That's My Schtick

Spell Check Much?

2010-12-22T17:42:00.007-05:00

I have just lived through the most traumatizing class ever, and now that I have my final grade it's time to air my grievances to the world (aka, 10 people who will ever read this).

The offending class was Spanish 201. What should have been my favorite class turned out to be a twice-a-week nightmare. Why? Because the professor (I'm using that term loosely) was the WORST. EVER. I will now present my best piece of evidence to support this fact. I feel no need to add more, because I think it speaks for itself (although I feel compelled to mention that all of the other teachers except one that I've had at the school have been really good, so this thankfully isn't representative of the quality of education at my school).

I had to miss class to attend a funeral. I emailed the teacher to ask what I should look over before the next class. Here is a screenshot of her response, completely unedited (and just so there is no confusion, English IS her first language):

There Goes the Neighborhood

2010-10-07T23:31:00.000-04:00

I swear, I need to go live far, far away from other humans. I'll move into the woods and send Dan out for supplies.
Our apartment, as you may know, is located above a business, and we are the only people who live in the building. It's wonderful because it's really quite and private. We have a big yard, so it's easy to forget about the closest neighbor (unless they're blasting Eminem out of their car while having some sort of party in their yard, but let's not talk about that).
Next to us is a little motel, which I was a bit nervous about before moving in because I didn't know what it was like. Turns out it's cute, mostly old people and families stay there and have picnics in the yard. Once, when Phish was in town, it was overrun with mangy hippies (who also took over our parking lot), but that was the worst thing that's happened since we've moved in.
UNTIL NOW.
Sunday evening I walked over to Stewarts to get some english muffins, and on my way back I saw a woman in pajamas standing just outside the motel yard, in our parking lot. Something about her made me nervous, I could tell from far away that she was insane (my crazy detector got really sharp in Minneapolis). I darted into my apartment and locked the door behind me. When I went on our front porch to put my shoes away, she was directly in front of our apartment looking up at me. Jesus. I also noticed that she was wearing headphones and singing. Loudly.
All day Monday she was outside the motel singing and carrying on in a generally insane way. Dan got his first glimpse of her as he came home from work.
Tuesday I was doing homework, and I hear screaming of obscenities coming from the direction of the motel. Of course it's our pajama clad buddy fighting with her beer-belly and wife-beater clad man friend. They went at it off and on all. day. long.
Yesterday was a repeat of Tuesday, and today was similar except there was less fighting and more dancing. Like, she was really dancing. And her man friend was just out there messing around with his cell phone.
So tonight, I'm trying to finish up some homework at like 9:30, and I hear our buddies hollerin'. They are again in front of our apartment having a fight. So we call the motel and explain the situation, and the manager promises to talk to them. Sine then, I've heard them off and on, so I'm not sure it did much good.
Hopefully, their little vacation (honeymoon?) will be over soon. Because of our tattling, we are a little nervous that they will try to break in and kill us in the night (actually, I've been worried about that since I first laid eyes on her--these people are feekin' scary) constructed a Home Alone-esque trap of our full recycling bin in front of the door. Try to sneak in while we sleep now, crazies!

Back to School!

2010-09-16T19:42:00.001-04:00

I have a paper due on Monday that I'm having a bit of writer's block with, so I've done the following things to avoid writing it: cleaned the living room, tried on some cute fall outfits, did dishes (that's not even my chore!), shaved my legs, put Snakes on a Plane on my Netflix queue, and let's not even get into the mindless internet browsing. And now here I am writing a blog. I swear, once I'm done with this blog, I'll finish my paper...

I've been back in class for just over a week, and while I'm really glad that it's that time of year again, I had a bit of a bumpy start. Here's a chronological rundown of what's happened so far:

Last Wednesday: I head to my first class, which is Spanish. Last year, I had the same Spanish professor and classmates (for the most part) who I really liked (for the most part) both semesters. He is not teaching the 200 level, so I had to find a new professor. So heading to my new class is quite like that first date after a divorce. I get there 10 minutes early, and wait and wait and wait, and the teacher never shows! 25 awkward minutes after the class was supposed to start, my new classmates and split. I've been stood up! On my first date since the divorce!

Next I go to my Anthropology class. It's time for class to start: no teacher. 5 minutes go by: no teacher. 10 minutes go by: no teacher. I'm wondering WTF is going on and contemplating leaving due to my earlier trauma, when the teacher strolls in 12 minutes late. No explanation or apology. She then proceeds to go over the syllabus, which stresses her super-strict attendance policy, and how if we're late, we will be asked to leave. Um, what? Throughout the entire class, she seemed to be trying to intimidate us and scare us into dropping the class. She then assigned 2 chapters plus online quizzes due before the next class and 7 articles in a packet with questions due at the beginning of the next class. It was like she was a gorilla asserting dominance and we were getting our own little primatology lesson. Disclaimer: I was sick and grouchy.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out this online math class, what with all the newfangled technology (that's probably been around forever) of connecting your graphing calculator to you computer. I think I finally figured it out. I've taken several online courses, and this teacher is by far the best online teacher I have had. In my experience, they load you up with work and send you on your own, and their only real presence is to give you a grade. This fills me with suspicion even though I always get good grades. This professor is really involved, though, and has created all kinds of documents to walk us through all the different areas on the online platform, as well as our calculators and other things. I give her two thumbs up.

Monday I go back to my Spanish class, wondering if we have a teacher since she didn't contact us after not showing up. It turns out we do, and she didn't know she had the class until Saturday. I guess that's a pretty good reason not to show up. Consequently, she is completely unprepared. We spend the class doing review of really basic Spanish that, let's be honest, anyone in this level of Spanish couldn't possibly NOT know. I don't like her. I chalk it up to her being unprepared and hope for the best.

Next I go to my Literature class called Minority Voices. A kid who is in my Spanish class is also in this class, and we sit together. I try to get him to trash talk our Spanish teacher with me, alas, he is far too diplomatic. Once class starts, it becomes clear that this will be my favorite class. I like English classes in general, but I am happy to find out that the professor is hilarious, and the material is really interesting (one short story we are reading for our first assignment is a David Sedaris story!). At the end of our break he asks if we're done sexting yet, and continues to cracks these sorts of jokes throughout the night.

Wednesday I go to Spanish yet again, and the teacher shows up dressed like a hooker. Seriously, she was wearing the shortest skirt and these patterned tights, and the main thing I was thinking of throughout the class was whether or not she was going to flash her hoo-ha every time she sat down. I was like, do you think you're at a bar right now? Despite giving it my most optimistic shot, I just don't like this professor. I'm not sure why. I hope that as the semester goes on, I grow to like her more because it would be really depressing to not like the only class related to my major.

Anthropology class number two brings all kinds of hope. The professor had relaxed a lot, and it turns out is actually quite likable. Even though she gave us tons of homework, she did a really great lecture on the material, so I forgive her. Plus, a little while into class, I realized a friend of mine who I used to work with at Borders is in the class, which is exciting.

So, so far 3 of my 4 professors are awesome, my schedule is awesome, and this is shaping up to be a really great semester. Yay!

Travers Weekend Wrap-Up

2010-08-29T17:56:00.001-04:00

I feel it's important to mention that while I may have moved to Saratoga Springs in 2005, I have never once set foot inside the track and have absolutely no idea what goes on in there. You may or may not know that this humble town in which I live is a tourist destination, that for six weeks a year, assholes flock here like moths to a flame for the horse racing. All I know is that for those six weeks, driving is like a obstacle course, parking is non-existant, and I'm going to have to work my ass off to sling espresso and bagel sandwiches for these grumpy, fussy old people while I count down the days until my semester starts again (today: 10). AND if I want to go to a bar, I'm surrounded by the same old people having a good time, which means making out, and who wants to watch old people make out? Not this girl!

Yesterday was the dreaded Travers Day, which I have gathered is actually one race worth like a million dollars or something. It's the biggest day of the season, making this potentially the WORST WEEKEND EVER. Suprisingly, I survived, and that wasn't the only surprise of the weekend!

SURPRISE #1: I'm not dead.
Okay, I know I'm only 25, which is pretty young, but it's become clear to me that I'm too old for this job. Getting up at 5 and moving non-stop all day weren't things that bothered me when I was 21, but I'm so damn tired at the end of the day it's ridiculous. I've been getting in bed at 8:30 every night because I just can't help it! So I was not sure if my creaky old body would hold up for this super intense weekend, but now it's over, and it did!!

SURPRISE #2: Travers Day was pretty bad, but not as bad as it could be
Yesterday I worked on the bagel bar, the joys of which I gave you a glimpse of last year. I was surprised to find out that fewer people than I expected were dick jobs! There was only one blatant dj, who said sarcastically after I called his number, "Thirty minutes for a bagel. GREAT." Um. Or you could have seen how hard I was working for that entire 30 minutes, plus hours before and after that and just said "THANK YOU." I expected his type all day long, but it really wasn't that bad!

SURPRISE #3: Sunday after Travers Day wasn't bad AT ALL!
Oh, boy. Sunday. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. Sundays are THE WORST. Today I was working the line (taking orders and making drinks) and expected everyone to be suuuper crabby, but you'll never believe what happened: not a single person was mean to me! So it was more like the end of this commercial (pay attention to :31). I became convinced I was the barista equivalent of a snake charmer. Also, we were down a couple of people, which was bad news, AND my BFFL Simone moved away last week so there was nobody to give me hugs, but everyone was in good spirits, which makes all the difference.

Oh, and some horse won a bunch of money.

wedding wrap-up

2010-08-15T20:34:00.000-04:00

It has been a long time since I've been compelled to blog, mostly because I'm constantly exhausted from work. I guess I'm too old for the coffee shop full time. School starts in 3 weeks, thank god. Pending last-minute employment for Dan somewhere far away from here (he has applied all over the US for a teaching job), I'm going to have the most awesome schedule ever next semester. Unfortunately, this half of the summer is creeping by at a snail's pace, probably due to the sudden lack of huge event rushing towards me on the horizon.
The wedding was amazing. Absolutely perfect. I mean, things went wrong, but that's to be expected. I couldn't have been happier. I have never worked so hard on something in my entire life, but it was worth it. That being said, I would never do it again, and had I known the amount of work, stress, and money involved despite my best efforts to be laid back and a "budget bride" (that's a technical wedding term. I know ALL THE WORDS), I might have eloped. I'm glad I didn't, though, because it was indescribably amazing to have so many people we love in one freekin' room. The awesomeness of that hadn't even occurred to me until I was in the middle of it.
All of the hard work paid off once everything was set up, because everything came together amazingly (with the help of our awesome wedding party, who worked their butts off the morning of the wedding). We received many compliments, which felt particularly good because most of the stuff at the wedding was diy. I basically turned into Martha Stewart, making the programs, table numbers, place cards, and designing the centerpieces, while my sister and I put together all the flowers, my mom made my veil, and I baked the cake and put it together with the help of my mom and sister. Many people suggested that I be a wedding planner, which could potentially be fun, but having been one, I don't think I want to deal with brides.
I can't believe it's over. We were engaged for almost two years, so it's really weird to not have to think about it anymore. We are still working on thank you cards, so we're not completely done with the process yet, and unfortunately I'm too tired from work to really enjoy the brief freedom that not being in school and/or having a wedding coming up has provided me. Never a dull moment!

I might be crazy

2010-07-03T23:37:00.000-04:00

Today was a crazy wedding prep day. Friday is the big day, and while we're in good shape, there are still various things left to be done. I took advantage of Dan being away at his bachelor party to spend the day shopping, doing crafts, and baking the first half of the wedding cake.
I'm not convinced that making my own cake is completely sane, but I'm not going to pay hundreds of dollars for something that I can make for less than 50 bucks plus a few hours of work. I decided kind of last minute to do this, so I had to hope the recipe I found was tasty. Luckily, it is freeking delicious. It was a lot of work--I made it from scratch--but so worth it. I even used cake flour and sifted it (boring!), which I never bother to do. The recipe called for the egg whites and sugar to be made into meringue and mixed into the other ingredients, resulting in a sort of crusty outside and fluffy inside, reminiscent of angel food cake but a little more dense. The recipe made way more batter than it said--enough to make the whole cake and then some--but I only had one of each size pan, and I was worried about letting the batter sit while the cake baked and the pans cooled, so I now have an extra pan of cupcakes and an 8x8 pan of cake. Who's hungry??
I will make the second half of the cake later this week. I'm just hoping that between my mom, sister, and I we can decorate this bitch like I'm picturing it in my head.
I'm pretty sure I won't get any sleep tonight because besides Dan being gone (I can't sleep without him. I'm not used to being alone and I get all freaked out that someone is breaking in), my entire family is on their way here!! I'm picking up my brother, who I haven't seen in 11 years, from the train station tomorrow at noon, then my sister and her family arrive sometime tomorrow evening, and my parents will get here around 11pm. I don't think my entire family (including aunts, uncles, and cousins) has actually been together like this since...ever. Aaahhh!! I'm so excited!

BIKE!

2010-05-27T18:41:00.000-04:00

I've wanted to get a bike for about 3 years now, but I didn't know how to buy a bike and I was intimidated by the idea of riding in the street with cars. I haven't been on a bike since I was about 14, at which point I was still allowed to ride on the sidewalk because I was just a kid.
I decided to try to find a cheap bike at a yard sale, that way if I didn't ride much I wouldn't be out much money. On Sunday, Dan and I set out in search of an awesome new bike. We spotted a couple of road bikes, but I wanted a mountain bike instead so that I wasn't committed to just riding on the road. We went to a yard sale that had advertised "BIKES!" on Craigslist, but they only had one road bike out. I mentioned to the guy that I was looking for a mountain bike and he went into his scary shed and got out this crappy bike and offered it to me for free. It needed a new seat and a chain, but it was free to I took it. I put a seat on it that very same day, and my boss put a chain on it for me (hi Greg!) and now it is the most amazing bike in the world!!! LOOK:

I've gone on 3 bike rides since Sunday, and I am so glad I got this bike. I forgot how much fun it is to ride a bike! So far I haven't had any problem with cars, although I don't trust those suckers. Soon I will ride downtown and if it's an easy ride (I think it will be; it's only 3 miles or so) I will be able to ride my bike home from work instead of having to wait for rides. Hooray!

Sheesh, between running, playing tennis, climbing mountains, and now biking, I'm pretty much a jock by now.

Running FAIL

2010-05-20T12:32:00.000-04:00

I was up until 3am this morning because of some ill-advised coffee consumption at 9pm last night. I then slept until 10:30 this morning and debated going for a run. It's supposed to be 81 degrees today, so I figured I would have to go before noon if I didn't want to be too hot. Finally at 11:15 I decided to go. I ate a banana, drank a little water, and stepped onto my porch to gauge what 58 degrees felt like. I decided it was pants weather.

I also decided to try for 30 minutes (which is my next goal) of continuous running, which would be about 3 miles for me. I went on a new route which was nice, and decided to run 15 minutes in and then back. It became apparent after about 5 minutes that a) 58 degrees is not pants weather, therefore I was not dressed properly b) I hadn't eaten enough and c) I was not properly hydrated. I also forgot sunscreen, and there was little to no shade along the way. I am pretty stubborn, so I just pushed on. I decided to turn around at 12:30 and just try for 25 minutes, since thus far 20 minutes is the longest I've been able to run. I got there and turned around, but when I hit 16 minutes I had to stop to walk because I started feeling dizzy. D'oh. I tried to start running again a couple of times, with no luck. I speed-walked back home, feeling crabby the whole way. I'm not sure if the lack of food was the biggest issue. I see people running at 5:30 am all the time. I have a hard time believing that they get up at 4, eat a regular breakfast, wait an hour, and then run. I think it was the heat/dehydration; if I had had a little more water and worn shorts, I would have been fine. Oh, well. Live and learn.

I'm going to have to figure out how to run without dying now that it's getting hot out. I'll (hopefully) be working full time starting next week, which means early mornings for me , so running before it gets hot isn't an option, and I need to get in bed early so waiting for it to get dark also isn't an option. I guess that's why people get gym memberships.

wedding and running and pen pal, oh my!

2010-05-13T18:30:00.001-04:00

Ah, freedom. Today is my first day off in a very long time. No homework, no work, no class, no commitments...it's nice. And now my life consists of wedding planning, running, and becoming BFFL with my new pen pals! Yeah, you read that right. Ms. Popular over here has two pen pals now! Beat that, loser!

Now that my semester is over, I am in full-on wedding planning mode. The big day is 7 weeks from tomorrow. How the hell did that happen? At this point, I am trying to figure out what we have left to do. I think we're in good shape. Tomorrow I am going to look for a bridesmaids dress with Tara and find shoes. I want some that look like this, but white:

My dess fitting appointment is a week from Saturday, and I was talking with my awesome friend Krissy, who is doing my hair for the wedding, about our plan for that day, all of which is making the whole thing seem more real. I think the day is going to be a lot of fun. We're keeping it pretty casual because we're not fancy people, which I think is cutting out a lot of stress. Although, there is still a lot of stress. Gross!

I just went for a run. It's the first time in a long time I've had time to do it during the day, so I was able to run my old route instead of laps in the yard. It was good and bad; it felt psychologically harder because it's easier to zone out in the yard, plus I would see all the spots I used to stop and walk in and my brain was like "heeeey, it's walking time!" but I was able to run much farther and I was really appreciating how far my little lungs have come since even the last time I ran that route. Not only was I able to run the entire time without taking a walking break (something I wasn't able to do last time I ran that route), I even added on about half a mile (making the run about 2 miles) and never stopped to walk. My plan was to run the two mile loop and keep going past my house for about 3 or 4 minutes before turning back, which would have made my run about 25 minutes long. But when I saw my house, I suddenly felt very lazy and only ran about 32 seconds before turning around. So I gave up at 18:40. Oh, well.

PENPAL UPDATE!!! So my pen pal and I are basically bff's by now. We've written each other like a million emails. Well, actually only four, and two of those were just us deciding whether or not to be pen pals and how we wanted to go about writing messages. Whatever. The main thing she says to me is "Jejejejeje!!" which is hilarious. Example: I told her that I'm studying to become a translator and she responded: "Translator! Jejejjeee!"

As if it couldn't get any better, this guy from Peru sent me an email asking me to be HIS pen pal, so now I have two! I'm glad that I have one from Latin America and one from Spain because I will learn the different dialects. I'm going to be way more awesome at Spanish like next week. I've already learned some new phrases ("by the way" and "sounds good to me"). This is awesome. I bet you're jealous!

Penpalz!

2010-05-11T21:42:00.000-04:00

Whoamg I have a pen pal! Yesterday I mentioned that I was searching out a language exchange, and I already found someone! This is just as exciting as when my 4th grade class became pen pals with a 4th grade class in, like, Missouri or somewhere. Except this time, my pen pal is from SPAIN! And I'm already struggling to understand what the heck she's saying to me! This is going to be awesome.

girl with plan

2010-05-10T22:13:00.001-04:00

Ah, so close. One final down, three to go. I have two tests tomorrow, and a paper due on Wednesday, and then that's it for the semester. I'm trying not to get too stressed about these finals; however, it is in my nature to be stressed out at all times.

I'm feeling a little anxious about not speaking Spanish between now and September. I felt rusty after winter break for crying out loud. But I have a plan, believe you me! First, I'm seeking out a language exchange--which is something worth looking into if you want to learn a language but don't want to commit to a class. There are several free websites (I chose lingofriends.com) where you can sign up and find what is essentially a pen pal whose native language is the one you want to learn and who is interested in learning English. There are options to chat and skype as well. I just signed up and sent some messages to prospective amigas, so I'm not entirely sure what will happen. I'm imagining writing emails back and forth that are half in English and half in Spanish. I'm also imagining that it will be awesome.

Beyond that, I'm planning on watching a bunch of movies and reading books in Spanish (I got a dual-language book of short stories which is much less frustrating than tackling a novel at this point), but my main plan is to teach Dan Spanish over the summer. I'm thinking about trying to find some students to tutor in the fall, so this will also be good practice for that. The only downside to Dan learning Spanish is that the game we like to play where he strings sentences together using words he's heard followed by me translating what he is saying will be much less fun. Example of what I'll be giving up: "No comprendé el poquito mono. ¡Tengo hambre!" (I didn't understand the little monkey. I'm hungry!) So basically, when my fall semester starts I'm going to be the greatest Spanish speaker the world has ever known.

Brooklyn

2010-05-03T15:25:00.000-04:00

Dan ad I like to sneak away to NYC when we can, and we've gotten in the habit of driving to Poughkeepsie, staying overnight, and then catching the train in the morning rather than doing the round trip in one day. It makes the trip a little more exciting, and hotels in Poughkeepsie aren't that expensive.
So we stayed at the Hampton Inn on Saturday night (a great hotel if you're a germaphobe like me--it's really clean and comfortable) and made our way to New York yesterday. We wanted to visit the aquarium and then find the McSweeney's store, both in Brooklyn. We were pretty excited to explore a new area as we usually just stay in Manhattan. Here are some highlights from our trip:

While waiting for the F train, we saw some rats on the tracks, which got Dan all excited. He tried to take a picture of them, but they scurried away too quickly. When we got to Coney Island (which is where the aquarium is located), we (I) immediately ran over to the ocean. Although it was supposed to be hot and humid, it was really chilly at the shore, but this didn't stop tons of people from laying out in their bathing suits. Dan convertly snapped this photo of this little scene:

The water was obviously freezing, a fact which I investigated by standing where a wave could wash over my feet. As soon as it hit, I squealed and ran away at the exact same moment an 8 year old did the exact same thing! I'm a grown up!
Next, we walked along the boardwalk a little bit and had some lunch before going into the aquarium. The best part was this enormous walrus who kept swimming directly towards the glass and then turning at the last second, bumping the side of his body against it. At one point, she laid her entire belly against the glass, and my face was located in an area that allowed me to identify it as a "she." We also saw the sea lion show, which was cool.
Finally, we went to a showing of Planet Earth: Oceans in 4-D (dimension four: they spray you with water). While they were corralling people into the the small theater, this insane woman was sitting in the middle of a row and refused to move to the end so that other people could come in (her excuses for not being able to move 3 seats down? She was pregnant and she'd paid for her ticket!) until the staff threatened to call security. Much to my dismay, she moved (while yelling out to no one in particular "I want a refund....by the way!"). I would have loved to see security remove her. After the movie, we considered following her to see if hilarity ensued, but we decided to leave instead.
After we'd had our fill of aquatic life, we set off in search of the McSweeney's store. Dan has wanted to go to it for awhile, but we hadn't been able to track down an address until now. Except when we got to the storefront, it was actually a dry cleaners. Thankfully, there were some hipsters nearby who directed us to the actual store. It was interesting, the sell all kinds of "superhero supplies" and all of the proceeds go to a creative writing tutoring center in the back.
That was all we had time for. We wanted to check out the botanical garden, but that will have to happen another time.

WORLD CHAMPION

2010-04-19T21:38:00.000-04:00

Less than a month ago, I reached my first goal of running 1 mile without stopping to walk. At that point, I was running dilligently 3-4 times a week, really giving it my all. Then something happened. My life became more hectic with the end of my semester and the wedding approaching, and my motivation to run decreased. I have been just barely squeezing two runs a week in for the last three weeks, and 5 of those 6 runs have been laps around my yard at night (BORING). I decided to run tonight because I don't think I'll have time, but there were a million reasons why the run was going to suck. I'm out of practice, I didn't drink much water today, I ate haphazardly all day, and I'm really sore from playing tennis yesterday. But I figured a sucky run is better than no run, right? Right.

So, I get out there, and I'm running my dumb laps in my dumb yard, and my mind started wandering which doesn't usually happen. When I snapped back to reality, I hollered at Dan, "How long's it been?" thinking it had been, oh, 3 minutes or so. But then he yelled back, "7 minutes." WHAT? I was like R U FRICKEN KIDDING? That's awesome! I didn't feel winded at all, and my body didn't feel tired or heavy. I joked "What if I could run the entire 20 minutes without stopping?" Because that is my second goal. The longest I've run without stopping is about 10:45.

I started feeling a little winded at around 11 minutes. I hadn't given up at 15. Even when my shoe came untied. I was starting to really feel tired at 17 minutes, but I was like "It's only 3 minutes." Which made me laugh, because I can still remember how big of a deal it was the first time I ran for 2:45 without stopping.

And you know what? I DID IT!!!!! I just ran for 20 minutes without stopping for a walking break. And I didn't feel awful at the end! I have felt worse at the 1/2 mile mark then I did after running non-stop for 20 minutes today. I am so excited. CHAMPION! I slowed my pace down a little bit, which was the reason for my success, but I didn't have any landmarks to time myself against to make sure I stick to that pace in the future. My guess is that instead of an 8:50 mile, I was running around a 9:30 or 10 minute pace. Which is perfectly fine by me. I think it's better to run continuously for a longer time than to run faster but start and stop.

So that's two goals down. My next goal is to run for 30 minutes without stopping, and from there I will work on shaving time off my miles.

I. AM. AWESOME.

Slacker

2010-04-13T17:35:00.000-04:00

I have been seriously slacking on my running the past two weeks. It's ironic that I was motivated when it was 9 degrees out, but now that the weather is beautiful I can't get my butt out there. I want to run 3 days/week minimum, but I'd rather run 4. Last week and the week before I only ran 2 days each week. Boo! I have been really busy with school, but I have to get it together because everything seems more manageable when I'm running on a regular basis. Yeah mental health!
I have been getting a lot of exercise other than running. Dan and I went on a bunch of long walks last week, and we hiked Hadley on Saturday. But it's not running, and I'm quickly learning that running consistently is the key to it not totally sucking. The running that I have been doing is later at night and laps around our yard. Which is boring as hell, but our neighborhood is not safe to run in at night because there are no street lamps on the route I take, and the two other roads that I could run on are high traffic. I amuse myself by making Dan sit in a lawn chair in the middle of my loop and telling him the Others are coming each time I pass him. THE OTHERS! (I just started watching lost on hulu. OMG)
Today I went out on my regular route for the first time in two weeks, and it was tough. I reluctantly made it to that mile without a walking break, but it hurt. My legs are still a little bit tired from hiking Hadley, and I'm just plain out of practice. The good news is that I'm determined to be back on track no matter how crabby I feel about going out there.
You may have heard that my birthday is Saturday. Sigh. I'm going to be 25. 25 is no joke. That's it, it's over. I'm not a kid or a teenager or a youngster of any sort anymore. I'm firmly in the "adult" category. You know that 18-24 category they always have on surveys? I've always thought that was the BEST ONE, and soon I will be kicked out of it. I've almost come to terms with it, though. Almost. I've sculpted my ultimate dream weekend (well, the dream weekend of a college student splitting bills with a substitute teacher): Friday: party, then Dryer show (which I'm super excited about!!), Saturday: dinner and a movie with Dan, Sunday: hiking Buck mountain. It's going to be amazing.
Now I must go to my math-4-dummies class where I will do my reading for US History while rolling my eyes at and judging my classmates.

What now, bitches?

2010-03-23T15:30:00.003-04:00

I reluctantly went for a run today--I've been having trouble finding motivation for about a week--but I'm glad I did, because I accomplished my first goal!!!! Ran that mile like it was nobody's business. And my time wasn't bad for an out of shape non-runner like myself: slightly less than or equal to 9 minutes. I only had my iPod so I don't know a precise time.

It really sucked. I wasn't sure towards the end if I was going to make it, and when I did and stopped to walk I was seeing spots. But I'm so excited. I was worried that I would have to walk the rest of the way home (about half a mile) but I only had to walk a little, and I ran nearly the rest of the way home.

I've never run a mile without stopping. I am awesome.

My next goal is to expand my route a little at a time. The next route I've chosen is 1.8 miles, although I'm questioning the safety of part of it due to the narrow shoulder and heavy traffic. We'll see. In a week or two I'll find a 2 mile route, and from that point I'll run for 30 minutes each time and work on getting further each time.

Now I have to finish the intellectual equivalent of running that mile-read the remainder of the 70 pages for history I need to finish today. Help!

way to live up to the stereotypes, officer!

2010-03-18T12:01:00.004-04:00

Nice knees, buddy

So I just got pulled over for the first time in my life. I was driving home from the grocery store, kind of zoning out, and missed the school zone sign. I saw a cop parked on the shoulder at kind of the last minute, slowed down instinctually, and then came upon what I thought was the first school zone sign, so I slowed down to 30. Then I saw that bastard's lights come on.

So I pull over, he comes up and begins lecturing me like a total condescending jackass. The conversation went something like this:

Douche: "You know you're in a school zone, right? And you live around here, so you drive here a lot, right?"

Me: "Yeah, I'm sorry, I was singing along with my music and kind of zoned out."

Douche: "And using your cellphone, right?" (interesting...my cellphone was on my coffee table at home)

Me: "What? No, I really wasn't."

Douche: "Oh, really? It sure looked like you were."

Me: "No, I really wasn't, my cell phone is at home. I never use my phone while I drive." (This is true. I know I don't have the multi-tasking skills, so I don't do it.)

Douche: "Oh, well, what? Do you have an iPod there? I know you had something in your hand" (I did indeed have an ipod, which was on the passenger seat, under my purse, where it had been the entire time I was driving)

Me: "No, I really didn't have anything in my hand, honestly."

He then started hassling me, by making me read aloud the thing on your license about changing your address within 10 days, about how I haven't changed my address through the DMV (my fucking license expires on April 17, what's the point of changing it now?), and then was gleeful when my insurance card was the old one, and made me read the date out loud to him and then asked me what today's date is (we have the new one at home).

I mean, I was apologetic, I wasn't sassing him, I was going 41 mph (1 mile over the speed limit 30 feet before where he was parked) in a 30 mph school zone because I didn't see the sign, which I admitted to the cop was my bad. I was flustered because I don't want a fucking ticket. So why did he need to be such a fucking asshole? I have known a few cops in my life who I really like, (one of my friends is a cop-HI JODI!) but most cops are such total dicks.

He "did me a favor" (his words) by charging me with driving while using a cellphone instead of a moving violation, which, as far as I can tell is to my benefit. I won't get any points on my license (whatever that means). But I got the feeling it was more because he was convinced that I had been using some sort of electronic device. I'm like, if you really want to do me a favor, don't give me a ticket.

closing in on my first goal!

2010-03-15T17:01:00.004-04:00

On Thursday I posted that I was stoked to run 4 minutes without stopping for a little walking break. That got me half a mile into my route. Today, I surprised myself by running for nearly 6 minutes without stopping, and getting myself to the 3/4 mile mark! My estimation is that I will reach my goal (running one mile without stopping) at some point next week. Yowza!!

There has to be a life lesson in this somewhere. Like, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND TO! Or something. I'm not a runner, never have been. Well, actually, I guess I am a runner now. Even in middle school, when I was super active (biking, roller-skating, generally playing outside until the streetlights came on) I was awful at the mile during the presidential fitness test. I would start running, and then less than halfway around one lap on that goddamn track I would start wheezing and have to walk. I got lapped like crazy. Even when I would use an inhaler beforehand, I just sucked. Now I can run the equivalent of 3 laps around that bitch like a pro. Or 12 laps around the indoor gym! I'm awesome!

You'd better believe I'll brag on here immediately when I conquer that mile. Probably immediately after the run, before I take a shower.

greatest runner ever

2010-03-11T21:57:00.003-05:00

I went on the most kick-ass run today. I found a new route from my new apartment on Monday (something I'm a little crabby about--I liked my old running route!) and it seems okay. On Tuesday, the combination of gorgeous weather and Salt-N-Pepa on my ipod made me cocky and I decided to run further. This seemed like a mistake as soon as I turned around and started heading home, because I was farther away than I'm used to and had been running at too fast a pace (I couldn't help it--Shoop came on!) so I was really tired. That's the hardest thing about running without Dan there as my coach--it's really hard to reign myself in and slow it down. I run until my breathing starts to get a little uncomfortable, and then I choose a point in the distance where I will take a little walking break, and then my natural instinct is to run as fast as I can to that spot so that I can walk sooner. What I'm learning (slowly. very slowly.) is that if I run slower, I can probably run past that stopping point. So I'm working on it. When I got home from the run, I felt quite proud of myself, so I decided to just run that far from now on.

So anyway, I set out today and found a really good pace, and I ran and ran until I couldn't run anymore. When I took a walking break, I checked my time and saw that I had run for 4 minutes! That may not seem like much to all of you seasoned runners out there, but when I started running, I had to take a break after 30 seconds, so that is huge. And I forgot to use my inhaler before I ran, so I could have potentially run even farther! BUT THAT'S NOT THE BEST PART! I finished the whole run (which is 1.5 miles) in 14 minutes, which averages my time at 9:20/mile. !!! Also, when I was checking the mileage in the car afterwards, I discovered that the point where I stopped after 4 minutes was half a mile. That means I'm the fastest runner in the entire world! I do think that today was kind of a fluke. I have a feeling that when I go out tomorrow, my pace is going to more likely be 10:something. But we'll see.

I wish I hadn't had to take almost 2 weeks off of running, I'd probably be running 2 minutes miles by now :)

It's crazy how much I'm improving. I mean, I couldn't have been much worse to begin with, but I've been running for just under 2 months and I have gotten so much better. Don't get me wrong, it's still hard as hell, and I only love running when I'm not doing it. Like, right now? Love it! And I can't wait to go out tomorrow. But talk to me during the run. There are some freeking awful days where the run is just so miserable. But there are also days like today, where I kick major ass, and a lot of in-between days that aren't so bad. AND I'm halfway to my first goal of running a mile without stopping.

It's never easy

2010-03-08T11:18:00.005-05:00

We are all moved in. Despite the week spent lugging boxes up here to "get a head start," this move may have been the hardest we've ever had. And we've moved A LOT.

Our new apartment is about a block away from the ACC Wilton campus, so every time I went to class last week, we stuffed the car full of stuff and dropped it off on the way. Sometimes Dan would stuff the car full of stuff before he came to pick me up and we would bring all of that stuff here, too. We were quite proud of ourselves for doing it the smart way. By Thursday, we had almost everything that we didn't need/could fit in our car in the new apartment. We've always

just moved everything all at once, so we were convinced that on the actual moving day, it was going to be a piece of cake. And then everything went wrong. Here are the top 3 things that

have sucked so far:

dramatization of actual events

1. Dan backed his mom's van into a tree, shattering the back window. After we cleaned out the glass and taped plastic over the window (which took forever), we brought our first load of furniture over. When we got to the new apartment, the back door was jammed. With broken glass. We had to take it to our mechanic, who kindly cleaned it out free of charge (seriously-Union Coachworks has always done us good. The guy spent 30 minutes fixing our door and would not accept payment. If you're looking for a mechanic, I highly, highly recommend them). This was not what I wanted to be doing on moving day.

Artist's rendition of moving day

2. We brought our heavy-ass couch to the new apartment, practically needed a protractor to figure out how to get it trough the front door, and then spent 40 minutes trying to jam it through the living room door. After nearly breaking my hand, it became clear that it wasn't going to fit. We no longer have a couch. RIP most comfortable couch ever.

Actual photo of me when I realized I was trapped in my apartment

3. I lost my keys. They are gone. I searched the car from top to bottom, went back to the old apartment, and looked through every single one of the approx. 1 million boxes and drawers in the new apartment. I don't know where else to look. The last time I saw them, Dan was using them to drive our car on Saturday. I don't know where they ended up after that.

Because of my missing keys, I got locked in my new apartment this morning. When Dan left for work, he locked the deadbolt of the upstairs door from the outside. A little while later, I went to put a note on the downstairs door for the internet guy, and saw that the deadbolt is just a keyhole on this side. I needed my key to open it. This is when I learned that my keys are gone. I had to wait for the owner of the hair salon (that we live above) to come to work and call and ask her to let me out. She laughed a lot. Sigh.

I do like the new apartment a lot, though. During the day we can hear some muffled sounds from downstairs, but it doesn't bother me at all because at night it's totally silent. Ahhhh.

hooray!

2010-02-27T17:09:00.002-05:00

I just ran again for the first time since I sprained my ankle. Well, I ran one other time, last monday, but I had to cut the run short because my ankle hurt. This time I braced my ankle and it was fine. It felt a little stiff at first, but once I got going it didn't hurt at all. I was really worried about the toll the nearly 2 weeks of not running would take on my progress, but somehow I'm right back on track--I ran further than I've ever been able to somehow. Hooray! The ankle feels a bit sore right now, but as far as I can tell, I can get right back to running! Hallelujah!

Our invitations arrived today. I love them so much! We ordered them from this website and they turned out great. For 75 invitations, response cards, reception cards, and envelopes for everything, the total was under $200, which was really reasonable as far as I could tell. The idea of the wedding is becoming very real at this point. Tonight we're going to do some mock-ups of a decoration idea I have, hopefully it looks as awesome in real life as it does in my head.

The owner of the apartment I want so badly called last night to tell us that she was just waiting to get ahold of Dan's place of employment to confirm that he works there, and she will be calling on Monday after she gets ahold of them for us to sign the lease! I'm still holding out about 3.8% doubt that we'll get it. I really want it, and I don't want to get my hopes all up and then get disappointed. We got a ton of boxes from borders (as we do every year around this time) and started packing today, because whether or not we get this apartment, we're moving within the next two months. We got almost the entire bedroom packed up today, which is nice.

If we do get it, we can move in right away. In that case, I hope to be out of here by the 15th so that it can possibly be rented out and we will only have to pay rent for one and a half apartments in March. I will be sad to leave this one, it's an amazing apartment. If only it wasn't so damn noisy all the time. I will not miss listening to my gross downstairs neighbor cough all day and night, the parties, having someone drop something heavy directly over my bed when I'm sleeping...etc. It will be a huge relief.

The landlord is coming Monday to take pictures of the apartment so he can list it. I'm curious to see how much it's going to go for. It will be creepy to have pictures of our apartment on teh interwebs.

I WANT THAT

2010-02-26T12:39:00.004-05:00

I'm freaking out a little because we found the cutest apartment that is, oh, I don't know, PERFECT for us! We put down a security deposit and filled out an application, and now we're waiting to hear back with their approval/rejection.

It's a 2 bedroom on Maple Ave above an old lady hair salon, which means no noise. The building next door is a business, so that means really no noise. I really liked it a lot; there's a sun porch in the front of the apartment and the kitchen sink has a window above it. Plus, it's available now, so we could move in whenever we feel like it. Now I'm just nervous that they'll reject us for some reason. I guess someone looked at it yesterday, and someone else had an appointment to look at it, but as far as I know we're the front runners.

Cross your fingers and your toes, this is our ticket out of noisy hell!

little math class of horrors

2010-02-25T21:17:00.004-05:00

I think I mentioned before that I'm afraid of everyone in my math class. Picture adult-learner night classes. Throw in some scary 20 year old girls who wear oversized hoodies. What's going on in your head is my reality. I've never had a class like this.

The class I'm taking is Math 097, which is just an algebra refresher. I haven't done algebra since Y2K, so it was necessary for me to get refreshed. Horrifyingly, each thing we "learn" comes rushing back to me. What else could I know if I didn't have dusty algebra knowledge taking up space in my head? I digress.

I have tried 3 different seats in the class, searching for the "least scary" spot. The seat I choose the first night was occupied on the second night by a middle-aged man who, due to his jittery enthusiasm and gold cross necklace, I assume recently completed some sort of AA program. So I picked a seat against the wall, two rows back from the teacher. Unfortunately, in the row behind me is a teenaged mother and her scary, thuggish, whore-bag friend. They chatter and gossip and loudly eat potato chips throughout class, so rather than hitting them with my book, I sought out a new seat.

I found a nice little spot all the way in the back corner, with a one desk buffer between me and another student. There is a one desk buffer between this student and the aforementioned recovered alcoholic, who I will call Bill.

Bill just loves learning math. Sometimes he gets so excited that he has to stand up. When we're doing work on our own, he finishes his own and then rushes around, checking his answer against other students'. He somehow learned my name and told me to have a good weekend last Thursday, despite my efforts to avoid eye contact with everyone in the class and to never, ever speak to any of them. Until tonight, I found his enthusiasm endearing and amusing.

We were learning how to create tables in our calculators, and he was having trouble or something. So he chose me, the sullen girl in the back corner who never talks to anyone, to help him. He plopped down in my buffer desk and forced me to help him put an equation into his calculator. Okay, fine. So I'm helping him, and this conversation ensued:

Bill: "Oh, look at you, smart girl over here!"

Me: Nervous chuckle

Bill: "You live in town here?"

Me: "Um, yeah."

Bill: "Where? Gansevoort or what?"

Me: "Saratoga."

Bill: "Oh, good! You're right by me if I need you!" (um, what?) "Do you know where mumble mumble is?"

Me: "No."

Bill: "Oh, it's by the Wilton Mall!" (for those of you not from around here, saying that the Wilton Mall and Downtown Saratoga are "right by each other" is a gross exaggeration) "That's our spot." (um, what?) "If I ever need your help, that's our spot."

Me: Nervous chuckle

Oh, I see. So you forced me to help you in class, and now I'm your tutor? Who announces something like that? Unfortunately for SCARY Bill, I barely have time to complete my own homework, so I will not be meeting him at Wilton Mall (perhaps he was thinking we could sit by Auntie Annie's?) to tutor him in remedial math. I hightailed it outta there after class, lest he ask me for my phone number!

I FEEL SO AFRAID AND ALONE.

winter doldrums

2010-02-22T00:54:00.003-05:00

I'm creeping up on nearly a week without a run. My overconfidence in my body's ability to heal itself from injury or illness always leads to massive frustration. I couldn't really walk on Thursday or Friday, I was super gimpy. I rested a lot both those days, and pretty well yesterday and today. There is still a little pain sometimes, but I can walk now without pain. I am going to take a little walk tomorrow morning, and then if there are no repercussions (please, please, please!) I will go on a run tomorrow afternoon. I just don't want to hurt my foot worse and have to wait longer to get back out there.

This stupid week has made me realize how glad I am that I took up running. It's really good for my mental health. My stress level has been much higher this week than it was the weeks before. It's nice to get outside for a little bit a few times a week, and the endorphins don't hurt either. I'm pissed off that I've had to stay inside and rest. I'm not a very patient person. I'm also pissed off that when I get back out there, I don't think I'll be quite as good as I was. It'll probably take a week or so to get back to where I was, and then I can progress more. So frustrating!

We're progressing on our wedding plans. We ordered invitations last night, which was really exciting. I can't wait for them to get here! We also decided to incorporate lovebirds into our decorations, which I am excited about. Now I have all of these new decoration ideas swarming around in my brain, it's hard to make any decisions. I really do want the whole wedding thing, and as stressful as it is, I'm enjoying the planning part (kind of), but Vegas is awfully appealing as the wedding gets closer and closer. I think that, in the end, everything will come together and it's going to be amazing. It'll be over before we know it. Yikes!

this is boring

2010-02-18T23:55:00.004-05:00

You've been warned.

I cut out most of my caffeine at the beginning of the year. With the exception of the two days a week that I work, I almost never have it. Tonight, in a moment of weakness, I got a ridiculously overpriced Dr. Pepper from the school vending machine. I almost pushed that ginger ale button, but I made the fateful decision to get some sugary caffeine goodness at the last second. I am now paying for that decision. Granted, it's only midnight, but I'm really wired and not in a good way. I have tons of work to be doing, but the thought of doing it is causing anxiety, the likes of which that can only be attributed to that damn dr. pepper. As with any substance I have ever ingested, I'm a little worried that it's effects will last forever. It's like that kid who went to the dentist! Yikes!!

No matter how much I try to deny it, my dumb ankle is injured more than I thought. Actually, it's not even my ankle but the outside of my foot. It probably wasn't good to run a mile after I twisted it on Tuesday, and then stand on it all day at work yesterday and walk to the library and home on it, but how was I supposed to know? It never got swollen or bruised or anything, and it didn't really hurt on Tuesday or Wednesday. Today it hurts to put weight on it and I'm limping like a moron. I have been RICEing it, as I mentioned before, so hopefully this won't last too long. I WANT TO RUN. Hmph. Tomorrow is definitely out, I'm hoping by some miracle I will wake up tomorrow with no pain and will run on Saturday. I don't know how realistic that is.

Boo!

Waah!

2010-02-17T21:48:00.004-05:00

My schedule yesterday caused my run to happen during the snowstorm we got. There were a couple of inches of fresh snow on the ground, which in my mind was going to be soft and cushiony for my joints. What I learned is that running on snow is problematic, for two reasons:

1. It's freeking difficult. I don't know why, exactly, but it required more effort.

2. I couldn't see where the sidewalk met the grass, and landed directly on this and rolled my sad little ankle. I finished my run, which was probably the worst decision ever, and today my ankle and foot are sore and I'm increasingly limpy.

I'm not sure how long I'll be out of commission. I'm RICEing it (you know-rest, ice, compression, elevation. Duh!) but I stood on it all day at work, which is probably why it hurts so much tonight. I'm hoping that I'll only have to take today, tomorrow, and maybe friday off at the most and I'll be back out there on Saturday at the latest. A running-induced injury is my worst nightmare. Now I'm all into it and I don't want to stop, even for a few days! Argh.

In other news, school is kicking my ass. I have so much homework. Someone took my Sunday shift at the grounds, which is financially irresponsible, but will help tremendously with getting back on top of my work. I'm also going to skip my stupid history class tomorrow morning because I don't want to listen to the teacher talk about some random history books that he brought in for the day, which are only loosely related to the subject of our required reading. He inexplicably doesn't bother to draw connections between his faves and our textbook, so all that happens during class is that I get increasingly confused. Meanwhile, there's a quiz on Tuesday about the textbook, not his faves, and I don't have and hour and a half to waste right now. I will instead be holed up at the kitchen table trying to dig myself out of this pile of homework.

Champion!

2010-02-14T19:04:00.004-05:00

Sunday was dance flurry in Saratoga, meaning tons of assholes were in town, and they were real hungry. Work would have kicked my ass had it not been declared positive day. Still, I moved almost non-stop for about 8 hours and I was exhausted. I came home and took a little nap, which stretched into a two-hour nap. It was wonderful, but when I woke up, I felt like I had slept too long (and was possibly too beat from work) to go on a run. Then I decided that I would just do it; I'm not out there very long after all, and if I was too tired, I would just slow down.

Well, I went out there and KICKED ASS. I can't believe I almost didn't go. The run felt easy. Easy! The whole time I was thinking "What the hell is going on?!" I blew past the driveway I used to stop at, and then when we neared the end of the block that I just ran to for the first time yesterday, and Dan said "You're almost there!", I said, "I'm going to keep going!" He was like, "What?!"

I ran an extra block! If I had remembered to do my inhaler, I would have kept going, but I had to stop for a bit to catch my breath. I didn't stop for long though, and I ran all the way to the end of the next block, which I've never been able to do. This continued through the entire run, I ran almost all of the 1.25 miles without stopping. When I got to the last block, I stopped to walk just a little bit, because I didn't think that I could make it all the way to the end, but I realized as I was running the last bit that I totally could have done it.

I think I'm going to be running that whole route without stopping within two weeks. And the most exciting thing was that I loved the entire run last night. Every minute. Today was a recovery day, so I couldn't go out, but it's hard to stay inside when I'm getting so much better every time. I ran 5 days last week, which I think is really too much for someone just starting out, but I'm not sure. I'm going to take Mondays and Fridays off for sure, and probably Wednesdays because I won't have time between work and class. I wish I could just go out every day, though! I can't wait to get out there tomorrow and see how far I can go.

Thank god I'm making so many improvements, it's the main thing that keeps me heading back out. If it was only hard and wasn't getting any easier, I would have given up by now.

I thought I'd be running a marathon by now!

2010-02-10T22:17:00.004-05:00

I was feeling a little discouraged after my run today. I am noticing tiny improvements, like when I get to a spot where I normally have to stop and walk to catch my breath, but I just keep going (I should admit, however, this is paid for towards the end of the run when I can barely bring it home). For some reason, I thought it would be easier already. I just started running 11 days ago, so I'm not sure what I thought would happen (magic?), but last week I thought to myself, "This will be the hardest week. It's only going to get easier." Hey, guess what? It's basically exactly as hard as it was 11 days ago. So to counteract this discouragement, I have a new, more realistic inner monologue going on: It's going to be easier by my birthday. My birthday is in mid-April, this seems doable.

Also, they say that it takes three weeks to form a habit, after which anything becomes easier. I am more than halfway to three weeks, so we'll see if that holds true.

If nothing else, I'm proud of my motivation. I have gone out 8 out of the 11 days, and have a hard time taking days off. I know that I have to in order to avoid injury, but I'm just so impatient to get better, I want to go and go and go to get there. Thankfully, Dan is here to reign me in. And to run with me every day, and to encourage me the entire way, and to sing the rocky theme song for me when I need it. Some days it feels good to be out there, some days it feels real bad. I don't think I would be out there every day without him.

In other news, I think I'm going to be completely irresponsible tonight and find something to watch on Hulu instead of doing the mountain of homework next to me. There's always tomorrow!

personal pep talk

2010-02-04T22:20:00.004-05:00

Here is a list of why this semester sucks:

1) My US history to 1877 class. This is a class that I would not choose for myself if it wasn't required. I tried to get into US history 1877-present, which would have been mildly more interesting in my opinion, but it did not fit into my schedule. It would also be mildly more interesting if my professor wasn't awful. He's a jerk and he's boring and he wouldn't stop talking until 5 minutes after class was supposed to end. I'm not even sure if he was done, but most of the class took advantage of him pausing to get up and rush out of the room. I'm somewhat convinced that the stragglers are still there listening to him drone on. He's my arch nemesis.

2) Math 097. Remedial math. Doesn't count towards my degree. The fact that my placement test indicated that I would need this course didn't seem unusual to me, as I took my last math class in 11th grade. And the refresher is nice. Like when my teacher announces we're going to divide fractions, and I stare at him blankly, but then he explains it and it all comes rushing back to me and I realize I'm not a total idiot and I do know how to do math. I assumed that since we started with fractions, it was only going to get harder and there would be things down the line that I didn't know how to do. I stopped assuming that tonight when the lesson was about addition. And 7+2 stumped the dumb ass girl behind me. Tuesday we're learning about subtraction, division, and multiplication. I think I might be busy that night.

3) My schedule is weird and stressful. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do my...

4) Massive amounts of homework. Seriously, I had it so easy last semester, and even then I did homework 6 days a week. Two of my classes never had homework. This semester, I'm not taking any bullshit classes (such as college health. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be in such an easy class again), unless you count Math 097 as a bullshit class, which I kind of do, except there's a lot of homework involved. There is really no way around the reading for US history, I'm taking a writing about literature class which is a ton of work for obvious reasons, and this semester, I'm learning brand new things in Spanish class, making the homework much more challenging.

But listen, my glass is half full. I just finished my second week. Last semester went by really fast, so I'm hoping this semester does the same. And spring break is in like 5 or 6 weeks. I think it's going to be okay.

I think this uncharacteristic optimism is due to my new health and fitness endeavor. Since Saturday, I've run 4 times. I seriously didn't want to go today, I felt tired and lazy, but I did anyway. Each time I've gone out, I go a tiny bit faster. I'm not racing myself, I just keep trying to run a little more and walk a little less each time. Today I got to the alley where I had to stop and walk the last 3 times I went out, and I didn't need to stop, so I went a little further. I've done yoga every day since Sunday, which is doing wonders for my stress level.

Time to make a grocery list! My life is exciting!!

I think I'm a runner?

2010-01-31T20:11:00.003-05:00

So I've started this new health & fitness regime. When I worked full time at UG, I was pretty strong. Now that I'm only there twice a week, and I spend almost every other moment sitting in front of a computer or in a classroom, I'm becoming all weak. Plus, Dan and I are beginning to think about babies in our future, and I figure it'll be easier to have a human living in my body if my body is in shape.

A couple of days ago I blogged about how I've started cooking super healthy meals ahead of time to eat before class. I've been kicking around the idea of running for awhile, but always talk myself out of it. I'm not good at running; besides just being out of shape, I have asthma, which has made it difficult for me to run for any amount of time

for as long as I can remember. I always see people running, and they're just so good at, the idea of running in public makes me feel self-conscious. But I decided to stop with the excuses and just try.

My decision coincided with a super frigid day yesterday, but I didn't want to use any more excuses. So Dan (who has been running for 15 years and is infuriatingly good at it) went out with me for a quick run last night, which was miserable because it was only 9 degrees. We didn't go far at all, the whole loop was only half a mile, but I felt like crap when I got home. I couldn't breathe, I felt sick to my stomach, and I was coughing all night. But I did get some major endorphins, and I got over what may be the toughest hurdle, starting.

We went back out tonight, for a mile this time. I want to start slowly so I don't injure myself. It wasn't as cold, so I was able to run more and walk less, but I still did a fair amount of walking. The mile took me about 12 minutes, which is about what I used to run during gym class. I used an inhaler before I went out, so while I couldn't breathe well during the run (that picture above is a pretty accurate rendition of what I looked like), once I got home I felt a lot better than I did last night. I feel really good, these endorphins are awesome. Hopefully, I can stay motivated to keep running. It's hard now, but it will only get easier, right?

I'm taking a break tomorrow. For now, I'll aim for 3-4 days a week. Tonight I got a yoga dvd to do on the days that I don't run, because I think it'll be good to focus on wellness a little every day. I need to do more for myself than just study all the time. I've never tried yoga, but I'm always super stressed out and can't ever sleep, so it seemed like a good choice.

chef lindsay

2010-01-29T12:08:00.005-05:00

On today's agenda: tons of homework, tons of cooking. In an attempt to eat more nutritiously this semester, I've made it a goal to choose meals I can cook ahead of time. I just don't have time/motivation to cook when I have to be to class at 5:45 or 6:30. I don't really know what I ate for dinner every night last semester. I think it was a lot of sandwiches. Boring! I missed cooking and eating different foods all the time-when I'm not in school, I'm constantly searching out new recipes and experimenting with my own creations. So I'm trying this new thing out: I shop for things that can be cooked ahead (so far it's been a couple of soups and stews), cook 'em all on Friday, and then my week is super easy. Last week we had Moroccan tempeh, turkey chili, and acorn squash, roasted garlic, and spinach soup. The best thing about soups and stews is that they feed us for 2 or 3 nights. I'm so domestic!

Right now I'm making potato leek soup (I'll put the recipe at the bottom. Try it-leeks are in season, people!) and lentil and carrot stew (using the awesome crock pot my aunt got us for x-mas), but my plan to also make a butternut squash experiment soup was thwarted when I ran out of bouillon, so I will have to run to the store after the potato soup is finished.

Homework is being done in between chopping/mixing/stirring. I love days like this. Some days, I feel like I work all day and get nothing done. I have a lot on my plate right now, so being super productive is quite an accomplishment.

So, here's my recipe for Potato Leek Soup. Generally, potato leek soup has cream in it, but I use a different type of recipe because it's healthier. It's vegan if that's important to you! It's also super easy.

1 tbsp-ish oil

2 or more cloves of garlic (depending on how much you like garlic. You could leave the garlic out all together, I just like to put garlic in everything), minced

Bunch of leeks (2-3, I usually use 3)

1 onion, chopped

Pepper

2 large potatoes, cubed (but don't peel 'em, dummy-the skin is where all the nutrients are)

6-7 c veggie broth (or chicken if you want. I use Herb ox builon powder, which is sodium free, but still full of chemicals. I'm too lazy to make my own veggie stock.)

So, first you're going to want to deal with the leeks. Leeks are kind of like onions, but dirtier. You should cut most of the green part off, except for about 1-2 inches. Cut the root off the end. You now have a little cylinder. Cut this in half lengthwise get rid of the outer layer or two, then cut into thin slices so you have little half-circles. Fill a big bowl with cold water, and put the leeks in there, separating the layers. Swish them around and let them sit for a few minutes. Any dirt on them will sink to the bottom. Scoop the leeks out of the bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in a stock pot. Add the garlic, and saute for a couple of minutes until it starts to turn brown. Add the onion, leeks, and pepper to taste. You could add some salt, too, if that's what you're into. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions and leeks become translucent. Then add your potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for, um, awhile, until the potatoes are soft. Let it cool to room temperature, and puree it in batches in a food processor or blender. When you're ready to eat it, just re-heat it in the stock pot. I like to eat this with yummy fresh bread.

See, easy!

Bed Time!

2010-01-26T23:44:00.006-05:00

Despite the fact that I got very little sleep last night, I'm all wound up. Since this is the first week of class, my stress level is high because I don't have a routine yet, so I have no idea how the hell I'm going to get all of this work done. My history and writing about literature class both have a huge work load, and my math 4 dummies class has a medium amount of work. I'm not sure how much work Spanish will be this semester yet, it depends on how quickly I pick up on the new verb tenses we're learning. The good news is that I've been frighteningly productive for the last 24 hours. I've finished almost two weeks worth of work for the writing class (online class=I am working ahead as far and quickly as possible), plus I finished my Spanish homework my math homework, plus I've attended 3 classes. Yikes!

I just looked at the chapters I have to read for history by next Tuesday and that stopped this productivity train dead in my tracks. 85 pages. Fuck you! I try to avoid doing reading if possible, and find that generally reading is not necessary because I learn much better from lectures anyway. But this sneaky prof has structured the class so that the reading is due every Tuesday, and we will have a quiz every Tuesday before the lecture. Sigh. I'm not even a slacker, I just know how I learn best, and it seems like an inefficient use of my time to struggle through suuuuper boring text books when the teacher is just going to explain everything during class anyway. Whatever.

So now I'm using my bountiful energy to write this rambly and perhaps insane blog.

I had my first math class in...8? years tonight, which terrified me to my very core. The professor seems cool, he helped me with my schedule this semester and he is pretty entertaining. Plus, he thoroughly erases the dry-erase board when he's finished, which was a relief. It drives me absolutely crazy when a teacher haphazardly erases stuff, leaving marks all over the board. Ugh! I'm much less afraid now, as the homework was super easy. I guess I can do math. And you know what? When the homework was over, it was over. No revising. No editing. It was just done. Look whose glass is half full! During class, the teacher invented this word problem, which I solved in my head in about 25 seconds, causing an inappropriate surge of pride. I thought to myself, "I must be some sort of idiot savant!"

The worst part of my day was when, moments after I tore the shrink wrap off of my new $185 math text book, the teacher read the title of our textbook, and I had the wrong one.

Artist rendition of me with my classmates after the horrible incident. Look at them comfort me.

So tomorrow I have to go fight with the bookstore people, because I ordered my books online, correctly, and they gave me the wrong book. I have so much evidence proving that it was their bad that I think I'll get my money back. I don't think they're going to fork it over without a significant amount of whining on my part. Thankfully, my professor has my back. After I shared my tale of woe with him, he got all riled up and said, "Oh, you'll get your money back. Let me know if they won't give it to you. I can be a squeaky wheel at faculty meetings until they give in." Holla!

Holy crap, I need to go to sleep.

back to school

2010-01-24T21:22:00.003-05:00

I am back from the midwest, just in time to start school again. My classes start tomorrow, and I'm not looking forward to this semester at all. My schedule is really inconvenient, and I have two classes that I'm really not looking forward to: Algebra for dum-dums and The United States to 1877. Sigh. Maybe it won't be as bad as I think.

In other news, we got a new neighbor on Friday and have finally given up on finishing out our lease. The apartment next door is 2 floors, so we share both living room, bathroom, and bedroom walls with this new person, plus their hardwood stairs are right next to our bedroom, and their bedroom and bathroom are above our bedroom. From the sound of it, they don't have a single area rug and have never lived below anyone. To be fair, this is the first time I've ever lived below anyone and I don't know how considerate I was of downstairs neighbors. I always assumed that they insulated the floors in between apartments, which they may do in some buildings, but not this one. Even when new neighbor is just talking in his apartment, it sounds like his is in mine, and I moved our bed into the living room because I was up all night Friday listening to him arrange his furniture/walk around/drop heavy things right over my bed. So now we essentially have a studio apartment. It's idiotic. I can't live like this for 4 more months. It has been really stressful since we moved in, and I'm just done with it. So we're calling a few potential apartments tomorrow, a couple in Saratoga and one in Gansevoort. Hopefully we find a good place to live.

Soy de Iowa

2010-01-16T22:54:00.002-05:00

This has been quite an eventful week. I started my trip to Iowa by missing my flight (my alarm somehow didn't go off), but after a rocky day, I landed in the Midwest. Since then, I've been in wedding boot camp (run by my mom and sister). We figured out the table decorations at the reception, my mom made my veil, and I had my Midwest bridal shower today. I feel like we're really close to finished with the wedding planning, which is a relief. There are still a few details to work out, but we're getting there.
Baby fever has struck hard. You'd think being around my nephews (ages 8, 6, and 3) would discourage my baby desire, but somehow it's ignited it. Also, my BFFL had her baby last night, and while I haven't been able to visit her yet (stupid H1N1 regulations) but I saw a picture and nearly died because she's so freeking cute. The baby came a few weeks early, and I feel so lucky that the timing worked out like this. I get to see her tomorrow or the next day!! Eek!
I'm at my sister's house right now because I'm babysitting my aforementioned nephews. They are sleeping together on the floor of one bedroom, and it is the cutest thing. We had a rad night, we had pizza and played games. I told them they could stay up as late as they wanted and they were all asleep by 8:45. Ah, I wish I could see them more often. I could never live in the Midwest again, but it's so hard to live so far away from my family.

Whining about sickness/rejoicing about my trip

2010-01-10T11:09:00.005-05:00

Dan and I were infected by an unnamed criminal with a horrible cold on New Year's Eve. I got a little tickle in my throat on Monday, and lived in denial until Tuesday afternoon when I got weak and feverish. I have spent almost every minute since Monday on the couch, except for the few but detrimental hours spent at work. I thought the cold would peak on Wednesday and then get better, especially because I'm resting, taking airborne every day (tons 'o vitamins) and drinking tons of tea, water, and juice.

You can imagine my surprise, then, when the damn thing kept getting worse. Wednesday: worse. Thursday: worse. Friday: worse. WTF? Thankfully, it seems to have plateaued, but when is it going to get better? Woe is me.

Thankfully Simone swooped in to save me and is covering my shift at work today. I want to give resting one last chance before I travel tomorrow, because as it is, I don't think it's going to feel very good. I'm flying to Iowa to visit my family and friends (yay!), and being sick wasn't part of the plan. Urgh.

I am really excited about my trip, sick or not! I usually only see my family once a year, but I just saw them in May, and I'm seeing them now, and then they're coming for my wedding in July. I feel spoiled. I'm also wicked proud of my packing skillz. All I'm brining is my backpack and my purse. Since I'm going to meet my sister at the MOA instead of the airport (it's easier to get to for her and not difficult to get to from the airport) I don't want to have luggage.

My trip is going to be awesome. I'm going to hang out with people, my sister is throwing me a bridal shower, and I'm going to my BFF's baby shower. I'm flying back on Tuesday the 19th, and my flight isn't until 7pm, so I'm going to take a bus up to Minneapolis and chillax there for a few hours. This is going to be me:

Okay, nap time! Hopefully I heal miraculously from this cold overnight!

what I did over winter break part 1

2009-12-29T15:38:00.004-05:00

I have adapted well to winter break. I took this week off because I have been pushing myself all semester, especially in this last month, and the idea of jumping into full-time work until my Iowa trip had me stringing up my noose. I wasn't sure what I was going to do the whole time, but so far, it's been awesome. I've been catching up on all the sleep I've been lost; my insomnia seems to be going away. Dan and I have spent more time apart than together since September-my classes are at night, he's working all day-and we are just enjoying spending time together. Lots of walks, Yahtzee, movies, and YouTube karaoke.

I've also been reading like crazy. I've always been a big reader, I can't remember a time in my life that I haven't been reading a book. As soon as I finish one, I start another. I don't know how old I was when I learned to read, but I imagine that's the age that I started reading like this.

Anyway, I've been having a hard time focusing on reading with all my school work--it's hard to stop thinking about the papers I have to write, the research I have to do, and so forth long enough to get into a novel. I've been reading a lot of essays: David Sedaris, Laurie Notaro, that dumb girl Sloan Crosley who sucks, etc. because it's easier to swallow little stories. But now that I'm free, I'm really excited to read as much as humanly possible. Right now, I'm almost finished with ¡Yo! by Julia Alvarez, next I'm reading Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko. Hopefully, when I finish that, the 5 books I ordered from Amazon will be here. Eeee!

I can't wait to get my grades back. I think they're due on the 4th, so I should know if I got that 4.0 or not in a week or so!

Done!

2009-12-22T22:41:00.003-05:00

One year down, 3 to go. I just finished my last final tonight, and am now preparing for my holiday party tomorrow. Pumpkin cookies are in the oven :). I don't feel nearly as relaxed as I should, because my Public Speaking grade is hovering around the A/A- line, and I WANT A 4.0. God damn it. She shorted me half a point on my portfolio for some reason (5 assignments, each worth 3 points, total grade: 14.5. WTF?) which I emailed her about, but really my grade hangs on what I got on my final speech tonight. She said she's usually lenient and gives everyone a 10/10 as long as they participate, which I did, but if my calculations are correct, a 9 would push me into the A- range. I should stop being such an insane perfectionist. It would free up a lot of time.

I am not sure what to do with myself now. I've been on full speed all semester. I don't think I took a single day off where I laid on the couch by myself all day, and although this break is much needed, I feel a bit anxious about it. This week is nuts, but next week I'm only working Sunday. It's going to be beautiful. Oh, I could plan my wedding.

I slept for, like, 5 hours last night which is a record. I plan on sleeping until noon tomorrow.

3 weeks from now I'll be in Iowa!! I can't wait to visit my family!

A brief history of my insomnia, because I can't sleep

2009-12-20T00:35:00.005-05:00

SO CRABBY.

If you are my friend on facebook, the update you are most likely to see on a daily basis is "Lindsay can't sleep. Again." I have been in denial for a couple of months that my insomnia has gotten out of control, but I guess it has. I have had trouble sleeping as long as I can remember. People who can fall asleep in less than 5 minutes amaze me. How the f do they do that? Even when I was a kid, I was always the last one to go to sleep at sleepovers and I would lay awake on school nights watching the clock.

It got much worse in high school, and I started taking sleep medication. That sucked because I would have such a hangover in the morning. After high school, I stopped taking the meds, and eventually got to a place where I could sleep most nights. I was in that happy place until right around the time school started, and now everything has unravelled.

Most of my sleeping occurs between the hours of 7am and noon, and always on the couch. I generally get into bed around midnight, and then I generally come back to the couch around one. Eventually I get in bed and sleep restlessly. It sucks. Today I worked on about 3 hours of sleep. No fun.

Consequently, I'm always tired. I'm not sure what to do about it. None of my old tricks that would help on those few nights I'd lay awake work anymore (singing 99 bottles of beer on the wall in my head was a favorite). I'm tempted to take medication, but won't because I have such horrible memories of the groggy feeling in the morning. Also, I don't want to be dependent on meds in order to carry out a basic bodily function. So I guess I'll just ride this insomnia wave a little further and see where it takes me. I keep hoping it will go away on it's own. Hmpf.

Local hero donates hair, studies for finals

2009-12-17T11:44:00.002-05:00

Everyone knows this by now, but I'm not ready to stop talking about it. I got the world's most awesome haircut on Tuesday. I went to Ovation Salon on Geyser Road, and Krissy did an amazing job. I got about 9 inches cut off, and donated 8 of 'em to wigs for kids, which is a pretty easy way to feel good about yourself.

Last weekend I scored a surprise Sunday off and Dan and I headed to the city. It was a last minute decision, which is always more fun. I'd been studying my head off for finals, and when Dan suggested we go to New York, I was like, "Yes please!" knowing that, otherwise, I would not take a much needed break. We had a lot of fun. Friday night we drove to Poughkeepsie and stayed in a hotel, and then took the train to the city on Saturday. We didn't do much there, aside from walking and walking, which is what we like to do when we go there. We're such total dorks that we immediately use the "map my run" website when we get home to see how many miles we walked. This time, 9. There were a ton of drunken Santas, and some of them hugged me. I did not like it. We thought about going Rockefeller to Center to see the tree, but aborted the mission when we got nearby and were suddenly swept up in this herd of people who were pushing everyone they could reach (because that is obviously going to make people walk faster). I yelled "ABORT! ABORT! Meet me over there!"pointed across the street, and shoved everyone out of my way and got the hell out of there.

And since we got home, I've been studying. Except when I got my hair cut/was showing off my haircut. I'm writing this blog now because I just had to stop studying for my western civ test for awhile. I can't wait until Tuesday night at 7pm, when finals are over.

I haz a ghost?

2009-12-04T14:40:00.004-05:00

To expand on my facebook update from 3am, something weird happened here last night. I got into bed around 12, and drifted off into a blissful sleep until Dan and I were awoken by a huge crash. I thought someone was smashing our back-door window to rob/kill us, Dan thought there was already someone in here who had dropped/ran into something. I don't really know what to do in the event that an intruder breaks into my apartment, so we went out of the bedroom to, I don't know, confront the criminal. Upon leaving the bedroom, I saw that there was a plate that had fallen off the counter and smashed everywhere. So that was the source of the noise. I quickly checked both doors, which were still chain-locked, and then checked both closets, which were intruder-free. We couldn't figure out how the plate had gotten from the counter to the floor, and went back to bed, both still in a state of panic. I had to get up a little while later to make sure there really wasn't anyone in here, because my number one fear (that I've had as long as I can remember, since I was a little kid) was that someone would break into my home.

I also got my iPod, as it was clear I wasn't going back to sleep any time soon, and in the dark I noticed something suspicious on the floor. I looked a little closer and realized they were stupid mouse droppings. Welcome to my second worse fear: mice.

But this explained how the plate broke, a stupid mouse must have knocked it off the counter. Great.

This morning, I was cleaning up the kitchen, and foun

d a suspicious lack of droppings anywhere. Hmm. That's weird, I thought. How could that dumb mouse have run all over the kitchen and not left a single poopy? I went back to the living room to sweep up the other poopies I found last night, and in the bright light of they day, realized they are only sweatshirt fuzzies! That really do look like mouse droppings, but aren't

So THANK GOD we don't have mice. Yet. This blog is jinxing me, I'm sure of it, and we will find our first mouse tonight. Thankfully, I stocked up on poison before I realized it was a false alarm, so I'm prepared.

But anyway, we're back to wondering how that plate fell off the counter in the middle of the night. I guess we have a ghost that got angry. Whatever, anything is better than intruders or mice.

I should pay rent

2009-12-03T12:34:00.004-05:00

Holy crap, how the bleep is it December already? It's the 3rd, but I'm in denial, so I haven't paid rent yet. Whoops. My semester is almost over, which I am dreading because it means that I will have to work more (in theory, if there are hours for me) for a couple of weeks, and then I'll have to start my idiot schedule next semester that I'm going to hate. Thankfully, in between those two things, I am going to visit my family in Iowa for 8 days. I am so excited!!

I am working my ass off for all A's this semester. I easily have A's in Spanish, Health, and Western Civ (unless I bomb the last Western Civ test or my health final, but I'm not worried). The only toss-up is public speaking. I'm either going to get an A or a B+, but goddamn it I want an A! Right now, I have a 90 if I just tally up my speeches, but I've gotten 100% on all of the written assignments I've turned in, so I have a good shot. There is one more speech, so if I kick ass on that, I'm going to get an A.

Next semester is my third, which means I need to get my shit together and figure out where I want to transfer to pretty soon. It mostly depends on where Dan finds a teaching job. He's going to apply all over NY state and probably in Massastupids and Vermont as well, so I can't get too attached to any school because I have no clue where we'll be living. There's a chance that Dan will get a job around here, which would be nice, but a change of scenery would also be nice. I have a fantasy that we move somewhere less expensive and we can rent a little house. Sigh.

Okay, time to get back to work. This Western Civ paper that's due Monday isn't going to edit itself!

crisis

2009-11-13T00:14:00.002-05:00

I'm grappling with my age a lot these days. It's been going on for about a year and a half, actually. Quarter-life crisis, perhaps? I just can't believe that in less than 6 months, I'll be 25. I know, I know, 25 isn't old when you're 50. But in my head, I'm still 8, so 25 seems old.

Sunday night I had Tara and Eve over for dinner, and I was telling Eve some stories of my wilder days. I never did anything too crazy, but I did find myself in some bizarre situations. I feel like I've aged much more than 2 or 3 years in the past 2 or 3 years. I grew up against my will.

It's good, I've got my shit together. It feels good to have a little road-map of your life for the next few years. Wedding, school, baby (eek!). But I can't help but feel like I'm a kid playing dress-up, and somebody is going to figure out that I'm not old enough to be on this road.

Being a grown up sucks. There are all kinds of worries: what's my credit score? Gee, my parents are starting to get old. Will I have one of those ADHD kids? I miss the days of, "If I leave the bar now, I will get 6 hours of sleep for work tomorrow. Will I be sober by then?"

The thing that sparked this current existential crisis is an invitation to a teacher party. Some teachers at the school Dan is long-term subbing at are throwing a party. I CAN'T BE OLD ENOUGH TO PARTY WITH TEACHERS. Teachers are old and I am young. But according to Dan, one girl is my very same age! Gah!

There's a less for all of y'all in this blog post: late night coffee consumption=existential crisis.

Great day

2009-11-05T21:44:00.009-05:00

The first thing I had to do this morning was get a cavity filled, so I assumed that today would suck. That part did, in fact, suck. I hadn't been to the dentist in 6 years, as that's how long I've been without dental insurance. I'm still without it, but decided this year I needed to go. As the dentist was drilling my tooth, I thought to myself, "Oh, yeah! This is one of the reasons I haven't been to the dentist in 6 years." I came home and went to sleep until the Novocain wore off, which was 12:45. 12:45! Now, maybe some people would say, "Yeah, you slept until 12:45, what of it?" but waking up at 5am for years does something to your brain. It makes you a morning person, and it's quite unsettling to sleep past 9. I've been sleeping in for 6 or 7 weeks at this point, and I'm still not comfortable with it.

So, anyway, I get up at 12:45, all groggy and off because the day's more than half over, and accomplished next to nothing. The only thing I did was call the business office of my school to inquire about my TAP grant, where I faced the same ridiculous cunt-baggery that I experience every time I talk to someone in the business office. Sorry that you are sitting on a $600 grant that belongs to me and I, a full-time student who works only twice a week, want it. I can't believe how crazy I am!

Ugh. Bad day, just like I expected. Then this amazing thing happened. My day suddenly started to turn around. I made chicken, acorn squash, and quinoa for dinner, which was exciting on it's own because I generally don't have the time/energy/motivation to make a truly nutritious meal anymore. While that was cooking, I checked my email and found this in my inbox from my public speaking professor:

Lindsay,    I just wanted to send you a note congratulating you on a wonderful speech.  I saw such improvement in  your delivery (and after reading your self-eval,  I know  you worked  consciously  on that). It was a solid speech  all around --in terms of research, argumentation,  organization, and delivery. You should feel proud  of yourself!    Laura A.

Holy crap. I was just like the Grinch when his heart grows three sizes and breaks the measuring device. I was stoked after giving the speech because it went a lot better than my previous speech, and it felt really good to have my teacher email me about it. Eeee!

I then went to my college health class, which is never boring because the professor is a riot. I got the highest score of the class on last week's test, which was awesome. The class was good, as hilarious as usual, and we even got out early.

My days are generally better now that my focus is on school instead of work, but today was like a bonus good day. Now I'm going to have some tea, relax, and pretend that I don't have tons of homework to to tomorrow for the rest of the night :).

Burlington

2009-11-02T12:18:00.002-05:00

We had a great trip! I love Burlington, and should really go there more often. Just like last year, we were insanely lucky with the weather. On Saturday, it was a bit chilly and windy, but it only rained while we were taking a nap in our hotel. As soon as we got in our little car to go back downtown, the clouds parted and the world dried up. Sunday was beautiful; totally warm and sunny. And even though it's past peak foliage season, we were able to peep at some leaves.

We went to lunch at Madera's, which is where we had dinner last year. We were asshole door-busters, so we were the only ones there for most of our meal. The meal was delicious. We then walked around the water, where we saw a SNAKE! I'm convinced it was Champ, visiting the shore in his shape-shifted form. After walking around the lake and shopping on Church Street, we headed back to our hotel for a nap.

When we headed back downtown, we walked around more looking for a place to eat dinner. Burlington has a surprising number of Asian restaurants, and we went with Pacific Rim. They had various types of dishes, and the restaurant was super cozy. I had peanut noodles with chicken and some drink that involved club soda, cranberry, vodka, and ginger. It was yummy.

On Sunday, we spent some time in this Museum/Aquarium (although, I don't think you should call yourself an aquarium if you only have some big catfish and some turtles. I want to see SHARKS AND WHALES AND MAYBE CHAMP). They had a hurricane simulator, where you got into this little phone booth looking thing and the wind quickly went from nothing to 78mph. I did not like it. But then I got to pet a starfish!

On the drive home, we were looking for this Robert Frost trail that was supposed to be "6 miles east of Middlebury" but we couldn't find it. We did find this interfaith/spiritual path, which turned out to be pretty funny because all of the paths were named after different religions. We followed the children's path because it was supposed to be like 40 minutes long and we didn't want to be there forever, but it was only 10 minutes long. And at the end of it, there was a tree with a sign that said "Guess what kind of tree this is? APPLE! Bears eat apples off this tree!" and I got all freaked out because it's fall now and maybe some bears would be in a feeding frenzy and eat me. We followed some other paths, and it was a nice hike. I was in charge of bear lookout. We didn't get eaten.

The end!

Is it the weekend yet?

2009-10-29T12:28:00.002-04:00

This week is dragging! Since school started, my life has felt like it's going on warp speed-it's midterms time already (thankfully, none of my classes have midterm tests). But this weekend, Dan and I are heading to Burlington to celebrate our 3 year anniversary of being a couple (which was actually last saturday), our 4 year anniversary of living together (this sunday!) and our 1 year anniversary of being engaged (a week from saturday). Apparently, we are at our best in the fall. It looks like it's going to rain at least part of the time we are there, but it's still going to be awesome. I am so excited to get out of town and relax. Anyway, this is why my week is dragging. I thought Tuesday was Thursday, I thought today was Friday, ugh.

What's it like to work in a coffee shop?

2009-10-20T22:36:00.006-04:00

Now that I'm only at the coffee shop twice a week, the behavior of the customers has become even more puzzling for me. When you are experiencing it 5 days a week, you get used to it. I guess. I thought I should shed some light on these insane freak-shows for the masses to see. If any of these customer reminds you of you, please stop.

First, I will start with the line. That is, the place where I take your order (aka, the place I try not to be). When I'm on the line, I will encounter the following people:

The cell phone talker

That phone call is just too important to pause. So this customer will whisper their order to me, you know, so as not to be rude to the person on the other end. When I have to ask questions (what kind of bagel do you want your idiot sandwich on?), I am the rude one. For interrupting your phone call. This is a problem anywhere you work with the public. And one of the most obnoxious things people do. Listen: you know that thing that is taking your order/ringing up your purchases? That HUMAN SHAPED thing? That's a human! Not a robot! So put the fucking cell phone down.

The starbucks customer

I know there is a starbucks on every corner, but I, thankfully, don't work in one. Some people don't know that coffee shops aren't all interchangeable. When you order a "Venti caramel macchiato" and you're not at starbucks, you are an asshole. Also, a caramel macchiato is stupid. A macchiato is espresso with a dollop of foam. Idiot.

The "I've been in line 10 minutes and haven't looked at the menu yet" customer

WTF were you doing for that 10 minutes? These people drive me crazy. Generally, their back is to me (even though they're next in line) and I have to yell "Can I help you can I help you can I help you" a million times before they look at me. When they finally turn around, they go "Oh, haha! I haven't even LOOKED at the menu yet!" Meanwhile, the line of customers is staring at me while I stare at the person, wondering why I'm not doing anything.

The "Do I have to wait in that line to buy just a..."

I don't know why people think that there are loopholes. I've had people ask me if they have to wait in line to buy the following things: Just a (it always starts out with "Just a") coffee, bagel, bagel sandwich, dozen bagels, latte, pound of coffee. That's basically everything we sell. What do they think the rest of the people are waiting to buy?

Now on to the bagel bar, where I prefer to be. This is where your (and everyone else in Saratoga's) yummy bagel with cream cheese, stupid egg sandwich, or idiot healthy harvest without onions gets made. At record speed. While this is a more desirable location because you don't have to speak with customers as much, generally when you do have to speak with them, it's 5000x's more annoying. I'll tell you why:

The lungers

No matter how many people were in front of them, no matter how many people are gathered around the bagel bar waiting for their bagel, no matter how (not) long ago they ordered, the lungers are convinced that every bagel I put up is theirs. It's really amusing, actually. They grab at it before I call the number, and then back off because it's not theirs. And again when the next one comes up. Lunge, retreat, repeat. Little tip: if your small coffee hasn't been poured yet, your bagel is not ready. I'm a barista, not a magician.

The starers

Probably my #1 most hated thing in all the world. At the coffee shop anyway. These people peer at me over the bagel bar, or sit at the bar and peek over the microwave to watch my every movement. I hate it because it MAKES ME UNCOMFORTABLE. Who wants to be stared at? It's fucking creepy. Step back and listen for your number, fuckwad.

The starers, but worse

These people take it a step farther by involving themselves in my bageling. "That bagel is supposed to have plain cream cheese! WHY ARE YOU PUTTING THAT PINK CREAM CHEESE ON MY BAGEL??? Oh, that's not mine??? I'm not the only one who ordered an everything bagel? Weird!" or "Is that the sesame with cream cheese, can you add this and this and this?" or "Make sure my poppy bagel gets toasted well but NOT BURNT." I just want to follow these people to their work and critique what they're doing.

The "Hellooooo" people

When did the phrase "excuse me" fall out of style? If you walk up to my bagel bar, cup your hands around your mouth, and yell "Helloooooo" at me, I will glare at you and say "WHAT." If you later choke on your bagel and die, I will say "GOOD."

Is this my bagel?

Oy vey. I have a very serious question. If I did not take your order, and furthermore, have never seen you before in my life, how could I possibly know if this is your bagel? Seriously? People walk up to me all day and say the words "Is this my bagel?" Not even "Is this a plan with plain cream cheese?" just "Is this my bagel?" How the fuck should I know? Here's an even better anecdote from this morning: There is an everything bagel ready to be picked up on the counter, and I place a plain bagel next to it and call out the number, "37 is up!" A guy walks up to the bar, looks back and forth between the everything and the plain for a minute (both of which have their respective numbers, in bold print, directly under the plate within the customers view), and goes, "Which one is 37?" WHAT. Well, you just ordered a plain bagel, and there is one right in front of you face, but 37 is probably that bagel covered with seeds and onions.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. This is certainly enough hatred to get y'all through your week. Perhaps I'll post more types of customers another day.

Scary!

2009-10-07T12:11:00.003-04:00

I rarely have nightmares, or vivid dreams for that matter, but last night I had an awful one! It was super vivid. I dreamed that I was in a building, on the second to top floor, when I noticed it was on fire. There were some people (not sure who) on the top floor, but when I opened the door to the stairway to go warn them to get out, the entire top floor was on fire. I had no choice but to get myself out of there. Of course, the building had tons of levels, and it took forever to get to the bottom floor, and when I got there, my mom and (fictional) little sister were there. They didn't know about the fire, and when I told them, weren't in too much of a hurry to evacuate. Finally, I convinced them to get out, grabbed my computer (I have my priorities, even in dreams!) and we got out. Once outside, it was my parents house on fire. We crossed the street and watched it burn. This is when I woke up, totally disoriented and upset.
I HATE THAT DREAM!

My public speaking experiences so far

2009-10-06T22:17:00.002-04:00

Here's a recap of my presentations thus far this semester:

First presentation: Informative speech about the environment in my Public Speaking class last Tuesday. Convinced I was "next up" for the entire three hours, I was in a constant state of panic. Eventually we ran out of time, prolonging the anticipation another week.

Second presentation: An about-me presentation in Spanish class yesterday: I worked tirelessly making an AWESOME power-point and prepared my speech. I was quite excited to do my speech. I get up there, pop in my flash drive, pull up my PowerPoint, and NOTHING IS THERE. It's broken. Nothing we try works. It is saved in the wrong format or corrupted or something. I have to re-do the PowerPoint for class tomorrow. My anticipation is prolonged.

Third presentation: Informative speech, take 2, tonight: I get in front of the class, and while waiting for my professor to set up the camera, entertain my classmates. First, I look into the audience and say "Don't look at me!" then, when a girl asks the teacher if she can do her speech without her shoes on, I say "Do you feet stink?" I then proceed to give my speech at break-neck speed, nearly fainting from lack of breathing. When I'm finished, I proclaim "I NEVER want to get up here again!" and run back to my seat.

Yikes!

an open letter to our new neighbors

2009-10-03T21:51:00.004-04:00

Dear New Neighbors,

Oh, hi. We are your neighbors who live diagonally upstairs from you. You don't know us yet, but will soon learn to hate us as much as I already hate you.

In the month that you have lived here, you have talked to Dan four times. You are lucky Dan was home each time, because you would not have wanted to talk to me. He is much more diplomatic than I will ever be.

Why, exactly, do you need the bass to be all the way up? What is stopping you from listening to music like a civilized human? Also, when you cram tons of drunk people into every room of your apartment, and they are all screaming, do you know that it sounds like they are in our apartment?

We have defeated neighbors in the past, and we will crush you, little neighbors, like ants. The landlord is on speed dial, and he is on our side. Trust us.

From your #1 enemies,

Lindsay & Dan

snob

2009-10-02T12:43:00.004-04:00

I just created the most kick-ass spanish presentation of all time. Dan is going to have to sit through it when he gets home, despite the fact that he doesn't know Spanish. I am going to get an A+.

I created the awesome visual aid on my new MacBook. This computer is incredible. I've always had PCs and they suuuuck. For instance, when I started them up, they would take a good 5 minutes or more to "warm up" or something before I could even use them. This little guy is ready to go the minute the screen turns on. My old computer was wicked slow and would freeze up constantly. My new Mac is wicked fast and never freezes. Also, it knows Spanish! My old computer was a blur of red spell-check underlines when I did my assignments, this one spell check underlines the English when I type everything else in Spanish. I am endlessly impressed with this little machine. Also, it's small, lightweight, and pretty. Love, love, love. Oh, yeah, and it will speak the words you type in a robot voice, so Dan and I had a lot of fun making the computer say naughty words. We're grown-ups.

Speaking of which, last night was more sex-ed in my health class. Here are a couple of gems from the evening:

My professor's words of wisdom about condoms: "After the guy does his thing, you know...ejaculates-it'sinthebook-don't hang out. Get outta there!"

During a video, a girl said "Is it normal that one of my breasts is bigger than the other?" and the strange, moustached, potentially autistic kid yelled, "WHAT?!"

In another video, a doctor told a teenage boy that he had chlamydia. The boy said "Oh, I must have gotten it from Deena." When Deena appeared on the screen, my professor yelled out "There she is! Dirty Deena."

On a final note, it is unbelievably cold in my apartment. Tonight, I'm making chili, cornbread, and pumpkin pie for dinner!

A brief history of Linda

2009-09-27T22:38:00.003-04:00

If you were to start working at uncommon grounds anytime after January or February of 2007, our introductions would go something like this:

You: "Hi, I'm Bill."

Me: "Hi, I'm Linda."

Those of you who know me IRL (which, in myRL, is anywhere outside of UG) might wonder why someone named Lindsay would introduce themselves as Linda. And if you come looking for "Lindsay", you might wonder why nobody will acknowledge that a person with that name exists.

I can give you the answer in two words: Bob Carlton.

In January or February '07, I was planning my big move to Minneapolis. It was probably all I talked about because I was really excited. Bob and I had a bit that my or may not have played into this, where we would pretend to be breaking up or to have recently broken up while ringing up customers at the register. I don't remember the entire thing, but I declared one day that everyone at work would miss me so much they would cry. To this, Bob replied, "No we wont! We won't even remember your name when you leave! In fact, I've already forgotten it. What's your name again? Linda?" And the Linda was born.

This bit caught on like nothing I've ever seen. I was Linda (or any other name that started with the letter "L", but mostly Linda) until the day I moved. This blasphemy was created on my last day and posted on my myspace :

When I called to give my boss my new address to send my tax form, I said, "Hey, it's Lindsay." and he said, "Who?" and I said, "Linda." and he said, "Oh, hey!"

When I came back, some other nicknames were tried out (we're big on nicknames at UG) such as "Dan's girlfriend." but it always went back to Linda.

And so, I am now Linda at work. I sometimes almost say "Hey, it's Linda" on people's voice mails. I almost introduced myself as Linda in one class. But the greatest thing of all happened tonight at Yom Kippur dinner with Dan's elderly grandfather. Dan said to him "You remember Lindsay, right?" and....

He. Called. Me. Linda.

let's talk about sex

2009-09-24T23:43:00.006-04:00

I am taking college health this semester because...well, I don't really know why. It's an easy credit and fulfills a requirement, in theory. However, it's a 3 hour class that runs until 9:30 p.m., there is a quiz every week, next week we have a big stupid test, and I had to sign up for a day to present my research paper today, the main problem being that I haven't even chosen a topic yet.

To compound my doubt over choosing this course, tonight's topic was S-E-X. Perhaps the weirdest thing about it is that today I stumbled upon a blog on the Glamour magazine website (I don't want to talk about it) with a category "Your Most Awkward Sex Experiences!!!!11!" Because I've never had a particularly awkward sex experience (unless you count the whole hey,-that's-my-roommate-I'm-having-sex-with thing), so I was quite intrigued. I found an entry about a 5th grade teacher who made a end of the year video for her class, only to discover after having sent out a copy to each child that there was an 8 second clip of her nekkid, doing god knows what, on the DVD. This led Dan and I to a discussion of our experiences with sex education. I was listening to a Genius playlist on my iPod off of "Push It" by S&P, and I kid you not, the song that came on as I was parking at school was "let's talk about sex." I then went to class and got some sex education. I chalk this up to synchronicity, which I learned from Ally's blog.

Anyhow, in my class, hilarity ensued. He's this 49 year old big, macho guy from with a heavy downstate accent, and he's always saying the funniest shit. I should really start tape recording the classes for my later amusement. Our preview to sexuality came a few weeks ago when we were talking about psychological health, and he was talking about hormones. He told us that "Women have estrogen, and that's the main hormone that comes from...you know...down there." Today's class included such classic gems as: "You will all experience break-ups. Probably a lot of them. Some of yous guys are probably sluts, right? You know, tramps?" And when a slide came up listing the types of sex (oral, anal, etc.) and he goes, "I don't really have anything to say about this. Know how to do these things." All in all, it felt like getting a sex ed lesson from your dad.

Ramblings of a mad-woman

2009-09-16T23:20:00.003-04:00

I knew as I was scooping that coffee into my coffee maker that it was a baaad idea. 5pm might not seem that late, but I have been diligent for years about not drinking coffee too late, lest it keep me up at night. But I'm in a weird phase right now, transitioning away from being a super-early morning person, and damn it, i like coffee. So I brewed myself 4 cups (c'mon, we all know those "cups" are only 5 or 6oz. Pshaw!) of delicious coffee and guzzled it down as fast as my little throat would let me. After all, I had a class at 6:30 and wanted to be alert!
BIG MISTAKE. Almost as bad as the time the French backed the US during the American Revolution just to spite Britain, thus causing the French economy to tank and sparking, in part, the French Revolution (I'm taking Western Civ). It is now 11:30, and I'm insane! I'm not even a little tired, and I have no outlet for my energy. Dan went to bed HOURS ago. I got lonely and called a red plum "little guy" and invited him to get in my mouth. I then nearly choked on said plum, which triggered a fantasy-sequence in which I was actually choking and ran into the bedroom to try to get Dan to do the Heimlich maneuver on me, which caused me to wonder if he'd figure out what was wrong in time, what with me not being able to talk and all. Lesson learned? No coffee after 3pm for me.
What I should be doing right now is either reading the rest of my western civ chapter (which would put me to sleep for sure) or re-writing this poorly written super boring article about grade retention into a fabulous speech, or my Spanish homework. I just don't have the motivation. Instead, I'll probably watch more YouTube videos of cats putting their heads under running water and Obama calling Kanye West a jackass.
WILL I EVER SLEEP???

Tired

2009-09-11T00:44:00.002-04:00

I got in bed around 11, completly exhausted, but couldn't sleep. I got up to watch some tv on the internet, but this seems to have given me a second wind of sorts. I don't feel alert enough to do anything useful (i.e. homework).
There are skidmore kids in the little pathway between my house and the neighbors. Needless to say, they are drunk and noisy. It's annoying me.
I am crabby.
Hmmph.

happy happy happy

2009-09-09T22:01:00.007-04:00

Hey, guess who's glass is half full? I am so happy to be back in school. It's so bizarre to be going to a regular college instead of doing mostly 0n-line classes. I'm like, "you want me to sit at a desk?" I am taking classes at night because we only have one car and Dan works during the day. It works out quite well because so far there's a good mix of ages in my classes. It's not all dumb 18 year olds.

It feels really weird to be only working 2 days a week (which is sponsored by all the "Oops I don't have money for rent" coupons I've been collecting from Dan over the years, and his desire to help me live an awesome life). To be able to spend the majority of my time doing something I really enjoy is completely foreign. High school felt like an obligation, and after that came work, so I've always been doing stuff that I have to do, even if I hate it. I'm choosing to go to school now, and I love it. Specifically, I am thrilled to be taking Spanish (my first class was tonight!) which is what I want to do with my life. I'm doing something I love and it's getting me from here to my desired career. My life has purpose. I'm a real human.

This also means I get to sleep in 5 days a week and stay up until a normal-person time at night. I hadn't realized how stressful getting up at 5am is until I stopped having to do it. I know some people can function with little sleep, but I'm not that person. I am miserable with anything less than 7 hours. Which means that I have to be asleep by 10pm every night. Which rarely happens. Not to mention I'm a light sleeper, so throw noisy neighbors or Dan waking me up into the mix, and fuggitaboutit.

Long story short: My life is suddenly really awesome.

There is this nagging sense of guilt, however. Like, shouldn't my life suck at least a little? I know once school picks up, I'll be really busy, but I don't mind writing papers and studying.

Either way, I'm disgustingly excited and uncharacteristically optimistic.

Oh, on a completely unrelated topic, I'm trying to decide whether or not to change my last name when I get married. I know, I know, I shouted "I'M NEVER CHANGING MY NAME!" from the rooftops, but I've been thinking about it lately, and think it could be nice. But it's my name. How do you even make a decision like that? Yikes.

March, April, May, September

2009-09-05T14:51:00.002-04:00

I'm not really sure what happened to all those months that fall between May and September, but here I am about to start classes again. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic. I really like being in school, and this year being in school translates to me working very part time. And I did a lot this summer, it was pretty awesome. I just can't believe how quickly it flew by. I somehow managed to not only not save any money, but to have $300 less in my savings account than I did in May. This is quite unlike me, and leaves me feeling anxious if I think about it too much. So I try not to.

I'm not terribly excited about 3/4 of my classes this year. Western Civ (puke), Speech, and College Health are just holes on my gen-ed punch card. I'm excited but unsure about the Spanish class I'm taking, because I chose Spanish 1, even though I could have taken Spanish 2. I'm just worried that because it's been so long since I've been in a Spanish class, there is much I can't remember. I'm also worried that because I'm actually quite good at Spanish (or will be once I get a little practice to brush up), I'll be bored out of my mind.

It just hit me that today is my last day off of summer. The last day I'll be able to just lay around and do nothing. Instead, I'm trying to clean the apartment from top to bottom because who knows when I'll have time to do it again. I'm also trying to finish season 4 of Felicity ASAP.

I can't wait for fall weather to stick. I have a closet full of fall clothes, and these sweet boots that I had to search endlessly for are on the way:

I am ready.

It's getting hot in here

2009-08-16T21:30:00.002-04:00

So there's something wrong with me, and I'm not really sure what it is, but a little time on Web MD tells me that I am suffering from heat exhaustion.
It all started on Thursday at work, while I was on bagel bar. It's really hot outside suddenly, proper summer hot, and consequently it's really hot inside the coffee shop. It's even hotter at the bagel bar, because a) you're in front of a toaster and b) you're moving non-stop making breakfast for all of Saratoga. Anyway, I was bageling my little heart out, and suddenly I started feeling really faint and nauseous. This has never happened to me before. I thought I might pass out and was worried about hitting my head on the counter and was also thinking that passing out while holding a big knife is probably not ideal. Unfortunately, nobody who was capable of bageling was nearby, and through some logic, I kept bageling for a good 10 minutes feeling this way. At this point, I was feeling quite panicked, thankfully someone who was able to take over walked by and I was able to go sit down and drink a bunch of water. I was then sent on break, and felt slightly better when I came back. I was well enough to finish my shift and rested all night when I got home.
Friday I felt okay at work, a little off but much better than the day before. That is, until the end of my shift when I developed an excruciating headache. Seriously, one of the worst I've ever had. It felt like there was all this pressure inside my skull. I couldn't even cash my check on the way home from work because I needed to just lie down. I immediately went to sleep upon arriving home, and slept until Dan got home from work, 3 or 4 hours later. I rested all night Friday and all day Saturday, and today at work I felt just fine. After walking home from work, I started feeling shaky again, but went to get a haircut anyway. The car was really hot inside, and my symptoms came back after about 10 minutes of driving. By the time I got home from my haircut, I felt extremely faint and my headache was back. Sheesh.
This is when I did some research, and it seems like I might have heat exhaustion. I don't really know. I've been consuming copious amounts of water since Thursday, which must be helping, but any time I am exposed to the heat I get really weird. This puts a serious damper on our trip to NYC and hiking in New Paltz tomorrow, as it's probably going to be nearly 100 degrees. It's okay, we decided to go to the museum of natural history to stay outta the heat.
So, anyway, that's my long winded story of my disease. Does it sound like heat exhaustion? How long will I need to avoid heat? I'd rather not develop heat stroke and die, but at some point I'd like to resume outdoor activities.

trip trip trip

2009-08-11T20:53:00.005-04:00

If I can survive this week, I get to go on a super fun trip on Monday. First we're going to New York, then we're staying in Poughkeepsie in an awesome jacuzzi suite Monday night, and then we're going to hike around Minnewaska in New Paltz on Tuesday. It will be amazing.

Actually, we win! Ha!

2009-07-22T15:21:00.003-04:00

We went and had the dreaded talk with the landlord today, telling him we couldn't take living in this damn apartment anymore. It turns out, though, that someone else complained about the neighbors that are the biggest problem, and the landlord goes on a "three strikes and you're out" rule. They just sent them a letter about the last complaint two days ago, and are going to call the stupid neighbors today and warn them that if anyone else complains, they are EVICTED. If they're noisy this weekend, we're supposed to call on Monday and let him know. Hopefully they'll just be quiet, although I wouldn't feel very bad if they got evicted because they are jerks. The good news is, it looks like we will be able to stay! The woman downstairs is quiet, and the jerk directly next door have gotten a lot quieter since I got in a fight with him (with the exception of their music being loud late at night twice this week; however, we could drown the sound out enough with fans to sleep) and the landlord said that they favor the quietest neighbor, so if we have any more sound issues we should just call. I'm so happy. I didn't want to move at all because it's so much work, but I especially don't want to move out of this apartment because I LOVE IT.
We're still waiting to hear about this teaching job Dan had two interviews for. It's only been 48 hours or so, but we're both ready to explode. With all the competition that's out there right now (we figure a few hundred applicants for each job), I'm incredibly proud that he's in the finals for this job. It's just like America's Next Top Model! Even if he doesn't get this job, I think he has a really good shot at getting a teaching job this year.
I've had such a good day off today. I got tons of stuff done that I've been putting off: cleaning, tons of laundry, and I finally started painting Dan's dresser. I've also watched tons of TV on the interweb. AND I just found out I get tomorrow off too!

You win, jerks!

2009-07-19T21:25:00.003-04:00

The apartment hunt has resumed. This great apartment that I love and have put more work into in the past three months than I have ever put into any apartment is just too noisy. I give up! You win, Skiddies! Your incessant noise is unbeatable. The neighbors that we don't share a wall with are practicing their electric guitar right now. They are not good at it. They had noisy, everlasting parties Friday and Saturday, and the jerk next door has started with the music again. Clearly, this is not the apartment for us.
We found a nice looking place on Craigslist that promised to be quiet. We are waiting for the landlord to call us back. We are going to talk to our landlord on Wednesday to see if they will let us out of the lease, based on the fact that they told us it was a quiet apartment, and the fact that they have already talked to the neighbors to no avail. Rather than evicting the entire building in order to uphold their end of the lease, why not just let us get the fuck out. Plus, Tabatha might take over the lease, which would really make our lives a lot easier. If anyone knows of a quiet apartment within a few blocks of downtown, please let me know.

In other news, we found a reception site for our wedding! Lakeside Farms in Ballston Lake has a pavilion that we are going to rent out. Also, they cater, killing two birds with one stone. The plan is to have the ceremony in Dan's parents yard, which is about 10 minutes away, and then move to the pavilion for the reception. That way, if it rains, we can just do the ceremony in the pavilion. There is really no way to set up a tent big enough in Dan's parent's yard because there are a lot of trees and gardens, so this is a really nice compromise. I'm excited! Our wedding plans are starting to take shape. Hooray!

Take that, centipedes!

2009-07-14T22:01:00.004-04:00

I'm transferring to ACC this fall because ESC was no good. I'm excited to go to class more, and to pay much less tuition for a seemingly better school. Also, I just found out that I am receiving a pell grant for most of my tuition, and may be receiving a TAP thingy for most of the rest, so basically my tuition is free this year. Being poor has finally paid off! There's still the cost of books, of course, and I'm using a little of my student loan to buy a new computer but I'm glad to be keeping my loans to a minimum. It's so tempting to take accept all of the loans I'm being offered, but I'm not so that I don't have thousands and thousands of dollars in debt when I'm finished with school (a la Dan).

My master plan is to work as much as possible while earning my associates degree so that I can squirrel away as much money as possible (which is not much now with the shotty tips we've been getting lately. This is a problem. What's up, customers?) so that when I transfer to a four-year, I can work as little as possible. Genius!

I'm trying to soak up the summer as much as possible, but it's slipping away. It feels like it's still May because of the weather. I'm not really complaining, I hate super hot weather, but it's hard to convince myself that it's the middle of July already when we haven't even brought a fan into the living room yet. Also, I have all of these projects I want to do this summer that I won't have time for once school is in session, but I can't seem to find the time now. At least I'm cooking a lot, which is fun. I'm trying all these new recipes with excellent results. Last night it was spinach, corn, and sun dried tomato enchiladas. Yum! Dan is a lucky fellow.

We now have centipedes. Eeeshk! I decided that they are only slightly less scary than mice. I mean, LOOK AT THIS:

These things come straight from hell. And if they're supposed to do "more good that harm" because they eat other bugs, then why do I have these big flies in my apartment, huh? Fuck you, centipedes!

Womanizer

2009-07-10T17:17:00.003-04:00

Dan and I were in Target earlier today, and I left him to scavenge for food. I found a lunchable, and as I was walking towards him, a woman walked in front of him and said "Excuse me." Dan replied "Sure." This is when Dan noticed me, and I proudly held up my lunchable, to which Dan exclaimed "Niiiiiice!" The woman, however, having seen him browsing on his own, seemed to think that he was commenting on her assets. She turned and threw him the dirtiest look, but then saw me and my lunchable and, after realizing what had actually happened, hightailed it out of there. This situation prompted a quick fantasy involving Dan actually commenting on a woman in Target, and it was pretty funny.
We also witnessed a ridiculious hit and run at target. She smashed into this car right in front of us, causing a considerable amount of damage, looked at us, and then drove away. So we went ahead and put her licence plate number on the damaged car for her. Have a nice day, criminal!

WHAT I DID ON SUMMER VACATION PART 2

2009-07-05T22:04:00.002-04:00

We left D.C. on Friday afternoon for Western NY. The drive was quite eventful. There were a million signs saying things such as "Watch out for DUI drivers" and "High DUI area" which made us feel safe and secure. Then there was the witty "Buckle Up Next Million Miles" sign. We were driving mostly along windy, narrow roads, and at one point two deer almost ran out in front of our car. The drive took much longer than the 7 hours estimated by map quest, most likely because it took about 2 hours to get out of the D.C. area, despite the fact that we were parked 30 minutes north of the city to begin with.

Saturday we headed to Niagara Falls, which I had never been to before. It was incredible. We don't really have waterfalls in Iowa; the first time I saw one was Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, which is this tiny little thing:

so I was very impressed with the enormity of Niagara Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist, which was really cool, if not a little scary. I mean, you get right up on that bitch. At that distance, the amount of water pouring over the edge was incomprehensible to my little brain. Also, I was worried the boat would capsize and we would all die in the churning water. At the top of the falls, you are able to go right up to the edge and watch the water go over, which was cool.
On Sunday we toured Geneso with a group of Dan's friends from college and saw Kirk Cameron at the Charcoal Corral. We didn't approach him, because he was with his kids and junk, but it was pretty random and funny. We went to see The Hangover, which Dan and I both hated, but as far as I can tell we're the only ones in the entire world who feel that way.

Um, I think thats it. It was a crazy, jam-packed trip, but it was a lot of fun. THE END.

WHAT I DID ON SUMMER VACATION

2009-06-30T20:49:00.004-04:00

What a trip. In all the driving we did, we could have gone to Iowa and then some. It was a lot of fun, though, and definitely worth the trip.

We left directly after I got off work for Alexandria, VA, where Dan has a college friend that we were crashing with. We encountered torrential downpours and hit the NYC area right around 5pm--awesome. $30-40 in tolls took us on the NJ turnpike, through Delaware, Maryland, and eventually into Virginia. We saw an amazing sunset in Delaware. There was a lot of construction, and therefore traffic, in Maryland. We arrived around 11:30 at night and had our car cased by a scary thug while we were unloading it. He asked if we had a cigarette while peering into our car, presumably to see if we had any valuables worth breaking the windows for. Thankfully, we do not.

Thursday Dan had a rally to attend, and I decided to head off to Georgetown. I never go on adventures on my own anymore, so it was exciting to be in a new city and figure it out without anyone else to help me. Washington is extremely easy to navigate, especially the metro system, so it wasn't challenging. Georgetown was pretty stupid, mostly filled with high-end shops. I walked along the canal, which was green and smelly, and then found cover from the nearly 100 degree heat in a mall. I explored more, and eventually ended up in a Barnes & Noble cafe. I spent an hour or two reading there, and then went back to meet Dan. After a fiasco where we couldn't find each other in the train station, due to it's size and the fact that Dan's phone didn't have reception, we headed to Annapolis to meet a friend for dinner.

I had a soft shell crab sandwich for dinner. Now, when I ordered it, I was thinking "Oh, yummy. I like crab." When this came to the table:

I was somewhat surprised. This is not an actual picture of my soft shell crab sandwich, but you get the idea. It was delicious, definitely the freshest seafood I've eaten. YUM!

Friday was spent seeing the sights in Washington. We didn't have very much time there because we had to drive up to Western NY that night and didn't want to be in the car too late, but we saw a lot: The White House, the Museum of Natural History, the Washington Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial. You could spend a week there and not see everything, especially with all of the museums. Which, by the way, are all free. I didn't like D.C. that much, but I would like to explore more of the museums.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Best. Week. Ever.

2009-06-22T20:40:00.003-04:00

This has got to be the most exciting week of my life. Today I rode a HORSE. I have never ridden a horse before, or any animal for that matter. Furthermore, I am afraid of horses. I don't really want to talk about it, but...they have human teeth. However, I conquered my fears and am no longer afraid of horses, and will most likely ride more in the future. It was very zen, and my horse was like a robot who followed the horse in front of it, making it unnecessary for me to do much more than hold on. Which I did tightly. We trotted a few times, which was fun/terrifying. I was bouncing everywhere. Oh, and here's a picture of me from today:

But seriously, Simone took some pictures and they will be on facebook at some point.

As if that wasn't enough, Dan and I are getting ready for our road trip to Washington D.C. and then to Western NY. Eeee! We are leaving right after work on Wednesday, and Thursday Dan will be partaking in a protest for health care so I'll have the day to myself to explore the city. I rarely go on solo adventures these days, so this will be fun. Friday we are going to tour D.C. together; I think we're going to check out the White House and then the National Mall. We're driving up to Western NY Friday afternoon, and going to Niagara Falls on Saturday, where we will ride on the Maid of the Mist. Then Sunday will be a tour of Geneseo. We're seeing many friends (mostly college friends of Dan's) and will have many adventures.

No such thing as a great apartment

2009-06-19T11:58:00.002-04:00

Perhaps it's just my luck, but for me the word "apartment" is synonymous with "mice" and "noisy neighbors". Someday I will live in a house with a great big yard, far away from any other humans, with pest control on speed dial.

Our last apartment was not great, it was tiny and stupid and full* of mice in the winter. It was, however, quiet. Each night, when it was time for me to go beddy-bye in preparation for work, which begins for me each day at 5:30 or 6a.m., there was no thudding bass, no 20 year olds screaming and laughing. All sounds were easily drowned out by a fan on low.

Our current apartment, by all appearances, is great. It's big, especially the kitchen, it's got a balcony out back, tons of sunlight, it's downtown, and it's wicked cheap. What I didn't know when I signed the lease was that it came with a neighbor with a penchant for parties and a love of the unnecessarily loud bass. In fact, when asked about the noise level in the apartment, the realtor insisted that the people were professional adults and therefore quiet.

Dan has talked to them twice at night about turning the music down, and I went over there yesterday when my lovely nap was cut short by that damn bass. Two fans on high couldn't drown out the thumping, but when I asked him to turn it down he stared at me blankly and said "It's not that loud." What might have been a quick and cordial conversation turned into an argument, and we are now enemies. I. Hate. Him. Perhaps he will now wrap his tiny brain around the idea what we can hear his bass, and we don't like it; if not, maybe the landlord will be more convincing. If not, I could get a pet bear and send him over to discuss the music.

*this is a slight exaggeration

This summer...

2009-06-15T14:36:00.004-04:00

...I'm going to ride a horse and go to a NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK concert (tomorrow!!!1!!1) and go to the great escape and go to Washington D.C. and Niagara Falls and go roller skating!

Best. Summer. Ever.

Midwest trip

2009-05-25T22:30:00.003-04:00

My trip to the Midwest went well. It was jam-packed with events because I wasn't there for long at all. Exhausting as it was, I had a really good time. I usually feel kind of anxious when I'm there, antsy to get back home (oh how I love being home) until the very last day, at which point I get sad. This time I was just soaking up family time and doing as much as I could. I really liked being there.
Dan and I went to school lunch with my nephew, Dayde, who is in second grade. The kids at the table seemed suspicious of us. We then played basketball with Dayde at recess, a sport which he is surprisingly good at, despite the fact that he's only 7. He was all "I can stand with my back to the basket and get the ball in." and I was all "No you can't." But then he did, and I was all "Say whaaaaaaat?" Other than that, I got to spend a lot of time with all my nephews, which was fun because they are cute and funny.
I went to David's Bridal in Rochester, MN with my mom and sister (which I think that every girl from the Iowa/Minnesota does when she gets engaged) even though I didn't really want to (the wedding isn't for over a year and I didn't really think I would find a wedding dress). I ended up finding a dress that I fell in love with, it turned me into a total girl. I tried on three or four others, but that was the dress. People always say "When you find your wedding dress, you'll know," but I thought that was just silly. I thought that that only hap pend in Sophia Kinsella novels. Boy was I wrong. I bought it and had them ship it to me, I will be getting it any time now. That's a giant stress out of the way!
I took Dan on the unofficial tour of what I like to do when I visit Mason City (which he's been on at least once before because we lived there for three weeks before moving to Minneapolis). We went to Southbridge Mall, the Music Man Square, the MacNider art museam, and the Meridith Wilson foot bridge. Also we spent a lot of time at Taco Tico and Culvers. And bought Iowa t-shirts at Walgreens. Three for $10!

On Sunday afternoon we took a bus up to Minneapolis. It was weird to be back. We had a really nice night. Dinner at Azia, where I inexplicably got drunk off of one glass of wine and a few sips of beer. We spent the night wandering around uptown, and eventually went back to our hotel armed with lunchables. We spent half the day Monday downtown, hitting all of the regular spots we could. After breakfast at Dunn Bros, we snooped around the outside of our old building. We took the old familiar walk down Nicollett to Barnes & Noble, and many people I used to work with were there that day.
We eventually took a bus back uptown, and had the inevitable encounter with a crazy person. I let Dan have the conversation with the enthusiastic guy in the orange jumpsuit. It was a beautiful day, so we grabbed lunch and then headed over to Lake Calhoun. We were staying with some friends that night, and we got there just in time for the Cornhole toss competition. Many glasses of sangria later, I found myself playing twister in Jodi's driveway, and later petting a marsupial. Needless to say, it was a fun night.

We flew out the next day, and Dan promptly got extremely sick. He is now feeling much better, and I am sick. I hope that this bug living in my stomach goes away soon, because toast, saltine crackers, and ginger ale make for a boring diet.

Simmons

2009-03-12T22:27:00.004-04:00

My friend Bob's blog just reminded me of this little story that I haven't shared with everyone in the world yet, and while I shared it as a comment on his blog, I feel that I should make sure everyone hears it.

I worked at the downtown Barnes & Noble while living in Minneapolis (whoa, google image brought me some nostalgia), and one day I was minding my own business, avoiding work, when a co-worker informed me that Gene Simmons was downstairs in the music department. This caused me much excitement, because this is what was going on in my head:

So I head downstairs, trying to act casual, hoping that it's not too much to ask that he be wearing short-shorts and sneakers. But after a quick scan of the area, I don't see a crazy red 'fro anywhere and worry that I missed him. Suddenly, my gaze lands on this:

At which point my heart sinks and I realize the horrible mistake I've made. Richard Simmons is not Gene Simmons. Upon further consideration, I'm not sure what to make of the fact that I'd much rather meet Richard Simmons than Gene Simmons. I can say without a doubt, however, that Gene Simmons is pretty scary, especially his hair.

You can't make me

2009-03-03T23:00:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to plow through my ethics reading. It's only 28 pages, but I just can't stand this author. He's a jerk. And he's a misogynist!!! He compared all women's ability to do manual labor with the abilities of the elderly and handicapped. My only consolation is that he is dead. DEAD! So, anyway, I gave up with about 7 pages to go. I'll finish it tomorrow. Whatevs.

Tomorrow I might be looking at an apartment. Apparently some dude was supposed to take it, and he has the lease that he is filling out, but he now won't return their phone calls. Or something. So it could go either way. The people we rent from are pretty sketchy. I'm just hoping they like us (I don't see why they wouldn't, we pay the rent on time and aren't annoying) so that we get dibs on awesome apartments. I measured our current apartment to see how small it really is, and to have something to compare square footage to, and I almost died when I found out that this place is under 400 square feet. I don't know how I've lived here with another human for the past year.

My birthday is in a month. I guess I'm going to be 24. I'm not really sure how that happened. I can't exactly remember when I stopped being 19.

So long, sucker

2009-02-10T20:54:00.002-05:00

So, that horrible professor I've been bitching about? She's gone. Hopefully she died, but I assume she just got fired. A new, seemingly personable, and more importantly, intelligent professor took over today. I'm so happy I did a victory dance around the living room. Is it my birthday already?

I'll take your man...

2009-02-08T23:56:00.006-05:00

Aaahhh! I can't get this Salt-n-Pepa song out of my head! It's bouncing around in there more than M.I.A.'s paper planes did. Oh, no! Now Paper Planes is back!!

I accidentally took a two hour nap after work, and then drank some coffee at 9pm to aid in my getting ahead of my work for next week, but now I'm done with work and just wired. I'm stoked though; I got far enough ahead that I don't have to do any work tomorrow. None. This will be the first day in two weeks that I haven't done school work. I can do real person stuff, like wash every dish I own, since that's my chore and I haven't done them in days. Or pick up that ever growing pile of clothes next to my bed. Or make a grocery list and buy groceries! I just keep eating oranges all day becasue that's the only food around here. Can you OD on vitamin C?

I decided to not take a class this summer. I'm just going to work and save money and hang out with people all the time. And plan my wedding! I think I'm visiting good ol' Iowa in May, once the semester is over, but I haven't actually looked into it at all. I miss my family, especially my sister and nephews. Here's some proof they're related to me-these are my two older nephews:

Rambly Rant

2009-01-29T23:34:00.005-05:00

School has officially started, putting a srs damper on my social life/sitting on the couch time. Four days a week, I go to work wicked early, then study as soon as I get home, stopping only to eat dinner and then eventually go to sleep. On day five, I wake up, start doing work, and continue until 6pm or so. Last week I was able to finish all my work by Thursday night so that Friday I could sit on the couch and Saturday I could play with Dan, which was wonderful.
One of my professors is insisting I submit my weekly essays to this online tutoring service (insulting!) before submitting them to her, so now I have to wait for them to make comments about my paper and send it back to me, and then "fix" the damn thing before I can even turn it in, which means tomorrow I won't be able to just sit on the couch watching Blossom all day.
I checked this professor I've been bitching about to everyone who will listen (and maybe some who are tuning me out) on Rate My Professor and she got terrible reviews. Everyone had basically the same complaints as I do. One of my main issues with her is that she has no concept of grammar or punctuation. Her most commonly used punctuation is the ellipsis. Which, beyond making me think she's a total idiot, creates much confusion in her directions and answers to my questions. Also, she keeps sending snarky emails with conflicting demands. Plus, she may or may not be a baptist priest (minster?). I got inconclusive evidence from google. Thankfully, she seemed to grade my first paper fairly. I got an 85! All of her criticisms were fair. I guess I should back up my bold statements with fact. She as all "PROVE IT." And I was all "WHAER."
The good news is that I am going to sleep soon and I'm not waking up until I'm good an ready tomorrow.

I'm so excited

2009-01-08T15:41:00.003-05:00

I'm a real girl now! I just finished registering for classes and paying my bill for college. For some reason, the tuition was slightly higher (I'm guessing there were some sneaky fees) and my financial aid was slightly lower then expected, but I have been saving tons* of money, so I'm all set. Classes start on January 20, which is soon. I'm taking 12 credits, which I think is do-able, especially since I'll be only working 4 days a week instead of 5. Two of my classes are online, which makes my life much easier.
I'm taking a college writing class, intro to ethics, and intro to psychology. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life yet, psychology or a related social service job is a possibility. I also am interested in Spanish, specifically translating of some sort. My brother does that (but with German) and seems to like it a lot. But I decided to give a psychology class a try to see what I think of it.
I can't wait to start!

Oh, also, my life reminds me of that episode of Saved by the Bell where Jessie is addicted to caffeine pills. For the record, I'm Zach:

*This is a gross exaggeration

Wow, our bodies are GROSS.

2009-01-03T19:01:00.003-05:00

Dan and I went to NYC yesterday. When had to drive to Croton-Harmon to catch a commuter train instead of Poughkeepsie because a train had derailed earlier that morning, which was kind of a pain in the ass. It made the trip longer than normal. But we saved some money on the ticket. So look at that, my glass is half full.
We headed to South Street Seaport to see the Bodies exhibit. In case you haven't heard of it (and are too lazy to click on the link) it's an exhibit of actual human bodies and body parts that have been plasticised through a process much too complicated for my little brain to comprehend. It's intent is to show people what our bodies look like inside and how they work. There are quite a few full bodies stripped down to various degrees to show muscles and nerves and stuff. The part that surprised me was that these bodies weren't in a case of any sort, or even roped off. They were just...standing there. You could get right up to them. I mean, you weren't allowed to touch them, but you could have if you wanted to.
I saw so many amazing things. Some of the bodies were cut in half or into slices and then lined up, so you could see cross sections of our insides. There was a body next to it's skeleton. And on and on. I'm really glad I went. It's surprising how little we know about our bodies. There was a touch station with a brain, which I picked up and got creeped out by. I got queasy by the end of it, I think the tumor with hair and teeth growing on it was what did it. I definitely felt my lunch churning in my stomach, and couldn't eat for hours afterwards. But it was worth it. If you get the chance to see it, you should.
We then walked from the Seaport to Union Square (which doesn't beat the time we walked from Grand Central Station all the way to and across the Brooklyn Bridge) because we always try to walk a crazy amount when we go there. Just for the purpose of walking a crazy amount. We calculated (because it's all part of our craziness) and we walked between 6 and 8 miles yesterday. The weather was good for walking, it wasn't windy or snowing or anything. We went to the Strand, and it was crazier in there then I've ever seen it. I've been there on weekends and weekdays, I guess we just have lucked out in the past. I quickly got overwhelmed. I did find a Joyce Carol Oates book that I don't have and a T.C. Boyle book that has caught my eye in the past. I've never read anything by him, but Dan said he read a short story that he liked.
On the way home we stopped in New Paltz to go to Taco Shack, which is Dan's favorite restaurant in the entire world. The name sums it up, it's totally sketchy. But totally delicious.

Boring!

2008-12-29T22:38:00.004-05:00

My day off was not as totally awesome as I anticipated, due to poor planning. I sat around all day reading trashy magazines and watching tv on teh interweb (at one point my internet tv browsing led me to watch "Britney Spears: For the record." I have no explanation for that.) but by 5pm I stated getting pretty antsy. My antsyness increased throughout the night, but I didn't have any ideas about what to do with myself. It sucked. I should have left the apartment for a chunk of time during the day. Then my day would have been totally awesome.
Dan is still not home, and almost didn't come home at all tonight. His parents were thinking of staying or something. I was like, um, hello, who's going to rub my back then? Sheesh. He went to visit family in NJ and spent the day in New York. I want to go to New York on Friday, but I'm not sure if he'll want to go since he just spent today there. We'll see. If I don't go to NY, I'm going to Crossgates with Tara and Tabatha to be GIRLS. Oh, and, for the record, he is coming home pretty soon, so my back will get rubbed. Don't worry.
I've eaten so many christmas (and hanukkah) cookies and candies since christmas. I've got to get back into cooking dinner every night. I think I'm going to make salmon, because it's so friggin' good for you. Having grown up in Iowa, I'm not really a fan of seafood. I mean, tuna, yes, I love tuna, I eat it straight out of the can sometimes. Pollock, (which, I should note, my family called polack as a joke my entire life, never letting me in on it. Very funny, Mom and Dad. I found out at the age of 19, when I mentioned to some guy (who afterwards claimed to be Polish) that I like polack, which made me look stupid. But later that night he showed me his dick, even though I said "No thank you!", which made HIM look stupid. Even!) it turns out, is the most hated on fish in the world, but I like it. But salmon has always been too...fishy for me. But I might try to push past that for the health benefits.
Whoa, I just got bored of myself.

This is Hanukkah

2008-12-28T10:59:00.003-05:00

We had a Hanukkah party last night. To clarify, Dan was the only Jew there, but it was still fun. I made Matzo Ball soup and Latkes, we had Manischewitz, we even have a menorah and a dreidle!

It was mostly friends from way back, when I first moved here, which was exciting. I had too much to drink, of course, and got belligerent. Also, I cleaned up the apartment in record time this morning. It went from trashed to normal in 15 minutes. That's like some sort of super power.

Dan is out of town until tomorrow night. The apartment to myself for almost 48 hours? Score!

Hooray!

2008-12-22T19:41:00.003-05:00

Finally I got the internet! It's been so long. I had to learn to live without it! No weatherchannel.com. No Facebook. No email. No idea how much money I had in my bank account. No google. I was like a caveman!
I couldn't figure out how to make the internet wireless. I typed in my ip address as instructed, but then was prompted for a user name and password, and I had no idea what it was. I had to call tech support. The user name was "admin" and the password was "password" and the tech support lady told me this as if I should just know that. We connected via this "Screen share" program which had her operating my computer from, well, who knows. I assumed India due to her accent but she could have been anywhere. She was all scrolling my mouse around and setting up my internets for me. It was surreal. She was explaining stuff to me and moving the mouse around to demonstrate. It was like having a ghost friend there!

I'm all ready for Christmas! I got the last things today. I just need to wrap some stuff up and that's it. Thank god. I had a lot of people to buy for this year.
I like all the snow we just got. It makes the really cold and dark weather more bearable for me. I would probably feel differently if I had to drive more.
I just checked the weather channel website and found out that it's currently 0 degrees in Minneapolis and it feels like -18 degrees. That sounds about right. I am so glad I'm not there right now.

Internets

2008-12-12T14:30:00.003-05:00

I'm at the library because my internet stealing days are over. What was once a glorious unsecured network available all the time now requires a password. Sheesh. So I had to come here to buy the interntes for my apartment. Gross.
It's okay, I would have had to pay soon because I'm going to start school in January and I'm doing classes online. I wouldn't have been able to rely on stolen internet for that.
I got my financial aid info the other day and it turns out they're covering my entire tuition plus a few hundred extra bucks! I'm so relieved. I've been saving money, but I don't have nearly enough to pay for that. I can't wait to start. I'm going to be crazy busy with school and work, but I think it'll be good for me to be working towards something instead of just idling. I'm getting too old.
THE END.

fuck yes

2008-11-22T17:00:00.001-05:00

Mommy's Time Out + Rice Krispies Treats cereal = Good Times

Smushy Heart

2008-11-21T00:06:00.003-05:00

I've been really exhausted lately (I'm diagnosing it as stress, hopefully it's not actually a terminal illness) but I'm surprisingly awake right now. I haven't seen this side of midnight for a few weeks. I took a nap after work to prepare for girls night/local bridesmaid committee meeting and then had a little bit of coffee. The fun ended sooner then I thought it would, leaving me alone and squirrely in my apartment.
Tonight was really fun, it left me with warm fuzzies. Well, okay, part of the warm feeling was the tequila, but I hung out with my two bffs in Saratoga from different social circles tonight and they got along beautifully. I'm still kind of a "smushy heart" from getting engaged so this made more happy then it usually would. I made margaritas, but we had to drink them out of wine glasses because I don't have margarita glasses. Tabatha immediately dropped her glass, breaking it all over my infamous rug. I punished her by making her drink out of a plastic cup.

Tomorrow I'm going to track down some Mommy's Time Out. I had a glass of it at Virgil's last night and I can't get over how much I liked it. I'm not even ashamed.

This wedding planning thing is stressful. We both want a simple wedding, so I thought it would be easy to plan. Wrong. There are so many details to work out. I'm glad we have so much time, I would hate to have to figure all this shit out in a hurry. It's too soon to do fun stuff like register or buy a dress. I've been spending a lot of time browsing around Lilywedding. I'm such a girl.

I Love to Singa

2008-11-15T21:50:00.001-05:00

This is hysterical. Watch the whole thing. It's worth it.

So, the trip went well...

2008-11-09T21:22:00.004-05:00

Oh shit, I'm seriously a grownup...I'm engaged! I'm uncharacteristically, wholeheartedly excited. Who knew I would be so girly underneath all those layers of sarcasm and cynicism? I already bought a wedding planning book and started my guest list. Shit, there goes all my street cred.

My parents were less enthusiastic then I thought they would be. They seemed happy and supportive, but nobody screamed. I think this is due to the following circumstances:
1) I am the youngest in my family, and my brother and sister have collectively been married three times. This is nothing new.
2) Seeing as how I'm their youngest child, their baby, my being old enough to get married probably makes them feel old
3) I mentioned to my mom about a month ago that Dan and I were discussing marriage, so this doesn't come as a total surprise.
4) I think my mom wants me to get married in Iowa, but that's obviously not going to happen and she knows it.
My sister and brother are really excited, and Dan's family was really excited too. Eeshk! I'm like a real person.

Vermont was really nice. The B&B was amazing. Everyone was skeptical, but it was great. The room was cute, we had a little sitting area with a view of the mountains and Lake Champlain. The breakfast was amazing. We'll probably stay there again someday. The entire trip was wonderful. I would love to live in Burlington, it's a great city, but it's really expensive.

The war on mice is still going on. The death toll is now up to 5. I put a scoreboard up on the fridge: Us-5 Mice-0. The death toll is expected to rise due to all the poison that's being eaten. They may get revenge by dying inside our walls, though. We'll see.

Oh, and! My blog just got a whole lot swankier.

Kiss me, I voted

2008-11-05T15:05:00.004-05:00

Obligatory post-election day paragraph:
I have mixed feelings about the election. I'm relieved, for sure. If McCain won, it would have been a disaster. I was pretty sure Obama would win, but then again, I was certain Bush couldn't possibly be re-elected, which taught me a lesson about over estimating my fellow Americans.
That being said, I'm not excited about Obama. I mean, we'll see what happens. I was really excited Dennis Kucinich for the 3o seconds he was running. I also knew he wouldn't be president, but a girl can dream.

In other news, we have mice again. It's like we're cursed. Long story short, we've caught 3 mice in traps inside our stove (ew) and we discovered a mouse living under the fridge. We left it (them, probably) a little poison treat after they refused to go into traps, and they are eating it up. Stupid mice. We've had 2 mice die from eating poison in the middle of living rooms, so I'm expecting the corpses to turn up any time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't die in the walls or whatevs, which is what you always hear in conjunction with using poison.

This weekend Dan and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary at a B&B in Vermont. Our actual anniversary was October 27, but we had to wait for foliage season to be over so we could afford it. It's going to be really nice. I'm even going to get all gussied up for dinner, if you can believe that. I can't wait to go!

Doggy

2008-10-15T16:53:00.006-04:00

My poor little dog, Chewy, got put to sleep a few weeks ago. I mean, he was 14 and all elderly and stuff, so it wasn't a surprise. He couldn't hear or jump up onto the couch or do pretty much anything anymore. Bor-ing. Last Christmas I took this picture knowing it was probably going to be the last picture ever taken with Chewy:

I found out when I called my sister 4 days after it happened. She broke the news to me gently by saying, "Did you know Chewy's dead?" Thanks, Michelle!

All joking aside, I'm going to miss that dog. This is one of the reasons why I never want a dog. It's too sad when they die.

I don't want to grow up, I just want to watch TV

2008-09-14T20:25:00.007-04:00

The reason I haven't blogged in weeks: Surf The Channel

Jones clued me in, and because I haven't had cable in at least four years, I can't stop watching TV. I think I have a problem.

I did manage to do something active in the three dimensional world on Thursday. We went back down to New Paltz to hike at Minnewaska State Park. It's beautiful there. It was a good hike, a lot of overlooks and things. A lot of uphill, I was sore the next day. The weather was perfect, sunny but a little chilly. The leaves are just starting to change. Fall is my favorite time of year. I think a lot of people say that, though.

I was thrilled on Friday when it was dreary and cold. I bought a pumpkin spice candle and hot chocolate to round out my fall experience. It was just a teaser, though, today was gross.

I'm having a bit of an existential crisis. I'm gearing up for moving into the next stage of my life (going to college) but once I start, the just-hanging-out phase of my life will be over. It's bound to snowball: college, then marriage, then babies! I mean, don't get me wrong, these are all things I want, and things I want before the age of 30, but I wish my mid-twenties weren't coming so fast. A quick scan of my facebook friends from high school shows that I am, in fact, old enough to be married and have kids. When did I become a grown-up? Gross.

Could be worse. I could be turning 28 in December like someone I know.

Is it Thursday yet?

2008-09-02T18:40:00.004-04:00

Thursday is Girls Night Out and I can't wait. Work was rough last week, and this week is shaping up to be the same as everyone is getting worn out. Knowing I am going to get ridiculously inebriated with my equally worn-out friends is the only thing getting me through.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but we got a bed. A real big-kid bed with a frame and everything. After 3 months of sleeping on an air mattress, this is very exciting. And it's brand new. Unfortunately, new bed + reserving a b&b for our anniversary = Lindsay is pretty broke. BUT! I worked overtime last week, so soon I'll be rich again.

Yesterday we went to Thatcher State Park in Voorheesville (near Albany). It was really nice. You're up on a mountain or something and there's a cliff overlook where you look down into a valley. Then there's a trail called "Indian's Ladder" where you climb down 3 million stairs and then can walk behind a waterfall. It was really cool, although the waterfall is weak this time of year, a mere trickle. Apparently if you go in the spring it's much better. Due to a lack of communication (i.e. Dan only pretending to listen to me before answering my question) I was under the impressing the trail was easy and therefore didn't bring any real shoes, which was not true. So we couldn't go very far on the trail but I imagine if you walk the whole thing it's really nice.

Homemade Baby, $60 OBO

2008-08-25T17:11:00.005-04:00

Dan is finally going to the doctor for his pinkeye (which he has had for over a week now) and apparently it only costs $60 for the appointment. I remarked "$60? That's all? I thought you had to give up your firstborn child to go to the doctor. I guess our first baby will be worth $60." and Dan replied "If that." lolzzz. Then we discussed going into the baby selling business. If we have it in the bathroom there's no production costs! Fucking genius.
I just took a long nap, which I needed. I really wasn't functioning today at work. I think Sunday was the busiest day I've ever seen. During my nap, I dreamt I had to run to the basement to find strawberry jelly for an order, and it took me forever to get down there and then I couldn't find any anywhere. I really hate dreaming about work. Before I moved, I used to dream about work almost every night. Very vivid, almost lucid dreams where I was helping the line but I was aware that I was supposed to be sleeping. It was pretty much like I was working all night. Except I didn't make any tips.
Tomorrow is my day off, we're going to go our original road trip of Bennington and Manchester. This is perhaps the first road trip we ever took together back in the day (with the exception of NYC) and it remains my favorite. We've done it twice now, and both times it was really nice.
On Wednesday, Trampatha and I are going on a "Sober Adventure" after work, meaning we've never really hung out sober. We're always at a bar/drunk sitting on a sidewalk somewhere. But we're both working 6 days this week and still want to have girls night, so I guess that means we have to do it sober. We discussed starting a secret affair today, where we tell our BF's we're "running errands" or "grocery shopping" but actually having girls night.
OK, I'm officially hungry and need to figure out where to go on a date tonight.

I'm having a rough week.

2008-08-22T18:36:00.003-04:00

I have hurt myself more this week then I have in the past several months combined.

First, I cut myself at work while making bagel sandwiches. It happens sometimes (more often to me now than before I moved away for some reason) and usually you can just throw a band-aid on it and keep going. But this time I was bleeding. A lot. I mean, it wasn't stitch-worthy, but it's definitely one of my more severe cuts. Probably the second worst since I've been there. It was okay once I got a few band-aids on it.

Next, I was making soup from a new recipe the other night. Sweet potato soup. Yummy. The recipe called for one fresh jalapeno, de-seeded. No problem, I thought. I cut it open and scraped the seeds out with my thumb. I then washed my hands a few times in a row to make sure I got all the jalapeno juice off of them. Awhile later, my soup is simmering on the stove and I'm trolling around the interweb, and I touch my face. It feels kind of burny. I wondered if it was from the jalapenos, but thought I was being silly.

Fast-forward a few hours, dinner is eaten (delicious, by the way) and we're getting ready to go to Target. I had taken my contacts out after work, and went to the bathroom to put them back in. That's when I learned the life lesson that you're supposed to wear gloves when you de-seed jalapenos. Apparently the oils get into your skin and soap and water do nothing to get them off. It takes days. And jalapeno in your eye doesn't feel good. I've had to wear gloves to put my contacts in for the past few days. It's a pain in the ass.

As if those two things weren't enough, yesterday I was bageling again and a stupid bagel got stuck in the back of the stupid toaster so I reached in to pull it out (as I often do) but this time I wasn't careful enough and I touched the inside of the toaster with my arm. I was in denial about how bad the burn was at first, but it's pretty gross. Thankfully it doesn't really hurt anymore (unless I bump it on something) but it's just nasty to look at. And I'm pretty sure it's going to leave a scar.

Thankfully I have today off, Travers Saturday. I'm a bit hungover and trying my hardest to hide inside all day. Next week I agreed to work 6 days which won't be too bad, I don't think. I have Tuesday off and then the following Monday off, so I'm only actually working 5 days in a row without a break. Plus I'll get over 8 hours of overtime, and an extra day of tips. We just bought a bed so the extra money will be good.

For our road trip on Tuesday, we're going to Manchester to shop for clothes, which is one of the few girly things I actually like doing. Fall is my favorite season, I love sweaters and stuff, so I'm really excited to go.

Okay, time to find something to read.

What the fuck is that mountain doing there?

2008-08-18T19:29:00.007-04:00

We had road trip Tuesday: Monday edition today. We went up to Ausable Chasm in the Adirondacks, and then to Lake Placid. I've never been that far north in New York before, it's like 30 miles from Canada or something. It was beautiful up there, the mountains were very impressive. I think they're bigger than the Green Mountains in Vermont, (update: they are) but I don't know for sure. While I've never been out west, I'm aware that the Rocky Mountains are far more impressive, but having grown up in Iowa, the mountains out here never fail to amaze me. I didn't appreciate the landscape the first time I lived here, and I really missed it while we were in Minneapolis. This time around we're taking full advantage of how nice this area of the country is.

We were thinking about going to Howe Caverns, but decided they were too lame. Actually, we still might go someday. I've never been in a cave before. But Dan's dad suggested Ausable Chasm and I'm glad he did. While it was kind of crowded (there's one main trail that splits off into two halfway through) and there were tons of kids there (Me: "I fucking hate children." Dan: "This oughtta be a fun day.") it was really very cool. They call it the "Grand Canyon Of the East" and I guess that's fair to say. The best view on the hike:
After the hike we drove to Lake Placid because it wasn't that far away, although we took the wrong highway so it took much longer to get there (my bad). It was okay, a little kitschy for my taste, and in my opinion they need to let the whole "The Olympics were here in 1980" thing go. They've been riding that fame wave long enough. We did find a great deli for lunch and then had some ice cream next to Mirror Lake. Then I got crabby, which is how we know the road trip needs to end. It happens every time.
On the way home, we found this frightening taxidermy place ("shop?") with some real, stuffed black bears, a moose, and the pièce de résistance, a lion eating a giraffe. Where the fuck they got a lion and a giraffe is beyond me. Ebay? I couldn't resist having my picture taken with a black bear (as I'm a bit obsessed with bears in general) but I had to get out of there stat because the whole thing was super creepy. I put the picture up on facebook for anyone who is interested.

The only thing missing from our day was a giant crocodile:

No Pictures

2008-08-16T18:06:00.004-04:00

About a month ago a woman from some Saratoga magazine (Saratoga Today?) was taking photos of UG. I'm not sure of what exactly, a bagel probably, the outside of the building, etc. But then she started taking pictures of us, without permission. We didn't like it (I mean, come on. We're working-we're all sweaty and disheveled. Who wants that out in the world?), and asked her to stop. I believe her exact response was "There's nothing you can do about it."
I'm not sure about privacy laws-I know you can take someones picture on the street, but I feel like in a privately owned business you should not be able to to take photos-especially of employees-without their permission. Especially for use in a magazine. I also think that it's basic courtesy to ask permission before taking pictures of strangers.
So anyway, the woman proceeded to take a few more pictures of us, even after we asked her to stop, but we were glaring at her and she quickly skedaddled. But it happened again today!
Some random guy (a tourist probably-he was with his family, screaming baby and all) was standing at the end of the bar snapping pictures of us while we worked. Corey told him he had to stop, but he didn't. Until we all started making a scene. Charlie declared that we should call the guy "Pervert" and started yelling "Hey, pervert, stop taking our picture!" Meanwhile, the guy was waiting for his food. He appeared to be really uncomfortable, so I made sure to give him furious eyes as much as I could while still bageling quickly.
The thing is, what would he possibly do with pictures of us working? Like, frame them and hang them on his living room wall? I doubt it. Probably he was just some middle-aged schmuck trying to be artsy. Fucking asshole.
Someone threw the idea out there that we should go take pictures of him eating lunch. Nobody wanted to risk their job, although it would almost have been worth it.
Is racing season over yet?

What am I, a grown-up or something?

2008-08-15T12:01:00.002-04:00

My 2 year anniversary is coming up in October, and we booked a room at a B&B in Vermont for it. That seems incredibly adult to me for some reason. I struggle with the fact that I'm a "grown-up" sometimes. I have this theory that once you cross the threshold into grown-updom there's no going back, so I'm resiting with all my might. That's not to say I'm not actually a grown up (I work and pay bills and grocery shop and all that other adulty stuff) I'm just in denial.
I'm excited about going to the B&B. It's going to be really nice. We have to go 2 weeks after our actual anniversary because during foliage season you have to book rooms for two nights and be really rich and stuff. Which is stupid. But whatever.

Last night was Girls Night Out. I got really drunk off two drinks before 10pm somehow and remained ridiculously intoxicated until I went to bed at 1am or something. I wasn't planning on getting that wasted, though. Tabatha announced that the three of us (Jones, Tab, and Me) make a good trio (although she was drunk so I think she actually said "threeo"): Jones is the Chic one, Tabatha is the slut, and I'm the badass. That's pretty true. At one point I told some middle aged guy who was hitting on Tabatha (SLUT!) that she was my girlfriend, and anyway he was way too old to be hitting on her (BADASS!). What is it with these middle aged men tourists that make them thing 20-something girls want to sleep with them? I'm thinking temporary alcoholism is the only way I'm going to deal with the tourists for the rest of the summer. It seems like a good strategy.

I heart the onion

2008-08-12T20:37:00.003-04:00

Samsonite Releases New Roller Wallet

This is one of my favoriet Onion news clips. It cracks me up every time. I spent an obscene amount of time on their website last night watching video clips and reading my favoriet articles. I miss the free Onion. Why do they make you pay for it here? LAME!

My favorite Onion news story of all time:

Kraft Doubles

My favorite Onion video clip of all time:

I dreamed your baby

2008-08-10T17:09:00.000-04:00

This is kind of old news, but I was just thinking about it. A few weeks ago, I had a vivid dream that I was pregnant with twins. At this point, the details of the dream are hazy, but I remember being scared but wanting to keep 'em. Also Dan was excited in the dream.
The dream was so real that I woke up thinking I was preggers. I told Dan about the dream and all he had to say was "Yikes." Yikes is right, sucker. I felt creeped out all morning, and ended up talking about the dream at work. A girl I work with jumped into the conversation because she thought she might be pregnant, and she is the only person in her family not to have twins yet, so there was a chance it was twinsies. She hadn't talked about the possible pregnancy before that moment, so it was weird. I told her I hoped it was her and not me.
Last week the pregnancy was confirmed, although not the twins part yet. So this means a couple of things: 1) I'm definitely psychic 2) I'm definitely not pregnant 3) I definitely dreamed her babies.

I've been really tired this weekend. I can't wait for racing season to be over. I'm too grumpy to deal with customers level of neediness. "I want my cappuccino moderately dry (what does that even mean? "Moderately."). Give me a grande triple skinny mochaccino (what does that even mean?) Give me a blueberry bagel. Is this my bagel? Can you make sure number 76 is toasted well but not burned? Can you suck my balls while you make my sandwich?" The one thing that made my life worth living today was when Bob and Charlie kissed on the lips per my request. It was incredible.

Crabby

2008-08-09T17:18:00.000-04:00

You'd think with all the excitement I experienced over finding a blog name I'd actually want to blog. Whatever, I'm busy.

So I had an altercation with a mattress salesman at Mega Mattress in Wilton last night. We went to get an idea of prices. Of course there was this typical slimy Italian bro trying to sell us this mattress right then. I mean, we were clear that we didn't want to buy a mattress at that time, but he would not shut up.
He knocked $200 off the price, claiming something about being one sale away from a trip to Hawaii or something. We kept going back and forth, us saying we weren't buying anything right then, him being cocky and insisting we were stupid not to buy it. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore and told him sassily trip to Hawaii or not, and we didn't want to buy a mattress tonight. Then he was like "You're walking away from the deal of a lifetime here." I swear, that's a direct quote. Dan was quickly ushering me to the door, recognizing my rage and understanding the things that might come out of my mouth. So all I got to say on the way out the door was "The deal of a lifetime? On a mattress? Wooooow." Then the guy angrily yelled something like "$798 if you ever come back!" When we were already outside. As soon as we got in the car Dan pointed out that now we can never go back there. But that's fine with me, that guy was a moron.

Dan and I got Tuesdays off together, and we've been going on road trips the past couple of weeks. It's great to get the hell away from the tourists here once a week. Last Tuesday we went to New Paltz, because that's where Dan went to grad school and I've only been there once briefly on our way back from the city.

First we went to Minnewaska State Park Preserve which is right outside New Paltz. It's up on a mountain, and it was perhaps the first mountain I've actually been on in my life. I mean, I can't say for sure I've never driven on a mountain in Vermont or something, but to my knowledge I haven't. You drive up this steep windy road to get the the park, and then when you enter the park the road is way more steep. Dan was terrified.

It was really beautiful. I forgot to bring sneakers, so we couldn't hike too much. Also, I did a lot of bear research a month ago and I was kind of scared that we would run into one. Especially because the higher we got, the more dense the trees got and there were no other people anywhere. I would like to make a day of it sometime, though, fear of bears or not. There is a waterfall there somewhere, and miles and miles of trails. Here's a picture of Minnewaska Lake:

Whoa

2008-07-30T20:56:00.001-04:00

I just discovered that everyone and their mom has a friggin' blog. I got mad jealous so here I am. I had a hard time thinking of a URL, and despite Nate's insistance that I include the word "cunt," I quite like the word "schtick."
It came about when I was whining about a girl at work who I thought was Jewish, but who is actually only dating a Jew. I was all "Wait. Shiksa girlfriend? That's my schtick!" See? Interesting.
I'm all sick today. Some sort of ferocious cold. It's lame. I had to work, which was pretty miserable, especially because almost every customer was hateable. Or as Jones put it, "What's with this asshole parade?"
I'm never sick, and I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself. Thankfully Dan is really sympathetic and just wants to take care of me when I'm sick. I, on the other hand, am the least sympathetic person I know. He went to the store and got me all kinds of crap to make me feel better. I probably would have done the same for him, only I would have done it begrudgingly. He's a lucky guy!
Meanwhile, who gets sick in the summer?
Thankfully I have tomorrow off. I don't know what I'm going to do. Probably mope around. I'm hoping I feel better in the morning. I would like to go to the library. I'm having a hard time getting into any books I have. I have tons of great books that I really want to read, but I can't just pick one. I got a book from the library last week that looked funny, a satrical novel about self-help books. It was suposed to be witty and sarcastic, but the writing was terrible. I couldn't even get in to it. It was just stupid. I would like to read something light but intelligent and I'm having a hard time finding something.