A New Theory

I'm trying a new thing. I read somewhere that if you are trying to get a handle on your money, you should only pay in cash. So that's what I'm going to do. I am going to take out cash each week and that's what I'm going to use for groceries, eating out, incidentals, etc. Bills, of course, will continue to be paid electronically, but everything else will be cash and carry. Hopefully it will reign in my spending.

Mosiac of Sleep

I had a dream last night that started out kind of weird and then got very weird. I dreamt I was at my parents house visiting. We were all getting ready to go to bed but my mom couldn't go to bed since it was her night to guard the door. Guard the door? Apparently my the front of my parents' house had been burned and since my parents are DIYers they had just built a new wall out of like particle board and then mosiaced tiles all on the front. The problem... they hadn't attached the new wall to the existing structure yet, so it just leaned against the house. So people could come in through the big hole. The hole was kind of covered by the "wall" so the intruders would have to move the wall a little bit to get in. My mom was exhausted so I accepted the job of "guarding the house." Here's where it gets weirder... people were actually coming in. There were groups of teenagers and I would throw them out... sometimes physically. Then an older group and I physically removed them. And then when I poked my head outside to see there were still more groups planning on coming in and they started throwing grapes and other little berried fruit at me. So damn weird.

Giving In (sort of)

I bought some "sleep aids" today. I've been having a horrible time sleeping lately. Weird dreams. Sometimes difficult dreams. Definitely a lot of dreaming. I also wake up a lot. Last night I was up 4 different times and since I couldn't fall asleep until after 11 and just gave up trying to sleep at 5:05 that's a lot of awake time. Now, in truth, I've always had a hard time sleeping. I can almost never sleep late. My sister commented when I was in FL over the holiday break that she's heard me say I don't sleep but she didn't think I was serious. The problem is, though, since I can literally fall asleep on my sofa for 30 - 45 minutes in a matter of seconds, clearly I'm sleep deprived.

As a person who supports drugs as much as I do, it is kind of weird that I've been so hesitant about sleeping pills. I think I'm afraid that I'll have a hard time waking up in the AM and spend the day kind of foggy. I don't have time for that crap. :) +

Getting Desperate

On a cognitive level, I understand that the job market is in the toilet. I understand that in a recession, I'm trying to get a job someplace that isn't here. There are hundreds of people out of work. On a cognitive level I get that. The rest of me, though... starting to really get bogged down by this job search. I've been searching for 10 months. I've gotten (I think) pretty close a couple of times but something failed to seal the deal for me. What it is, who knows? In both cases they were far away jobs and perhaps that was the problem. I'm a bigger risk than a local candidate. I know bossman originally was only looking at local candidates. But even though I KNOW all this... I'm still freaking out. It doesn't help that he actually has some viable candidates this time around. We may actually fill this position. Happy 36th birthday, Joanne, you're getting your big fat negative pay increase. (Pay cut for those of you mathematically challenged).

I'm also scaring myself in that I'm starting to think about places I previously declined. Places like Phoenix. I don't want to live in Phoenix. I HATE Phoenix. BUT there are jobs in Phoenix. Baltimore. There's a job at a University there. I don't think I want to work for colleges anymore but it is a job and Maryland is on the approved list. I may have to look at places that aren't on the Michelle & Joanne list. Places like New Mexico or Vermont or Montana. Or Florida. (Just kidding about Florida. Florida will never be on the approved list.... or will it... Disney World! :) No. Never... flying cockroaches. Repeat ... FLYING COCKROACHES!)

Found 3 more jobs to apply for. I know I should be grateful. I've been applying for jobs fairly steadily since April. (Wait, how should I be grateful for that??!!) At least there've been jobs for me to apply for. I know looking every single day is tormenting me. I can't help it. I'm just so desperate to find a new job.

TV & Exercise and whatnot

I wish How I met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory were on in a single hour instead of HIMYM and BBT being an hour apart. I am meh on Accidentally On Purpose and really don't like 2.5 Men. I dislike the "mooch" kinds of shows. Family A takes Family B in. Family A then spends the next indeterminate number of seasons complaining about how Family B is a mooch. Either let them live with you without complaint of mooch status or throw their asses out.

My niece is perpetuating flu shot myths. This peeves me.

I want a Hershey's bar with almonds. Damn tv commercial.

So here's the question... I can do 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer and feel pretty good but not like overwhelmingly out of breath or anything yet I can't walk up the stairs in freeway park without getting winded. What's that about? I'm moving faster on the elliptical. I'm working out for longer than I am walking up the stairs. I don't get it.

The Quest for the Circle

Subtitled: How Lyday and Joanne completely lost their shit and drove all around Seattle last night.

Once upon a time there were two single gals who decided to spend a spinster filled Saturday night at one of their homes. Their names were Lyday and Joanne and the plan was to make enchiladas for dinner, watch Circle of Friends and make soap. Initially the plan went off without a hitch. Enchiladas were made and consumed and declared awesome. (Of course they were, they were made by Joanne who is a decent cook and not by Lyday who could burn water (but to be fair can bake a cake from scratch which Joanne has no interest in doing).) It came time for the movie. Oh where oh where could that movie be? Lyday swore she owned it. Both searched the apartment valiantly for the movie. It was not there. Lyday is fairly sure that the Wal of the Marts carries said movie for the reasonable price of $5.00. Does the daring duo go to the Wal of the Marts or do they change their viewing choice and watch Ever After?

Well obviously since this is a quest they head for the Wal of the Marts. Now Joanne HATES the Wal of the Marts. But she agrees to go along in the hopes of finding the Circle for the low low price of $5.00. Off they go protected by William Christopher to the kingdom of Renton. Into the Wal of the Marts they brave. And they search. And they search. And they search through every shelf/bin/whatever of DVDs that are there. No Circle. Is this the end of their quest? Do the girls go home and give up??

Of course not! They decide to try Target. Maybe, just maybe Target will have this. I'll save you some of the action. It does not. Nor does Fry's. Nor, according to a phone call, does Best Buy in Tukwila. Oho! Joanne says. I have this movie at home. Let's try my house. Sadly, she is either mistaken or messy because the DVD cannot be found at Joanne's house either. Now (if you're keeping track) they have attempted to find this movie at 4.5 places (phone call counts for half). This has taken over an hour at this point. Do they give up?!

Of course not. Now it has become somewhat of a "THING" for them. You can't just give up on a quest unfulfilled. Obviously somebody somewhere does not want them to watch this movie. For what nefarious reasons could that be? Who knows... but the girls will not be thwarted. Off they go to Blockbuster. It's a video rental place. It will have it, right? RIGHT? The Blockbuster on the Hill of Capitols does not. Sadly and almost defeated the girls ponder their next move. Huzzah! According to the fair maid behind the counter, the DVD can be found in Queen Anne's realm near the burger joint known as Dick's. The maidens stand outside and contemplate... Do they go to Queen Anne's or not?

Of course they do! How could they not? But first, on the way, they attempt one more spot. Half Price Books (which also sells DVDs). Alas and Alack (and not at all shocking) they don't have it either. Fearful that their little detour to Half Price Books has caused some other evil-doer to grab the Circle off the shelf they rush over to Queen Anne's kingdom. There it is! On the shelf! For a mere $1.49 it was theirs all theirs for the night. Or for an additional $4.49 it could be theirs forever.

The happy gals travelled home after getting some fries and milkshakes from Dick's. There they watched Circle of Friends and it was as awesome as it always is.

The End.

I've joined REAL people...

Guess what I just did... you'll never guess... I just ordered pizza. To be delivered. Pizza. Delivered to MY apartment! This is the most exciting thing ever! Since I've been Gluten Free I've not had pizza delivered to my house. Pizza. Delivery. I'm so excited!!!

Question of today:

Does being a friend mean you support your friend's choices even though they are making choices that may not be what you consider to be in their best interest or the best choices they could make?

I'm not saying lying down and just accepting those choices. I don't mean just passively accepting what they do without ever talking with them about it. I think I mean they make a choice... you may say your piece... they have disagreed. Should you continue to support them even though they've continued down that path? I'm mostly referring to choices that don't really impact you. I do recognize that there can come a point in a friendship where what they are doing is too self-distructive to continue supporting that behavior and it becomes too hard for you to be with them and watch them destory their lives. Believe me I know that.

We briefly discussed this at dinner yesterday and I was roundly shot down. I think if a person is your friend, you should support their decisions. You can disagree with them, but really being a friend means (to me) putting your feelings aside and supporting your friend as best you can.

Snipping the threads

One of the things the psychic told me is that I haven't really begun pulling back and preparing for moving and whatnot. That is totally correct. It isn't really in my nature to believe something until it is actually happening. I don't believe I'm on vacation until I'm in the airport at my destination. (You never know, the plane could crash). I looked around my apartment last night and realized if I were offered a job tomorrow (obviously that won't happen but if) I wouldn't be anywhere near ready to move in 30 days. Even with Stephen and Lyday and PM coming from California to help basically full time I wouldn't be ready to move in 30 days. I'm going to have to adopt PM's resolution of getting rid of 10 things every day. I will adapt it slightly, though, to getting rid of or packing up 10 things every day. And perhaps this weekend I should spend time down in my storage unit figuring it out. This way I have a place to put the boxes as I pack them away. (On that note, perhaps this weekend I should pick up a flexcar and drop off some boxes to charity since there's a ton of that to go too.)

A Number of Little Things

Carbonite: Carbonite FINALLY finished backing up Sampson. I transferred the account to Bianca today and now she is receiving a dump of everything that was on Sampson... my music, photos, documents etc. It is so much easier than it was when I went from Jakob to Sampson. (Hmm unrelated to anything, Bianca might be the first female thing I've owned. Wait, I forgot. My Mac (which is still in the basement and is 15 years old) was named Zelma after my first landlord in Alaska.) Then I had to load things onto my MP3 player and transfer the files that way. With Carbonite I don't have to do anything. It will include everything. Michelle was the one who suggested it to me, and I think it is totally worth the money. (I could be wrong).

Back to work: I don't want to go back to work tomorrow. It has been nice to be off the week +. Luckily job hunting will be back on track.

Sampson: I know it is irrational but I do feel a tiny bit sad about replacing Sampson. I do recognize it is irrational. Perhaps it is bad for me to name things. ;)

Let's Hope She's Right

Lyday had a brilliant idea to go see a psychic. I'm game for that kind of stuff so I went too. It was interesting. She had me pegged right off the bat and I don't think I had said anything. I'm sarcastic but that's mostly to cover up blah blah blah. I am fiercely independent and that's important to me. The bottom line is she was mostly right about my personality. I take on too much from other people but don't take care of my own needs. I think that's fairly accurate. I am also not good with boundries.

So on the job front, she thinks I'll find something in 3 - 4 but didn't know if that was weeks, months or a specific date. She said I'll have an interview where I'll just know it is the right position. He'll have the same dry sense of humour I have and I'll know it because someone will interrupt the interview and he'll comment in such a way it would be similar to my point of view. I hope she's right. It would be nice if it all worked out in 3 -4 months. :)

So far so good...

Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon.

It is day 2ish (well technically I've been here a day and a half) and we are all still alive. My sister has a new kitten. My parents (in a weird move) brought their two cats with them AZ. My sister has a dog. The cats don't exactly get along, but they're getting over it. They are all unified in their hate of the dog. (Currently Jack, the kitten, is playing with a toy under the table I'm sitting at. Sweetums, big cat, is sitting on the table and growling so hard at Jack I can feel the table vibrating through the computer.)

We're making New York Cheesecake for my mom and niece tomorrow. (Kayla's birthday was last week and my mom's is tomorrow.) We'll also make the cake balls. I got everything we needed to make them from Wal-Mart. I do not love the Wal Mart, but it was useful in this situation.

Since my sister and I have had control of the remote, I have not been subject to hours of Tru TV's "Most shocking" shows.

On Monday through Wednesday, we go to Savannah. I'm pretty excited about that. We made reservations for a haunted pub crawl and a tour in a hearse. How fun! Also, just to support my nerdishness, we're going to the Girl Scout birthplace. I will have to do some more planning to know where else to go so we don't get caught unawares.

We get back sometime Wednesday afternoon and I leave on Friday evening. Nice easy trip.

A Christmas Eve Adventure

Yesterday, I thought I was going to have a nice easy day. I had a lot I wanted to get done, but it seemed not impossible. I woke up early. I did laundry and finished up the frame for my parents. I packed my suitcase and then headed out to lunch with Stephen.

Here's where my day went completely awry. I was tossing my garbage in the dumpster when the bag kind of fell against my face. I thought I had knocked out the left lens on my glasses and I was thrilled when I hadn't. Unfortunately, I had no idea that I had knocked out the RIGHT lens. Stephen came into my parking garage to see if we could find it. He even climbed into the dumpster for me! Sadly we couldn't. I'm pretty sure it fell into the storm drain I was standing on. I called my vision place. They were closed for the holiday. I called lLens Crafters. They were open and could get me in. Unfortunately I had to have a new exam since I didn't have my prescription. (Yes I know I'm entitled to have my prescription, but since I've been going to the same place since I started work at my current employer, it isn't like I've ever needed it before.)

I went there at 2. I had plans for a 4:10 movie and I still had to go home and get my suitcase and pack my back pack. Luckily, I had good bus luck and caught the bus I wanted to catch right as it was pulling up. I managed to get myself packed and get downstairs. We JUST made it to the movie as it was starting.

I went and saw the Princess and the Frog. I liked it. I thought it was pretty good. Kind of intense, but really good.

Caught my plane at 10:15 and now I'm in FL with my sister and parents.

Not What I Expected

I volunteered for The Rockettes' Christmas Show this morning. At 9:30 this morning. I don't know what I thought the Rockettes' show would be like but it seemed weird to me. I think I mostly liked it. Maybe. It was kind of cheesy. There was singing and dancing and kicking and precision moving. I think I might have thought the Rockettes danced more than they do. I mean they dance, but a lot of their schtick is the precision work, which was very cool. The turns completely in sync and of course the kicking. It did make me wonder if there were like 2 troupes to the Rockettes... a touring one and one that stays in NYC. My friend Jen from high school used to tap dance and one of the performances they always did was the toy soldier march from the Rockettes. It was interesting to see it done by the real thing.

The thing that surprised me the most was the end. They do a big song about winter and there's singing and dancing and you think it is done, unless you work for the theater and know that the show runs 1 hr and 57 minutes and there are still about 17 minutes left. Then you think hmm... And then it starts. The religious portion of the show. I wasn't expecting this twist at all, but they did a living nativity and the whole Jesus story and all that. It was all very solemn and religious. The most interesting part, to me at least, was that they had 2 real camels and sheep and a real donkey on the stage. Who was expecting a real camel?

I have 2 more shows to do. I don't think I love it enough to sit through 2 more shows. Both shows are 9:30 am shows (we have to be there an hour and a half before showtime). They scheduled these shows very tightly... my show starts at 11 and ends at 1, the next one starts at 2 and ends at 4 and the 3rd starts at 5 and ends at 7. Since they open the doors an hour before showtime it is very close.

Sometimes

I want to stomp my feet and sulk and scream "Give me want I want Universe! I'm a good person! I deserve it dammit!" And then I remember I don't believe in that crap and life goes on. :)

A tale of insanity

Once upon a time, Michelle and I were sane, rational people who did enjoy the holiday known as Black Friday and would be up to shop at about 4 AM. We made it a point to not go to Best Buy because that place is just madness. Madness I say! This year, those sane, rational people were replaced by lunatics. This year... we braved Best Buy. Starting at 8:30 on Thanksgiving night Michelle and I were camped out at Best Buy. There were about 30 people ahead of us in line which we figured gave us pretty decent odds at getting what we were looking for. I wanted a cheap cheap laptop and Michelle had her eyes set on a netbook.

Armed with a kindle each, blankets, some snacks and my Nintendo, we braved the California cold and set up our chairs for the long winter's night. At about 11:30ish I started to doze off. I can sleep anywhere apparently. I was just at that place between awake and asleep when some jackhole drove by in his big truck and honked his big truck horn loudly. I jumped out of my chair and when the nice young man behind me asked how I was doing I assured him I was fine and went about arranging my blankets as though THAT was what I was doing.

At midnight we got cold. Really cold. Michelle went home for more blankets. She came back with what must have been every blanket in their house: 2 quilts, more afghans, jackets and mittens. Warm and toasty I know I dozed off for like 2 hours. I think she did too. I woke up at about 3 when things were starting to shuffle around. We did our shopping. Michelle got her netbook and I did not get my laptop. (That's okay my mom picked one up for me at Staples so it all worked out in the end... the advantage of tiny town life). We did the rest of our shopping and were done by around 11.

The problem with the all night Best Buy adventure reared its ugly head later. We got home about 11ish and almost immediately fell asleep. I think I slept until like 3 and was pretty much wiped out the rest of the day.

The rest of the visit was good. Michelle's kids Kay and Oh are so big. Kay cracked me up most of the weekend, however I could tell I'm totally used to living by myself because Kay would sing. And initially I was fine with it but the longer she would sing the more I would cringe. Michelle pointed out that eventually you tune it out.

Could this have BEEN a more Seattle morning?

So this morning wearing my Converse high tops and my Columbia fleece jacket I hopped into the Zipcar to take my pet to the vet. She's getting a shot that isn't necessary to extend her life but it will give her more fur. After that I stopped on an impulse at Whole Foods where I spent a ridiculous amount of money on gluten free food and I bought a reusable bag. Then I popped in to an independently owned pet store and bought Rigby a ridiculously overpriced pet sweater that I'm sure she won't wear (because I've put it on her twice and she slides right out of it). The only way I could be more a Seattleite after today would be if I were driving a Subaru and was planning on going hiking.

Another one bites the dust

Just got home and there was a sign on my door. Another apartment manager has bitten the dust. The weird poly couple is no longer our managers. I wonder if they know this or if they discovered it the same way one of the other ones did - sign on the door indicating a new manager in place. They at least lasted six months I think.

That's one way to lose weight

So when I got home on Sunday I had to lug my suitcase up 5 flights of stairs because the elevator was broken. I was unhappy with that. Yesterday morning I left and elevator was still broken (makes sense since it isn't like the repair guy came out overnight). HOWEVER yesterday evening I got home from Girl Scouts to discover the elevator was still broken. Apparently it needs a part. That part has to come from Germany. Now when the apartment managers told me that I thought wow... god this is going to take forever. Upon further reflection this morning I thought, are you kidding me? It is 2009. Fedex, UPS, and a wide variety of other shipping companies can have a part here in less than a week. This should not take forever to fix. However if the part doesn't fix the elevator then it may need a new motor. The apt manager in the next building (who is owned by the same owners that own my building) says if that's the case the prop managers (higher than apt manager on the food chain) may not get it fixed. Fuck that. Damn good thing I'm moving out. Then I thought... how on earth will movers get my bed down the stairs? It isn't like these stairs were designed to have people moving couches and whatnot up and around and over them. Christ what a pain in the ass. Also, depending on how long this goes, I may end up with a pretty nice ass. :)

Tattoo #3

I'm considering getting another tattoo. This, of course, prompts 2 questions. #1 - what and #2 where? Both are a little bit difficult for me since I have all sorts of rules about location. I am toying around with one of the two below, perhaps drawn by a far better artist than I using something better than Microsoft paint. The one is Mickey Mouse ears stylized like my dragonfly. The other is obviously a girl in a tent. I don't know. Maybe I won't.