Tis the season to not write a blog

Man oh man I have sucked at blogging lately, sorry.

There finally is some snow in the capital region. Being from Michigan I'm used to snow from November to March...at least. It's hard for me to get into the Christmas spirit without it.

Although after the snow, people were driving 35 mph on the highway. Really unnecessary.

We opened gifts at Brian's parent's house last night. The whole evening was really nice. I got some sweet boots.

We opened present there so early because we are leaving on Friday for a week in Michigan. Hopefully the weather will be on our side. I am looking forward to some time in Grand Rapids. My trips there always feel rushed so it will be nice to have more than a weekend to enjoy the place. I can't wait to see all my friends and family.

My dad brought up a valid point, I did just see my friends in the city. But seeing old friends is always better in the town where you all grew up.

We traveled to the city last weekend for Thuan's b-day and to visit Mema. Both were great.

I may introduce Brian to Steak n' Shake while in the mitten. I feel it might not live up to the hype.

The best of the Midwest

It has been a busy couple of weeks. Recap!

Anna came to visit for a weekend. I had a really great time with her. We went to the mall (of course) and shopped for four hours. I don't think I could enjoy shopping that long with anyone else. We also drank sangria and watched a chick flick. Pretty much the usual stuff. I loved it and Brian tolerated all the giggling.

I came out to my car last week and discovered a flat tire. My little girly arms could not move the lug nuts (I lift weights, so disappointing) so I had to call a tow company to help me. The tow guy said I shouldn't drive to work on the spare so then I went to the shop for a new tire. It all took a long time and was very frustrating. But now I have one shiny new tire.

This weekend we attended a beautiful wedding in Madison, Wisconsin. Congratulations to Maria and Cameron!
The wedding was really nice and it was great to see all of Brian's friends. The food at the wedding made my personal list of top wedding foods of 2008. The dancing was super fun. And the hotel had a whirlpool!
Then came the plane ride back...long story short we didn't get home to Albany until 4am. Brian and I do not stay up that late.

Madison is much closer to Grand Rapids than Albany. So close and yet so far. It looked and felt a lot like GR. The building are much flatter and there is much more open space than in the East. Also it was about 15 degrees out when the sun went down.

Voting

I voted this morning for the first time in the state of New York. I hate to say it, but I think I like voting in Michigan better.

Reasons:

-The old ladies are really nice at my old Michigan voting place
-My name was right next to my mom's (Susan and Sandra) and the ladies would tell me if my mom had voted yet
-The school gym I would vote in is much larger than the tiny room at the senior citizen center
-I had to ask for help to close the curtain
-Punching the paper is easier than the giant machine
-I liked seeing my paper ballot zip into the machine to count my vote
-I did not get a sticker! This reason counts like ten times, the sticker was one of my favorite things.

I even took a picture of one once.


(Side note: I loved that world map back there)

Anyway, Brian and I first talked about Obama in the summer of 2005 at Camp Fowler. We joked about making Obama 08' shirts. I am very excited for the results and plan on watching the news all night long.

I was also incredibly surprised and discouraged talking to my co-worker about the election. He does not believe in voting or really the government. He believes that people in the government, at all levels, are out for themselves and no one else. I felt awful for him. I would hate to go through life believing people are inherently selfish. I can understand feeling like your vote may not mean anything on a national level, but voting can really count for you on a local level. In Grand Rapids I voted in several very close races and for many close proposals (zoo expansion anyone). He needs to snap out of it.

Woah

Sometimes we think our neighborhood is crap. Some examples:
-I had just finished showering last week when I heard pounding on our neighbors door. I, obviously, go look out the peephole to see it was a police man who wanted to see her! Then he pounded on my door. When I opened up I was presented with a mug shot and asked if this was our neighbor (it was). Pretty much my crime drama dream come true. So now I'm insanely curious what she did and why the cops had to come find her. She's still next door five days later.
-There was almost no room to park last night because someone had dumped a giant red couch next to the dumpster. Lot of people who don't live in the building dump their trash with us. Next to Price Chopper it's probably the easiest place around.
-There was a shooting of a UAlbany student about a mile away from us. Pretty sad.

Our rent is good though.

I don't really know how to feel about an encounter I had at Geneseo (Brian's school) last weekend. A (gay) guy from his swim team came up and started dancing with me. After like two seconds he pointed at me and yelled, "YEAH FRESHMAN!!".

"Um, I'm 24."

I look to my boyfriend for help only to see him doubled over with laughter.

Awesome. He thought I was a recruit.

Everything!

Oh blog..its been to long.

A dream come true arrived in the mail for me. Unfortunately it arrived in Michigan. I finally got a jury summons. Sadly I no longer live in Michigan and could not become the awesome jury member I've always wanted to be. Ever since I read John Grisham's Runaway Jury I've wanted to join in the fun. I guess I'll have to wait a little bit longer.

Last weekend we went apple picking again. The place was really really full of children and pregnant women. They were everywhere you looked. We waited in line for doughnuts for over an hour. They were worth the wait. Also in line was a surgically enhanced lady. I had never seen one so close before. Her lips were huge to match her chest.

This weekend we visited Brian's old college. There was an alumni swim meet for his old swim team. The whole weekend was a fun time. There were a couple moments I looked around to find myself the only female in the room. A lot of testosterone going around to say the least. All the boys were super excited to be there again. I asked Brian what I should take picture of at the meet, his reply, "Everything!".

I recently had to get my heart looked at with an ultra-sound machine. I'm pretty sure it was called an echo cardiogram. I need to get checked out every five years or so to see if I was lucky enough to avoid my dad's genetic heart condition. I liked watching my heart work on the screen. I did not like the goop all over the front of my torso.

Spooktacular

It's fall again. So far we have had a fairly pleasant Autumn. Sometimes fall can be rainy and awful. I was thinking about what I was doing last fall. I was working at Bed, Bath and Beyond, one of the lower points of my life so far, where Halloween crap was in full swing. Plenty of people bought tons of Halloween and then Thanksgiving and then Christmas junk. I really don't see the point of decorating according to season or holiday unless you are a homemaker with no children. Who has time to redecorate every month? Most of that fare is pretty ugly anyway.

Actually, if the purpose was to scare the pants off of a 2nd grader, I know it would have worked on me.

My parents came to visit for four whole days here in Albany. I think they had a good time and it gave me the opportunity to act like a tourist. We went on some of Brian's old field trips and then some: capital building, viewing deck of Corning Tower, church flea market, Saratoga, Saratoga battlefields, FDR estate Hyde Park, theater, and Fowler + Auger Falls. It was a very nice visit overall. The best part might have been the ziti Brian made for us.

Two weekends ago I traveled to Boston to visit Rachel and see Thuan and Anna. We always have fun when we all get together. I feel very lucky to have old friends so close by geographically.

With the past two weekends so full, studying for the big test hasn't been easy. Trying to study on weekday evenings is difficult when the Office and ANTM is on.

This was also, too crazy to keep from you.

I might hate math

So I will be taking the GMAT soon as part of my quest to go back to school again in the fall. This meant I had to start studying my math and grammar. I was actually pretty good at math in school. Tex told me I should be a mathematician at parent-teacher conferences. Unfortunately I cannot remember anything that I learned. Brian (weirdo) can remember the formula for a circle's radius, I sure can't. Math was much like Spanish class for me, as soon as I learned what I needed to pass the course, I promptly forgot everything. This worked out better for Math than Spanish. On the GMAT you don't get a calculator. I have a real problem with this. They first gave me a calculator in the 2nd grade and I always had one in class past 7th. Why should I be expected to divide big numbers and fractions in my head, that's not a requirement in life.

Anyway I'm sure it will all be OK.

As you can probably tell by my last two post I've been politically occupied online. I have all day to read the NYT op-eds. I hope this election goes the right way.

Big Brother ends tonight. There goes one time-waster. I really hope Dan(from the mitten!) wins.

I have now lived in our apartment and thus Albany for over a year. Hitting that mark is the closest thing Brian and I have to a real anniversary date. We will be staying in our little place for at least one more year. It suits us just fine for now.

I am slowly losing my patience here at Abacus. I can't wait to start school and leave this job behind.

Les Mis

I know I need to write a real post soon. Until then, I loved this-

param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" />

Les Misbarack | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Now that's more like it

Just one reason I like Obama

"We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers.''

-Barack Obama

You wanna hear some blues?

You may know that I really enjoy guacamole. We have made lots of guac lately and it rocks. I think I may have mastered the art of picking out just the right avocados. Not too swishy, just just swishy enough.

John Mayer was pretty great. It was the only big concert Brian and I went to this summer and we both agreed we picked the right one to attend. The weather was totally on our side, it was a beautiful night. We even ran into one of my favorite Fowler campers. At SPAC we usually run into campers, but that will probably happen less and less as the summers go by.

I forgot to mention last weekend we also volunteered on a Habitat for Humanity house. I had done this a couple times before in Michigan with my youth group, but it was a first for Brian. This site was a little more unorganized than the ones I had been on previously. Basically it was a bunch of retired men in charge, so there was no rush. Then some people came who really didn't want to do much of anything. When they requested more people to get onto the roof to nail, I looked around at a bunch of grown people staring at their feet and figured it was time to get up there. I actually really like working on the roof, I thought it would be scary, but it wasn't so bad. Overall it was a great experience and I think we should do it again.

It is now post time, and party time

Brian and I have been trying to squeeze as much into the last weekends of summer as we can. We finally fulfilled my dream of going to a drive-in movie, which there are several of close by. In Michigan I can only think of one, and it was a long drive. Anyway I really liked it a lot. It was nice to sit outside, and we could talk without bothering anyone. Cheap side: we saw two movies for $8 a person, can't beat that.

We have been going to our neighborhood pool a lot this summer and we made another trip this weekend. I won't lie it's pretty ghetto, but again pretty cheap (free). We can't bring any bags in, you have to put the bag in a locker or just carry stuff in. Whateves

SPAC is next on the list, we are heading there tonight for the John Mayer concert. I've never seen him, but I have heard good things. I think SPAC is a great place to see live music. Our second summer at camp we were there for three different concerts and they were all great. It's really nice have music available close by. In GR you pretty much had to drive to Detroit or Chicago for a lot of acts (unless it's country music, then there's no problem really).

Brian starts school on Tuesday, so I will probably need to entertain myself a little bit more. I might start knitting again.

Splash and Dash

Well swimming is over and going to sleep on time can start up again. Gymnastics were also keeping me up. I was completely taken in by the so-not-sixteenness of the Chinese gymnastics. They were so tiny! Not cool man.

On an Olympic note: I love the movie Cool Runnings. Here is a clip, go to 9.35 for the song that never gets old.

Dwindling photo cred

http://herald.rca.org/inprint/churchnews0908.html

Just a little bit about the new dining hall at camp.

There was a factory, Now there are mountians and rivers

I listen to NPR a few hours everyday at work. I like Diane Rehm, she is a pro. Today they were talking about student loans and a caller ended up sobbing on air over his financial troubles. I had to turn it off it was so depressing. I get sad about my student loans sometimes, but I know how lucky I am to have as little as I do. I would never be driven to sobs on the Diane Rehm show.

Also NPR related: I don't think it's my Michigan bias, but quite a lot of callers from my home state.

We have been watching the Olympics like the rest of the world. Swimming is a lot more fun to watch with a swimmer.

We bought a converter box for our TV. The picture is really clear...when it comes through right. ABC and CBS are good, but NBC is super finicky. We spent about half an hour getting a good picture to watch some diving.

I think I am finally getting used to the regular gym visits (only took two months). There are so many weirdos at the Y. I got so used to the GVSU workout facility where we all could have come from the same dutch family. Our Y includes:
- a guy who wears a horrible toupee while lifting, seriously doll hair
- a fairly old man who doesn't notice his shorts are really really falling down his backside
- a horrible grunting man, several times I have thought he was having some sort of medical emergency
- a guy who works out in belted pleated khakis and a black button up short sleeved shirt, and a walkman

We finally made it to camp this weekend. So good. It was great to see friends again. Weather was on our side on Saturday, we enjoyed a beautiful canoe ride to the outlet and a nice time on the raft. Dinner was delicious in Wells. Melodies was good for beer and some Olympic viewing. It was pouring and chilly when we left on Sunday, it's easier to leave when it's raining.

Que pasa

I just ran our of tissues at my office desk. I need more. I am pretty attached to both tissues and chap stick. I probably don't need either of them, but I can't help myself.

Summer is in full swing and that means Big Brother has returned to CBS. I'm more sucked in this time since I can read stuff about real time happenings in the house all day long. So far the cutest thing that has happened is swimming lessons. Two house guest that didn't know how to swim at all are getting get instruction from a patient fellow house guest. Of course stuff like that never gets to TV.

Brian thinks we are watching to much television. He may be right. Once we get our Netflix in the mail and we feel like we should finish them as soon as possible to receive our next instalment. We just completed Flight of the Conchords: Season One. Hilarious. Last night we watched the first disc of Big Love, which was good but creepy.

Since we work out after work around five days a week, I've had a hard time phoning friends to chat.
Since I have tons of time at work, I'm trying email.

Update: My hand is still tingly. I don't think I have carpel tunnel. I haven't been working here that long. I think I may have slept on my hand all night or something last Monday. Anyway, I think it is gradually getting better, although still weird.

Can't be good right?

Since Tuesday I have had half a tingly hand. On my right hand, the ring finger and pinky finger along with the rest of my hand below those fingers are all numb and tingly feeling. Sometimes it gets worse, sometimes its almost gone, but never really gone yet. It doesn't hurt.

I have no idea.

That was fun, I should do it again sometime.

Let's see whose armpit smells worse?

Brian and I workout maybe five days a week on average. This is a lot for little me. We were lifting every other workout session, but I think I need to scale back. My arms were getting bigger and I don't really want them to get any larger. Huge arms might look awkward on my body. Watching TV at the Y makes the cardio portion go much faster. The problem with the TVs, is there are only three of them. Usually one is on sports and two are on news, sometimes that ratio is reversed. I would really like to watch MTV or Bravo.

We saw two of Brian's cousins from Long Island this weekend. One brought her photo album from her recent Sweet 16 party. It was seriously nicer than some weddings I've attended. As nice as I'm sure it was, I was pretty happy on my 16th birthday with pizza and a basement.

Sunday was a nice day. We finally made it to an early summer church service (9 am, why?). We sure picked the right day, there was communion and a baptism. The baby was super chubby and cute, she didn't cry at all. Later we tried to go to the local pool. We had to wait awhile to get in, someone had an accident in there. I always thought pooping was bad to pick up at the museum, but a pool totally tops that. After a quick dip, we headed to a Valleycats game. The ballpark was small compared to the huge Grand Rapids Whitecaps park, but just as fun. The game was really fun despite the whining children...but then it got rained out. Still a very relaxing day that seemed to go on forever.

These are their stories...

So at work about 75 percent or more of my time is spent doing nothing. I try to pass the time surfing the web. But lately one thing has occupied my time here. I have been watching Law and Order SVU a lot. Who doesn't like Ice-T? I can watch it instanly through Netflixs.

I think I need to scale back some of this. I have become increasingly nervous that some crazy person will scale the side of my building at night and hurt me. I am most paranoid in the morning when I'm alone in the apartment. It's all pretty ridiculous but I can't help myself. I used to really work myself up in my attic bedroom at my parents house. I would work out scenarios in my mind of how I would react to my attackers. Most of the reactions included hiding.

On a lighter note we got a free Sam's Club membership through my work. Here we come free samples!

Not now chief, I'm in the zone

This weekend marked our final wedding of the summer. It was by far the biggest and most expensive wedding I've ever attended. It was beautiful and probably exactly what they wanted, but it was kinda a lot for me. My favorite part may have been the great brunch they had for guests on Sunday morning.

The wedding included both Catholic and Jewish traditions. I was pretty stoked to yell "mazel tov" after the wine bottle was stomped.

The bride was wearing a strapless gown. They all are these days.

I just had my three month review at Abacus. The easiest review ever. My boss hates doing them and it shows. He ended it as quickly as possible and I was more than OK with that. Quick and painless.

I've been missing the Michigan beach this summer. I tried to enjoy it last year as much as possible before I left. Hopefully next summer we can stay long enough in the mitten for a beach visit.

Ticky Tacky

Brian and I just got back from a wonderful weekend with friends in the city. I really do consider myself very lucky to still be so close to my friends from high school. Thuan, Rachel, Anna and I had a great time staying with Thuan in her summer apartment. Thaun was a great host and made us delicious food.

We were super tired after the weekend but, as Brian said, "It's a good kind of tired".

When we got home we both felt like this:


Now we have a four day work week and its time for a trip to Mich. I can't wait to see my family and Eric getting married :)

Watch or Warning?

We finally got around to making my birthday cake. My personal favorite, fun-fetti with chocolate frosting. I never used to be very fond of cake. Then I started working where they threw kids bday parites and learned to like it very much. The cake was delicious.

We just survived our first heat wave (90s for four days) in the apartment. It was so so so hot. And so so so humid. The dew point was reaching the 60s and 70s. I really don't like sweating very much, so I was kinda miserable.

to a happy song

So basically I really like Weezer. Next to the Beatles they are probably my favorite band. I was very excited that their new album came out on my birthday (totally a sign), and Brian was nice enough to present me with it. You can tell Rivers is much happier than he has been in years. I'm pretty sure this is because he got married to the Asian girl of his dreams. In his words "Goddamn you half-Japanese girls. Do it to me every time".

My birthday was super fun. Danielle and Annie came to dinner at Bombers with us. I got a delisious pitcher of margarita mostly to myself. After a stop at our place we headed to karaoke. We met up with Dan and Chris who both sang. Brian sang too, which is always a treat. Even I sang (doesn't happen often) with Danielle - Toxic by Britney Spears. I think Toxic rock.

They say it's your birthday

Today I turn 24, my favorite number. Hopefully it will be a good year.

Freihofer's Run for Women is a 5k that they hold in Albany every year. Lucky for us it loops past our apartment near the start and back for the finish. It was really cool watching all the females run.



What really suprised me was the age of all the girls running. There was a six-year old running! We saw so many little girls running alongside the older people. They had legs as big as my little wrist! And they were passing people, lots of people. A lot of the girls were among the front of the pack finishing. I was amazed. Brian decided that I will run it next year. I decided I would see about that. I could run by our place next year, see Brian and give him the finger while I pant down the hill. Could be fun.

And... I'm spent

So Brian and I finally signed up for the YMCA. We have been planning to join for months now. When you join the Y you can meet with a fitness instructor for free. This seemed like a good idea until he asked what I wanted to get out of working out.
"Um I just want to be in better shape..yeah."
I felt pretty awkward talking about fitness but the guy had really good advice and showed us the proper way to use everything and in what order we should go. Apparently strength training comes before cardio. I can honestly say I have never worked out so much in my life. When we do our strength training it takes a good hour and a half to get everything in. I've never stayed at the gym that long.

Last weekend I went to the Jersey Shore with Anna and Rachel and a bunch of Anna's friends for her birthday. I wasn't sure it would be my deal and it wasn't really. I liked the beach and hanging out but the giant packed club with super expensive drinks, not so much. Anna was hilarious though :)

My own birthday is coming up. I don't have much planned other than a giant birthday margarita at Bombers.

There is a dedication for the new dining hall at Fowler this weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing camp again. It's too bad we really don't have time to volunteer for a whole week this summer. I know other summers will come, but I'm still sad not to spend more time there. Hopefully we can make a couple weekend visits. Rain is predicted for the dedication day. When I think back to weekends at camp it rained a lot.

No You're the Best

Holy crap look what I found

Who knew red nail polish was the devil?

I've got a crush...

Words cannot describe my feelings when I discovered that Obama would be visiting Grand Rapids.

Urgh. I was not a happy camper, that is for sure.

Like the dork that I am I actually thought about this kind of thing happening when I moved. By living in Grand Rapids, Michigan I have been lucky enough to attend rallies for Al Gore, Kerry and see President Bush. I also saw Bob Dole's running mate. His name escapes me, but I remember he threw a football. I really enjoyed being a part of these big rallies. It's very exciting especially when you are rooting for whoever is there.

On Tuesday I got on the Internet at work as I always do and it took about five minutes to discover that Obama would be having a rally at the arena. I pretty much flipped out. Ugh, how am I missing this? I love Obama! Brian and I discussed him in the summer of 2005, we have been fans for a long time. Soon it seems that everyone I know was posting on facebook that they were attending.

Then on Wednesday to my horror I find out that this will be the event that Edwards endorses Obama at. Sadness.

Oh well.

I don't think they will be coming here...


Taken in GR :(

Wait what?

So this weekend was Tulip Fest in Albany, New York, located in Washington Park just a block or so away from our apartment. For those readers from my native city of Grand Rapids, Michigan it might be compared to our Tulip Time or the Festival of the Arts. But there were some significant differences.

-There was a lot of drinking. This doesn't happen at events put on in Holland, MI period.
-There was a lot of open underage drinking. People were not even using plastic cups, they just carried cases into the park. Seriously Festival would be a whole lot crazier if that could fly in GR.
-There was a pony ride!! Wow this one I really wish could happen in MI.
-There were baby sheep to pet! Ditto from above, who doesn't love petting baby animals.
-I had heard of the band that played on Saturday. While Tulip Time gets some big names, Festival really only gets local bands (which is great). But the crowd in Albany was way way bigger than would fit at the Calder Stage.
-I felt like there should have been more tulips.
-There wasn't really any Dutchness going on. Brunettes definitely outnumbered the blonds. I did not see one wooden shoe. They did burn a floating windmill.

Do do do

We attended our first wedding of the summer last friday. It was a very nice ceremony and a really great reception. Brian got to see a lot of his old swimming friends so that was good. The weird thing that I noticed during the wedding was that god, or the bible, or anything religios was not touched on at all. All the weddings I have ever attended they at least read some Corintians or something.

I cannot wait for the summer to start. Brian will finally have some free time and there are so many things we can do in Albany in the summer. In GR I did always feel limited to my choices for things to do. My friends and I saw a lot of movies.

This weekend I watched The Business of Being Born -



http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

Synopsis: "The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal.

Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?"

Anyway this movie kind of blew my mind and even though I will not be having a baby for a long long time, I will definetly keep the points that they made in mind. In America having a mid wife seems like nutty thing, but America also has the second worst infant mortality rates out of the develped countries. I would really recomend this movie.

That's what she said

So last Friday it was the first really nice day that felt like it could be summer. I got home and decided to sit on our back porch and read. I got all ready and walked out to settle down. As soon as I exited out back door I saw about three huge bees and two wasps. If you have ever been in my presence while a bee is near, you know that these are not my favorite creatures. Anything with black and yellow stripes that flies is not my friend. In the sixth grade I was yelling and running around on the playground when a bee flew right in my mouth and stung my tongue. A couple years ago I was stung waiting for the bus to campus and my hand was painfully swelled through two classes.

On my tongue! Who could blame me for hating them?

Needless to say the bees right outside my door are soooo not cool. I jumped right back in and watched as bees and wasps flew around our place all afternoon. I now have come to the conclusion that they are either hiving on the roof (we are on the top floor) or in the eves right above our back stairs. Now I can't even enter up the back. I become paralyzed with fear when they get close to me. And the bees are so so big! I never saw any so large in Michigan. They are the size of one of my fingers in width and more than a quarter in length.

I opened my window today at work for the first time. The breeze felt so nice and cool.

And then a bee flew in. Just as I was flipping out, it found it's way out the window. I can never enjoy the breeze again.

Along with the bees of summer, come my least favorite piece of apparel - the culotte or gaucho. Every girl around the GV campus would rock a pair of culottes with her flip flops and sun glasses. Seriously I just saw my first culotte of the season at the bank and I hate them so much.

Woah dude

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

I was bored and tried this.
So Ginny and I look like each other, that's pretty cool.
Yeah...

Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!

We went down to the city for 24 hours and had a good time. On the subway I saw a girl wearing glasses without lenses. I have always had a real problem with people who wear glasses as a fasion statement. I had to get glasses when I was six and felt it was my cross to bear everyday. Being called four-eyes is not a thing to aim for.




Bill Nye is back! I loved his science show as a kid (maybe later than that as well) He wrote an article about his green living. Some great Bill quotes from the article:

"I drink my lemonade in a beaker. "
"I like to carry a pocketknife that’s small enough that they let me take it through airport security. It was given to me by the actor Bob Picardo, who is on “Stargate,” and his wife. It’s shaped like a baseball bat. It’s freakin’ cool. "
"I love swing dancing. I go two nights a week, often four. The big thing you wear is swing pants. They are high-waisted and baggy. You also wear short-sleeved shirts and special shoes. "
"My neighbor has lived here since 1947. She is 82 and charming. Quite often on Sundays we sit on her back porch and eat scones that I make."

What a nice guy. I had a feeling he was a nice guy. Article link below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20wwln-domains-t.html?ex=1366257600&en=4b92d379b0618ae9&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Olympic Gold!

So back in my past I used to love watching figure skating. And most of all I loved Kristi Yamaguchi. Needless to say I have now become obsessed with her on Dancing with the Stars. She is so pretty and graceful I can't stand it. Kristi has gotten the best scores every week so far. If she doesn't win I will probably be upset. I thought last week was her personal best. Sorry for such a long video, you can totally fast forward until the good dancing part. So good!



My new job is going pretty well. I think I will fit in here fine. I already play Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon with them.

And I have another video here - but it's really the new Weezer song Pork & Beans from their album that will be released June 24. I think it sounds great.

Stay Classy Cincinnati

New things

So since I last posted I fell into a big-feeling-sorry-for-myself couple of weeks. At the Office of Mental Health they had informed us months ago that they would be keeping two or three of us four temps past the end date, which was March 31st. They did not let us know who was saying or going until around March 19th, giving us booted temps less than two weeks to find new employment. Well they decided to keep Dumb and Dumber (Horrible Helen and Tyler). They told Jen and I that there wasn't really a good reason for the choice and we had been great workers, etc. More than anything this angered us because it felt like the stupid people won. Anyway I was flipping my shit for a number of days.

I went on two interviews in one day and a day after that got an offer for a job. Today is my second day on the new job. After all my worry, I got really lucky and can't complain at all about what happened to me. As Tyler put it, I was the luckiest of all the temps. I am not temping anymore and have health insurance = a win for Sandy over Horrible Helen. I will never have to see her again. Thank God.

The new place is good so far. These guys are total computer nerds but super nice.

Sandy moment story:

I have on occasion what I call "Sandy moments". The last one that took the cake was when I turned off my car while still in drive. When I went to leave I thought my car was broke. Nicole and I took the bus home in the cold without jackets. Then I called my dad to help me, and he figured it out in two seconds.

This new one had way more drama. We were leaving for Buffalo that evening so Brian and I wanted to get out the door quick. I was hurrying home from work, holding groceries, my lunch bag, mail, purse, and file folder w/ all tax info as I walked up the stairs to get into my apartment. I stopped at the door to get in and my key would not turn for some reason. I dropped everything but my purse and ran to the back entrance of the building get into our back door instead. I got in fine and opened the door. All my stuff was gone!

I was freaking out, I questioned the girl next door and called the police. I was looking up stolen identity stuff (you need a police report to file for a credit freeze), and calling netflix since the discs were in the mail pile. Brian came home and he called his parents to let them know what was going on. He got a call back from them a second later and he walked out the the apartment. He came back with everything I thought I had lost. Hurray, nothing was stolen!

What did I do wrong? I walked up to the second floor and tried to get into the wrong apartment, we live on the third floor. Then I got in my apartment and thought everything had been taken. So I wasted an hour of my life, had to cancel the police, and hang my head in shame. So yeah, that's a Sandy moment for sure.

TweedleDee and TweedleDum

So Horrible Helen and Tyler are super fun in meetings. We had one this morning explaining a new database. They pretty much ran the meeting by creatively rephrasing everything we were told. I think they believe it makes them look smarter.

Supervisor: "So make sure to write the ID number on the top left hand corner of the sheet and then maybe your initials."

Tyler interrupts" "So we will just grab one off the stack, jot the ID and then our initials next to it?"

Supervisor: "Um yes!" (Nervous laughter)

Two minutes later...

Supervisor: Make sure to pay attention so the letters you are choosing, are the right ones."

Horrible Helen covers her face and mines hitting lots of keys without looking. She repeats to make sure the supervisor sees.




I'm the one in the headband.

Detroit What

We had a really good time this weekend at a dinner dance for Brian's MBA program. I might have had more fun than him. It was nice to dress up again. I hadn't attended a dance since the Presidents Ball with all the girls on my floor freshman year at GV. And before that it was the City dances. I did miss my own personal make-up artist (Emily), and getting ready with my friends. Brian only takes about 20 minutes to get completely ready and that includes a shower. He told me I should take something like 30 at the most.

Right.

Anna is coming to visit this weekend and will be our first official guest to stay over. I'm sure we will have a great time, probably induced by green beer.

After that is Easter weekend, and various activities including an Eric visit and a play and of course Easter.

And after that we are making a quick visit to Michigan. Thankfully Brian will be making the long drive with me. It is soooo much better to drive 11 hours with someone other than yourself.

Smoochies

Horrible Helen tried to kiss me on the cheeck.

I was sitting at my computer. She put her hands on my shoulders and leaned down for the kill. I strained with all my might, so that my face would not connect with hers. Ugh. She got the message I think (I try to make my body language obvious).

"I can't give you a smooch?"

"No."

There is no one I want a kiss from less.

"I'm just talking to myself" "Did you hear anything good?"

My new fav odd couple:



My life has become consumed by tabloid culture. I have to fill my time at work somehow. And the only thing here to amuse me is a computer. I can only read real articles for so long, and spider solitaire ends up putting me in a haze after a couple hours, and that leaves...Perez Hilton (among others).

Don't hate me, I hate myself enough for this.

I also watch too much TV. I read a ton at work (on the computer) so reading a book doesn't appeal to me as much as it should. I think I need to go for walks or somethings.

We are going on a GR weekend trip, the last weekend in March. Should be exciting. I haven't made the drive since September, should be fun (not). At least I will have someone to talk to this time around. Not to mention cruise control, it will be sooo much better with cruise control.

Fine eyes

I was pretty excited to watch the Oscar's last Sunday. Now that I think about it I don't know why I was so excited. usually I have seen most of the movies up for awards but this year I had viewed next to none of them (Atonement and Definitely, Maybe are all I've seen in a theater since I left MI). But as usual, I got ready to enjoy the show. I love seeing all the gowns and all the stars. Then I flipped the channels during commercials and saw that PBS was showing the last two hours of the Pride and Prejudice mini-series. Well it was pretty much curtains for the Oscar's after that. No one can resist Mr. Darcy.



Ugh I really miss the museum now and then. I got bored at work and looked up what people were posting on their blogs about the museum (I'm a creepster). Lots of cute families have been going there. I really want to see the new Bob the Builder exhibit. It is very strange to see events pass by at the museum that I have always worked.

Bye!

Goodbye Michigan, I've defected to New York.

I'm officially a New Yorker now. The license, the plate, the registration, the title and the inspection all switched. I was actually pretty nervous about the inspection. We don't have inspections in Michigan so I didn't know what to expect. But nothing was wrong I guess. They also don't tape your registration to your windshield ( I had to do that too).

Everyone at work had about the same reaction..."What Michigan doesn't inspect!?" "How do they know your car is safe?"
-Well I guess they just trust you to keep a working car on the road and a non-working car off. So are Michiganders more trustworthy? Probably not...I knew lots of people who drove around with a check engine light on.

Happy Valentines Day! (tomorrow)

Peter here at work is scrambling for a last minute gift and reservations. I feel a little bad for him. But not that bad, he totally didn't prepare. His wife is going to be pissed.

You are strong!

Well this weekend was spent in Buffalo for the big swimming competition. Brian and lots of other alumni came to support their team. But mostly the audience was filled with fanatical parents. I have never seen anything like it. People were dressing in matching shirts and hats. They were waving signs and chatting over and over again. They cheered for every little thing. The weirdest one I witnessed was a women crouching over the edge of the balcony to scream at her daughter, who was swimming (her head is literally under water, not to mention everyone else is yelling too) "YOU ARE STRONG KRISSY!".

The event Brian used to swim is ridiculously long, like 60 some laps in the pool. I would literally die.

Of course Geneseo won, and it was really exciting to see them so excited.

Two bad things from the trip:

-I got sick. Head cold + loud space = pain
-There was a blizzard the entire ride back, making the trip really long. (Apparently here people turn on their emergency flashing lights just to make sure you see them)

Back to work on a Monday, Horrible Helen and Tyler have already discussed royal marriages and various nuts. I think they are nutty.

MI vs. NY

So I have been in the process the last couple of weeks changing my residency to New York State. If you can avoid changing states at any point in your life, do it. Here is a list of what I had to do:

1st: At the DMV turn over Michigan license (so cute!) and register for a new New York one (bad, they didn't tell me when they were taking the picture)
2nd: Obtain insurance for NY. This was a real pain it took three phone calls, after I did insurance online to get something that said New York State on it.
3rd: Go back to the DMV and switch over title and registration.
4th: Get an inspection on your car within ten days.
5th: Figure out how to mount a front plate to the front of my car.

Ugh



On the other hand I didn't have to deal with a solid Michigan snow storm last week.

And now for something completely different:
Antiques Road Show is my new favorite TV show. I love the stories, the suspense and the surprise. And all the old ladies tickled pink over their tea sets.

Anyway

Life may not be as bad as it seems. I'm not this guy.



I'm also in a new area with no contacts, I shouldn't be so hard on myself.

We are going to a big swim-meet-thing for Brian's college this weekend. Should be a good time. I will probably have to make convo with other girlfriends who don't know what is going on. They wil have lots of free pizza and wings-a big plus. I've really been craving pizza.

Then next weekend I'm going down to Anna's again, this time because Rachel is visiting. I usually never see her, so I am very excited.

Today Horrible Helen wore an orange shirt. When she came back from her cruise last week she had re-dyed her hair. The 2 inches of grey were gone and her hair was one whole color again. Apparently it takes 4 boxed to get he whole length of hair covered in the dye. She says it is red, but it's definitely orange in hue, and it matches her shirt perfectly. Not a great color for a pale person.

Dark Winer Days

What is new with me?

Not much. We heard a pretty solid rumor that we (the temp) are going to be out of a job March 31st. This is both good and bad news. The good news is that I won't have to come to this wacky place anymore, enduring stupid co-workers and mind numbing boredom. The bad news is that I need to find a new way to make money so I can eat. It is horribly depressing where a degree will get you these days. I know I need to be patient, but its pretty hard. Everyone I graduated with is filling in the work info on Facebook with real jobs. Why can't I find one of those?

I have a theory that Grand Valley State University sounds like a mail-in college. People must think I didn't really go to school.

Brian has been really really busy with school work. He pointed out that if I go to school after him (which is the plan), we really won't see much of each other for the next 3.5 years.

Mustache

Feeling a little low on a Monday?

This should lift your spirits.



I want you to know this picture was taken before I was fully awake...
I usually look more awake.

The Shannon Bar

Work has been exceedingly quiet this week. With Horrible Helen gone, silence reigns, or at least less ridiculousness. We found out on Friday that our office is being moved to a different building. All of us temps/interns are going to be stuffed into a large cubicle all together like sardines. This is going to make it much harder to avoid Horrible Helen and her and Tyler's conversations.

I also found out that it is more than likely this temp job will continue for months after March (when they told us it would end). I guess this is a good thing, I would never quit without another job lined up first. But I don't love it here, and that ending point was a deadline for me to find something else (better). As things stand I'm still looking and applying. And it's very discouraging. I just want to go back to school.

On a brighter note. My weekend was great. We went down to visit Anna at Seton Hall. Thuan was also in the city so we got to spend time with her too. Good times all around. I'm looking forward to more visits. I don't have friends in Albany yet, so time with my friends from home is all the more appreciated.

Are these people f***ing stupid?

Well Horrible Helen is gone for a week-and-a-half. Her family is going on a cruise together. I guess its their "thing". Helen has been bidding on clothes from E-bay for months now. The one thing all these horrible clothes have in common is sparkle. Horrible Helen and her family all get dressed up in sparkle for every dinner on the cruise. This means lots and lots of sequins. I can only imagine being on a cruise, walking into the buffet and being blinded by all the sparkle. Not something I would want to experience. On a side note: I"m pretty stoked for her vacation too, I get a break from driving her home.

Horrible Helen being so ridiculous I haven't had a chance to describe any of my other co-workers.

-I share a cubicle with Alex (we are not important), he is a grad student at U Albany. He is 31, and wears horned-rimmed glasses. He's nice.

-Peter is the statistician with the foul mouth. He seriously swears a lot (more then my old roommate Nicole, and she had a mouth of a sailor). Every other work is f*** this and f*** that. Today he was like, "Is that how you spell count? Isn't there an O?"
Umm...wait what? ....Ohhhhh.

-Jamie is the other math guy, he is quite but talks to Alex and Peter. They go to lunch together often.

-Tyler is the another temp. He is nice enough, but really strange. He told one lady in a count Dracula voice, "Veh havve vays of vah-ching you!" Professional? Not really.
He also needs bigger shirts...

-Jenn is also a temp, but she has been her several months longer. She is a few months younger than me. We had similar majors and graduated at the same time. I hope I get a real job before her.

-Chris has worked for the state since she graduated for highs school. She is a nice lady, likes country music and has a little grand-daughter. She knows a lot of answers to a lot of questions.

-Jerry is the boss lady. We have a term called "getting Braffed", Jerry's last name is Braff, you get "Braffed" when you go talk to her and don't come back for three and a half hours. True story, this happened today. She used to chain smoke back in her office back in the day. A short woman, her pants are usually flooded and she makes her own jewelry. Jerry is ok on the computer, but she needs to be a lot better. Every email we send her is forgotten about.

Michigan Primary Tomorrow

So I had a conversation recently with my dad about politics. (Dad, I know you read this...I'm writing about you) If you have ever talked to me about politics and my family, you might know that both my parents are Republican and my grandma Stevens informed me that Stevens are never Democrats (the horror!).

I asked my dad who he was thinking of voting for in Michigan's upcoming primary. He said he was unsure. He liked Huckabee...this didn't catch me off guard. But then he said he was actually considering Obama. Could my father and I actually vote for the same person? Neither of us can actually vote for him in the primary, Obama and Edwards aren't on the ticket. Anyways this was solid proof that Obama can draw voters from a wide field of people.

He said he wouldn't tell me who he voted for...own it Dad. Own it.


I will be voting absentee, a first for me. I always went home to vote in college, it wasn't far. I will miss driving over to the school and saying hello to the old ladies that volunteer there. Most of all, I will miss the "I Voted" sticker.

Work has been pretty intense lately. I've actully had a good deal of work to do. Friday I didn't put down the phone until 4:55 pm. Today I put it down sooner (hense writing the post).

LIVE!

Everyone should know we will be in the studio audience for LIVE! with Regis and Kelly, Wednesday January 9th. I will wear a bright green sweater and there will be old ladies around us. I love me some Regis and Kelly.

Check your local listing...

Check Your Sanity at the Gate

My journey to the mitten was really nice. But it didn't start out that way...

I got myself (and Brian too) out the door at 4:30 in the morning. Anyone who has seen my at that god-for-saken-hour knows I'm either really tired or really cranky (or both). Everything seemed to be going as ok as things can be that early. Then I sat down on the plane. I was seated next to the guy I saw at the gate and felt bad for whoever would have to sit by him (karma). He was a 20-something male with longish greasy hair, looking like he hadn't taken a shower in a week (he smelled). After taking our seats we were told we would have to wait while they de-iced the plane. Then we were told we would have to wait because there was fog in Detroit. Then we were told we would have to wait while a radar got fixed so the plane could land in fog in Detroit. I was glad when we finally took off two hours behind schedule. I was trying to sleep off the annoyance but the guy was bumping me with his elbow as he read a sci-fic novel and chewed on his ragged sweatshirt's cuff.

Calling parents and boyfriend before we took off I found out my connection was delayed, so I wasn't worried about the connection. I should have known Detroit would bring me problems when the gross dude next to me stood up and stuck about three inches of butt crack in my face, while he waited for the line to move. I get to my new gate, through the lighted portal between gate A to gates B and C (the portal is like being in Tran) and the flight is in fact delayed. Then delayed again...then canceled. They re-book me on a flight a full 11 hours later. Pissed as hell, I call my dad to just come and pick me up. I slept on a chair in Detroit International.

We get to Grand Rapids, I call the airlines about my luggage (I had been told in Detroit that it would go to GR sometime that day). NorthWest informs me I should have been given a luggage tag, and I need to get to the GR airport to make a claim. So I go to the GR airpost anyway and make a claim. The luggage showed up at my house in the middle of the night, too late to give the comforts of pajamas or glasses.

Anyway that was the worst of it, I could have driven faster (we got home at 4:30, a full 12 hours of travel). I did get to see almost everyone I wanted too and had lots of quality family time. The trip to Traverse City was a pleasant one. And I got some very nice Christmas gifts.

Most memorable: Grandma presents all her granddaughters (aged 29, 25 and 23, thank god I'm the youngest) with queen sized quilts. They are really beautiful and they come with a note. The note states that she has always wanted to give her granddaughters quilts as wedding gifts, but now that she is 84 she might not make it to any weddings, so she is giving them now. Message: I love you, but I wish you gave me more great-grandchildren, get on that.