Music & Memories

For lack of anything real to blog about, I've been thinking recently about songs or artists that I tend to associate with a particular person or time in my life. Some examples:

• Bob Marley & The Tragically Hip - the summer of Seth, after my sophomore year of college
• Pearl Jam & Soundgarden - Matt from high school. I had the biggest crush ever on him. We went to see the movie Singles together, and he was my first kiss.
• Blink 182 & Nine Inch Nails - Anthony, a Navy boy from my time in Florida. He was the exact reason why people warned me to stay away from the Navy boys. Bad news.
• Moxy Fruvous - Jenny, she introduced them to me. And took me to see a bunch of their shows. So much fun.
• Barenaked Ladies, Gordon - Brian, the life guard captain I dated in Florida. I was listening to that CD obsessively during the time we dated. I was also warned away from the lifeguards, but he was a really good guy.
• Garth Brooks - all my college pals. Imagine drinking and singing along. One of the bars we went to every week would even play one of his songs every week just for us. Good times. Bad dancers.
• Jimmy Buffett - Amy, my best friend from high school. She owned every CD he ever released. We went to one of his concerts together where I had my picture taken with some random guy in a coconut bikini.

I haven't gotten hooked on the ipod craze yet, but sometimes I can definitely see the appeal.

What are the odds?

I stopped for gas last night and as I pulled back onto the road, I thought the guy in the car in front of me looked familiar. Like a friend of mine from high school that I keep in touch with via the afore mentioned My Space. I knew he was due to visit the area, although I thought not until next week.

But this morning I found a message from him asking if it was me or my doppelganger he'd seen driving to Hometown yesterday.

Last time we got together was six years ago when we had a nice dinner at a local middle eastern restaurant and talked for hours. He's one of those people that seems like he's changed a lot since high school (the tattoos and singing for a heavy metal band, etc.), but is really the same Eagle scout at heart.

Guess I should have waved.

Supportive

I managed to snag a few minutes of my boss' time first thing this morning. As expected, she was very supportive and promised a glowing reference. Needless to say, that is a huge relief. Knowing how things work around here, they probably already had someone in mind for the position but had to list it anyway. The good thing is that now she knows that I am open to advancement and taking on more responsibility.

On a totally unrelated note, my bloggy-friend Nicole is pregnant! I am so excited and thrilled for her. I can't wait to read all the gory details.

More Assvice Needed

This is getting old.

Now the boss is out of town for two days.

Do I continue to wait so that I can talk to her first?

Or do I submit the application materials and catch her when she gets back on Wednesday? I have my cover letter and resume ready to submit. On that subject, can I just say that I find cover letters to be tiresome.

So whatcha think?

Windows

I know some of you have been anxiously awaiting a return to the home improvement-oriented posts. Don't worry, there is still plenty to be done around the house. I was just taking a (much deserved) break.

Today while my fiance was off shoveling snow from a roof, I decided it was time to be productive again. I applied the second coat of paint to the trim around the window in the smallest bedroom. That leaves only one more window to be painted (in the kitchen). I still have to do the baseboard trim in the bathroom and the smallest bedroom (ugh, I should probably be doing that right now).

After I finished painting the window frame, I went shopping for curtains and hardware. We've been living in a fishbowl for over a month and while I like the look of naked windows, come summertime I will not want to be visible to the masses out enjoying the fine weather. Plus, the windows in this house are of a very poor quality, so I've been hunting for insulated or lined curtains to help cut down on drafts. I had no idea how not fun curtain shopping really is. I ended up with the hardware for three windows and curtains for one.

Won't my fiance be thrilled to get out his tools after a hard day of shoveling? 

Another Snow Day

As I mentioned here, I have decided not to go to work today. I can't face another driving experience like the one I had on Wednesday.

It's hard not to think about trading in my trusty Ion for something with four wheel drive (like a Subaru!). I hate being so at the mercy of the weather.

This is also not how I envisioned using my vacation days: stuck in a freezing cold house. At least it's warm at work.

I'd been hoping to talk to my boss about possibly applying for the job, so I could work on that this weekend. I couldn't corner her yesterday because of how busy she was trying to take care of two days worth of work after the weather fiasco on Wednesday. She isn't making the drive into the office today either since she has an even longer commute than I do. So now, do I apply for the job over the weekend and talk to her on Monday after the fact? Or do I wait and hope that the job continues to be listed (it's an open until filled listing) and talk to her first?

Well that was not fun

This was me: blah, blah, Nor'easter, blah, blah. We're pretty used to snow in these parts; what's the big deal?

This was reality biting me in the ass: Big, freakin' deal.

So I get up and get on the road on time, no big deal. I steadily and safely crawl towards the city at 30-40 mph, no big deal. I am running only about 15 minutes late by the time I approach my office. No big deal. And then traffic comes to a halt on the hill up towards where I work. Now, I'm in trouble. I knew this at the bottom; I'd already been chanting "don't stop, don't stop" over and over (out loud and not quietly). Alas, they stopped. And there was no going forward at that point for me. Try as I might I just couldn't do it. It took about 20 minutes and a very nice man in full-body Carheart to get me turned around and headed back down the hill.

I try back-tracking and heading through a local neighborhood. But as I approach that left hand turn, I see two buses and several cars stopped in both directions. Next, I try the road our local German restaurant sits on. I didn't have high hopes since it is not a main thoroughfare. I made it all the way to the end when some bleepity, bleep, bleep actually stopped at the freakin' stop sign. Um, hello?! WTF?

So I reverse it yet again and head back the way I came. By this time, I'm shaking, sweating, and occasionally crying. I'd made it to within half a mile of my damn job and couldn't get the rest of the way there. I finally give up and head back into the city to look for a flattish on-ramp to get back on the highway and go home.

You're wondering why I even tried to go to work in the first place, aren't you? Because I had a French exam in class tonight and Hometown University NEVER cancels classes. EVER.

Anyway, back to me and my lovely morning. After running three stoplights and countless stopsigns, I finally make it home and bam! I got stuck trying to pull back in the driveway (yes, another slight hill). I called my fiance and started shoveling. It took him about 10 minutes just to get my fool car out of the road and more or less in the driveway.

So two hours after I left home, I was back inside, covered in sweat and snow and with muscles aching from the stress and tension. But all in one piece. I saw many cars in much worse predicaments.

I was picturing my fiance having to drive me back into the city tonight for my exam, but not that long ago came the surprising announcement that HU had actually cancelled all afternoon and evening classes. Phew. Of course, now I have to worrying about this exam all weekend until Monday night. Just can't win.

I hope everyone is safe and warm. Please stay home if you can!

Run-of-the-mill job woes

Work has slowed down considerably. It's back to "busy" work for too much of the day. I can't stand trying to look occupied.

As usual, I've been keeping an eye on the job postings. There's one I've been thinking about applying for since last week. It one grade higher and pays significantly better. I can't help but wonder if I should talk to my boss about it. I'd have to use her as a reference anyway, and she would know if it's a good work environment and whether it's even worth my time and yada yada yada. But I don't want her thinking I'm hellbent on jumping ship. That can't be good come review time.

I hate that everything boils down to money. And the fact I need more of it (who doesn't?). This is the best job I've ever had, and I'm still just barely scraping by.

So do I try to find something that pays more but might be even less enjoyable, or do I just stick my head back in the sand?

Procrastination

I need to do my French homework, especially since I didn't do all of it while I was sick. But my brain doesn't feel like thinking in a foreign language at the moment. We have our first exam on Wednesday (Happy Valentine's Day, right?), so not only should I be doing my homework, but I should also be studying.

Bah! I want to read instead. I finished the novel I was reading for the last month last night and started a new book, My Life in France by Julia Child. I figured it was an appropriate subject matter, but now I am much more interested in that than in classwork. Duh!

I am having a nightmare of a time with my registration. It is way too complicated and dull to go into here, but as of right now I am not even registered for this darn class anymore. I will be pretty bitter if I'm doing all this work for nothing. All I can say is, bureaucracy sucks ass.

Diningroom/Kitchen

OK, so I was going for more of a terracotta feel. But I can live with lobster bisque. Once the new counter tops are installed, it will all come together better (like it does in my head). The floors are a whole other issue. Even though the linoleum pattern was picked "to hide the dirt," it is just plain ugly and from an altogether different decade.

The mirror was a gift to my mom from my father's sister and brother-in-law. I have always like it, and so I rehung it after painting in virtually the same spot that it has hung for the last twenty-five years, sandwiched between the dining room window and the backdoor (which still needs to be repainted).

At some point, I have been meaning to blog about making a home in a house that has previously played a role in your life. In my case, that would include two grandparental homes and now the home from my youth. But I will leave that for another day.

My mouse hand is already quite chilled.

And I still need to offer Happy Birthday wishes to Marni and Jenny F.

Here we go again

I received another letter from my girly doctor saying they were unable to contact me by phone and to call the office to schedule a repeat pap.

First of all, they have both of my phone numbers, so, really, how hard did they try to contact me?

Second, this will make three paps in six months. I feel certain that is too many. Not to mention the vaginal ultrasounds that I've had (two? three? I've lost count), and the fact that I'm supposed to have another one of those next month. Perhaps we should just set up a standing monthly appointment and they can poke and prod me to their hearts content.

Oy.

Sorry menfolk, hopefully you stopped reading this quite sometime ago.

Home Sick

This cold is kicking my ass, so I elected to not go to work today. That's why I have all those sick days, right?

I've been laying on the couch watching TV and drinking hot herbal tea. My fiance brought me chicken noodle soup when he stopped home for lunch, although he claimed not to have enough time to take Paulie out, so I had to drag myself out into the frigid wind for the third time today. Damn dogs.

The best thing about this wretched day is that it is brightly sunny so the solar has been running. For the first time since we've moved in, it's actually above 65 degrees in the downstairs. But since the computer is upstairs, I'm outta here.

Don't worry couch, I'm coming back!

Nada

If you're wondering why I have been writing mostly about the past of late, it's because I don't have much of anything going on in the present. I've been working six days a week and I have class two nights a week. By the time I get home from work and we eat dinner, I'm ready to fall asleep on the couch. I have done no painting, no unpacking, no organizing, and no reading.

It's too cold outside to do anything more than take the dogs out. In fact it's too cold inside to do anything more than huddle beneath the goose down comforter. The thermostat is the stupid kind that doesn't tell the temperature. You just set it and assume it is doing it's job. We bought an indoor-outdoor thermometer last weekend because I can't start the day without knowing how painfully cold or how ridiculously warm it is. It turns out that the reason it felt extremely cold in the house is that even though I have the thermostat set at 63, the house is consistently between 56 and 58 degrees. Brrrh.

Plus, now I think I'm coming down with something (my throat hurts and I feel weak). I can't call in sick tomorrow because I have class and we have a quiz. I'm sure I'm going ace that.

That about sums it up. I did hang a bird feeder though. I wonder how long it will take for the birdies to find it.

Wish Lists

When I was a teenager, I used to make wish lists. They consisted of items that I hoped to accomplish at some point in my life. Last night, while hunting in an old diary for a letter written by the old friend that has recently found me again, I happened upon two of the lists I'd written in the early 90s.

On March 30, 1992 I wrote a list of 25 items. Running though them, I see that I can check 12 of them off as done. Some of them are rather objective: to go to a "good" college, to get a "good" job, and to have "fun" at college (clearly, I was a big fan of quotes). Then there are the ones that fall along a very specific time line: to get my driver's licence before the age of 18 and to graduate from high school in the top 20. Others are more obscure: to have a boyfriend, to fall in love, to meet someone famous.

One of my favorite ones is to get a bikini, wear it, and feel good about it. I'm checking that one off. I also get to check off to ride in a stretched white limo, something I have done only once on National Guinness Day when my roommate and I weaseled our way into the entourage of some radio station promoters.

Just about the only one that I will never be able to achieve was my wish to not be "sweet sixteen." Nothing I can do about the fact no one wanted to kiss me back then.

Some of the wishes I can still work on are to go scuba diving, to go on a cruise, and to travel.

I wouldn't be able to write one of these lists now. The unflagging optimism of youth is long gone. But it is still fun to read through them and try to remember what it felt like to be that girl.