project!

emily feels as though I should take up creative grooming. and has suggested my first project be to turn this fluffball known affectionately as baby cat into a ferocious lion


I can see it now...

why some people shouldnt be allowed near animals

when I am bored I spend too much time looking and clicking on things on facebook. sometimes you come across things like this.


what is this if not a prime reason why some people should not be allowed near animals.

Granted claires and I talked of giving baby cat a poodle inspired hair cut when she first moved to chicago and the fluff ball wasn't handling the heat so well. but the important difference remains. we never did it. nor did we ever even consider turning her into a a poodle ninja turtle-leonardoodle. (or even a kitten ninja turtle-leonardacat)

christmas baking extravaganza 2008

I like to bake a christmas. well I actually like to bake all the time, but christmas gives me an excuse to do it in extremes. and yes I am a little protective of my christmas baking. christmas being an imperative word. like the year when I accidently confused my gingerbread cookies with my molasses cookie dough and ended up with gingerbread circles instead of gingerbread men. and I made a new batch.

or this year when emily made chrismtas pocahontas shapes and christmas barnyard animals instead of christmas sugar cookies. last time I let anyone else near the cookie cutters. at least nick now knows only to use sanctioned cookie cutters.

I like large amounts of things and keep baking and baking and baking. here is this year's load.


this led nick to claim "she must have some ulterier motive, like fatening the family up so she can eat them"

last time I make him a christmas dinosaur.

merry christmas, welcome to the real world.

new favorite thing about the real world. christmas bonus.

turns out my catering office job never had such perks. though the last year we did finally get sweatshirts.

AND a cute little ornament.

apple sauce on mars

I do a lot of things to avoid having to get up in the morning. 5 more minutes of sleep. 1 more snooze. deciding what to wear when i finally get up. this morning it was a conversation.

me: guess what
nick: I hate these games
me: come on guess.
nick: umm apple sauce on mars

then later

nick: guess what
me: give me a hint
nick: it has to do with apples
me: umm apple sauce on mars?
nick: NO apple cider on jupiter. duh.

BEAUTIFUL bookshelf

Nick told me I could buy a new DVD shelf or I could only buy DVDs. well now I still cant bring myself to spend $20 to buy the movie on blu-ray when I can spend $5 to buy it on DVD. yes I am missing out on the crisp HD brilliance that comes along with blu-ray. but really if the DVD costs $5 is there much HD brilliance am I missing out on much?

needless to say if Im too cheap to buy movies on blu-ray I'm certainly too cheap to pay $159 for a DVD shelf capable of holding our expanding collection. and thus construction was underway. a trip to the local crafty bever along with our with our sketch in hand we managed to sweet talk our way into preimum pine for the price of common pine. (our little secret with the wood guy)

some sanding (ok a lot of sanding and all done by nick) some staining (again done by nick) and some drilling and hammering. and here we have it our furniture building careers have begun.

christmas in room 201 take 2

so I got crafty and I made my kids stockings. what can I say, i love christmas even when my students are lumps.

Happy St. Nick's Day!

Here is the story of Piccolo's St. Nick's Day Experience.

Piccolo, like any child is apparently a peaker.

ahhh! she's been caught. but can you really get mad at her when she is so cute?


In the morning...Stocking time! Stocking time!


ahhh christmas toy forced interaction (a necessity according to the kitten wheel of needs)

christmas time is here....

so I have decided that thanksgiving break was just a cruel and evil joke of the world. especially when thanksgiving falls with only 2 weeks of classes and a week of exams remaining. Think I can make my students focus on momentum. HA! at least it's a fun unit where we play with toys (though my kids are chumps and broke my toys)


at least christmas has come to room 201. another place to decorate perhaps the best part of being a teacher.

Driving Miss Amy

Laugh of the night...watching Driving Miss Daisy...Miss Daisy says to Hoke "I taught some of the stupidest children God ever put on the face of this earth"

True That.

it's panormous!

new pizza hut quality product. panormous pizza. two side by side rectangular pizzas more than 40% larger then a large (or so the pizza hut website claims) who needs this much pizza. apparently us.


miles upon miles of pizza.


granted they made it all sausage and we asked for half sausage half pepperoni. teach us to order pizza at 5 pm.

uniforms

so my students have uniforms...its a catholic private school would one expect anything less? but yet they dont have uniforms. they have different skirts, sweaters, and polos for each grade level. is not the point of a uniform to be well uniform?

faculty meeting today...45 min about the new uniform proposal that this time, gasp! would actually make the girls all be uniform. the new skirt, brown herringbone, the new top, navy polo, the new sweater, wine pullover. this is all good...except that this is the same colors as another school....and isnt the point of a uniform to set you apart and make you identifyable?

suggestion by another teacher...why not red sweaters since our colors are red. red sweaters, black polos and black herringbone skirt? much enthusiam met with this one. the response high school girls dont want to wear red sweaters.

pretty sure I was a high school girl only 6 years ago...and I didnt mind my red sweater.

rumblings through the crowd...staff poll staff poll what would we prefer...nudge the vetran teacher to suggest this...I dont want to be job hunting again next spring.

oh and the boots! we should make our girls wear real shoes! right now they can choose from shoes, tennis shoes or boots. those horrible ugg boots they are so sloppy looking.

look down at my feet...what have I been wearing all week...well no more snuggle feet for me, apparently I dress sloppy.

funny that apparently the self appointed uniform committee doesnt think it sloppy for the girls shirts to be untucked, but darn those boots. those darn boots that keep the girls legs warm becaues well skirts are darn cold in december.

and then there was cheese goo

first there was the scrambled egg pork chop fiasco. raw potatoes, curdled sour cream, pork chops that well had no taste, and c-time that was more of a slush then a drink.

but we tried again. everyone has an off day in the cooking world and claires had more then redeemed herself with the mashed potates at t-giving and the potato pancakes the next day. we of course insisted we know the menu before we made the trek.

chili and corn bread. ok we can handle that. and we'll actually show up when we say we are going to be there and not hours early so it should be thoroughly cooked.

table set, and claires offers cheese. I reach into the bag and stick my hand in cheese goo. I've never encountered cheese goo before.

oh claires.

new best friends

it has been a week of new best friends. I made mine when I took my car to have the oil changed. I called back to see when i could come to have my serpentine belt changed...my new best friend of course remembered changing my oil and my whole life story (live in evanston, teach 10 miles away, no school the day after thanksgiving, many potential fixes with my car, but starting small, secretly rocks out to ace of base in the car) and I get to go see my new best friends again on friday. whoo hoo! who cares if I'm paying cold hard cash to get to hang out with them...

and then today we met nick's new best friends.

set the stage ... le peep, nick and I have ordered food and are well into eating it (side not le peep sucks. they messed up our coupon depsite me correcting them still overcharged me $3.oo and the food, not so good) when these two guys and a girl are seating at the table next to us. the new best friend (nbf) starts talking to the other boy about how he was up late playing fallout 1 and 2. the game I have to attempt to distract nick from for attention....fallout 3.

nbf's phone rings, and so he tells his friends to order him the belgian waffle combo, with sausage, scrambled eggs. look down at nick's plate. belgain waffle combo with sausage and scrambled eggs.

accomplishment of the week

busy week...kids took tests, reviews of lit were read, pre-thanksgiving weekday shoppers were fought, car oil was changed, new favorite car guys were met, dad's christmas present was located, emily's christmas present procured, and rear view mirror was finally replaced.


timeline of week events:

• Thursday 11/13 6:40 am: arrive at car, find mirror smashed off pieces lying in street
• Thursday 11/13 5:00 pm: dad has procured new mirror from junkyard
• Saturday 11/15 4:30 pm: new mirror arrives via USPS
• Sunday 11/16 2:00 pm: remove door panel, find 10 mm wrench to remove nuts holding broken mirror. weaking. get nick, still weakling.
• Monday 11/17 4:15 pm: new socket set bought...attempt to fix car in home depot parking lot. mission failed: socket wont go over bolt. give up, eat steak and shake.
• Tuesday 11/18 4:10 pm: following e-mail from dad that confirms the 10 mm attempt to fix in res hs parking lot. fits on 2, third no go due to our attempts on sunday which have left the bolt "all buggered up"
• Wednesday 11/19 4:30 pm: purchase metal file from home depot to file off the smooshed parts
• Thursday 11/20: 5:45 pm: two hours after beginning, mirror has successfully been replaced, can no longer feel fingers, toes, nose, or bottom (due to sitting on the ground to put door back together) last hour of mission completed in pitch black. moved car back to street, saying slient prayer there would be a mirror then upon my return the next morning.

took car friday to have it's oil changed and transmission checked out, embaressed self by forgettign to turn off CD player before exiting car and thus allowing my new best car friends to witness my rocking out to Ace of Base.

Truth be told, it was on the BNL CD when I got out of the car, and not on track one of ace of base when I got my car back....some car mechanics rocking out to ace of base while doing an oil change???? perhaps my friends perhaps.

passed this place like 100 times

watching Samantha Who? the other day. what do I see...

Andrea: "Chili's...passed by here like 100 times..never thought to come in though."
Seth: "no! you're missing out! look at this right here: crispy honey chipotle chicken crispers. you could stop at any one of those words and be very happy"

made me smile (made me also make everyone watch) since perhaps Nick and I may quite possibly walk in to Chili's on a semi-regular basis (think once every 2 weeks) sit down and immediately order. "two plates of honey chipotle chicken crispers and keep the water coming"


now if only they didnt serve them with that gross ranch dressing.

If the chipolte is a bit too much of a kick for you..I recommend the honey bbq as a second runner up.

oh and bring someone along who will demand new fries if your fries are cold. cold fries are gross.

I didnt like my mirror anyways

Wednesday morning go to my car...find this ... damn you world and irresponsible people.

and a medium fry

we took a trek to visit my grandparents in Cincinnati this weekend (where nick scored many positive points with the g-ma according to my mom) and my g-ma is one of those who is never happy unless she is taking care of everyone else's every possible need. aka continuously feeding.

mornings at my grandparents consists of 2 breakfasts. one of doughnuts when you first stumble out of bed. one of home-cooked yummyness once everyone is awake enough to place their order. there is no time spend sitting around when there are not bowls upon bowls of snacks on the table...and if she notices someone isn't eating continuously she goes to the cabinet and gets something else out...just in case the reason said individual isn't eating is because they don't like any of the 5 things she has already gotten out.

After double sunday breakfast we just were not hungry for lunch at noon. so grandma insisted we finish off the starwberry rhubarb pie (not a tall order for the two of us) and we later lunched quickly at mcdonalds. number 12 value meal for nick. 6 piece chicken nuggets and a medium coffee for me.

"a medium fry"

"no, I said a medium COFFEE"

"that will be just a moment I'll make another pot"

and we wait. food all appears sans the coffee and all important bbq sauce.

"could we get some bbq sauce and the coffee"

no response and the girl goes over towards the fries. we assume she didnt here so we ask another. coffee procured. go on to our table. girl appears fries in hand.

"here's the medium fry....sorry bout that"

worse then when I made emily's cake cry

everyone has those relationships in their lives that just aren't good. there is nothing positive that comes of them, but yet they keep trying and hold on just a little longer. for some it is with a friend who just takes and never seems to give in return. for others its with a boy who treats you like crap, but who its easier to stick with then to move on from.

for me, it is with butter cream icing. once I made emily a lion cupcake. it was too humid, my icing didnt hold up and emily's cake was crying by the time she cut into it.
oh and it tasted like a big giant stick of butter. no more martha stewart recipes.

I managed to keep my distance for over two years, but alas butter cream icing got the better of me and I gave it another chance.

this time, not as buttery...but lacking a substantial amount of sugar....and I didnt want to run to the store to get more (this is why you should always use the recipe you check when you are making sure you have enough ingredients) and thus a runny mess. work on cupcakes, put in fridge, work for 10 min, fridge for 15.

at least they turned out cute (until they turned into a melted mess)

o! i'd rather be a pumpkin face...

...then be in a pumpkin pie!

our little pumpkin has turned into a scary crazy-eyed jack-o-lantern.

nick cut the top off

I got the insides out

I cut some...

nick cut some...


finished!
for a complete pumpkin experience please visit here!

happy moment of the night

yea! to At&t and ESPN360 for letting me watch the big ND despite them playing the 0-6 Washington and having it aired on ESPN2 which greatly exceeds our tv watching abilities.

all of which led to perhaps my favorite moments of the game.
1st while talking about ty and how ND let him go after only three years Bob Davie "that was unprecedented. I had 5 years at ND"

and then as we manage to get a field goal "Walker is like a new man. Accurate" granted he was later replaced by the kicker for Siegfried hall's innerhall team. mod quad represent!


oh and apparently I went to school in disneyland.

ACT, I dominated you then, I hate you now

Dear Mr ACT
I kicked your butt when I was in high school. so now apparently you think it's ok to screw me over.

This morning I woke at 6 am (actually 5 since I can never sleep when I HAVE to wake up for something, and apparently it's more stress inducing for me to watch 25 people take a test then for me to teach all day) so I could administer you to 25 unwilling individuals.

I made it to school in record time since no one was out on the road at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning. including the 56 students who didn't show at our school, an unheard of number except when my being paid for my early morning and drive depended on those individuals.

Mr. ACT I fully realize that it was not your fault that these individuals did not show. it is however your fault that I got screwed. Thank you for your $25 which barely covers gas and wear on my car as I drove the 20 miles to and from school. Add to that the hour I spent in "training" and the hour I spent reading your 150 page long instructor manual.

I find it ridiculous that now you have less work and more money. those 56 students who never showed have already paid their money to you. AND you now have 56 less tests to grade. I however was counting on my $114 and sacrificed my day to you for a measly $25.

Thank you for deeming the two hours I spent before today as well as the hour in my car and the hour I spent this morning worth a whole $25.

I'll see you in the People's Court,

Amy

the learning never stops

top 10 things I learned during my day off school:

1. engagement rings = conditional gifts which means you have to give them back if you dont fulfill your side of the contract
2. my grandma's suing my mom for child support. (well the kid's grandma was actually suing his mom for babysitting money)
3. parking people are stupid and want me to never be able to park in the wintertime
4. Garmin uses Kansas City intersections in its ads.
5. Two of the three major types of rock are indigenous and hard (and by indigenous and hard I actually mean igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary)
6. new life goal = be a rabbit lady (aka have tons of rabbits in my home, have them taken by the government, find them, steal the rabbits back)
7. when opening a REALLY old bottle of wine, one might use hot tongs to cut the glass if the cork has gone bad and can no longer withstand the corkscrew
8. defamation requires a third party (note to self....do kittens count???...this I must figure out before preparing for my counter suing on the people's court)
9. vlog sounds a lot like flog. coincidence...you decide
10. no matter how determined to be productive you are...some days you just have to play pirate poppers
    

monkey much?

this is what happens when I stay home. and reason number 1 why I shouldn't have more days off school. even piccolo got in on the action

and of course nick pretended to be a monkey just for the camera.

Mrs. Brita

I tried to fight it for years...though I have secretly enjoyed the crisp fresh taste that is brita water. I first got hooked in high school where lindsey's brita pitcher and lack of caffeine drinking broke me of that habit.

through college I mooched off my roommate's and their brita, enjoying every last drop of freshly filtered water chilled to perfection.

my little sis finally convinced my mom to invest at home and I enjoyed drinking water like I never had before.

grad school brought the filter on the tap. similar yet different, though not necessarily better or worse....sink filter water lacks the coolness from the fridge, but comes in mass quantity rather than just pitchered-size.

then in Chicago...claires hooked me up. I secretly thought of the days that I would get to drink from the brita as I convinced her that brita was soo much better then always buying bottled water way back in may.

then claires moved. and we dealt with white floaties in our water for a month in a half. till walgreens had them on sale. save $7 AND have floaty-free water. done and done.

mamma said there'd be days like this

never have I been so glad to have a day over as I did ending yesterday...

start the day...deal with kids cheating and re taking tests

turn in paperwork for incompletes for kids who never showed up to take tests

dont have a homeroom buddy for firedrills...must both lead my students out AND check to make sure there is no one left behind in my room. .... problem I think so

get pulled out of class and yelled at first for being in the wrong room, then for apparently holding up the grade process for a hour for not responding ot an e-mail and also for putting off turning in forms for incompletes since I spent thursday dealing with cheaters.

get told by one of my honors kids that she wants to drop by class because its took hard and she doesnt understand anything that I've been teaching them since I dont explain things very well

find out I have to spend my only free time during the day subbing for a teacher who is absent.

my keys arent labled and it takes me forever to find the right one to open the right door.

my room isnt cleaned becase my cleaning girl is a failure.

end up with only 2/3 of my students turnign in their homework assignments...not a good way to start quarter 2

get called to the counselors office to talk on the phone with a parent who is upset I havent had a chance to e-mail her back and who's daughter is "overwhelmed" and who has told her mom that I told her I "didnt have time to help her" with an assignment.

nothing that a bike ride downtown, honey chipolte (which I failed to order...honey bbq...not quite as good) chicken crispers and gap store field trip can't fix

welcome fall

I should have known when it took us the extra hour to get down town that this weekend would add to the list of ridiculous times that all of our adventures are.

Friday-home from work, load the car to leave...realize I've left my wallet upstairs and nick has left his sunglasses...send him up for them while I put new CDs in the car...realize one is still upstairs in my computer..oh well fate.

try to get off lake shore on Ontario as google maps instructs...we see the exit sign...then never see an exit. end up south of where we want...no biggie we'll just turn up Michigan... not. happens to be one of the streets where michigan is above. finally make it to a corner get Claires head on our way. tons o traffic later we decide to take columbus down to lake shore. and then columbus is closed. half hour later we end up back on michigan about where we started...and I am informed I have to turn left at the next light. I am in the right hand lane. traffic is stopped. we just waited three light cycles for a bus to clear the intersection I am pathetic at traffic. around the block we go so I can just turn right.

7:00 pm 3 hours later finally made it to Gary, IN. where traffic is stopped for so long my eyes are buring from the pollution before we start moving again.

Rendez-vous at Culvers 9:15 pm michigan time (thank goodness they're open till 10) eat food, ditch claires drive on to lansing. miss the turn to kerrys, fortunatly I've printed the map and not just directions, nick tells me to turn left I turn right. finally make it alive and well.
chat with Kerry and Todd, sleep, confused by why there are two sheets on our bed, up shower, food, tour of lansing, off to cider mill and corn maze.


drink a little wine, buy our tokens for the corn maze. maze...normally has an in and an out. not this one. wander around until you are tired of wandering around then make your way out. corn wandering might have been a better name. but we did take some framable pics! including one for my grandma so I can make the fridge again!


quite possibly best part of the day came next...snack bar...and apple cider sippy cups! I wanted cider doughnuts too but they ran out. sad day. bought some wine and hard cider and hit the road. two very content kids sipping away on cider on the way home


ate some dinner, forced to watch the florida LSU football game till we snuck away for bed. next day zoo adventures, and blast from the past for nick.

we thought we'd hit the zoo in the morning...too bad the animals were still sleeping as well. but again more photo opps and the sleppy animals eventually woke.


then off to nick's old house...where apparently the mortage situation has manifsted itself. forclousure notice on the window.


lunch, picture stealing (since my camera was left at home), and on the road we go. tired, full, and a little more ready for fall!

moving day = poop day???

belated by over a month I know...but I just found these pictures. apparently along with being in charge of providing your moving slaves with lunch you are also required to deal with any and all situations that involve poop.
for example, if someone in your new building has allowed their dog to do its business in your new foyer and then others have tracked said business all over it is your job to clean it up so it doesn't get tracked up the stairs to your new pad


example number two, it's time to move your pet...now pets who routinely poo in a box are convenient most of the time (no scratching at the door to be let out, no cleaning up after them on their walk) but there are those times (when it comes time to empty the box for example) especially on moving day....when they are not the bright shining spot of your day.

teaching with no voice

i woke to an early morning dilemma... to whisper physics nonsense to my students all day or to entrust them to another for the day...knowing full well that it will result in a wasted day. (which is just trouble when it comes to block scheduling) this is the decision that must be made when a teacher wakes with no voice. knowing that it is far more work to write sub plans then to actually just go to school I decided to tough it out.

before school: intimate homework help...since all I can do is whisper. I tell one of my freshmen that my boyfriend said I was going to be the mute teacher at open house and she volunteered to come with me and translate everything I said to the parents and perspective students that would be there.

2nd hour freshman physics: my students actually listened to me during our lab discussion and helped EACHOTHER understand so I didnt have to explain the exact same thing 23 times.

4th hour senior physics: my seniors volunteered to not learn anything today or at the very least just copy down notes and have them explained to them the next class. I assured them if they were quiet we could tough it out and we actually had a productive day. (despite their giggles whenever I tried to talk)

between classes whenever I had a break: trips to the bathroom thanks to nick's wellness regime...drink constantly and flush the germs out of your system

all in all one of the best days we've had this year....maybe I should try more days of not talking.

camping trip from hell

I sit now nursing the sore throat I have as a reminder from what was potentially the worst camping trip of my life. though it was still fun, as all camping trips are, and has resulted in many a good story....so it may not end up being the worst camping trip ever, depending on how you measure worst.
the weekend started off with me getting lost on my way to work...i'd decided to bike the 10 miles to work so that I could ditch work a little early, bike the train station, and then ride the train to the end of the line and bike the last five miles to the park. road riding successful...thinking to myself, why this isnt bad and is good for me...perhaps I should do this more often...like once or twice a week. I could totally handle that. I arrive at the bike trail. whoo hoo on easy street from here. until the trail forked. and I chose the wrong fork. I emerged from the woods in a run down area and have to call my mom in near histarics describing the intersection and trying to figure out how to get to school. I get directions, ride like i've never ridden and start my day, a little out of breath but alive and at work on time.
I leave in the afternoon to meet nick...he apparently practically died on the way, carring like 60 pounds on his bike and riding 7 miles in 20 minutes. we wait for the train and get all ready to take our bikes. little did we know not all train cars have bike spots and we were not clued into the secret codes of the metra, and were separated for the hour ride...sitting with our bike 3 cars apart.
we get to the campground after a grueling uphill battle. and look for the camp office to check in. we wind back and forth and back and forth. nick finally gives up and sits with the stuff as i venture ahead only to find...camp office closed at 4. it's 5. where are we supposed to check in and pay??? oh well dont have to worry till 3:00 the next day.
we go back and set up camp. then head for some firewood and water. we come back. I start a fire and nick hangs our food in the tree. this takes some effort as the rope is determined to tangle itself in knots around the tree 10 feet over our heads. but done finally, fire made, dinner cooked and eaten and were ready for bed.

enter mr. ranger man who apparently hated us and life...and told us that we couldnt hang things from trees. so now it was only a matter of time before our food was consumed. we go to sleep hoping for the best. wake up once to scare the raccoons away. I wake up many more times including when all the dogs in the park decide to re-enact the twilight bark from 101 Dalmations. but eventually I manage to fall into a light sleep. until the growling started.
I wake nick...telling him I've never heard raccoons growl before. he tells me to go back to sleep.
we finally wake for good around 5:30. nick has to pee but doesnt want to venture out into scary land alone. so we take a trip, sneaking out the back of the tent. keeping our flashlights off till we are far from the site. and then walk the state park till the sun comes up.we come back to our campsite and find our food gone or at least covered with teddy grahams and chocolate because the raccoons didnt even have the decency to take our food and go away and eat it and instead decided to eat it inside of our stuff.

dejected we clean our remaing food, salvageing oatmeal, rasins, pb, jelly, some brown sugar and cinnamin, and pancake mix, start a fire buring our remainign food, eating oatmeal and pack up camp. glad that we never found where we were supposed to check in so we wouldnt be out our $12 we we called it quits early and headed back home to the comfort of our bed with pillows and safe food.

I NEED FOUR STAMPS!!!!

I went to the post office today so I could establish a local address since I am rogue living at my current residence. (that whole no one not on the lease is allowed to live for more than 10 consecutive days) I nicely waited my turn while the man in front of me scribbled an illegible zip code on the letter he was mailing and the lady had to check with him to make sure his mail could be delivered. then it was my turn. I handed the clerk the form I filled out from the internet and my two forms of ID (credit cards, social security cards not counting) and waited. and then...

"I NEED FOUR STAMPS"

enter belligerent man with highly slurred speech.

the clerk nicely tells the man he needs to wait his turn. the man says "BUT I ONLY NEED FOUR STAMPS" and the clerk tells him to wait again because she is helping a customer. the man grumbles and waits. the clerk asks me if it's ok if she helps the man I say sure and she calls the man up starting to say she'll help him but next time he needs to wait his turn.

"I DON'T NEED NO LECTURES"

and the clerk says fine you can wait now. the clerk goes to help me and the man stands uncomfortably close to me disgruntled at the counter. I huddle near the wall, credit card, passport and driver's license in hand. finally the lady asks the man to go stand in the line place.

"AREN'T THERE SUPPOSED TO BE 2 CLERKS WORKING???"

disgruntled man's newest complaint. he repeats this several times, and then starts grumbling to the other people waiting in line.

"WHEN MY FATHER OPENED THE POST OFFICE THIS PLACE WAS GOOD. NOW IT IS BAD"

never have I been so glad to finish a post office transaction.

just for claire

mail?

in all the things that are supposed to be difficult about moving making my mail appear is not supposed to be one. I'm supposed to fill out a form at the post office and voila! mail appears at the new location. maybe I change a few addresses for magazines update my contact info and I'm done.

apparently not.

since mail doesn't seem to get sent to my new address unless the name of the lessee is on the envelope and well "me care of others" just doesnt sound very professional. so I've mailed myself a letter at my new address to test the system. if not one more thing to add to my list.

downsizing

its been decided that I have had the luxury of living in too big of a space for too long and Ive been free to accumulate too much stuff.


it took a van load and two car loads to get this all home. my life in stuff. i'm now moving to a one bedroom apartment shared with another and a cat (and another and another cat for a month) after spending the last two years living first in a 3 bedroom apartment and then in a 3 bedroom duplex.

I should cherish this time as an opportunity to get rid of the stuff that I've just been hauling around. those things that serve no real purpose in my life and just take up space. Instead i find myself tormented over what material possessions I could possibly do without and my list is coming up short.

I like a well stocked kitchen...is this a crime???

8 out of 10 on the nice-ness scale

i was packing for my recent birthday/4th of july trip to evanston, and was instructed to bring nice clothes. being a girl I understand the wide range of nice clothes and of course inquired for more specifics....the response...nice nice but not crazy nice. while this narrows it down for a guy...I'm still unsure and seeked another opinion. the response "on a scale of 1 to 10 where a 1 is sweats and 10 your prom dress I'd go 8." my attention is peaked. but being the one who enjoys being as surprised by what everyone else gets on christmas morning as by what I myself receive i didnt want to ruin this one.

and the birthday celebration was fantastic. birthday gifts the day I arrived...a new book to fill my summer days and a quality game called pirateology...the dies are skulls...need I say more. surprise birthday breakfast the next morning followed by hours of pirateology (the rules may need to be modified for the next playing attempt), showers and fancyness, wall-e downtown, a crazy fancy dinner downtown, and all wrapped up with fireworks on the beach. the best day after the day after my birthday ever.

happy birthday to me

happy birthday to me. it's on this day that I am realizing how much of a little kid I am. it's my birthday I want people to acknowledge. I want cupcakes and candles. I dont normally like to be the center of attention but today I do. my parents have called to say happy birthday and my mom and little sister brought me a mixed berry basket from the food place at barnes and nobel yesterday. but its just not the same. my big birthday plans...laundry and homework alone in my apartment. only 4 people besides my parents have sent happy birthday wishes, even with the help of facebook reminding them everytime they log in to blow off some time at work. the day is still young. I know people still have a chance. thank goodness my boyfriend and his sister are excited about it or this birthday would be a down right bummer.
I know I'm whiny....but I'm not sure I like growing up.

there's a police car outside my apartment

there's a police car outside my apartment...it's been there since I finished mowing the back yard. there are two cops inside. they're just sitting there. I of course spent as much time in the driveway as I could and have since opened the front shades so i could watch all that went donw.

should I be concerned?

they just stopped a big black truck and talked to the guy. They've now pulled away after this conversation with the black truck as if they weren't where they were supposed to be and the black truck man directed them around the corner. I'm tempted to go for a walk just to investigate.

I live on dove drive. how can you have a crime happen on a street called dove drive?

things are supposed to get easier with time

they claim that things are supposed to get easier with time. that the more we do something the easier it should be to do. this apparently doesn't work for all things. somethings, like saying goodbye i've found get harder the more often I have to do them. the more I say good bye, the more people i have to add to the list of people i hope to stay in touch with, but know the likelihood of times in the future like times in the present is slim to none.

as i am preparing for another big move i've been going through old things and finding all kinds of new things that i want to do before i leave kansas city and head northward to my new life in chicago. my possessions are being split into piles to be left at my parents house and those that will come with me, which makes this move again feel like a temporary one but a move nevertheless. and a move from the things of comfort; living with friends of the past 10 years, an hour and a half from home, having space to carry with me all the stuff I've accumulated over the years, being able to run home for a weekend of being taken care of or some TLC for my car to a world of the new and unknown.

not that I am not looking forward to the move and putting an end to another of the things that has become harder with time. every time i've had to leave chicago and say goodbye has been harder then the time before. even though they i know they are only temporary good byes. every day a little longer between visits as i count down the days till chicago life will be my life and other places my visits.

i'm at a place where i have to plunge forward, trading comforts and old friends for new adventures and new people (though never loosing touch with what's important from this life) it's time to grow up go out and conquer the world.

it's a trade i'm willing to make since what and who waits for me i wouldnt trade for the world.

memorial to a friend

my plants are my friends...they are even getting their own special car ride to chicago where I will entrust them in the care of my boyfriend for a month. this is a scary thought to me. but really how much damage can he do in one month, as long as he remembers to water them on occasion. his cat has lived for a year alone with him now. I have faith.

but as of today I will officially be one pot lighter on the move. I have officially declared my christmas trees dead. I re-potted them last week, and apparently this was too traumatic for their little tree sprouts. they will be missed. the package promised in several years I would be able to hang ornaments from them. their little lives ended before they knew what they could be. (I do have several more tree seeds in the package, but it just isn't the same, I failed my baby trees)

do nothing days

basically my summer is consisting of do nothing days....unless I make myself do something. thus I'm committing myself to being school related productive all day on tuesday and thursday in exchange for do nothing (except for things that HAVE to be done) days on monday, wednesday and friday. this way I make myself get stuff done since just about everything is more exciting then reading another article about integrating math and science classes. here's some of the list of things I'd rather be doing then homework

• sorting through things deciding what to send where
  
• packing
• organizing my life
• planning for my classes in the fall
• putting together my picture album
• completing one of the many sewing projects I got at the end of the school year
• tending to my plants (nursing my gerber daisy back to helth)
• reading my book
• watching a movie

basically everything....thus the difficulty focusing on school

easily molded

they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery or something like that. I apparently wish to flatter anyone who I spend a prolonged amount of time with. My roommate has recently been pointing out to me the random things that I have started to incorporate into my daily life and has questioned their origins. this has made me start to think and I've come to the realization that I adopt sayings, mannerisms, behaviors, and sometimes even accents from those that I spend time with. I used to work at a girl scout camp and we had a saying, "take only pictures, leave only footprints" well my friends I have taken much more than pictures from those that I have spent time with. below you can find a collection of other things i've gathered this summer and a small tribute to those who's individuality I have borrowed and molded into my own ...

• "whatevs" - a common phrase in my vocabulary, borrowed over the past year from my boyfriend I believe, one that drives my roommate crazy
• blogging - thanks to the boyfriend's sister for providing me with this past time to well pass time this summer
• "for reals" - again stolen from the boy, and annoying to the roommate
• watching bad TV (or not so bad TV depending on who you ask) - my roommate and I waste MANY hours watching things like so you think you can dance
• "the libs" - a short lived phrase picked up from the chicago kids, currently purged from my vocab, probably due to return in early August.
• g-mail chat - used now more in my life than aim or ichat. never used before my most recent chicago trip
• "mad skillz" - a frequently typed phrase...attributed to many e-mails and g-mail chat conversations, adopted again from the boy

father's day

apparently I post here when I am bored. apparently that's why I started this when I did. and well my massive undertaking of a father's day gift has filled my time keeping me from being bored. well that and being sucked into watching So You Think You Can Dance with my roommate. but the father's day gift. my dad, like most dads has always imparted on us certain phrases and words of wisdom that we incorporate into our lives. so here's my recollection of my dad over the years. some have truth, some just his craziness.