Friday, March 27, 2009

a comfy spot

it's friday and i'm not at work! my boss and the other guy in my group are currently driving in myrtle beach so i don't really have anything to do at work today. so, i got to sleep in until 9 today! woo hoo!
i still currently don't have a place to call my own home yet. i have a few apartment places i'm going to call today about leases, but the big question is if i'll be able to do a month to month thing. or, how much it will cost to break a lease. it would be nice to just get a job in GV (that's greenville from now on, by the way team) permanently, but i'm still happy as a clam just being here until july too. i'll be getting more work with the contracting part of the project, so i guess i'll be learning more about proposals and stuff. doesn't sound exciting to you, probably, but i'm looking forward to it. and, that means i'd work closely with the HOT contracts administrator. booya. we shall see.
it's raining here today-- seattle rain but about 55 degrees and a little balmy. i love it. everyone else hates it, but if you have a sweet Marmot jacket things cannot go wrong (big ups to bre for helping me pick out the jacket). i'm also currently in an underground coffee shop with my computer, my headphones, a book, and an americano.
best. morning. ever.

i'll keep y'all (hehe) posted on the address situation. currently i live in my friend betsy's spare room and out of the jeep. what an adventure.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

what's important

big miscommunication with the new roommate, so i don't have a place to live as of now. i'm thinking of just getting an apartment by myself. it will be less stressful, i imagine. we'll see what's easiest at this point.
i'm taking care of the two most terrible yappy chihuahua's ever.
what's really important, though.
neil is getting deployed to afghanistan. i cried. i want him to be ok.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

the curious case of liturgically-colored Jell-O


i was out at the weirdest breakfast restaurant with my friend Betsy last sunday. it was called "Tommy's Hamhouse" (yep, i'm officially in the South) and it was odd: it was right across the parking lot from a Baptist Church, and inside was alarmingly reminiscent of a cafeteria/huge church potluck/spaghetti feed. there were booths, yes, just like a regular restaurant, but the entire middle of the restaurant just had long plastic tables and those metal chairs with the vinyl seats added. the restaurant was so popular that they needed to add it. here's senator DeMint hangin out with the owner. check out the background. oh, and that guy is Tommy, as in Tommy's Ham House.
phenomenal. my gut reaction was to first look for the fried chicken my pastor would always bring (and of course they had fried chicken) and then run to the dessert table to check out the peanut butter bars that blanche used to make and what type of Jell-O would be served.
i was describing this to Betsy and she mentioned to me that Jell-O is just not a popular dessert/side dish item in the South. in the summer she said that it melts to easy, which i understand. what i could not understand is that she was unaware that you can put just about anything into Jell-O. i explained the cranberry-orange Jell-O mold that my mom would make for Thanksgiving for a few years (by the way, where did that disappear to, Mom? it was a fan favorite) and the church ladies who would match the vegetables/fruit to the color of Jell-O served. while i still won't eat Jell-O with vegetables in it, you really can't go wrong with strawberries and sprite in Jell-O. holy crap that's good.
and Brelin, she was mortified when i told her the mayonnaise in the green Jell-O mold story from your childhood. she said something to the effect of, "GodA'Mighty that's just unnatural."
i got home from Greenville last weekend and needed to go to the store. i made a bee-line to the Jell-O: sugar free, only 10 calories. i moved out of my apartment in seneca yesterday and ate three cups in rapid succession, guilt-free and blissful.
unfortunately though, it was red, for pentecost. i just can't bring myself to eat grape Jell-O.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

moving!

hey team, i'm moving to an actual city. no more living in seneca, SC below john and peg. i'm in greenville every weekend anyhow, so i'm just going to move there. i'm going to live with a sweetheart boy named taylor.
and, i'm saving lots of money by living with him in an actual house! in a city!
sorry for the overuse of exclamation marks, i'm used to overpunctuation nowadays. it seems like the big boss just puts a comma whenever he's writing and gets interrupted in the middle of the sentence.
and they said teaching international college students english 101 wouldn't be useful in my career. pshaw.

Monday, March 9, 2009

ira

i wish i remember more hilarious witty things that ira glass said on saturday night, but just know he was awesome. if you listen to TAL, you already love him. if you don't, you should listen. he talked about what makes a good story and he said this: "you know what's destroyed good stories? THE TOPIC SENTENCE...and that was just a topic sentence. i can't get away from it!"
i loved it. i love the way that he chronicled the way he came up with This American Life, why he chose to do the show the way he does, and he did all the music and clips right there. the best thing ever is when he would click on a piece of dialogue on his right side: he would lift his arm back, float his hand down to the switchboard dangling there, and touch the button for dialogue just like you would putting your finger in the baptismal font. so elegant. lovely.
the question/answer time was awesome. when asked who is the worst person to interview he said, "hilary clinton...i mean, i'm joking. but yes, i don't like her. it seems like every time she talks she's just utterly humorless. which i don't understand because bill is so funny. but i heard her talk years ago, i made that judgment and she will never redeem herself in my mind."
there's one This American Life, the only one that has a celebrity voice, that has johnny depp on it reading for a boy who has a voicebox. when asked how ira got johnny depp to be on the show, without skipping a beat: "i banged him."
and THAT is why ira glass is awesome.

Monday, March 2, 2009

for my avid reader

because my mother seems to be the most avid reader of my blog, this one's for you.

i was at work today, in the bathroom (i know, weird reference, stay with me mom) and i thought of my mother. the bathroom had flooded the first week i got there because the toilet was broken and i got very annoyed. "how could anyone not realize the toilet was going to overflow with the rinse-water action?" bah! so annoying. because of that, i had to thank my mom for teaching me a lot. so here it is, in random order, not a full list, and omitting some of the normal mom-teaching stuff.

things my mom has taught me:

-about a toilet. how to fix it, plunging action (which came in handy at camp 07 when i saved the women's restroom in the RC), how to stop the toilet that's overflowing.
-how to hem a pair of pants. while mom thinks that i hate it, it is actually not too shabby to know that i can do this. considering i am very short, it works. also came in handy when i dated a man who was 5'5" and needed his tuxedo pants hemmed.
-to wrap a present. and not some lame rinky-dink version. the real deal, perfect creases, the whole nine yards. i'm pretty sure that my father hasn't wrapped a present himself since my mom taught me how. so...that's about 13 years.
-how to check my oil. driving the reliant k back in the day, it came in handy. i think i could do it now, even though it has been a while.
-birch trees grow best in groups of three.
-taping is the most important part of a paint job, and "cutting in" to the wall makes or breaks the paint experience. don't take the tape off too early...rookie mistake.
-you should turn down the radio when you're having a conversation with someone (mostly an older person ) in the car. i still get annoyed that mom does this when i'm talking to her, but now i am beginning to realize that no one really wants you to yell at them in the car.
-always try and have a job. you're smart, don't be lazy and pretend that you're not.
-cooking is a skill that some people just don't have.
-do not be afraid to sing loud. be part of the "joyful noise" group.
-always hold your grandma's hand and help her into the car.
-men with tempers aren't worth your time.
-wear tall shoes and cute clothes when you're young, because you won't be able to do that crap when you're old.
-to properly use an electric hand-mixer.
-you cannot leave kids alone. ever. it doesn't matter how long you're gone, you cannot leave them even for a second. i still remember my mom speaking her mind to a lady at a gas station when i was about 7. always stuck with me.
-toys are best without batteries.
-utilize tall people in your life to reach things on shelves.
-fork on the left.
and to close up the list:
-don't forget that it sucks to be poor. i am very lucky. this has, on more than many occassions, made other people mad at me. these people usually have lots of money.

love you--wee

Sunday, March 1, 2009

?

who woulda thunkit...it's snowing in south carolina.