I love Christmas. It is my favorite holiday, though I often say that about Halloween right around October but Christmas is really truly my favorite. I love the way that people act (excluding those people that get mad thinking that they waited in line longer than the guy currently being helped at the register), the decorations, Secret Santa gift exchanges, silly Santa socks, Christmas music, wrapping gifts while watching movies, etc. I think you get the idea. I love the magic of this time of year. But my absolutely favorite part is the gift giving. I look forward to the hunt for the perfect gift. I feel so accomplished when I've picked out something a bit unique and that the recipient will love.
As you know, Christmas means that I have a lot of hard work to do. That's right, when I bust out my strand of Christmas lights and place them oh so artfully. Bet you thought I was going to mention all those holiday shoppers!
You'll note that I used the very complex method of draping them across my floor lamp and top of the curtains then to my shelving system similar (ok, practically identical) to last year's method.
Yesterday after work I altered my tradition of watching Disney movies while wrapping gifts. This year I watched the two Christmas episodes of Psych (Gus's Dad May Have Killed an Old Guy, and Christmas Joy) while getting all my gifts wrapped, ribboned and bowed. Oh, and Dixie helped.
If you were wondering, that's Dad's. She also really helped me wrap one of Mom's gifts. :) So sweet of her to volunteer.
As you may or may not be aware, I've had a campaign to adopt a cat pretty much since I've moved into my apartment. Now this campaign was never aimed at the apartment management, but at my co-signer and financier for school: Dad. (Mom was already on team cat.) After a year of lovingly pestering him about all the benefits and how I could afford to pay for her (with just a little bit of help in the pet deposit department) I finally won him over, or he caved just so I'd shut up about it already. Probably the latter.
And so began my mission to find a shelter cat to rescue and love. After looking into the local shelters I began going to their sponsored adoption days and talking to the organizers to find a cat whose needs matched what I could offer. Turns out that most of the adoption days at stores like PetCo or Petsmart feature almost exclusively young cats and kittens because they are the ones who are considered more adoptable. I ended up talking to a woman from The Cat People and she was super helpful and emailed me information and photos about some of the adult cats looking for a home. I decided to adopt an adult rather than a kitten or young cat because I know that they have a harder time finding a home and even though kittens are super cute, I don't have to have one. I'd like to be able to trust my cat to be home alone while I'm at work or school without getting into trouble.
One of the first emails that I received had the photo of a cute tuxedo cat named Dixie Dot. I've always wanted a black and white cat, don't know why really, but when I saw her photo I knew I wanted to know more about her.
After emailing back and forth with the woman from The Cat People I decided that I'd (pre-adoption) foster Dixie. She suggested this to make sure that we'd be a good match. On Black Friday, after work, she brought Dixie over and she's been here ever since. The first day was interesting because Dixie decided that the bathtub would be a good spot to hide from me...yeah, so hard to see you in there! She was a bit overwhelmed from being brought to a new place and being introduced (and left with!) a new person. I let her be for the most part and went about my evening as usual but would go in every so often just to talk to her and offer my hand for her to sniff. I managed to get her out of the tub on her own accord late that night and she began to explore. She even slept on the bed with me when she thought I was asleep and it was "safe".
She's a very sweet and curious cat who loves to play with her little toy mice and my socks. She's now feeling at home and even runs to greet me when I get home from work! (Take that dog owners! hehe) I've even caught her watching tv on occasion.
Reminds me of Lucky from 101 Dalmatians...
It was very funny when I was watching Pixar Short Films the other day and For the Birds came on. She was very interested and wanted to touch the birds. Since I have Tivo I even replayed it for her (and me, I love that one!) when it ended and the second time around the big bird startled her. It was rather entertaining.
Amidst running my errands today I decided to try to locate Lengthwise Brewing Co. I knew approximately where it was, and it turned out to be super easy to find, but when I found it I saw something a bit odd...
Yes, that is a Budweiser van parked in front of Lengthwise...way to park your company vehicle while on your lunch!
Ok so I know it has been a very very long time since I've updated and I'm sorry. This semester is just taking up so much time that I don't find that I can easily sit here and type about what's happening with me. I can assure you that all is well, school and work are both taking a lot of hours but I am also managing to keep myself well balanced with fun things too. I just want to tell you that until I don't feel that I am behind in school and needing more hours in a week or day or whatever I won't be posting.
Side note, it's come to my attention that I have had some unexpected site activity. Recently I've had about 9 site visits from all over (Portugal, Columbia University, Boston, Chicago, etc) which is pretty cool. Granted they don't stay long but I find it interesting that it appears that they're all in-clicking to my entry "Get With the Program: It's Spring Not Summer" and the lovely photo of the snapdragons. Kind of curious why but hey, whatever.
Just wanted to update to let you know that I will be reporting for jury duty tomorrow morning at 8:15. Sigh. That means I have to set my alarm. And get out of bed. And dress nicely. Not that I am saying I don't dress nice, but I like my flip-flops and jeans. Both no-no's according to the bold red font. Such party poopers.
I'll let you know what method gets me out of serving. And I promise to update on the going ons from August sometime this week.
Saturday after work I had a bit of a surprise waiting for me. And it's not the kind of surprise that you get all goofy and excited over. You know, the type of thing where your sentences are all fast and squished together because you're trying to share the excitement with anyone and everyone as fast as you can. Yeah, totally not that type.
It's the type of surprise that makes you want to hide, or move or have any excuse not to deal with it. It's the worst mail (besides a large credit card bill when you're broke) that could arrive at anytime. It's a jury duty summons.
Sigh.
They finally found me. I received a summons for Santa Barbara County earlier in the year and I was excused since I live over here in the gateway to hell* to attend school. Apparently news got out among the summoners that I haven't had to report for a few years and that they needed to find me and summon me now. Mission accomplished. Well played Kern County Superior Court system, well played.
My potential report date is Tuesday, September 8th. Exactly one week before my fall quarter starts. Hopefully they won't even need me to come in, or if I do have to go in then I'll be excused. I don't need to be selected for duty this close to classes starting, especially when superior court handles the bigger (and most likely longer) cases. We pay for me to go to school, not to just buy the expensive text books.
Hopefully this photo will be the closest I get to the juror box**:
Loves.
* I have discovered that B-field is the gateway to hell by simple observation. As everyone and their mother knows, B-field gets hot in the summer. So hot that the temperature reaches (and often exceeds) 113.4 degrees. In fact, the high temp one day was 113.4. And this, as we all know from making words on our calculators, spells "hell" when viewed upside down. Mystery solved.
** Not that I'd mind terribly if I did have to serve in the future, I'd just prefer not to during the school year.
I just found this video and I love it. Probably because it's of my favorite show ever, but mainly because it's a great promo clip. No you're right, it's all because it's of Psych. Do you watch it yet/already? If your answer is no, get on that! Seriously, it's great.
Thursday I finally went back to work after my back issues. I got a doctor's note clearing me on Monday but still didn't have anything scheduled until today. I was planning on going to the dollar theater to see Night at the Museum 2 (I really want to see it, the previews were great) but I got a call from one of my coworkers asking me to take her shift that evening. I didn't think twice before I told her I'd be happy to. Night at the Museum could wait, adding funds to my next practically non-existent paycheck couldn't.
I now plan to go see the movie on Tuesday. This way I can pay half price, $1! And of course I'll be filling my Mary Poppins bag with snacks and something to drink. I have always had a big purse available for trips to the movies, I could not imagine sneaking goodies in any other way. Poor guys, just another reason why being a lady is cooler. Hehe.
Nothing is better than a good long phone call but sometimes the random text messages that show up makes my day. Take for example this gem from my mom:
OMG!!! Rascal just saved my life! Killer leaf in the backyard, I swear it was making it's way to the door! We're both ok.
This is why cats are such good pets. Who needs a guard dog?
Then there is this one from my dad:
The other night I thought I was seeing things, I decided I was crazy. Well I am not! I just found a blue belly lizard listening to music with me. Have fun. Love dad :-D
I asked him if he was listening to bluegrass...
Finally there is the one from Jas:
Bradley Cooper is HOT!!!
No argument here, he is deserving of those three exclamation points.
On my Yahoo homepage there was a link to a slide show of the "funniest people working in the movies". Since I love movies, and especially comedies, I thought that I'd check out the list. I wasn't surprised to see certain names on there (Judd Apatow is huge now, though I'm not a fan of his films) but overall I don't find the list a very funny group. Sure Kristen Wiig has been in some good SNL (considering the new standard of "good" for SNL) skits, but she is always some variation of the same character. Funny the first time, not so much every time after that. Same story for many other people on that list. Cough, Will Ferrell, cough. It's my opinion, no need to throw tomatoes.
And apparently women aren't nearly as funny as men. There are only four comediennes on the list. Maybe that's because the majority of the comedians on the list are "funny" because of penis jokes. I'm no prude but since when did crass become the only thing that is hilarious? How about witty remarks and outrageous situations? Even good innuendos or double entendres are used less, like it's too much work to be clever so the solution is to be lazy and just say the most outrageous and shocking thing that comes to mind. I'm so sick of comedies being rated "R", like that makes them better. Rant over. I'm going to go watch a classic comedy. Loves.
In case you were wondering, I think nine of the twenty-five people on that list are funny. And I would likely see a movie based on the actor for six of those nine.
When I went down to the valley for my birthday weekend I did not get a chance to see a couple of my friends. So last Sunday I drove down to see them on my days off, Monday and Tuesday. Though sadly that did not go as planned...
Early Monday afternoon my back spasmed and it felt like my lower back was being squeezed like one of those stress balls. I had to hold onto the door jam to prevent myself from falling when my knees started to buckle. I made my way to the ground when I feared that I would very possibly go down against my will. After laying in the middle of the doorway for a while Mom helped me get onto my hands and knees. I couldn't even push myself up off the ground. I totally felt like a beached whale. That is, I related to the beached part, not so much the whale part. Once I was "up", I crawled to the living room so that I could lay on my back with my feet up on the couch. While I was in a lot of pain, I was luckily still able to find humor in the situation. If I was not able to laugh about the situation and the pain, and even laughing hurt, my three days living on the living room floor would have been miserable. Not that I would ever want to repeat that experience.
Thursday I was still hurting so Mom drove me to Urgent Care--I had a death grip on the door handle the whole way, especially on the bumps. The doctor said that I strained my muscle and now I am taking lots of ibuprofen and muscle relaxants. They definitely make my back feel better but I am ready to be all better without taking five pills a day.
I had to miss four days of work as a result of my strain, three of those days because I was still in the valley and not yet able to travel and the fourth because it was a very physically intensive shift. Today I went to work for a three hour shift which was challenging and I was just working register. Because of this and the fact that we have got a lot of big inventory projects going on I will not be going back to work until I have a doctor's note clearing me for work. I like that I will be able to relax my back more and move around only as much as is comfortable. But at the same time I am not thrilled about having these days off without being able to do anything too physical or strenuous. I want to keep moving but I don't want to put too much stress on my back so I am thinking that the pool would be a good place to walk.
Since it's hard to sit at the computer for very long I won't be posting until I feel better but just wanted to let you know what's up. Loves.
I went home to the valley this last weekend for my birthday. I just wanted to have a nice and relaxing vacation after a work heavy June. As much fun as it would have been to be running around doing many fabulous things, I would have ended up needing a second vacation from work. One thing that I really wanted to do was go to an Angel game, I have not been to one for a couple seasons now and love going. They were hosting a three game series against the Yankees before they broke for the All Star game. So Friday night Dad and I were online hunting for some tickets to Saturday's afternoon game. Which was quite the task considering all the misguided Yankee fans were buying tickets. Hopefully they realize the error of their ways following the Yankees being swept by the Angels. Go Angels!
One afternoon Dad and I hung out watching one of the Angels games in the garage while playing darts. After losing the first two games--I have come to the conclusion that I cannot aim when throwing darts, it's my kryptonite--I started out the third game in a big way. That's right, a bullseye and cowseye! (We were each using both green and yellow darts) Ok, so I don't know what the 25 point ring is called but thought that'd make sense. I was already excited about getting that close to the center of the board but was so ecstatic when I actually got the bullseye! The only bullseye I've gotten before has been achieved in my Young Frankenstein method of hand placing the darts on the board (yes with sound effects). I ended up barely winning that game--Dad caught up quickly but I doubled out first--and immediately pronounced that as the final game. I'm no dummy, I know when to go out with a bang.
For my birthday dinner I wanted to go to my favorite Italian restaurant, La Botte. Everything is great there, very real Italian cooking, and they have the best spaghetti and meatballs in the world. Well, "meatballs" is an inaccurate description, meatloafballs is more accurate. They are huge and amazing and I do not share. Seriously, go there.
Hope everyone had a good 4th of July. I wasn't able to get down to the valley for our traditional BBQ but Jas was able to come up. We had a lot of fun over the weekend, just being goofy (as usual) and managing to stay out of any real trouble. I had to work a few short shifts on the 3rd and 4th but we didn't let that hamper our festivities. We were planning on going to dinner at the Moo Creamery (an amazing modern day soda shop style restaurant) since they were planning a very "all American" menu in celebration but found out that they closed at three. Would have been handy for them to have mentioned that fact when promoting the special menu for the day. So we decided to head over to the Marketplace to find something open. Yes, we were those annoying people who expected others to feed us on a national holiday.
We saw that the little 50s style diner had some lights on (good first sign) so we were on the lookout for a sign letting us know if we were again out of luck. I quickly spotted a sign tapped up right above the normal hours sign reading 'We will be open normal hours July 4th'. Excellent! We open the door and one of the employees says to us that they are closed. But the sign...? "Seriously?" Jas asked. And the employee smiles (doesn't he know we're starving, how rude to smile at a starving person!) and says that they've been slow all day so they're now closed. Right after we're turned away another couple of people are turned away too. No wonder you've been dead, you aren't letting people in! So we went on to plan C. Walk to Applebee's, we saw cars in the parking lot and people inside, odds were good.
While we were walking to my car after dinner a nearby firework caught our attention and we ended up jogging to the far end of the lot to try to see what we could. If we stood at just the right spot we could see some of the large fireworks from the show at one of the country clubs between the trees. After standing for about five minutes we decided that one firework every minute was not worth standing in the parking lot for so we decided to go on a hunt for more. I knew where a nice neighborhood was where the houses were huge and I would expect lots of people would have purchased their own fireworks. Fireworks are legal here which is so odd to me since I'm used to them being a big no-no in the valley. I guess they aren't concerned with burning Bakersfield down. We ended up finding a road that was filled with the ground sparklers so we pulled over to watch their little show. Which was actually really impressive considering they are all bought from a stand. Not too long later we heard a huge BOOM and up and to our right a large firework went off. Turns out there was another professional show just to the west of where we were sitting and we had a great vantage point. Heck, I'm going to be so bold as to state that we got a better show sitting in some neighborhood by a park than we'd have gotten at the show done at SYVHS. Lots of the really cool (smilies, super giant, multi-pop) sky fireworks along with a good ground show. And we got to control our own music instead of listening to the same recycled patriotic music that goes with the same old recycled show.
I few weeks ago I stumbled across a blog written by a woman with a large following. She'd written about how another less popular blogger was plagiarizing her blog entries. One of her friends noticed that year old entries from popular blogger (let's call her Miss Types-A-Lot) were showing up word for word on less popular blogger's page (let's call her Miss CopyCat). The only things that Miss CopyCat were changing were the names of her "husband" and "close friends". Miss CopyCat was then called out on her lame-ness and lack of originality by many people that were obviously fans of Miss Types-A-Lot. Then Miss CopyCat tries to claim that her posts were originals and she'd never even heard of Miss Types-A-Lot's blog. Right...
I just found it crazy that people would be so uninspired or dull that they had to steal other people's entire blog entries as their own. Really, that's what Plinky is for! Seeing as my readership isn't too great, I shouldn't be worried about my words showing up elsewhere. But if they do show up, I just ask of the "borrower" to credit me. I sit on a cheap uncomfortable chair typing these and I think that my butt deserves some recognition for its sacrifice. Loves.
I hope this post makes up for the fact that I've been MIA for the last few weeks. But hey, it's summer break and my brain is finally reforming after last quarter and my first year at a four year university. My brain decided it needed a little vacation, but I'm cracking the whip now and it'll be back to work for it.
Now I am sure you are wondering what it is that I did again. And if you're not, then you should really read the titles of my posts. Sometimes they're fun and I like to think that I'm being somewhat creative when I come up with them. Anywho, I received an email today from school informing me that with my spring quarter GPA of 3.5 I made the dean's list!! So now I have two nearly identical letters to post on my fridge! I'll start a collection, side by side in chronological order. I could cover a good chunk of the fridge if I keep it up, but need to extend my learning if I want to completely cover it. And since I want to graduate in a somewhat timely fashion, I'll just save the rest of my fridge for the other silly items that are currently on it. Loves.
Why is it that the last two weeks of school are always the most stressful? Sure we have finals, papers, poster presentations, and all kinds of other fun little things to do but shouldn't it be less stressful? I mean, theoretically, we've learned all that we are going to learn already so we should know all of the material. So why do we worry so much at the end? If the information is in our heads then we should be confident that we will do well. Yet, I find myself wishing that it was next Friday so that everything would be done. Finals? Aced. Poster presentation? Done. Huge proposal paper? Submitted.
Sigh. Until next Friday at 6pm I'll just be eating, drinking, sleeping, dreaming, thinking psychology. Oh, and if anyone has a good idea for my proposal paper just let me know. I have no idea. Oh well, I have eight papers that I have to review so I can discuss previous research, maybe something will inspire me. Not that it'd kill me if my paper isn't perfect...my grade is already so far ahead of the majority of the class that I could submit a decent paper, nearly bomb the final, and still earn an 'A' once the grades are curved. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised. I've gotten a 93% and 84% on the two big tests (not that surprised about that) and still have managed to outscore nearly everyone else by 25-40 points per test (hello surprise). No wonder people voted to have half of our final be a group final. Little do they know, I'm not going to answer in the group--group brainstorming is fine but I'm not going to answer the questions for them like they've basically said they're counting on. I'm earning my A and they can earn their own grade, I'm not responsible for their achievements. Loves.
Friday night is traditionally date night and tonight I had a date. Kind of. I went to dinner and a movie with Scott and his wife, my friend from school, Dina. So my date wasn't romantic, that's fine, I had a really good time. After finally deciding where we'd go to dinner (seriously took us a long time) I met Dina and Scott at Me 'n Ed's Pizza over at The Marketplace. Ok, so when we were deciding we kind of were not thinking about how it's Friday night and all the teens hang out at The Marketplace...seriously, not exaggerating, all of them. Oh well.
After a few loops up and down the parking lot, we finally found spaces and went to dinner. I hadn't met Scott before but had heard a lot about him so it was nice to finally have a face to go with the name and stories. We all chatted quite a bit and did a lot of laughing. It was pretty warm in the pizzeria so we decided to continue our conversation outside. Not quite sure why since it's been really hot during the day. Guess we thought it would have cooled down more by 8:30. It hadn't. This fact, and that we had nothing else we had to do that night, lead to the decision to go to a movie. After all, we were standing in front of the theater. So the next big decision of the night was made: go see Night at the Museum 2, or Up? They both started at the same time so we only had to decide which promising film we were in the mood for. Now I know what you're thinking, how ever did they decide on a movie if they couldn't decide what they wanted to eat? Easy. Up was being shown in 3-D!!
Sure we had to pay an extra $3.50 for the 3-D glasses, but to see this movie in 3-D it's totally worth it. Plus I got a student discount so that helped. It's a good thing that I turned in my recyclables for cash Thursday because that money went straight to the movie. This was my first 3-D movie and I can't believe they aren't doing more movies in 3-D considering the new technology for it. The glasses don't look silly (they look just like Ray Bans) and you can still easily watch the film without them. The details and quality of the effect were outstanding. I vote for more 3-D, especially since I kept my glasses so I won't have to buy additional pairs.
As I'm sure you know, Pixar movies had a short film immediately before the feature presentation starts and this one was very cool. Don't worry, I won't give anything away. Consider this a non-spoiler alert, everything here is safe to read. Once the movie started we knew we were in for a treat. I hope to see it a second time (even in regular old 2-D) because I missed quite a few lines because everyone in the theater was laughing so hard, plus the movie was just that good.
My only complaint is regarding fellow movie-goers. Don't take your young kids to a 9:40 showing. Especially when you have to give them soda to stay awake long enough to see the film. That just makes them squirmy and more likely to behave like a parrot. I heard that line already, I don't need to hear it 20 more times thanks. I know, I am such a grump. Ha.
Tomorrow I'm going to a party at Dina and Scott's place. It's Scott's birthday and they are having a BBQ/pool party to celebrate so I'll be spending my afternoon hanging out by the pool. Don't worry, I'll wear sunscreen. Loves.
I just got an email from Ticketmaster letting me know that "one of my favorites is coming to a venue near me." I normally just delete their emails but decided I'd open it to see if it's anyone I care about. Turns out it totally is!
The Killers will be at the Santa Barbara Bowl September 13th and tickets go on sale starting this Friday. I was lucky enough to see them at UCSB when they were touring for their album Sam's Town. The show sold out as soon as the tickets went on sale and it took a lot of hard work to track down tickets (finally finding some a week before the show). It was totally worth it though because they put on a great show once they hit the stage. I am not even going to get into one of the opening acts...ugh.
As excited as I am at the fact that The Killers are going to be at a venue I could go to, I am bummed that I probably won't get to go. I would be able to attend the show in regards to when it is, but buying a ticket just is not something that I can afford to do right now. I just commented to Dad the other day that since I've moved out here to a place with a large enough venue to get good shows, I have not attended any. I missed my favorite comedian ever, Gabriel Iglesies, Jeff Dunham, and most recently, No Doubt. Now I'll miss another. I miss the size of my paychecks from the bank. Oh well, there is always next tour. Loves.
At work we had a contest over Memorial Day weekend to reward our efforts in making sure that we were creating the best customer experience for our shoppers. Each day was a new opportunity to get our name entered into a drawing to win one of three prizes, a new foaming body wash of our choice. Now I try to do my best everyday so earning an entry into this contest would be a bonus. Of course I wanted to earn an entry (or three) but that was not the deciding factor of how I was going to behave at work.
This morning when I called work to check if they were using my call-in shift I was informed that my name was drawn as one of the three winners! Totally made me not care that they were not going to use my call-in. Excited to pick up my prize and it will totally be the Coconut Lime Verbena. Loves.
I'm going to tell you a secret: sometimes my blog lies. For example, you may have noticed in the past that blog updates have posted around ten in the morning. That's a lie. I'm not on the computer that early in the day. Heck, most of the time I'm not even up yet! Shortly after, sure, but if I get up "early" then I'm going to work or adjusting an AM with light while reclining on the couch. Now don't worry, those are still written by me (as if anyone else could ramble with my style), I just write them 24-48 hours earlier and tell my blog when to post them. It's my method for trying to give you regular(ish) updates and spare you from essays. I'll break up my thoughts into a few different posts and then post them every few days. So when you look back at some of my close together entries just be thankful that I do that and spare you from reading all those ridiculous words in one humongo post.
Loves.
P.S. I wrote this at 11:41PM and decided to post it at 9:41AM for giggles. You all now know I delay posted this one!
I like where I live. My apartment is cute, I still love it as much as when I first moved here. And honestly, I'm fairly surprised that it's as quiet here as it is. I know that some fellow Roadrunners live here because they've followed me to campus and visa versa a few times but people tend to really follow the "quiet time" rule. According to the "renter handbook" we're expected to lower volumes to neighbor friendly levels at 10pm. And it's funny how on a Friday night any music that has escaped on the wind will suddenly stop at 9:59pm. After that the main noises that'll be heard are people softly chatting while walking to or from their car.
Until about 2am that is. That's when one of my neighbors (I'm not sure who yet but I plan to find out and take action) gets home from work/kazoo practice/drive-thru duty/clubbing/whatever and feels the need to satisfy his complex of locking his car with the fob thingy. Now, I'm a big fan of the fob thingy with the cool buttons that make your car obey you from up to 50 feet away (I have the power!) but sometimes the old fashion buttons on the car door are pretty dandy too. Like, for instance, when you are parked by someone's bedroom window at 2am and your car fob thingy causes your car to not only lock your doors but to also flash its lights and honk! Now that, my friend, is not cool. Especially not cool when you can't remember 30 seconds ago and re-fob-lock just to make sure that everyone hears the car honk a second time.
Maybe I'll post this sign...
...along with a box for him to deposit my cash into. Next to a tip jar for putting up with him for this long. I think it's fair. Loves.
Sometimes I am afraid that my upstairs neighbor is going to drop a heavy object one too many times and it's going to come crashing down on my head. I really hope that there is a lot of buffer between her falling hammer and my side of the ceiling. The noise alone can be especially startling when it's been fairly quiet up above. I guess I'll take the occasional THUD to the noise made when she's training elephants to dance. Some may say that it's simply a dog running across the apartment but I am pretty sure they're working on the quickstep or lindy hop.
I had a moment of shock the other day when the temperature started to hover around the high eighties. I went to get dressed and noticed that I have very few tank tops. Didn't I realize that I was moving to a city that is hot more often than it is rainy in Seattle? How could I not have done a wardrobe inventory before I got to spring and summer?
As a result I have been eying sale prices on tank tops and am slowly acquiring summer wear. Hopefully by fall I'll be ready. Otherwise I'm living in my bathing suit at the pool.
The new rec center at school has finally opened. When I registered and applied to CSUB the rec center was scheduled to open early fall 2008. Then it rained so they pushed it back to January. Then in January it was obvious that it still was not finished, yet there was no new grand opening date set. So we all waited and did a little grumbling. I am sure that you can imagine how excited the campus was when the doors were officially opened April 30th.
I didn't get over for the grand opening but I was there a few days after. The only reason to have gone to the grand opening would have been for the free smoothie samples. But by waiting to go over I was not having to hunt for a free machine or be a work-out model for those touring the facilities.
The rec center is wonderful and I can forgive the delay in opening because of that. When you first walk in you are greeted by the rock walls. There is one giant one and two curved ones. There are also three indoor basketball courts with a suspended three lane track circling above them. There are a ton of cardio machines that have plug ins to listen to one of the many tvs on the tv tower. Very cool!
My current favorite feature is the stationary bikes because they are a step above your typical bike machine. These have tv screens that show the trail or path that you are biking and handlebars to steer. I am able to bike 2 miles through the redwoods with the benefit of air conditioning.
I am hoping to try out one of the many classes they offer sometime this week. Maybe bellydancing. Loves.
I decided that if I am going to be hanging out on my patio it should be pretty. That and I was tired of looking out my window to nothing. To remedy this outdoor blandness I went to Target and Wal*Mart to get supplies. Here is what I created on my day off this week. Actually, I created a mess as well but decided to clean that up before the photos.
Yep, that is Shasta's old water bowl.
I find sitting out on my patio in my lawn chair to read much more appealing now. Even on hot days I get the shade and breeze to keep it from being too warm to enjoy being outside. The other day I spend nearly my entire afternoon out there lost in my book. Loves.
Last Wednesday my social psychology class participated in a flashmob. A flashmob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. For our flashmob we walked down to the Marketplace (where my Vons is) and at exactly 3:30 we all walked around the fountain twice while clucking and flapping our "wings" like chickens. After our second lap we all layed eggs then dispersed. It was so silly and fun that I kept giggling the entire time. It's surprisingly easy to cluck while giggling. When we got to the Marketplace there were some kids playing around the fountain while their moms watched from a few benches in the shade. When we started our chicken act the moms kind of got worried and I could hear them calling over their kids, "come stand by mommy!"
I was one of the first few people to start the flashmob and once more of the class got going as chickens the moms seemed less concerned and more confused as to why we were acting like chickens. The older kids were looking at us like we lost our minds and the younger kids we entertained by our actions. About halfway through our first lap a guy who was having lunch with his buddies jumped over a hedge to join in with us. He joined in at the end of one of the two mini-congaish lines and was so into it that I lost control of my giggles. He was doing a chicken head bob and flapping in the most exaggerated way. We all were talking about it afterwards, he totally rocked. After we layed our eggs we dispersed and I happened to walk by where the kids were standing and I heard one of the younger ones say to her friend, "I wonder why they weren't cows..." As if the flashmob hadn't been funny enough already.
I am hoping to get some video or photos because I sadly forgot to grab my camera and left it on the back of the couch. Here is a flashmob that was performed in London that also has a chicken theme.
When school was over for me I was approached by two 13ish year old boys just as I was leaving the building. They asked me if I would be willing to participating in a quick survey about spirituality. I wasn't in a hurry to get home so I agreed though I soon wished that I hadn't. Turns out that it wasn't quick, wasn't a real survey, and wasn't about spirituality. It was about Religion.
Them, first question: What's your religion? Me: I consider myself spiritual, not religious. Them: So you believe in God then? Me: Um, (wondering how I said anything about God in those 6 words) I believe that there is some sort of higher being. Them: Who is Jesus? Me: Well according to what I learned growing up...[enter cliff notes version of Jesus here] (I so wanted to say he's some kid I went to High School with, not sure what he's up to now though) ...Here's where it gets fun... Them: Are you a sinner? Me: Sure. (long pause, they start to shift away from me) There are lots of things that are considered "sins". Heck, little white lies about loving someone's new shoes are lies, thus sins. Them: Do you believe in Heaven and Hell? Me: Well I don't believe that death is the end. I believe that our souls go somewhere afterwards so if that means Heaven or Hell then I believe in them. (I want to come back as a cat) Them: If you were to die now would you go to Heaven or Hell? Me: If those are my options, Heaven. Them: (quoting the Bible) But those who sinned don't go to Heaven... Me: So? It continues for quite some time more. Me forcing myself to be polite and censor my answers and them asking more weighted questions. Didn't want to scare the kids too much by telling them I don't think homosexuality is a sin. Them, final question: Are you willing to die for Jesus? Me: Holy crap! They've got kool-aid!
A couple of weeks ago Mike and Lauren came over for a quick visit. Wednesday night at about 10:30 I got a text message asking if I was still awake (uh, duh, that's early) and if I would want some company the next day. Always up for visits, especially when I don't have a for sure shift or school, I said I would love to see them. I did have a call-in but if they used me I would still be done by the time they'd get into town. Thursday afternoon Mike and Lauren arrived and we were able to catch up over lunch at Johnny Rockets. I love the nickel jukeboxes.
I gave them the 5 minute tour of campus and we drove around town. After hitting up happy hour at Sonic that is. Mmmm...strawberry limeade. While driving around we went hunting for Rabobank arena and the ballpark that the Bakersfield Blaze play at. The Blaze are one of the Texas Ranger's minor league teams. Fun fact: Mike Piazza played for the Blaze when it was a feeder team for the Dodgers. We found the arena (mainly do to my amazing skills at following arrows on signs) along with quite a few cool looking buildings in what is obviously classic Bakersfield. Despite three of us in the car we (ok, I) managed to get lost and ended up finding a creative route home.
We hung out for a while back at my apartment and got directions to the ballpark to drive over to Thirsty Thursday. On the way we took a few trips around the round-a-bout because I forgot the next step in the directions. Whee! The Blaze have various promotions to up attendance and Thursday nights they offer $1 drinks (cheap beer and soda) through the fifth inning. Good idea considering that there are two colleges in town. The game was good, lots of big hits and the Blaze won 6-5. While Mike was really into the game Lauren and I got really into picking out the hot guys. (#s 5, 6, 18, and 32)
After the game we went over to BJ's Brewhouse for dinner. Mike suggested it early in the day because he wanted to try the root beer that they brew. Which, if you were wondering, is delish! This time I managed to leave room for dessert so Lauren and I shared a pizookie. I have no words to describe just how amazing this dessert is. As yummy as it sounds, it is even better. A fresh baked giant cookie with two scoops of ice cream stacked on top. Ah-mae-zing!
By the time we finished dinner it was pretty late (we got to BJ's a little after 10) so Lauren and Mike stayed over rather than drive back that night. This sofa couch has gotten a lot of use. Friday morning I woke up early to see if they were using my call-in that morning. I was hoping that they wouldn't so that I would not have to kick Mike and Lauren out early. Luckily, they did not end up needing to use my call-in. That morning we decided to go by the mall, because I never get over to the mall. Ha. After checking out the more exciting stores we had a quick lunch before Mike and Lauren had to leave to make home in time for league bowling. Which meant that I had most of my day to make flashcards for my class. Fun. Loves.
My hair is odd. And I am not referring to the fact that it's not sure if it's straight, wavy or whatever. I am referring to the fact that my hair gets unhappy and in need of some attention but deep conditioning masks don't seem to satisfy its needs. The thing that does: dying it. Odd right? Normally dying hair damages it but my hair always feels better and refreshed once I add a little color. So Thursday I did a little nice'n easy action so my hair is now a medium mahogany brown. It's not too much darker than my natural but it has a bit more red to it than my hair normally does. I dig it. Plus I'm impressed that I only managed to add two small spots of dye to my already stained towel. I'm getting better, less collateral damage.
By the way, my hair looks like it's behaving because I blow dried it, that's why it's all fairly uniform in texture. I styled it into submission! Ha! Loves.
It's not often that I get to dress for a holiday. I mean sure, there is Halloween, but I don't own any Christmas sweaters or themed vests so whenever I can dress up a bit it's kind of fun. Especially considering that most of the time I don't put thought into what I'll wear before I'm going to the closet or dresser. For Earth Day I knew what I was going to wear and even did laundry to make sure that it would be clean on Wednesday. Not that I don't do laundry otherwise, but I did a special mid-week load.
Side note: I was pointing at my plant (yes that's an AquaGlobe!) not my boob! Loves.
Today I did my part to try to convince the weather that it is still only spring and not yet summer. This week has been really hot. And not just hot, but stuffy open a window to the coast hot. Today I worked on reminding Mother Nature that it's only April and it has only been spring for a month now. We can't ignore the season like it's the red haired step-child. We must give it the love and respect that it deserves. So to send a polite reminder I sat outside in the 100 degree heat and planted snapdragons. Take note Mother Nature, I want my flowers to grow and be happy. Not to need me to drench them hourly so that they can beat the heat.
These are not my snapdragons, my snapdragons are currently only seeds. Loves.
UPDATE: Hi, I've noticed quite a bit of activity on this entry and was just wondering what brings you here?
I have finally received my second, and final, textbook for this quarter. I ordered it during the first week of classes and it arrived mid week three. Luckily we didn't have a lot that I needed to read but this does allow me to finally do the reading and make my study flash cards.
This quarter I am only taking 10 units. Generally I take 12-15 units but I couldn't find an additional class that fit my needs and schedule. Though I think that it'll work out well since my two classes are a bit more demanding on my brain. I am taking Research Methods II and Social Psychology.
Last quarter I took Research Methods I and we focused on when we'd use specific statistical analysis and trying to understand what all the data is about. This quarter we are focusing more on putting into action the statistical analysis and conducting research. It's a challenging class but I find it to be fun at times as well. I like that we have already done three experiments. First experiment we measured reaction time using a ruler. Second experiment we compared speed and accuracy from dominant hand and non dominant hand on a particular task. Third experiment we measured the Stroop effect. Since I am enjoying the experiment factor of the class I am thinking about trying to work on some of the research that the professors are doing in either social or behavioral psychology. In order to get school credit for aiding in the research I'll have to wait a quarter. I won't dump my long term plan of being a practicing psychologist in order to be a career researcher because I don't want to feel the pressure of "publish or perish".
This Easter was the first time that I have ever hard boiled eggs myself. I think that once I knew what I had to do it went fairly well. Though one of my eggs ended up cracking and lost about a quarter of its contents during the process. Oh well, it still left me with 10 hardboiled eggs.
My plan was to hit Rite Aid or Longs on Monday to buy my Cadbury eggs at a discounted post-holiday price. I absolutely love the Easter treat but I don't like buying them all at regular price. On Monday I stopped by Rite Aid after school only to find that they had no leftover Easter candy only decorations. So then I walked over to Vons and didn't find any leftover Easter stuff at all. That day's mission was a bust but hope was not lost.
Tuesday I went to Target because I needed a few things and was able to parooze the leftover Easter aisle. There were a bunch of baskets and odd "Easter" candy but again no eggs. On my way home I stopped at Longs, partially to pick up something I forgot at Target, but mainly for my egg mission. They had Easter cards similar to the cute Valentine cards that kids hand out at school and two shopping carts full of Peeps and only Peeps. In my opinion the only thing that Peeps are good for is sword fighting in the microwave.
After my hunt came up dry I texted Dad about the lack of eggs and requested that he be on the lookout. Yesterday just as I was getting to work I had a message from Dad. He went to the store and found me Cadbury eggs! He also, most importantly, bought four 4-packs of eggs for me plus a multi-pack of mini-eggs. Thanks Dad!! Now please guard them for me.
Just in case you ever wondered why you don't mix whites with colors in the laundry...
This was a very white towel. Whoops. Though I must say that it really performed the needed duties when water was trying to attack through the doors and windows. I had so many towels all over the place when the apartment was being pressure washed pre-painting. I only regret not having been wearing my M*A*S*H t-shirt, that would have been fun.
This is what I came home to after my mini-spring break trip down to B-town.
They're doing repairs and improvements on the apartment buildings and it was my building's turn to get a new roof. This lovely dumpster for all the roof garbage was blocking my front windows. It was there for two days (that I was here) and made my living room dark like I lived in a cave. Fun.
I think they put it in front of my apartment because it'd be easiest to get a truck backed up to that spot but the apartment next to me is currently vacant, it would have been much nicer if it was blocking those windows in my opinion. Luckily it was only there for two days but when they came to take it away it was six in the morning. That's right, I had a big, loud, I beep when I back up vehicle outside my place at six in the morning on my day off! I was not pleased. (You may have seen my Twitter to the left about that)
On the plus side, my apartment building is done with operation spiffy-up. It's now re-roofed, replaced (they changed out bad siding) and repainted. The only sounds of improvements are in the distance or simply echoes in my mind. I'll post a photo of the new paint, I didn't like it at first because it looked like they were going for olive drab but with the trim and green doors I kind of dig it.
I am posting this from B-town, I am on spring break (woo-hoo finals are done!) and have managed to get my call-ins at work covered so that I can relax at home. You know, the original home. I say it's a surprise because Dad is still on his man-cation with Mike to Arizona to watch baseball spring training and doesn't know that I'm here. In fact, he thinks that I am stuck in B-field my whole spring break. Muhahahaha... So tonight when he gets home from the man-cation I will be here. That's what he gets for surprising me a month ago. I have to stay ahead in this game, it's fun and if I turn it into a competition then that may mean more surprise visits. See how this is win-win?
Hi all, I know I've been rather absent recently but this is finals week. Just wanted to wish you a happy St. Patty's Day and show off my green. Can you tell it was an afterthought? Are you wearing green? Or orange?
So apparently the Google game was correct, I do need your help. I have a special discount code to get a spiffy t-shirt from one of my favorite websites for only $5 but cannot decide which one I want to get. So I am asking you for your opinion; just post your pick in the comments section.
Pavlov: The Name That Rings A Bell (Good Psychology shirt)
Previously on "Adventures" of This College Girl... I was regaining my composure after Dad surprised me by showing up to visit a day early. After I got over the initial shock and we unloaded Dad's truck (thanks again for the chicken!) I informed Dad that I needed to be fed. After all, he told me not to eat dinner yet! In the spirit of trying new things we went to BJ's and had pizza.
Friday we woke up early and ever important errands. Such as taking my recycles to campus (that's where the drop off is), buying me a CSUB sweatshirt (how did I go nearly two quarters without one?), and doing the final steps in the great mattress hunt. Checking to see if sale prices had changed and doing the final mini-nap comparisons. Turns out that we bought my new bed at the first place I tried mattresses. It's an Englander and it's really high off the ground, and it's like sleeping on a cloud. I love it! Of course we ended the night by watching the Monk and Psych season finales.
Saturday the bed was delivered and I almost didn't want to do anything but lay on my belly diagonally across it. But Dad was able to get me to leave the house, after feeding me a great grilled cheese sandwich. We then went spelunking and discovered ancient treasures--we'll be famous for years because of this find. We were considering tracking down Bigfoot but decided against it since so many people hassle him. Plus my uncle Kris has already found him, or at least that was the joke. [Ok so I ended up using my Delirious skills for good rather than for evil. That is way more exciting than the fact that we went to the Goodwill store and bought me a corning ware and stopped by FoodsCo for groceries. And you're welcome Dad, I was going to have the abominable snowman kidnap you and feed you yellow sno cones, a la Monsters Inc.] After our many interviews for various media outlets we decided to unwind with a movie marathon. First up was Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy followed by Stagecoach.
Fun fact: I rafted/kayaked down the same river that John Wayne and company crossed in the film!
On that note, stay tuned for the conclusion of this weekend saga. We might just tame the Loch Ness Monster! Loves.
So I read about this game which is apparently sweeping the internet. I don't know what it's called but here's what you do: go to Google and search "your name needs" (ex "Kimmers needs") and the first ten sites that are listed are what you "need".
Here is what I need according to Google:
1) All five of my riders around me at all times! Well, maybe I'll allow them to hang outside the door when I'm in the bathroom...
2) A professional profile
3) A `John Miron Day' Who's John Miron? Is he hot and single? Do I get to keep him?
4) Prayers Hopefully not any special prayers...unless they are regarding John Miron being hot and single
5) To find old friends from school Thanks Classmates.com you are everywhere!
6) The Timken Company's information, including email, business address and phone, bio, title, job history, colleagues... Oh, maybe I'll be doing secret spy work
7) To know exactly how much light will reach the film when taking a picture. Well that makes sense, nobody likes an underexposed photo
8) Your help! Hmm... hopefully this doesn't have to do with the prayers
9) Small businesses and entrepreneurs who need guidance Not sure how I'd help them but hey, I'll give it a shot!
10) To be in the search engine Um, I think I'm there! :)
The weekend of February 20th was great! Dad was planning on coming up/over on Friday night for a visit and we were going to go check out the opening-weekend-tournament-premiere-season-event for CSUB's baseball program. (More about that later.) But one thing that I was extra excited about in addition to seeing Dad and the delivery of some of Grandma's chili verde was the replacing of my haunted, hand-me-down bed by a brand spankin' new bed! For those of you that did not know, my previous bed was haunted. It made noises that only a ghost or lost soul trapped inside a spring filled box of despair would make. For about a week before Dad visited I drove around town looking for places at which I could take a mid-day nap. I only got lost once, finding myself on a highway that I didn't know existed, but was able to find my way back home without much trouble.
Thursday afternoon I was at the grocery store trying to decide what I was going to make Dad and I for dinner Friday night and couldn't make up my mind between lemon chicken stir fry or fajitas. So I decided to call Dad and ask him if he had a preference, being about as decisive as I am, he said that he'd be happy with either and would let me decide. Very helpful when I am standing in the produce aisle and not sure which veggies I will need! Dad said that he was on his way to Lompoc to run a few errands and most likely would lose his signal so would call me back once he got there. (Note to any law enforcement: I can neither confirm nor deny if he was or was not using a hands-free phone as the law states, I am only stating that we were speaking to each other.) While I was checking tortilla prices Dad drove through a dead zone and left me on my own to make the dinner decision. I'm telling you deciding on a mattress was nearly easier! On my way home Dad called me back and told me to wait on my dinner that night until he spoke with Mom and Becca about their dinner so that we could coordinate and not mess up any possible plans. He also told me that he'd call me back in about two and a half hours so I'd have plenty of time to hit the gym and shower before he'd call me with the dinner update.
I still had my hair wrapped in my towel when Dad called me to make sure that I was home and out of the shower because he was just pulling into the neighborhood. He told me he would call me back in a few once he talked to Mom and Becca about dinner. Moments later he called me back to let me know that he was on his own for dinner because Mom and Becca weren't home (they were in Santa Maria checking on a car for Becca). Shortly before I noticed the lights of a car pull up outside and peered out the window to see what I thought was a familiar car. I then was a bit suspicious and peered out my door's peep-hole only to see a very familiar looking guy talking on a cell phone on the sidewalk outside my door. So just as Dad was about to say something about possibly having pizza for dinner I ripped open my front door to reveal that he was surprising me by showing up a day early! I was so excited and very surprised to see him standing there that I very loudly exclaimed something along the lines of "OhmygodIcan'tbelieveyou'rehereearly!!!" I'm pretty sure my response surprised my new neighbors or at least their dog.
Since I am trying not to write epic essays I will put a To Be Continued...here. Plus Dad says that if it's too long people will get bored and not read it. Which I totally found ridiculous, my gibberish is riveting! I then informed him that I have the power, much like John Candy in Delirious, whatever I write is what happens. Muhahahaha! So stay tuned you never know what twists may turn! Loves!
Though most of the time I am only wearing flip-flops so it's not much to kick off. I love walking around the house in my slippers during colder months and in summer I revert to childhood when I would constantly be barefoot. Besides, you can't show off your pedicure while wearing shoes!
Ok, hopefully this works. I haven't uploaded any of my own videos before so this process will be very trial and error. Ideally below you will see a video of the hail mentioned in the previous post.
So a few weeks ago Jaslynn came to visit on her pre-birthday weekend and we had so much fun. Of course we went out for dinner a few times and it was a slightly rainy weekend so we had lots of comfort foods like grilled cheese sandwiches and cake. I say it was slightly rainy because one day when we were having our grilled cheese deliciousness lunch it started hailing. Now I am not talking about your normal rain with a smattering of hail type of weather occurrence. I am talking about the sky opening up and it pouring down balls of ice rather than rain. Being the mature adults that we are, we immediately ran outside and started trying to catch and eat the hail. Then when we got bored doing it we thought it would be neat to see what the hail landing in the pool looked like. Did I mention it was hailing really, really hard? So we ran the three buildings over to the pool and discovered that it was raining as well because we ran through quite a few very large puddles. Though I did have a very strong urge to play slip'n'slide across the lawn, I managed to stay upright. After playing with hail for about 20 minutes we went back to eating our now cold grilled cheese sandwiches.
That night we decided to celebrate wearing dry pants again and baked pineapple upside down cakes in my pineapple cake pan. They were so cute and so yummy but I think we filled the mini pineapples a little full...
I just got an email from the school which totally surprised me. I wasn't expecting it and really wasn't thinking about it.
"Dear Kimberly,
Congratulations! Because of your hard work last quarter, you have earned a quarterly GPA of 3.456, which qualifies you for the Fall 2008 Dean’s List. Only those students who are enrolled in at least eight units of letter-graded work and earn a GPA of 3.25 or above in an academic quarter are included on the Dean’s List.
Congratulations again, Kimberly, and continue your good work!
Sincerely,
Edwin H. Sasaki, Ph.D.
Interim Dean"
I am totally doing a happy dance in my living room with my shower towel wrapped around my hair right now. Loves!
I just wanted to say do not expect anything new posted until Monday at the earliest. Not that you expect me to post very often but still, I thought I should warn you. Jaslynn is coming up for the weekend so we'll be too busy having fun for me to think about or have time for writing anything. Have a good weekend! Loves.
Saturday evening I went to watch the women's basketball game at the school like I had been planning. Unfortunately I had lost track of time so I didn't get over in time to see the first half of the game. I could have maybe made it for most of the first half but I had to eat dinner and wasn't in the mood for a meal of popcorn, nachos and such. I got over there shortly after half time and the score was 37-40 UCSB. The largest difference in the score that I saw was only six points and that lead was brief. Neither team seemed to be able to hold onto the lead for more than two possessions which made the game very exciting. After many fouls (including two technicals, both on UCSB), exciting plays, and multiple three pointers hit from well behind the men's three-point line by CSUB, the game was tied with eight seconds left on the clock. As the final buzzer rang, the final shot was made to give the Runners the win.
Sunday morning we had a staff meeting to learn about the all new signature collection. It's the same fragrances (including the newest addition, Vanilla Noir) but the packaging has been changed and the products have been improved. For example, the new shower gel lathers more, moisturizes and has more fragrance than the previous formula. At the end of our meeting the managers told us that we were each getting a free shower gel of our choice so that we could use it and be able to talk to customers about the improvements. We were all very surprised and, obviously, excited about that little announcement. Apparently when the company has given free products to employees in the past they did not offer a choice on the fragrance, they just gave out something like Moonlight Path. I wanted something fun and fresh to counteract the fact that it's still winter so I got Mango Mandarin. I nearly went for my winter favorite, Warm Vanilla Sugar--it makes me feel cozy and feel like cuddling, a favorite winter activity.
When I got home from the meeting I tried out my new shower gel and absolutely loved it. The shower gel I had been using was the previous formula and I noticed the differences. I highly recommend it and that is not just because I work for Bath & Body Works.
Now I am going to go take advantage of my free shower gel. Loves.
