How I Would Not Recommend Spending Christmas Eve

Watching a James Bond marathon on SPIKETV in a 2-star Travelodge motel where the pillows feel like sandbags.

Yippee!

In all my hibernation-induced dislocation, I neglected to notice that we have just passed the first day of winter, or the shortest day of the year. Which means the sun will now start setting AFTER 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Isn't that the most wonderful news of the week!

Hibernation

I turned my last paper in on December 11th, somewhere around 1:30 pm. And subsequently had nothing to do. I still had a few things on my calendar, like a department Christmas party and a friend's birthday, and two more tutoring sessions at the middle school. But nothing supremely solid and nothing that required anything resembling preparation other than putting on varying amounts of makeup. Then the snow hit. While it was snowing the wind blew a bit and made it a little treacherous, but once the actual snowing and wind-blowing stopped, there was only an inch or two on the ground. Completely innocuous by Eastern Washington and Utah standards, but enough to cause people here to cancel church and start school on a delay two days after it stopped snowing. The delay meant no tutoring. It also meant I spent the day watching the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice with my friend the birthday girl and a subsequent sunny and snow-free day finishing Christmas shopping. This subsequent day brought bad news in the form of my dad's Christmas vacation being cancelled due to some work crises and the recent death of my aunt's sister-in-law. The first bit of bad news meant I was feeling sorry for myself about the nomadic, mostly solo, Christmas vacation I would be spending and the second bit made me feel guilty for feeling sorry for myself.

Wednesday brought real snow. The kind of snow that would find me housebound in Utah, let alone in a place so unused to 6 inches of snow. I realized that maybe the SUV with chains I had laughed at on Monday was driven by someone prescient instead of paranoid. It also meant that my second tutoring session was cancelled and that I would really have nothing to do other than finish wrapping and shipping Christmas presents. So, dear friends who receive packages from UPS on Monday, know that I risked life and limb in really bad weather to drive amongst lots of people who have little experience with such weather to get to the UPS Store to ensure you had surprises by Christmas. Not that I want you to feel guilty. Just appreciative.

Anyway, I was housebound. I decided to see if my theory that hibernation would be awesome was actually true. I slept in until truly obscene hours and then spent even longer lounging in bed doing nothing until my stomach told me it needed food, STAT. I only put on jeans to run outside and check the mail, justifying the return to pajama pants with the discomfort of jeans becoming wet with melting snow. I watched hours of TV and movies, mostly on my laptop. I caught up on my favorite shows, which took less time than expected because most everything went on hiatus at Thanksgiving. I watched two new episodes of Pushing Daisies and got all enraged (again) at it being cancelled when truly awful shows with similarly poor ratings remain on the schedule. But after two days of doing nothing, all that rage felt uncomfortable. Like the jeans I forced myself to wear for a couple of hours (or minutes) before returning to my pajama pants. So I stopped mentally drafting a blog post/open letter to ABC. It took too much energy. I watched Jane Eyre for the upteenth time and the watched a 1996 adaptation of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I noticed that BBC adaptations are not immune to the Hollywood double standard that applies to women and men older than 30. Toby Stephens is the dead sexy romantic lead in both Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Tara Fitzgerald, who plays the lovely leading lady in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall plays old, evil, and dying Mrs. Reed in Jane Eyre, though there is only a decade between the two adaptations. And she wasn't yet 40 when Jane Eyre was filmed. Still, took too much energy to get all riled up about it.

My eating habits totally changed as well. I ate something after finally dragging myself out of bed, which could technically be called breakfast but usually to occurred to late to even qualify as brunch. After that, I might nibble on something when I walked past the kitchen on my way to the loo, but really only ate something resembling a meal, usually soup and toast after 7 or 8 pm. Other than that my only caloric intake was through sipping the 8 oz. of Coke&Lime allow myself to have in a day. The scale is registering a weight loss, but I don't really feel I have denied myself anything. Especially considering most hours of the day, waking or sleeping, during my hibernation has been spent on my bed under a pile of blankets. There is a new, me-sized, dent created on one side of my bed. I did venture out yesterday for necessities like toilet paper and milk, but the half hour I spent trying to get out of the Fred Meyer parking lot (because everyone and their Aunt Fanny was doing the same thing, usually in cars with tires not suited to snow that ended up stalling and/or sliding back down the inclined exit) convinced me to go back into hibernation. I also went to Target this morning, but only because they are forecasting another storm and I was up early because I had just cancelled plans to spend the day with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece in Seattle due to said winter storm warning. I was home by 9:30 am.

After 3 days of watching various dead sexy Brits in BBC adaptations, catching up on TV shows (and related TVboyfriends) and breezing through the first season of Supernatural on DVD (which only added to my conviction that Dean Winchester is one of the hottest TVboyfriends on the planet and also made me wonder if I needed to make an appointment to speak with my Bishop, even though I haven't done anything more than repeatedly think "Dean Winchester is wicked hot. And little Sammy isn't far behind him." and possibly fast forward through any part of the episodes that doesn't contain a Winchester in it, especially Dean) and one aborted attempt to watch Under the Greenwood Tree (Netflix's Watch Instantly program and my internet were not getting along. It took me an hour to watch 35 minutes of the movie) I decided to crack open a book. I am now halfway through The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World, which I highly recommend, for it is both funny and thought-provoking. And a great way to travel without getting out from under warm blankets.

It is supposed to start snowing at some point tonight, which means church might again be cancelled and my hibernation can continue uninterrupted. There is a weird sort of timelessness that has come over me. Since I don't leave my apartment, day and night don't really matter. I wake up to find I turned off my alarm and it is nearly noon. Conversely I realize I'm hungry and finally eat dinner at 9:30. I shower at 11 o'clock at night because I can. I finish watching The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and discover it is nearly 3 o'clock in the morning. Time passes at different speeds depending on what I'm doing. The 5 minutes it takes for Netflix to adjust its streaming to my internet speed seems prohibitively, obnoxiously long, but the 5 hours I spend staring at my laptop, simultaneously aimlessly surfing, watching TV, and chatting with friends, passes in a blink of an eye. In some ways it is the most boring 4 days of my life. In others the most relaxing, freeing time I have spent. It has been a busy and stressful few months, on top of a couple of hard, stressful, miserable couple of years. I kind of don't want to stop hibernating. But perhaps it is better to stop while I am still enjoying it. I'm sure at some point this sort of existence would become insupportable. But until then, I have some Doctor Who and Inspector Lynley DVDs that came from Netflix today calling my name. I might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

There Might Be Something Seriously Wrong With Me

Because I find the following positively delightful. 

Although, I don't know how I'm going to make it until January 20th. I need Peter Bishop and his Scarf of Sexiness now, not in a month!

I Need To Find A Cheap Way To Celebrate

Guess who got straight As her first quarter of graduate school? That is correct, me! Considering there were points in this quarter where I was so tired and overwhelmed I resigned myself to straight Bs, I'm pretty excited. It is the good news for the day, considering all the craptastic news that has hit today. Hope you all are having better days and a full helping of Christmas cheer! If you, like me, need a little help in the Christmas cheer department maybe this video will help.

Bad Flashbacks To Nursery

So, two of the wards in our stake put on a performance of The Forgotten Carols. Did they invite the young single adults to join them? Not so much. They invited us to run the children's rooms they provided so the adults could enjoy the performance in peace. Which is fine. I volunteered, I went and I had a fine time. But as much as I hate to label children, some of them were hellions. And as the performance stretched past 8:30 pm ALL the children became tired, cranky, stinky, and/or obnoxious. There were a pair of sisters who wouldn't stop crying for their mom who, in fairness to her, warned us that they might and told us to come get her if they didn't. And then disappeared into a darkened gym. Good times. By 9 o'clock I had changed a stinky diaper, dealt with a hysterical little girl's bloody lip after she ran into another kid, and wiped countless snotty noses. I don't regret volunteering, but I would like to say it made me feel WAY better about being single and childless at this moment. A lot better. To the point of being smugly self-satisfied as I watched parents bundle up their crying children and exhaustedly walk them out of the nursery rooms. Then I walked out to my car to find it in full-on Point-of-the-Mountain-Utah-blowing-vertical-snow-blizzard mode. And I, unlike the children, and the other YSAs who were making snow angels, was not amused. It took me 25 minutes to get home. It usually takes me 5. Good thing church doesn't start until 11 am tomorrow.

Huzzahs All Around

So, I turned in my last paper of the quarter at 1:30 this afternoon. The professor was in her office, and even though I have had some issues with her (which she has no idea about) I like her. She asked me into her office for a chat and asked me if I had ever considered going for a PhD. Which I have not. At least not seriously. But she suggested I think about it after a few years of teaching, because she thinks I have potential. Which was very, very flattering. And my bragging is over for the day.

So, I have a month(ish) of freedom. I don't really know what I am going to do with myself. I will definitely sleep and do all the Christmas stuff I haven't had time for, obviously. And I have to go shopping for a new toilet seat. Excuse the TMI nature of this story, but one morning when I sat on it it made a loud CRACK! And sure enough, one side had cracked all the way across. The crack went through the entire seat. As in, it is truly broken. I started to freak out that maybe I had severe body dysmorphia, only instead of seeing myself as too large, like anorexics, I was really morbidly obese only I couldn't see it. Luckily a friend assured me that was not the case. Still, how did I managed to break a toilet seat? And am I now a danger to all toilet seats? Things to ponder, I'm sure. After another nap, of course.

A Long Overdue TV Review

While my father was visiting over the holiday, I introduced him (and I think got him hooked) to my one new show this season, Fringe. Fringe is the brainchild of the guys who wrote Transformers and J.J. Abrams, so I fully expect the show to become a barely watchable shadow of itself about halfway through season 2 like Alias and Lost. I loved the characters on Alias enough to soldier through until the end, whereas I just gave up on Lost. To give a shorthand description of Fringe, it is like Sydney Bristow joined The X-Files. And dyed her hair blonde. There is the requisite angst over a departed boyfriend, the elusive conspiracies, the shadowy organizations, and the crazy, inexplicable, possibly paranormal, things happening. Good times.

Now, I loved The X-Files and Alias dearly and I was enjoying Fringe. Then I made my dad watch the first 7 episodes on hulu.com and an obsession was born. When you watch the episodes all in a row, there is an impressive continuity that you don't necessarily notice when you watch them once a week. Not continuity of major plots or issues, but minor continuity details that are quite awesome and make watching fun. You can play games like "Spot the Observer," a sort of Where's Waldo for every episode. And then there are the trippy clue-like images that appear before every commercial break. 

There is the leaf with the isosceles triangle embossed on it:

The six-fingered hand:

The apple half in which the seeds look like fetuses:

The toad with the symbols for the Greek letter Phi, which in math apparently symbolizes the Golden Ratio:

The daisy that appears to have a dragonfly wing for one petal:

And the seahorse that has a Fibonacci spiralon its skin:

I don't know what any of it means, but it at least piques my curiosity and provides some visual stimulus.

Then there are the characters. I haven't totally warmed up to the female FBI agent Olivia Dunham, but I really enjoy the mad scientist, Walter Bishop, and his relationship with his estranged son Peter. They have the best lines in the show and provide the necessary comic relief. And Peter Bishop is played by Joshua Jackson, who I thought was very cute when he was in the first Mighty Ducks movie 16 years ago. All these years later he is very attractive and will probably be added to the Fantasy Boyfriend League pantheon shortly. Finally there are all sorts of shady and shadowy figures and organizations that appeal to the buried conspiracy theorist in me.

So, that is my current TV obsession, which I am trying to focus on since ABC cancelled Pushing Daisies and whom I subsequently declared dead to me (ABC, not the Pushing Daisies people. I adore the Pushing Daisies people). I am still mourning that loss. But at least I have an obsession to distract me, right?

My Very First Angry Letter

Technically it is an angry comment. So, I was (yet again) avoiding homework and looking through my blog archives and I found that someone had, in the past year, posted an angry comment (under the name 'Anonymous') about something I had written last fall. I had written about a girl in my Mia Maid class who was a) new b) home-schooled and c) a big fan of LDS romance novels. The post is here if you want to read it. Anonymous posted the following:

Wow, do you judge everyone as quickly as you judged this poor girl? No wonder she backed off and you never had a chance to get to know the "real person" inside. Who cares what she reads--does it have to be from your private reading list for it to be enjoyable? I guess she comes off looking pretty awful if you are the one who gets to set up the criteria of what is good and what is not. I think you have very strong biases and are extremely intolerant of other people's differences. Too bad you can't live in a world where everyone is exactly like you.

Now, this is exciting to me for two reasons. First, it means that someone other than my close friends and family have stumbled upon my blog and, second, it is funny. Angry letters are my favorite part of Eric Snider's website. I wonder which of my 'judgements' about this girl struck a nerve with Anonymous. Was it my opinion about home schooling? Was it my distaste for LDS romance novels? Was it the fact that I didn't share his or her opinion? Because if it is the third one, I find it completely ironic that I am judged to be extremely intolerant by this person for having an opinion other than his or hers. I also love the assumptions that I a) never got to know the girl in question and b) that I made my 'judgements' apparent to the point that said girl wouldn't want to get to know me. I wonder if Anonymous still reads my blog or if it was a one-time deal. Maybe it was Anita Stansfield herself. Because that would be awesome.

It's All About The Sexy Swagger

We all know I'm a raging Anglophile. That is no secret. That I am also a fan of the James Bond franchise shouldn't be a surprise either. I was very, very skeptical of the casting of Daniel Craig as James Bond but found the reboot that was Casino Royale to be wicked awesome and Mr. Craig to be this generation's Steve McQueen (Seriously, Google image search them both. They could be father & son). So I was breathlessly anticipating Quantum of Solace. I was a little worried after reading some critics' responses to the film. But I shouldn't have been. It is also wicked awesome. Sure, it lacked some of the emotional depth that Casino Royale had, but it wasn't like there wasn't ANY emotional development. Additionally, I thought it spoke volumes about Bond himself, that he was becoming a violent automaton after the events of Casino Royale. Additionally, the Bond girls were beautiful, but that didn't undermine the intelligence they were supposed to have, unlike the unfortunate Denise Richards' attempt in The World Is Not Enough. But what I really meant to say here, is that Mr. Craig has perfected the sexy swagger. The man can be trudging his way across a Bolivian desert after surviving a plane crash and HE STILL MANAGES TO LOOK DEAD SEXY AND TOTALLY COOL DOING IT. That is a gift, my friends. This picture doesn't really do it justice. You'll have to go see the film.

Also, if the universe is at all just, I will some day drive an Aston Martin. Oh, and the new song isn't half bad either.  I raised an eyebrow about pairing Jack White and Alicia Keys but it actually works.

Have you ever had a moment in which one little event sets off a chain reaction of mental dominoes that makes you realize you might not be as happy as you thought you were? And that maybe you have spent a lot of time trying to convince yourself that you are happy so you don't have to deal with the reality of being unhappy?

One Of The Many Ways I Avoid Homework

Several years ago there was a show on TV called Wonderfalls, which was random and funny and I liked it, but after a couple of episodes I lost track of it and it was shortly thereafter cancelled. Turns out Fox only aired the first 3 episodes of the 13 made. Due to the miracle of Netflix, I found the DVDs for the entire 13. I love this show. I bought the DVDs with the Amazon.com gift card I got for my birthday. (thanks, Heather!) Toward the end of the season, there is a truly heartbreaking scene that was accompanied by a haunting song I hadn't heard before. So I have spent quite a few hours obsessively hunting the song and the artist down on the internet. And now, thanks to the iTunes gift card I got for my birthday (thanks, E!), the song is now mine. Which I have listened to a billion times now and see no tiring of it in sight. So I thought I would share it with all of you. And subsequently spent another few hours hunting it down on YouTube. My readers are way more important than Econ 446. Hope you enjoy! 

P.S. Wonderfalls was created by the same guy behind Pushing Daisies. If you like Pushing Daisies, I highly recommend checking out Wonderfalls. Or vice versa. And Lee Pace (the adorable Ned the Piemaker) is in both.

P.P.S. I am also completely obsessed with this song, although it has absolutely nothing to do with anything. And since the actually music video for the song gives me a migraine, I thought I would include a little Doctor Who video. So sad David Tennant is leaving!

Hail To The Chief

I don't know how many of you took the opportunity to listen to President-Elect Obama's acceptance speech tonight. I know several of my regular readers are not fans, but I think his speech, purportedly written by him and not a speech writer, was impressive. He is a charismatic and eloquent speaker and tonight I think he managed to do what he does best, focus on the future and focus on possibility. Regardless of your political leanings or opinions about the man himself, it is awe-inspiring that the United States of America elected an African-American President. If he had been born fifty years earlier he would most likely have been denied the right to vote, but today he is the future President of the United States of America. That is amazing. It renews my faith in the American people. My faith that we can move past the darkest parts of our history, that we can uphold and build on and expand the ideals of equality, justice, and liberty on which our nation is founded, that we can look to the future and build a better future for our nation, our children, and our world. It will take sacrifice and hard work; it might be painful. But it is possible. And so I say, like the crowd in Chicago, "Yes We Can!" 

Halloween And Assorted Other Uncertainties

In an effort to be outgoing and in honor of my new calling, I went to my ward's Halloween dance/party. I wasn't feeling particularly creative and my Daphne (from Scooby-Doo) costume had seen better days. So I just slapped on some goth nail polish, a bunch of black eyeliner, a black leather cuff I found at Claire's in the 'Claire's for Boys' section, and my beloved Supernatural Metallicar t-shirt and went as my evil twin. Not particularly creative, but I wasn't feeling particularly festive. Part of it was the hellacious week of presentations-being-criticized-by-the-professor-in-the-middle-of-them-in-front-of-the-rest-of-the-class and other school stresses. Part of it is that Halloween was my mom's second favorite holiday and celebrating it is hard still (seriously, almost had a complete and total meltdown on the bus two weeks ago because I overheard a man telling his daughter about the Great Pumpkin). And part of it was the fact that in the days of Yore, Parker, Treat Queen, and I (and any other assorted friends we could drag into the mayhem) would make Halloween fun, whether we did anything grand or not. So, the evening consisted of me trying to be involved and join groups and make friends and dance and enjoy the festivities, all the while thinking "if only Parker & Treat Queen were here." I can't lie, I breathed a sigh of relief when I left the party at 11. It just wasn't the same without my good friends. So many inside jokes, cryptic references, collective memories that were missing. And sometimes I don't know if I have the energy to start all over.

The Silver Lining

So it has been a spectacularly craptastic week and so after a whirlwind evening of visiting teaching and being visit taught, I sat down to enjoy a few of the TV shows I missed during the week. And boy, was I rewarded. Whether you watch Supernatural or not, I am fairly certain you will enjoy this video. Seriously, I have watched this multiple times and it still makes me laugh until I cry. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Drumroll Please . . .

I am now the Education Counselor in my ward Relief Society. As if I didn't have enough on my plate already! I'm sure you all were breathlessly waiting for that announcement. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The Space-Time Continuum Has Some Explaining To Do

So, I'm sitting here at 10 o'clock at night on a Saturday, having just finished my philosophy reading (the whole chapter on indoctrination illuminates nothing so much as the author's hatred for the Catholic Church and religion in general) which did nothing to put me in the mood of finishing the writing of the talk I agreed to give in church tomorrow. Instead, I have been wasting time meanderingly checking blogs I regularly read and links on those blogs to other blogs and inadvertently discovered Confessions Of A Single Mormon Girl, which has a Scully there too. After reading her posts, I couldn't decide if I had stumbled upon a loop in the space-time continuum and was reading the writings of a future me or a me in an alternative dimension or if similar-thinking people choose the same internet identity. And if it is the space-time continuum, why am I not simultaneously spending some quality time in the TARDIS with a certain attractive Time Lord?

I think I'll go take a bubble bath whilst the universe and the space-time continuum contemplate that question.

Motivation Seems To Have Gone On A Holiday

So it is Friday at 7:30 in the  evening and I am seriously considering getting into my pajamas. I have quite a bit of homework for next week, but that so isn't getting done tonight. I have a talk to write for Sacrament meeting on Sunday, but that isn't going to get done tonight either. In fact, it is highly possible that I will spend the remaining hours before going to bed having a Supernatural mini-marathon. Which does not bode well for my future preparedness. I vaguely remember being an overachiever at some point in my life, but alas that is no more. Also, I have a soon-to-be-announced new calling, which is stressing me out just a little. All of which adds up to another Friday night at home. Good times.

Oh, and did anyone else find last night's The Office slightly disjointed and vaguely unsatisfying? I mean, there was a substantial amount of Jim on camera and he does have lovely green eyes, but still, I feel like I missed an important scene or two. Maybe it is just me.

A little birthday fun...

...from your best ghost-hunting tvbf



...and your partner in crime. Remember this? Ahh, good times. I hope you have a rockin' day!

Is It Too Late To Become A Trophy Wife?

Right now that seems like a much better idea than taking 17 credits this quarter (and possibly the next 8 quarters). I have been sitting here for nearly 2 hours trying to come up with ideas for a paper due tomorrow about the relationship between theory and practice in teaching. Nothing is coming. And I have two more papers due Wednesday for just one class. And another paper on Thursday. Plus reading for all my classes AND I have yet to practice my mime, which is due tomorrow at 10 am. ACK! 

On the plus side, no time to obsess about turning 30 in 6 days.

The City of Subdued Excitement

I have seen the above phrase on a mural of Bellingham on the side of a building downtown and on a business sign. I like it. I think it works for the city I now call home. Nearly everyone I have met is extraordinarily laid-back. Irresponsibility isn't a part of this laid-back attitude, rather, it seems founded on the knowledge that life happens and one does the best one can with the life that happens. That doesn't seem a very good explanation, because everyone is passionate about, and works hard at, whatever they do, but stress doesn't seem to be a part of it. At least not the crazy, maniacal stress that makes one drive aggressively on the freeway, at speeds 10-15 mph faster than the posted speed limit, or monopolize conversations by emphasizing one's achievements. Everyone I meet seems genuinely interested in getting to know individuals. For example, it soon became apparent to the 24 other students in the grad program that I am LDS, since one of the first questions everyone asks is where one got one's undergraduate degree, but no one really seems to care - not the way people in Utah care if someone ISN'T LDS. A few people asked questions (nice, curiosity-based ones, not agenda-having ones) and one guy avoided me (later found out he was "raised Mormon" which totally illuminated the behavior) but there wasn't any judging. And I think that is what I like best about this city. People seem to be able to live and let live.

My graduate program itself is paradoxically completely intense and amazingly relaxed. All the professors insist you call them by their first names, which takes some getting used to, and seem more worried that we don't feel overwhelmed than anything. Not that they aren't demanding and expect good work from us, but more that they don't want us to be so consumed with our studies that we don't enjoy life in the here and now. In fact, the most time-consuming and stressful class I'm taking is the undergrad economics class I have to take for my endorsement. So while all of us grad students are completely immersed in pedagogy and philosophy and performance (seriously, in one class I have to do a mime. A MIME people. I suck at Charades, how am I supposed to do a mime? Okay, so there is a little stress.) we are also surrounded by people who want us to succeed; who want our lives to be good. Which is nice, and comforting.

Finally, I have never enjoyed school so much in my life as I do now. I am excited to go through this program, to embark on this career, to follow this path. Not that I wasn't excited before, but I was more than a little uncertain about it. Now I'm certain this is what I want to do with the rest of my life, even though I know it will be difficult and overwhelming at times, and that I will graduate with a significant amount of debt to be paid. So I, like the city, am subduedly excited.

Quick Note

I realize I owe you all a very long post catching you all up on my many doings these past couple of weeks, but seriously, I'm fairly overwhelmed by the whole experience and haven't had time to process. Which means there is no way to explain it in any linear, understandable fashion. Once I get a routine down, I'll be able to organize my thoughts. Plus, I crazily decided to drive home this weekend, so I'm living out of a small bag and forgot half my homework back in my apartment and am generally consumed by chaos. BUT, I do have a little something for you guys - updates on The Gummi Bear and the Peanut!

The Gummi Bear

The Gummie Bear will be 2 months-old on Wednesday and is starting to look like a baby instead of a newborn. She woke her parents up at 4am the other morning giggling. And continued to giggle for quite a while. Which I think bodes well for our relationship! Her very talented mother took this picture, which I think is adorable.

The Peanut

The Peanut just turned 6 months-old last Wednesday. He recently outgrew his 9 month clothes. He loves books, which just makes my heart swell with pride. And anytime I'm on the phone with his mom, The Accidental Housewife, he has to 'talk' very loudly, just so we both know he is still there. Those eyes of his are going to break a lot of hearts someday, don't you agree?

Without Further Ado

I am just coming off the second migraine in 3 days, so I really don't have anything to blog about. But I thought I would post a couple photos of my cute apartment. Sadly, the living room looks a little squashed, but I assure you there is plenty of room to walk around the furniture.

That black thing in the corner is actually my garbage can with an overly large garbage bag in it. And the door to the bathroom opens into the kitchen, which is weird, but seeing as how it is only me, I'm not too worried.

Because I'm Only 1/2 Way Through The 300 Pages I Need To Read By Monday

I will just direct you to this post at Romancing the Tome. I'm sure you all know who I voted for, although I'm a little skeptical about the accent situation. Shouldn't the actor playing Prof. Henry Higgins, the English dialect and language expert, actually speak with a proper English accent? Still any reason to stare at George Clooney on the big screen is good in my book.

I'm Back. Sort Of.

Checking in from the library again. Only 48 more hours! I keep chanting that to myself. Keep your fingers crossed that there are no technical difficulties. Please.

So, experimenting with the bus system today. Definitely does not take an hour one way. More like half an hour from my front door to whatever building on campus I'm heading for. So that is good news. Plus, all the bus drivers are very nice and greet you as you get on the bus. The anti-social misanthrope in me is having a difficult time adjusting.

And my apartment is finally set to rights and everything is out of boxes. Which means I'm a little less scattered and much more sane. I just forgot to upload the photos I took, so that will have to wait for a bit.

Finally, have become completely obsessed with the first season DVDs of Pushing Daisies. I had almost forgotten about the show, what with the writer's strike preempting its return after Christmas. But, I treated myself to the DVDs at Costco the other day (still much, much cheaper than the monthly cable bill) and am remembering how wonderful the show was. So, my mission for you, dear readers, is to get to your nearest Blockbuster, Red Box, public library or Netflix account and start watching. You'll thank me. And the new season starts October 1st. Mark your calendars!

P.S. I'm a bit behind in my TV viewing, as I'm doing it strictly online, so a new series-centric blog is in the offing. You'll just have to be patient.

Hey There!

Okay, so I have to make this quick. I still have a week until my internet is up, but thankfully the public library has wi-fi. Yay! So you get a random collection of thoughts.

The Fun Things:

• I get Canadian radio stations. For some reason I find this endlessly entertaining.
• My apartment is pretty cute AND has lots of storage space, which means that at some point the chaos will be over. And when it is, I promise pictures.
• I am close to Fred Meyer, Target, Costco, the mall, and a movie theater.
• There is a bus stop half a block from my front door.
• Finding random things like vases and decorative bowls that I totally forgot I owned and that I love.
• The YSA ward. These people are nice, introduce themselves right away, and the girls are friendly. Most of the Utah YSA wards I attended the girls saw you as competition and the guys waited for you to bring them cookies and tell them how awesome they were.

The Less-Than-Stellar Things

• The chaos, people, the chaos. I have to spend at least a couple hours out of the apartment or I would collapse into a ball on my bed and not do anything.
• Learning that it will probably take me an hour one-way to get to school on the bus. Study time, right?
• No convenient internet. Seriously going through withdrawls, as it makes it that much harder to connect with my friends.
• My picture on my student ID card. Seriously, I have the crazy eyes. Not good.

Well, I promise I will have pictures and news soon. And I'll be back as soon as I can. I miss you all!

There Will Be Bobbleheads

I had to cheer myself up, as dismantling one's bedroom can be a terribly depressing undertaking, so I headed over to Television Without Pity to see what could be found there. And, oh, how the universe rewarded me! There was a transcript of an interview with The Office's Paul Lieberstein (Toby) and Amy Ryan (the new HR person, Holly) about the upcoming season 5 of The Office. You can read it here. But the best part is at the very end of the interview, in which it was promised that EACH of the show's characters will be getting their own bobblehead. Now, I never understood the obsession with bobbleheads, but I know I love my Dwight K. Schrute bobblehead dearly. And now someone is promising me the possibility of owning a Jim Halpert bobblehead. How awesome is that?

Weekly Wrap-up

So, in the past 7 days I have driven 1,753 miles, monopolized my niece for approximately 3 of those days, found out I need to prove I have had two MMR vaccinations before I can register in 3 days, slept on air mattresses and in hotels, signed my life away on a lease, and watched BBC America all Saturday afternoon whilst making myself sick by gorging on macaroni & cheese because I am so stressed I NEEDED comfort food. Good times. I have a list of things to accomplish that is pretty much as long as my arm, so I don't know how much I'll be posting this week. But I will have new apartment pics and adventures-in-moving stories for you next week, I'm sure. To end on a pleasant note, here is my darling niece, Gummi Bear.

The Olympics Make Me Cry

But in a good way. I try to convince everyone I'm tough, however I'm sure anyone who knows me knows I'm a big old softie. This is nowhere more apparent than when I watch the opening and closing Olympic ceremonies. I missed the Beijing opening ceremonies because I was returning home after a long day of apartment hunting in Bellingham, but I caught the closing ceremonies this evening and I must admit to tearing up.

Part of it might be that, despite my degree in international politics, my political motto can best be expressed "Can't we all just get along?" The Olympics seem to have the same motto, albeit more eloquently expressed. So seeing all the athletes enjoying themselves after accomplishing so much makes me a little misty (although not too misty not to notice that the Ralph Lauren Polo emblem took up a third of team USA's shirts. Nice.). But I nearly broke down into real sobs when the big, red London bus made its appearance to promote the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Sometimes I forget how seriously I miss London and England and how intense my homesickness for that place can still be, especially as autumn draws near and I start thoughts with "Nine years ago today I was in . . . " I so want to go back.

Whilst watching the London presentation for the 2012 games, my heart actually started to hurt. I am not exaggerating. Does that sound insane to you? Because I sometimes question my sanity when I think back about how much I loved it there. Would it be committing treason to say I felt like I belonged in London more than any other place I have lived? Is it totally naive to think that I do belong there? Am I just waxing nostalgic and looking at the whole experience through rose-colored glasses? Is it crazy to feel more at home in a foreign country than in m own? These are questions I ask myself on a regular basis. All because, when I see a red, double-decker bus I start to cry.

The Peanut At 4 1/2 Months

He's in the 96th percentile of pretty much everything and already has a tooth coming in! Plus, he is showing an early interest in books which makes my reading heart proud. 

Things That Warm My Cold, Cold Heart

The Gummi Bear enjoying the fruits of my labors!

Even if I had to see it on Facebook instead of it being sent to me, Mime. ; )

I May Be Biased, But . . .

I don't think it is overstating matters to call the Gummi Bear adorable.

On her birth day.

At nearly a week old.

I can't hardly wait the next 17 days until I see her!

Basically Anything That Is Awesome

I have been neglecting my blog and my lovely readers, so I thought I would make up for it by recapping the last month or so of my life. Categorized by the relative awesomeness of said events.

Things That Are Awesome:

• Finding an apartment. Finally. Had many a freak-out about the possibility of my being homeless and living in my car whilst going to school.
• The Dark Knight. Seriously go see it if you haven't already. I have seen it twice and I am still thinking about it. You won't be able to take your eyes of Heath Ledger as The Joker.
• The arrival of Gummi Bear (I'm still waiting on pics of her that I can post. I do have some, but they aren't that flattering to Mrs. Mime, and I don't want to do that to her!)
• Not having to go to work every morning. Seriously love determining what I do and when I do it. Freedom!
• I made a practically perfect pie crust on Monday. I know! It has never happened before and will probably never happen again, but it did happen!
• Michael Phelps
• The Internet. Parker moved to a place that is wired and we have enjoyed a few late night chats via IM. These conversations are always enjoyable. Case in point:
  

  Scully: Please tell me it is a ridiculous extravagance to pre-order Season 3 of Supernatural as I am unemployed and going to grad school.
  

  Parker: I can't do that. I can, however, nicely encourage you to order them.
  

  Scully: This is why we are friends.
  

  Parker: hee. You're gonna need some AlecDean to get you through those rainy fall nights. I'm just sayin.
  

Things That Are Slightly Less Than Awesome:

• The X-Files: I Want To Believe. I wanted desperately to love this movie. As an X-Phile, I enjoyed it, but it kind of left me wanting more. And I don't know exactly what it is I wanted, but it just made me very sad that there would be no more. And now I desperately want the complete series on DVD. But I don't have the requisite $275 (plus shipping & handling) that Amazon demands before they will send it to me.
• The fact that what have been choosing to do with the freedom of being unemployed is sleep. I still get up at 6:40 am to have breakfast with my dad, but after I read my scriptures and say farewell to my dad, I go back to sleep and don't usually wake up until 10 am. Even if I set the alarm on my mobile and hide it at the opposite side of the room.
• Reading The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher until midnight and realizing how freaked out I was by said book so that I had to read North & South until 1 am to get it out of my head. Which led to another morning lounging in bed until 10.

Things That Are The Opposite Of Awesome:

• Mental freak-outs about: possible homelessness; the fact that I haven't heard from the Financial Aid office about the form I sent in over a month ago and that HAD to be in at the end of July; realizing I had no idea when I needed to register for classes and thinking I might have missed the window (I didn't); reading here that drinking cola everyday doubles your chances of chronic kidney disease; packing; moving; paying for everything and many, many more.
• The hiatus of Doctor Who for more than a year whilst David Tennant does Hamlet for the RSC. Plus, season 4 of Doctor Who ended on such a downer note, I really wanted something a bit cheerier sooner. There are going to be a couple one-off specials, but who knows if anyone in the US will even air them.
• Allergies.
• The prohibitive cost of cable and high-speed internet, both of which are necessary to my survival as a human being.

A Rather Auspicious Beginning

The Gummi Bear made her appearance today, 08/08/08, a day considered very lucky by the Chinese (hence the opening ceremonies of the Olympics) and just a cool numerical coincidence. She weighed in at 7 lbs 8 oz and 19 inches (As per Mime's comment, she is actually 19 1/2 inches). She has very dark eyes, which means they will probably be brown like her mother's. I'll post pics when I can.

Like A Very Bad Flashback

I now have time to catch up on my Netflix queue, and finally got around to watching the last Christopher Guest movie For Your Consideration. This deleted scene gave me the most horridly hilarious sense of deja vu, because it was (excepting the hand holding) so much like a conversation one might have with TheOwner at my former place of employment. Just thought you would enjoy a peek into what was once my life. I am so glad I don't have to face the office tomorrow!

My Big Mouth

Vacation posts are coming, it is just that what has happened since returning from said vacation is much more interesting and important right now. Regular readers know that the office I work for has some interesting personalities. It is also a fairly casual office, the uniform being jeans and sneakers or flip flops. Well, while I was on vacation, someone visited the office looking for the law office next door.  The owner of the law office next door is also TheOwner of our office. TheBoss, our day-to-day manager is out of town for five weeks fishing in Alaska.The visitor informed TheOwner that our office was unprofessional. Which prompted a flurry of stress and a few changes. 

Change one was that all time off such as vacation, absences, sick days, doctors' appointments etc. have to be cleared through TheOwner. Second, if we go to TheBoss first for these things, like we used to do, we will be dismissed. Finally, any conversation not directly related to work had to take place in the break room or the conference room. He told everyone that he was open to a response for two weeks and then he would consider it a closed topic. Monday, when I got back from vacation, I got an earful from everyone. Nearly everyone was prepping their resumes and planning to leave. There was an unspoken agreement not to ruin TheBoss's vacation, although he found out anyway and asked TheBarista what was going on.

Cut to me. I was completely annoyed with the turn of events and, having an eye appointment, I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and send the following:

TheOwner,

I have an eye appointment scheduled on ------. I will be using my lunch hour to cover the appointment. I understand that we now have to clear all absences, appointments, sick days, etc. with you.

Since I was out of the office when the new system was instituted, I would like to get your confirmation on what was explained to me as the new system.

• As stated above, any time away from the office between the hours of 8 AM and 5 PM, excepting the lunch hour, needs to be cleared through you via email or phone.
  
• If we speak to Mike about any absence mentioned above before we contact you, we will be dismissed.
  
• All non-work related conversations must take place either in the conference room or in the break area by the file cabinets. Any such conversations taking place outside these designated areas will prompt our dismissal.
  

Have I missed anything? I understand that this new system was adopted in response to a complaint about the professionalism, or lack thereof, of our office. I also understand that you are open to a response on this system.

First and foremost, if I had not already given notice that I was leaving, I would be seriously considering my future with this company. While I do not know the details of what occurred, the results of the incident completely undermines any sense of employee well-being for the following reasons:

• The institution of the new system while TheBoss is gone, combined with your insistence that TheBoss be excluded from any managerial decision-making not only professionally emasculates TheBoss, but puts all employees in a difficult situation. We are forced to choose between ignoring our day-to-day manager and boss or being dismissed by one who is, for the most part, absent on a day-to-day basis. If you have issues with TheBoss's management style or dislike how the office is being run, it should first be discussed between you and TheBoss and then discussed with the employees. It is uncomfortable to be stuck in the middle of an executive-level disagreement.
  
• The new system is insulting to your employees. You valued the subjective observations of someone who spent a fraction of an hour in the office and who has absolutely no knowledge of the workings of the office over the record of employees who have worked for you for years and with whom you trust multi-million dollar deals, significant sums of money, and the related bank account information. Either you trust your employees with the future of this company or you don't. We can't do our jobs effectively if our skills, decision-making, work ethic, and integrity can be undermined by one individual.
  
• If we did indeed do something wrong, we need more specific direction than 'unprofessional.' What, exactly, did the individual making these accusations find unprofessional? If we have only a vague understanding of what we did wrong, how can we ever hope to fix it? Additionally, without details we can never successfully defend ourselves.
  
• I understand that hearing the title company pronounced 'unprofessional' by a valued client would be upsetting. However, the anger and rapidity with which the new system was instituted and the severity of its nature underscore that is was done in anger and with a sense of retribution. This is unjust. It is your company and your investment, but your employees also invest in this company. If we feel we have no recourse or voice we will have no alternative but to leave a place that, up until now, was a fulfilling place to work; a place where we felt valued. That has changed.
  

I hope that you take my suggestions seriously. I don't know exactly how the rest of the office is feeling, but I think it necessary to tell you how I feel. This has been a good place to work and I have been treated well during some very difficult circumstances. It would be a shame for this company to lose the personality and environment that made it unique.

Thank you,

Scully

I sent it at 9 AM yesterday. He apparently got it yesterday evening, as I was promptly dismissed before 9 AM today. I actually feel pretty good about it. I was expecting it, actually. Sure, it would have been nice to have two more paychecks before I leave for school, but I felt it was really important that something be said, and since I was leaving anyway and didn't have a huge pile of bills or a family to support I felt I could be the one to say something. So I'll have a lot more time to do things I enjoy, like blog and read,  and things I desperately need to do, like find a place to live at school. and yard work.  And I promise a vacation blog is next!

I Need A Vacation To Recover From My Vacation

I had loads of fun, saw several good movies, enjoyed lots of time with friends and family and desperately need to sleep.  I promise to write more later.  I just need to get some sleep first.

It Is Confession Time

First of all, I just wanted to tell all five of my readers that I haven't disappeared nor abandoned you.  Most of my free time has been spent making this for my soon-to-be-born niece, Gummi Bear:

Which is why this post has been sitting around waiting for me to blow the dust off and finish it. Without further ado, onto the confessions!

I spent a great many years of my life trying to keep people from realizing what a huge dork I am.  I knew I would never be 'popular' but I did want to preserve some semblance of cool. However, in retrospect, this quest for coolness meant I kept a lot of things locked up in my head because they weren't respected by my friends or peers.  It is my goal to stop worrying so much about others' opinions of me and just be myself.  So as a first, tentative, step toward full disclosure, I thought I would start with a blog post revealing something I normally wouldn't.

I wasn't quite sure what I was ready to share.  I had to start out small, but not something insignificant. But obviously it couldn't be an admission that any mocking would send me into a catatonic state. It all came together when I saw Get Smart. (Side note:  I thought it was a fun movie.  I would recommend it just because Steve Carrell could make me laugh just reading the phone book. But there is fun to be had outside of Mr. Carrell, so go see it!) What was the epiphany that led me to this post?  That Dwayne Johnson ('The Rock' is apparently out) is kind of hot. Maybe it was the wardrobe (I have no defenses against a secret agent in a French blue button down w/ rolled up sleeves. None. I blame David Duchovny.  And Michael Vartan). But that confession is not all, my friends. I have compiled a list of other actors who I have heretofore been loathe to admit finding attractive.  You may mock, I won't be offended.  But I'll be ecstatic if any of you agree!

Back to Mr. Johnson, I was originally very dismissive, as he was a professional wrestler.  Then I saw him a few years ago on SNL and he wasn't half bad.  Then he stopped being so beefy and put on the Standard-Issue Government Agent Uniform I mentioned above and was all nice to Steve Carrell in Get Smart and all of sudden he is attractive.  

Next up is another actor who kind of grew on me.  I never got into Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel although two roommates tried valiantly to get me hooked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But while I never got obsessed (which I think had more to do with my love of the original movie than the quality of the show.) I kept tabs on David Boreanaz and now that he's not in a show as a character whose only moods are sad and evil, I can say that he is hot. And the fact he wears the Standard-Issue Government Agent Uniform the majority of the time is a plus.

The Matrix worked because Keanu Reeves needed only to look confused and/or concerned through the entire 136 minutes of the film. Also, the all black look works on most men. The thing is, even though his acting genius seems to have peaked with Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, I feel compelled to watch him. As in, literally stare at him. He is the worst thing about Much Ado About Nothing, but he also spends some time shirtless. 

George of the Jungle, The Mummy I & II, School Ties, Bedazzled: these are movies I have seen multiple times. Not because they are necessarily good; most of them are not. Why do I watch them repeatedly? Because I find Brendan Fraser to be completely disarming. He spends most of the time in these films being the affable goof. A very tall affable goof with a six pack.

I have long been at the mercy of class clowns. I loved several during my school career. Currently I am quite enamored with one Mr. Seth Meyers on Saturday Night Live. His dry delivery on Weekend Update nearly always sets me giggling. And a man who makes me laugh is always attractive.

And finally my deepest, darkest, most difficult confession. I find Denis Leary to be dead sexy. I don’t even know how I came to this conclusion, as I think I have seen maybe one movie he has ever done, a long forgotten Disney flick called Operation Dumbo Drop (Research shows he also played Smalls’ step-dad in The Sandlot. So that’s two). Everything else is pretty much unwatchable, as he is known to be a foul-mouthed comedian. But I still have to stop and stare whenever I see an ad for Rescue Me.

So there you are, dear readers.  Secrets I have been loathe to admit for some time and which will definitely cause a few of my friends' eyebrows to go up.  Now I'm off on vacation. I'll be back with stories and pictures!

A Few Small Things

ZB has a photo blog that does weekly challenges. This week's challenge is titled "The Little Things" so I thought I would share some little things I have been preoccupied with lately.

This is one of about 10 miniature rose bushes my mom planted in our yard. They are miraculously tiny and take an insane amount of time to deadhead. 

Another small thing, but one that is crazy exciting - I only have 5 work days left until I hit the road for Idaho and Utah.  Starting on the 22nd, I will be footloose and fancy-free so everyone I know in Utah, we MUST get together - email me!  The only definitive appointment I have is a Friday night showing of the new X-Files movie!  

Just Some Visual Fun

For YW last night we went on a short hike on a random little trail about 25 minutes outside of town. Supposedly it goes to an old Native American site where tribes would meet and trade. I don't know if that is true, but I had a enjoyable evening despite the 95 degree weather. I miraculously remembered my camera and actually used it!  So here are a couple of the shots with which I am particularly pleased.