We interrupt this regularly scheduled broadcast....

With a special announcement:

I GOT THE JOB!

The Daily DOH

Random thoughts for the week:

• Apparently there's a Valentine's day dance at a few local schools. Ask me how I know?!?! Well the 12 women standing in dress shirts and ties screaming into their cell phones "what color is her dress again?"
  
• Today I learned about knives and crystal. Yup the Henckels rep and the Waterford rep came to the store. I learned more than I ever knew about both. Now I just have a lust for fine things. DOH!
  
• And the final Daily DOH: Apparently when trying to transfer money into my mother-in-law's account I inverted the "From" and "To" categories and managed to transfer money FROM her account into mine. Don't ask why they let me do that with an account that is OUTSIDE my bank and NOT IN MY NAME.
  

25 Things

a.k.a. The STD-like plague that's sweeping the Facebook Nation

1. I love to sleep. There are few things I enjoy more in life then sleeping late on a weekend morning or taking a nap in the warm afternoon sun.

2. I am not a pet person. I will watch your pets for you if you go on vacation. I might think they are a wee bit cute and cuddly (that’s your kitties Sean!). But I don’t want any pets of my own…. Unless we’re talking fish and a self-cleaning tank.

3. I quit my job last year to move to the Midwest with my husband. Since then, and especially lately, I have had a lot of trouble finding work. I am working as a department store clerk right now and for the foreseeable future. Part of me is proud of myself for finding a job and doing what it takes. Part of me is angry that I can’t get a better paying job given all this education I paid for. And part of me feels like a failure.

4. Knitting is like breathing for me. I knit a few stitches every day, and often a few hours of stitches. I can’t imagine life without it.

5. I have never been drunk.

6. I am neither a packrat nor a hoarder by nature. About every 6 months I get a cleaning bug and I get rid of all sorts of things and create order. But let me loose around yarn and it’s like I’m a whole other person. I have entirely more than I could use and I can’t stop collecting.

7. I like all kinds of music. Teenybopper pop makes me want to dance and I have a soft spot in my heart for country music.

8. I hated my teen years. I didn’t even like my college years that much. I finally REALLY started enjoying life when I turned 25. I was excited to turn 30 because, hands down, this has been the best year of my life!

9. I never thought I would get married. I just didn’t think I had it in me to love one person forever. Now I can’t ever imagine my life without loving Wes. And I made him promise me we’d be married at least 50 years, so I don’t think I have to worry!

10. Although I’m a little rusty, I speak French with a near perfect accent. So much so that when I speak with a native speaker they always think I’m a Francophile rather than an American.

11. I rarely wear makeup. I like the “wow” effect it has when I do.

12. I am a total geek. I LOVE learning new Excel techniques. I love playing with new technology. I have: played D&D, met my husband on a MUD back in the 90’s, skipped a social event to stay home and chill with my computer, met some of my closest friends on the internet.

13. I love to read. I don’t care whether it’s teen fiction (Twilight), 18th century lit (Jane Austen), business buzz books (Malcolm Gladwell) or non-fiction. I once joked that my dad’s reading list on his nightstand was going to require a public storage locker – well I’m getting there!

14. When I was little, I always complained of boredom. My father told me that he was NEVER bored and that when I grew up I would understand. Now I do. I could be reading or knitting or spending time with hubby... there aren’t enough hours in the day to fit everything in!

15. I have many virtues. Patience is not one of them.

16. The person I miss more than any other is my grandmother. She taught me how to knit. Weekends we stayed with her were full of cooking, shopping, crafting and having fun no matter what we did. I didn’t appreciate it enough then, and I wish I had more time now.

17. The house I grew up in didn’t have a saltshaker. (Well ok it did, but it was for company). My dad always had high blood pressure so we ate salt free pretzels, and low salt foods. As an adult I have discovered I love salt on a few foods: eggs, potatoes and popcorn!

18. I always wanted to learn to roller skate or ice skate, but unfortunately I can do neither. I was always jealous of my sister because she took so easily to both.

19. All through elementary, junior high and high school I did musical theatre. In college I performed with a vocal jazz ensemble. The idea of getting onstage and singing today terrifies me. How was I ever that brave?

20. A corollary to #17: I always wonder how my life would have been different had I decided to pursue a career as a singer.

21. My blog just hit its 4th anniversary. Who knew I had so much (or so little) to say?

22. I love the Hollywood Gossip. I used to work in an office where three of us would trade the gossip daily including photos and the latest stories! Not surprisingly, Wes isn’t nearly as enthusiastic when I try and share the gossip with him.

23. I love word games. I grew up playing Scrabble with the family. When Wes and I got together I taught him to play. Now he beats me almost every time.

24. Sometimes I wish I were a little more domestic – that I cooked better or cleaned the house a little more. Then other times I just want to order a pizza and hire a cleaning service.

25. I always thought I would live and grow old and die in Los Angeles. I NEVER thought I would come back to the Midwest after college. Just goes to show that you really never know.

Lumpy.

So this week brought some new little hurdles, just as life always does.

On Sunday morning, I woke up with an extremely painful and swollen lymph node under my jaw. I wondered briefly what illness I was getting and went on my way to work.

By Monday morning, my day off, it had spread to the lymph nodes behind my ear. Thinking I might have some kind of blocked tube, I took a long hot shower, and then headed up to a health clinic to get checked out. The doctor wasn't really sure what was wrong with me, but prescribed antibiotics and said to come back if the condition worsened.

By Tuesday, the infection had spread to most of my ear and was starting to appear on my face. The skin was red and itchy and swollen. By Tuesday afternoon I ended up in the ER getting IV antibiotics, bloodwork and a CT scan.

Thanks to my dad who told me to go, and the great doctors at the ER, I was diagnosed with cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection that is super serious, but treatable. I think if you cut me open right now I'd bleed antibiotics, but I'm FINALLY starting to see small signs of improvement. I have a follow up appointment tomorrow and another week of antibiotics, but I seem to be on the mend.

This week I'm thankful for my family and my friends, my improving health, and even my department store job which has been wonderful and guaranteed my job despite my absence.

You know you want to.

Go ahead. It won't hurt, I promise. Heck I've been up since 3:30am, so just leave me a little comment m'kay?

Goodbye 2008, hello 2009!

As I went through my blogroll today, I saw many people who were announcing how glad they were that 2008 is coming to a close. Sure I have high hopes for 2009. I could use a new job. I hope the economy improves. But we have achieved so many wonderful things in 2008. This has been a good year.

Wes and I finally got to live together this year. We celebrated my 30th birthday together. In August we embarked on this journey called marriage and enjoyed a fabulous Alaskan honeymoon. I picked up and moved cross country and, to my delight, it has been a wonderful experience. I miss all my friends back home, but I've met so many wonderful new people here and I'm really and truly happy.

On a more macro level, the world sustained quite a few hardships this year. We pursued wars on various fronts, we watched our home economy take a nose dive and we watched the mortgage industry collapse. But we also lived through a historic first - we elected the first black man to be the President of the United States.

For me, this has been a good year. I wish you all happiness, health and prosperity in the new year. I hope 2009 is even better than 2008!

Reality Bites

Why is it that at night, as I lie in bed and wait for sleep to come, I compose beautiful bloggy prose in my head and when the morning comes and I can finally type it all out, all that remains is "I can haz cheezeburger?"

Last night, for instance, I had this whole beautiful post about how my life is going right now. How I got a call about 6 weeks ago to interview for a great position at a local company. How I sailed through three rounds of interviews (one with the CEO) and how I was happy and excited and nervous and buoyant all at the same time. And then how in the last week or two I seem to have hit a wall. They have my number, but they just don't seem to be calling me. How I have no idea if I did something wrong, or if they're still working on it or if they're "just not that into me".

And then I started thinking about how I felt when I applied to colleges. How when I visited Cornell I fell in LOVE with the university and how I wanted to go there so badly I could taste it. And then the unthinkable happened - I wait-listed. And suddenly I had to pursue a plan B that I hadn't even started thinking about. I had to suck it up, get over it, and get on with my life.

Which is what I did today. I'm now a seasonal sales associate at a major department store. It isn't my dream job (although I'm sure it's a perfectly great job) and a little part of me is dying inside that I had to suppress both my bachelors and my graduate degree to even get the job. But I'm moving on, finding a paycheck and working through this period of limbo.

Now that wasn't poetic at all, but there you have it. Reality bites.

A different way of looking at things.

I was just completely bowled over by this post from one of my favorite knitters/bloggers. It's so simple and yet the world is such an infinitely interesting place through someone else's eyes!

three-oh

Today I turn the big three-oh. We can quibble about whether or not the new decade starts at 30 or 31, however, what is clear is that I'm no longer a twenty-something. Surprisingly enough, I'm ok with this.

When I turned 25 a few years ago I had a profund sense of disappointment. I was disappointed I hadn't done MORE since college, and that I still had no idea who or what I wanted to be when I grew up. Sure I started having more fun by my 25th, but I still felt so incomplete and unfinished.

At 30, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. But this has already been such a great year, and promises to be even better in the coming months. In August I'm going to marry my best friend and the love of my life, and we're going to take a blissful week-long honeymoon. We've already started living together this year, and begun what I hope will be a long, happy life together. Today I don't feel unfinished, I feel complete and happy.

And thankful. I'm so thankful for so many things this year: my wonderful fiance, my family, my new soon-to-be family, my friends (both the gang on the West Coast and the wonderful Midwesterners who have adopted me here), for a roof over my head, and food to eat, and of course, last but DEFINITELY not least, for yarn.

Fridgeline: January 21, 2008

I recently wrote about the dilemma of being a woman living alone and trying to sell items via Craiglist. I might add that these days it seems the only people who buy items off of Craigslist are of the frosted flake variety. Approximately 2 weeks ago I put my fridge up for sale on Craiglist. I immediately got bombarded with emails. About half of those wanted to buy it at the price I listed, and the other half offered to take it off my hands for $100. I started making appointments with those who wanted to buy it at list price. After getting stood up not once, but TWICE (and having Knitmeister S sit with me one afternoon) I decided to give up on my dream price and let one of the cheaper guys have it. I had a nice email correspondence with one who said he'd show up this morning. And then he stood me up. GRRRR...

Luckily I had saved the emails from others. I started a flurry of correspondence and once gentleman offered to come by this afternoon. I was skeptical, but decided to give it one more try before I called Salvation Army and begged them to take it away. About 10 minutes ago my phone rang and a nice landlord was outside, ready to take my fridge away for his apartment complex. A crisp $100 bill later, and I now have a distinct lack of fridge in my apartment. Thanks heavens! Happy trails to you old buddy.

Updates

Wow. I've got 10 million posts in my head and no time to post! Wes and I just returned from apartment/house-rental hunting today in Kansas City and I'm tired. We saw half a dozen places all over Kansas and Missouri. Sadly we only found one we were remotely interested in. On the other hand, we are now armed with knowledge of what areas we want to explore further and a whole other list to explore tomorrow. Hopefully by tomorrow night we'll at least have a pretty good idea where we'll be for the coming year.

On the knitting front I've actually finished a whole sweater since I've been on break, and I'm madly working on a wrap for one of my LA friends before I leave. I'll have pictures of both soon - as soon as I get these pics off my camera (darnit all if I didn't leave the cable at home!)

Otherwise we've been making New Year's Resolutions, seeing tons of movies, eating and relaxing. I'm enjoying the break very much, and it was with a special amount of glee that I woke up this morning still in Kansas, and not back at work! I'll save the movie reviews for another post, because we still have one more to watch. I'll get straight to the New Year's resolutions. In no particular order, I'm resolving in 2008 to:

• Treat my body better. This comes in many parts. First: cut back on desserts and soda. I can do with significantly less in the coming year, especially if I hope to fit into my fabulous dress. I'm also resolving to exercise more. Especially in the coming months when it will be freezing outside and I'll be a home - I'm going to try and match the miles Wes runs with walking on his treadmill for equal amounts. We'll see where that goes.
  
• To get ready for and enjoy my fabulous wedding and honeymoon. It's less than 8 months away now and I can't wait. Corollary: to not completely stress out about the wedding.
  
• To find a job that I really love. For the past few years I've been working a job, going to school and trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I still don't know, but I want to have fun in whatever I do. I'm going to start by looking for knitting stores, and then maybe some temp work. And I'm going to keep trying until I get it right!
  
• To learn to play guitar. I got a guitar for Christmas and I really want to get back into music. I don't care if I'm not very good at it, but I'd like to try and find out if it's something I really want to get more into.
  
• To become more domestic. This I say, a little bit to my chagrin. Ramen and frozen pizza have been ok up until now, but it's time to start cooking delicious dishes for me and my family. Hopefully, armed with a crock pot and Wes' subscription to Cooking Light, I can slap together a few edible things before the year's end. I think this also includes a bit of cleaning, laundry, and other assorted chores. (Though shoveling the snow is ALL HIS!)

That's what I've come up with so far. Hope you all have enjoyed a wonderful New Year's and have your own resolutions in hand. I'll be back soon with the previously promised photos and movie reviews!

P.S. Bonus points to the person who can connect the picture to the subject of the post. Hint: I just learned about it after seeing National Treasure 2.

On bosses.

Sometimes your boss thinks it’s her idea that you should move to a different department; those times you should just keep your mouth shut and never reveal you’ve been orchestrating it for months.

Karmic Retribution

So tonight I was at Knitmeister S's enjoying TV night. While he was playing with the kitties on his spiral staircase, I MIGHT have told a story about another friend of ours who fell down those steps at his place. And I MIGHT have laughed a little about it. (In my defense, when she first told me, she was laughing too.)

After television, I went home and lived happily every after.

Well.... not quite.

Then I fell out of the elevator.

How, you might ask, did I come to fall OUT of an elevator? Well I'll show you. In the diagram below you will notice that the elevator car has not stopped flush with the floor, but rather lingers several scary inches above it.


So I MIGHT have missed that crucial step down and ended up on the tile floor in a nice SPLAT.


That Karma.... ya just never know when she's going to open up a can of whoopass on ya.

Notes to myself.

1. Someday, when you have the money and the time, you NEED to learn how to play the acoustic guitar because aside from the great music you can play, girls with guitars are SEXY.

Something Good to do with that Junk Mail

I got an idea from a blog I stumbled upon today (I forgot to bookmark it so if this was your idea and you wrote about it please let me know!). The blog suggested that when you get a piece of junk mail, you open it and return the postage paid envelope to the company. The immature part of me thought this was a great idea - hahaha stick it to the man! But one of the commenters had another point - put the piece of mail with your contact information IN that envelope and mark it "Please remove me from your mailing list." The commenter noted that this had reduced her junk mail down to a few pieces a week. So tonight I diligently did this - and shredded the rest of the innards. I don't know if it will work, but I figure it's worth a try and it's their dime, not mine!

Money.

Money. That thing that doesn't buy happiness, but sure can bring a lot of worries. That thing we need to survive, like it or not.

The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it.
--Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937)

Since I graduated from college I've mostly been living paycheck to paycheck. I have started a 401K, and thanks to the generous match of my employer, that account is growing nicely. However, anything I had in savings or have been able to squirrel away has gone to pay for my graduate education.

Wes will tell you that since he met me I've been worried about money. Not very many months go by when I'm sure exactly how I'm going to pay for everything. Luckily, so far it has always worked out. I manage to pick up some freelance work or extra money drops from the sky.

However, since my rent went up this year and my raise didn't match it, I've been feeling some pressure. Tonight, I finally figured out why that is. Apparently I have a problem.

i'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart.
--e e cummings

I did a back of the envelope calculation tonight. When I look at my take home income, and subtract out rent, car payments, loan payments and utilities what is left is slightly north of $300. And that's before I cover food, gas and those other unexpected expenses.

I think a better job is in order (or a second one failing that).

Money often costs too much.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Daily Horoscope

It's time to tackle certain situations that won't be ignored any longer. The stars say it's time to get in shape physically, mentally and spiritually. Once you begin the process, you'll find that you don't want to stop.

Dammit. This means I need to stop procrastinating and go to the gym and find a new job.

I'm in control... really I am.

Out of office message: ON.
Reservations: MADE.
Gown: PRESSED.
Mother's Day Presents: WRAPPED.
House: CLEAN.
Nose: STILL RUNNING.

(I have never ever had to blow my nose like this people...it's a miracle I'm not drowning!)

Heaven help me... my inlaws and my parents meet for the first time tomorrow, I officially graduate and I might go more than a few hours without having dire need of a Kleenex box. Let the games begin people!

Notes to my future self.

Dear Self:

The reason you keep all those beautiful little samples and bottles of perfume around, but never use them, is because you are highly allergic to perfume. Wondering again what those perfumes might smell like leads you to sniff the bottles or spray a bit in the air. This leads you to a 20 minute sneezing fit until you feel like your head might explode, your eyes might use up all their tears and your chest might burst. A few minutes with the window open and some water will help this.

Minor exception to this rule: Like the French language, it's not a rule unless there is an exception. Your cheap and old school nose seems to be ok with Revlon's Classic Blue Charlie. Stick with what you know best.

Love and kisses,
your sneezy sniffly self