times, or if he just counts it as the 'con' side of the decisions he makes occasionally. (Disclaimer: I know this street goes both ways, but the latest incident I witnessed went this way, thus the pronouns.)

Post Secret

2009-01-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

What are you supposed to do if you see someone's secret on Post Secret? Or if you think you've seen one. It's funny, but seeing the secret of someone I know on the site is bigger in my mind than if their picture were to be taken with a celebrity or they were to be on television or something. Being able to take something so personal and send it out there deserves respect in my mind. I keep my secrets closely guarded, locked up tight. They give me that measure of control I just can't give away, even to those closest to me. So to know that a person I talk to, that I've known for years can not only give up that privacy, but that out of all the secrets that Frank must get, it gets picked to be posted makes me want to ask. But how awkward could that conversation be? It's one thing to give that secret up to a world of strangers that might never see it, but there's a reason they kept it a secret, right? I have to assume they wouldn't want to talk about it, even if it truly was them. And it can only be more awkward if it wasn't. I'm assuming that it's truly about them, and that they felt they had to keep it a secret, and that they actually sent it out.

So, to recap all the rambling, here's the meat: If you thought someone you knew got their postcard on Post Secret, what would you do? If your secret ended up there, how would you want your friends, family, acquaintances to react?

2009-01-12T19:33:00.001-08:00

I went to school today. It was alright

2008-12-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

I just finished my first final of the semester. Wait... did I ever update this thing on my classes this semester? Oops. Let's consider that ball very dropped. I've been taking World Religions (Eastern), Biology 101 (Lecture and Lab), and Lifetime Fitness and Wellness (my P.E. credit, which I'm taking online). It didn't really hit me until last night that my Lab final was today. So I skimmed our lab manual before class today to refresh myself on what we've covered. The lab is set up into 'stations' covering most of the labs we've done. Even with the working around slow people and trying to find elusive Number 9 I was out in less than an hour. I like to believe that means I knew what was going on, not that I was just a fool rushing in. There were only a few I wasn't quite sure of. My lab prof. was pretty cool. One of those old dudes who worked as a real, honest-to-goodness scientist before teaching. He did something fancy with bacteria. Dr V is always fired up and excited about what he's teaching - he tweaks the pre-planned labs to make them more interesting. Additionally, he's been prepping us for our final from day one, quizzing us on pertinent information weekly and sweetening the deal with money. (really, he just gives out his pocket change for correct answers.)
So we're all done there and I've just got the other three finals next week. Religion will be posted online next week to work on. My lecture final's on the 10th. And I guess I really could do the last of my P.E. this week. It's due by next Thursday. So by Thursday of next week I'll be done for the semester. And then comes the fun!I'm already planning and mentally packing for my super awesome trip of fun - which should tell you how excited I am. Usually my overdeveloped procrastination stalls that until a day or two before departure.

Speaking of time, it's been more than nine months since Z and I started dating. He seems to be taking my quirks in stride.

I just saw a dude who looked like a very tan, short Justin Long. (I wrote this in the hall while I was waiting for my lecture to start...)

And there was more, but it's just weird. So we'll leave this as is.

2008-11-28T15:16:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I wander around wrapped in a blanket and pretend I'm royalty.

2008-11-23T19:19:00.000-08:00

I really like it when numbers, be they at the cash register or the pump or grades or game scores, come up all the same. Or as palindromes. Or all odds or evens. If there's something fun or pattern-like it makes me just a little happy. Just so you know.

2008-09-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary,

Last night Zach told me I looked like a geologist. How am I supposed to respond to that?

And things fail to go according to plan.

2008-07-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

And things fail to go according to plan.

Dad's back up an hour away. He had a clot in his left arm from a pic(?) line they put in, and his doctor(at the hospital and hour away) is requesting he be moved. I don't know if he's selfish, or just looking to make sure he doesn't get blamed if someone else makes a mistake.

Car stopped working yesterday on the way home. Wouldn't start again. Turns out our alternator went. Got that replaced last night. Went to work in the truck, Rich came to get stuff out of the truck for work. On his way there, the brakes failed so he steered into a ditch to miss his fellow drivers. Towed.

I feel like I've been running all day, between the back and forth of work and the wreck and the tow and last minute errands.. Bleh. This vacation is either becoming much more needed or a terrible decision. Only time will tell.

Nervous? Me?

2008-07-23T04:19:00.000-07:00

Here I go...

Hopefully Mom comes with. More hospital drama in the past day or so...

Oops

2008-07-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

It's come to my attention that I've been uncharacteristically silent as of late.
To remedy that, another boring update post! My dad was admitted to the hospital at the end of June with pancreatitis. I know someone who's already experienced it, so I thought I knew what to expect. After a week at the hospital right down the road, he wasn't improving at all so he got to ride in a helicopter. They medivac'd him to a larger city about an hour away to a bigger, fancier (magnet) hospital. Where they sent him in for some scans and decided immediate surgery was the best option. Then they found out his pancreatitis was necrotizing. Which is a fun, kinda creepy word for the fact that his pancreas was digesting itself. Who even knew it could do that? So they got to scoop out the sludge it had turned into, and while they were in there they took out his spleen, which was ballooning out of proportion as well. Unfortunately, they haven't offered any photos. I imagine not many people would want to see them, but I adore the surgery channel, so I was all about it. For a while there he was actually the sickest person at the hospital. Not as cool as it sounds, he didn't even get a sticker. Luckily he's doing tons better now. He's been home for a week or so. Still haven't completely closed the incision, but he's got this portable vaccuum thinger and a sponge and a really big clear sticker, so it's cool.

My brothers all came in to hang out, what with the big troubles. That was tons of interesting. I was going to type more, but I don't think you'd really get it unless you're familiar with my family, and if that's the case I don't have to say anything because you know them. It's a pretty sweet catch 22.

I'm going to Jamaica this week. With my momma. For work, of course. We'll be gone for a week and I get to check out all of the resorts of a certain brand that's well-known, and possibly featured on a popular sitcom. I do have a little something planned for my mom's birthday, which will be occurring during our stay.

And then a week after I get back I'm off again. This time to Utah for a week. We can talk about it later. I know some people really want to talk soon, so they can get in their clever clever little rejoinders. I'm sorry for the disappointment.

2008-05-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

She went into the hospital this morning. I'm going to be an aunt (again).

Also, if the labor goes long it'll share a birthday with my oldest brother.

Edit: It's here. As of nine-ish the 20th.

Let me sum up

2008-05-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

Once again, I've made it so I've got a ton of stuff to say and I'm already doubting whether I have the patience to do it all justice. So I'll just recap.

Richard's in Thailand. Doing whatever it is you do in Thailand. That's about all I know.

I went and saw Eddie Izzard a few weeks ago in DC. He's hilarious. Know that if you'd been here I would've subjected you to a recounting of his lead-up to a pun about badgers being choosers.

I finally saw Evita last weekend. Mom, Dad, Zach and I. Seeing the action and placing the songs in the storyline definitely increases my understanding of the songs. I was a little disappointed with their casting for Evita, but their Che was magnificent.

Also last week, I got to go up to Richmond for a day to train on Tahiti, and from there we just headed up to DC for a full day of hotel site inspections the next day. We got to tour four and five stars from different categories all over the city. Some of them were really old, historic buildings that were just beautiful. Aside from the tons of walking and car time, it was fun and interesting.

I got 'promoted' at work to being a travel agent. I'm in the middle of a very boring series of books I'm supposed to read for training.

My parents have named a date to leave the house. There's a For Rent sign on the front lawn. Last time I asked, they didn't know where they were going or what they were doing. Which I guess just means it's hereditary, because I don't have a clue either. Not really my best tactic when crunch time is a month or so away.

Classes are over, have been for a few weeks. All A's. Pretty stoked that the online class didn't mar my GPA, which it was threatening to.

Little sister and her husband moved out. They're off to another state. She had an ultrasound the other day, apparently it's for-sure a girl, and something like 8 pounds. So she could pop any day, really. I like to joke that it's going to wait until it's something like 10 pounds.

Due to popular demand...

2008-04-21T20:34:00.000-07:00

So.. Zach, right?

We met, surprisingly enough at church. We frequent a few of the same websites in search of tee shirts, he likes pirates and british comedies.

He's in the Air Force, but he grew up in the west. He quotes Zoolander and The Emperor's New Groove, he's got a well-concealed sarcastic streak. But before you start thinking he's mostly a male version of me, you should know he's also very nice and thoughtful and, in some ways, much geekier.
I don't really know what you guys want, so ask a question if you want an answer.

And know that two or three days ago he got me my very own conscience.

2008-04-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

So she's all married off. The wedding went well, I guess. I don't find myself at a lot of weddings to compare it to.

An update

2008-04-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

I just got a package, I just got a package! Hurray for mail, especially unexpected mail. Hurray for bacon products (I never would've thought to make a bacon air freshener)! Hurray for unicorns that proclaim my awesomeness! Hurray for friends that know just how much I love bacon, and pirates, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

RENT, since I never got back to you, was spectacular. I loved the guy they got to play Mark. He didn't quite have down the nerdy dancing some of us so enjoy, but he had the vibe and the voice. It was beautiful and lively. The only thing I really had a problem with was Collins. Sadly, he sounded almost exactly the same as Roger. He did have waist-length dreads though. And Zach liked it too, which is always a bonus.

As you may know, my birthday's tomorrow. Should be nice. No school, no work, pho (even if it's not as good as homemade)...

2008-03-31T19:41:00.000-07:00

So I, of course, have been meaning to update. Regardless of all the fun things I could be telling you I'll just leave you with this: I'm going to see RENT tomorrow. I'm pretty stoked.

Sometimes I really do mean what I say

2008-03-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

The box is packed, taped, and addressed. It's going out on my way to work.

Update: It's gone, baby.

Good times to come

2008-03-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

I don't know what you guys have been up to recently, but our family is gearing up for Easter. Surprising, if you know us, because our family motto might as well be "Procrastinate." Anyway, this on-the-ball behavior manifested itself in purple and blue fingers. I love dying Easter eggs. Tons of fun things to try. Aside from the fact that it means my birthday is coming up, my favorite thing about Easter is probably the egg dying. So you know we went to extremes if I got tired of it. Why, you may ask, does a family where the youngest child is 17 need nearly a gross of eggs? I think my mom's just going crazy. Something fun to send the grandkids and the sons that are deployed. Fortunately, it also indicates that our yearly egg fight is going to be more awesome than usual.

Also, in case your interested (and I know at least one of you is...) The Presidents of the United States of America is streaming their new album online. It's fantastic. I can't wait till it's really released. Oh, yeah, you probably want a link.

2008-02-28T17:16:00.000-08:00

It's official. What's official, you ask? Well, I guess I'll start near the beginning.
At the end of last year, my sister joined the office as a temp, kind of probationary until my boss was ready to hire a new agent at the beginning of the year. During the wait time, she moved out of whichever one of her friends apartments she was crashing at and back home. Only temporarily, she assured us, as she tossed the futon onto the floor next to my bed. The new year came and the boss hired her and another person on as agents.
After seeing her once a month or so since she moved out nearly a year ago, I was seeing a lot of my sister. With all the exposure, I started to notice when she thickened up. I figured the regular meals were catching up to her, after her hit-or-miss lifestyle. Except that she kept gaining. Specifically around the middle. I guess I hadn't thought too much about it until I glanced at her at work one day. She looked pregnant. The cut and pattern of her shirt really emphasized it. I shrugged, and went back to what I was doing. She'd tell us if she was knocked up, right? A week goes by and the boss pulls me aside to ask if she's pregnant. I tell him the truth, I don't know. Richard and I had mentioned it a couple times, but after this we brought my mom into the convo. My sister hadn't mentioned anything to her.
Weeks pass, she keeps swelling, looking more and more pregnant. Anytime you mentioned it obliquely she'd change the subject. The one time my mom asked her right out she just didn't answer the question. I don't know what the crap she was thinking. I mean, it's one thing to not know how to tell someone something and to wait until they bring it up. It's another entirely to completely to avoid the pregnant elephant in the room. I'll admit I was a little incensed that she'd think we were stupid enough not to notice or realize what was going on.
A month had passed and still not one word. My dad came home, which I figured she could have been waiting for. I mean, maybe she wanted to tell my parents in person, at the same time? Still nothing. It's ridiculously obvious now. She can't wear most of her clothing, she's taken to skulking about in one of two big, baggy shirts. My mom came in at the beginning of the week with an affirmative. Apparently my sister wrote my parents a note and left it on their dresser for them, letting them know. (No, Em, not on an index card...)
So, to come full circle, it's official. My sister's pregnant. She's engaged, to a guy with no job. He lives with some friends. He has no car, no plans.. She's still living on the floor at home. Unemployed as well. (I guess in the storytelling I forgot to mention that my boss summarily fired her at the beginning of the month, because he can't afford to pay her. Which he immediately followed by hiring an older, more experienced lady.) And to top it off, she can't even come out and verbally admit that she's pregnant. I can't say that I see good things to come.

A bit (ton) of unloading...

2008-02-28T15:52:00.000-08:00

Although I can be pretty blunt at times, I do make exceptions. I admire the courage it takes to walk up to someone and ask them to dance, or to go on a date. As such, I usually acquiesce. I may not say yes a second time, but unless there's something seriously crazy about a guy, I'll give him a chance.
There's a guy I've seen at church for a while. We exchanged pleasantries a time or two, but nothing deep or personal or memorable. I gave him my email address so he could send me a picture he took of Richard quite some time ago. Guy's in the Navy and he got sent out for a couple months during which time I'll admit I didn't even realize he was gone. Until someone mentioned he said hi to me, to which I said hi back. We ended up emailing a bit, and when he got back on shore he asked me on a date. If you'll reference the first paragraph, you can guess my answer. We went out, had a good time.
After that, we'd hang out occasionally, go out occasionally. We did have fun, causing trouble, blowing up snack cakes.. Nothing, to my mind, serious.So you can imagine my face when he referred to me as his girlfriend. I let it slide, because I was hoping that he meant it innocuously. Then he was calling a whole lot and putting his arm possessively around me in church and asking me to call myself his girlfriend on a ubiquitous internet social site. The feeling had been building for a while, but it all came to a head when I got the note asking for confirmation. I felt pressured, hunted. So I ignored the note for the time being. A load of homework on my part, a little avoiding a situation I'm still not sure of, and his moving across town has been giving me some time to think. I find myself wondering if I'm commitment-shy or if it's just with him.
To makes matters more interesting, another guy I've been hanging out with asked me to the movies week before last. I figured it couldn't hurt, so I went. I had so much fun. So when he asked if I wanted to go out again, I said yes. We went to a dance first, for a bit, then to see the new Jack Black flick. We ended up at IHOP, sharing ridiculous stories into the wee hours. Again, a ton of fun. I find myself liking him a lot, but a little guilty for liking him when the other guy seems so taken with me.
Because that's not enough, when I got to church this Sunday, one of our mutual acquaintances came up to me and let me know that "guy 1 thought you went to the dance hoping to see him." Is this just my irritation with the situation speaking, or was that more than a little passive-aggressive?
So I guess what it comes down to is this: Am I doing something wrong? How the crap am I supposed to tell guy 1 that he's read too much into things and is freaking me out?

I got mail!

2008-02-16T09:33:00.000-08:00

I got a package! From Em! Ooooh. A card, addressed to my nefarious alter-ego. With little hamster on the front. Please oh please play music. Yesss! Beee Efff Efff chocolates. I have a valentine! Pomegranate Lemon-Aid Gum? Well, I'll try anything twice. From what I can taste, it's nice and fruity. Good texture.
You're the best, Em. And I swear your winter package is almost ready.

February.

2008-02-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

It's February already. Time slippage can be a bit bewildering.

Where to start? My classes are going well. Public speaking is looking to be a fairly easy class, we've already given one speech. Just introducing someone else in the class.

Pre-calc is a lot of remembering and relearning. At least this time it's not so surprisingly new, which makes it easier to keep all of the sines and tangents straight. We had our first test on Friday, and it was fairly simple. No worries.

I'm really enjoying Western Cultures part II. We're getting into the Renaissance, which is always fun. The resurgence of art and literature and humanities means we get to look at tons of beautiful and classic paintings, sculptures, and buildings.

The online class, Western Civ, seems to be going well. I'm almost regretting taking it online, though. I can't help but imagine how fun the class could be in a classroom. It's almost feeling like I'm missing out, even with the convenience. Also, apparently I have a paper due this weekend that I've yet to pick a topic for. Oops.

Richard's had a month off of work, and goes back tomorrow. Let the car shuffling begin. It'll only get more interesting when my dad gets home at the end of the week. Mom's pretty excited about that. I am as well, but when your dad's been gone so often during your whole life one TDY blends into another. Sometimes I forget about the extra danger he's in. We'll all be at the airport this weekend, with bells on (literally, my mom's got an odd sense of humor).

My little sister got fired today. I did mention that she was working in the office with me, right? To recap, she got a temp job there last year and at the beginning of the year got hired on as a full-time agent. Apparently, the boss called her in to his office today and said something along the lines of "Today's going to be your last day, you're fired. I know I said that I wanted to keep you, but I'm looking to hire someone who's been to school, who has more experience. So go ahead and clean out your desk." Also, there might've been something about the business not making enough money to be able to pay her, but if that's the case why is he looking for someone who can legitimately ask for a higher pay? I don't even know. That's the part of the job I dislike. Not simply him firing her, because that obviously doesn't happen often, but his constant about-faces. He'll decide he wants us to focus on one thing and change it the next. He gets invited to shows and the like in different places and decides he'll go. And then he'll decide he's not going. Then he'll change his mind and work up plans. Then decide not to go at the last minute. He's usually a pretty nice person and the office is a pleasant place to work, but sometimes.. While I'm complaining about it, I guess I'll add in the awkward conversations I end up in. Sometimes I 'get' to hear him complain about suppliers or another employee or even his wife. Yeah. Back to my sister, bossman did try to make her feel a little better (?) by saying that he'd meant to hire her instead of me, and blah blah blah. I offered to quit, so she could have my job. It wouldn't be that big of a deal, really. I mean, it's a nice job all things told, but I might be happier with a job that was closer and had a more relaxed dress code and maybe a different boss.. So, there's that on the table. Oh, and she didn't tell me until we got home today, so tomorrow will be awkward.

More later, because the rest will take some time to polish.

I tried it so you don't have to...

2008-01-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you really just want to steal someone's thunder, y'know?
Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper. I picked some up at the store the other day, despite my brother's vehement protests. It's a little redder than the usual, with a sweet maraschino/chocolate covered cherry scent mingling with original dr. pepper. I took a drink. The initial flavor is fake cherry, which blends in with the dr. pepper. So I swallow, and as I do, I suddenly taste the 'chocolate'. It tasted just like a chocolate tootsie pop. The only thing missing was the texture. And then I was hit with the 'diet' flavor. Bleh. It was interesting to try. Definitely not going to get it again. If you happen to like maraschino cherries, diet dr. pepper, and tootsie rolls, though, you might want to pick it up.

2008-01-10T19:28:00.000-08:00

School started up this week. I'd signed up a while ago, online, and paid part of my fees. I figured I'd go in and pay the rest, because.. well, because that's the way I had to do it. So I get there and the lady in the 'pay' window tells me that they owe me money. Because they dropped me from my classes. As a result of my not paying all at once. So I got to sign up again, which meant there was no room in bio 101 anymore. Just the lab, though, there was still plenty of room in the class. Which makes no sense when you realize that you can't take the one without the other. They won't let you. Instead, I'm in Public Speaking (bleh). Also in PreCalc part 2 and Western Cultures part 2. And I'm taking Western Civ online. That'll complete my W Civ collection, when it's over.
Classes seem to be going pretty well. Nobody too outrageous and the teachers seem to be acceptable. That might change once they start wanting work.

and then...

2007-12-24T22:28:00.000-08:00

Two in one night. When it rains, it pours, no? And yes, I know that if I don't go to sleep Santa will never come. This is just a quick recap of what's happened since Mexico. Finals. First was History, which was about like I expected it to be. Not too easy, not too difficult. It was my only one on Monday, the rest were on Wednesday. So I show up Wednesday morning, a few minutes early for my math final (schedule said 9). Figure it'll give me a little bit of time to settle in and get my pencil and calculator ready. When I walk into the room, though, there are people already testing. I figured they'd just started a little early. Walked up to the prof and got my test. As he was handing it to me, he says "We started at 8:10." A split-second of self-flagellation and I shrug the issue off, because his tests have never taken more than 10 minutes. And that's with going over my answers two or three times. Twenty minutes and I was out. But I was bothered by misreading the schedule. So I double checked it when I got home. Definitely said 9, and he'd never mentioned it in class. Western Cultures was a breeze as well. Grades were posted a week ago, all A's.
I was apparently on tv the other day. Picked up a few guys who came home on the USS Enterprise. And no, not like that. They asked for a ride. I'll stop digging here.
I signed up for next semester. More math, western civ, biology, and more western cultures. We'll see how it goes.
Work's been going well. Nothing major or really at all interesting on the horizon there. Except that my boss hired my sister recently. It's.. interesting.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!

Mexico, and all that it entails

2007-12-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

This was going to be the post that started out December 24th, 9pm, EST. But then I got sidetracked. This is what you get instead...

So it's been brought to my attention that I never really posted my "I'm home!" update. And then there's been a lot of name-calling and whinging that I haven't posted about the trip. That's why I'm posting this rough draft here. Bigger, longer, and uncut. I'm sure you can work out who to blame.

My alarm woke me up at 5:40, so I’d have plenty of time to get my act together before I was scheduled to meet Chris (my boss) at 630. As I groggily searched for the off button, it occurred to me that it was daylight savings time day, part two. Question: Was I up an hour early or an hour late? Crap! So I did what any self-respecting member of my generation would do – I switched on my computer. A quick check of the date/time function assured me that I could sleep for another hour. Hooray! When the alarm went off again, I got up and began finishing packing. There are always a few last-minute things I nearly forget. Snagged an apple and I was off. A forever wait in Washington Dulles And we boarded the plane. Aisle seat was mine, middle was Chris’s and the window seat was vacant. The flight continued to board and our window showed up. Her husband had the aisle seat across from me. We offered to move in so Chris could have the window seat and she’d get to sit nextish to her husband. She wanted the window seat more. Eventually Chris traded seats with the husband. In-flight movie? Transformers!!! Pretty stoked, cuz I hadn’t seen it yet. Flying, flying, flying… and we land. Go through the passport part, customs, and we’re out! I’m in Mexico! There’s a car waiting and there was supposedly a guy with my name on a sign (how awesome is that?) although we didn’t see him. The drive was some 20-30 minutes. From the highway there’s this tiny 1+ lane road (not quite two lanes) with signs that admonish you to drive slowly and refrain from littering, to protect the local wildlife. They’ve all got silhouettes of animals on them. I see an anteater, a lizard, a capybara, and a jaguar. Comforting, right? We step out of the car and they immediately take our luggage, ushering us into the lobby where we’re offered glasses of champagne. We get water and check in, then we’re taken to our rooms on a golf car and settle in before meeting the lady who’ll be taking us on a site inspection of the resort. The drive through the resort gave us a good beginning view of the property. Trees, bushes, flowers everywhere. A lovely beach, pools, restaurants.. I’m already feeling impressed. Then I get into my room. I step in and am greeted by a hallway, at the end of which I can see a four-poster king sized bed. With the drape things. A closer look reveals two kissing swan-shaped towels with flowers strewn around them. Nice-sized bathroom, Jacuzzi tub with a view, and a hammock on the back porch. That leads right into a lazy river, which I could follow to a pool, with a pool bar. Swim-up suite. Score. I hang some stuff and head off to do our site inspection. We get a more in-depth explanation of the area and the opportunity to check out the other accommodations. It’s a beautiful place. We decide to have our dinner at the Caribbean restaurant. I ordered shrimp and plantain brochettes. They’re lovely, crunchy and creamy. Shrimp and watercress salad with papaya dressing. Not really a fan of the dressing and it turns out I really dislike watercress as well. Main course was pork loin with plantain and potato. Delicious. Much too full for dessert, I head back to my room and I’m asleep by 930. Since we were meeting early in the morning, I went ahead and set the alarm. No idea what it’ll sound like. So when a loud shrill noise disturbs my sleep, I assume it’s the alarm. Except it’s 430. Peacocks, man. Eventually I can’t sleep anymore but I’ve still got plenty of time so I chill on my hammock for a while. Warm, sunny, fresh air, the tail end of the sunrise.. Wonderful way to spend some early hours. We enjoy a buffet-style breakfast. French toast, fresh fruit.. And then head out for the first of five site inspections of the day. The first one is guided by a guy with very becoming dimples. The resort was, as expected, very beautiful and very intimate, which is why it’s gained a spot on Forbes list of romantic resorts. They offered us champagne (again, water) before we began. Little did I know that was just the tip of the iceberg. We were offered drinks and got to sample offerings at each of their restaurants. Caprese salad on a fork, salmon and cream cheese sushi (surprisingly good).
The second resort, the details are fuzzy on. More of the same, all around, if I’m recalling properly.
The third site inspection was fantastic. A lot of it was still under construction (mostly finishing touches) We got to see the restaurants, the different room classes, the beach, the pools… It’s also where we had lunch. Starters of red grapes and Roquefort on toast. Yum. The cheese was just strong enough to dominate, and it was countered wonderfully by the sweetness of the grapes. The texture of the toast was a nice contrast to the smooth creaminess of the cheese. Next was mushroom soup, with a shrimp ravioli. The soup was like a cream of mushroom, thick and rich. Despite my distaste for ‘shrooms, I really enjoyed this! The shrimp ravioli ended up being shrimp pieces in a wonton-type wrapper. They went together exceptionally well. Between salmon and lamb, I opted for the lamb. It looked beautiful. It tasted even better. Cooked perfectly medium rare and crusted with some sort of breading with a good hint of cilantro. I love lamb. Dessert was cheesecake, with a passion fruit/strawberry sauce. A sprinkling of cinnamon for presentation and an added kick. Wow. I was speechless. The sauce was.. I loved it. It was smooth and fresh and cut through the rich texture of the cheesecake. My socks were officially knocked off, and I hadn’t been in Mexico for a full 24 hours even.
Next we went to a construction site to check out a property in progress. This one was more Asian in feeling, from the geometric furnishings to the sinks. Finally, off to our last inspection of the day. To get there we took the scenic route, through Cancun proper’s hotel zone. The last inspection was to a more family oriented hotel. They had drinks waiting for us at every stop on the inspection. Virgin, I guess word had gotten around. Pina Coladas, a Mosquito (? It had tamarind in it), and even a mango martini in their martini lounge.
Back to our resort for a bit of a break before dinner. I went for a short swim in the lazy river. The water was pretty nippy at first, but I got used to it quickly. Accidentally got some in my mouth. I guess it didn’t occur to me before that their pool water would taste like the tap water. Reminded me of how spoiled we are. When I’d finished my swim, I warmed up in the Jacuzzi before getting ready for dinner. We were meeting one of the resort’s representatives who’d given us a tour, as well as the activities director.
Grilled vegetable fado. Sopa de Lima (tomato and lime and cilantro, with cheese and tortilla strips.) Penne with shrimp in a cream sauce. Tres leches with strawberries. The restaurant was pretty cool. They had big screens hanging from the ceiling, where they showed the chef preparing some of the night’s courses. Watched part of the evening’s show before I headed off to bed.
The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast before our daylong training. Although there was a menu, I just grabbed some fresh fruit, bacon, and a croissant. They did have a chocolate fountain out, though. Sounds like a good breakfast to me…
We got to have our training session in one of the presidential suites. We got to see the suite itself before we started. Big rooms, private pool, deck out over the water. Pretty sweet setup. Before we get started they offer us drinks and all through the different presentations there are offers to refill them, or to trade out our cold beverages for hot ones, for bite-sized pastries, cookies warm out of the oven, parfaits. It was a crazy morning being crammed full of knowledge about the resorts, as well as food. It certainly made lunch interesting. We headed out straight from training, to eat with the presenters at the Asian/South Pacific restaurant. All sorts of sales and marketing people, but it wasn’t dull. We were supposed to have a wine-tasting lunch (different courses with the different wines they stock) but, y’know. Eggrolls, salmon sushi, fried shrimp for appetizers. Miso soup, Beef Teriyaki, Lychee mousse. All the food probably wasn’t in my best interest, but I didn’t think of that until later… I got to spend the afternoon out on the beach reading in the sun before, once again, heading out to meet someone for dinner. For our last night we went to the Italian restaurant. Caprese salad as a starter, Risotto with Asparagus, Duck with Potatoes, Three Ice Creams. This is the only restaurant where I was disappointed. I guess I was hoping for the food to be authentic, instead of reinvented. It was still good, just not what I was expecting. By “the food” I really mean the Caprese, because everything else came without my memories to compare to. We also got to chat with one of the chefs, the manager of the restaurant, and the sommelier. Since we were leaving on the morrow, I packed before bed.
I figured since it was my last day, and I’d have until around noon to do whatever, that I’d try out the room service. Fresh fruit platter and pastries. Just as good as anything I’d had in the restaurants and relatively quick as well. More time out on the beach, and one last wander around the resort. Turns out the place is thick with iguanas. Huge, two foot long iguanas. I don’t know how I didn’t notice until hours before I left…
A rather uneventful flight home.The end.

2007-11-03T16:54:00.000-07:00

So I leave for Mexico in the morning. Yes, I am packing right now. That's how I roll.

pumpkins

2007-10-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

We live out in a little town that occupies a finger of land, jutting out into..whatever the body of water is. People who've lived in the area their whole lives don't even really know where it is. Recently, however, the town was inundated with visitors. Apparently some guy in the neighborhood grows pumpkins and has a little you-pick operation. This year someone wrote about it in the paper. Tons of people when the article ran, a week or two ago. There were directions. They also went over how deer like to eat the pumpkins (who knew? Imagine them trying to eat a pumpkin. I giggled) To compensate for that, the guy was going to be camping out by his field for a month or two. To protect his crop. Anyway, Mom and I finally got around to checking the place out today. The farmer didn't expect so many people, so there weren't many pumpkins left. Also, most people seem to have their pumpkins already. We were the only ones there. There was a sign by the 'parking lot' that said to call a number. Turns out the guy just hangs out at his campsite and drives up whenever customers show. So the guy shows up while we're perusing the pre-picked pumpkins (say that five times fast). Bandanna. Willie Nelson hair (y'know, long, but really thin and scraggly). Overalls. In fact, I'm relatively sure that's all he was wearing. The pair of overalls. Oh yeah. Awesome view. Belly, backhair, manboobs. We hit the jackpot. We got to go on a tractor ride, check out the nearly bare field, get eaten alive by mosquitos... I picked out a big, bright orange one but mom insisted we didn't need a 40 lb-er. Kids these days...

Ah, Virginia...

2007-10-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

After living in one place for a while you eventually stop thinking "Man, so this is what living in _____ is like..." Until you go to the state fair and it's suddenly the only thing you can think. Hooray for Virginians, guys. That's about all I can politely say. I did get some good fair food out of it, though. Speaking of, I don't know why we don't eat more goat, it's delicious.

I finished my 'Intro to Comp." course, managed to squeak by with a 97. I'm just glad it's over. It was dreadfully tedious. I'd like to think I'm doing pretty well in my other classes. History's good, even if the teacher does go a little fast and have a slide show every single day. Math's a little too easy, but I'd rather know too much than not enough. It's interesting being in a class where everything's a review. I'm absolutely loving my Western Cultures class. I'm actually semi-seriously wondering how I'd get to teach it. It's this wonderful mix of religions, philosophy, psychology, history, western civilizations, art, literature, sociology.. All those things I just said? They're all my favorite things. We've gone into great depth with Greeks and we're getting into Romans now. It's good times.

Dad and Jay seem to be doing about as well as circumstances permit.

Work's going pretty well too. I got to practice my sadly lacking lock-picking skills today. Filing cabinet with no key. I failed miserably. Obviously need more practice. Got signed up for my first fam (familiarization) trip today. Guess who's going to Cancun? (Should things work out in my favor, that is...)

news this week

2007-09-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

Ever been talking to a guy and thinking "Hmmm. He's fairly decent, I could be ok with dating him," right before he busts out with "Man, I can't wait to have kids."?
Yeah, me neither.

In other news, the same guy taught me how to solve a Rubik's cube. I feel like a genius right now. And an addict.

I went to the Neptune Festival yesterday, down on Virginia Beach. Saw some awesome sand castles and sand sculptures. I took pictures, which hopefully I'll be able to post at some point. Got a little bit of a burn too.

i should start carrying an epi pen, just in case

2007-09-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

So... Guess who's gainfully employed? It's true. I've been hired at a travel agency. And I haven't even broken out in hives, despite the continuous exposure to work. More as it comes.

Back to School

2007-08-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

Two posts on one day. Insanity, I know... This one's more basic stuff.

My dad left for Iraq a week or so ago. He seems to be adjusting ok, except for the heat. He's sent pictures and descriptions of his day. Jay's supposed to be leaving soonish, as well. They're supposed to be at the same base, which is pretty cool for them. Nothing like a little family time in the middle of that, eh?

I signed up for classes a little while ago, they started yesterday. I'm taking US History part 2, Pre-Calculus, Western Cultures, and some basic computing class.
My first class of the day is PreCal, which is nice. I dislike having to think too hard too early. I'm worried the class'll be too easy and I'll end up having wasted money when I might've been able to test out of it. (not that I'm for sure that I'd be allowed to anyway, but...) My prof is kinda smallish, and I get the feeling he's going to be boring and less than passionate about the subject. He basically just went over the syllabus, and let us out early when it took so little time.
I headed across campus to my Hist class, which is across the quad. Upstairs, down a few hallways I found my classroom. There was a sign on the wall next to the door that said our class had been moved from there to the room right next to my last class. So I had to head all the way back across campus (so hot. so humid.). When I got to my class, I sat down next to a girl who was in part 1 with me, and will be in math with me as well. We talked for a minute before the prof at the front of the room asked the class what they were there for. Half of us answered History, the other half Biology. Apparently she was there to teach bio, and we had to go to the dean of social science's office to figure out where we were supposed to be. What started out as a group of five or so ended up being at least 12 by the time the problem had been explained and taken care of. The secretary we'd been talking to decided to show us to the proper room and explain the situation to our prof. So, like a mama duck with her offspring, she led us back across campus to, you guessed it, the room I'd been at in the first place. Situation explained, she left. But every time someone walked into the classroom the teacher asked what class they were there for and joked about the mixup. He seemed to be a little more excited about his subject, and pretty chill besides. I'm looking forward to it.
And then it was onto Western Cultures. I'm hoping that this class is good, because the description sounded fun. We're supposed to be looking at art, literature, architecture, music and dance, religion from all sorts of western societies. The teacher's seeming a little fascist, he takes off points if you leave class to go to the bathroom. Here's to hoping the people on ratemyprofessor are right about how good he is.
The computing class I'm taking online, so I'm still figuring out how it should go...
I'm relatively sure there was more I was going to add, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it was. More on this as the story breaks.

Concerts

2007-08-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

I kept telling myself that I'd blog about this or that and I'm finally getting around to it. You're getting the condensed version, because that's quicker and less-taxing on my memory. It's probably better this way...

The twentieth of last month was the Reel Big Fish/ Less Than Jake show. The Shout It Loud Tour. Openers were Against All Authority and Streetlight Manifesto. Richard and I got there a song or two into AAA. I haven't really heard too much by them, but I can't say I was impressed with them live. They're kinda rough sounding... I was in the back of the crowd for the beginning of the SM set. They're a fun band. Saxaphones and trumpets... Almost ska-lite. They played some fun, bouncy songs. Aside from the jerk who insisted on skanking into me at every turn, they were good. During the set change, I managed to sneak up to two people from the barrier, where I found Richard. He told me the girl in front of me was an elbower, and we ended up in conversation with her. Turns out she was just proactive about defending her little sisters from being smashed. She ended up letting me in front of her. Pretty cool. LTJ was as good as expected. I love 'em. Their set was reminiscient of The Price Is Right. They called up a few people from the audience and asked them trivia, the guy who got the question right got to play a game of plinko on this huge thing they had, but instead of amounts or whatever at the bottom, they had their albums. The next couple songs were all from that album. Fun way to mix things up, and that way the audience can't really complain about the ratio and all. Later they had the people who lost come back and try again, the girl who won got to spin this big wheel with their albums on it. They played a lot of my favorites and encore'd with "Rest of My Life", which I didn't expect to hear live. Finally, after what began to feel like the longest set change of my life, RBF took the stage. During the set change, the elbower and company left, and I got a spot right on the barrier. I talked Richard into braiding my hair for me, it kept getting in the way. Apparently he needs more practice, because after he finished a girl we'd been talking to briefly mentioned it looked bad and offered to redo it for me. A complete stranger braid my hair? Sure, why not... Reel Big Fish was awesome. There was tons of fun banter and they played tons of their best, skankin'est songs. The lead singer talked to me a little bit, I guess I looked less than enthused at one point and he called me on it. The longer they played, the more crowded it got, everyone wanted to be where I was, which I kinda expected. Trendy, Sellout, Everything Sucks, I Want Your Girlfriend (To Be My Girlfriend), Ban the Tubetop, Take On Me, The Bad Guy... It was spectacular. They walked offstage, only to return after a few minutes of chanting from the crowd. They let us know that they never play Beer anymore, but they would for us. It was every bit as good as expected. Made me wonder if they say that to every crowd, or if they were actually telling the truth. Hm. I had a fantastic time. Everytime I see a show I remember why I love them so much. The opportunity to hear firsthand a song you adore, the crush and swell of the audience, all dancing and sweaty and human, intensely invested in their own fun but with a ready hand should you stumble, being one voice among hundreds that all know the words by heart and love them just as much as you do.

And about a week later, the Dropkick Murphys came into town. This show, Jay was here for. I managed to get pretty close to the front right away this time, getting in early pays. I was one or two deep, pretty far to the left of the stage. While the first band was setting up, I checked out the venue and peoplewatched. We hadn't been there too long before the guy standing next to me turn to me and asked if I'd been at the LTJ/RBF show. I answered in the affirmative and he mentioned something about me letting a stranger braid my hair. Not something I expected to be remembered for. A little light conversation, and then the show started. The first opener was The Krays, who I think I'd heard of before but hadn't really heard. They were a little rough for me to really get into them. Also, their placement on the stage was a little different. They had the bassist playing front and center, a guitarist on stage right and the singer/guitarist stage left. Unconventional. I was pretty glad when they finally quit the stage. The boy and I continued with light, sarcastic conversation. There was a lot of murmuring from the crowd as the Aggro-lites set up. Turns out dropkick fans aren't wild about reggae. Who knew. I liked them. The songs were kinda mellow and catchy. They charmed the crowd into singing along. As Dropkick's roadies set up, the crowd shifted and i ended up closer to the center of the stage and the barrier. They took the stage and we were swept up in dancing and singing. And then a few people started being jerks. Shoving maliciously and the like. Luckily my diminuitive stature and natural cuteness are my saving grace. Jay and the boy kept the worst of it from me, and then someone on the barrier gave me her spot. I would've felt bad but for the pure joy on her face whenever she got to shove someone out of the way. It was tons of fun, and they're even better live that I expected, and I'd heard they were great. Took tons of pics, which I'll try to post should my brother actually send them to me. Near the end of the set, Security passed around a note, which I figured meant something fun was coming up. As usual, I was totally right. The opening chords of "Kiss Me, I'm Sh**faced" were accompanied by security helping the girl next to me onstage. I was totally jealous until I realized that they were all grabbing girls. Multiple. So I gestured that I wanted up too, and the next thing I knew I was onstage next to Tim, who plays at least five instruments. Gotta stand up there and sing along with the band and a ton of girls. After the song, they kicked us offstage, and played one last song. For a minute, I thought they weren't going to play an encore, because of how long they took. Encore they did, though, and with the guys invited onto the stage. Both of my brothers ended up there, oblivious of one another until I coaxed one into walking over to the other one, under the pretense of getting a better picture. All in all, it was a spectacularly spectacular show.
(Now I know you're thinking condensed version, eh? But I swear that it could be longer.)

You pick

2007-07-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

The fam and I went blueberry picking today at a u-pick farm. It was pretty fun. Four pounds in a half hour between the four of us. We're busy little bees like that. Of course we (by which I mean I) ate a fair few as well. And, as luck would have it, the farm was kinda out in the boonies. Think leaving main roads for a half hour meander through a forest. The kind of forest you see in horror movies. You know the ones. Where a tree 'fell' on the road, so someone gets out of the car to see if they can move it. And then the entire group is somehow abducted by some crazy psychopath who takes them to his dilapidated shack and proceeds to butcher them one by one, in clear view of the others with a grin on his face that suggests he's just bought Boardwalk or won the lottery. So yeah. Only car we've seen is ours on this picturesque stretch of road. Tiny road. Only room for 1 car wide. And to add to our enjoyment, the road is patched, roughly, and goes up and down quite frequently. Up and down like we're in a boat on the water. Getting carsick yet? Because I was, for the first time I can remember. As if this wasn't enough, the road didn't even have the common decency to stay relatively straight. It was curvier than a pin-up girl. Twisty and windy with fairly regular blind near-hairpin turns. The kind of road it's really only safe to do 20 or less on. Which leads right into the cherry on top. My dad was driving. In the event that you haven't had the joy of being a ~~victim~~ passenger while he's driving, let me help you to understand. I'm relatively sure he thinks he's the lovechild of some Nascar legend and the stunt driver for The Fast and the Furious. He speeds, tailgates, stops at the last minute and hits the gas to make it through the red end of a yellow lights. One of the most commonly uttered phrases on the driving part of our family excursions is "We're gonna die!" Melodramatic it may sound, but does your driver routinely and casually eat any and all foods (ice cream sundaes included), study maps, read papers, books, and email (via blackberry), and sight see in lieu of actually putting any effort into preserving your life? Yeah. So after getting lost (not lost per se, but there was a bridge out), we finally make it and pick our blueberries with no problem. And then we got to retrace our steps. We made it home safely, thankfully. So what, you may ask, are we going to do with 4 pounds of blueberries? I have no idea. Suggestions (excluding mailing them) are welcome.

not quite an update

2007-06-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

So I guess I have a lot to blog. But, as you probably know, I'm pretty lazy. So instead I'll leave you with this tidbit. When I went to pick my dad up from the airport yesterday I saw a guy waiting at the "Arrivals" gate thing with a sign in hand that read "Lafawndah."

Good News, All

2007-05-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not in jail!!!
My court date was today. Ended up cutting it short, getting to the courthouse. So I went in, but had to send mom back to the van to leave my knife there. I headed up to courtroom C and grabbed the handle, intending to quietly slip in. The doors were shut, so I figured they'd started early or I was a few minutes late. The handle doesn't turn. I tell myself not to panic and grab the other handle. It also doesn't turn. My mind immediately leaps to the conclusion that our clocks are slow and I'm late, so I got locked out and I'm going to be in huge trouble for not making my court date and don't they give you the maximum when that happens??? Moments later (thankfully) some lady came over and told us that all the cases for courtroom C had been moved to A. I quickly walked over and took a seat. A few minutes went by; I glanced at the doors everytime they made noise, hoping that it was my posse. No such luck and the baliff came in, intoning "All rise, blah blah blah." The judge took a seat and the first case was quickly rescheduled. I got called up, and the cop from the incident and I were instructed to raise our right hands and "blah blah blah the truth." The judge asked the cop for what happened and she stumbled through a brief outline. She said something about me hitting the car twice, once on my way into the slot and once on my way back out. Not what happened. I wanted to butt in, but figured that'd be a mistake. She finished and the judge asked a few questions about the damages and insurance before turning to me, to see if I had anything to add. I let him know that I didn't hit the car twice, because that just made me sound reckless. He reduced my charges from reckless driving to improper driving and I was fined $25. And double that in court fees. All in all, better than I expected.

Also good news, Marissa is visiting. She came to court with me this morning and we had a day of fun and adventure. More detail (and maybe pictures) to come...

2007-05-19T20:33:00.001-07:00

Today, I ended up eating bluenose ray.

Glasses

2007-05-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

2007-05-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Classes ended last week. Grades were posted yesterday. Currently have a 4.0. Picked up my glasses yesterday. Pictures as soon as they're taken.

2007-04-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

Went to the optomitrist a couple weeks ago and he told me I could use glasses to sharpen my vision when I drive at night. I ordered a pair today. When I get them in, there will be pictures.

I guess the ditch was just practice...

2007-04-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but when we moved, we sold our Honda civic we'd named James and replaced him with Tony, an f150. I've been driving cars since.. well, that's all I've really ever driven. So to go from a tiny car to a big boned truck is quite a change. Sometimes I forget that Tony doesn't have the speed, maneuverability, and dimensions that James did. Like today. Back story: When I get to school, I park at one end of campus, because Richard has the earliest class, between the two of us. So I park where it's most convenient for him to get to class because, well, we tend to run late a lot. My last class is about a 10 minute walk from where I park when I get there. Richard has work after school. So I just drive the truck over to my last class and Richard walks over to meet me, to save time. The lot where I park in the morning is usually pretty empty, the slots are regular sized. Today I was a little distracted, and in a hurry, because I spent most of the time between classes writing the paper I had to have for my last class. It's good, I know. Anyway. So I was kinda in a hurry because I wanted to make sure I wasn't late for class and then I missed my turn and had to go the long, crazy way through a couple parking lots. I finally get to the lot I park in and find a good spot, actually two spots, so I can just pull through to the far one. It's just a little tricky because the spot is between a minivan and a curb. This is where the problems with the difference between Tony and James begin to play. Add my distracted state of mind and the fact that the spots in this lot are a lot skinnier than normal. I hit a parked car. Not really hit, hit, but... turned in too sharp, not that I had much leeway with the skinny spot and the curb and all. Tony's got a few scrapes on his side and I managed to bust the minivan's taillight. The best part? There was a campus cop a row in front of me. Heard the whole thing. Drama, drama, I missed the first 45 minutes of my class. Most of my classmates walked by, going to class, while I was dealing with the whole thing and thoughtfully passed it on to my teacher. Basically the entire class got to hear, repeatedly, that I'd hit a parked car on my way to class. And I got a court date, for reckless driving. All in all, I think I managed to do a bang-up job.

2007-04-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

I've been 21 for a week. No, it doesn't feel any different.

My sister moved out.

I am, once again, procrastinating writing a paper that's due (a draft, anyway..) tomorrow.

good news!

2007-04-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

Good news!

Checked my grades online on a lark the other day (I'm not supposed to see anything until the semester's over) and it turns out I passed how-to-go-to-college 101!
It's a weight off my shoulders.

tattoos...

2007-03-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot...

The other day I was puttering around downstairs when my attention and my fingers were irresistibly drawn to my tattoo. It itched. Like crazy. I considered cutting it out. So with the urge to remove said flesh, I took a peek, to see what was going on. And also because it felt... weird. A quick glance turned into a double take and then a worried stare. My tattoo had decided that it wasn't fancy enough as it was and was in the process of expanding in an effort to become 3d. It was all puffy and inflamed. Ignoring the desire to scratch my stomach out, I wracked my brain trying to think of reasons for inflammation. All I really got was infection. And there was no way that was possible. There was no wound to get infected, after all, it's almost three years old. So I headed to the Internet for an explanation. I was quickly confronted with tons of q&a archives full of people who were allergic to the ink color (red's the main culprit, if you were interested...)... But like I said, three years old. If I was allergic, the pigment would have forced its way out by now, right? Then I found out that occasionally, your body chemistry can change and leave you suddenly allergic to something that was no problem for years and years. Spectacular. As I'm watching and waiting for oozy flecks of color to make their way out of my body, I notice that it's only the top half of my tattoo that's puffy. Odd, considering the top is the same colors as the bottom. Then I see the tiniest of marks right above the tat. It looked like a little mosquito bite or maybe an ant bite or even a spider bite. And I'm hoping that was the cause of my hours of discomfort... I couldn't find anything in the 'q&a's to confirm my suspicion, but the swelling did go down and the itching abated, so it's not nearly as worrisome now. Good times.

I know you really wanted to know...

2007-03-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

There isn't too much that's new this time...

I accidentally picked up a smidge of a tan. It was nice out for a few days last week, so during the two hour wait for richard to get out of his classes, I sat outside on a bench reading. Some lady saw me and asked to take pictures. What could it hurt? I agreed and there's the slim chance I might end up in promotional pictures for the college. Anyway. Stretched out on the bench reading in the sun for two hours. A light sunburn on my face and a tan line on my arms. I'm as shocked as you are.

I made cupcakes today!

English is frustrating. The teacher is making things tons more difficult than they need to be.

I can't believe I haven't mentioned more about this girl in my Western Civ class. Near as I can tell thus far she's just got a passing mention as a girl whose lips I'd prefer sewn shut. So to explain further, she's perky. And not normal, kinda annoying perky. Full-on must be coking perky. She's chipper and chirpy and she has some sort of noise to make for every sentence our teacher manages to grumble out. oh!s and mmm!s and wow!s and huh!s (high pitched huh!s) and awesome!s and the list goes on and on and on and on and on and i imagine duct tape and plastic bags and emergency vocal cord removal. So not only does this delightful girl make noises all the time, she's constantly sucking up. And applying words like awesome to statements regarding things like footbinding and the murder of girl-children in asia. Completely inappropriate. My favorite thing about her, though, is the amount of practice she helps me get in with my jaw-dropped, awestruck look. Y'know, the absolutely incredulous one. She asks questions that I thought were common knowledge and makes connections that boggle the mind. I'm left dumbstruck usually at least once a class.. My personal favorites?
-Asking why New York City is called the Big Apple in the middle of a discussion on the French Revolution
-Asking what months winter is in England.
-So we're talking about WWII and the japanese internment camps. She says "So do you think that we should have done that to muslims after 9/11?"
Oh yeah. Like I said, boggles the mind. In an effort to remain civil, I've taken to drawing ways for her to die in the margins of my notes. It's soothing.

And on that note, I think I'm finished babbling for today...

oodles from my noodle

2007-03-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

It's been kinda weird around here recently...

Went on a couple dates last week, or the week before, depending on how you count. Two different guys, both times to the movies. Now I love movies as much as the next person, but I've been to a huge amount of movies since I've been here. It almost feels like I could move in and not notice a difference, sometimes. I'm hoping that when it warms up a little, there'll be a change in pace. I'm also hoping for fun (or at least alternate) ideas for dates. I've heard a few, but the more the merrier.

Paper writing for English. My teacher's singled me out as a 'good writer' and recently informed me that I won't be able to get away with anything less than spectacular. Yay. One of the ladies in my class overheard him telling me that and congratulated me. On having to do more work. I don't know what this world's coming to. I'm actually supposed to be writing a rough draft right now. I haven't even got a topic. Either I bang out something in my hour between classes tomorrow or I go in empty-handed. I'm almost tempted to do the latter just to be a pain. I'll probably write something, I've run out of library books.

I kinda forgot to submit my limericks before the contest was over. They're around here somewhere, and when I find them, up they'll go. If you have any, feel free to post 'em.

R (if you know the story behind this..) finally got a new license. *snerk*

And my little sister hasn't been home in two days. Tomorrow afternoon will make three, if she lasts that long. She left her work clothes here, and she has to work tomorrow, so we'll see what happens there. It's times like these I see the allure of Satan's plan. I wish I could just make her get her head out of.. well.. wherever it is... and start acting responsibly. She's not graduating with her class because she skipped and failed (sometimes both) too many classes her first three years. She's not doing so well with the not-failing again this year. And it's not because she can't, it's because she'd rather go smoke with her friends instead of go to class or watch tv instead of doing her work. Which is absurdly juxtaposed with her strong desire to go to college. She's already got the one she wants to go to picked out and she's getting all sorts of mail from them and all. My overly logical approach to the fiasco is ensuring tons of headaches whenever I even try to consider how her plan of attack makes sense. How does she expect to get into college and then succeed there if she can't or won't even muster a passing grade in her high school classes? This doesn't even take into account the illogicality (is that a word? it is now.) of her buying a car when she doesn't have a license. Just trying to figure out how all of this makes sense in her head (and it must, mustn't it?) is almost enough to make mine explode. And that aside, I wish I could figure out what's going on in her head that makes her think that being so disrespectful is ok as well. Because as far as I can tell, how she's treating my parents isn't causing her any internal issues. I feel terribly for my mom, because she has to deal with all this crap all the time, and she blames herself for it at times. This isn't to say I'm perfect, but honestly. Thinking about everything my parents have done and are still doing for her makes her actions too much like biting the hand that feeds- right off. Kids these days.

This is what you missed.

2007-02-21T17:38:00.000-08:00

Family went down to the Virginia Living Museum on Saturday. They had this special reptiles exhibit we checked out. It was tons of fun. And pretty informative. Did you know that the geico gecko is apparently a green day gecko? Now you do. I'm here to help. I even took a couple pictures to share.

Some kinda of frog thing.

A snake. It was staring at me.
A gecko!
A rhinocerous iguana. It it standing on its hind legs to eat something.

Cool, right? I know.

Also, exciting is a St. Patrick's Day limerick contest the college is holding. Top prize is a gift certificate to a bookstore. I'm determined to win. When I get something worth submitting, I'll share. So start thinking them up now, if you want to have something to add. But I should warn you not to post them until I've actually submitted my attempts, or I'll be tempted to steal them to increase my odds at owning.

I'm sure you're dying to know..

2007-02-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

Well... Talked to the guy. I think he gets what I was trying to relay. He's backed off a little, which is a relief. Occasionally I get the feeling he was trying to read my expressions and stuff while we were talking, to use that as a guide of some sort to what he should say. Which, on one hand is nice I guess, because that means they're trying to be sensitive and thoughtful. On the other hand, though, it bothers me because that means that they're not really saying exactly what they think. They're editing it to make it more what they think you want to hear.

Aaaaanyway. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but R and I've pretty well convinced the ward here that we're twins. We're really 14 months apart. It's quite fun. Whenever we say something at the same time (usually movie quotes...) they get that look in their eye that means "Yesss!!! They did a twin thing!" Deceiving people at church- tons of fun. You should try it.

Got my paper back. A-. Yes I'm disappointed. I'm just trying to decide if it's worth the time to try to get that little bit more. I get a week to revise it and turn it back in, if I so choose...

Job sitch is just plain ridiculous. I went in last week or so, to ask about hours. They told me that business was still slow, so they don't have any hours to give me still. The week before Valentines Day should be at least semi-busy. Either they're not doing too well or they're trying to get me to quit or something.. At this point, I'm really just sticking with it to see what they do next. If they don't get any business during the busiest time of the year, something's wrong. And I can't imagine they're too interested in me working for them if they can't squeeze in a few hours a week to finish my training. Tons of eyerolling.

And if you're looking for a good book to read, Orson Scott Card's latest, Empire is spectacular. It's sci-fi, set in the near future. There's the promise of a civil war and conspiracy! And it's told from the perspective of a couple Army guys. I loved it. Reading a real review or the inside of the front cover synopsis thingy would probably make it sound more interesting, so take a peek...

progress

2007-02-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

So I guess the boy got the vibes I was sending, because he's backed off considerably. I'm planning on really talking to him this week. Here's to hoping that doesn't end up resembling a trainwreck.

I turn in my first English paper tomorrow. It's on standardized testing. I think I'm nearly to grudging acceptance of the paper. It's a step in the right direction. And no, I didn't write it all tonight. I had no choice but to work on it. We've been doing writing groups in class. Lucky me got the writing group that tells me that I'm a much better writer than they are and therefore all I hear when it's my turn to read my paper is "It was good." Let me tell you how much that's improved my paper. Not a whole lot. Yeah. I guess I helped a little with their papers, but I'm still frustrated by them. I'd point out things for them to fix and then, when they brought in the next draft, the mistakes would still be in there. I understand that the writer gets to take what we say with a grain of salt, but at the same time, there are rules of MLA format you just have to follow to actually be able to say you used it.

Oh, I guess I should mention that I got in my first accident last week. On my way to the library. Too fast around a curve on a wet road with absolutely no shoulder. Everyone was fine. We ended up stuck in the mud in a ditch. We made ruts feet deep. Someone pulled us out. No trouble with the cops, who did show up. Someone called 911 apparently, because not only did two cop cars come to our aid (too late), but an ambulance and a fire truck showed up as well. I kinda felt bad for the fire fighters. They looked excited to have something to do and seemed to be pretty disappointed when they were left with nothing. R even refused the towel they offered to get him to wipe the mud off with. Yeah. The truck's a little creaky and I spent almost an hour washing him off, but aside from that we're good.
There's probably more, if I remember it...

boys...

2007-01-29T12:05:00.000-08:00

So I've been out on a couple dates with a guy from the ward. He's fun, interesting. When he first asked me out, I told him, quite frankly, I thought, that I wasn't really looking for commitment or serious. He agreed. The problem? It's recently come to my attention that he considers us to be 'dating' and might be looking for exclusivity. Which leads me to my question. How to be go about reminding him that I'm not really interested in a serious relationship while not coming off as "I never want to talk to you again"? I get the feeling that when he agreed with me, it was kinda less "this is not, nor will it become any time soon, serious." and more "hey, I haven't actually thought about marrying you- yet" that seems to pervade singles wards. Like I said what I did to take off some pressure, not because I meant it.
Most of this really came to the forefront of my attention yesterday when, after R and I sat down by him in sacrament, he threw his arm around my shoulders. Now don't misunderstand me, there's nothing wrong with a friendly arm behind you, but keep in mind where we are. It felt.. possessive. Maybe I'm imagining that part. Whenever I think that, though, billions of split-second images flash through my mind. They're all classic friendly gestures turned marking-ones-property. One of the creepy/entertaining things about SW. Whenever two people really hit it off, they start w/ the possessive displays of affection. Y'know, "Hey, this is mine, no touchy." Like predators protecting their kill. Because anyone else is really interested in your half-rotting carcass. So yeah. None too happy about being 'marked'. He's nice, fun, good company though, so I figured I shouldn't just tell him to eff off. Being considerate isn't really my strong suit, so I'm hoping someone else out there has a few pointers? I'm all ears.

january's almost over. crazy.

2007-01-23T18:04:00.000-08:00

Classes seem to be going well. My history teacher has this habit of going off on tangents and then spending most of the class period talking about his friends, instead of actually teaching us anything. Some of the stories we end up hearing are interesting. The real problem with the wandering is that he forgets where he was so he ends up repeating himself over and over and over. Yeah. And there's this whole thing with a girl in the class whose lips I'd love to sew shut. That's a story for another time.
English class is pretty fun as well. We're writing a lot of tiny papers, but so far they haven't been anything I can't pound out in a couple hours the night before they're due. The class seems to be an interesting mix, which makes for much better conversations.

Today Richard asked for help with a few math problems. I helped him out, and ended up doing most of his assignment myself for fun. Weird?

I managed to weasel my way into Independent study for how to go to college, so I just have to turn in a certain number of assignments before the term ends. Should be easy, if extremely tedious.

I grabbed a book from the library last time I was there. It's called Silverlock, by John Myers Myers. I love his name. Anywho, it has an interesting premise and as I read it I find myself liking it more and more. There are tons of mythological and literary references in the story. It sounds a little weird, I know. I can't help but get excited everytime I recognize one. Yesterday I was reading a description of a character they come across and couldn't help but blurt out "That's Beowulf!" I'm a nerd. Worth checking out though.

Here's a quote for you: "Every man knows he will die; and nobody believes it."

Oh, and three years after I loaned it to someone, I'm finally getting my copy of the movie "Jabberwocky" back. It's spectacular.

how-to-go-to-college, the critique

2007-01-15T17:45:00.000-08:00

The class: if possible, even more boring than I imagined. Spoonfeeding, baby-talking, the whole nine, my friends. I'm hoping I can get into the "Independent Study" section of the class. If I have to take it, it might as well be on my terms, right?

Saturday I got my first real hit of missing Spokane. I've missed people, obviously, and things, but not the city itself. What sparked this homesickness (?), you may ask? It was just a really nice day. Clear skies, in the 70's. I wanted nothing more than to go spend the day in Riverfront Park. Watch the falls from the bridge, feed the chupacabra, ride the carousel, harass the wildlife, play on the wagon.. There isn't really anywhere around here like that.

I've finally given in to my momma's prodding and made a few friends out here. As usual, they're mostly male. It's funner that way. Girls, with a few notable exceptions, are just too much hassle to deal with on a day to day basis.

We headed out for some mandatory fun today, since it's MiLK day. (Have a glass, it's tradition)
The art museum was our preferred destination but since they're closed on Mondays (how ridiculous, right?) we checked out the Air & Space Museum here. It was pretty spifty. Tons of stuff to do, which is always a bonus. I managed to crash pretty much everything they had a simulator for. I'm just that good. After we finished up there, we walked across the street to grab some ice cream. The shop was (surprise, surprise) closed on Mondays. The Chinese/Thai place next door had reasonable hours, so we went there instead. I finally scratched the pho itch. Not as good as homemade, but it was close enough to do the trick. Pho! It made me happy.

No bulletholes to speak of

2007-01-09T14:51:00.000-08:00

As I'm sure you're all terribly worried, let me assure you that I've survived my first day of classes. In fact, I didn't so much as see a gun. I feel safer already. History is sounding like it'll be a fun class already, the professor's not a stickler for exact dates, so I'm sure I'll do well there. English promises to be good fun too. It's a composition class, which isn't my favorite. I personally like to choose what I'm going to write about and would rather write how the words go than worry about following a cetain form. I mean, who really wants to wax poetic on the migratory patterns of water buffalo for 5 pages, following strict mla format? No one, that's who. Also, the book for the class is called Inventing Arguements. We all know how good at that I am. The professor's even talking about having a fieldtrip out to Jamestown one day. How-to-go-to-college 101 is a friday only class, so you won't get to hear about that until saturday, at the earliest. I'm so looking forward to it... blech.

Oh, and you should absolutely listen to this. It's awesome.
The Link
You might not want to listen to #3 if you're offended by naughty words or surrounded by chillins. I highly recommend #5.

First post of the year...

2007-01-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year.

Time for an update, I suppose.

Still haven't been offered any more hours at work. It's getting ridiculous. I think they're just planning on stringing me along until they work me to death come Valentines Day. The only problem with that theory is that to work with the amount of customers every florist expects, I would, at least in my opinion, need to be trained on the machines first. Busiest time of the year is not really the best time to learn. Who knows. It's been bothersome but at least for the coming week the lack of work isn't going to be all bad. School started today. My first classes are Monday. It's going to require waking up much too early. And judging from what I've seen of the campus thus far, it's likely I'll be shot. I'd say if you don't hear from me in a while that's what happened, but I know I update far too infrequently to make you worry like that. Cross your fingers for me all the same, please?
Back to jobs... Another shop I applied to back in the day gave me a call this past week. I went in for an interview/skills demonstration. I think it went well. I felt a lot more confident designing there. I don't know if it's just that I had a (brief) refresher a few weeks ago or maybe because I felt more at home in the other shop. The place I work has some more elegant, modernist, and expensive arrangements on display and the whole tone of the shop follows. There's usually only the two owners and me at the one place. It's kinda quiet and stifling, almost. The place I just interviewed has more basic arrangements and more of a homey feel in the shop. More people working and there was some banter. One of the ladies mistakenly asked me if I was planning on joining weightwatchers because she didn't bother to look up to see who she was addressing. Good natured ribbing followed. It was nice. I was beginning to think that maybe I'd just been fooling myself into believing that I liked working at a flower shop and the thought of actually having to do work there was becoming more and more oppressive. The interview reminded me that it is fun, creative work. I feel a little bit bad that I haven't mentioned the interview to my employers, but at the same time, they're ignoring the hell out of me. The other shop still has people to interview so I don't know if they'd want me to work for them yet. I've got a little time before I have to decide what to do about this... situation.

Oh! I got some new shirts. I love shirts so much.
Meat is Murder
Fish Tank
Communist Party
Calling Home

the job

2006-12-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned that I got a job, right? I'm too lazy to check. So if I didn't, a couple weeks ago, I got a job at a flower shop in the area. When they called me in to ask a few last questions, they also asked me to stay for a couple hours to train. So I trained. I learned the basics behind their register/computer system. I got to see how things are organized and where stuff is kept. I 'got' to clean the doors of the cooler and sweep. All in all, I guess it was a good first day. About what I expected, at least. They told me when to come in next. So the next thursday, I head off for a couple more hours of training, interspersed with random, menial chores. I run one order through. Not because only one person came into the shop, but because the rest of the time I'm juggling the list of tasks they're throwing at me. They ask me to sweep, but come over to shadow whenever a customer comes in. I start sweeping. One of them asks me to move some of the merchandise around. I sweep on. The other one asks me to unbox some stuff in the back. Still sweeping. The first one asks about the moving stuff. I haven't even finished sweeping yet. I didn't realize I was supposed to do #2 first. I leave off sweeping to do so. The second one asks about her task. Crap. Rush through the one to get to the next. Someone asks me to dust. And when I get a free minute, run something across the street to the bank. While I'm preoccupied with trying to figure out which chore is most important, or at least which they'll ask after next, a customer comes in. Repeat with other chores (like calling a funeral home to ask about a viewing time and watering plants) for every other customer that comes in. My personal favorite was the order to pick the dead leaves off the azalea tree in the corner. We had a couple azalea's at my last job. Since they're so tempermental, they're hard to keep looking their best. And, as my manager proved time and again, they're pretty easy to kill. Anyway. Pick off the dead leaves. Don't just shake the tree. They handed me a footstool. Anytime you so much as think about pulling a leaf off of a branch (and they come off pretty easily) every other leaf on that branch jumps ship and lands in all of the vases and other plants barricading the bottom of the azalea. Did I mention that I was either too far away from the tree to reach more than the outer inch or so close to the trunk I couldn't actually move enough to do anything? I tried moving things, I did. It just didn't help. They had too much immovable stuff surrounding this troublesome plant. So after I spend all this time trying to groom this stupid thing, I walk into the back room to throw away the excess foliage and on my way back out to collect the footstool realize that it doesn't look like I did much of anything. Hooray. You can guess how well the 'shadowing' went. So I finally get most of the minutiae at least partially finished when the flow of customers stalls. Great timing, I know. I accidentally mention something to the effect of knowing how to tie bows and spend the next 45 minutes tying less-complicated little half-bows for these christmas baskets they're sending out. Apparenly a ton of people ordered them, because they're making... 30? at least. Not very difficult work. They're impressed with how fast I finish. (could it be because I've been tying bows for over a year?) Then I get to (joy joy) put a ton of oasis inside the baskets they're using for these arrangements. Blech, but ok. It's part of the job. I finish that and since I've got a little bit of time before I'm supposed to be heading home, they ask me if I want to make up an arrangement. I'm not too excited about it, but I guess since I haven't done much floristing for almost 6 months, it's time to get back into the swing of things. They ask me to use a container that I'll have to put oasis in. I'm not a big fan of oasis. I prefer to do vases. I suck it up. It was taking a little bit longer than it should've and, owing to my lapse of practice and general unease with the medium, wasn't looking as good as I'dve liked. It wasn't hideous. It just wasn't great. Time to clock out comes and I'm only half done. One of the ladies tells me she'll finish and sends me packing. They make it a point to ask if I can work the week before Christmas. Yes, I can. They tell me they'll call me the next week, probably midweek. Exit.

At that point in time, I was feeling a little frustrated with myself for not doing better on the arrangement. I was also feeling a little frustrated with them. The co-owners/managers. They know that I've got experience doing pretty much everything a florist could be called on to do. And I can do it all at least passably. I've relayed this to them. More than once. I realize that the new hire should expect to be asked to do menial stuff, but they gave me so much that they expected me to do in mere seconds that I missed out on a lot of training opportunities. The lack of organization with the laundry list of tasks irked me. If they don't tell me to prioritize anything, I think it's ridiculous for them to expect me to have them finished while I'm still working on something else. Maybe I'm just crazy.

Midweek, the week before Christmas rolls around. Midweek, in my world, is Wednesday. I'll forgive if you consider it Thursday though. They're close. I wait for 'the call.' Nothing. It's been a week since that 'midweek' and I still have yet to hear anything from them. Now when they hired me, they double triple checked that I realized that it was a part-time position. So I realize they weren't planning to give me tons of hours, but I do expect that once hired, I'll actually have to work. As near as I can imagine they either plan on firing me in the near future or they plan on giving me a few hours every couple weeks until they try to work me to death come Valentines Day. As neither scenario particularly appeals to me, I'm looking for another job. This is ridiculous.

Squee!

2006-12-16T14:45:00.000-08:00

I got a box in the mail! A box of wonder and goodness. It was full of love and pure joy.
Or maybe it had some flavored hot chocolate, a new cd that I've had my eye on, and some of the coolest socks I've ever seen. Not only are they long, they're stripey AND they have little skulls and crossbones on them. They rock pretty hard.
I'm pretty happy. Pretty excited.

Em rocks pretty hard too.

YES!!!

2006-12-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

Got another interview for tomorrow morning. If I'm so inclined, they've offered to let me stay after and train a little bit.

Edit: I signed up for classes today too.

2006-12-06T15:42:00.000-08:00

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

And I found out today I'm an aunt again. Scamper was born the 27th.

New Recipes

2006-12-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

New recipes are always a little tricky. Take, for example, the gingerbread recipe in my mom's new cooking magazine. Sounded relatively easy. Didn't even have to wait for butter to soften. However, the dough was a little less viscous than it could have been. My gingerbread men, as a consequence, looked more like circus freaks and severe burn victims than delicious clones.

The Petting Zoo

2006-12-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

I went to a petting zoo today. The SPCA runs it. It's a pretty fun little zoo, and they've arranged it so you have to walk through the adoption area where they keep all the homeless animals before you get to the goats, llama, and deer. It's pretty sneaky. You take your kids to the petting zoo and they get to check out the puppies on the way in and out and the next thing you know they're begging you for one. Aaaaanyway. I petted a few deer, tried to keep the goats from eating my purse, fed a llama, kissed a kangaroo, considered stealing a baby lemur, tried to avoid finger-eating peacocks, and generally just took a bunch of pictures.

on the plus side

2006-11-29T17:01:00.000-08:00

I got an interview today. They have one more interview to do. They're calling me monday to let me know if I got the job. Cross your fingers?

2006-11-29T08:00:00.001-08:00

He's getting married.

I love overhearing things.

2006-11-26T15:45:00.000-08:00

Going out in public is always an adventure. Especially since I'm a people watcher. And, if you're loud enough to hear clearly, please consider that I will be listening in on your conversation if it's the least bit interesting. That's what you get for broadcasting your business.

A while ago I was walking through the grocery store, looking for something. I passed a lady talking to an employee. Although I was in a hurry, I still managed to overhear her question: Where do you keep the baking raisins?

That's a very good question...

And then at walmart the other day, Amanda chanced to see an old man and a boy she assumed was his grandkid. They were in the ladies underwear department. And the old man was holding a bra up to his chest. I think that's enough for a good story, right? Gets better.
The boy protests with "Grandpa! Those are for people like mom!" The old guy gets all flustered and shoots back a "SHUT UP! I know what they're for!"
Amanda, giggling fit to burst, races to catch up with me and relates this little gem. We snicker about it through the store and finally head to the checkout. I pick a line and while we're waiting, Amanda glances up at the people in front of us. Yeah. It was them. And, in case you were wondering, he didn't end up buy the bra. I had to check. For your sake.

Nappatite: sated

2006-11-26T15:01:00.000-08:00

So I get out of church. Eat some lunch. Read for a little bit. When I'm overcome with the need to sleep. So I take a nap. I have some spectacular dreams. Eventually I wake up. Glance at the clock. 6:30. Wait a tick. Is that am or pm? I can't remember which is indicated by a dot next to the numbers. A dot which is currently invisible. So that's no help. Context clues? I feel well rested. That's inconclusive though. It's semi-dark outside. If I wanted to stay in bed long enough to see which way it'd go, that'd be something. Amanda's in bed. She could be taking a nap too. Or maybe she just hasn't gotten up to get ready yet. Bedroom's dark. A light on in the hallway. Jonathan's door closes. Night, or is he getting ready for seminary? I absolutely love how vague this time of day is. In case you were wondering, it's still today.

Learned my lesson

2006-11-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

The blue is my inner dialogue. Yes, I mean dialogue.

Went to singles ward today. Got there late. oops. Couldn't muster the gumption to go in. So I sat out in the truck with Richard. He stretched out in the back seat, I did the same in the front. We talked for a little bit before a comfortable silence fell. I started dozing (not enough sleep). I heard the passenger side door open. Richard must have gotten bored and gone in to the meeting. And then someone got in. Guy about my dad's age with a nice suit slides in. He sets a gallon of ice cream on the seat in between us and sets a thing of sherbet on the floor. Crap. He must be from the other ward's bishopric (another ward meets at the same time as the singles in the same building- not my family's ward). Great. This is obviously going to turn into a lecture or pointed story about skipping church. And maybe fasting... He nods towards the tub and asks if we like ice cream. It's a test! He's going to offer you some! If you take some, he'll tack fasting onto his speech. If you don't he'll pile on the guilt because he'll assume you didn't take it because you're fasting and therefore should feel extra bad about not being in church. What to do? I know! I'll head him off at the pass... "Nah, not so much."Hah. Now your little test won't work. We sit in silence, with the ice cream untouched and melting the sun. A long silence. Ahh.. so now he's gonna try to sweat us out. He thinks he'll get me to talk first? Thinks he'll get an admission of guilt? We'll see. We wait. Time passes. He locks the doors. What!!?!?!? "AXE MURDERER!!!" Wait. It's part of the test. Don't yell that, even though it would be hilarious. Also, stifle the snickers you get even thinking about doing it. More time passes. I inspect my fingernails and eventually being cuticle maintenance. Every so often I flick open my knife to trim something off. Yes, this is how I take care of my cuticles. Plus, now he knows I have a knife. Let's see him try something.The ice cream is getting pretty drippy-looking. He takes it off the seat and sets it on the floor, between his legs. He starts eating it with his fingers. I ignore and continue hand care. Pop my knuckles, organize my purse... Richard makes motions and mouths the question I keep asking myself "Why is he in our truck?" On he eats. Occasionally he sucks some of the ice cream off his fingers. That noise drives me crazy. How much trouble do you get in for stabbing a man? This guy's good. I'm finding it hard to keep quiet now. Ignore it, you can win this. Another suited bishopricish guy walks up to the truck. I unlock the doors. "Hey! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! We need you in class. Where've you been? Come on back to class. Is this your ice cream? Let's go back to class. It's almost over and then you go home with Dan. These people need to leave." A little more coercion and he hops out, hands over the ice cream, and follows guy B back into the building. What the? Home with Dan? Why is this guy being so condesc... oh..... wow. I just sat here having a battle of wills/ mental standoff with a guy who's obviously a few peas short of a pod. Wow. Maybe I do read too much into things sometimes.

screwing up again...

2006-11-01T22:07:00.000-08:00

Good news, guys. Apparently I'm not following proper heartbreak procedure. My feelings were brought into question. As per "the rules" and every crappy chick flick and tv show out there, I should be drowning my sorrows in a tub of ben & jerrys and crying my eyes out. Not acting how I feel, not displaying the depth of emotion I'm so acutely experiencing, obviously proves that, ice queen that I am, I never actually felt anything anyway. The fact that I haven't been broadcasting what happened is proof of it. Although we never open up, even when you started cutting yourself, you think that for some reason this heartbreak is going to be your winning ticket to heatherland? I'm sorry sir, but you're not on the list.

PostSecret of my own

2006-10-29T07:06:00.000-08:00

I hate it when people decide what's best for me.
But then, that's not what this is about, is it?
It's a noble excuse though.

P.S. I wasn't settling.

Susie this

2006-10-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

Continuing my susie homemaker kick. Eggnog Pumpkin Pie today. Smells delicious. There was some leftover dough, just the right size for a tiny pie. I mulled over possible fillings for a while and decided on quiche. And then I made up a recipie for the filling. 7/10.
I rock.

mumbler!

2006-10-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

So tonight in the middle of the dinner prayer I realized something.. My little brother mumbled his way through the blessing and everybody chorused his almost unintelligable amen before food time actually started. When, as a child, you're learning how to pray, generally the pointers you pick up on the best are the ones your family shares and uses. These pointers include turns of phrases. The only reason I had the slightest idea what my brother was saying tonight is because it's the same prayer, although the order is mixed, for freshness, that he's used basically since he started praying. He's a spectacular mumbler. It's a gift most people get as teenagers and he's just beginning to reach his peak in the incomprehensible statements field. Now that I'm a little more aware of it, I find myself wondering how often I 'got' what the pray-er was saying, even though I was off in my own thoughts or they were using lazy prayer shorthand and if it's a bad thing? I imagine so..

Reading back through that, I think I might have a little add.

So I posted a bulletin on MySpace and Em picked it up, filling it out with her answers. I figured I'd repost here, with the changes I found I wanted to make seconds after the "post bulletin" button was pressed.

1) Write 14 things you wish you could say to people, but never will.
2) Don't say who they are.
3) Never discuss it again.

I don't think I really subscribe to the "never discuss again" part...

1. Why?
2. Cut me a little slack, please?
3. I'm sorry.
4. You're driving me to distraction. It hurts. Tell me what's going on?
5. Thanks. You're awesome.
6. You're right.
7. Sometimes I find myself thinking you and I are too much alike.
8. I hope you know what you're doing.
9. You're better off this way.
10. You can't fix everything and even if you could you shouldn't.
11. I hate myself for it, but I find I'm a little jealous of you.
12. I wish we talked more often because I find you always give me the best advice.
13. Ever regret the way things went down? I do.
14. Is it my fault?

pumpkin update

2006-10-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

I changed my mind. I made pumpkin cake bar things instead. With cream cheese frosting. And they don't taste at all like armpit.

This is why we cut faces in them.

2006-10-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

Last time we went grocery shopping we bought a pie pumpkin. Apparently they have different varieties for different things... The reason, quite obviously, was to make consumables. Neither my momma nor myself have actually made a pumpkin pie from scratch, so we figured we might as well try. Today we gutted the pumpkin and baked it. The next step towards a slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream is to smash the pumpkin through a mesh strainer. Guess who got to do that part? Yeah. Guess how long it took? 2 1/2 hours. My hands are killing me and I tried everything I could think of to make the process go quicker, but nothing really worked. Potato Ricer: apparently broken, the inside piece doesn't meet flush with the inside of the basket, leaving hiding room for errant pumpkin. Blender: cuts through the pumpkin, but doesn't ever get to making it a cohesive bucket o' mush. It just puts gashes in the stuff. Potato Masher: Kinda helped, but still left tons of potato string. At this point, I don't even know if I want the pie anymore. Did you know baked pumpkin smells remarkably like armpit? Cuz it does. Tomorrow or the day after I'll actually get to the pie construction and consumption, so expect an update...

Time flies...

2006-10-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

It's been six years and two months since we moved back to the states.
It's been two years and five months since I graduated.
It's been almost three months since I moved to Virginia.
Counting tomorrow, I've been back from Seattle for four weeks.
I'm toying with the idea of heading back up there in a few weeks.

I've been waiting for two weeks.
It's starting to seem like forever.
Do me a favor?
Please and thanks.

The one time when having a fascination with numbers hinders more than helps...

You asked for it...

2006-10-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

One commenter had to suggest
I hold a new limerick contest
So let's try something new
write a rhyme about you
Let's see if your verse is the best

Yeah, you read it right. More limerick fun. I did a couple, to get the ball rolling and to inspire your creativity. Have at it.

There was a young lady named Heather
Who rather liked inclement weather
She danced in the rain
Watched it wash down the drain
Waved goodbye, for they'd had fun together

There once was a boring young blogger
Thought she'd try out her hand as a logger
Her dream job went kaput
When she lopped off her foot
There goes her last chance as a jogger

You know, I once worked as a florist
And I've hiked through a lovely rainforest
The only tale that I've shared
That will rhyme with that merde:
Serenaded by a guitarist.

Let's see 'em.

Let the smell come to you...

2006-09-30T22:12:00.000-07:00

The other day I made a cake. A delicious cake. While it was on the counter cooling, I grabbed the ingredients for the icing and started measuring. Our powdered sugar smelled off. Does powdered sugar even go bad? I asked my momma and, since she was on the phone, she just gestured at another container. It kinda looked like powdered sugar as well. I popped the lid off and took a whiff, to see if I'd guessed correctly. I really regret not taking what they tell you in chemistry to heart. Waft, don't just stick your nose in something. I'll have to remember it next time. As it is, two days later, I can still smell the baking ammonia I snorted whenever I breathe in deeply. It burns.

Today I went down to the beach to check out a sand sculpture competition. I'm always amazed by how detailed and delicate some of the pros can get their pieces. If we'd remembered to take a camera, there'd be some awesome pictures here. Sorry about that.

gaming

2006-09-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

We just started putting away our games and decided that it'd also be a good time to cull through them and get rid of the ones we don't want. While on this mission I discovered a tin with those little wooden mindteaser games they have at cracker barrel. They weren't alone in there. Also being stored in the tin were:
one miniscule magnetic white knight
three larger magnetic chess pieces, all white
two dominoes from different sets
an incomplete, larger still, chess set, this time with black pieces
two green mancala stones
two white go stones
six golf tees
three incomplete checkers sets
five tiny ivory dice
three regular white dice
one translucent red die
one opaque red die
two lettered die from Perquacky
three place holders, each from different games, only one of which we were able to identify
one pinewood derby car wheel
two legos pieces
three shoelace holder things, two with bells

Makes me wonder how we've managed to keep enough pieces rounded up to play any games at all. Another question I found myself pondering.. How do you lose half of the pieces to a game that's never been played? Skillz.

The Aquarium

2006-09-20T15:18:00.000-07:00

Today I petted a stingray and, unlike a certain australian, I managed to survive the experience. Now this could be because the stingray I petted was smaller and not near my heart and its stinger had been clipped off, but there's always the possibility that there's another reason.
In case you were wondering, the facilitator of this meeting was the aquarium in Virginia Beach. I also had the opportunity to poke at a horseshoe crab the size of a dinner plate. 'Fo rizzle. Also, for those of you unfortunate people out there that haven't had the chance to touch a stingray, I'll give you a quick description. They're smooth, squishy, and slightly slimy. It's good times. Spent time ogling the sea turtles and the sharks and the jellyfish. The otters, not unlike myself, enjoy sleeping in quite late and didn't rouse themselves until we were headed out the door, around 2. Good times. I might add a few snapshots later.

Updation

2006-09-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

Tons of family drama since I've returned. Awkward because I'm not involved and can't really do anything to help.

Saw The Illusionist the other day. I'd never heard of it, before actually buying the ticket. It was pretty good. Something I'd be ok with watching more than once, maybe even buying. Check it out.

Busch Gardens again the other day... I rode one roller coaster 12 times. They're doing their Halloween thing, so there were people in gilly(?) suits and werewolf costumes hiding in shrubbery and scaring the snot out of people. It was fun to just sit and watch.

Stopped at the library to pick up a few books. I wish it was bigger. Or that they'd get interesting books instead of spending their budget on crappy bodice-rippers. Really.

Instead of sitting here typing about nothing I should go check on my laundry.

I don't know what I pressed, but I somehow activated the 'Narrator' function on my computer and it's letting me know what keys I'm pressing and if I leave it to its own devices, it starts reading the buttons on the page. It's kinda fun in a monotone, annoying sorta way.

My trip

2006-09-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

Well well.. It feels like it's been quite some time. I'm back home. I got to ride a tiny plane with 17 seats and propellers! There wasn't even a flight attendant. I got completely trounced in bowling. I kicked butt at Scrabble. I finally ate at Dick's. I made a new friend. I have almost no clean clothes. I spent lots and lots of time with Eric. I rode a ferry. I went to the beach. I camped. It rained. I got pushed into a river. I read a bedtime story (actually one of the funnest things I did). I listened to a lot of talk radio. And I accomplished almost nothing as far as planning goes. I already miss Seattle. Stepping out of the airport today was bad. It's cooled down tremendously here, but in comparison it's still hot. And sticky. I hid inside and took a well-deserved nap. Las Vegas is very pretty at night. It's all lights and show. My favorite airport from the trip there and back is probably the Atlanta airport. It's big and very well stocked. One good thing about being back is that gas is only 2.29 here. And apparently the newspaper the other day had a picture from a gas station in town during its price war with a nearby competitor. The price got down to 1.79 or something. I'm going out to lunch tomorrow with my mom, my brother, and my sister-in-law. Dessert from the place we're going is rockin' awesome, so I'm pretty stoked. All the same, I still think I'd rather be in Seattle.

Seattle

2006-09-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

well.. I've been in seattle for almost a week. I'm definitely enjoying my time here. Getting to hang out with Em's brother in law and his wife is awesome. I've had some amazing pancakes and some interesting conversation. I went to see the troll. I'd never heard of it before. Dinner with 'the family' tonight and off to hang out with em tomorrow.

Random snippet I heard at the mall the other day "...so it turns out she has a hole in her bladder." Because we all really wanted to know that. Thank you.

Family time

2006-08-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law and neice are here for a visit. It's nice to spend some time with them, my parents are particularly tickled to get to form a relationship with their first and only grandbaby. We went back to the amusement park the other day with them. It was good times. We got another 'coaster picture, this time as a shout out to the ymca. That picture isn't as good. Amanda's arm is so white it blends in with the glare from the sun behind her.
My parents took SiL with them the other day to run errands and left the neice behind. The four of us were charged with babysitting tasks. She was downstairs with Richard and Jon, while Amanda and I chilled upstairs. At one point, I went down to grab a snack or something and found the neice in an enormous pile of kleenex, sound asleep. She'd apparently found the box, divested it of its contents, and then, exhausted with the exhertion, nodded off right where she was. I took pictures. They'll come in handy in the future.
I'm off to Seattle on Tuesday. Pretty excited. Parents are being remarkably nonchalant about it. More on this as the story breaks.

Coaster Monkeys

2006-08-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Here we are, probably out of order. The printout was a little blurry, but I did my best to keep it to a minimum for you.

I'm on a roll.

2006-08-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

Now I realize I might be spoiling you with two semi-amusing anecdotes in the same number of days, but I think this is something that should be shared.
I lost my belt today. At an amusement park. I was thinking about just typing that and leaving you to fill in the details... Really, how does the opportunity to lose your belt (indicating that you've removed it) present itself in an amusement park? Well, I'll tell you. The family went to Busch Gardens today. It's pretty close by and is supposed to be tons of fun, so we headed out. To keep cool on these 100+ degree days, I wore shorts. Baggy shorts that weren't originally mine. My belt wasn't just a fashion choice. So we wander around the park, waiting in lines and enjoying rides. We were clever enough to get there around 10, so for a while the lines were almost nonexistant. Also aiding that phenomenon was the fact that the weather looked bad for a few hours. After lunch, we decided it was finally sunny enough to chance a few water rides. We rode one, and got a little wet. It dried off minutes after getting off the ride. Then, we decided to test out the raft ride. At least one person in our family, usually my dad, gets above and beyond soaked whenever we ride a raft ride. Today was no exception. The ride itself was short and rather uneventful. A few little squirtgunesque sprays hit us as we passed and one wave of water washed into the raft. Then, right before the end, they sent the raft under what looked like a little stream of water that'd splash one or two passengers. I almost drowned. Everyone in the boat was dripping and a few lucky people (myself included) were soaked to the bone. Nothing was dry. Good thing the contents of my pocket were in a plastic baggie. After wandering around for an hour and a half, hoping to dry off, we finally gave in and stretched out on a bench in the sun. I took the sopping map (oops, not everything was in the bag I guess...) and my dripping socks and my damp belt and set them on the bench next to me to dry. A hot half an hour later, I gathered my hot, still wet, stuff together and headed off to check out a neighboring attraction. Twenty more minutes later I go to put the cellphone in my pocket and realize it's trying to talk my pants into spending some quality time with my ankles. What the heck's going on? Oh. Crap. I left my belt on the bench. I run back for it, holding my pants with one hand and dodging groups of people blocking nearly the entire path and moving at the pace of a lame turtle. There's a lady on the bench, but my belt isn't in sight. Yeah. It's gone. On our way out, I stopped at lost and found to see if some samaritan had turned it in, instead of realizing how awesome it was and snaking it... You should've seen the guy working the counter's face when I told him what I'd lost. I half wanted to explain the scenario, because by now I know that everyone's thought of at least two more interesting explanations. However, I'm a big believer in letting people expand their imaginations.

Edit: P.S. After seeing a few people that had posed for the camera on the roller coaster, the sibs and I decided to try it out. We totally have a shot of us, midfall, as the monkeys. See no evil, hear no evil, say no evil, smell no evil. (Ok, so we made the last one up, but there were four of us and only three monkeys.)

How to tip a canoe

2006-08-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

Warning: I didn't actually read through all this after I finished typing it. It may not be cohesive. It may be repetitive. It may have holes. It may be so boring you find yourself nodding off within sentences.

The squadron my dad belongs to held a picnic on Friday. We got lost a couple times trying to find the place due to vague and incorrect directions. We finally found the park, which sits on a lake. To get to the picnic area and the parking spaces from the main city road, you have to go down a little two lane road that crosses over a bridge wide enough to admit one car at a time. This bridge crosses over a stream that feeds into the lake or a finger of the lake or something to that effect. Either the water level of the lake/stream was at an unexpected height or someone did some crappy planning, because this tiny bridge had between six to eight inches of water covering it. And it was lower than the road before and after it, so we scraped the bottom of the bumper getting on and off. We manage to survive our crossing and find a parking spot. We make room on the packed tables for the salad we brought and wait for the picnic to get underway. Introductions and opening remarks are made, an invocation is given and the lines form. Tons of different kinds of food prepared in a variety of ways and someone even brought Chick-fil-a. For which I am grateful. I have to admit, Washington’s a wonderful place and one my favorite of the states we’ve lived in, but it’s definitely a little lower in the ranking than it could be because there aren’t any Chick-fil-a’s there. You may think I’m exaggerating a little there, if you’ve never had it and you may be right but that didn’t stop my family from a compulsive stop every time we went on vacation someplace that had Chick-fil-a. Trust me. The chicken is delicious. The fries are delicious. The lemonade is the best chain fastfood lemonade I’ve had. There’s nothing quite like breakfasting on a hunk of delicious chicken tucked into a biscuit. Aaanyway.. Now that I’ve gotten off-topic and waxed poetic over food…We eat, we chat, Richard and I do an extensive study of the enormous ants crawling at our feet. Strangely enough, they walk right past tons of planted cake chunks, even after tasting them. What kind of ants don’t scavenge? With the promise of tons of careful observation required before we can even scratch the surface, we turn our attention elsewhere. The lake. We watch a father and his son take off in a paddleboat and quite quickly decide to follow example and set off to do just that. We make a quick stop to mooch money from the parents and apply some sunscreen. By the time we get back to the rental shack, another couple is setting off in a second paddleboat. No worries, there are probably ten or twelve of the crafts moored at the dock. We talk to the woman in charge of rentals and are quickly informed that those two paddle boats are the only two of the fleet that are operational. Crapful crap. We remain undaunted and rent a canoe instead. We pick out some oars and life vests and push the canoe into the lake. We've been out in the canoe for maybe two minutes when we spy a boat, chillin by the shore, surrounded by trees and completely abandoned. We head over to it to see if we can figure out what's going on. The anchor (a coffee can filled with cement) is in the boat and it's half-full of rainwater from a storm the previous day. The boat isn't near the dock. Obviously this is a boat in need of saving. Feeling heroic, we paddle right up to it and stick the anchor in the back of the canoe. Our plan is to head back to the dock and just leave the anchor on the dock. We figured we'd tell the rental lady when we came back in. Neither of us thought about how hard it would be to try to tow this boat, filled with water, twice as large as the canoe. It wasn't easy. We finally made it to the dock and dropped the anchor like something you drop fast. We wandered around the lake for a while, following the shoreline at times. After we'd been out for a while and were just chillin in the shade of a few trees, a turtle swam by. It's a little one, so we decide to try to catch it. This is where the canoe tipping advice comes in. Not that we did actually end up in the nasty lake, but we were pretty close. Quick, jerky movements; sudden weight shifts; lashing out at an agile turtle with an oar... All work to help you out of the canoe. Needless to say we didn't catch the sneaky thing. And the rental lady was very grateful that we'd brought the boat in. Apparently they 'run away from home' occasionally...

Library cards

2006-08-11T17:14:00.000-07:00

Went to the waterpark the other day with the sibs and an exchange officer from england's kids. I got to play chauffeur. Not too bad of a waterpark. We should've left earlier in the day and probably gone on tuesday, which is supposedly the slowest day for the parks around here. We still found some fun rides with pretty short lines.

Today we went to the public library and picked up some library cards, as well as a few books. It's reasonably sized and seems to have a pretty varied collection, which is always a bonus. I'm glad to have some books around I haven't read yet. While there are a few books I reread, they're few and far between and most of those are still in boxes. The ones that are unpacked I've read and don't really desire to revisit. You know how it is. A little fresh meat was more than welcome. Interesting thing about this library is that they have little comment cards in the front of most of their books that readers can add to. The insights they leave behind can be quite.. interesting. I like the idea of being warned that the book you're getting into is, quite possibly, the most boring book ever penned or, conversely, that you should have a hearty meal and a bathroom break before you start, because you aren't going to put it down until you're done. You get to know a little more about the people that read the story before you than that they were clumsy and liked to drink coffee while they read.

Went to a retirement ceremony yesterday. It was nice. I don't think I've ever been to one before. I missed about half of the remarks because we were in the very back next to a noisy fountain and the speakers were unmic'd. It's a little weird to think that in a few years that guy up front being honored will be my dad.

Neighbors finally came by and introduced themselves. Apparently my momma's had conversation with one neighbor over the back fence, but this seems to be the first contact aside from that. A little disappointed in our less welcoming neighbors. It happens, I guess.

I think this quote sums up the ideal read...
"I meant to read this book at my leisure; I ended up missing two meals and an important phone call." -Eoin Colfer

legal once more

2006-08-03T21:39:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure we have the internet now... I guess I could ask, but it's a little late now... the only person aside from myself that I'm sure is up is right next to me, just as clueless...

So we're headed out to dinner tonight and we stop at a red light. The guy in the car next to us rolls down his window, so my dad does the same. He yells over "Yeah! Seahawks!" My dad kinda nods at him. "My brother lives in Tacoma!!" Another halfnod. Light changes and we head off in separate directions. I laughed.
Good times.

Moving In

2006-08-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

well.. We're into the house. We got the keys monday and moved majority of our things in yesterday and this morning. Just a few little things left in the storage unit to schlepp to the house. It's not a bad house at all. Tons better than base housing. Sharing a room with Amanda. We'll see how that goes. Thank goodness it's not for too aweful long. I imagine that while it's ok for now, it'd begin to grate if left too long. It was pretty dirty when we moved in. Apparently the renters didn't bother to check if the previous tenants cleaned. We're getting that taken care of though. We've been furniture shopping a couple times recently, looking for beds, since we got rid of all but one before we moved. A couple thoughts for you... Most of the beds I saw were big and tall and looked more like altars to some fertility god than someplace to get your eight hours in. Also... Like car salesmen, furniture salesmen obviously get paid on commission, judging by hope overly helpful all of them were and their tendency to follow prospective customers around the store like stalkers. So yeah. tons of fun. We did finally buy a couple bedrooms suites today. I think they might've gotten a new dining room table as well. Can't say for sure, because I got a little sidetracked by the massage chairs. I think that I may spend a little quality time in furniture stores on slow weekends, just to try out the massage chairs. I'm on and off the internet with no real timetable or choice, really.. Turns out my wireless card picks up other signals in the area and my neighbors are sharing their wireless net connections.. Only trouble is that it's a little unreliable. We should be up and running with the net in the next couple days. Might be more frequent posts after that.. I guess we'll see.

Pictures

2006-07-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post a couple pictures from the past couple weeks... Enjoy!

Siblings

2006-07-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

You've heard a little about my youngest siblings, but I think it's finally time to acquaint you to the rest of the gang... My oldest brother is in the Air Force. He's married. They have a little girl. Stationed in Italy. Next brother is in the Army. He's married. They have a dog. He's in training of some sort... Next brother is living in Northern Washington. Then there's me. Then another brother, who's supposed to be going on a mission soon. Then the munchkins, Amanda and Jon... Both in high school. Go ahead, double count there.. There are 7 of us. I know.
Now this wasn't just an introduction for the sake of introduction. That's right. More boring family stuff. Maybe not.. My brother in the Army just got his first assignment. When he's done training he'll be off to Washington. Brother #3 is pretty excited. He's planning on having them to his house for Christmas.. Apparently he's gone Susie Homemaker since getting into the house... Plans on making jam, been planting things around the house.. Pretty entertaining. Mostly because it's so opposite of his usual behavior.

blah blah blah

2006-07-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

Nothing much really to report...
I did forget to mention that on the way to D.C. last weekend, we stopped at a gas station that carries Ben & Jerry's Milkshakes. I've never seen one before. All nice and neat in a bottle. Completely delicious. Who knew, right?

Momma's birthday was yesterday. Apparently noone in the immediate familiy mentioned it until around 5... oops.

Amanda and Jon are off to YC. It's nice.

Spending days with nothing to do is killing me... Thinking about it... No obligations, no pressing matters to attend to.. It sounds nice. Ideal, even. It's bad enough I'm considering going to the gym.
This is a cry for help.

DC

2006-07-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

Went to the Smithsonian Museums Saturday. Awesome. I want more time there, because there's way too much to see in one day. I was a foot away from the Swedish chef. Ditto for the Hope Diamond. Tons of stuff. Air & Space was pretty awesome. There was a hands on science center in the bottom of one of the museums that was pretty cool. I think my favorite was the "early life" exhibit. Dinosaurs, fossils, early mammals. The fun stuff.

Singles ward Sunday... Interesting, as usual... Two people went out of their way to talk to me... A member of the RS Prez.. and a missionary with a case of mistaken identity. Turns out he thought I was someone else... Yeah. It's a lot bigger than the last one I went to, but I think the numbers will change greatly in one direction or the other when schools start up in a couple weeks.

Good times...

My little brother and sister are going to Youth Conference this week... They're doing a handcart trek for the second year in a row. There's a lot of complaining going on... Heh heh heh.

Couple thoughts...

2006-07-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

There are too many people around here. TOO MANY.

Went to Colonial Willliamsburg yesterday. Walked around for a little bit, checked out a few shops. Didn't really go see the reenactors, or whatever you'd like to call them. Another time, I suppose.

We're going to the Smithsonian and some of the other museums nearby on Saturday. I'm really excited. I love museums. I know I'll need to go back, because there's no way that I'm going to be able to explore everything I want to in this one tiny trip.

Living in a TLF for more than a couple days sucks.

There is a self checkout in the commissary here. How awesome is that?

The Move

2006-07-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

I'm in Virginia. In case you wanted to know. Unpacked the moving truck into a storage unit and now we're just waiting until the house is ready for us. Hopefully they get done ahead of schedule.
Went through Montana, spent a couple days there with friends and a former horse. North Dakota. Minnesota, stopped at the Mall of America... Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, where we visited Mammoth caves, West Virginia, and finally Virginia. I think I'm getting close to having seen all of the states. Only missing the East coast and a couple out west. As well as Hawaii and Alaska, of course...

Thus far, I'm not really enjoying Virginia. It's hot. And HUMID. Crazy humid. Take a shower to dry off and all that sort of thing. It's also really crowded and the streets don't make any sense at all, as far as I can tell. I'm really missing Washington and Em... Alright maybe I miss Eric a little as well...
Um... I think there was more I was going to type, but I'm in a library and the books are calling. Until next time.

Update

2006-07-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

So I've been having a lot of family time lately.... Interesting mostly because it isn't even my family. That's right, I've snaked Em's in-laws and I'm hanging out with them for the fourth/ their family reunion. It's always interesting to see the dynamics of other families and compare them to mine... Nice to be able to say "Yeah.. maybe my family isn't so abnormal after all..." Of course, there is one factor there to account for.. You know, "Birds of a feather flock together." I have to consider the idea that maybe because people who are similar hang out together influences my perception of what's 'normal' in families. That doesn't entirely make sense. And I don't really feel like elaborting right now. Comment if you have questions. All shocked/appalled statements address to the editor. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I agreed to come, but I have to say that I'm having fun and enjoying the company. Even if there are pizza denters intent on ruining an innocent snack.

see ya

2006-06-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

I have hangups. I hear everyone does.. But that could just be one of those things people tell you as they make that little circle by their ear to let everyone else know how nuts you really are. Anyway. One of my more harmless ones is a distaste for the word goodbye and it's shorter form, bye. Now I suppose I could get all psychological and delve into possible reasons for my aversion.. But I'm not going to. Messy, time consuming, and completely beside the point. Really don't even care about the whys at this point in time. Onto the best part. People use this word a lot. Unless you really care, you probably don't even realize how often it comes up. So what's a girl to do? Usually, when it's addressed to me, I relay the sentiment, but change the words. They say "bye," I say "See Ya." "Goodbye" gets "Later." Generally, I assume, they don't even notice. However, on the offchance that they might, sometimes I grit my teeth and say one or the other.. I guess I also use them when I'm not really paying attention.

The point? I guess I don't really have one. But now you know.

band names

2006-06-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

Whenever we take a family road trip, we make sure to bring along a lot of stuff to do. One of the things we always bring is Mad Libs. After finishing the most recent book, we were rereading some of them and (I blame Dave Barry) awesome band names started popping out. Because I am generous and don't want the names to go to waste, I'm sharing...

The Fast Catholics
Down with Shoes
Treegoogly
Dip-a-Cow
Subatomic Moosen and the Hairy Magnetism (metal probably)
Poor Richard's Pork
Born on a Small Goat in the Meditarranean Sea (obviously an indie band)
Skeewompusest
Born a Zebra
Zaftig Meter
Permanent Armpit Sniffer
Fillet You
The Third Pig's Pipe
Sickly Otter (and the Underwater Goats)
Full Set of Llamas
80 ft. Cupcakes
Charcoal Babies

So, if you plan on starting a band and you need a name, feel free to use one of these.

2006-06-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I have to wonder about the things people say... Like when they order flowers and repeatedly request that you "Make them look nice." Because I was considering just taking whatever we have in the trash can out and jamming them haphazardly into a vase? If my name is going to be attached to something, you can bet your boots (or similar footwear) that I'm going to do my best to not be ashamed to claim it. I do take at least a little bit of pride in my arrangements. Why would I make something I think looks bad or will be disliked? I really don't enjoy listening to people whine or complain and i especially don't like having to jump through the hoops required when someone demands their money back. Yeah.
Along the same lines is the old classifieds standby "to good home." You know, "free to good home, three year old border collie. moving, can't take with us." Because someone's going to be perusing the classified ads and say "well, i was going to call about that dog, but i know i'd abuse it, so i guess i shouldn't." Or because anyone really wants their animal to go to a bad home.
It's silly.