Goodbye old apartment!

Oh yeah...

...and I also like it when I write an 18 page paper in 2 days and get a 96% on it. That also makes me happy.

Things to be happy about

1. People telling you how awesome you look. I went with Josh to his company Christmas party (complete with free drinks and free cab rides home!) and it seems like every time I turned around, someone was telling me how skinny I look. It pretty much made my day. The next day, Josh sent me a text that said, "Everyone keeps talking about how good you looked last night." Ahhhhhh.....

2. You're apartment not catching on fire. The night of the aforementioned Christmas party, the building next to my apartment burned down. It down right stinks - they had just done a bunch of remodeling, etc. I'm just happy that the apartment with a ton of my stuff still in it didn't burn down...well, sorta. The insurance money for a new bed would have been just a little bit nice :)

3. Being productive. I was able to get the rest of the big stuff (minus the couches....those will go later this week) out of the apartment and hauled a bunch of stuff to the dump. I cleaned up a ton in the apartment and managed to through an amazing amount crap into the garbage.

4. Feeling sore from being productive. Moving all the "big things" from the apartment to the house combined with an extra long pilates session makes for a sore Miranda on a Monday morning.

5. Doing your job and doing it well. I'm still getting the hang of this whole Probation Officer bit, but I feel like I'm actually getting things accomplished in a positive manner (albeit, in an untimely manner last week) and it's not going unnoticed...and that makes me happy.

6. The end of the semester. This one was tough....I'm glad it's over.

I need a break....

...from....writing? Wait, that doesn't seem right. Let's try this again. I need a break from ADHD. I think that can actually be taken in both an academic sense and in the literal sense. I don't want to study it anymore. I'm done. I don't care anymore. So what if it's cause by fukt-up uptake dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and monoamine oxidase. So what if it's highly heritable. So what if it can be treated with stimulants, non-stimulants, and psychotropic drugs. So what, so what, SO EFFING WHAT?!

Alright, I'm going to be ok. I'm just tired and I don't care anymore and I still have a bunch of stuff to write about the evolution and adaptations of the disorder. Again, I don't really care anymore.

This next part is for Alison (and I suppose anyone else who is interested...), did you know that you can have ADHD without being hyperactive? In fact, in adults, the hyperactive part tends to dissipate and the inattentiveness increases. Sorry Jon, you'll have to hear that again Monday night. I thought it was interesting. For anyone else who is interested, you can be assessed for ADHD here. Click on "assessments." I scored as a "high" which would explain why the fuck I'm writing this right now instead of typing my paper....

I should be...

...doing many things other than blogging. Whatever.

I found out last night that my parents and sister are going to CA for Christmas to see my brother and his family. I can't go because I don't have any vacation time that I can use yet. Brooke will be gone too, so it looks like it's just Josh and me for the holidays. I think we'll go skiing at Tamarack :)

Two classes left to go for the semester! One will be hell, the other...not so much. Still SO much preparation for the weekend. Ugh! And the shitty thing is that I'll have to sit through "stupid girl's" presentation before I can give mine, even though I requested the first slot. I'd much rather go first and get it over with so I can concentrate on everyone else's presentations. Oh well, can't win 'em all. And you may think I'm being rude by calling her "stupid girl" but it's much nicer than calling her an outright "bitch." (oops, I think I just did.) Hopefully she won't be in my classes next semester...one could only be so lucky.

On another note, I realized last weekend that I paid my last month's rent back in January and I don't have to pay rent this month! Hooray!!!

BTW, still looking to sell my couches...$350 for both....or $225 for the couch and $175 for the love seat if bought separately (man, what a bargain to buy them together!).

Ok, you win.

Need to get of my couches, folks, so if you know someone who needs or wants them in the Boise area, let me know. (They are fabulous couches, by the way.) Vaccuum cleaner for sale too. I'll let you know about anything else I need to get rid of. Why, you ask? Cuz I got myself a new house to move into and most things are fully furnished by my fabulous and amazing boyfriend, Josh.

I just practiced an extreme amount of self-restraint...

...at the grocery store. Albertson's now carries Peet's Holiday Blend Coffee for a whopping $10.00/lb. I literally stopped dead in my tracks when I saw it and didn't buy any. I think that may have to be my Christmas present to myself...

Good morning...

I have 'coons

Yup. I came home from class tonight to 3 raccoons sitting on my front steps. I don't really know what to do about this. They ran away pretty quickly when I walked up, but I have these odd visions about the 'coons coming and attacking me when I'm walking up the steps. Yikes.

On another note, my plumbing got fixed.

plumbing, in the most literal sense.

Last week, with no warning, my bathtub stopped draining. I supposed it didn't STOP stop, but it began to drain very, very, VERY slowly. So much that, by the end of my 10 minute shower, the tub was completely filled and took 20 minutes to drain.

I bought Drain-O.

After 2 doses, it still wouldn't drain.

I e-mailed my landlord and said I could live with it for a few days, but would really like someone to come check it out next week. She scheduled a plumber to come on Wednesday. I figured I could live with that, as long as I could muster up some energy to clean up my apartment so the plumber didn't have to deal with that mess too.

Saturday morning I got up and started my deep-clean of the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. I cleaned the toilet, flushed, and watched the remnants of previous uses come right back up and flood onto my floor. DAMMIT.

I bought a plunger (and some Sparks to make the rest of the process less horrible). I plunged until I could not plunge anymore. Still, nothing. Every time that stupid toilet flushed (OK, all 3 times), it flooded water onto my floor.

With that, I e-mailed my landlord (the only number I have is her office line, which is right next door and they are gone until Tuesday) in hopes that she would get the message that I cannot stay at my apartment until the plumbing is fixed and requested that someone come to fix it earlier than Wednesday. I don't think she's going to get the message until Tuesday, which just plain sucks.

So now, not only does my bathtub fail to drain, my toilet will not flush. Thankfully I have a place to stay (thanks Josh) until someone with expertise can come save my apartment.

video games...

...have never been more forte. I'm terrible at them, to tell the truth. Last night was the exception. When I should have been reading, writing, or researching for class, I sat around with Sam and Malia, Josh, Jodi, and Justin playing Guitar Hero. I am now forcing Josh to buy it so I can continue to win at something. FYI, this is a source of frustration for me because Josh is freaking good at everything and I never win, so for once, I am better at something than him and I want to keep it that way. Of course, this means that I will need to hide the video game when I'm not at his house so he can't practice when I'm not there....

I can see the end....

....and it looks good.

I am a little less frustrated with the undergrad papers, mostly because I found out that several of them have plagiarized and I get to give the I talked about previously an "F." Whew.

I'm still not quite seeing the end of this semester, but it looks better than it once did, so I like that. Papers to grade, project to finish, quizzes to take, 2 papers to write, and much more reading to do before Dec. 6 or something crazy like that, but I am much more optimistic right now than I have been at this time during previous semesters.

On top of that, I just registered for my last semester of actual course work. I am obviously very excited about only having 2 actual classes to take, but on top of that, the grad coordinator is letting people use an elective class as a seminar, so I get to take some sort of "alternative courts" course instead of "punishment and corrections." Hip hip hooray! But yikes, I really need to get cracking on a project topic...

P.S. I bought skis on Saturday at the ski swap! They are old rentals and aren't the greatest in the world, but they will allow me to ski all season, so that makes me happy!

paper grading

For my juvenile justice class, my classmates and I have been given some undergraduate papers to grade. I'm not going to complain about the assignment because, frankly, it's the assignment and that's something I just need to deal with. I will, however, complain about the fact that the students' papers I've been assigned are pretty much terrible. The grammar is horrible and 4 of the 6 papers have no thesis. The two that do have thesis statements have no supporting paragraphs. I know that I wrote some pretty horrible papers in college, but these are beyond terrible. Ugh. The dilemma that exists herein is that I feel bad giving one of the girls a failing grade. I even tried to change my scoring rubric so that she wouldn't get such a bad grade, but everything I did made the grade stay in the same bracket. I'm not even sure that she read the book--who writes a book review without giving any actual details about the book?! Gah!

pants

You might remember the post where I talked about the fact that I joined Weight Watchers. I've been hesitant about writing blog posting my successes or failures, mostly because I wasn't sure how well it would work for me. Whatever. I've thrown that out the window because I've been really proud of myself and I think you should know it. In the past 10 weeks, I've dropped 2 pant sizes. I've been on a shopping binge because none of my old clothes fit. Even the clothes that I had when I lost some weight in Indiana are too big (like the cargos I'm wearing right now). For some strange reason, I found some dresses in my closet from 10 years ago (oh my god, who keeps stuff like that?!) and THEY FIT, which means that I am now the size that I was in high school, if not smaller. (FYI, I threw out the dresses.) This is such a huge accomplishment for me and I wanted to share it with you. Unfortunately, there are two things that suck about this situation: 1) Buying new, cute clothes costs a lot of money and 2) my boobs are shrinking. Dammit!

Halloweeeeeeen

Josh took Brooke out trick-or-treating tonight so I stayed at the house to pass out candy. My favorite part of the night was when a ghoulish little 5 year old girl came to the door. When I got to the door, her dad was talking to her and distracting her from the whole ordeal. The door opened, she turned her body around and said, "Peek-a-boo!"

It was pretty much the best part of the night ever.

Happy Halloween from your roller derby queen!

Everyone knows...

...that I am a little clumsy. Ok, a lot clumsy. I've become a little better lately--I don't fall as much and...well...that's pretty much it. Today takes the cake.

I had planned a low-points lunch because I'm going to happy hour with my friend Shauna after work and I wanted to be able to drink a few beers but still have a decent dinner. So I got myself some 0 points soup, peas, and yogurt for a grand total of a 2 point, yet filling lunch.

And I spilled that effing soup all over my desk. $!%**#&!. An hour later and I was still cleaning up soup...from my computer monitor, my palm pilot, my keyboard. What a freaking mess.

On top of that, my boss has been sick all week and when she came in yesterday, she was still really grossly sick. Of course, when I got to the divisional meeting yesterday afternoon, the only seat open was next to her and she coughed without covering her mouth about a million times and it was super disgusting. I've been taking some Airborne to stave off any sickness she might have spread my direction because one thing is for certain: I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT GET SICK....I HAVE TOO MUCH SHIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTT TO DO!!!

Back to work...

Pretty sure...

...I'm going to scream from frustration. Or cry.

Wait, think I already did that earlier.

I could use a drink.

Or chocolate.

Or ice cream.

Or anything indulgent.

It's not even the end of the semester. God help me then.

You told me to...

So I'm going to work with my hair like this today...

(blame Alison and Claire if you don't like it...much like my clients,
I take no responsibility for my actions.)

Not really the kind of ring that many girls think about, but I'm proud of myself so I thought I'd share. 10%.

Things I recommend (thanks JB)

*Playing in the Probation Officers vs. Detention Officers Annual Softball game. We (Probation) lost, but I am convinced that we had far more fun than the DOs. I was weary of playing, since I hadn't played since I was about 14 years old...but I did...and I did well.

*Josh's "Never Trust a Hippie Party." Really, nothing beats playing poker at 2pm, wearing clothes that emulate a couch, and saying "far out" a lot.



*Walking to get coffee. My usual Saturday/Sunday routine has evolved into taking Josh's daughter with me in the mornings to get coffee and hot chocolate. Since Brooke was at her mom's for the weekend, I managed to convince Josh to walk with me to get coffee on Saturday morning. It was such a nice 2 mile walk that I decided to go alone on Monday morning.

*Working for the government. Ok, it has it's downfalls that I really need not get into right now. However, it also has perks like getting to take Columbus Day off while many others have to work.

*Going to a matinee on Columbus Day. There's no one in the theater at noon on a Monday. Gotta love that, even if the movie is mediocre (which I've already determined "is not so bad.")

*WAPATCHE. I have no idea of that is the correct acronym for this conference, but I really don't care. It's some Criminal Justice Conference that I was actually thinking about going to this year in Reno, but my job kept me here for the week. Lucky me, I don't have either of my classes this week and actually have ample time to do important work.

*Funny boyfriends. Yeah yeah, you're sick of hearing about Josh, but I'm not sick of telling about how funny he is. He grew out this gigantic beard for the previously mentioned party, then promptly shaved all of it off the next day, except for this biker/white trash mustache. I have a hard time looking at him with a straight face....



*Switching to Verizon. Yup, I did it. AT&T/Cingular was driving me nuts, so after 5 years with the same carrier, I switched it up. Same number, new cool phone.

private blogs and rss feeds

Alison's blog went private and now my bloglines account doesn't show when it's been updated. Does anyone use an RSS feed that will show a "private" blog so I don't have to remember to go to a million websites everyday? Pageflakes? Google? Anyone?

I'm soooo excited!

You may remember that around the time of my birthday, I purchased a new bag from my friend Alison, who lives in Chicago. My polka-dotted hand bag is perfect for day trips and those times when I need (read: feel like I need) to carry more than just my wallet and phone. In other words, it was perfect for my old job, where I just needed something to hold a few extra things, like a book or the newspaper and my ever important nano.

Since I started my new job (gasp) over 3 weeks ago and have found that I need to carry much, much more with me everyday. I now have a work issued cell phone and palm pilot, keyboard for my palm pilot, case files to carry to court, office keys, and random training materials that I have to carry with me everywhere. On top of that, I now have a crap load of Weight Watchers books to tote (yes, I finally gussied up and joined the WW plan), books for class, and every now and then, my MacBook to bring with me to class. In other words, I have outgrown my fabulous polka-dotted work bag.

Enter: Alison. I e-mailed her a few weeks ago with my dilemma and explained exactly the type of bag I need (read: think I need) for work and/or school, complete with an explanation of why I need a velcro on all of the pockets (which I need many of) and why I need a flap (if you lost your wallet on an airplane on your way to the middle of nowhere South Dakota, you would need a flap on your bag and velcro on your pockets too). Amazing as she is, she designed a pattern, picked out fabric, and sewed it up for my sweet ass (that I like to think has become sweeter since W). She posted the pictures and I CANNOT WAIT for it to get here!


Here is a preview:





But you can see the rest of the photos here.

grocery shopping

I have a love-hate relationship with the grocery store. On one hand, I love having a stocked kitchen and a decent selection of what I eat everyday. On the other hand, I HATE going to the grocery store. People tend to stop their carts in the middle of each aisle with no regard to who might be waiting (and waiting and waiting) for them to move to the side or go forward just another few feet. I prefer to get in and out of there as quickly as possible and like to think that I hold the record for the fastest grocery shopper in Ada County--so fast that I really could win big on Supermarket Sweet. When I finally get to the check-out line, I almost always pick the slowest checker who seems to find it fun to strike up a conversation about the weather, making my stay at the store even longer. And finally, when all is said and done, I've spent entirely too much money on food that will last only a short while.

So you guessed it--today I had to go grocery shopping. I usually just shop by the week and pick up whatever is cheapest at the Albertsons just a few miles down the road. Today, in true procrastination practice, I decided to go to WinCo for my grocery shopping and pick up stuff for more than just a week. WinCo, for those who don't know, is the somewhat-ghetto grocery store, where you have to bag your own groceries and nearly everyone is lacking in shopper etiquette that seems to be just a bit more apparent in Albertsons or Fred Meyer. But it's cheap, and I like cheap. To make my excursion even more dramatic, I was in a pretty pissy mood and really was not looking forward to faking a smile and saying, "excuse me" every time I turned a corner. For some reason, I left WinCo today in better spirits than I was in when I entered. Maybe it was the fact that no one was blocking my way when I was bagging my groceries, or the fact that I had all of my groceries bagged by the time the checker started next person's cart, or maybe even the fact that I got a ton of groceries for roughly $70, when it would have cost me $150 at Albertsons. I don't know what it was about, but I do feel better--still irritated, but better. And I have a full kitchen.

yuck

I have to finish writing a paper tonight about a book we read for last week's juvenile justice class and I don't want to do it. I'm half-way through, and could probably pump it out in the matter of an hour, but just can't get through it.

It's pretty bad when, during the 3rd week of class, I am already procrastinating by blogging.

Dammit.

2 really good things and 2 sort of shitty things.

1 really good thing: my job.

I rule at my job so far. Today I finally felt like I was able to do part of my job without supervision. Kind of. I suppose I should preface by saying that these past 2 weeks have been full of lots (and I mean LOTS) of observation. There has been very little "doing" going on. I guess I was OK with that, except that I've been really, really excited (and antsy) to start the "doing" part. So when I was reviewing a case of mine and my supervisor came in, I thought she'd tell me to come watch her do something....again. Instead, she pointed to me and said, "I need you to do intakes." Upon further findings, I was informed that she really doesn't know much of the process and that I needed to fill in because 98% of the probation department was at a conference. So I did it. And later I found out that I did it really well and productively. I felt awesome.

Later, while observing Detention Hearings, another supervisor pulled me aside to explain the terms of 24/7 supervision and other release terms to a client. I would have assumed that I should someone supervise me while doing this for the first time, but she just let me have at it.

Later, my most direct supervisor told me that I was "glowing." I said it was because I finally felt like I had a grasp on my position and was really excited to be doing my job.

And it's the truth.


1 shitty thing: my hair dryer broke.

This is the second one I've gone through since about May. I don't know what the problem is.

The other shitty thing: my professor doesn't really want to acknowledge the fact that I'm in his class.

I hate the fact that he gave me permission to take an incomplete in the class last fall, yet after 3 prompts to send me the supplemental readings that he's been sending to everyone else, I have yet to receive anything. I'm not technically on the roster, but he has my information from the past 2 times I've e-mailed him (the third prompt was at the end of class last week). Top that off with the girl who drives me nuts and you've got one pissy Miranda.

The other really good thing: money.

I'll be the first to tell you that I haven't had any for a really long time, but today I got my dividend check in the mail from State Farm and have an extra $72.10 in my pocket and with my first paycheck coming on Friday, I'll actually have money leftover when I buy my new tires for my car. Hmmm, maybe now is a good time to buy that hubcap that I've been missing since last fall...or an iphone. Hmmm...choices choices.

back to work...

...but not without some fun first!

1. After surviving a family reunion without a bit of booze to pull any of us through, Josh, Adrianne and I went to see "Superbad" at the theater. I thought I was going to die of gut-wrenching laughter and found myself up heaving in the seat a few times during some scenes...completely worth it.

2. My friend Kristen swapped me every season of Sex and the City and a mix CD of Neko Case and Kasey Chambers in exchange for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I had borrowed it from her boyfriend). I have yet to pop in a season of SatC, but the mix CD is amazing.

3. I managed to row through bigger rapids than I've ever rowed before, which made me pretty damn proud of myself. This is a bigger deal for this particular trip because Josh wasn't sitting behind me telling me to push with the left or pull with the right--it was all me, baby, watching where he and his dad had gone before me and attempting to do the same..not without some swearing, however, when I thought I was going to hit some rocks. I didn't hit them. I did well. And I was rightfully P-R-O-U-D (and hopefully Josh was too).


and now non-hobby related information...

1. Reporting for my first day on the job this morning, I knew that one other girl was starting with me. What I hadn't prepared for was the fact that it might be someone I knew. Yup, Hafsah and went to high school together, graduated the same year, happened to recognize each other, and actually seem to get along....weird.

2. Class started tonight too and I can already tell that one girl is going to drive me nuts....but that's probably because the one time that I met her this summer, she shoved her hand in my face and told me to get away from her. I sincerely hope that she's not in my Thursday night class (or I might have to kick some ass).

I can't decide...

...if I like it or not...

(the cut, that is)

Yeah, I'm a jackass...

The "concerts" post that I wrote a few days ago has a mistake on it. The Mickey Avalon concert is TUESDAY, August 21...not Monday like I thought until Adrianne called to tell me (thankfully, she didn't call me a jackass like I deserved). So, if anyone else wants to join us, you have an extra few hours to let me know!

I have a slight obsession...

...With rearranging my apartment. Granted, I'm not as bad as I used to be. I used to go through phases where I would rearrange my apartment or at least my bedroom once every month or two. I've lived here since December 30, 2006 and have only moved my living area around once. It must stem from feeling like things are out of place in life or something internal like that. I don't really feel like things are out of sync right now, by any means, but I decided to make a pretty big change in the arrangement of things around here today. I think I just got bored because I don't start my new job or classes for another week and I certainly don't want to do anything too productive (you know, like take a shower or change out of my pajamas). The problem is, I'm only half-way through my "little" rearrangement and I'm already tired of it. Now my apartment is in more disarray than it was an hour ago and I have no one pushing me to get it done. No one comes over here, so it's not like I am going to have massive amounts of company and need to make sure things are spic 'n' span. Ugh. I need encouragement to keep going.

On the flip side, I've decided to move my TV (which I never watch) into my bedroom to make more room for guitars in the living room. I haven't been playing much over the past 8 or 9 months because I've been distracted by school, work, and (though I hate to admit it) boyfriends. BUT, the other day I remembered where all of my old music is that I wrote and I sat around for 5 hours over the weekend and played and played and played and it was awesome. Hopefully this new arrangement will give me a bit more ambition to play more and write again...it's been a long time since that's happened too...


Maybe I'll actually take pictures for you folks who don't live around here and haven't seen my tiny little place that I call home.

concerts

There are 3 concerts coming up that I REALLY want to go to and I'm not so sure that Josh will want to go with me....so I think some of you should think about joining me...

1. Mickey Avalon - Monday, August 21. 8pm at the Neurolux. My sister introduced me to him...not your typical "Miranda music" which makes it even more fun to go to his concert...

2. Bright Eyes with Gillian Welch - Friday, September 14 at the Big Easy. $25. I was excited when I found out Bright Eyes was coming, but with GILLIAN WELCH?! OMG, I need to see this...

3. Brandi Carlile - Tuesday, October 23. 8pm at the Big Easy. $15. Saw her at the free River Rendezvous concert a few months ago and was blown away...NEED to see her again...

What to do when your boyfriend goes out of town

Tuesday: Make dinner, rent movie, drink lots of beer at home alone.

Wednesday: Interview for new job, work, nap, hang out downtown with friends, drink lots of beer at home alone.

Thursday: Wait and wait and wait to hear about new job and get frustrated about hearing nothing, work, nap, give guitar lesson, borrow Harry Potter 7, fall asleep at a decent hour.

Friday: Work, clean apartment, jump up and down then cry (with excitement) about getting a new job (hooray!), drink wine with an old friend (Shauna) at home, attend 10 year high school reunion, talk to people I'd never thought I'd see again, get called "the cuter Miranda" by Mandee Merrill Jewel (one of the aforementioned former classmates), watch former classmates hit on Shauna at the bar, get aforementioned classmates buy me beer and shots.

Saturday: Sleep in and wake up (still drunk) at 11am, make killer spaghetti sauce, get great news that another friend from my high school years (though, not my high school) will be in town next weekend, celebrate Josh's sister's birthday without Josh, go to bed entirely too late.

Sunday: Revel in the fact that I managed to convince a bunch of people that I will make a good Juv. Probation Officer and the fact that I'll finally have a career instead of a job...wow.

I threw away $20

No really, I did.

I was cleaning up my apartment this afternoon because my friend Shauna is coming over before we go to our 10 yr. high school reunion (we are pre-partying...not only to save money, but because it will more bearable answering questions and seeing people we don't really care to see with a few drinks in us). Anyway, like I said, I was cleaning up a little because I don't want Shauna thinking that I live like a complete slob. I had a $20 bill in my jeans pocket from last night's guitar lesson with Carson and kept forgetting to put it in my wallet. I finally got too hot and took off my jeans and put on my favorite hippie skirt. When I went to get the bill out of the pocket, it wasn't there. This frustrated me to no end because I am on a VERY tight budget until payday and that $20 was going to go a long way. I searched my apartment, went out to my car, and finally came in to search through the garbage.

Sure enough, there it was, folded perfectly beneath some other papers and atop an empty (not rinsed) tuna can in my kitchen garbage can. Gross.

Welcome to the world

Caleb Matthew Truman Knauff
7/30/07
7lb 7oz
21"


Congrats Mom and Dad Knauff!

Loss of Self-Respect

I don't usually like to post embarrassing stories about myself on this thing, since I would rather appear "together" and "with it," but today, I have a treat for you.

With the temperature in Boise easily hitting 100 degrees F over the past month, my apartment has been hotter than hell. I have a little window air conditioner that is slowing seeping out cool air and a ceiling fan that squeaks and wobbles in my living room. During the day, I keep an extra round fan blowing between my living room and bedroom to keep air circulating into my bedroom. I've been keeping the windows closed because I don't want the 100 degree air blowing through the windows. At night, I open up my window and let the fan blow 80 degree heat into my room to attempt to cool things down. None of this has prevented me from roasting in my sleep and sleeping in less-than-appropriate attire.

Yesterday, when I was taking the fan out of my window, I discovered that I have a ceiling fan in my room. How I have managed to overlook this (rather large) piece of equipment is beyond me.

I am happy to report that my room is MUCH cooler today than it has been all summer long. I am a bit saddened at the fact that it took me 7 months to see the freaking ceiling fan in my bedroom.

Shot Luge

Every party needs a shot luge...



(FYI that's whiskey I'm shooting out of the luge, not Citron.)

Thank you

Dear Jackson Hole, WY resident, visitor, or whoever you are (aka Extraordinary Person of the Year):

Thank you for finding my wallet on July 20 and mailing it back to me. It means the world to me that you didn't take my debit card, insurance cards, driver's license, or a single dollar out of my wallet. You are to be commended for your honesty and I will be forever grateful for your act of kindness.

Miranda

back home

All is good. They let me on the plane with a pat search and a massive search of my bag. I've since made my way back to Boise, spent *quality* time with the boyfriend (can you see me blushing through the screen?), been to work, purchased a duplicate of my driver's license (complete with a new photo), and have been in contact with an old high school friend about the reunion coming up in a week or so. Still no word on the whereabouts of my wallet...oh well...I'm doomed to never find my Ann Landers article again (it was about what to do with my body when I die--donate it, by the way) and maybe whomever found the cash needed it more than me (though, I'm not sure this is possible). If I have any luck in me, I won't need the insurance cards that were in it! (This is me trying to look on the bright side of things.)

Vacation?

I just spent 6 days with my family in South Dakota with VERY limited phone access and no internet access. I have, quite literally, been playing solitaire and sudoku for 6 days. It's not as bad as it sounds (though, I fully admit that I was ready to get away from the family last night and hang out with an old college friend from Augie--thanks Mel!). In all actuality, the trip was nice. I got to see my grandparents and a ton of cousins, all of whom I haven't seen for several years.

However.......I did have quite the dilemma on Saturday (and still have it). That was the day that I realized I didn't have my wallet. I looked EVERYWHERE for it and came to the realization that it was nowhere to be found. I'm assuming that I lost it somewhere between the Minneapolis airport and the Sioux Falls airport, but I really haven't a clue. Thankfully, I didn't have a lot of cash (about $30...though, anyone who knows me knows that this is a lot of cash for me to be carrying around) and had no credit cards in it--just my debit card, which has since been canceled. However, I'm not sure how they are going to let me on the plane to come home--my driver's license is in there too. I was able to get a copy of my birth certificate from the Jerauld County Courthouse and now have a copy of my old passport, thanks to my mom's cousin Cathy back in Boise. Hopefully they will just give me an added security check and let me on my way. I absolutely HAVE to get back to Boise tonight....more on that by next week, I hope.

South Dakota, here I come!

In lieu of my grandparents' agedness (is that a word?) and parties for such celebrations, I am off to South Dakota with the family for 6 days. I might die while I'm gone (I will be in horrible humidity and with the family for a very long period of time), but should I return, I will be sure to attempt to recap the vacay in as much detail as possible. I have a feeling it will turn out to be mostly about drinking whiskey with my grandfather and taking my nephews to the pool...maybe a few poker games thrown in there somewhere, since I have practiced up a bit since my last visit to the state of my birth (and college years). If I'm lucky, I'll have cell phone reception and will be able to post pictures of the shenanigans.

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An Explanation

The 2 photos posted yesterday need a little explanation (as do the other deleted posts, but you don't get an explanation on that, sorry).

Not too long ago, the company that Josh works for landed CBH Homes as a client, meaning that Josh would now be working on their interactive/web stuff. Well, between getting that account and now, CBH Homes was contacted by ABC to work on an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in Middleton, Idaho (about 20-30 minutes from Boise). It was a top secret project (not even all of the employees at ES/Drake knew about it) and was finally revealed to the public on Wednesday, July 11. You can check out the part Josh worked on here. The site also includes some photos from the project and information about the family who gets the new house, etc.

To make a long story short, ES/Drake employees were invited to the VIP tent at the site on Friday night and I got to tag along. I even saw Paul driving away in his car...but no Ty...sigh.

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I don't know if this is how tan i really am, but i like the way it looks!

jobs

I just received a message on my phone from the assistant manager of the "center" where I recently applied for a position and interviewed. Mr. S said, "I want to thank you for applying and interviewing with us, unfortunately, we had to give the position to someone else. I will tell you that you DID finish with the highest score, but unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate your school schedule. Again, thanks for applying and don't hesitate to call with questions. Good luck." (woo hoo, I'm awesome!)

I have to say, I'm kind of relieved. I wasn't sure I'd take the position if it was offered to me, due to my school schedule (they couldn't guarantee that I'd have Tuesday and Thursdays off this fall for classes). Plus, I'd be working until 10 pm on the nights that I didn't have class, including weekends and holidays. But now I don't have to worry about it. In fact, maybe Mr. S can turn my application over to the people in charge of another opening I'm interested in....hmmm....either way, it looks like I'm still job hunting...
So does this mean he can turn my application over to

another discovery

I did laundry today and in the midst of all of my folding, I discovered yet another hole from the explosion mentioned earlier. This one is in the tank top I was wearing that night, in the same region as my bathing suit. My conclusion is that it burned right through my tank top and singed my bathing suit, as the hole in the tank is much larger than the one in my bathing suit...

fire!

Last weekend, Josh and I took our friends Marc and Margaret on a little rafting/camping trip up near Cascade. We had a grand ol' time on the river, finding a camping site (at one point in time we had to unhitch the trailer from the Jeep and turn everything around on a narrow path), and eventually setting up camp for the night. Between the four of us, we had a shit-ton of booze. I really didn't think it was possible for Josh and I to find a couple who could rival our drinking capabilities, but sure enough, Marc and Margaret have skills! 30 Natural Lights, 6 Bud Light tall boys, 12 Keystone Lights, 1 bottle of white wine, and 1 Heinekin mini-keg later, I was nearly falling out of my chair and everyone got stupid. This is where the story gets interesting...

After the Heinekin mini-keg was out, Marc put it in the fire. Uhhhhh, yeah. Not too long after that, the keg exploded and blasted pieces of the keg all around us. Josh leaped from his chair and pulled me from mine. Marc and Margaret ran as quickly as possible away from the fire. Upon review of the situation, Josh found a HUGE chunk near his chair, but aside from that everyone seemed to be ok.

The next morning, I discovered 2 holes in my favorite camping pants from the explosion. Later that day, when I went to go swimming with my sister, I discovered 2 more holes in the breast area of my newest bathing suit, which I was wearing at the time of the incident.

The upside? Josh let me row more than on any other trip we've taken this season and I HAD to go get a new bathing suit top.



Some not-so-good photos from the day...

Note the mini-keg to the right of Marc--pre-explosion.



My super-hot boyfriend...

Ouch

I almost killed my boyfriend with Icy Hot on Tuesday night. It was truly a sight to be seen--I've never seen someone scramble so quickly to take clothes off (to shower) and put clothes on (to keep from being cold) within a three minute period of time. I've also never typed as quickly as I did when I attempted to google how to take the burn out of Icy Hot....there really is no cure, by the way.

Keeping God in America

Dear God,

When we were driving back to Boise from a fabulous weekend on the Lochsa River (thanks for making that, by the way--it is amazing!), we drove through Cascade, Idaho. It seems as though some people think that we need to "Keep God in America." They said it right on the marquee! I got to thinking about it and have decided that they are right. I am now going to make it my own personal mission to keep you here (and only here) in this powerful country.

For starters, I will begin by putting up large fences around the United States. I am stating this country, as opposed to all of the Americas, because the people who put up the marquee also had a million and a half American flags on their property and one can only assume that they mean that we should keep you in the United States, not all of the Americas. With my new barrier, you will no longer be able to pass through customs with the ease of which you formerly had. No day trips to Canada for weed (ok, lunch) and no weekend jaunts to Mexico for tiny trinkets, got it? I don't care how good the tacos are in Tijuana, we need you here at all times and it is very important that you stick to this.

Along these same lines, it will now be very, very important for you to increase your surveillance and protection over the U.S. and it's true citizens. Now that we have claimed you as ours and only ours, there will be no aide to other countries. This includes the illegal immigrants (and even some of the legal ones--we just can't be too sure). There are starving babies right here in the U.S. that need your help and those African babies dying of AIDS and hunger will just have to stick it out. Also, it is very, very important that you keep our troops safe and only allow us to hurt and kill the bad guys, got it? The Muslims, Jews, Shiites, and other religious fools can pray to their own gods for help and protection. We cannot share you any longer. Christians in the U.S. have complete priority over all of your actions and you will no longer have jurisdiction over other countries. Unfortunately, you will have no say in this matter.

God, we need you here, big time. We know that you are an all-powerful, amazing, loving, God and we are God-fearing people (what does that mean, anyway?) We love America it is important that we keep God in America!

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Those aren't dirt lines!

Principals

When I was in high school, a family friend of mine convinced me to take voice lessons. I'm not sure what purpose those lessons were supposed to serve, but I did it. Every week I would head to this old lady's house and sing songs from the 40s and 50s and learned about proper posture and breathing. Every week, without fail, she would ask me to talk to Ted Totorica at Borah (my high school) about joining choir. After several weeks, I got up the nerve to ask him if I could join the "zero hour" choir, which meant that I was giving up an extra hour of sleep to go sing at 7am every morning. I was a bit nervous when I went to talk to him, but I finally did it.

And he said no.

I was denied. Without any hesitation (and without even listening to me sing), he told me that there were too many people in "that choir" and that even though I was taking private voice lessons, I could not be in it.

From that moment on, I made it a point to be available for any function possible at Borah. I played guitar and sang to raise money for United Way and I played for a dedication for a trophy case (what? who does that?!). I earned extra points for my American Government class for playing protest songs during our studies about the Vietnam War. The list continues on. I made it a point to make sure that Ted Totorica knew that I could actually sing and that he made a mistake by not letting me join choir.

During the last week of work, I found out that Mr. Ted Totorica would be joining the elementary school staff as the Assistant Principal.

Middle Fork Trip

My feet have a brownish tint on the soles of them and my body still wreaks of odor that has not washed off after the first few showers. The tops of my feet have acquired a more distinct "river print" from wearing my Tevas on the river for nearly an entire week and I have found sand in nearly every place possible. My contacts were glued to my eyes until Saturday night at 11:45, when I finally took them out to sleep. I still cannot bring myself to putting them back in yet. Bruises will continue to appear for another day or so and I will continue to have no idea which fall or slide caused it to appear.

Everyday last week, I woke up to an amazing mountainous view outside our tent. After marveling at the view for at least 10 minutes before climbing out of my sleeping back, I would stumble to the common area of the campground and drink coffee from the same stainless steel coffee mug that held my wine the night before...sometimes with Bailey's and sometimes without. The daily routine didn't vary much: get up, eat breakfast, break down the tent, pack up, load the boats, get on the river, drink some beer, stop for lunch, drink more beer, back on the river, get to the campsite, drink more beer, unload, set up the tent, drink some wine, eat dinner, sit around, drink more wine, and sleep.

More specific daily activities were varied. We stopped at a few hot springs along the river one day, then hiked up to Veil Falls and Parrot's Grotto another day. We drank tequila straight out of the bottle prior to having moose steaks for dinner one night and later, in the night sky, Josh and I ran off (rather intoxicated) to sit in the hot springs at our campsite. (Tequila can make people do crazy things). The next night, I drank wine and read a book alone in the tent to recuperate from being around 11 other people for so long. With so much hiking up and down trails and maneuvering around rocks to see the waterfalls, squatting became difficult later in the week and would probably still be a problem for me, if I didn't have the convenience of a flushing toilet in my apartment right now.

It poured down rain the first night of our trip and I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into, especially after my sunglasses broke before we even hit the water and my chair broke on the second night, but when the sun shone bright and warm the next day (our first day on the river) and we saw three bears on the side of the mountain our first day, I was convinced this would be a fabulous trip. And that it was. We didn't flip the boat or fall out (though we did get stuck on a rock when I was rowing one day) and a bucket as a toilet isn't as bad as it sounds when you've got the Frank Church Wilderness in full view.

You really can't beat a trip like this, especially when the company keeps you laughing at every bend in the river. There are MANY stories to be told and one blog can't hold them all--it would take me hours to write and more time than you have to read them in one sitting. So for now, enjoy the photos!

summer

Some things you should know:

1. My 3 week Grantsmanship course has ended and I am the proud recipient of an A for the course.

2. School ended yesterday and I am happy to report that I am officially free of work responsibilities (unless I choose otherwise throughout the summer) until August 24, 2007.

3. I am currently a baking fool. So far today, I've made 2 loaves of banana bread, one pan of corn bread, and one of two batches of chocolate chip cookies for the MiddleFork trip. Whew!

last weekend

Things I learned in Crouch, Idaho last weekend:

1. Driving 30 mph uphill isn't so bad. The Jeep doesn't have a whole lot of power going uphill when it has the trailer with camping gear, rafting gear, and a shit-ton of beer in it. We weren't all that surprised when car after car passed us, but we got quite the thrill when the yellow Corvette was pulled over by a cop when we finally made it to the top!

2. $13 BBQ is totally worth it.
We had to wait for what seemed like an eternity to get our food at the BBQ after our day of rafting, but when we saw the amazing pile of food on our plates, we decided that things would be juuuuuuust fine. My favorite part of standing in the BBQ line was watching the guy dunk my biscuit in a vat of melted butter...mmmm. I wish I had a picture for you.

3. How to steal a keg from the Longhorn Bar. It's true, we saw 2 guys walk into the cooler, pick up a keg, and walk out the door with it. The bartender said, "Hey, get out of my cooler!" when she saw them go into it, then promptly turned around and mixed drinks for the thirsty rafters as the guys stole the keg.

4. Josh is one lucky bastard. he bought $10 of raffle tickets and won 5 prizes! WTF?! I got my share of it though--the whistle is now attached to my life preserver.

5. The Dirty Shame is the place to party. We started the night at the Longhorn with all of the other rafters and decided to head back to our campsite fairly early...after all, we still had 2 cases of beer and 7&7s to drink. On our walk back down the highway, we stopped in at The Dirty Shame, which was really just that. I don't even think I have anything entertaining to report about that, other than the fact that I ran into someone from high school over there. We just liked the name of the bar.

6. How to tell a spinning star from a shooting star. Tradition in Josh's family is to spot 3 satellites or 1 shooting star before being allowed to hit the hay. If you see a spinning star, it just means that you are really, really messed up.

7. Water bottles can serve several purposes. When we got back to our campsite, I decided that I wanted a 7&7 so I got out my Seagrams and lemon-lime soda only to find that I had nothing to drink it out of. So I pulled out the water bottle that Josh won in the raffle and made myself a cocktail. In the morning, we dug through the camping supplies only to realize that there were not coffee mugs or cups. Oops. I rinsed out my cocktail bottle and poured the coffee in there. Nothin' like drinking coffee that actually takes like liquor at 8am.

8. This whole camping/rafting thing is right up my alley. I've always liked camping, so I didn't have to "learn" that, but every time we go rafting, I feel like I'm going to puke from nervousness, then pee my pants from excitement...or is it all of the beer we drink...hmm. Either way, I'm getting more and more excited for this Middlefork trip. We leave Sunday...woo hoo!

Anything I left out boys?

in da club

A good friend of mine called me about a week ago. She just moved to Indianapolis and went out dancing with her new roommate. She "met" a guy and started doing her thang on the dance floor. TWO HOURS later, after much making out and grinding, she started to introduce herself, only to discover that she's been dancing with a deaf-mute all night.

I will love this story forever.

What time is it?

I took today off to work on this grant proposal for class and managed to work on it for about 30 minutes today before I decided that it just wasn't worth it. So I applied for a new job, went to get my replacement frames for my new glasses, then had lunch with Josh. I thought (rather briefly) about going to campus to work on my paper a bit more, and decided that I could spend my time a bit better by going to the grocery store to get some lemon-lime soda to make 7 & 7s later and perhaps attempt to clean up my apartment a little. So I did that instead of writing my paper. I also decided that it would be a great idea to call my friend Margaret who works right next door to my apartment. She got off work at 2:15 and came straight over and we started drinking 7 & 7s straight away. We sat in the sun and chatted about stupid stuff, which was, in retrospect, almost as entertaining as watching American Idol or Grey's Anatomy. Fabulous. And now she's coming to this concert tonight too. This is the best day off in ages!!!

12 days and counting...

Or should I say 11 days and counting? For the majority of the students and staff at my school, there are 12 days left, but I'm taking tomorrow off, so I only have 11...and I am pretty damn excited about that fact. I had originally planned on taking the day to work on my rough draft for my Grantsmanship course, but that's nearing completion and I shouldn't have to spend nearly as much time on it as I thought I would. It's pretty rad to be taking a personal day just for the hell of it. Yesssssssss! I am awesome!

Tori Amos

A few weeks ago, I heard the new Tori Amos song, "Big Wheel," on the radio. One of her lyrics was, "I am a M-I-L-F, don't your forget" and the played that actual lyric on the air. But lately, I've been hearing it and it just says, "I am a M-I-M-I, don't you forget" which doesn't make any sense at all and to be honest, kind of pisses me off. She's not saying the actual work "fuck" so I don't understand why the had to change the version. Just a rant for you...

Rafting...

As I briefly touched upon in my last blog entry, I *think* I like rafting. And actually, after yesterday's trip down the South Fork of the Payette, I'm a bit more confident in my ability to say, "Yes, I like rafting."

So here's a little story for you...

Josh was a bit disappointed when he didn't get a permit to raft the Middle Fork of the Salmon this year, so when he found some guys on a forum about rafting stating that they were looking for an experienced rafter to go with them in June, he was nearly jumping up and down in his house. A few e-mails and phone calls later, it was set--we were going on a week-long trip with a bunch of guys we've never met before. Have you ever seen "The River Wild" cuz that's about how I was feeling--rafting with a bunch of guys I've never met and fearing that I'd be killed by them along the way.

Enter: Travis.

This guy was a riot yesterday. Josh and I had plans to go rafting down the South Fork of the Payette (a bit more adventurous than our last day trip down the Main Payette) and invited Travis to come along. Travis is a burley, curly and long-haired, bearded, aviation sunglasses-wearing 31 year-old who runs heavy equipment for a living. And he's a talker. After a few hours with the guy, I decided that this trip would be nothing like The River Wild, but rather a little more comedic. Here are some things I found out yesterday that made me a little more excited about the trip-

1. I'll be the only female (this shouldn't make me too excited, actually, but I'm happy that I won't be going with stranger-danger females who carry too much drama)
2. One of the guys who is going is a chef at Table Rock (a restaurant in Boise)
3. The other guys who are going don't know how to raft either
4. If the other guys are anywhere near as entertaining as Travis, this trip is going to be a hoot and a half!

Time frame:
Proposal due for grant-writing: June 1
Last day of work: June 7
Trip to the Lochsa (???) June 8 - 10 (this is a big maybe)
Put-in on the Middle Fork: June 11
Take-out from the Middle Fork: June 15
Home for a week-ish before heading out to another rafting trip with Josh's family...

ok, fine.

Over the past few weeks, I have discovered....

...that one can consistently get A's and B+'s on stats work, but get C's on final papers and final exams.

...that although one gets C's on final papers and final exams in stats, she can still pull off a B in the class.

...that getting a 98% on a policing paper almost makes you forget about the B in stats.

...that I think I like rafting (even if it gets cold and crazy).

...that I really dislike NOT getting responses to e-mails, especially when I ask questions that I'd actually like an answer to.

...that starting a summer course before you get your final grades for spring semester is really, really difficult.

...that 3 weeks is really not a very long time to compile information and put together a functional grant proposal.

...that the Ada County Sheriff's Office is amazingly cooperative with students.

...that apartments can go uncleaned for months, yet landlords are still nice enough to say they don't mind and still put in window air conditioners.

...that the Criminal Justice program at Boise State actually has no rhyme or reason for choosing Graduate Assistantships and even though there is a check mark on the application for "interview completed," they don't actually follow through and make decisions based on...well...who knows what.

...that leaving home at 7:45 am and not returning until 9:30 pm for 4 days in a row really makes a girl a cranky bitch.

...that even though I'll complain about not having enough time for this grant proposal, cleaning my apartment, or doing laundry, I'll still find enough time to watch American Idol and Grey's Anatomy, read Cosmo, and hang out with Josh...go figure.

Soooooo.....you want to know how Vegas was?!

Well, starting out on a Saturday morning with Bailey's in our coffee should give you an indication of how the weekend was....continued by a bloody mary on the plane, then a beer upon entrance to our hotel in Vegas, followed by breakfast....wait, BREAKFAST?! With beer?! You are correct.

Josh and I played a few hands of blackjack and managed not to lose a whole lot of money (yet) and continued to drink a few beers throughout the day, until we were finally able to check into our hotel room at 1pm.

Rest.

More blackjack.

More beer.

Drinks in the bar (enter hard liquor....can you see where this is going?)

Then, the party really got started--we met up with the other 4 fabulous people who went to Vegas with us. Amanda insisted, before dinner at a faaaaaaaabulous Chinese/sushi restaurant, that we enjoy some gigantic, slushy adult beverages (I think I was actually walking around with a 32 oz Mango Margarita) and the rest of us insisted on $2 jello shots from the same establishments.

Excellent dinner!

Then came the show....Crazy Horse...the topless show (with "really cool lighting") for folks who are too ashamed to go to the strip club. I had high hopes of going to something like Cirque du Soleil while we were in Vegas, but Crazy Horse was what the majority voted for, so what's what we went to. Gooood times. I won't give details to what I was paying most attention to throughout the show....but it wasn't the actual show.

Next, Carnival Court, where the bartenders throw bottles up in the air and do all sorts of tricks and all we had to do was pay them $10/drink. We danced (yikes!) and Amanda manged to take an amazing video of Josh and his coworker Malia.....ohhhhhhh my my my.

The last bit of the evening shall not be recorded. I'll just say that the cab ride and the remainder of the evening was unforgettable, for very, very different reasons.

Sunday was a better day for gambling--Josh managed to enter 3 Texas Hold 'em tournaments and placed in 2 of them! Owwwwwwwww!!! Kate and I played in one as well, and I managed to stay in until there were only 25 people left...then I got rivered and kicked out. I was still pretty proud of myself.

The weekend ended with a Fat Burger at 9:30 am and a sleepy plane ride back to Boise on Monday afternoon.

Going back to work was less than pleasurable on Tuesday....as soon as my bank account gets stocked up again, I'm headed back....who's in?!

My boyfriend rocked it in Vegas...

...and I enjoyed the fringe benefits!

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Viva Las Vegas!

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Oh shit, whose idea was this?

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I'm in Vegas. Yesss.

I got a brand new...

...pair of roller skates! No really, my coworkers actually got me roller skates for my birthday. They want me to join a roller derby team because they think I'll kick some ass...and let's face it, I probably would.

Consider this my obligatory birthday post (it was Sunday).

I'm officially one year closer to 30.

Yesssss!

(Have I mentioned that I'm going to Vegas on Satuday?!)

The Freak Out Stage

Stats mini-thesis is due Friday at noon. Though I had my research question, variables, and unit of analysis turned in long ago, I started writing my methods section on Saturday and ran my statistics on SPSS on Sunday. I am now on the go-to-bed-at-10pm and get-up-at-4:30am schedule in order to evaluate these stupid statistics. Every spare moment is spent interpreting my results and not coming up with a damn thing that is interesting about school crime prevention programs and their effects on violent and non-violent crime.

I'm officially in the freak out stage of semester 2 of grad school...gross.

(Thankfully, everything for my policing class is ready to go...which is kind of too bad, because I really enjoyed that class and honestly wouldn't have minded continuing with more of the project....at least I did something right this semester!)

Vegas: Saturday!

Again, happy early birthday to me

I'm such a dork. I just won a radio contest for knowing what a myrmecologist is. (someone who studies ants, by the way). So I get to go here and spend $50 of someone else's money. And just in case you want to see any actual information about Rendezvous, you can go here. Wow, this sure beats studying for stats...

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Happy early birthday to me!

Liquor...

...on Sundays in Ada County has been prohibited since...well...forever, I'm sure. But, starting in June, residents of our fine county will be able to purchase liquor on Sundays! County commissioners voted unanimously to allow the sales to occur and it makes this boozer very, very happy.

For more information, go here.

I must be crazy

I had decided quite awhile ago that I was not going to take any summer courses this year because I had zero interest in the courses that were being offered in the Criminal Justice program. I actually had myself quite pumped about taking the summer to relax and have a good ol' time doing nothing...until last night. My classmate Salvador brought up the point that having grant writing experience is very helpful in the criminal justice field (I completely agree). This was followed up by my professor stating that, yes, it was a good idea and that he has "connections" (his wife) through a different college at BSU and that she would be teaching a grant writing course during the first 3 week session of summer school. After some thought and consideration, I decided to see what it was all about.

This is where I say I'm crazy. The class goes from May 14 to June 3, MONDAY-THURSDAY from 5:30 to 9:10 pm. The culmination of the course is a grant proposal of my own to actually submit, if I'd like to. This, combined with my project for this semester's 507 Policing course, should prove to be a worthwhile investment and I'm actually really excited about it. The part that I'm not so excited about is the fact that I will still be working 35 hours a week in hell, then heading off to class for several hours--4 days a week, for 3 weeks. Ouch.

The good thing about this is that I get to use these 3 credits as an elective course for the program. Yippee!
Of course, this is all conditional...I have to get permission from the prof to take teh course.

Titles

Jon just came up with a great post about how he came up with the title for his blog, then asked his reading audience to explain why we titled our blogs the way we did. Call it a challenge, if you will...and I have accepted. His questions were as follows:

"To all my readers who are either bloggers or who have contemplated blogging, here's my question for you: what's up with your title? Why choose the title you chose? Or, why would you choose a certain title, were you to blog?"

I think mine came out of feeling sorry for myself, quite honestly. Or not. I may have been enjoying my ego a bit much and realized that I needed to tone it down and by naming my blog "Mediocrity Is Not So Bad," I imagined that, somehow, my big head might shrink a bit if I wanted to be the humble person that Jesus tells us to be. Either way, it doesn't really matter HOW I came up with it as much as I like the reasoning behind it. Who cares if you're not perfect? Who cares if your clothes don't match 100% of the time or if you look decent at the grocery store instead of magnificent? In other words, who cares if you're just mediocre? I posted it here a little over a year ago, "I'm OK with being unimpressive. I sleep better." Maybe people expect less out of you if you never who them exactly how much you can do. Lazy? Maybe. Mediocre? Absolutely! As said in the Edie Carey quote above, the middle is a pretty nice place to hide--and sometimes, I prefer it that way.

Whew, any comments? Better yet, care to answer the same question about your blog? (Claire, Jon actually posted about your blog in his intro to this topic...I'm sure he'd love to hear all about "Embracing the Awkward.")

getting older

My friend Lindsay just called me to tell me that she's just recognized one of the key elements of growing old. She said she was outside looking at something in her yard when a man jogged by who was absolutely gorgeous. Her jaw dropped as she turned her head to watch him go by (yes boys, we do this too...deal with it).

It was only after he had jogged a bit further down the street when she realized that she was staring down a man with a head full of gray hair.

To justify it a bit, she did say that he was the type of man that "every woman wants her husband to look like when he gets older" (hello, fit and hot)--a "true Richard Gere."

I don't know about you, but I don't necessarily want a "true Richard Gere" of my own when I'm old and gray--I just want to look at them.

Where was I?

When Molly Ivins died? Obviously, I wasn't watching the news...or talking to anyone who might care. I can't believe I didn't know until now...

Molly Ivins Obit

Poker Night

In case I haven't mentioned it before, Josh is a big poker player. We are constantly watching poker on TV and setting the DVR to record shows like "High Stakes Poker." So earlier in the week, when we were invited to go play poker at his friends' house, I knew that there would be no turning down the offer. Well, I could have turned it down, but that would have meant that I'd be at home alone on a Saturday night and let's face it, I really wanted to hang out with Josh. So I figured that I should go, even though I'm not a great player. I'd spend $20 and enjoy the company for a little while on a Saturday night.

I never expected to actually win any money.

But I did.

After paying Josh for my buy in (wasn't that nice of him?) and paying for my own add-on at the break, I left with an extra $85 in my pocket.

Question is, was I actually playing well, or was I just lucky?!

(Vegas in less than a month!)

Productivity

It feels really, really good to get some quality stuff done, you know? I got up early, had some coffee, and continued writing my neighborhood analysis for this project that Jon and I are working on.

The sun warmed my feet as it shone through my window. It was a good morning.

I continued researching information about this particular neighborhood and realized that if I played my cards right, I could get A LOT more information from the Ada County Assessor's Office and the Development Office. I showered, put on clean, springy clothes, and headed out the door. It's amazing how much information you can get when you put on the charm and throw in that you are doing research for Boise State and the Ada County Sheriff's Office. They even pay for your parking under such circumstances!

I had a brief lunch date (mmm...Thai), then ran off to a meet with Jon and a contact we've made for our project. Extreme productivity. Extreme interest.

It feels really, really good to do things right. It feels really, really good to get feedback saying that the work we're doing is worthwhile and will make a difference. I finally feel like I've started to create a niche for myself in my research style and methods.

Today, I love grad school.

I heart skiing

I didn't take Wednesday off from working on coursework to go skiing as I had hoped to..but I DID take Thursday morning! Kristen and I were both suffering from "oops, I drank a bottle of wine by myself last night" syndrome, but that didn't stop us from getting up to Bogus Basin when they opened at 10am.

I probably have not mentioned this before, but I actually did know how to ski prior to my lessons in February, so when I found out that all of the green runs were closed for the season (save one, "Coach's Corner") I was not devastated. Kristen, on the other hand, is not a very confident skier (and I can say this because she fully admits it). After a quick refresher run down Coach's Corner, Kristen took some deep breaths and attempted a run that was a tad more difficult. She fell a few times an bruised her ego a bit, so we did what I seem to do best these days after getting down the slopes--hit the bar for a bloody mary. The tender must have known that she REALLY needed that drink, as he didn't even ask for our IDs. With a bit of liquid courage, I thought she would get back out there, but it didn't quite happen that way. I took a few more blue runs while Kristen took it easy on the Coach's Corner before we headed back to town.

By 2 pm, Kristen was at work and I put on my productive pants--car emissions, check. New hair drier, check. Paper started, check. Time with boyfriend, check. Home, happy, and tired, check, check, check.

Guilty Pleasures

To make up for the crap wake-up call from this morning and to encourage myself just a bit more to work on course work that I SWORE I'd be getting done this week, I went to the grocery store to buy myself some fabulous food to cook for dinner. While waiting in line, what did I grab? Cosmo. Yeah, that's not going to distract me at allllll. I also picked up not just one, but TWO chick flicks to watch while Josh is out playing poker and I'm at home, enjoying my fabulous dinner...doesn't it make you want to come over? (I have quite a bit of booze, in case that helps.)

Grrrrr

To the asshole honking incessantly at 2am:

Thanks for waking me up out of a deep sleep just because the light wouldn't turn green for you when you wanted it to. I really appreciate the way that you changed the length of time that your horn would honk every time you hit the button and the way that you just kept right on honking, as if you were creating a soundtrack for a movie that takes place in rush hour traffic. It was really kind of you to wake me up--I've been meaning to get up at 2 am and not be able to fall back asleep for hours on end (while I'm on vacation, no less) for decades!

Ok, ok, maybe you didn't know there are houses around here--just the school and some businesses, but something tells me that you're not the brightest bulb in the socket. I'm pretty sure that traffic lights are not triggered by sound and I'm also pretty sure that if you were to take a look around, you would have seen several houses in the vicinity with happy, sleeping people in them. Take a look around, asshole, and try to be a bit more considerate next time.

Snow Report

Holy shit! It snowed 12 inches at Bogus Basin today! Quick, I need an excuse to go skiing tomorrow--and it's got to be good, like free food or a good shag afterward (that's kind of a joke--kind of). And aside from that, you've got to motivate me to complete my course work later that evening, as I've got a shit load to accomplish in the next few days. Please don't tell me just to do it on Thursday because I've got plans to go skiing that day with Kristen.

Wow, this is beginning to sound like a bad Craigslist posting...now I'm tempted to do that as well, just to see how many responses I get. Quick, someone give me motivation for that too!

The movie.

Yeah yeah yeah, 3 posts in one day--don't get used to it. I had to write something however, about how good I feel about taking some time to myself to go to a movie. I may have said it before, but I LOVE going to movies alone and today was no exception to the rule. I probably would have shared this experience with someone, but seeing as though I play the part of the *perfect* girlfriend (ha! that's funny...), I refused to let Josh go see it (even funnier...) and he's probably the only person who might have the time to go to movies with me this week. That being said, I went to see "Because I Said So" because I'm a big sap and a sucker for chick flicks and because my mom used to say those words (actually, she probably still does) on a regular basis for why, exactly, I should do things when she tells me to. Tada, premise for the title of the movie. It was cute enough--not enough to make me cry, so that was good too. The best part about the whole movie? The fact that The Weepies had a song in it, about 3/4 of the way through...and we all know how much I LOVE The Weepies!

another blogger

My friend Jon, with whom I am working on a project for my 507 Policing class (yeah!) a new blog. It's going to be good. Read it.

Spring Break!

Thank God for the fact that Boise State and the Boise School District's Spring Breaks coincide. You know what this means? Not only do I NOT have to go to work all week, but I also don't have class all week long. One would think that I would take this time to go on vacation or do something really exciting...but no...I am relaxing, right here in Boise, simply because I can. I do have big plans for finishing some papers that are due in the next month or so and rewarding myself for my daily progress by going to chick flicks and possibly meeting people for lunch, since I generally can't seem to do those things during the regular weeks of the year. Sooooo, if you are in Boise--that probably just means Josh or Jon or other random people who are in town--wanna go to lunch tomorrow? El Gallo Giro? Thai?

(Sorry, today's taken--my reward for blogging and reading is going to see "Because I Said So" at 12:30).

I heart new haircut day...

...cuz it makes you feel sooooooo good!

Patty Griffin...

...was freaking amazing.


She sounded amazing. Her band was amazing. Our seats were amazing.

la chienne

Late Saturday morning, a bitch showed up wanting to enter my open door (it was nice outside so I had the door open for some fresh air)--she was timid, but very insistent upon coming inside. Sure enough, as soon as I turned around to fold some clothes, she came inside and laid down on the floor. Weird, right? I shooed her outside again but every time I turned around, she was in my apartment. Eventually, I just let her hang out for awhile. After all, I didn't want to close my door and quite frankly, she was cute. I had a few biscuits in my cupboard, so I gave those to her. When I left later that night, she followed me to my car, whined a little bit, then chased my car down the street when I drove off.

She was there waiting for me when I got home. When I left in the morning, she was waiting at my doorstep. When I came home, she greeted me at my car door. When I sat in the yard reading, she laid on the ground next to my chair. On Monday morning when my alarm went off, she was barking outside my front door to come inside. When I returned late Monday night, she was there...again.

I know it's my fault that I gave her food and let her in for a few hours one day, but I can't keep her. There's no way that I have the time/energy/money to watch/walk/pay for dog food and vet services for her the way she needs to be cared for. So that kind of stinks, because she's super cute and even knows how to sit...and she doesn't jump up on you or your furniture...and she's good company...and I even have a yard. Sigh.

So I called the Humane Society today to come pick her up. So, I suppose if you live in the Boise area and you want a cute dog, you should either call me right away or head over to the Humane Society ASAP to get her...

St. Patty's Day

Josh and I were downtown last night celebrating with the Irish when a limo pulled up in front of where we were sitting (it was nice enough to sit outside at Old Chicago!). I turned to Josh and said, "I think Rod Stewart is driving that limo." Sure enough, the couple next to us said something a little later about how much the limo driver looked like the super star. The driver exited the limo and walked around--hoards of people came up to him wanting pictures, etc. Of course, it wasn't the actual Rod Stewart, but this picture may help you understand just how entertaining the event was...

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The sister on a national drinking day!

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Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha

In honor of not having class tonight and finally getting my renter's insurance coverage set up, I decided to sit down and have a look at the Boise Craigslist Rants and Raves section. I laughed out loud at this and thought you might enjoy it...

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http://boise.craigslist.org/rnr/293965221.html
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Rant: Who stole my " G "

Date: 2007-03-14, 1:24PM MDT


To the smart ass that stole the letter G off of our Marquis last night or early this morning; Not funny.

Do you think I like getting a call from the police at 3:00 AM telling me motorists are already complaining about our sign?

And to the people complaining; I have ran this drive-through for 10 years and donated plenty to your causes. What gives you the right to whine? Being a conservative, anal, LDS Republican does NOT give you the right to call my wife at 7:30 AM and complain. You people need to lighen the fuck up. Take up a hobby such as minding your own business.

For the record: We are selling Black "Angus" Burger for 99 cents

We are NOT selling Black Anus Burgers. There is no such thing as a black Anus Burger. Anyone with a room temperature IQ could see what happened.

Fucking morons.

Whoever stole our G, please return it ASAP.