All I want to do today is crawl back into bed. It's a good thing this is a three day weekend, because I need it. (And because paid holidays are the best thing ever invented.) It's summertime in Fairbanks, and there's everything to do. On top of all of the usual life things (chores, work, etc.) there's something going on pretty much every evening. There have been about five birthdays in the last week amongst our circle of friends, plus BBQs, going out to restaurants for dinner, movies, etc. And softball. Shane and I are playing on two separate nights (his are on Thursdays, mine are on Fridays) with two games each night. That adds a lot to the week. And when we're not doing all of this? Frolf. They've set up a frisbee golf course on campus that's actually pretty nice. So we'll grab the dog and go with friends. I don't play (I'm terrible and it just gets frustrating), but I hold onto the dog and she loves the walk and the people. (I sometimes wonder if this is the kind of thing she thinks we do all day while we're gone.) We get home and she's absolutely exhausted and overheated, but very happy.
It's been such a nice, early summer so far. We've had several days already when it's gotten up to at least 75. I planted my garden last weekend, and realized that it was over three weeks earlier than I planted last year. Not only that, but it's warm enough that I felt comfortable enough to plant everything outside, not just in boxes to bring them in at night if it gets cold. Because it's not getting that cold. Crazy. It was almost July last year before I stopped brining my zucchinis inside at night.
Of course, the bad part of all of this is that we're getting eaten by mosquitoes. I am a slayer of bugs, but there are just too many of them. The other night I slept poorly because I was so itchy, and I finally woke up because there were some that were getting me in my sleep. Ick.
Also, there's the constant threat of wildfires. Last year we had over 3 million acres of the state catch fire, most of it around Fairbanks. (It actually surrounded the town, so whatever way the wind blew it blew smoke into town. Miserable.) We're hoping it won't be so smoky this summer, but it's been such a dry year that it could be even worse. It's dry enough that Noyes Slough has grass growing in it, and people who've lived here all their lives say they've never seen that before. The fire that was in Nenana last summer also was never fully extinguished, it just smoldered under the snow in the bogs all winter. As soon as everything warmed up, it popped out again. I'm hoping that because we've had some summer thunder showers (short ones--yesterday's lasted maybe ten minutes) it will keep the threat of fires down. I just want these little storms to keep coming.
Last night we saw "Prince of Persia", the midnight showing. Of course, this morning I'm paying for only having gotten five and a half hours of sleep, but I'm thinking it was worth it. I was expecting a movie that wasn't so great, but I liked it. There were a few parts that were simply silly ("The shit has hit the fan, but this is the perfect moment for a long lean-in for a kiss that doesn't happen!") but for the most part it was fun. Shane got annoyed with some of the cheesy one-liners, but he enjoyed it too.
As a group, a bunch of us decided to go out to dinner on Wednesday nights. The deal is, we draw a name from a hat, and then that person chooses a restaurant in Fairbanks that they have never been to, and we all go there. And dress up for it, no matter where we go. Ricky was the first one chosen, and he picked The Vallata. It's one of the pricier restaurants in town, and I'd never been there either. Probably won't go there again. The food was good, don't get me wrong. But a basic plate of pasta (with just butter and parmesan cheese) was $13. I got fettucini alfredo with chicken and garlic and it was over $20. Yowza! When we all sat down (and there were twelve of us--missing a few people who couldn't make it) everyone opened the menu and sucked in a breath, trying to figure out what would be good but wouldn't hurt the wallet too much. (People were joking, "Yeah, um, I've never been to Carl's Jr. ...") With such a big party, the waitress got an auto gratuity, and she used that. Poor Adam got the worst service I've ever seen anyone get. Apparently, he was her RA one year when she lived in the dorms. He didn't remember her, and he couldn't think of anything he had done to deserve such animosity, but she was a bitch to him. She almost "forgot" to take his order (and interrupted him to say sarcastically that when he was an RA he'd been a delight), didn't put croutons on his salad, and when he asked for bread she said, "No, it's in the oven so you'll have to wait." It came 20 minutes later, cold. Wow. He really should have spoken to the manager about that, because that's ridiculous that she was taking advantage of the auto grat to be so mean. We left her exactly the amount on the bill, right down to the $.20. And seriously? He was an RA over five years go. Get over it, whatever it was. Shane and I were not his biggest fans for a long time, but he's grown up a lot and he's a really nice, funny guy now. I felt so bad for him. Eric's suggestion was, "You know what you should do? Wait until she gets off work, and then kill her." Lol.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
"There's cheese on my comb!"
I had the craziest, most vivid dream the other night. About vampires. It started off with the view looking over the garage roof at my parents' house, and there was a dark, man-sized shape on the roof, which creeped me out even though, somehow, I knew he couldn't get inside and wasn't even looking at me.
Anyway (and mind you, the dream was about vampires) I met this girl vampire and ended up telling her about the creepy guy who was around my house every night. She said that he was a vampire and that he was part of a group who was trying to steal my cat because he's a magical cat. Makes sense, right? So I had to guard my cat with my life. I'm unclear why it would have been so bad for them to get my cat, except that my cat would be in the hands of vampires. I kind of trusted this woman, as far as you could trust a vampire. (Not further than you can throw them! And no, they didn't glitter and couldn't be alive during the day.)
Anyway, sometime later I ended up inviting this chick into my house, and then realized that she was the one after my cat, and the guy had been there guarding my house. She chased me all over the place, but slowly and menacingly. Monologuing, like any decent villain does. I kept her chatting because I saw the guy outside and knew that if I could get him inside without her knowing, he'd kill her. (I did not start thinking about, what do I do about the second vampire in my house.) The problem was, he hadn't been invited in and if I said something out loud, she'd know he was there and the element of surprise would be gone.
That's about when I woke up. To discover my cat curled up in Shane's computer chair, watching me. As if he knew I'd been dreaming about him. But it wasn't creepy at all. I really wanted to find out what happens next in my dream! Maybe I could turn it into a book. Worked for the Twilight chick, right? Since that night, though, I've been calling Zap my magical cat. "How's my magical kitten today?" Shane said, "Um, you know he's not really magical, right?" Yeah, yeah.
I got a new bike! I'm so excited. My old one really was a piece of garbage, and last week the chain fell off for no apparent reason. (Shane told me, "Shift up," and I stared at him like he was a lunatic and an idiot and finally said, "I'm in the highest gear." I was really frustrated, even though it was only a couple of blocks to home.) So I bought a new bike. It's sort of a hybrid, with a light frame, and thin tires that have tread on them. I was told that, in Fairbanks, true road bikes aren't that great because neither are our roads. It's not hard to skid out on them with all the cracks, potholes and gravel. But it's such a nice bike! It felt so weird when I was testing it out, because I was actually getting to ride the bike, rather than fighting against it. And I biked to work today. I wasn't going to bike the whole way, just take the bus, but I got to the bus stop and realized that not only had I planned it poorly (riding with a heavy purse on one arm= bad), I had forgotten my bike lock. So I went back, strapped my purse to the back (I got a rack and a basket--which can easily come off for long rides--so that I can do little grocery shopping trips), changed into a tank top, stuffed my work shirt in my purse, and left again. (Hey, that hill his hard and I didn't want to show up at work all gross!)
Work has been pretty chaotic. Last week, Katherine got sick and then so did I. I thought I'd caught her thing, because we were both sick to our stomachs, but she's pretty sure hers was food poisoning from bad sushi. Mine was also much quicker. She was out all week. Anne left on Friday for a conference, so it's a good thing I was feeling better by then. Monday morning, I forgot my keys and also forgot that Katherine was scheduled to be out that day, first for a dentist appointment and then to study for her one final Tuesday morning. So I called campus security, and it turns out I'm not on their list of people to be let into this office. The only reason they did let me in is because my name is on the directory board in the hallway. I ended up opening up the library, half an hour late on the first day of finals. Great. I had several people waiting with me and I felt terrible. Once we all got in, my computer crashed first thing and took forever to start up, so it was even longer they had to wait to turn in reserves (which accrue fines that I had to forgive, since it was my fault they were there) and check out books to study with. Ick.
Katherine came in yesterday morning after her final and said that she'd caught a cold from her sister over the weekend (probably because she was so weak after the food poisoning, I bet) and would I mind if she stayed home another day? Of course. She said she'd used up all her sick leave and was now into vacation time, so she really wanted to be in today. This morning, her mom called to say that not only has she lost her voice, but she's now got a fever of 101. I hope she feels better! This sucks for her. The only thing that sucked for me was how boring it was to work 9 hours yesterday. And since we don't really have the budget for overtime, I'll get to go home early on Friday, so it's really not bad at all. I just hope she gets better! Anne gets back to work either Friday or Monday, I can't remember.
The other work craziness is caused by an e-mail that was sent out by the administration last Friday to tell us all that the dean has been put on administrative leave indefinitely. It did not explain why, but apparently he had a performance review a few weeks ago and there was a survey sent out to library staff and faculty about what kind of job we feel he's doing. So we don't know right now if he's going to get fired or what. Ouch. I feel bad. I know at least one person who is cheering, but since I only ever saw the dean at the coffee hours he held every month to informally let people know what's going on administratively, I suppose I don't really care about it. He was very nice at the meetings, but that really wasn't enough for me to form an opinion about him professionally. I just feel bad for him personally.
We're supposed to have a meeting with the provost's office next week and they'll explain everything.
Anyway (and mind you, the dream was about vampires) I met this girl vampire and ended up telling her about the creepy guy who was around my house every night. She said that he was a vampire and that he was part of a group who was trying to steal my cat because he's a magical cat. Makes sense, right? So I had to guard my cat with my life. I'm unclear why it would have been so bad for them to get my cat, except that my cat would be in the hands of vampires. I kind of trusted this woman, as far as you could trust a vampire. (Not further than you can throw them! And no, they didn't glitter and couldn't be alive during the day.)
Anyway, sometime later I ended up inviting this chick into my house, and then realized that she was the one after my cat, and the guy had been there guarding my house. She chased me all over the place, but slowly and menacingly. Monologuing, like any decent villain does. I kept her chatting because I saw the guy outside and knew that if I could get him inside without her knowing, he'd kill her. (I did not start thinking about, what do I do about the second vampire in my house.) The problem was, he hadn't been invited in and if I said something out loud, she'd know he was there and the element of surprise would be gone.
That's about when I woke up. To discover my cat curled up in Shane's computer chair, watching me. As if he knew I'd been dreaming about him. But it wasn't creepy at all. I really wanted to find out what happens next in my dream! Maybe I could turn it into a book. Worked for the Twilight chick, right? Since that night, though, I've been calling Zap my magical cat. "How's my magical kitten today?" Shane said, "Um, you know he's not really magical, right?" Yeah, yeah.
I got a new bike! I'm so excited. My old one really was a piece of garbage, and last week the chain fell off for no apparent reason. (Shane told me, "Shift up," and I stared at him like he was a lunatic and an idiot and finally said, "I'm in the highest gear." I was really frustrated, even though it was only a couple of blocks to home.) So I bought a new bike. It's sort of a hybrid, with a light frame, and thin tires that have tread on them. I was told that, in Fairbanks, true road bikes aren't that great because neither are our roads. It's not hard to skid out on them with all the cracks, potholes and gravel. But it's such a nice bike! It felt so weird when I was testing it out, because I was actually getting to ride the bike, rather than fighting against it. And I biked to work today. I wasn't going to bike the whole way, just take the bus, but I got to the bus stop and realized that not only had I planned it poorly (riding with a heavy purse on one arm= bad), I had forgotten my bike lock. So I went back, strapped my purse to the back (I got a rack and a basket--which can easily come off for long rides--so that I can do little grocery shopping trips), changed into a tank top, stuffed my work shirt in my purse, and left again. (Hey, that hill his hard and I didn't want to show up at work all gross!)
Work has been pretty chaotic. Last week, Katherine got sick and then so did I. I thought I'd caught her thing, because we were both sick to our stomachs, but she's pretty sure hers was food poisoning from bad sushi. Mine was also much quicker. She was out all week. Anne left on Friday for a conference, so it's a good thing I was feeling better by then. Monday morning, I forgot my keys and also forgot that Katherine was scheduled to be out that day, first for a dentist appointment and then to study for her one final Tuesday morning. So I called campus security, and it turns out I'm not on their list of people to be let into this office. The only reason they did let me in is because my name is on the directory board in the hallway. I ended up opening up the library, half an hour late on the first day of finals. Great. I had several people waiting with me and I felt terrible. Once we all got in, my computer crashed first thing and took forever to start up, so it was even longer they had to wait to turn in reserves (which accrue fines that I had to forgive, since it was my fault they were there) and check out books to study with. Ick.
Katherine came in yesterday morning after her final and said that she'd caught a cold from her sister over the weekend (probably because she was so weak after the food poisoning, I bet) and would I mind if she stayed home another day? Of course. She said she'd used up all her sick leave and was now into vacation time, so she really wanted to be in today. This morning, her mom called to say that not only has she lost her voice, but she's now got a fever of 101. I hope she feels better! This sucks for her. The only thing that sucked for me was how boring it was to work 9 hours yesterday. And since we don't really have the budget for overtime, I'll get to go home early on Friday, so it's really not bad at all. I just hope she gets better! Anne gets back to work either Friday or Monday, I can't remember.
The other work craziness is caused by an e-mail that was sent out by the administration last Friday to tell us all that the dean has been put on administrative leave indefinitely. It did not explain why, but apparently he had a performance review a few weeks ago and there was a survey sent out to library staff and faculty about what kind of job we feel he's doing. So we don't know right now if he's going to get fired or what. Ouch. I feel bad. I know at least one person who is cheering, but since I only ever saw the dean at the coffee hours he held every month to informally let people know what's going on administratively, I suppose I don't really care about it. He was very nice at the meetings, but that really wasn't enough for me to form an opinion about him professionally. I just feel bad for him personally.
We're supposed to have a meeting with the provost's office next week and they'll explain everything.
Monday, April 26, 2010
"I think that went well."
I have something to admit. I have...become a runner. I know, I know. I never thought I'd say those words, either. After all, I hate running! Really detest it. Running without a purpose is just so boring! But for the last two and a half weeks, I've been running regularly. And actually, it's not so bad. Now that I've gotten used to it I've started pushing myself further and harder. I'm looking at ways to expand my route. And it's not too boring, as long as I have my little companion. Pepper LOVES to run. She starts dancing around as soon as I pull out my jogging shoes. I've figured out that her leash is just long enough that I can wrap it around my waist and we mostly won't run into each other (there have been a couple of unfortunate incidents when she stopped suddenly to pee; unfortunate mostly on my end as I fly over her trying not to kick her, while trying to stop in enough time that I don't yank her from her crouched peeing position) but not long enough that she can throw herself into the road, as is her wont. Plus, I think I was starting to develop some shoulder problems from holding her back, so this works out well. And as I said, she loves it.
I'm trying to get in shape. I've been telling everyone that it's because of my brother's wedding and stuff like that, and that is part of it, but really I'm just sick of feeling out of shape. I used to be so skinny and I don't think I have the kind of frame that holds extra weight attractively. (Some people can pull it off. I am not one of them.) Since running is the fastest way to lose weight (along with eating healthfully, of course), that's what I'm doing. And it is working. I feel so much better and I know I've put on a decent amount of muscle.
Even with all of my new fitness, however, yesterday was rough. I've joined a co-ed softball team for the summer, some of which overlaps with Shane's men's team. So we had a giant practice yesterday, working on batting and catching, etc. Simon (the captain and organizer for both teams) didn't really seem to know what to do with me as far as fielding. I did a bunch of catching, which is fine since that's mostly what I did when I played little league eons ago. But I asked if I could try pitching, forgetting that this is underhand pitching and I've never done that before. Anyway, I wasn't actually doing too badly. Well enough that they could hit the ball, and I was prepared to catch anything that came at me between the waist and face. Not prepared for the line drive to the knee, however. I didn't even have time to react. It got me right in the fleshy area above the kneecap (thank God), then bounced off my left kneecap and to the ground. It actually doesn't hurt as much as other people think it does (I was up batting and running within ten minutes) but it sure is swollen. Even after my prescription ibuprofen. (I have it for my tendonitis.) I iced it all last night, took the dog for a walk to keep it loose, etc. It's not so bad. And it hasn't even bruised up as well as I was hoping for. It will, though.
I'm also sore from Saturday's chores. It's been so beautiful during the days (well, not today, which is cloudy) that I finally went into the backyard to see how dry it is. Since the snow has now totally melted, I decided that it was time to start preparing the garden. (This is over a month earlier than I got the garden started last year. Woo-hoo!) I basically dug trenches to turn over the dirt and get out the weeds where the potatoes will go. I don't think I can plant them yet, since it's still quite chilly at night. But in a week or so, if I get those heat trapping groundcloths, it should be fine.
All of this has made me sore all over, from my neck to my ankles. It's good for me, right?
Friday night was a blast, too. First, I went out to the Blue Loon (a bar that shows movies) because there was a cast and crew party for Sweeney Todd. And a showing of the DVD they made. It would have been more fun if I actually knew most of the people there, but my orchestra people were conspicuously absent. So I talked to some of the cast, and that was nice but a little awkward. Oh well. Anyway, the sound on the DVD was crappier than they meant it to be, because it didn't capture the sound coming out of the sound board, it was all the ambient sound from the theater. The strings were barely audible in most of the songs. However, there was one part when my standpartner Thom and I had a little duet, and everyone on stage was quiet. We nailed it the night they did the recording. It sounded so good, and so professional. I was mentally cheering myself on and swelling with pride. Yay! I will always be proud of that. The cast was funny to listen to, as well, because sometimes they'd do something and ask, "What was that? Why would I do that?" Or cheer or boo themselves. The woman who played the Beadle, when she came on screen, screamed at herself, "You bitch!" When some of the men went into Sweeney's shop to be killed people were yelling, "Die, Adam, die!" and stuff like that. It was definitely not a quiet screening.
After that it was the 80's party at the Pub, so I went there to meet up with Shane and a bunch of our friends. I got to see Fiona for the first time in weeks (she's been so busy with her own plays, being a theater/anthropology double-major) and that was great. Almost as soon as I walked into the Pub, though, on came Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". Ellie and I ran onto the dance floor, with about half of everyone else in the Pub, and started dancing and singing along. There was almost no room to dance because so many people were on the dance floor and everyone was singing. It was fantastic.
The final thing of note that's happened recently is that I've started eating meat again. I had the first steak I've had since I was about twelve. Can you believe it? I told Shane a few weeks ago that if we could find locally raised, grass finished beef (an important distinction, since if it's just grass fed, it's still been given corn at the end of its life and is still not healthy, since that's NOT WHAT COWS ARE SUPPOSED TO EAT, sheesh!) then I would start eating it again. Well, I wasn't really sure if we'd find a place like that, but I looked. And found a store that's close enough, we can bike over there. I was so nervous at first. I mean, I've not eaten beef and pork for longer than I did eat it. And I wasn't sure if I'd get sick. I think having eaten moose for the last couple of years has helped, though. The guy at the shop gave me a little trial piece of steak when I explained some of this to him, and it was delicious. So Shane and I went back and got some actual steaks and cooked two of them up on Saturday. (Shane, of course, is ecstatic about being able to use beef and pork in cooking again.) They were quite tasty. So now, I've joined the ranks of the meat-eating public again. Very odd. But at least there are more foods that we can make now, like beef stew. Yay! And James and Lucy told us where we can get ahold of some locally raised (as in, James's parents neighbors are raising the pigs) bacon. That I haven't tried yet. I remember bacon not being my favorite thing, but breakfast sausage...yum.
I'm trying to get in shape. I've been telling everyone that it's because of my brother's wedding and stuff like that, and that is part of it, but really I'm just sick of feeling out of shape. I used to be so skinny and I don't think I have the kind of frame that holds extra weight attractively. (Some people can pull it off. I am not one of them.) Since running is the fastest way to lose weight (along with eating healthfully, of course), that's what I'm doing. And it is working. I feel so much better and I know I've put on a decent amount of muscle.
Even with all of my new fitness, however, yesterday was rough. I've joined a co-ed softball team for the summer, some of which overlaps with Shane's men's team. So we had a giant practice yesterday, working on batting and catching, etc. Simon (the captain and organizer for both teams) didn't really seem to know what to do with me as far as fielding. I did a bunch of catching, which is fine since that's mostly what I did when I played little league eons ago. But I asked if I could try pitching, forgetting that this is underhand pitching and I've never done that before. Anyway, I wasn't actually doing too badly. Well enough that they could hit the ball, and I was prepared to catch anything that came at me between the waist and face. Not prepared for the line drive to the knee, however. I didn't even have time to react. It got me right in the fleshy area above the kneecap (thank God), then bounced off my left kneecap and to the ground. It actually doesn't hurt as much as other people think it does (I was up batting and running within ten minutes) but it sure is swollen. Even after my prescription ibuprofen. (I have it for my tendonitis.) I iced it all last night, took the dog for a walk to keep it loose, etc. It's not so bad. And it hasn't even bruised up as well as I was hoping for. It will, though.
I'm also sore from Saturday's chores. It's been so beautiful during the days (well, not today, which is cloudy) that I finally went into the backyard to see how dry it is. Since the snow has now totally melted, I decided that it was time to start preparing the garden. (This is over a month earlier than I got the garden started last year. Woo-hoo!) I basically dug trenches to turn over the dirt and get out the weeds where the potatoes will go. I don't think I can plant them yet, since it's still quite chilly at night. But in a week or so, if I get those heat trapping groundcloths, it should be fine.
All of this has made me sore all over, from my neck to my ankles. It's good for me, right?
Friday night was a blast, too. First, I went out to the Blue Loon (a bar that shows movies) because there was a cast and crew party for Sweeney Todd. And a showing of the DVD they made. It would have been more fun if I actually knew most of the people there, but my orchestra people were conspicuously absent. So I talked to some of the cast, and that was nice but a little awkward. Oh well. Anyway, the sound on the DVD was crappier than they meant it to be, because it didn't capture the sound coming out of the sound board, it was all the ambient sound from the theater. The strings were barely audible in most of the songs. However, there was one part when my standpartner Thom and I had a little duet, and everyone on stage was quiet. We nailed it the night they did the recording. It sounded so good, and so professional. I was mentally cheering myself on and swelling with pride. Yay! I will always be proud of that. The cast was funny to listen to, as well, because sometimes they'd do something and ask, "What was that? Why would I do that?" Or cheer or boo themselves. The woman who played the Beadle, when she came on screen, screamed at herself, "You bitch!" When some of the men went into Sweeney's shop to be killed people were yelling, "Die, Adam, die!" and stuff like that. It was definitely not a quiet screening.
After that it was the 80's party at the Pub, so I went there to meet up with Shane and a bunch of our friends. I got to see Fiona for the first time in weeks (she's been so busy with her own plays, being a theater/anthropology double-major) and that was great. Almost as soon as I walked into the Pub, though, on came Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'". Ellie and I ran onto the dance floor, with about half of everyone else in the Pub, and started dancing and singing along. There was almost no room to dance because so many people were on the dance floor and everyone was singing. It was fantastic.
The final thing of note that's happened recently is that I've started eating meat again. I had the first steak I've had since I was about twelve. Can you believe it? I told Shane a few weeks ago that if we could find locally raised, grass finished beef (an important distinction, since if it's just grass fed, it's still been given corn at the end of its life and is still not healthy, since that's NOT WHAT COWS ARE SUPPOSED TO EAT, sheesh!) then I would start eating it again. Well, I wasn't really sure if we'd find a place like that, but I looked. And found a store that's close enough, we can bike over there. I was so nervous at first. I mean, I've not eaten beef and pork for longer than I did eat it. And I wasn't sure if I'd get sick. I think having eaten moose for the last couple of years has helped, though. The guy at the shop gave me a little trial piece of steak when I explained some of this to him, and it was delicious. So Shane and I went back and got some actual steaks and cooked two of them up on Saturday. (Shane, of course, is ecstatic about being able to use beef and pork in cooking again.) They were quite tasty. So now, I've joined the ranks of the meat-eating public again. Very odd. But at least there are more foods that we can make now, like beef stew. Yay! And James and Lucy told us where we can get ahold of some locally raised (as in, James's parents neighbors are raising the pigs) bacon. That I haven't tried yet. I remember bacon not being my favorite thing, but breakfast sausage...yum.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
"I'm Dick Tracy's little brother, Vagina Tracy."
Wow, it's been a while since I posted. But I don't feel like that much has happened, other than weird dreams and such.
For Easter Sunday, we had a few friends over for dinner. It was much smaller than last year, but still very fun. And we had a soccer game that evening. After having such a big dinner, we all thought we'd play terribly. But the other team must have eaten more than we did, because we won! Shane played goalie, and he was fantastic. There were so many shots that should have gone in, but he blocked them all. Some of them he just managed to push away with his fingertips. It was beautiful. And I played pretty well, too. I actually still have bruises on my shin from a shot I took. Two of the other girls also got whacked. Casey even had a print of the ball on her arm. Ouch. Didn't matter though. We won!
Our poor kitty, though, has had to go to the vet twice now. We took him in because we noticed that he stopped jumping as much. Instead of jumping onto a chair, he'd put his claws into it and pull himself up. When we took him to the vet (a very traumatic experience--I've never heard those noises from him before) it turned out he was running a fever as well. So Court (the vet--we play broomball with him and are friends with his daughter) gave us some antibiotics for him, and we got him a rabies shot while we were there since he goes outside. And really, the rabies shot is almost unnecessary because it's rare for animals up here to have rabies. They just don't live long enough to spread it. (Most incidents of rabies that have been documented are domestic pets from out of state spreading it to other domestic pets.) Anyway, we took him home and thought he was getting a bit better for a little while. But yesterday we realized that not only is he not getting better, he's been using his hind legs even less, losing muscle and losing weight because he can't jump up to where his food is. And of course we can't put it lower, because then the dog would eat it. Poor kitty! So we took him back to the vet yesterday. Now that it's gotten worse, Court thinks it might be a lower spinal kind of injury. He said that if Zap was an old cat, he would automatically tell us that it's a ruptured disk. But since he's so young, it could be a trauma injury. But he still has the fever, which is odd. So now he's started on different antibiotics (a different class) and a steroid. And he's got another appointment for tomorrow. I'm nervous about taking him by myself, considering the clawing I got yesterday. But I hope he gets better!
Pepper, of course, is totally jealous about all the attention he's been getting. And she's been a brat about eating her kibble. She barks at it, hoping it will suddenly transform into something better. But of course, if the kitty goes near it to drink out of the water dish, she growls at him and puts her face in her dish. She still doesn't eat it, but she blocks him from the possibility of eating her kibble. Stupid dog.
I started running again! Only a couple of times, but I'm excited. And I've gotten to ride my bike several times. I totally want to ditch the truck entirely this summer. But I'll need to buy a cart thing for groceries. I'm not sure yet how expensive those are. But it would be so cool to not be dependent upon a vehicle for the summer.
I killed my blueberry plant by leaving it outside overnight. Now I need to get another one.
For Easter Sunday, we had a few friends over for dinner. It was much smaller than last year, but still very fun. And we had a soccer game that evening. After having such a big dinner, we all thought we'd play terribly. But the other team must have eaten more than we did, because we won! Shane played goalie, and he was fantastic. There were so many shots that should have gone in, but he blocked them all. Some of them he just managed to push away with his fingertips. It was beautiful. And I played pretty well, too. I actually still have bruises on my shin from a shot I took. Two of the other girls also got whacked. Casey even had a print of the ball on her arm. Ouch. Didn't matter though. We won!
Our poor kitty, though, has had to go to the vet twice now. We took him in because we noticed that he stopped jumping as much. Instead of jumping onto a chair, he'd put his claws into it and pull himself up. When we took him to the vet (a very traumatic experience--I've never heard those noises from him before) it turned out he was running a fever as well. So Court (the vet--we play broomball with him and are friends with his daughter) gave us some antibiotics for him, and we got him a rabies shot while we were there since he goes outside. And really, the rabies shot is almost unnecessary because it's rare for animals up here to have rabies. They just don't live long enough to spread it. (Most incidents of rabies that have been documented are domestic pets from out of state spreading it to other domestic pets.) Anyway, we took him home and thought he was getting a bit better for a little while. But yesterday we realized that not only is he not getting better, he's been using his hind legs even less, losing muscle and losing weight because he can't jump up to where his food is. And of course we can't put it lower, because then the dog would eat it. Poor kitty! So we took him back to the vet yesterday. Now that it's gotten worse, Court thinks it might be a lower spinal kind of injury. He said that if Zap was an old cat, he would automatically tell us that it's a ruptured disk. But since he's so young, it could be a trauma injury. But he still has the fever, which is odd. So now he's started on different antibiotics (a different class) and a steroid. And he's got another appointment for tomorrow. I'm nervous about taking him by myself, considering the clawing I got yesterday. But I hope he gets better!
Pepper, of course, is totally jealous about all the attention he's been getting. And she's been a brat about eating her kibble. She barks at it, hoping it will suddenly transform into something better. But of course, if the kitty goes near it to drink out of the water dish, she growls at him and puts her face in her dish. She still doesn't eat it, but she blocks him from the possibility of eating her kibble. Stupid dog.
I started running again! Only a couple of times, but I'm excited. And I've gotten to ride my bike several times. I totally want to ditch the truck entirely this summer. But I'll need to buy a cart thing for groceries. I'm not sure yet how expensive those are. But it would be so cool to not be dependent upon a vehicle for the summer.
I killed my blueberry plant by leaving it outside overnight. Now I need to get another one.
Monday, March 22, 2010
"Everybody shaves so there will be plenty of flavors."
I love doing musical theater!!! I'm totally going to keep doing this, because I've been having a blast. Last week turned out to be easier and less stressful than I expected (helped along by Shane, who did things for me like making sure there was a hot dinner waiting for me when I had only 20 minutes to eat before rushing off to rehearsal) and each of the performances has been great. I was actually more nervous for the dress rehearsal than I was for opening night.
Shane is not a fan of musical theater, however, so all last week he kept asking, "Do I have to go?" Well, yes, because you're going to support me and I'm getting you a free ticket. I kept telling him he'd like it, it's not like a Rogers and Hammerstein musical (which I love, but are not Shane's style; but that's what he was thinking of, I'm sure) and it's funny. He was unconvinced, but came for opening night with James and Lucy. And loved it. By intermission he was laughing and telling me how wonderful it was. Yay! If we can get someone like Shane to enjoy it, we've done our jobs well. (It also sparked several debates, such as how many pies our cat would make. Don't ask. It's sick, I know.) I feel like I played my best for opening night, too. Not that most of our mistakes are things the audience would notice. Also, a good rule with performing is to never admit mistakes. Everything is for effect.
I got to go for my first bike ride of the year yesterday, which pleased me. I wasn't planning to, either. I went to Fred's in the morning to get groceries and stuff, and ended up forgetting one important thing (contact solution). Of course, I realized this when I was pulling into the driveway, and really didn't want to drive back over there. But I'd noticed that all the sidewalks have been clearing up (it's been in the forties during the day) so I pulled out my bike. It showed me just how out of shape I am! I'm not sore today or anything (I would be crying pathetically if a 1/2 hour bike ride made me sore!) but it was rather slow going. Of course, that wasn't helped by the fact that my bike tires are almost bald, so I was cornering carefully.
I think I want to buy a road bike this summer. The bike I have is crappy, and I got it for free from a friend who moved. And since I almost exclusively bike during the summer, it would be worth it to have something nice. We'll see how poor I'm feeling, though.
I'm withdrawing from my classes today. I realized last week that I already took one of them, but at the community college I went to. The other, due to missed classes from being sick and Sweeney, I'm hopelessly behind on. And it's turning out to be not that much fun anyway. What's the point of taking a class after I've graduated if it's not fun or worthwhile? If it wasn't for the fact that I'm so behind I would have seen it through to the end, but as it is I'm totally lost and have more work than I could possibly catch up on. Which sucks. Oh well. That's life. Maybe now I'll learn not to over-commit myself.
Shane is not a fan of musical theater, however, so all last week he kept asking, "Do I have to go?" Well, yes, because you're going to support me and I'm getting you a free ticket. I kept telling him he'd like it, it's not like a Rogers and Hammerstein musical (which I love, but are not Shane's style; but that's what he was thinking of, I'm sure) and it's funny. He was unconvinced, but came for opening night with James and Lucy. And loved it. By intermission he was laughing and telling me how wonderful it was. Yay! If we can get someone like Shane to enjoy it, we've done our jobs well. (It also sparked several debates, such as how many pies our cat would make. Don't ask. It's sick, I know.) I feel like I played my best for opening night, too. Not that most of our mistakes are things the audience would notice. Also, a good rule with performing is to never admit mistakes. Everything is for effect.
I got to go for my first bike ride of the year yesterday, which pleased me. I wasn't planning to, either. I went to Fred's in the morning to get groceries and stuff, and ended up forgetting one important thing (contact solution). Of course, I realized this when I was pulling into the driveway, and really didn't want to drive back over there. But I'd noticed that all the sidewalks have been clearing up (it's been in the forties during the day) so I pulled out my bike. It showed me just how out of shape I am! I'm not sore today or anything (I would be crying pathetically if a 1/2 hour bike ride made me sore!) but it was rather slow going. Of course, that wasn't helped by the fact that my bike tires are almost bald, so I was cornering carefully.
I think I want to buy a road bike this summer. The bike I have is crappy, and I got it for free from a friend who moved. And since I almost exclusively bike during the summer, it would be worth it to have something nice. We'll see how poor I'm feeling, though.
I'm withdrawing from my classes today. I realized last week that I already took one of them, but at the community college I went to. The other, due to missed classes from being sick and Sweeney, I'm hopelessly behind on. And it's turning out to be not that much fun anyway. What's the point of taking a class after I've graduated if it's not fun or worthwhile? If it wasn't for the fact that I'm so behind I would have seen it through to the end, but as it is I'm totally lost and have more work than I could possibly catch up on. Which sucks. Oh well. That's life. Maybe now I'll learn not to over-commit myself.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
"'You are what you eat' is a truism hard to argue with...."
I love my weekends!! Have I mentioned that enough yet? Last week was spring break, so it was super slow at the library. I think our average was maybe five or six people per day. Ick. But at least Friday was a holiday, so I had a lovely three-day weekend.
Friday I woke up, ready to get a few things done and then relax. Which I did. Lucy and I went to the gym, then to Fred Meyer to do a little bit of shopping. After putting the groceries away at home, I laid down in bed again and turned on a T.V. show (lately it's been "Good Eats" with Alton Brown, a fantastic cooking show). Anyway, at about 4:30 Shane said, "Hey, what time was Pepper's vet appointment?" Crap! I knew I was forgetting something, and I'd missed it by an hour. So I called them, and got another appointment for this Friday, when I'm taking my personal day off. (The reason for that will be apparent later.)
Anyway, Saturday was the day Shane, Dustin and Al were planning to go to Anchorage to see the Star Wars exhibit that was in town. (I declined going because of the expense--I have some dental work that needs to get done later this month that will be expensive even after insurance. Yuck.) So we stayed up until 2 a.m. with James, even though Shane and the guys were planning to leave at 5. He apparently didn't get any real sleep that night, just lying down for an hour before getting up to make coffee, breakfast, and to shower. I vaguely recall saying goodbye to him when the others showed up to get him. Anyway, when it was just starting to get light (about 6 a.m.) I got a call and thought, "Please don't be Shane." It was Shane. So my next thought was, "Please just have forgotten to do something or turn something off." Nope. "Hey, something's wrong with the car. The coolant is boiling over. Can you come get us?" I dressed as fast as I could, let the dog come with me, and rushed off to get them. In my haste, I didn't really dress for the weather. We're getting into the pre-Breakup weather where it's lovely and warm-ish during the day (10-20 above) and well below zero at night. Yeah, it was -20 when I went to get them. (What could make coolant boil over at that temp?!) The poor guys didn't have the advantage of even our truck's crappy heater (which gets less cold at these temperatures, rather than warm) and had to sit there in the cold, waiting for me. Al had to stay there the longest, because he had to wait for the tow truck. But I took Shane and Dustin back to Dustin's house to get his car so they could keep going. Luckily, no more mishaps. It took me forever to warm up when I went back to bed, though. Pepper, wonderful little space heater that she is, just wasn't enough and I clearly needed an outside heat source. So for the first time since moving into this place, I pulled out the electric blanket. (A couple days later, talking in my sleep, I asked Shane to get it for me. When he asked where I'd put it I told him, "Back in the refrigerator, of course.")
When I woke up again later (11-ish) I was ready to get things done. The night before I'd gotten a new bookshelf from Fred Meyer's (Shane's parents birthday gift to me) so I set that up and re-arranged some of my books. It's actually fuller than I would have expected. Probably within the next year or year and a half it will be full, and I'll be cramming books in wherever they'll fit, again. Oh well. Lovely books!
After that, having a gift card, I went to Barnes and Noble to get some more books to go on my new shelves. I got three books: American Lion, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and In Defense of Food. I also got made fun of by the girl I asked to help me find them. (I could not for the life of me remember the authors.) Anyway, I gave her the titles and, after seeing the subject matter, she told me, "Sounds thrilling." Wow. Way to judge me for buying books that are educational! Whatever. (I actually saw her earlier today on campus. She's a student.)
After that I decided to run to the hardware store next door just to get some small nails. I got distracted by the garden section and ended up buying a couple of new pots and a blueberry plant. They can't overwinter here, so I've potted it inside, I'll plant it outside over the summer, and then bring it back into the garage for next winter. But blueberries! Yum. I'm also going to try to go blueberry picking this summer. My dad warned me to bring bear bells, though. Which are just bells, but you wear them to warn black bears of your presence.
My last errand of the day was to stop at Gulliver's Books (where I have another gift card, which hasn't been used yet) to turn in some school books for credit (the ones they wouldn't take were sent to the literacy council, a nonprofit) and pre-order a book I've been waiting months for which comes out this week.
Unfortunately, I can't read it for a little while because life is too crazy. I am reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma", but that's not as engrossing as I'm sure this other book will be. ("The Girl Who Chased the Moon" by Sarah Addison Allen.) I won't want to put it down, and that's a problem because of "Sweeney Todd". This is Hell Week, which actually hasn't started out so bad. We had four hours of rehearsal last night, but I had time to relax a bit at home and take Pepper for a short romp around the neighborhood (she even got off-leash time!) before I had to go. Tonight will be much crazier, though, because I'm not done with work until 5:00 and then I have to go get my music from my stand partner (he'll be late because he's teaching lessons late) and rehearsal starts at 6:30. I get the feeling I'll be choking down dinner as fast as I can. Ugh. Oh well. This is why I'm taking the day off on Friday, though. I'll probably be dead on my feet by then. But that's when the shows start, and I'm really excited. Last night was the first night we got to see the full cast and all of the props and such. So well done! (If you want to look at pictures, look at FLOT.org.) And I volunteered for an opera that will be done later on (another paying gig) so that will be cool.
Life is pretty good. If it sounds like I'm complaining about being busy, I'm sorry. It does get crazy, but I love it, too. The only thing is I'm not happy about my classes. They're not as interesting as I was hoping, so I don't want to do the work. I keep thinking, I don't need them for anything. I could just ask the professors to withdraw me, but I'm balking at having a W on my transcript, even for classes I'm taking recreationally. So I'll have to do the work. Ick.
For now, though, I'm trying to put it out of my mind. I have too many other, pleasanter things to think on.
Friday I woke up, ready to get a few things done and then relax. Which I did. Lucy and I went to the gym, then to Fred Meyer to do a little bit of shopping. After putting the groceries away at home, I laid down in bed again and turned on a T.V. show (lately it's been "Good Eats" with Alton Brown, a fantastic cooking show). Anyway, at about 4:30 Shane said, "Hey, what time was Pepper's vet appointment?" Crap! I knew I was forgetting something, and I'd missed it by an hour. So I called them, and got another appointment for this Friday, when I'm taking my personal day off. (The reason for that will be apparent later.)
Anyway, Saturday was the day Shane, Dustin and Al were planning to go to Anchorage to see the Star Wars exhibit that was in town. (I declined going because of the expense--I have some dental work that needs to get done later this month that will be expensive even after insurance. Yuck.) So we stayed up until 2 a.m. with James, even though Shane and the guys were planning to leave at 5. He apparently didn't get any real sleep that night, just lying down for an hour before getting up to make coffee, breakfast, and to shower. I vaguely recall saying goodbye to him when the others showed up to get him. Anyway, when it was just starting to get light (about 6 a.m.) I got a call and thought, "Please don't be Shane." It was Shane. So my next thought was, "Please just have forgotten to do something or turn something off." Nope. "Hey, something's wrong with the car. The coolant is boiling over. Can you come get us?" I dressed as fast as I could, let the dog come with me, and rushed off to get them. In my haste, I didn't really dress for the weather. We're getting into the pre-Breakup weather where it's lovely and warm-ish during the day (10-20 above) and well below zero at night. Yeah, it was -20 when I went to get them. (What could make coolant boil over at that temp?!) The poor guys didn't have the advantage of even our truck's crappy heater (which gets less cold at these temperatures, rather than warm) and had to sit there in the cold, waiting for me. Al had to stay there the longest, because he had to wait for the tow truck. But I took Shane and Dustin back to Dustin's house to get his car so they could keep going. Luckily, no more mishaps. It took me forever to warm up when I went back to bed, though. Pepper, wonderful little space heater that she is, just wasn't enough and I clearly needed an outside heat source. So for the first time since moving into this place, I pulled out the electric blanket. (A couple days later, talking in my sleep, I asked Shane to get it for me. When he asked where I'd put it I told him, "Back in the refrigerator, of course.")
When I woke up again later (11-ish) I was ready to get things done. The night before I'd gotten a new bookshelf from Fred Meyer's (Shane's parents birthday gift to me) so I set that up and re-arranged some of my books. It's actually fuller than I would have expected. Probably within the next year or year and a half it will be full, and I'll be cramming books in wherever they'll fit, again. Oh well. Lovely books!
After that, having a gift card, I went to Barnes and Noble to get some more books to go on my new shelves. I got three books: American Lion, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and In Defense of Food. I also got made fun of by the girl I asked to help me find them. (I could not for the life of me remember the authors.) Anyway, I gave her the titles and, after seeing the subject matter, she told me, "Sounds thrilling." Wow. Way to judge me for buying books that are educational! Whatever. (I actually saw her earlier today on campus. She's a student.)
After that I decided to run to the hardware store next door just to get some small nails. I got distracted by the garden section and ended up buying a couple of new pots and a blueberry plant. They can't overwinter here, so I've potted it inside, I'll plant it outside over the summer, and then bring it back into the garage for next winter. But blueberries! Yum. I'm also going to try to go blueberry picking this summer. My dad warned me to bring bear bells, though. Which are just bells, but you wear them to warn black bears of your presence.
My last errand of the day was to stop at Gulliver's Books (where I have another gift card, which hasn't been used yet) to turn in some school books for credit (the ones they wouldn't take were sent to the literacy council, a nonprofit) and pre-order a book I've been waiting months for which comes out this week.
Unfortunately, I can't read it for a little while because life is too crazy. I am reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma", but that's not as engrossing as I'm sure this other book will be. ("The Girl Who Chased the Moon" by Sarah Addison Allen.) I won't want to put it down, and that's a problem because of "Sweeney Todd". This is Hell Week, which actually hasn't started out so bad. We had four hours of rehearsal last night, but I had time to relax a bit at home and take Pepper for a short romp around the neighborhood (she even got off-leash time!) before I had to go. Tonight will be much crazier, though, because I'm not done with work until 5:00 and then I have to go get my music from my stand partner (he'll be late because he's teaching lessons late) and rehearsal starts at 6:30. I get the feeling I'll be choking down dinner as fast as I can. Ugh. Oh well. This is why I'm taking the day off on Friday, though. I'll probably be dead on my feet by then. But that's when the shows start, and I'm really excited. Last night was the first night we got to see the full cast and all of the props and such. So well done! (If you want to look at pictures, look at FLOT.org.) And I volunteered for an opera that will be done later on (another paying gig) so that will be cool.
Life is pretty good. If it sounds like I'm complaining about being busy, I'm sorry. It does get crazy, but I love it, too. The only thing is I'm not happy about my classes. They're not as interesting as I was hoping, so I don't want to do the work. I keep thinking, I don't need them for anything. I could just ask the professors to withdraw me, but I'm balking at having a W on my transcript, even for classes I'm taking recreationally. So I'll have to do the work. Ick.
For now, though, I'm trying to put it out of my mind. I have too many other, pleasanter things to think on.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
"Nothing's tougher than asking you to hand me my wolverine glass full of strawberry milk."
It's spring break, for just about everyone but me it seems. I've been doing so much homework this week (in preparation for next week, Hell week) and been working all day every day, but that's ok. Tomorrow's a holiday! So at least it's a short week.
My boss had to fly home to Australia suddenly on Tuesday. Pray for her, and her family. Apparently she found out before Christmas that her brother has melanoma, and at the time he was planning to have some treatments. But his cancer has advanced too far, and so she's flown home to be with him for the end.
I feel really bad, because in some ways this has been a boon to me. All that homework I mentioned earlier? I've been doing it at work. There's not much to be done, and since it's spring break it's been quieter than normal. I think, tops, there have been about five people in each day this week. (I'm going to propose next year that we shorten our hours even more, because this is ridiculous.) I've also been getting to watch a lot of Hulu. That, and I've been reading my book a bit.
I'm reading a really great new book, by the way. It's called "Bonk" by Mary Roach, and it's about the science of sex. And in a lot of ways, the history of scientific sex research. Very entertaining, because of her style. She says in the forward that she's sure she's a running joke at the San Francisco library for interlibrary loaning articles about such topics as the use of vacuum cleaners in autoerotic asphyxiation. (When I was working in ILL, the oddest request I remember getting was for an article about belly button lint. Apparently it mostly travels up from one's underwear.) I find it really funny that we attribute a symbolic women's empowerment move--Kegel exercises--to someone who vigilantly denied the need for clitoral stimulation as a means of achieving orgasm. The guy was a product of the fifties, and basically hated Kinsey and all of his research about women's orgasm. He didn't have a problem with it, he just agreed with Freud that any woman who needed clitoral stimulation was "stuck in childhood", and needed to be vaginally re-oriented. (Notice, these theories were put forward by men. It's really sad how many women bought into them, however.)
I also didn't realize that the 20's and 30's were relatively open, sexually. At least as far as research and acceptance of the topic. Then the fifties took a few giant leaps backward, no surprise there.
Lastly, I didn't realize there were so many people on sites like the Yahoo Clown Fetish Group (by her count, 642). I don't think anything, in my entire life, that I've thought about, on any topic, could be quite as bizarre as some of the things that have internet sites and even their own special type of porn. But rather than making it all sound weird, Roach approaches the topic as something silly and funny, which is why it's such a great book.
My boss had to fly home to Australia suddenly on Tuesday. Pray for her, and her family. Apparently she found out before Christmas that her brother has melanoma, and at the time he was planning to have some treatments. But his cancer has advanced too far, and so she's flown home to be with him for the end.
I feel really bad, because in some ways this has been a boon to me. All that homework I mentioned earlier? I've been doing it at work. There's not much to be done, and since it's spring break it's been quieter than normal. I think, tops, there have been about five people in each day this week. (I'm going to propose next year that we shorten our hours even more, because this is ridiculous.) I've also been getting to watch a lot of Hulu. That, and I've been reading my book a bit.
I'm reading a really great new book, by the way. It's called "Bonk" by Mary Roach, and it's about the science of sex. And in a lot of ways, the history of scientific sex research. Very entertaining, because of her style. She says in the forward that she's sure she's a running joke at the San Francisco library for interlibrary loaning articles about such topics as the use of vacuum cleaners in autoerotic asphyxiation. (When I was working in ILL, the oddest request I remember getting was for an article about belly button lint. Apparently it mostly travels up from one's underwear.) I find it really funny that we attribute a symbolic women's empowerment move--Kegel exercises--to someone who vigilantly denied the need for clitoral stimulation as a means of achieving orgasm. The guy was a product of the fifties, and basically hated Kinsey and all of his research about women's orgasm. He didn't have a problem with it, he just agreed with Freud that any woman who needed clitoral stimulation was "stuck in childhood", and needed to be vaginally re-oriented. (Notice, these theories were put forward by men. It's really sad how many women bought into them, however.)
I also didn't realize that the 20's and 30's were relatively open, sexually. At least as far as research and acceptance of the topic. Then the fifties took a few giant leaps backward, no surprise there.
Lastly, I didn't realize there were so many people on sites like the Yahoo Clown Fetish Group (by her count, 642). I don't think anything, in my entire life, that I've thought about, on any topic, could be quite as bizarre as some of the things that have internet sites and even their own special type of porn. But rather than making it all sound weird, Roach approaches the topic as something silly and funny, which is why it's such a great book.
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