Home

After several months living in the spare bedroom of my parents' house, I have finally found a place to call home! Tiny, but fitting, I am officially into my new abode and extremely happy to have a place to call my own. Visitors welcome, especially on New Year's Eve, prior to heading downtown (which is just a hop, skip, and a jump away!). Photos to come, I'm sure...but for now, I need to find someone willing to help me grow a garden when the time comes (which may benefit for your fridge!).

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My brother was told to make the potatoes pretty for christmas dinner. . .

Whiskey Packing

My family had to leave the house at 5:30 this morning to catch a flight to CA to visit my brother and his family. Sounds a tad painful, right? I suppose it may not have been so bad if I hadn't been drinking whiskey all night trying to rid myself of the hell that is known as the common cold. Add to that the fact that I found it more important to try on my new Christmas clothes and load more songs onto my nano than to pack a suitcase--and when ZM left at midnight-thirty, I was still throwing things into my luggage, without a care in the world.

So what have I learned from this experience? Whiskey may rid a girl of the sniffles for a night, but will not cure the common cold; loading The Postal Service and Dixie Chicks onto your nano really is more important than making sure you have enough socks for a 5 day vacation; and getting up at 5 am after drinking whiskey all night long makes for very long flights and the most peaceful naps you can ever imagine.

(As a side note, perhaps this will lead to a new song--maybe even a bit more upbeat than songs of the past--something about whiskey packing....feel free to comment with your suggestions about lyrics.)

do you hear that?

It's the sound of 30+ pages being printed off in the Communications Building computer lab. It's the sound papers passing from one set of hands to the next. It's the sound of a stapler pressing through the pages I have slaved over throughout this first semester of grad school. It's the sound of a great big sigh of relief. It's the sound of the door being closed on this chapter.

I'm done folks, and it feels really, really good.

RIP Coffee Grinder--you were the best I've ever had...

Remember that post about how I was so productive and able to finish all of my work before other people and was able to sit back and relax for a bit? Yeah, well I really F&(*#$* suck $*#* at that.

It's 2 am. My research paper about juvenile diversion is 88% finished and due a 5:30 pm. I still have to go to work tomorrow and I still have to pretend that I'm not dead. Yet, I'm sitting here writing this stupid, stupid blog. Someone, anyone, shoot some sense into me...

(Who wants to go out boozing after the weekend is over? I'm going to need it)

I am sooooooooo glad I didn't drop the "rental car insurance" on my policy...

I hate my state, but I love my country.

I really don't have a lot of room to complain. Afterall, I didn't vote last Tuesday. I like to think that because I am still toting around my California Driver's License and have yet to switch my residency to Idaho (I'm in denial), I have great reason for not participating in the elections.

That being said, the people of this great state of Idaho managed to do a few things that really, really pissed me off this year in the election:

1) They voted "NO" on Proposition 1, which would have given schools more money, which would have been used to fix the poor conditions that several schools are in right now, helped to pay teachers a living wage, and provide students with proper, up to date materials.

2) They elected Tom Luna as Superintendent of Schools over Jana Jones. It's not to say that his online bachelor’s degree in weights and measures (which he received just in time to run for state superintendent in 2002) isn't vaid, but when running against a woman who has a DOCTORATE in Education, the outcome should have been a no-brainer.

3) Bill Sali. Seriously?! This jackass, who opening tells people that abortions cause breast cancer, was elected to represent Idaho's First Congressional District in the US House of Representatives. Even the REPUBLICAN SPEAKER OF THE IDAHO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Bruce Newcomb, said, "That idiot is just an absolute idiot. He doesn't have one ounce of empathy in his whole fricking body. And you can put that in the paper."

Upon hearing about all of the above junk, I was about to cry. Then, I realized that the rest of the country WOKE UP!!! Yeah! With democrats having the majority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, I think there might be hope for our country after all. Just think, if Bush and Cheney were both booted from office, our new president would be Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco!

And now, words from Ani Difranco--the same words that made me tear up when I saw her in concert in Chicago a few years ago...

"i love my country
by which i mean
i am indebted joyfully
to all the people throughout its history
who have fought the government to make right
where so many cunning sons and daughters
our foremothers and forefathers
came singing through slaughter
came through hell and high water
so that we could stand here
and behold breathlessly the sight
how a raging river of tears
cut a grand canyon of light..."

I am a self-admitted procrastinator. In fact, I have dubbed myself the "Queen of Procrastination." As my friend Greg says, "Planning pays off in the long run, procrastination pays off NOW!"

Although I tend to wait until the day before a project is due to complete it, I've come to realize that signing up for things early in the semester is worth it. Getting the article critiques, class discussions about research methods, and presentation about Juvenile Diversion (teen/peer courts, restitution, mediation, etc) all out of the way in the first half of the semester definately made me a raging bitch, but I am happy to report that while I stressed about all that crap earlier, everyone else was foot loose and fancy free.....and now THEY are the ones freaking out.

Ahhhhhhhhhh (that's a sigh of relief), now all I have to do is kick back with a glass of wine and throw my research into 2 papers...

point: Hansen.

It's good to know that there are still people out there that care for themselves 4 times as much as they care about others; people out there who couldn't give a shit about anyone else; people out there that probably employ hotel/hospital/union workers and don't pay them what they deserve; people out there who would rather be an ass and continue to look at blogs that they don't agree with on a regular basis; people out there who anonymously post bullying remarks about what a person chooses to do with her time.

It's not that I don't care. It's not that I'm not ignorant or stupid. It's the fact that you pushed my buttons one too many times today. It's the fact that I don't have the time and effort--after working all day with children that are just like you, attending classes all night, and writing papers all weekend--to deal with folks like you.

And also, I really wish I could go to the Hotsy Totsy right now.

I don't feel like figuring out HTML right now. Copy and paste, folks:

http://whitetrashhangouts.tribe.net/thread/f2f22797-a5e2-4fb3-9d9c-67ec2c075579

I should be researching, but I can't help but write about the conversation I just heard.

I'm sitting at a Moxie Java in Boise. A woman walked in with her husband and son, walked up to the counter and ordered a very complex drink....something along the lines of "Large caramel latte, whole milk, extra hot, extra shot, and could you put the normal amount of caramel along with a little bit of chocolate?" Her husband and son ordered hot chocolate.

They sat down and the woman continued to nag at her family....and FYI, her son was a college age young man, not a small child. "Drink that faster, I can't just sit here all day," "Stop playing with your cup, it's going to spill," alongside complaints about work, weather, and whatever else she felt like nagging for atleast 40 minutes. Then, just before they got up to leave, she said, "It's teh end of the day, I can't be held responsible for making decisions. I don't make any decisions at the end of the day. I'm not going to be responsible for any decisions when it's the end of the day."

Seriously? I'm pretty sure she just made a million decisions for her family while she sat here picking out every fault that they have and deciding which of those faults they need to change.

I'm done. More researching...let me know if you have any thoughts about Juvenile Diversion...

I had a difficult day at work today. I had to restrain a few children so they wouldn't throw chairs at other children and damn it, I'm just plain sore. I had big plans of coming home to a cold beer, but my parents didn't have any. A bit disappointed, I went to my neighborhood Alberston's to pick up a bottle of wine (who am I kidding, I picked up 2) and then headed to my PO box to pick up any mail that my have come, before heading over to the house where I'm house sitting this weekend. This is where you get excited for me. In my PO Box, I received my new bumper sticker from moveon.org that says,

"Defend America: Fire the Republicans"

I am officially happy.

You know, it's funny. I've never been a big "school spirit" type of person. I've never really cared if Team A beat Team B or if Quarterback 17 got injured or arrested (well, I guess I listen more if he gets arrested), even if he went to my school. However (and you knew the "however" was well on it's way) this weekend is the big "Boise State vs. U of Idaho" game and I happen to attend Boise State for graduate school. So, when the announcement was made at the elementary school I work for, that all students should support one of the two teams by sporting their Bronco or Vandal gear, I went straight to Fred Meyer and bought myself a bright orange tee for the occasion. Wow, the things I do for my job...

psst....I can't figure out how to create a mirror image of my fabulous shirt, so you'll have to decode the message...

I. NEED. TO. MOVE.


RIGHT. NOW.

I LOVE going to movies alone. LOVE LOVE LOVE it and remembered just why I love it so much this afternoon. After quite a bit of studying this afternoon, I decided to treat myself to a seat in the theater adjacent to the coffee shop I was sitting in. To say that I went to that particular coffee shop, completely across town, without the intention of seeing "Little Miss Sunshine" would be a lie. I knew damn well that I was going to go to the 4:40 show--it was just a matter of whether or not I got the majority of my paper written by the time I needed to pack up my books.

4:30 hit and I packed up my stuff and headed next door. I thought I had it made--until the previews started, I was the only one in the theater. Another couple strolled into the theater and sat atleast 10 rows in front of me. I'm really not sure if they knew I was in there until I saw one of them turn around when I started to laugh quite loudly. But you know what? It doesn't matter if I laughed loudly or not--I was alone. There was no one to embarrass but myself. I could hem and haw all I wanted to. And I could even send absurd text messages throughout the film without being a complete ass. And I did. And it was wonderful.

I give "Little Miss Sunshine" 2 thumbs up for awkwardness and entertainment value. For those who haven't seen it (or hell, even if you have)....Ready, Set, GO see it. Now.

Yar, ya might 'ave missed "Talk Like a Pirate Day" on September 19, but it don' mean ya 'ave ter miss this film. Avast ye skalleywags, it's downright worth it.

www.piratesofthegreatsaltlake.com

Introducing Isabelle....my protege....10 years old and the girl has already learned more on guitar in 2 months than I learned in a year....the girl has ambition folks and she's MY student! Yeah!

I just got a job and it's not at Guitar Center or a coffee shop or a cell phone store or any other place that requires me to wear a uniform or a bowtie or an apron. It's been a weird interview process (it's taken nearly 3 weeks for them to call me back after an amazing interview), but after all of the waiting, the Boise School District called me to offer me a position as a Behavioral Interventionist with 4th, 5th, and 6th grade at-risk and emotionally disturbed (I hate that word) students at an elementary school just down the street from my parents' house! Whew, I might actually be able to move out of my parents' house sometime soon!

Perceptions are everything.

What I think I look like as a substitute teacher and below that, what the students think I look like like as a substitute teacher:

An Inconvenient Truth...Highly recommended...go see it! Makes me very excited for the mere possibility of seeing Al Gore speak at Boise State in January!

Also highly recommended this week: 1/2 to St. Patty's Day party at Ha'Penny (lots of dancing fools), watching several episodes of Grey's Anatomy instead of studying, falling asleep on your couch while watching Garden State, taking self-portaits on your MacBook, house sitting for 2 weeks, and making friends with co-workers, and wearing lipstick darker than you normally would, just to see what it's like.

I gave in yesterday. Before my class, I went to the Cingular store to get my phone number changed to an Idaho number. It's not like I was changing my driver's license or plates or anything substantial--just a new phone number, right? Yeah, well that's what I thought too....but good ol' Ian and Nina (names may have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent) deleted over half of the numbers I had in my phone. Jerks! So, if I had your phone number before now, chances are that I don't have it anymore. Not only that, but you can't contact me via my 5-1-0 number because it's officially been changed to a 2-0-8. Grrrrr. I suppose if you want my number, you can leave me a comment with an e-mail address and I'll send it to you that way (then promptly delete your comment so you don't get a load of spam), but for now, just know that I'm not ignoring you--it's just that I don't have your contact information anymore...

I managed to get out to a concert downtown last night and must say,
Toby Lightman was quite incredible. Kind of a mix between KT Tunstall and Norah Jones. I might as well add that this woman is a phenomenal guitar player....and she plays a Taylor. 'Nuff said.

House sitting RAWKS, especially when you don't have animals to take care of and the person just wants someone to stay in their house for a few weeks to look "lived in" and when you've had a bad week at school and the last place you want to be is in your cramped room in a house that is no longer yours and when the note on the table says, "please eat and drink all you want in the house, including my wine and beer, and feel free to use my gym pass and library card, and be sure to park your car in the garage, if you want to. Oh, and here's some money for groceries." These next 2 weeks might not be as bad as I thought they might be.

P.S. Anyone want to go see "An Inconvenient Truth" with me tonight? Oh wait, I don't know anyone in Boise who reads this...

Graduate school is a popularity contest. Don't try to convince me otherwise, because I've already got it figured out. You go to school, you sit in a room with 10 other people who think they are really cool, you bring up your research ideas for you term paper and they offer no help to you, but offer shit-loads to their buddies. I'm frustrated. I'll get over it.

I had to work this morning. I'm not really a huge fan of my job, but it's money so I can pay for my car and insurance, until I can find another one that is more suited to what I'm studying. Anyway, I'm working in this coffee hut--all drive thru--and a woman pulled up to get something to drink. I almost couldn't contain myself. Here was a 50ish aged woman, dressed in her normal attire, seemingly on her way to work for the day....wearing curlers. YES! Curlers! I didn't take a picture (mostly because that would be really innappropriate...but hell, I've done several inappropriate things before today...and partly because I was trying so hard not to laugh that the photo would have been damn blurry.) My coworker and I got a big laugh out of the situation after she drove off. If you want to, you can imagine that it looked like this:

After spending part of the morning and early afternoon at The Buzz drinking a few cups of coffee and reading for school, I felt pangs in my stomach. Hunger had set in and I needed food right away. I knew that I would be able to scrape up some food at the house, afterall, mom and dad have a million and a half eggs and 1513 cans of tuna at the house (I'm not sure why). However, after having had eggs or tuna nearly everyday for the past week, I really didn't want to eat it again. So, I stopped off at Jack-In-The-Box for a chicken sandwich. I pulled up the window to give the guy my cash and he said, "Do you want any Ranch or Fry Sauce?" Ahh, FRY SAUCE!!! It's been so long since I've lived in Boise that I had completely forgotten about the fry sauce phenomenon! I'm telling you, it's everywhere. One can even find it bottled in the grocery stores in this fine city. The funny thing is, anytime I've tried to explain to people what it is, they simply don't believe me. Of course, each establishment has their own recipe and name for fry sauce--special sauce, secret sauce, etc. And for proof, friends, here you go:

As I write this, I am typing on my BRAND NEW MACBOOK.

That's all.

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No really, it says that.

Friends, it is freaking HOT in Sacramento. But, in attempts to lessen the amount of gas I use by driving my car around, I decided to walk to Darren's church to meet up with him so we could go fart around for a bit. Walking down 26th Street, I passed by a vagabond who was hacking up a lung. I thought I had seen him smoking, but as I neared, I realized he didn't have anything in his hand. I walked closer.

"Hmm, that smells nice," I said.

"You want some?!" he replied.

"Nah, that's ok. Thanks anyway."

"Are you sure?!"

"I'm pretty sure. Thanks though."

"Oh fuck man, you're not going to go tell on me, are you???"

I laughed and assured him that I wasn't going to rat him out for smoking pot on the sidewalk in Midtown.

The question is, does this mean that I am "approachable" (as they all say I am) or does it mean that I just have a tendency to draw the attention creepy-pot-smoker-types???

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Lovely nephew Cooper!

Random thoughts in my head:

1. Today was my last day of work in California...atleast, for awhile. The funny thing is, I'm actually kind of sad to be leaving both of my jobs. I love my coworkers, clients, and customers. I loved my job. Weird.

2. Alo is throwing me an impromptu party tonight! Woot! All Bay Area locals are invited.

3. My next adventure begins TOMORROW!!! My solo road trip looks like this:

* Saturday, August 5 -- Mt. Cross Camp, Santa Cruz to see Ms. Sarah Johnson
*Sunday, August 6 -- Sunnyvale to see Jamie and Samir
*Monday and Tuesday, August 7 & 8 -- Merced to see my bro.
*Wednesday and Thursday, August 9 & 10 -- Sactowwwwwwwwwwn to see DZ!
* Friday, August 11 -- Arden Fair Mac Store to buy my computer, then off to Portland, Oregon for the night.
*Saturday, August 12 -- Spokane, Washington to see Ms. Theresa Johnson
*Sunday, August 13 -- Clint Kunze's Wedding
*Monday, August 14 -- Drive to Boise to live with my parents for the first time in 10 years.

4. I start grad school on August 21. Word.

5. I have 2 Criminal Justice books to finish before August 21 st...but I'm almost done with one, fools.

6. I've become addicted to MTV. In particular, "Why can't I be you?" "Made" and "Fresh Meat." This is the reason I haven't had cable for 2 years.

7. I'm going to have to post a completely new blog about my summer living with Dirty McFlirty. It was out of control, but not in that creepy sort of "he wants to get it on with me" type of out of control. Thank you, Jesus.

8. I met a professional Celebrity Blogger last night at Trivia night. I'm really not joking.

FW: DZ pole dancing at walmart after drakes,

DZ pole dancing at walmart after drakes, waiting for the effing cabbie (whose name doesn't matter)

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Mom with the earrings!

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Hot hot hot earrings!

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Amy

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Alana

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If there's road construction in the middle of south dakota, but no one to drive on the road, do you have to stop?

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Carrie's gone...boooooo!

Alana (my sister) seems to be taking after me, meaning that she's becoming just as cynical as I am...and I'm not really whether I should be proud or maybe a bit ashamed that she's taking after me in such a manner.

Alana had been hanging out with this guy named Tyler, who seemed to be pretty cool. Then, Tyler went on vacation and this conversation ensued after his return...

Tyler: I'm not sure this is going to work.
Alana: Oh. Well, whatever. I thought it was cool that we were hanging out.
Tyler: Yeah, well it's obvious that I'm attracted to you, but I'm just not sure that I see anything for the future between us.
Alana: It's probably better this way.
Tyler: What do you mean?
Alana: Well, I would have broken your heart anyway.
(insert Tyler hemming and hawing, with uncomfortable laughter)
Alana: No really, I really would have broken your heart.

Brief Weekend Recap:

1. Fenton's Mint Cookies and Cream ice cream with hot fudge is enough to make up for missing Edie Carey at The Epic Arts Center on a Friday night.

2. It can take a person over 2 hours to drive to Sacramento and less then one hour to return and it's all worth it when you go to see Nacho Libre with boys who nearly pee their pants laughing at Jack Black!

3. Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco is fabulous. It's even better when random guys named Nico give you wine, bread and cheese, chips, chocolate, and vegan maple cookies, then ask for you phone number.

4. When a waitress at FLY in San Francisco says, "For $10 you can drink all you want out of that Full Sail keg," you don't just say "yes," you say, "bring it on!!!" and then you drink a lot on a Sunday afternoon. You also tend to send really long text messages to people you know and call random friends in town from Indiana to come hang out. Then, your random friend from Indiana pretends to be your parole officer while calling guys you don't want your friends to date. Upon leaving FLY, the waitress gives you props for lasting so long in the bar and brings you water. It's amazing.

5. Getting up at 5 am to go serve coffee to rich people isn't very fun when you've had a night of "all you can drink for $10 out of that Full Sail keg" at FLY.

6. Sometimes, I get a bit sad about leaving the Bay Area....especially after weekends like this. Please, please, please let me find fun friends like this in Idaho.

1 can of Scrubbing Bubbles: $3.50
1 bottle of Pine Sol: $1.30
2 pairs of Rubber gloves: $1.10
Toilet cleaner: $3.25
Steel wool and scrub brushes: $4.00

Taking 3 hours to semi-clean someone else's bathroom on your day off in order to have a FREE place to stay for the summer: Priceless. (And by "Priceless," I mean Disgusting.)

6 days left of school...

....and this is what I experienced.

Student F walked up to a female Student E and touched her on the ass.

The following conversation ensued:

"Excuse me, did you just touch her?"

"Maybe."

"Please don't touch other students. Ever. Don't ever touch any student, especially female students. Ever, ever, ever."

(as student F walks away) "I bet you're just jealous cuz no one's touchin' on you."

Gross.

I picked up my roommate at her office today, in order to throw boxes into the back of my vehicle. While Carrie was upstairs grabbing the last of her belongings and I was stuffing the last of the boxes into my car, I heard, "Excuse me." I turned to see which doofus wanted directions around Oakland (that I wouldn't be able to help with anyway) and the guy continued..."Excuse me...You just...you just look beautiful."

Huh? Did he just say that?

Yes.

"Really, you do. You look beautiful. I was just wondering....if I gave you my number, would you call me? I'm really a nice guy. I am."

Seriously?

"Wow, thank you so much," I said,"But...I don't think so. I'm sorry."

"Would you be so kind as to give me your number?"

"Umm, no I don't think so. Again, thanks, but no."

I turned away and got into my car. Only problem? Carrie hadn't come back from getting her belongings from her office. I sat alone in my car. It was hot. My car was off. My window, rolled down. (yeah, really smart on my part.)

The doofus, whom I thought had driven away, shouted from his car window, "Are you sure if I gave you my number...well, would you atleast think about calling me?"

"Umm...well....I'll think about it."

I took the number.

It turns out, I've already dated a "Mike" and he was pretty damn weird. I don't need another one, no matter how beautiful he thinks I am.

Sure doesn't hurt a girl's ego though...

Woot! I can start to "ease in" to wearing other shoes!

On another note, my friend Darren now has a fabulous blog. It's time you check it out. Plus, by reading his blog, you can read up on what I did this weekend, since I'm too lazy to write about it myself!

Let's talk about how much I love The Weepies. Actually, I don't need to say much. They are adorable. ADORABLE, I say! Not only are they beautiful musicians who use incredible imagery in their song lyrics, they also have the ability to melt your heart with their witty banter on stage. The fact that they had Malcolm Gold and Megan Toohey on stage with them last night didn't hurt either. I love them, I love the, I love them.

(You can thank my coworker Emily for taking photos.)

The reason for the celebration!

Bethany and Ryan Littrell

Jason and Jamie

Reason for celebration #2? Craig's out of the ARMY.

Yes, I'd love a glass of wine. And by one glass, I mean three.

Mmm....Spanish wine!

And another.

Finally! God, I've missed her!

And this is why...

Watch out....You're next!

Debauchery at its finest.

This is Jason.

He got his ass beaten by ME in Texas Hold 'em.

That's right. I cleaned up.

I had peanuts thrown at me on my flight last night.

I was tired. I had been reading, had a glass of wine, and did some Sudoku on the plane,then started to fall asleep. I awoke to the guy across the aisle being given a stern talking to by one of the flight attendants. It went something like this, "You asked us if you could smoke and we told you no. Why did you need to spray all of that cologne back there? If you weren't smoking, why does it smells like smoke???" The flight attendant walked away without saying anything more--rightfully frustrated.

I fell asleep again and this time, awoke to the strange, smoking dude across the aisle whistling. Not only was he whistling, he was whistling to get my attention. I opened my eyes to find this guy sprawled across the aisle with a snack in his hand, waving it at me, telling me to take it. I shook my head and said, "Uhh, no thanks. No, really. NO!" and I turned my head to fall asleep again.

Not even 10 minutes later, I was pelted on the shoulder with a rather large bag of airline peanuts that the guy decided to stockpile on his way back from the bathroom.

I gave him the evil eye and once again, turned my head to fall back asleep. The plane made its descent into Chicago about 30 minutes later. There were no further complications.

Do you know my name?

Qualifiers: My new habit. I am having difficulty deciding if they are acceptable or not. They show up, most of the time, to make stories more interesting, particularly when it comes those I've dated.

...Liar Dave, Nice Jack, Divorced Rob, Buddhist Pat, Josiah with the nice name and the bad temper, Crown Royal Justin, Polystyrene midget Matt...

I'm not sure they know of the qualifiers I use when describing them. In fact, I'm quite sure they don't. I can't help but wonder, if and when (mostly "IF") they talk about me, do they use qualifiers to describe my personality? And if they do, what do they use?

Musical Miranda is too cliche. Mediocre Miranda is fitting, but is that a word that shows up in everyday conversation?

Hmmm...what's my name?

(and hey, if I dated you, don't take offense to it. It's not like I'm telling people your downfalls....well, unless you are Liar Dave....and in that case, I usually am.)

This has become my new favorite picture.

I like to think that I'm on my way to joining Napoleon Dynamite's "Happy Hands Club."

Alison eluded to this picture in her blog...

Carrie and I have often talked about taking an "Anne Lamotte Tour" of the bay area, so when she presented me with an official tour guide last Saturday morning, I was ecstatic! T.O., you've done it again--thanks for spending so much time to prepare the day! For those unaware of Anne Lamotte's brilliance, it is absolutely necessary for you to read Traveling Mercies as soon as possible.

The day's events started by traveling out to St. Quentin and attempting to find the beach that Lamotte writes about. After being 25% successful, we drove out to Sam's Cafe in Tiburon. Although we managed to spend more cash on afternoon bloody marys than lunch itself, we also managed to poke fun at every yuppie-sail-boater drinking the same $7.50 bloody mary as the rest of us.

Enter: Fun Guns.
(A recurring theme)

A bit of walking around Sausalito (and encouraging Claire to buy an incredible dress!), we strayed off the tour guide path and traveled to the Marin Headlands, to check another view of the Bay.

We got tired.

(You can call those "Tired Guns")

After a bit of resting (and salt-water-taffy-eating), we finished up the day at one of the best shows I've seen in a very, very long time. I've never laughed so hard at someone else's misery...everyone, Get Mortified....especially at The Make-Out Room. Although they do have the worst decor I've seen, it's still pretty effing cool.

See what cool things happen when you turn 27?!

FYI, I have officially entered into my late-twenties, as of April 22, 2006. I am sooooo much cooler at age 27 than I ever have been in my whole life. Full blog with details of the birthday adventures will come soon...as soon as T.O. sends the photos. You should bug her about that.

One Foot...

Two Foot...

Red Foot...

Blue Foot!

(Milking it for all it's worth...)

This makes me disappointed, angry, sad, outraged, and disgusted. I'm not sure what the Legislators are thinking or how they think this will help the school districts. Nearly 12 hours after reading this newbrief (thanks to Jillian), I am still disgusted and am having a hard time expressing my opinions on the subject in a coherent manner.

If I ever have children and I happen to live in Berkeley at that time, I will send my kids to Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley. Of course, the possibility of that ever happening is about 1%, since my desire to birth children is small, at best, and my willingness to stay in Berkeley is about the same. But really, who cares?

This whole idea stems from the car ride from my apartment to All Soul's today. Nat, the leader of the infamous "Angel Band," picked me up to go the Good Friday service. On the way there, he explained that his daughters, ages 5-ish and 9-ish and also in the car with us, attend Ecole Bilingue. Shortly thereafter, the girls started singing kid songs in French. It was damn near the cutest thing I've ever heard, and you can quote me on that.

(And now's the time you make fun of me for being in "Angel Band." It's ok, I give you permission.)

Things have not been quite as disastrous as I thought they might be today. I must admit, I laid in bed for atleast an hour deciding whether or not it was worth it to get my ass downstairs to make coffee, knowing full well that I'd have to go back upstairs sooner or later. Finally admitting that I am an addict and that I must have my coffee, I made my way downstairs with my woven handbag slung around my neck, packed to the brim with water bottles, books, computer, Vicodin--you know, the important stuff. I've managed to get up and down the stairs multiple times since then and even found myself outside to check on the status of the mail and grab something from my car, which has been sitting, oh so patiently, on the street since Sunday. Let's not forget the fact that I even managed to take a few steps without crutches AND I didn't fall! (Shh, don't tell...)

On a different note, I purchased a ticket to go to the Vale of Paradise for a wedding in May. So, if you live in Chicagoland/Northwest Indiana, be prepared for me to ask to crash on your couch May 11-15. Jamie and I already have plans to wreak havoc on Valparaiso, even some of the other boozers won't be around.

Oh happy day.

I want coffee.

It's not that I just want coffee, it's that I want coffee without having to make my way downstairs. I'm not lazy...I'm just....lazy? Hmm. Going down the stairs is a lot easier than coming up the stairs, but once down, the only way to use the bathroom is to go back up the stairs eventually. And let's face it, after drinking coffee, going back upstairs is inevitable.

Any suggestions?

Sexy, right?

Yesterday at 6 am, I took my final "normal" steps on my right foot for about 3-4 weeks while walking to the surgical services desk at Alta Bates Hospital here in Berkeley. Talk about "walking to your own death..." No longer is my foot burdened with the aches and pains of having a bunion (thanks Dad, I owe it all to you) ... now it's just full of the aches and pains of having had a "Right Foot Bunionectomy and First Metatarsal Osteotomy," the use of crutches, and having to lay in bed/on my couch for atleast a week, maybe more. Thankfully, my roomate is awesome (I may have mentioned this before?!) and has done everything possible to make sure that I am completely set up and comfortable in my room--we're talking bringing up a cooler of ice so I can continue to ice the wounds while she's at work, programming the coffee maker so all I have to do is push the button and it's made, bringing my CD player as closet to my bed as possible, and buying loads of fruits and veggies in order to reduce the negative effects of the Vicodin I'm taking. She bought me flowers and everything.

Not to mention, helping with the daily crossword puzzle and sympathizing with me when I told her about the nurse who thought she'd try to get the IV into my arm, even if she didn't think it would go through. Whatever.

The point is, I'm laid up and you can expect lots of blogs (I think), instant messages and text messages asking about crossword puzzle clues, random facts about Mormons (I bought a new book!) and instant replies to e-mails...