OK, so I'm back from vacation (which was fabulous, by the way) and ready to do some blogging! And I've decided to set a new goal for my blogging habits. I think I went a little overkill this summer between starting a second blog, trying to keep up with three different shows, and editing video recaps. Then I got what I'm going to call an internet hangover, and didn't even end up writing a single finale recap for any of those shows. And I pretty much neglected this blog until I had to word vomit all over it before leaving for vacation.
So, new goal: I'm going to blog once a week on each blog. That's not too tough, right? Plus, people probably don't want to read a new post from me every day of their lives anyway, so this will make me easier for you lot to keep up with. AND best of all, it will give me more time to catch up with YOU!
OK, now that that's out of the way...
VACATION HIGHLIGHTS!
1. Flat tire!
Yes, my very first flat tire that really counts. (My old Neon got a flat in high school, but I was literally right in front of my house when it happened, so I got it up the driveway and into the garage where my dad changed it using power tools. Which is sooooo not the same thing as an actual, real-life flat tire!)
It happened about 40 miles before Rockford, Illinois and about 15 minutes before midnight. I had slept all day and was really hitting my groove behind the wheel, ready for a steady drive through the night. Marla and I had talked our way through Indiana and now she was asleep in the passenger seat and it was just me, Heidi (my GPS), and a mix of Jason Mraz, Lady Danville, and Sara B in the CD player. I was feeling good.
And then the tire went out.
I weakly hoped for a second that the flatulent sounds being made between my tires and the road were being caused by an unfinished repaving job, but I knew this wasn't the case, so I pulled over and woke up Marla, who got out to check the damage.
"Yep, you got a flat," she said.
OK, I thought, no problem! I had a can of tire inflator in the trunk -- easy fix! So we tried to fill the tire up with the inflation stuff, but it didn't work...which meant we'd actually have to change the tire. In the middle of the night. In the middle of I-39.
We called Dad, and between his instructions and some very vague illustrations in my car's owner manual, we got the tire changed by the light of cell phones and a full moon. There was no crying or yelling, which is impressive for our family, and I am proud to say I even called off the roadside assistance folks who were dispatched by my insurance company. Marla and I did it ourselves!
I'm also not embarrassed to say that at some point in the night, both of us peed on the side of the interstate. Ah-thank-you.
We made it to Rockford on the little donut tire and stayed in a hotel overnight so we could get new tires in the morning, making us late for our cousin's wedding in Minneapolis that afternoon. But we still made it to the reception!
Of course, by the time we got there, everyone had heard about the flat tire incident and was either pitying us or giving us a hard time about it. But you know what? I'm actually glad it happened, because now I know I can change a flat and live to tell the story! Ok, highlight number 2...
2. Reunited (and it feels so goo-ood!)
For the first time in years, both of my sisters and I were at the lake at the same time, which was very special! We are a very closeknit set of siblings, so when we get together it gets a little insane. My dad is always equal parts busting at the seams with happiness and driven up the wall with annoyance, because we as a group are a little obnoxious. When we get together, we almost speak in our own language largely made up of inside jokes, weird voices, and fits of laughter. This time around our language also included several Dorm Life references, including endless choruses of "Tabitha Darling" and many other Joshua Morgan quotes. One morning I was even awakened by the Morning Song a la Steph Schwartzman, courtesy of Marla. Like I said, very special.
3. My birthday!
My actual birthday was spent driving home from the lake, which kind of stunk, but it was also a lot of fun because Marla and I passed the time using the word "essspensive" as much as possible (example: "Oooh, that motorcycle looks essspensive!" or, "Gas is essspensive!") and talking/singing in high-pitched voices to get Lola to make faces at us from the back seat.
But my birthday celebration was Friday and it was fabulous. Michelle made some kind of cake made of Kahlua, coffee, and coconut (delicious), and we took it and a bucket of frozen margarita mix on the pontoon boat and cruised the lake as the sun went down. It was the second annual Cake and Cocktail Cruise (a tradition I founded last year)! I think next year I'm gonna make t-shirts.
And now I'm back, trying to get adjusted to my nocturnal schedule again and getting back into the swing of work. And this time of year I always get the urge to buy school supplies, even though I don't need to anymore! September is just around the corner, and with it the start of FOOTBALL SEASON! I can't wait.
See you next week, I promise!
<3 Lis
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
official...old fish hill...Danielle Fishel!
(OK, if you're not an avid viewer of Dorm Life, you are probably thinking, "What the heck is that title about?!" So if you're confused, I'm sorry. The theme here is "official.")
It's old fish hill: My days in Lafayette are numbered.
I just got a copy of my signed and approved contract extension, which says I'll be working here for about another year (till the end of July 2010). So...HIRE ME, PEOPLE!
Here's what I'm looking for in my next chapter of life:
-a home near or within reasonable driving distance of a beach
-a job that allows me to sleep during the night time and pays more than what I'm making now
-the opportunity to do something I enjoy, preferably in the media/entertainment field
-the chance to experience a different flavor of American lifestyle
I will go east, west, and/or south of Indiana but NOT directly north (so Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, North and South Dakota...and basically any place that reminds you of Fargo or Drop Dead Gorgeous is out of the question).
Dream spots (in no particular order):
-Georgia (Savannah or Atlanta)
-South Carolina (especially Charleston)
-Boston, Mass. or some other neat-o place on the East Coast
-California (at this time I'm leaving pretty much the entire state open to consideration)
But I wouldn't rule out several other places on the U.S. map, so if you know of anyone that wants to hire a hard-working, initiative-taking, relatively well-dressed and spunky gal in about a year...let me know!
In other news...
I said it before and I'll say it again: this is the summer of accomplishments. This week I hung on my wall three shelves that I've had in my car trunk for like, two years. Finally! I hung one in the little "hallway" between my living room area, bedroom, and bathroom and I personally love walking past it because it's hung rather low and therefore makes me feel tall! The other two are in my bedroom; one is short and holds picture frames and perfume on the shelf and winter hats and scarves on the pegs. The other is long and holds my favorite heels on the shelf and my purses and summer hats on the pegs (this shelf is my personal fave because it's almost like having a display case for my shoes!).
I love having all the white space on my bedroom walls filled, as well as being able to get my bags and several pairs of shoes off of the floor (and out of the reach of Lola's unbelievably sharp teeth!).
Oh, I also rearranged my bedroom furniture and got a little area rug and new decoration pillows for my bed...
You know what, I'm just gonna take pictures and show you sometime.
Anyway, my last bit of news is that today is ONE MONTH away from my 25th birthday! Now, if you know me well, you might also know that I LOVE birthdays. Especially mine. But this one feels a little bittersweet; as Marilyn Monroe says about turning 25, "That's a quarter of a century; makes a girl think." And while I'm very proud of who I've become over the past 25 years, I also am starting to feel like youth is sort of slipping through my fingers (if you're older than me, you're probably laughing at me right now, which is fine). Not that 25 is "old" by any real means, but I'm mostly just sad because in another month I will no longer be able to categorize myself under the "18-24" demographic!!! (Can you tell I work in media?) It's just a little sad to no longer fit into one of the most highly-targeted age groups. I'll no longer be the demographic of funky sunglasses, Bud Light with Lime, and American Apparel leggings...instead I'll be targeted for the complete collection of Sex and the City on DVD, subscriptions to bridal magazines, and memberships to Match.com. Ulch.
Oh well. No matter how many birthdays I have, the fact that I'm getting older and undeniably more "grown-up" will NOT take away from the fact that I LOVE BIRTHDAYS and I am going to enjoy mine! And just so you know, my birthday is not just a one-day affair; I feel that one's birthday should be celebrated for as much as a two week timespan surrounding one's actual date of birth. So the week leading up to my birthday will be celebrated while I'm on vacation with my family at the lake, and the celebration will continue into the week I get back into town.
Like I said, I love birthdays.
OK, that's the news from where I sit. Pictures coming, as well as hopefully more summertime accomplishments!
It's old fish hill: My days in Lafayette are numbered.
I just got a copy of my signed and approved contract extension, which says I'll be working here for about another year (till the end of July 2010). So...HIRE ME, PEOPLE!
Here's what I'm looking for in my next chapter of life:
-a home near or within reasonable driving distance of a beach
-a job that allows me to sleep during the night time and pays more than what I'm making now
-the opportunity to do something I enjoy, preferably in the media/entertainment field
-the chance to experience a different flavor of American lifestyle
I will go east, west, and/or south of Indiana but NOT directly north (so Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, North and South Dakota...and basically any place that reminds you of Fargo or Drop Dead Gorgeous is out of the question).
Dream spots (in no particular order):
-Georgia (Savannah or Atlanta)
-South Carolina (especially Charleston)
-Boston, Mass. or some other neat-o place on the East Coast
-California (at this time I'm leaving pretty much the entire state open to consideration)
But I wouldn't rule out several other places on the U.S. map, so if you know of anyone that wants to hire a hard-working, initiative-taking, relatively well-dressed and spunky gal in about a year...let me know!
In other news...
I said it before and I'll say it again: this is the summer of accomplishments. This week I hung on my wall three shelves that I've had in my car trunk for like, two years. Finally! I hung one in the little "hallway" between my living room area, bedroom, and bathroom and I personally love walking past it because it's hung rather low and therefore makes me feel tall! The other two are in my bedroom; one is short and holds picture frames and perfume on the shelf and winter hats and scarves on the pegs. The other is long and holds my favorite heels on the shelf and my purses and summer hats on the pegs (this shelf is my personal fave because it's almost like having a display case for my shoes!).
I love having all the white space on my bedroom walls filled, as well as being able to get my bags and several pairs of shoes off of the floor (and out of the reach of Lola's unbelievably sharp teeth!).
Oh, I also rearranged my bedroom furniture and got a little area rug and new decoration pillows for my bed...
You know what, I'm just gonna take pictures and show you sometime.
Anyway, my last bit of news is that today is ONE MONTH away from my 25th birthday! Now, if you know me well, you might also know that I LOVE birthdays. Especially mine. But this one feels a little bittersweet; as Marilyn Monroe says about turning 25, "That's a quarter of a century; makes a girl think." And while I'm very proud of who I've become over the past 25 years, I also am starting to feel like youth is sort of slipping through my fingers (if you're older than me, you're probably laughing at me right now, which is fine). Not that 25 is "old" by any real means, but I'm mostly just sad because in another month I will no longer be able to categorize myself under the "18-24" demographic!!! (Can you tell I work in media?) It's just a little sad to no longer fit into one of the most highly-targeted age groups. I'll no longer be the demographic of funky sunglasses, Bud Light with Lime, and American Apparel leggings...instead I'll be targeted for the complete collection of Sex and the City on DVD, subscriptions to bridal magazines, and memberships to Match.com. Ulch.
Oh well. No matter how many birthdays I have, the fact that I'm getting older and undeniably more "grown-up" will NOT take away from the fact that I LOVE BIRTHDAYS and I am going to enjoy mine! And just so you know, my birthday is not just a one-day affair; I feel that one's birthday should be celebrated for as much as a two week timespan surrounding one's actual date of birth. So the week leading up to my birthday will be celebrated while I'm on vacation with my family at the lake, and the celebration will continue into the week I get back into town.
Like I said, I love birthdays.
OK, that's the news from where I sit. Pictures coming, as well as hopefully more summertime accomplishments!
Friday, April 17, 2009
oh give me a home where the palm trees are grown...
You're welcome, Sara.
I'm sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. Here is a post about the first of several things that have been keeping me busy:
vacation!!!
I went to visit my older sis in Tampa. It was awesome! I had tons of fun on the plane ride there (of course). Then, when I got to Michelle's house, I almost died.
No, really.
I hadn't slept in like 24 hours, so I was pretty tired. Michelle made dinner and I took a nap, and then she woke me up to eat. Well, I was still pretty out of it, and I took a HUGE bite of steak that had a large piece of gristle (is that how you spell that?). I half-swallowed the piece of gristle when it got stuck; I couldn't swallow it and I couldn't spit it out. I tried to cough, but I couldn't.
Michelle noticed something was up and said, "Are you ok?" and started smacking me HARD on the back. Now, I don't know when the last time was that she updated her lifeguard/CPR license, but the last time I took that course, I was told smacking the person's back does NOT help...and they're right. I turned to her to try to tell her that, and that's when I realized I couldn't talk and I couldn't breathe. All that lifeguard training came back to me, and here is the thought that went through my head at this point: "Can't talk, can't breathe = choking! Omigod, I'm choking for realsies! Universal choking sign!" I then made the universal choking sign and Michelle's training came back to her too, and she did a few textbook Heimlich maneuvers, during which I kept thinking, "Oh my gosh, what if I throw up? I don't want to throw up all over her new furniture and her new carpet! It doesn't matter, that piece of meat has to come out!"
And then it did. Not like in the movies, where it goes flying across the room and breaks a window, or lands in your great-aunt's bowl of oatmeal. It just...came out. Like I'd just spit it out of my mouth. Am I grossing you out? Sorry. But I was just relieved it landed on the plate and that it was still in its original form of solid meat.
I stared at the chunk of steak and then noticed Michelle was still Heimliching. "Stop doing that," I said. "It's out."
"Oh, sorry," she said. Then we both started doing that releived laugh-cry-laugh reaction and I thanked her for saving my life. It was crazy! The best part was that nobody panicked and the whole thing just seemed really funny to me the whole time! But I know I was actually pretty lucky.
OK, the rest of vacation was pretty normal. We hit the beach on Friday and I got a satisfactory tan, and then on Saturday we got up early and drove to Orlando to visit Universal Studios. Now, this is the first time I've been to ANY of the parks down there, and I was as giddy as a 9-year-old. I took tons of pictures. You can see more of them here.
One of the most eventful parts of the day was when we got stuck in the middle of a ride. It was the E.T. Adventure, which is a dark ride where you sit on bicycles through the woods and then fly over the town and into space. It started out really cool; the forest looked totally real, the theme music was playing, and there were flashlights following us and police cars popping out of the trees, just like in the movie! Then this robotronic mannequin cop pops out of the bushes and yelled at us to "halt!" and we did. For like a long time. Finally, we were all like, "Uh...is this supposed to happen?" Then the music shut off and a voice told us there were technical difficulties and that the ride would start again very soon. Meanwhile, the manne-cop was staring at us and frankly, kinda freaking me out. Everyone on our little group of bikes sort of sat awkwardly in the silence for a minute.
"Maybe we should just pedal harder," I said finally. Everyone laughed, and that broke the ice. Someone started tweeting from her phone that she was stuck on the ride, and we all took turns joking about the situation. Then as the lights slowly started coming up, we looked around. It was very disillusioning; the trees didn't have tops and we could see the ceiling. Then a maintenance dude came up to our car and started fussing with wires. It turns out WE were the problem!
Well, they finally got the ride going again...sort of. We kept jolting to stops throughout the forest, and the maintenance guy behind us had to keep doing something to get us going.
"Is he gonna have to push us?" I asked Michelle. Then finally, we were launched out of the forest and over the town, which was tiny-tiny and all lit up below us. It was actually pretty cool...only we could totally see the maintenance guy walking on a catwalk right next to us. Sigh. When we finished the ride, a girl gave us free express passes, which Michelle and I used to skip the line for the Simpson's ride, which ended up being totally worth getting stuck on E.T. for!
OK, more things about life in later posts. But I think this will do for now!
Until later!
I'm sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. Here is a post about the first of several things that have been keeping me busy:
vacation!!!
I went to visit my older sis in Tampa. It was awesome! I had tons of fun on the plane ride there (of course). Then, when I got to Michelle's house, I almost died.
No, really.
I hadn't slept in like 24 hours, so I was pretty tired. Michelle made dinner and I took a nap, and then she woke me up to eat. Well, I was still pretty out of it, and I took a HUGE bite of steak that had a large piece of gristle (is that how you spell that?). I half-swallowed the piece of gristle when it got stuck; I couldn't swallow it and I couldn't spit it out. I tried to cough, but I couldn't.
Michelle noticed something was up and said, "Are you ok?" and started smacking me HARD on the back. Now, I don't know when the last time was that she updated her lifeguard/CPR license, but the last time I took that course, I was told smacking the person's back does NOT help...and they're right. I turned to her to try to tell her that, and that's when I realized I couldn't talk and I couldn't breathe. All that lifeguard training came back to me, and here is the thought that went through my head at this point: "Can't talk, can't breathe = choking! Omigod, I'm choking for realsies! Universal choking sign!" I then made the universal choking sign and Michelle's training came back to her too, and she did a few textbook Heimlich maneuvers, during which I kept thinking, "Oh my gosh, what if I throw up? I don't want to throw up all over her new furniture and her new carpet! It doesn't matter, that piece of meat has to come out!"
And then it did. Not like in the movies, where it goes flying across the room and breaks a window, or lands in your great-aunt's bowl of oatmeal. It just...came out. Like I'd just spit it out of my mouth. Am I grossing you out? Sorry. But I was just relieved it landed on the plate and that it was still in its original form of solid meat.
I stared at the chunk of steak and then noticed Michelle was still Heimliching. "Stop doing that," I said. "It's out."
"Oh, sorry," she said. Then we both started doing that releived laugh-cry-laugh reaction and I thanked her for saving my life. It was crazy! The best part was that nobody panicked and the whole thing just seemed really funny to me the whole time! But I know I was actually pretty lucky.
OK, the rest of vacation was pretty normal. We hit the beach on Friday and I got a satisfactory tan, and then on Saturday we got up early and drove to Orlando to visit Universal Studios. Now, this is the first time I've been to ANY of the parks down there, and I was as giddy as a 9-year-old. I took tons of pictures. You can see more of them here.
One of the most eventful parts of the day was when we got stuck in the middle of a ride. It was the E.T. Adventure, which is a dark ride where you sit on bicycles through the woods and then fly over the town and into space. It started out really cool; the forest looked totally real, the theme music was playing, and there were flashlights following us and police cars popping out of the trees, just like in the movie! Then this robotronic mannequin cop pops out of the bushes and yelled at us to "halt!" and we did. For like a long time. Finally, we were all like, "Uh...is this supposed to happen?" Then the music shut off and a voice told us there were technical difficulties and that the ride would start again very soon. Meanwhile, the manne-cop was staring at us and frankly, kinda freaking me out. Everyone on our little group of bikes sort of sat awkwardly in the silence for a minute.
"Maybe we should just pedal harder," I said finally. Everyone laughed, and that broke the ice. Someone started tweeting from her phone that she was stuck on the ride, and we all took turns joking about the situation. Then as the lights slowly started coming up, we looked around. It was very disillusioning; the trees didn't have tops and we could see the ceiling. Then a maintenance dude came up to our car and started fussing with wires. It turns out WE were the problem!
Well, they finally got the ride going again...sort of. We kept jolting to stops throughout the forest, and the maintenance guy behind us had to keep doing something to get us going.
"Is he gonna have to push us?" I asked Michelle. Then finally, we were launched out of the forest and over the town, which was tiny-tiny and all lit up below us. It was actually pretty cool...only we could totally see the maintenance guy walking on a catwalk right next to us. Sigh. When we finished the ride, a girl gave us free express passes, which Michelle and I used to skip the line for the Simpson's ride, which ended up being totally worth getting stuck on E.T. for!
OK, more things about life in later posts. But I think this will do for now!
Until later!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
eeeeeeagle!!!
I am officially a week away from vacation!!! I can't even believe it. This time next week I'll be in sunny Florida at my older sis's new house! My new swimsuit came in the mail, I've got my packing list made, I have a hair appointment this Friday, I got an awesome new carry-on bag that I have been reallllllly good about not using until the trip, and I've barely had time to read the Vanity Fair I picked up like...what, a month ago?...so I won't even need to buy any new magazines! Who am I kidding; yes I will. I always buy new magazines for any trip that includes a plane ride and a beach. It's just kind of one of those things I have to do to celebrate the occassion.
And, by the way, I love flying. Everything about it! I know many people (my dad included) do not get the same kick out of flying that I do. So let me describe it to you from my perspective.
First, there's the thrill of racing through the airport to make your flight. Or, if you DO have lots of time, you get to take in all the fun things that an airport has, like moving sidewalks, stores that sell pillows, and crazy folks.
Then you get to sit and wait (cue magazine) for your flight to board. Now, even if your flight decides to run late, this is still fun because it gives you a chance to scope out (over your magazine) all the people you will be sharing a plane with, and try to figure out who they are and why they're going wherever they're going.
Next and at long last comes the excitement of boarding the plane, then watching (and yes, I do watch as a form of entertainment) the flight attendants do their little show about emergency procedures. And I always make up stories about the flight attendants and what they're thinking (wouldn't that be a great reality show? Oh, the drama!). Sometimes I narrate for them in my head. Like, I imagine Chelsea the perky red-head is secretly in love with Luke, the blond guy, but he's dating Renee the long fingernails girl who is clearly so over this job and hates everyone on the plane except for her blond BF...no wait, she actually hates him too because she's planned to elope with the co-pilot as soon as we land. Then there's Grumpy Drink Cart Lady (that's her name) who gets special satisfaction of catching Mile High Club inductees in the act, and finally the tall, flamboyant Roger, who knows he rocks the emergency procedure demonstration like nobody's business and is def. gonna get that promotion next week.
Then there's -- dun dah dah dun -- TAKING OFF! Always a major highlight; I don't get scared, I don't go to sleep, I don't read. I just look out the window and enjoy the miracle of flight. I also love flying on a sunny day because then I get to wear sunglasses, which makes me feel supercool.
Now, my ears do pop terribly on airplanes. Sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode from the pressure. And that part is not fun. I always wonder for a few minutes if the whole head exploding thing is physically possible. Then I do the thing where I plug my nose and blow, then I stuff six pieces of Orbit in my mouth and chew like an angry goat, and if that doesn't work, I just get the magazine back out and try to focus very hard on the comeback of the cork wedge slingback. Or if it gets too bad, I may ask Grumpy Drink Cart Lady to bring me an aspirin for my headache, or flag down Roger to ask him what he thinks about the "Who Wore It Better" page of my magazine. At any rate, the ear-popping problems will NOT ruin the flight.
Now, I love sitting by the window, because I love looking at what's below us, especially when it's nothing but clouds and you can see the plane's shadow. I just think that's unreal. And then the big finish...the landing! To me, this is just as exciting and suspenseful as watching an Olympic gymnast finish her balance beam routine. Will she stick the landing? I always sort of judge the landing and give it a score.
Upon landing, here is what you do, you savvy jetsetter, you: put your magazine away, put on your shades (in case you weren't already wearing them), whip out your cell, and call whoever is coming to pick you up. Then, be cool. Everyone is in a hurry to get off the plane, but guess what. We're ALL getting off the plane. Let the poor moms and dads herd their little munchkins down the aisle, help the lady who keeps dropping stuff out of her four different carry-on bags (how did she get that many on the plane in the firt place?), and let the self-important business dudes go ahead of you, because it's fun to watch them try to get out in front of everyone and then shake their heads and sigh impatiently when they can't. When the path is clear enough to get through without stopping every two steps, you go. Wave g'bye to Roger, thank the pilot, and cross your fingers hoping that Chelsea and Luke really do end up together.
And of course, the best part of flying is getting to a NEW airport in a NEW place just hours after leaving someplace that was colder, darker, and less exciting than your warm, sunny destination! By now you've probably made friends with someone on the plane, so you exchange excited "well, here we are!" looks, part ways, and go find the awesome person you've come to visit so they can help you find your luggage at the baggage claim.
See, half the fun IS getting there! And I'll be there in just one week! Yay!
And, by the way, I love flying. Everything about it! I know many people (my dad included) do not get the same kick out of flying that I do. So let me describe it to you from my perspective.
First, there's the thrill of racing through the airport to make your flight. Or, if you DO have lots of time, you get to take in all the fun things that an airport has, like moving sidewalks, stores that sell pillows, and crazy folks.
Then you get to sit and wait (cue magazine) for your flight to board. Now, even if your flight decides to run late, this is still fun because it gives you a chance to scope out (over your magazine) all the people you will be sharing a plane with, and try to figure out who they are and why they're going wherever they're going.
Next and at long last comes the excitement of boarding the plane, then watching (and yes, I do watch as a form of entertainment) the flight attendants do their little show about emergency procedures. And I always make up stories about the flight attendants and what they're thinking (wouldn't that be a great reality show? Oh, the drama!). Sometimes I narrate for them in my head. Like, I imagine Chelsea the perky red-head is secretly in love with Luke, the blond guy, but he's dating Renee the long fingernails girl who is clearly so over this job and hates everyone on the plane except for her blond BF...no wait, she actually hates him too because she's planned to elope with the co-pilot as soon as we land. Then there's Grumpy Drink Cart Lady (that's her name) who gets special satisfaction of catching Mile High Club inductees in the act, and finally the tall, flamboyant Roger, who knows he rocks the emergency procedure demonstration like nobody's business and is def. gonna get that promotion next week.
Then there's -- dun dah dah dun -- TAKING OFF! Always a major highlight; I don't get scared, I don't go to sleep, I don't read. I just look out the window and enjoy the miracle of flight. I also love flying on a sunny day because then I get to wear sunglasses, which makes me feel supercool.
Now, my ears do pop terribly on airplanes. Sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode from the pressure. And that part is not fun. I always wonder for a few minutes if the whole head exploding thing is physically possible. Then I do the thing where I plug my nose and blow, then I stuff six pieces of Orbit in my mouth and chew like an angry goat, and if that doesn't work, I just get the magazine back out and try to focus very hard on the comeback of the cork wedge slingback. Or if it gets too bad, I may ask Grumpy Drink Cart Lady to bring me an aspirin for my headache, or flag down Roger to ask him what he thinks about the "Who Wore It Better" page of my magazine. At any rate, the ear-popping problems will NOT ruin the flight.
Now, I love sitting by the window, because I love looking at what's below us, especially when it's nothing but clouds and you can see the plane's shadow. I just think that's unreal. And then the big finish...the landing! To me, this is just as exciting and suspenseful as watching an Olympic gymnast finish her balance beam routine. Will she stick the landing? I always sort of judge the landing and give it a score.
Upon landing, here is what you do, you savvy jetsetter, you: put your magazine away, put on your shades (in case you weren't already wearing them), whip out your cell, and call whoever is coming to pick you up. Then, be cool. Everyone is in a hurry to get off the plane, but guess what. We're ALL getting off the plane. Let the poor moms and dads herd their little munchkins down the aisle, help the lady who keeps dropping stuff out of her four different carry-on bags (how did she get that many on the plane in the firt place?), and let the self-important business dudes go ahead of you, because it's fun to watch them try to get out in front of everyone and then shake their heads and sigh impatiently when they can't. When the path is clear enough to get through without stopping every two steps, you go. Wave g'bye to Roger, thank the pilot, and cross your fingers hoping that Chelsea and Luke really do end up together.
And of course, the best part of flying is getting to a NEW airport in a NEW place just hours after leaving someplace that was colder, darker, and less exciting than your warm, sunny destination! By now you've probably made friends with someone on the plane, so you exchange excited "well, here we are!" looks, part ways, and go find the awesome person you've come to visit so they can help you find your luggage at the baggage claim.
See, half the fun IS getting there! And I'll be there in just one week! Yay!
Friday, February 6, 2009
thankful friday
I am thankful...
1. for Fridays, which always include new episodes of "The Office" and "30 Rock," and the thought that I don't have to go anywhere or do anything tomorrow, and that I can sleep whenever I want to in the next 48 hours.
2. for paychecks, especially when they include overtime pay that will fund retail therapy to relieve the stress of earning said overtime pay.
3. for things going well at work, which was sweet payoff for the past couple of weeks of things NOT going well at work.
4. for finding out that a coworker you were stressing out about it just stressed out for a lot of the same reasons, and for working together to accomplish a similar goal.
5. for Kelsey, who constantly teaches me lessons in faith, love, and friendship.
6. for Sara, who is hands-down just one of the coolest people I'll ever meet.
7. for Tommy, who geeks out over Dorm Life with me and is always great to talk to.
8. for Curtis who, I am convinced, makes the world a better place every day just by being in it but not of it.
9. for Troy and Caitlin for being a beautiful example of love and friendship to everyone they know.
10. for Joey, for helping me recognize and enjoy the great things that go with growing up!
11. for all of my other blog buddies, who I have never met but who impact my everyday life with their comments, posts, humor, and amazing stories!
12. for pizza and beer, which I'm going to enjoy tonight in the comfort of my little apartment.
13. for my sisters, who brighten my day whether I talk to them for 45 seconds or 45 minutes, and for how close we have been all our lives.
14. for my mom, who is the most supportive, loving, giving person I will probably ever meet. And she's also a great listener, even when I talk and talk and talk...
15. for my dad who, I am finding, understands me better than I ever thought was possible, and who I find myself becoming more like every day.
16. for having a job that I love, even when things are not going well, and especially in a recession.
17. for the fact that I got to see a friend today that used to work with me in the mornings, but now he works during the day and we hardly ever see each other, and for being told that he misses me too!
18. for being healthy.
19. for vacation time that I'll get to spend in Florida with my sister in her new house!
20. for feeling blessed in every way.
1. for Fridays, which always include new episodes of "The Office" and "30 Rock," and the thought that I don't have to go anywhere or do anything tomorrow, and that I can sleep whenever I want to in the next 48 hours.
2. for paychecks, especially when they include overtime pay that will fund retail therapy to relieve the stress of earning said overtime pay.
3. for things going well at work, which was sweet payoff for the past couple of weeks of things NOT going well at work.
4. for finding out that a coworker you were stressing out about it just stressed out for a lot of the same reasons, and for working together to accomplish a similar goal.
5. for Kelsey, who constantly teaches me lessons in faith, love, and friendship.
6. for Sara, who is hands-down just one of the coolest people I'll ever meet.
7. for Tommy, who geeks out over Dorm Life with me and is always great to talk to.
8. for Curtis who, I am convinced, makes the world a better place every day just by being in it but not of it.
9. for Troy and Caitlin for being a beautiful example of love and friendship to everyone they know.
10. for Joey, for helping me recognize and enjoy the great things that go with growing up!
11. for all of my other blog buddies, who I have never met but who impact my everyday life with their comments, posts, humor, and amazing stories!
12. for pizza and beer, which I'm going to enjoy tonight in the comfort of my little apartment.
13. for my sisters, who brighten my day whether I talk to them for 45 seconds or 45 minutes, and for how close we have been all our lives.
14. for my mom, who is the most supportive, loving, giving person I will probably ever meet. And she's also a great listener, even when I talk and talk and talk...
15. for my dad who, I am finding, understands me better than I ever thought was possible, and who I find myself becoming more like every day.
16. for having a job that I love, even when things are not going well, and especially in a recession.
17. for the fact that I got to see a friend today that used to work with me in the mornings, but now he works during the day and we hardly ever see each other, and for being told that he misses me too!
18. for being healthy.
19. for vacation time that I'll get to spend in Florida with my sister in her new house!
20. for feeling blessed in every way.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Ten Things
(Yay, even the title starts with T!)
OK, so Kelsey let me in on this game where you are assigned a letter and then you name ten things you like that start with that letter. So heeeeere we go!
1. Tap dancing - I was just talking to someone about this last night at musical rehearsal, actually. We were both agreeing that tap dancing is so fun because it's so hard and yet once you learn it, you could do it in your sleep. Also, it sounds really cool.
2. Time off - I don't get a lot of time off, so on weekends and rare vacations, I really live it up...which usually means sleeping a lot! Haha!
3. Talking - ask anyone. I love to talk so much it's insane. You can probably tell by how long my blogs are, because if I were talking to you instead of writing it all down, it would be a lengthy conversation. I love talking about shows, movies, philosophy, religion, and even politics sometimes. I just love to talk!
4. Television - I know it's my job, but I honestly do really like TV. Not just working in it, but watching it. Sitcoms, dramas, reality shows, news, sports, the Disney Channel...I even like watching commercials!
5. Technology - (Cue Kip from Napoleon Dynamite: I love technology, but noooot as much as you, you see...but stilllll I love technology, always and forever...) I am so bad at keeping in touch, so I thank God that I have a cell phone with people's numbers saved inside, and Facebook, and email! And GPS for the car! (Not really for keeping in touch, but for not getting lost lol).
6. Theatre - "The theatre, the theatre...what happened to the theatre?" White Christmas, anyone? Anyone? Yeah, if you have read some of my previous posts or know me at all, you'll know that I love going to see plays and musicals as well as performing in them!
7. Traveling - This is something I really enjoy, but I would like to do more of. I was lucky that I got to travel a lot in college with the Purduettes, but since then it's been tough to go anywhere. But I love flying and I love airports, and I love road trips! I don't even sleep most of the time! And I truly believe that half the fun is getting there. And the other half is getting back. No, I'm totally kidding! :)
8. Tank Tops - (Is this like Scattergories? Do I get more points for that one?) Aren't tank tops great? You can wear them in the summer, layer them under stuff, sleep in them, put them over your swim suit...so versatile! And thanks to places like Old Navy, you can get them in pretty much every color ever.
9. Tube socks - I started wearing these this summer to play softball, and then I started wearing them to HSM rehearsals, and then we all started wearing them all the time! They are fun and comfortable and (like tank tops) come in many colors!
10. Tina Fey - my hero!!! Hire me, Tina!
OK, that's my Then things that start with T! Thanks, Kels, for letting me play! :)
OK, so Kelsey let me in on this game where you are assigned a letter and then you name ten things you like that start with that letter. So heeeeere we go!
1. Tap dancing - I was just talking to someone about this last night at musical rehearsal, actually. We were both agreeing that tap dancing is so fun because it's so hard and yet once you learn it, you could do it in your sleep. Also, it sounds really cool.
2. Time off - I don't get a lot of time off, so on weekends and rare vacations, I really live it up...which usually means sleeping a lot! Haha!
3. Talking - ask anyone. I love to talk so much it's insane. You can probably tell by how long my blogs are, because if I were talking to you instead of writing it all down, it would be a lengthy conversation. I love talking about shows, movies, philosophy, religion, and even politics sometimes. I just love to talk!
4. Television - I know it's my job, but I honestly do really like TV. Not just working in it, but watching it. Sitcoms, dramas, reality shows, news, sports, the Disney Channel...I even like watching commercials!
5. Technology - (Cue Kip from Napoleon Dynamite: I love technology, but noooot as much as you, you see...but stilllll I love technology, always and forever...) I am so bad at keeping in touch, so I thank God that I have a cell phone with people's numbers saved inside, and Facebook, and email! And GPS for the car! (Not really for keeping in touch, but for not getting lost lol).
6. Theatre - "The theatre, the theatre...what happened to the theatre?" White Christmas, anyone? Anyone? Yeah, if you have read some of my previous posts or know me at all, you'll know that I love going to see plays and musicals as well as performing in them!
7. Traveling - This is something I really enjoy, but I would like to do more of. I was lucky that I got to travel a lot in college with the Purduettes, but since then it's been tough to go anywhere. But I love flying and I love airports, and I love road trips! I don't even sleep most of the time! And I truly believe that half the fun is getting there. And the other half is getting back. No, I'm totally kidding! :)
8. Tank Tops - (Is this like Scattergories? Do I get more points for that one?) Aren't tank tops great? You can wear them in the summer, layer them under stuff, sleep in them, put them over your swim suit...so versatile! And thanks to places like Old Navy, you can get them in pretty much every color ever.
9. Tube socks - I started wearing these this summer to play softball, and then I started wearing them to HSM rehearsals, and then we all started wearing them all the time! They are fun and comfortable and (like tank tops) come in many colors!
10. Tina Fey - my hero!!! Hire me, Tina!
OK, that's my Then things that start with T! Thanks, Kels, for letting me play! :)
Sunday, January 4, 2009
it's that time of year...
...when the world falls in love...
OK, I think that time of year is just about over. But really, it's that time of year when we all make a list of things we're going to do (or not do) in hopes of becoming a better person, having a better year, and making it a better world.
New Year's Resolutions.
And I feel like the act of making them is kind of a cliche, and something we as a culture don't really take seriously anymore. But I think there are some things in my life I want to improve, and I might as well make goals now, right? And I think writing them down will sort of make me commit to them and hold myself more accountable. Plus, then I can blog about them, which I'm sure will help too!
(I have to mention that as I'm writing this, I'm listening to the playlist I just attached to my blog and it's really fun to write while these songs are playing. I hope that it's not annoying that music starts playing on my blog, and you don't have to listen to it, but if you don't mind turning it up a bit while you read, think of it as a soundtrack for my blog. These aren't just songs I like; they all have a reason for being on that playlist.)
OK. Here we go.
1. I'm going to get into and stay on a regular workout plan. (The ultimate New Year's resolution cliche, right?!) But over the past few days, I feel like I've eaten enough sweet stuff to give myself diabetes. And I keep reading all these news stories about how much the average person should work out, and I'm realizing that more and more, I can't put myself in that group, which is pretty sad. So, I'm going to start out by saying I will work out three times a week. That's really not that hard. And I'd like to do more than that. But I think I'll start with something I know I can do realistically, and then once I've been doing that for a few months, reset the goal for something higher. But I'll start at three days a week.
2. I'm going to save money. That is kind of hard for me to do; my paycheck does not stretch very far. But I got a small raise recently, I'll be getting paid for coaching color guard, and I just worked a holiday, so that should give me a great springboard for saving. I mean saving significant amounts of money, not saving one month just to use it all up the next. I really want a dog, and I'm waiting until I pay off my car so I can use that money every month to save/use on doggie expenses. But I'd like to have a bigger cushion before then. Speaking of which...
3. I'm going to get a dog. The plan has been in place for months and months, but why not add it to my list? I will finish paying off my car in May, so the plan has been to start looking at breeders in June. That way I have the summertime to house-train and everything, not to mention have the financial means to take care of a dog. And here's an added motivation for Item #1 on this list - the kind of dog I want to get (miniature schnauzer, for anyone who has forgotten) has a tendency to get fat and unhealthy if it doesn't get a lot of exercise and good nutrition. Sound like anyone else you know? So I think if I can get a healthier lifestyle in place by the time I adopt a puppy, I can do a better job of taking care of and raising a dog!
4. Speaking of nutrition, that's something I also want to work on. I kind of phase in and out on this, and I eat WAY less fast food than I did a year ago, but I want to keep improving on this. Sometimes it's hard to eat regular, balanced meals because my schedule is so weird, but I've been at it for a little over a year now, and I think I can figure out how to make it work. I'm going to eat more fruits and vegetables. I'm going to eat more meat. I'm going to eat two balanced meals every day. (That has to include some sort of meat and some sort of produce; not just peanut butter and crackers or a bowl of cereal.) I'm going to start rehearsals for a play soon, and I know that's going to make it harder to eat right, but I've already been through this schedule during the summer, and I know I can do it.
5. I'm going to do some housework every day, instead of waiting until the end of the week to do all my cleaning. Whether it's washing dishes, taking out the trash, surface cleaning, laundry, sweeping, or just picking up around the house, I always feel better when I do a little bit here and there every day than when I let it pile up and then spend my whole weekend doing all of it. Plus, when I get a dog, I'll probably have to do some cleaning every day anyway :-P
6. I'm going to consider my career options. I'm going to look around and see what's out there. I'm going to keep staying here as an option for one more year. I'm not going to limit myself by what I think is realistic; if Good Morning America still has a segment producer opening available when my contract is up, I'm going to apply for it. I'm not going to be too afraid to go for something big. I'm not going to be discouraged if the job market is frozen and the best option is to stay here. I'm not going to feel pressured or obligated to stay if that's not the best thing for me to do. I'm going to trust God to help me make a decision and to take care of me whatever I decide.
7. I'm going to use up all of my vacation time and comp days this year. Five days will absolutely be for a trip to the lake with my family. The five-plus-comp days I would like to use to visit my sister in Florida, take a trip to New York with family or friends, possibly use for job interview trips, and maybe even take another trip to the lake with friends now that we have the new cabin. I'm entitled to those days and I'm going to take them. Just because it's hard for them to cover my job while I'm gone doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to use my vacation time up. I have just as much right as anyone to take time off. I'm not going to feel bad about it anymore. I'm just going to schedule it, and not worry about it. I've got it down to a science now how to prepare the person filling in for me, so it shouldn't be that hard.
I feel weird stopping on seven, but I think those are my big things I want to accomplish this year. I'm actually proud that I accomplished a lot of things in the past year -- I'm living on my own, supporting myself, I got involved with a church that I go to regularly, I made big changes and improvements to my show at work, I got involved in civic theatre, I made new friends, I've done a better job keeping in touch with people, and I feel like I've improved and cultivated my relationships with my parents and my sisters. Of course I want to keep working on all of those things, but I think you need to be able to look back on your year and be proud of what you've accomplished, so that you realize you are capable of achieving the goals you've set for the year ahead. Life is good, and it can be better.
Happy new year!
OK, I think that time of year is just about over. But really, it's that time of year when we all make a list of things we're going to do (or not do) in hopes of becoming a better person, having a better year, and making it a better world.
New Year's Resolutions.
And I feel like the act of making them is kind of a cliche, and something we as a culture don't really take seriously anymore. But I think there are some things in my life I want to improve, and I might as well make goals now, right? And I think writing them down will sort of make me commit to them and hold myself more accountable. Plus, then I can blog about them, which I'm sure will help too!
(I have to mention that as I'm writing this, I'm listening to the playlist I just attached to my blog and it's really fun to write while these songs are playing. I hope that it's not annoying that music starts playing on my blog, and you don't have to listen to it, but if you don't mind turning it up a bit while you read, think of it as a soundtrack for my blog. These aren't just songs I like; they all have a reason for being on that playlist.)
OK. Here we go.
1. I'm going to get into and stay on a regular workout plan. (The ultimate New Year's resolution cliche, right?!) But over the past few days, I feel like I've eaten enough sweet stuff to give myself diabetes. And I keep reading all these news stories about how much the average person should work out, and I'm realizing that more and more, I can't put myself in that group, which is pretty sad. So, I'm going to start out by saying I will work out three times a week. That's really not that hard. And I'd like to do more than that. But I think I'll start with something I know I can do realistically, and then once I've been doing that for a few months, reset the goal for something higher. But I'll start at three days a week.
2. I'm going to save money. That is kind of hard for me to do; my paycheck does not stretch very far. But I got a small raise recently, I'll be getting paid for coaching color guard, and I just worked a holiday, so that should give me a great springboard for saving. I mean saving significant amounts of money, not saving one month just to use it all up the next. I really want a dog, and I'm waiting until I pay off my car so I can use that money every month to save/use on doggie expenses. But I'd like to have a bigger cushion before then. Speaking of which...
3. I'm going to get a dog. The plan has been in place for months and months, but why not add it to my list? I will finish paying off my car in May, so the plan has been to start looking at breeders in June. That way I have the summertime to house-train and everything, not to mention have the financial means to take care of a dog. And here's an added motivation for Item #1 on this list - the kind of dog I want to get (miniature schnauzer, for anyone who has forgotten) has a tendency to get fat and unhealthy if it doesn't get a lot of exercise and good nutrition. Sound like anyone else you know? So I think if I can get a healthier lifestyle in place by the time I adopt a puppy, I can do a better job of taking care of and raising a dog!
4. Speaking of nutrition, that's something I also want to work on. I kind of phase in and out on this, and I eat WAY less fast food than I did a year ago, but I want to keep improving on this. Sometimes it's hard to eat regular, balanced meals because my schedule is so weird, but I've been at it for a little over a year now, and I think I can figure out how to make it work. I'm going to eat more fruits and vegetables. I'm going to eat more meat. I'm going to eat two balanced meals every day. (That has to include some sort of meat and some sort of produce; not just peanut butter and crackers or a bowl of cereal.) I'm going to start rehearsals for a play soon, and I know that's going to make it harder to eat right, but I've already been through this schedule during the summer, and I know I can do it.
5. I'm going to do some housework every day, instead of waiting until the end of the week to do all my cleaning. Whether it's washing dishes, taking out the trash, surface cleaning, laundry, sweeping, or just picking up around the house, I always feel better when I do a little bit here and there every day than when I let it pile up and then spend my whole weekend doing all of it. Plus, when I get a dog, I'll probably have to do some cleaning every day anyway :-P
6. I'm going to consider my career options. I'm going to look around and see what's out there. I'm going to keep staying here as an option for one more year. I'm not going to limit myself by what I think is realistic; if Good Morning America still has a segment producer opening available when my contract is up, I'm going to apply for it. I'm not going to be too afraid to go for something big. I'm not going to be discouraged if the job market is frozen and the best option is to stay here. I'm not going to feel pressured or obligated to stay if that's not the best thing for me to do. I'm going to trust God to help me make a decision and to take care of me whatever I decide.
7. I'm going to use up all of my vacation time and comp days this year. Five days will absolutely be for a trip to the lake with my family. The five-plus-comp days I would like to use to visit my sister in Florida, take a trip to New York with family or friends, possibly use for job interview trips, and maybe even take another trip to the lake with friends now that we have the new cabin. I'm entitled to those days and I'm going to take them. Just because it's hard for them to cover my job while I'm gone doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to use my vacation time up. I have just as much right as anyone to take time off. I'm not going to feel bad about it anymore. I'm just going to schedule it, and not worry about it. I've got it down to a science now how to prepare the person filling in for me, so it shouldn't be that hard.
I feel weird stopping on seven, but I think those are my big things I want to accomplish this year. I'm actually proud that I accomplished a lot of things in the past year -- I'm living on my own, supporting myself, I got involved with a church that I go to regularly, I made big changes and improvements to my show at work, I got involved in civic theatre, I made new friends, I've done a better job keeping in touch with people, and I feel like I've improved and cultivated my relationships with my parents and my sisters. Of course I want to keep working on all of those things, but I think you need to be able to look back on your year and be proud of what you've accomplished, so that you realize you are capable of achieving the goals you've set for the year ahead. Life is good, and it can be better.
Happy new year!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
vacation day 3
Yesterday was an eventful day. And on top of that, I think I'm finally adjusted to normal people hours, so I couldn't even stay awake late enough to blog about it last night.
So here we go...
9:30 AM - My cell phone alarm goes off. I wake up and think, "It's kinda dark in here," because when I went to sleep I'd left my Christmas tree lights on (remember I was sleeping out on the couch because my bed was covered in stuff I took off the floor for the carpet cleaners). So I go to my bedroom to shut off my actual alarm clock before it starts blaring...and there are no red numbers on the clock face, which tells me that the electricity must be out.
Cooooool.
And I can't figure out WHY the electricity is out because while my laptop does operate on battery power, the wireless internet router in my building does not, so I had no information outlet. So I just curled back up on the couch, thinking terrible thoughts of my friend Tommy and his 57-degree apartment when his heater wasn't working, and wondering how cold it would get in here after a day without power.
10:15 AM - The power comes back on. So much for my dramatics! I get on my station's website and find out that a power line pole just down the street caught on fire, and that's why our electricity went out. And Kelsey told me later that a car crash caused that to happen, which made a lot more sense because I was starting to wonder if there had been a lightning storm overnight or if power line poles just spontaneously combust these days.
10:30 AM - I get a call from Kate, the director for "Children of Eden," the civic show I auditioned for the previous night. Here is where she cast me:
-Act 1: a "storyteller" (basically the chorus) and the Snake (which as far as I can tell is an ensemble thing with a lot of dancing and tight harmonies, which sounds very much like something I would enjoy)
-Act 2: Aysha, who is a daughter-in-law of Noah (like Noah and the Ark)
And I just have to say that is the fastest casting in the history of mankind. I have never heard back within 24 hours of auditioning before! That was awesome.
So I text my friend Chris, who also auditioned, to let me know when he gets his call.
11:45 AM - A trip to the eye doctor to check up on my diagnostic contacts, make adjustments, and then order new boxes. Luckily this trip to his office didn't last two hours like last time.
1:30 PM - I check my email and there's one from Mom and Dad, who are up North moving furniture into their new lake cabin. They have sent pictures and Brrrr it looks cold up there!
1:45 PM - Chris texts me back. He is playing Adam (like Adam and Eve) in Act 1 and Noah's son Shem in Act 2, which means we will be husband and wife. That's awesome since it's always kinda weird to pretend to be married to someone you don't even know, you know?
So all afternoon I'm working on other things around the house, washing dishes, taking out the trash, and waiting for the carpet cleaners to show up. Finally, I call the office to ask what the deal is.
"They couldn't come today because the electricity was out," they tell me, which doesn't really make sense to me, because the electricity was only out for the first 15 minutes that our building's office was open. So I ask them when the cleaners will be coming, and they say tomorrow (meaning today, Wednesday). So I just decided to take down all the furniture so I could have friends over to play cards.
6:45 PM - Bethy calls and we get caught up and have a good conversation about how people should just handle their own business. Or bidness, as Amy Poehler would say (Baby Mama, anyone?).
7:00 PM - Tommy is here with Reese's Christmas Trees, and Caitlin and Troy are not far behind, followed by Kelsey, followed by a hilarious game of Phase 10, which it turns out is NOT an old-people's game like some of my co-workers thought! I would love to recount in detail how this game went, but I will just say it involved Troy needing to charge up his energy-drink slap-bracelet every couple of rounds, Caitlin being sad because she didn't get to play a single card for the first few hands, Kelsey and I revealing or remembering rules at inopportune times for Troy and Tommy, a table discussion about why "My Favorite Things" is considered a Christmas song, which led to a discussion of what "schnitzel with noodles" might consist of, and Tommy "technically" skipping Phases and "technically" winning and needing to check the rule book for loopholes at the end of the game. It was fun. I hope we get to do it again.
11:00 PM - I have a voicemail from Molly, one of my beloved little college freshmen and HSM buddies. She has a paper she wants me to look over for her, so I call her back and she emails me the paper. I do a little proofreading, email it back, and decide it's time to call it a day.
Now, this morning I woke up and put all my furniture and stuff back up and out of the way because the carpet cleaners are supposed to come this morning, although the office didn't know what time they'd be here, which again, seems strange to me. Maybe I'm asking for too much detailed information, but I feel like I'm just asking for normal information that would be really useful. Anyway, I was amazed at how fast I could carpet-clean-ready my apartment this time! I'm getting good at this.
Also, I was excited to find upon logging in to my blog that Kelsey has uncovered the mystery of what schnitzel with noodles is. And after a little reading, I found out that schnitzel is apparently veal and in Germany is considered "a hearty winter meal," which may be a contributing factor in the whole Christmas song issue: "snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes," "bright paper packages tied up with string," "doorbells and sleighbells and schnitzel with noodles!" And then, after some further reading, I discovered that Rogers & Hammerstien messed up big-time because according to this blog, Maria and the von Trapp family, all proud Austrians, would have eaten schnitzel with french fries! Huh!
Well, you really do learn something new every day. Until later!
So here we go...
9:30 AM - My cell phone alarm goes off. I wake up and think, "It's kinda dark in here," because when I went to sleep I'd left my Christmas tree lights on (remember I was sleeping out on the couch because my bed was covered in stuff I took off the floor for the carpet cleaners). So I go to my bedroom to shut off my actual alarm clock before it starts blaring...and there are no red numbers on the clock face, which tells me that the electricity must be out.
Cooooool.
And I can't figure out WHY the electricity is out because while my laptop does operate on battery power, the wireless internet router in my building does not, so I had no information outlet. So I just curled back up on the couch, thinking terrible thoughts of my friend Tommy and his 57-degree apartment when his heater wasn't working, and wondering how cold it would get in here after a day without power.
10:15 AM - The power comes back on. So much for my dramatics! I get on my station's website and find out that a power line pole just down the street caught on fire, and that's why our electricity went out. And Kelsey told me later that a car crash caused that to happen, which made a lot more sense because I was starting to wonder if there had been a lightning storm overnight or if power line poles just spontaneously combust these days.
10:30 AM - I get a call from Kate, the director for "Children of Eden," the civic show I auditioned for the previous night. Here is where she cast me:
-Act 1: a "storyteller" (basically the chorus) and the Snake (which as far as I can tell is an ensemble thing with a lot of dancing and tight harmonies, which sounds very much like something I would enjoy)
-Act 2: Aysha, who is a daughter-in-law of Noah (like Noah and the Ark)
And I just have to say that is the fastest casting in the history of mankind. I have never heard back within 24 hours of auditioning before! That was awesome.
So I text my friend Chris, who also auditioned, to let me know when he gets his call.
11:45 AM - A trip to the eye doctor to check up on my diagnostic contacts, make adjustments, and then order new boxes. Luckily this trip to his office didn't last two hours like last time.
1:30 PM - I check my email and there's one from Mom and Dad, who are up North moving furniture into their new lake cabin. They have sent pictures and Brrrr it looks cold up there!
1:45 PM - Chris texts me back. He is playing Adam (like Adam and Eve) in Act 1 and Noah's son Shem in Act 2, which means we will be husband and wife. That's awesome since it's always kinda weird to pretend to be married to someone you don't even know, you know?
So all afternoon I'm working on other things around the house, washing dishes, taking out the trash, and waiting for the carpet cleaners to show up. Finally, I call the office to ask what the deal is.
"They couldn't come today because the electricity was out," they tell me, which doesn't really make sense to me, because the electricity was only out for the first 15 minutes that our building's office was open. So I ask them when the cleaners will be coming, and they say tomorrow (meaning today, Wednesday). So I just decided to take down all the furniture so I could have friends over to play cards.
6:45 PM - Bethy calls and we get caught up and have a good conversation about how people should just handle their own business. Or bidness, as Amy Poehler would say (Baby Mama, anyone?).
7:00 PM - Tommy is here with Reese's Christmas Trees, and Caitlin and Troy are not far behind, followed by Kelsey, followed by a hilarious game of Phase 10, which it turns out is NOT an old-people's game like some of my co-workers thought! I would love to recount in detail how this game went, but I will just say it involved Troy needing to charge up his energy-drink slap-bracelet every couple of rounds, Caitlin being sad because she didn't get to play a single card for the first few hands, Kelsey and I revealing or remembering rules at inopportune times for Troy and Tommy, a table discussion about why "My Favorite Things" is considered a Christmas song, which led to a discussion of what "schnitzel with noodles" might consist of, and Tommy "technically" skipping Phases and "technically" winning and needing to check the rule book for loopholes at the end of the game. It was fun. I hope we get to do it again.
11:00 PM - I have a voicemail from Molly, one of my beloved little college freshmen and HSM buddies. She has a paper she wants me to look over for her, so I call her back and she emails me the paper. I do a little proofreading, email it back, and decide it's time to call it a day.
Now, this morning I woke up and put all my furniture and stuff back up and out of the way because the carpet cleaners are supposed to come this morning, although the office didn't know what time they'd be here, which again, seems strange to me. Maybe I'm asking for too much detailed information, but I feel like I'm just asking for normal information that would be really useful. Anyway, I was amazed at how fast I could carpet-clean-ready my apartment this time! I'm getting good at this.
Also, I was excited to find upon logging in to my blog that Kelsey has uncovered the mystery of what schnitzel with noodles is. And after a little reading, I found out that schnitzel is apparently veal and in Germany is considered "a hearty winter meal," which may be a contributing factor in the whole Christmas song issue: "snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes," "bright paper packages tied up with string," "doorbells and sleighbells and schnitzel with noodles!" And then, after some further reading, I discovered that Rogers & Hammerstien messed up big-time because according to this blog, Maria and the von Trapp family, all proud Austrians, would have eaten schnitzel with french fries! Huh!
Well, you really do learn something new every day. Until later!
Monday, December 8, 2008
second day of vacation
I wonder if this is gonna turn into a song..."On the second day of vacation, my true love gave to me..."
Anyways...guess what. This is gonna be another email of random items.
A) So, last night I stayed up pretty late just because my little inner clock is a little confused right now. But that's ok. I had told the girl filling in for me at work that she could call me if she needed any help Sunday night, since I figured that would be her roughest night. And she definitely took me up on that! She called me FOUR TIMES between 11:40 PM and 1:30 AM. Haha! Nice to be needed, I guess. I'm just hoping that she'll be fine tonight and won't need her lifeline ;)
B) Something from Kelsey's blog that I need to do:
what's in my purse
This is tricky, since I switch purses a lot, but we'll go with my current staple purse...(because this could be a LOT longer and MORE random if I included all of my purses!)
-my little leather wallet with all the important things in it...DL, bank cards, insurance cards, my friend Chris's business card, and a ticket stub from "Four Christmases."
-a pack of Orbit Sweet Mint gum
-my camera in its case (I try to always have my camera with me...you never know!)
-my pocketbook (why do they call this a pocketbook; this would never fit in your pocket!) full of library cards, video rental cards, more insurance cards, and some expired "buyback bucks" from Follett's bookstore
-my pink alligator dayplanner book, with Mortar Board (yes, I still buy those), pink Sharpie, sticky notes, more people's business cards, thank-you notes, show schedules for PMO groups, and an autographed headshot of Mike P. that I was supposed to give to a girl in the marching band (oops)
-the holiday issue of "Helen" magazine (the only magazine for the women of Lafayette-West Lafayette and the surrounding areas! We do a tie-in segment with them on our show every week, hence the shameless plug!)
-my emergency make-up kit (blush, mascara, gloss, concealer, and eye-liner...it comes in handy after working overnight for eight hours when I have to go somewhere afterwards, or just when I need a little touching up. Wow, that makes me sound really high-maintenance.)
-a blank DVD-R (meant to record my live shot hits, but then I found out someone else is making a copy for me)
-a "Welcome!" brochure from the TCPL, since I got a library card there last week
-the program from IU Union Board's production of "Cabaret"
-the program from Harrison High School's production of "Alice in Wonderland"
-an almost-out tube of B&BW Japanese Cherry Blossom body cream (my favorite Bath & Body scent!)
-directions to a friend's house from this summer
-trash paper, which I will throw out now
-a heart-shaped Madagascar 2 pin I got for donating money at the movie theater
-some Burt's Bees Beeswax lipbalm
-check book
-ticket stub for "Alice in Wonderland"
-pen from PEFCU (or "Perrfcu" as I like to call it)
That's it. Next time I will do celebrity crushes, also from Kelsey's blog!
C) When I resigned my lease, the building offered a free carpet cleaning, which I signed up for. And it was supposed to happen either today or tomorrow, so I called the office today to find out when the cleaners were coming, because they had told us to get everything off of the carpet in the areas we wanted to be cleaned. The guy at the office said they'd be here today and possibly tomorrow, depending on how long it would take to get all the apartments cleaned that had been signed up.
"Is there a certain day you'd like yours done?" he asked.
"Today," I said. Then I put everything that could be moved up onto my table or my bed, and moved everything else to the bathroom or kitchen so it would be off of the carpet. I even put away everything that was under my Christmas tree so it wouldn't get in the way.
And unless these carpet people work evenings...they are not coming today.
I don't really want to move everything off of my bed just to move it back in the morning, so I'll just sleep on the couch tonight.
D) I went to auditions tonight for "Children of Eden" with civic theatre. I think it went OK. It's just hard to tell...I feel like my song could've been better, but it wasn't terrible. And they had me read some dialogue from the script, but there's not a lot of dialogue in the show, so I don't know how much they were able to get from hearing me say a few lines. I think it's always hard to get a good read on what the directors think. But whatever. The hard part now is trying not to think about it until they cast the show, which they said would be by the end of the week. A friend of mine auditioned too, and told me to call him when I was done, so I called him tonight and we were both just like, "OK, let's just not think about it or talk about it anymore." Haha. Luckily, I have a bunch of music I need to memorize for the Christmas Show this weekend, so that will keep me busy!
E) I made a list of things I wanted to get done today, and I got every single one crossed off! That makes me feel really good!
OK, that's all for today. Until later!
Anyways...guess what. This is gonna be another email of random items.
A) So, last night I stayed up pretty late just because my little inner clock is a little confused right now. But that's ok. I had told the girl filling in for me at work that she could call me if she needed any help Sunday night, since I figured that would be her roughest night. And she definitely took me up on that! She called me FOUR TIMES between 11:40 PM and 1:30 AM. Haha! Nice to be needed, I guess. I'm just hoping that she'll be fine tonight and won't need her lifeline ;)
B) Something from Kelsey's blog that I need to do:
what's in my purse
This is tricky, since I switch purses a lot, but we'll go with my current staple purse...(because this could be a LOT longer and MORE random if I included all of my purses!)
-my little leather wallet with all the important things in it...DL, bank cards, insurance cards, my friend Chris's business card, and a ticket stub from "Four Christmases."
-a pack of Orbit Sweet Mint gum
-my camera in its case (I try to always have my camera with me...you never know!)
-my pocketbook (why do they call this a pocketbook; this would never fit in your pocket!) full of library cards, video rental cards, more insurance cards, and some expired "buyback bucks" from Follett's bookstore
-my pink alligator dayplanner book, with Mortar Board (yes, I still buy those), pink Sharpie, sticky notes, more people's business cards, thank-you notes, show schedules for PMO groups, and an autographed headshot of Mike P. that I was supposed to give to a girl in the marching band (oops)
-the holiday issue of "Helen" magazine (the only magazine for the women of Lafayette-West Lafayette and the surrounding areas! We do a tie-in segment with them on our show every week, hence the shameless plug!)
-my emergency make-up kit (blush, mascara, gloss, concealer, and eye-liner...it comes in handy after working overnight for eight hours when I have to go somewhere afterwards, or just when I need a little touching up. Wow, that makes me sound really high-maintenance.)
-a blank DVD-R (meant to record my live shot hits, but then I found out someone else is making a copy for me)
-a "Welcome!" brochure from the TCPL, since I got a library card there last week
-the program from IU Union Board's production of "Cabaret"
-the program from Harrison High School's production of "Alice in Wonderland"
-an almost-out tube of B&BW Japanese Cherry Blossom body cream (my favorite Bath & Body scent!)
-directions to a friend's house from this summer
-trash paper, which I will throw out now
-a heart-shaped Madagascar 2 pin I got for donating money at the movie theater
-some Burt's Bees Beeswax lipbalm
-check book
-ticket stub for "Alice in Wonderland"
-pen from PEFCU (or "Perrfcu" as I like to call it)
That's it. Next time I will do celebrity crushes, also from Kelsey's blog!
C) When I resigned my lease, the building offered a free carpet cleaning, which I signed up for. And it was supposed to happen either today or tomorrow, so I called the office today to find out when the cleaners were coming, because they had told us to get everything off of the carpet in the areas we wanted to be cleaned. The guy at the office said they'd be here today and possibly tomorrow, depending on how long it would take to get all the apartments cleaned that had been signed up.
"Is there a certain day you'd like yours done?" he asked.
"Today," I said. Then I put everything that could be moved up onto my table or my bed, and moved everything else to the bathroom or kitchen so it would be off of the carpet. I even put away everything that was under my Christmas tree so it wouldn't get in the way.
And unless these carpet people work evenings...they are not coming today.
I don't really want to move everything off of my bed just to move it back in the morning, so I'll just sleep on the couch tonight.
D) I went to auditions tonight for "Children of Eden" with civic theatre. I think it went OK. It's just hard to tell...I feel like my song could've been better, but it wasn't terrible. And they had me read some dialogue from the script, but there's not a lot of dialogue in the show, so I don't know how much they were able to get from hearing me say a few lines. I think it's always hard to get a good read on what the directors think. But whatever. The hard part now is trying not to think about it until they cast the show, which they said would be by the end of the week. A friend of mine auditioned too, and told me to call him when I was done, so I called him tonight and we were both just like, "OK, let's just not think about it or talk about it anymore." Haha. Luckily, I have a bunch of music I need to memorize for the Christmas Show this weekend, so that will keep me busy!
E) I made a list of things I wanted to get done today, and I got every single one crossed off! That makes me feel really good!
OK, that's all for today. Until later!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
first day of vacation
I'm going to say tonight is my first day of vacation, although it's still Sunday, because let's face it - Sunday night is actually my Monday morning.
Actually, as far as I'm concerned, vacation starts the second you walk out the doors of your place of employment, so technically by those standards, I've been on vacation since Friday morning.
Actually, yes, and actually, I'm Annie.
(That's a Parent Trap reference that only Molly or Marla would get. I just say that whenever I start using the word "actually" a lot. Maybe "actually" should be my word obsession, like Curtis' current "glory" obsession. Which, by the way, entirely changed my worship experience this morning at church. Every time I saw the word "glory" it really made me think. Thanks, Curtis.)
OK, I am obviously a little wound up. I think it's because I don't know what to do with myself because I don't have to work (yay!). Moving along...
I think I am more productive when I'm on vacation - when I don't have to be doing anything - than I am the rest of the year combined. I think I have this aversion to obligation. Like, I don't want to do something just because I am supposed to, but as soon as it's optional, extra-credit, or extra-cirricular, I'm all over it. Explain that to me. That might actually be a middle child thing...actually, yeah, I think it is. (Here we go with the actually's again!) By the way, did you know I am obsessively fascinated with birth order? I've probably mentioned that. Geez, I sound like I'm on speed or something. Anyway, the only reason I'd ever go back to school is to become a psychologist and for my thesis or whatever you have to do to get your degree, I'd probably do something on birth order. I need to get my own copy of the Birth Order Book. Again, moving along...
So I haven't even started the actual part of vacation where I don't have to go to work, and listen what I've gotten done so far:
- Cleaned up/picked up my dining room/living room area
- Found a dress to wear for the Christmas Show. I don't know if I've written about this yet, but this year is the 75th anniversary, so they invited the alumni to come back and sing a few songs in the show. I think they even asked some back to do solos and specialty groups and stuff! It should be pretty cool. Anyway, they told us that for the Purduette alumni set, we needed to have either a black skirt or black pants, and something sparkly that would look good in the stage lights on top. Since I'm not Sheila Klinker, I had to go shopping to find something sparkly and stage-appropriate. I figured I'd just get a black dress that has some sparkle, so I'd cover both requirements with one garment. It was really fun; I haven't had any excuses to wear a dressy dress in years, so it was fun to be able to look in that section of the stores with the anticipation of buying something instead of just looking for fun. I found the perfect dress - a black party dress with tulle trim peeking from under the hemline, an asymmetrical layer over the skirt that gathers on one side of the waist, and a little column of rhinestones where the waistline gathers. It ties in the back, so it can be adjusted to fit to my waist, which is something I have a hard time finding. And the bodice and under-layer of the dress has these little clear-reflective specks that sparkle very nicely in the light but don't look obnoxious in a normal setting, so I can actually (is anyone keeping count here?) wear it to parties or weddings or stuff like that. When I saw it on the hanger, I pointed it out to Marla, and she said, "Eh, I don't really like those shorty-short dresses." But then I pointed out that I'm 5-foot-two, so those dresses end up being just above knee-length on me, which is exactly where this one ended up falling. On someone of average-to-tall height, it would be sexy, but on me, it's just short enough to be sassy. I'm so excited! I love dressing up, and I never get a good excuse to these days!
- I also figured out what I'm going to wear to the station Christmas party this Saturday night. I didn't go last year, and I know people dress up, but I'm not sure just HOW dressed up they get, and I was worried my new little party dress would be overdoing it, so I decided to wear this really basic, classy black strapless dress I got at the Gap. I know, I know, I never buy anything from the Gap, but this year I actually (!!! I promise I'm not trying to do that!) found something there that fit me. Anyway, I figure it's dressy but not too over-the-top, and it's pretty conservative as far as strapless dresses go. So I'm glad that's all figured out.
- I got Christmas presents for Mom and Dad, and for Michelle, and I got great ideas for Marla.
- I bought wrapping paper and ribbon and got my mom and dad's gift and Michelle's gift wrapped and under my Christmas tree! I really wish I had more of my shopping done so I could do some more wrapping! I enjoy wrapping presents! So if anyone has some wrapping they need done, just bring it by...I have really cute wrapping paper!
- I picked out a song for my audition tomorrow night, finally. I dislike picking out audition songs about as much as I like wrapping presents. I just feel like it's a lot of pressure to put onto one song, and that if I pick the wrong one, it's going to ruin my audition. I just don't like auditioning in general, although auditioning for civic shows is a LOT nicer than auditioning for my high school shows was. I'm really excited, though, because I got one of my friends I used to sing with at Purdue to audition for the show too. He is incredibly talented, and he went and tried out tonight and said it went well, so hopefully he'll get the part he wants and we can have fun doing the show together! I hope my audition goes well...I just hate waiting to find out whether you got the part or not. Blech! Anyway, I've been trying out all these different songs, and I tend to be a belter, so I sing pretty loud, and I'm a little worried about my neighbors getting upset with me. But whatever. Hopefully they'll be at work tomorrow during the day when I'm practicing!
OK, I think that's everything I've gotten accomplished so far. I'm not going to set an alarm clock tonight in celebration of the fact that I'm on vacation. Ooh - Casting Crowns "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is playing on my AOL radio right now...this is such a cool version of this song. Very powerful. I think it would absolutely ROCK as a piece in the Christmas Show cantata...a male solo with the chorus in the background. I wish I could plan a Christmas Show. So many awesome songs out there. Alright, I am finally running out of things to say, so I'm gonna leave it here.
Until later!
Actually, as far as I'm concerned, vacation starts the second you walk out the doors of your place of employment, so technically by those standards, I've been on vacation since Friday morning.
Actually, yes, and actually, I'm Annie.
(That's a Parent Trap reference that only Molly or Marla would get. I just say that whenever I start using the word "actually" a lot. Maybe "actually" should be my word obsession, like Curtis' current "glory" obsession. Which, by the way, entirely changed my worship experience this morning at church. Every time I saw the word "glory" it really made me think. Thanks, Curtis.)
OK, I am obviously a little wound up. I think it's because I don't know what to do with myself because I don't have to work (yay!). Moving along...
I think I am more productive when I'm on vacation - when I don't have to be doing anything - than I am the rest of the year combined. I think I have this aversion to obligation. Like, I don't want to do something just because I am supposed to, but as soon as it's optional, extra-credit, or extra-cirricular, I'm all over it. Explain that to me. That might actually be a middle child thing...actually, yeah, I think it is. (Here we go with the actually's again!) By the way, did you know I am obsessively fascinated with birth order? I've probably mentioned that. Geez, I sound like I'm on speed or something. Anyway, the only reason I'd ever go back to school is to become a psychologist and for my thesis or whatever you have to do to get your degree, I'd probably do something on birth order. I need to get my own copy of the Birth Order Book. Again, moving along...
So I haven't even started the actual part of vacation where I don't have to go to work, and listen what I've gotten done so far:
- Cleaned up/picked up my dining room/living room area
- Found a dress to wear for the Christmas Show. I don't know if I've written about this yet, but this year is the 75th anniversary, so they invited the alumni to come back and sing a few songs in the show. I think they even asked some back to do solos and specialty groups and stuff! It should be pretty cool. Anyway, they told us that for the Purduette alumni set, we needed to have either a black skirt or black pants, and something sparkly that would look good in the stage lights on top. Since I'm not Sheila Klinker, I had to go shopping to find something sparkly and stage-appropriate. I figured I'd just get a black dress that has some sparkle, so I'd cover both requirements with one garment. It was really fun; I haven't had any excuses to wear a dressy dress in years, so it was fun to be able to look in that section of the stores with the anticipation of buying something instead of just looking for fun. I found the perfect dress - a black party dress with tulle trim peeking from under the hemline, an asymmetrical layer over the skirt that gathers on one side of the waist, and a little column of rhinestones where the waistline gathers. It ties in the back, so it can be adjusted to fit to my waist, which is something I have a hard time finding. And the bodice and under-layer of the dress has these little clear-reflective specks that sparkle very nicely in the light but don't look obnoxious in a normal setting, so I can actually (is anyone keeping count here?) wear it to parties or weddings or stuff like that. When I saw it on the hanger, I pointed it out to Marla, and she said, "Eh, I don't really like those shorty-short dresses." But then I pointed out that I'm 5-foot-two, so those dresses end up being just above knee-length on me, which is exactly where this one ended up falling. On someone of average-to-tall height, it would be sexy, but on me, it's just short enough to be sassy. I'm so excited! I love dressing up, and I never get a good excuse to these days!
- I also figured out what I'm going to wear to the station Christmas party this Saturday night. I didn't go last year, and I know people dress up, but I'm not sure just HOW dressed up they get, and I was worried my new little party dress would be overdoing it, so I decided to wear this really basic, classy black strapless dress I got at the Gap. I know, I know, I never buy anything from the Gap, but this year I actually (!!! I promise I'm not trying to do that!) found something there that fit me. Anyway, I figure it's dressy but not too over-the-top, and it's pretty conservative as far as strapless dresses go. So I'm glad that's all figured out.
- I got Christmas presents for Mom and Dad, and for Michelle, and I got great ideas for Marla.
- I bought wrapping paper and ribbon and got my mom and dad's gift and Michelle's gift wrapped and under my Christmas tree! I really wish I had more of my shopping done so I could do some more wrapping! I enjoy wrapping presents! So if anyone has some wrapping they need done, just bring it by...I have really cute wrapping paper!
- I picked out a song for my audition tomorrow night, finally. I dislike picking out audition songs about as much as I like wrapping presents. I just feel like it's a lot of pressure to put onto one song, and that if I pick the wrong one, it's going to ruin my audition. I just don't like auditioning in general, although auditioning for civic shows is a LOT nicer than auditioning for my high school shows was. I'm really excited, though, because I got one of my friends I used to sing with at Purdue to audition for the show too. He is incredibly talented, and he went and tried out tonight and said it went well, so hopefully he'll get the part he wants and we can have fun doing the show together! I hope my audition goes well...I just hate waiting to find out whether you got the part or not. Blech! Anyway, I've been trying out all these different songs, and I tend to be a belter, so I sing pretty loud, and I'm a little worried about my neighbors getting upset with me. But whatever. Hopefully they'll be at work tomorrow during the day when I'm practicing!
OK, I think that's everything I've gotten accomplished so far. I'm not going to set an alarm clock tonight in celebration of the fact that I'm on vacation. Ooh - Casting Crowns "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is playing on my AOL radio right now...this is such a cool version of this song. Very powerful. I think it would absolutely ROCK as a piece in the Christmas Show cantata...a male solo with the chorus in the background. I wish I could plan a Christmas Show. So many awesome songs out there. Alright, I am finally running out of things to say, so I'm gonna leave it here.
Until later!
Friday, December 5, 2008
the good, the bad, and the stupid
The Good:
No, wait, actually let's get The Bad out of the way first, shall we?
The Bad:
Still no chairs. Unbefreakinglievable.
Ok, here is the story --
As I've mentioned before, we wanted to order new chairs for the studio's interview set, and Mr. Promotions Guy told me THREE times (once in writing, no less) that he would be able to buy them for us as long as the total cost was under $1000 and we bought them before the end of the year; promotions basically had some extra money in their budget that they had to get rid of before the end of the year, so he was willing to spend it on the new chairs we wanted for the studio.
I delivered on my end of the deal, finding a chair model of the appropriate size, color, shape, and PRICE -- quoted at $274 per chair (so $822 total price for three chairs; well under budget, if you didn't notice) -- and gave Mr. Promotions a photocopy of the chair as pictured in the store's catalogue as well as a written quote and contact information from the store. About 24 hours later, I checked in to see if he liked the chairs and if we could get them. He told me he was "this close" to working it out with accounting.
WHAT?! What happened to having the money in the budget?!
OK, fine. So that was like three weeks ago.
TWO weeks ago, still no news. With the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided not to sweat it; the normal 9-to-5 folks in Promotions and Accounting wouldn't be around anyway, so nothing was likely to get accomplished.
ONE week ago, I checked in again via email:
"Hey, how are things going with the chairs?"
"Just trying to do some creative budgeting to make it work."
WHAT?!?! What happened to being "this close?!!"
TODAY, I see Mr. Promotions Guy and wanted to chew him out completely, but instead, I said, "Any progress on the chairs?"
"Weeellll..." Mr. Promotions Guy says, "We just have to get it approved...see, it's all really stupid the way it works, like, it's money from MY budget, but we have to get it from another account, and then THEY have to take that money from OUR budget, and..."
The way you talk, all I hear is blah blah blah.
"OK, keep me posted," I say, hoping that hints his need to get this taken care of.
Seriously, if he wasn't actually in control of the money in the first place, why would he tell me what he told me in the first place? It wouldn't be as big of a deal if he'd have just said, "I can't promise anything, but if you try to keep it under $1000, there's a better chance we'll be able to swing it with accounting."
But instead he remodeled his office and then left something that EVERYONE could use, like the new interview chairs, to the uncertain fate of the accounting department.
What stinks is, I really like this guy and I think he's trying to do a lot of good things for the station. And I really like what he did with his office. But it's like the time I bought a new outfit and then found out one of my paychecks was coming a month later than I thought it would. You don't spend money you don't have, or in this case promise to spend money you don't have.
Frusterating.
The Good News:
1.) It's Friday. Holla! (Yep, that just happened.) And that means all the good Friday things that come with it, including new episodes of 30 Rock and The Office that I watch Friday mornings online (and by the way, this week's Office episode is about the place where I work! Crappy copier, crappy chairs, budget surplus!!! It's too perfect. It absolutely made my day and gave me an easy way to laugh about how ridiculously inefficient things seem to be around there sometimes).
2.) I am officially on vacation! I'm not going anywhere, but I will have lots of time to do Christmas shopping, read, relax, maybe do some video editing, go to the gym, and also do some of that day-time stuff I don't normally have time to do, like eye and hair appointments. Plus I get to sleep at night like a normal person!
3.) I get to go see Justin's play tonight! Justin is pretty much me in a 6-foot-five boy's body. (Scary, huh?) This kid thinks like me, loves movies, musicals, and music, and all of the trivial information about them, as much as I do! I always tell him he's the little brother I never had. He is also a very talented and enthusiastic performer and I am so excited to see him onstage tonight! I've seen so many plays this fall thanks to all my little civic theatre buddies...so much fun!
4.) There is a package in the mail on its way to my door, which is always super-fun! I got a gift card to Victoria's Secret for my birthday, but didn't use it until now, and today I tracked my order and it is on its way out of Missouri. It's so fun to track packages; it's kind of like watching cookies bake in the oven -- if you can see the progress, it's a little easier to wait for the final product!
The Stupid:
1.) Here's the situation: I get home from work this morning. I'm holding my purse and lunch container in one hand and a stack of books and my keys in the other. So my hands are a little full, and it's a smidge chilly outside. The way it works at my apartment is, you can get in the first set of doors without a key, but you have to unlock the second set, and it's an oldish set of doors, so you have to jiggle the key in the lock a little bit, you know what I mean? It's not like a magnetic strip card or anything. And there's kind of this unspoken but universallly understood rule of common courtesy that if you're inside the building and near the front door, and someone who clearly has a key to the building is trying to get in, you go open the door for them so they don't have to mess with the key. Especially if they've got stuff in their arms. Now, if the person is a creep, just standing there waiting for someone to let them in, you should keep the safety of yourself and your fellow building dwellers in mind and let the dude fend for himself. But I'm saying if their key is in hand, indicating that they clearly belong inside the building, you go ahead and let them in.
OK, so back to me at the door this morning, with arms relatively full, fumbling with my key. There is a girl standing right in front of and I mean RIGHT IN FRONT OF the front doors, wearing her fuzzy slippers and bathrobe, flipping through a magazine or newspaper insert or something. I am trying to unlock the door and she is staring right AT me and just stands there, thumbing through whatever glossy piece of publication she's got. It is taking me longer than usual to jiggle the lock and get the doors to open, and she WALKS AWAY.
Seriously?!?!!
2.) There was like a fifteen-minute span this morning during which I could not make calls with my phone. A friend called me while I was still at work this morning, and I silenced the call. On my way out to my car, I tried to call my voicemail to see what he'd said, but my phone kept showing this "call failed" message. So then I tried to make just a regular phone call and the same thing happened. I finally tried calling my phone from my landline when I got home, and my cell phone wouldn't pick up the call. So then I decide to just check the voicemail through my landline phone, and I put in the password to get into my voicemail THREE times, and it wouldn't let me in. And I know I was putting the correct password in, because I watched myself punch the numbers and even said it outloud the last time as I dialed, but still no dice. So then just as a last shot, I try calling my voicemail again from my cell phone, and it works. Then I call my friend back...the phone works fine.
So I dunno what that was all about.
3.) This is stupid, but not in a bad way. Yesterday I had a dream that I met Amy Poehler, which is weird because earlier that day (don't ask me why), I was thinking about what celebrities I would most want to meet, and I came up with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Kristin Chenoweth. And I don't usually have the kind of dreams where something happens to me that I was thinking about that day; I usually have the kind of dreams where my teeth are falling out, or someone is chasing me but I can only move in slow motion, or I'm trying not to be shot or stabbed. Yes, I do not tend to have pleasant dreams. If they are on the more enjoyable side, they are usually totally random and have nothing to do with what happened the day before. But yesterday in my dream, I met Amy Poehler and we wanted to get our picture taken together but no one would take a picture. Like, people kept getting out their cameras and we kept stopping our conversation to smile at them, but then the people with the cameras would never actually take the picture...they'd just look at us through their viewfinders and then go back to what they were doing.
Analyze THAT!
(See, that was stupid, wasn't it?)
OK, that's all I've got. I'm officially on vacation. Yay!!!
Until later!
No, wait, actually let's get The Bad out of the way first, shall we?
The Bad:
Still no chairs. Unbefreakinglievable.
Ok, here is the story --
As I've mentioned before, we wanted to order new chairs for the studio's interview set, and Mr. Promotions Guy told me THREE times (once in writing, no less) that he would be able to buy them for us as long as the total cost was under $1000 and we bought them before the end of the year; promotions basically had some extra money in their budget that they had to get rid of before the end of the year, so he was willing to spend it on the new chairs we wanted for the studio.
I delivered on my end of the deal, finding a chair model of the appropriate size, color, shape, and PRICE -- quoted at $274 per chair (so $822 total price for three chairs; well under budget, if you didn't notice) -- and gave Mr. Promotions a photocopy of the chair as pictured in the store's catalogue as well as a written quote and contact information from the store. About 24 hours later, I checked in to see if he liked the chairs and if we could get them. He told me he was "this close" to working it out with accounting.
WHAT?! What happened to having the money in the budget?!
OK, fine. So that was like three weeks ago.
TWO weeks ago, still no news. With the Thanksgiving holiday, I decided not to sweat it; the normal 9-to-5 folks in Promotions and Accounting wouldn't be around anyway, so nothing was likely to get accomplished.
ONE week ago, I checked in again via email:
"Hey, how are things going with the chairs?"
"Just trying to do some creative budgeting to make it work."
WHAT?!?! What happened to being "this close?!!"
TODAY, I see Mr. Promotions Guy and wanted to chew him out completely, but instead, I said, "Any progress on the chairs?"
"Weeellll..." Mr. Promotions Guy says, "We just have to get it approved...see, it's all really stupid the way it works, like, it's money from MY budget, but we have to get it from another account, and then THEY have to take that money from OUR budget, and..."
The way you talk, all I hear is blah blah blah.
"OK, keep me posted," I say, hoping that hints his need to get this taken care of.
Seriously, if he wasn't actually in control of the money in the first place, why would he tell me what he told me in the first place? It wouldn't be as big of a deal if he'd have just said, "I can't promise anything, but if you try to keep it under $1000, there's a better chance we'll be able to swing it with accounting."
But instead he remodeled his office and then left something that EVERYONE could use, like the new interview chairs, to the uncertain fate of the accounting department.
What stinks is, I really like this guy and I think he's trying to do a lot of good things for the station. And I really like what he did with his office. But it's like the time I bought a new outfit and then found out one of my paychecks was coming a month later than I thought it would. You don't spend money you don't have, or in this case promise to spend money you don't have.
Frusterating.
The Good News:
1.) It's Friday. Holla! (Yep, that just happened.) And that means all the good Friday things that come with it, including new episodes of 30 Rock and The Office that I watch Friday mornings online (and by the way, this week's Office episode is about the place where I work! Crappy copier, crappy chairs, budget surplus!!! It's too perfect. It absolutely made my day and gave me an easy way to laugh about how ridiculously inefficient things seem to be around there sometimes).
2.) I am officially on vacation! I'm not going anywhere, but I will have lots of time to do Christmas shopping, read, relax, maybe do some video editing, go to the gym, and also do some of that day-time stuff I don't normally have time to do, like eye and hair appointments. Plus I get to sleep at night like a normal person!
3.) I get to go see Justin's play tonight! Justin is pretty much me in a 6-foot-five boy's body. (Scary, huh?) This kid thinks like me, loves movies, musicals, and music, and all of the trivial information about them, as much as I do! I always tell him he's the little brother I never had. He is also a very talented and enthusiastic performer and I am so excited to see him onstage tonight! I've seen so many plays this fall thanks to all my little civic theatre buddies...so much fun!
4.) There is a package in the mail on its way to my door, which is always super-fun! I got a gift card to Victoria's Secret for my birthday, but didn't use it until now, and today I tracked my order and it is on its way out of Missouri. It's so fun to track packages; it's kind of like watching cookies bake in the oven -- if you can see the progress, it's a little easier to wait for the final product!
The Stupid:
1.) Here's the situation: I get home from work this morning. I'm holding my purse and lunch container in one hand and a stack of books and my keys in the other. So my hands are a little full, and it's a smidge chilly outside. The way it works at my apartment is, you can get in the first set of doors without a key, but you have to unlock the second set, and it's an oldish set of doors, so you have to jiggle the key in the lock a little bit, you know what I mean? It's not like a magnetic strip card or anything. And there's kind of this unspoken but universallly understood rule of common courtesy that if you're inside the building and near the front door, and someone who clearly has a key to the building is trying to get in, you go open the door for them so they don't have to mess with the key. Especially if they've got stuff in their arms. Now, if the person is a creep, just standing there waiting for someone to let them in, you should keep the safety of yourself and your fellow building dwellers in mind and let the dude fend for himself. But I'm saying if their key is in hand, indicating that they clearly belong inside the building, you go ahead and let them in.
OK, so back to me at the door this morning, with arms relatively full, fumbling with my key. There is a girl standing right in front of and I mean RIGHT IN FRONT OF the front doors, wearing her fuzzy slippers and bathrobe, flipping through a magazine or newspaper insert or something. I am trying to unlock the door and she is staring right AT me and just stands there, thumbing through whatever glossy piece of publication she's got. It is taking me longer than usual to jiggle the lock and get the doors to open, and she WALKS AWAY.
Seriously?!?!!
2.) There was like a fifteen-minute span this morning during which I could not make calls with my phone. A friend called me while I was still at work this morning, and I silenced the call. On my way out to my car, I tried to call my voicemail to see what he'd said, but my phone kept showing this "call failed" message. So then I tried to make just a regular phone call and the same thing happened. I finally tried calling my phone from my landline when I got home, and my cell phone wouldn't pick up the call. So then I decide to just check the voicemail through my landline phone, and I put in the password to get into my voicemail THREE times, and it wouldn't let me in. And I know I was putting the correct password in, because I watched myself punch the numbers and even said it outloud the last time as I dialed, but still no dice. So then just as a last shot, I try calling my voicemail again from my cell phone, and it works. Then I call my friend back...the phone works fine.
So I dunno what that was all about.
3.) This is stupid, but not in a bad way. Yesterday I had a dream that I met Amy Poehler, which is weird because earlier that day (don't ask me why), I was thinking about what celebrities I would most want to meet, and I came up with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Kristin Chenoweth. And I don't usually have the kind of dreams where something happens to me that I was thinking about that day; I usually have the kind of dreams where my teeth are falling out, or someone is chasing me but I can only move in slow motion, or I'm trying not to be shot or stabbed. Yes, I do not tend to have pleasant dreams. If they are on the more enjoyable side, they are usually totally random and have nothing to do with what happened the day before. But yesterday in my dream, I met Amy Poehler and we wanted to get our picture taken together but no one would take a picture. Like, people kept getting out their cameras and we kept stopping our conversation to smile at them, but then the people with the cameras would never actually take the picture...they'd just look at us through their viewfinders and then go back to what they were doing.
Analyze THAT!
(See, that was stupid, wasn't it?)
OK, that's all I've got. I'm officially on vacation. Yay!!!
Until later!
Monday, August 18, 2008
blogging at the lake...
There’s no internet connection up here, which is awesome, but my fingers are still itching to type, so I thought I’d just type up anything that came into my mind and post it on the blog later.
(Oh, and just a note…when I say that having no internet is awesome, I don’t mean that sarcastically. It really is nice.)
Being on vacation has been so nice! It’s Thursday night as I’m typing this, which means there are only a couple days left here at the Lake, but my vacation isn’t really over until Monday night when I have to go back into work. And I’m soaking up every minute.
Marla and I got in last Thursday evening; we made great time and Marla drove the whole way, giving me a chance to catch up on sleep. Although I did offer several times to drive—and I could’ve—I admit it was nice that Marls wanted to stick it out all 13 hours. I slept like a rock, too, which is unusual for me, because I hate trying to sleep in cars. I guess that’s what the graveyard shift does to you.
Friday was our first full day here, and we had beautiful weather. We spent the first couple of days laying out on the dock in the sun. Friday when I put my headphones in and put my mp3 player on random, vacation took over my playlist. It was amazing! All of the songs about relaxing, summer time, and so on. I don’t even remember what they all were…one was “Fabulous” from HSM 2, one was “Summer Breeze” by Seals & Crofts.
The weather has been so great; we’ve only had two rainy days and even on those days I went fishing with Dad. Wednesday was one of the rainy days, and all of us girls (Mamaw, Mom, Marla and me) drove down to “town” –a good hour away—to Virginia’s mall for some shopping. I got a long sweater that will be so perfect for Purdue football games! I’m already pumped about tailgating and going to the games. I never (literally, never) got to tailgate in college because I was always busy recruiting, or we’d have a Purduettes show. So this year Mom and Dad have season tickets for all of us and we’re going to tailgate, and in meeting the Habbens this summer I learned that they are hard-core tailgaters too, so I’m looking forward to having another excuse to see more of that wonderful family! Speaking of which, I called in to Lafayette Wednesday while I was at the mall with cell phone reception and as of that day, everything is fine at my apartment, and Fish is still alive! When I get back, my boy-buddies will be on vacation, so hopefully I’ll have time to catch up with some of the girls before they all head off to school.
Right now I’m typing this and it’s just about an hour until my twenty-fourth birthday. I’m 24. That’s insane. I think it makes my dad feel old, because he asked me how old I was going to be and then he just shook his head in disbelief. Mom and I baked a cake tonight and we’ll ice it in the morning; I think she even got candles! It’s really cool to be up here on my birthday—we used to have my birthday up here all the time and then school just came too early to make that work anymore. Tomorrow is our last day, and then Sunday morning we all drive home. I told Marla I’d drive the whole way, since she made the whole trip up. But I hope that means I get to choose the music most of the time. Marla doesn’t seem to like my music…any of it. Even if I pick something I think she’s going to like (which is a lot), she says, “Ugh, I’m so sick of that song.” It’s OK. It’s just hit-and-miss but I’m guessing she’ll sleep a lot of the time so if I want to listen to Broadway songs or Ashley Tisdale or something, she won’t be awake to hear it. I’m sure it’ll be fine no matter what! Plus she can always listen to her iPod.
OH!!! Speaking of music...we went to church tonight and they had a sort of praise band to do the music during the service, which was outdoors with a barbeque afterwards. This group has probably six or seven people, all dressed in khakis and denim shirts (always classy) with their names on the front and the group’s name, “Second Chance,” embroidered on the back! And during the dinner they played a set of oldies and country songs, but the way they all sang, it was like something straight out of “A Mighty Wind,” or those SNL skits Will Farrell and Ana Gastyer used to do about the middle school music teachers. It was the stuff sketch comedy dreams are made of. So funny.
OK, I think that’s about it. Everyone’s in bed. It’ll be my birthday in Indiana in eight minutes, but here in the Land of 1,000 Lakes I have to wait another hour. I’m gonna edit some video and go to bed.
Until later!
(Oh, and just a note…when I say that having no internet is awesome, I don’t mean that sarcastically. It really is nice.)
Being on vacation has been so nice! It’s Thursday night as I’m typing this, which means there are only a couple days left here at the Lake, but my vacation isn’t really over until Monday night when I have to go back into work. And I’m soaking up every minute.
Marla and I got in last Thursday evening; we made great time and Marla drove the whole way, giving me a chance to catch up on sleep. Although I did offer several times to drive—and I could’ve—I admit it was nice that Marls wanted to stick it out all 13 hours. I slept like a rock, too, which is unusual for me, because I hate trying to sleep in cars. I guess that’s what the graveyard shift does to you.
Friday was our first full day here, and we had beautiful weather. We spent the first couple of days laying out on the dock in the sun. Friday when I put my headphones in and put my mp3 player on random, vacation took over my playlist. It was amazing! All of the songs about relaxing, summer time, and so on. I don’t even remember what they all were…one was “Fabulous” from HSM 2, one was “Summer Breeze” by Seals & Crofts.
The weather has been so great; we’ve only had two rainy days and even on those days I went fishing with Dad. Wednesday was one of the rainy days, and all of us girls (Mamaw, Mom, Marla and me) drove down to “town” –a good hour away—to Virginia’s mall for some shopping. I got a long sweater that will be so perfect for Purdue football games! I’m already pumped about tailgating and going to the games. I never (literally, never) got to tailgate in college because I was always busy recruiting, or we’d have a Purduettes show. So this year Mom and Dad have season tickets for all of us and we’re going to tailgate, and in meeting the Habbens this summer I learned that they are hard-core tailgaters too, so I’m looking forward to having another excuse to see more of that wonderful family! Speaking of which, I called in to Lafayette Wednesday while I was at the mall with cell phone reception and as of that day, everything is fine at my apartment, and Fish is still alive! When I get back, my boy-buddies will be on vacation, so hopefully I’ll have time to catch up with some of the girls before they all head off to school.
Right now I’m typing this and it’s just about an hour until my twenty-fourth birthday. I’m 24. That’s insane. I think it makes my dad feel old, because he asked me how old I was going to be and then he just shook his head in disbelief. Mom and I baked a cake tonight and we’ll ice it in the morning; I think she even got candles! It’s really cool to be up here on my birthday—we used to have my birthday up here all the time and then school just came too early to make that work anymore. Tomorrow is our last day, and then Sunday morning we all drive home. I told Marla I’d drive the whole way, since she made the whole trip up. But I hope that means I get to choose the music most of the time. Marla doesn’t seem to like my music…any of it. Even if I pick something I think she’s going to like (which is a lot), she says, “Ugh, I’m so sick of that song.” It’s OK. It’s just hit-and-miss but I’m guessing she’ll sleep a lot of the time so if I want to listen to Broadway songs or Ashley Tisdale or something, she won’t be awake to hear it. I’m sure it’ll be fine no matter what! Plus she can always listen to her iPod.
OH!!! Speaking of music...we went to church tonight and they had a sort of praise band to do the music during the service, which was outdoors with a barbeque afterwards. This group has probably six or seven people, all dressed in khakis and denim shirts (always classy) with their names on the front and the group’s name, “Second Chance,” embroidered on the back! And during the dinner they played a set of oldies and country songs, but the way they all sang, it was like something straight out of “A Mighty Wind,” or those SNL skits Will Farrell and Ana Gastyer used to do about the middle school music teachers. It was the stuff sketch comedy dreams are made of. So funny.
OK, I think that’s about it. Everyone’s in bed. It’ll be my birthday in Indiana in eight minutes, but here in the Land of 1,000 Lakes I have to wait another hour. I’m gonna edit some video and go to bed.
Until later!
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