First Ever Ice Cream Headache!!
Yes, it's true- I had never had one before. Ever. In my 33 years of existence. I got the 'cold throat with cough' thing, but never the ice cream headache. Today, after yoga, I hit the Dunkin' Donuts drive through for an orange coolatta, which is basically orange juice, probably a bunch of sugar, and blended with ice. Lots of ice. Blammo! Ice cream headache. It was just as I had imagined, but now I need imagine no longer. I am part of the crowd and am so pleased.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Finished Object Alert!
Ugh, this photo turned out terribly. Um, much like most of my pictures of jewelry. Sigh. As usual, I will make the excuse that it looks prettier in real life!
It rained AGAIN today. I really hope that July decides to be nice and sunny and not too humid- this is getting extremely tiresome.
HOWEVER, despite the weather, today was a work-free Wednesday, which rules! I went down and had lunch with Heather, and wished her well for her trip to Switzerland for the Ironman.
Well, back to beading for me!
Ugh, this photo turned out terribly. Um, much like most of my pictures of jewelry. Sigh. As usual, I will make the excuse that it looks prettier in real life! It rained AGAIN today. I really hope that July decides to be nice and sunny and not too humid- this is getting extremely tiresome.
HOWEVER, despite the weather, today was a work-free Wednesday, which rules! I went down and had lunch with Heather, and wished her well for her trip to Switzerland for the Ironman.
Well, back to beading for me!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Another Chapter Ends
Well, today was my last day at my current job. I managed to avoid most of the stupid tasks that my boss 'assigned' to me by beating her at her own game- I distracted her by talking about former students and asking her about her siblings (she has eight of them!!!) She beat me to the punch and invited me out to lunch, so that gobbled up a good amount of time, too! So, the hours zipped by and neither of us got much done, which is FINE with me- it's better than covering desks with contact paper! Wheee!
I am spending my first evening of freedom vegging out big time. I'm not even beading. The more immobile I am, the better! Tomorrow, I'm heading down to see my friend Heather, to help her pack to head off for yet another Ironman triathlon. She rocks.
Hello, summer off!
Well, today was my last day at my current job. I managed to avoid most of the stupid tasks that my boss 'assigned' to me by beating her at her own game- I distracted her by talking about former students and asking her about her siblings (she has eight of them!!!) She beat me to the punch and invited me out to lunch, so that gobbled up a good amount of time, too! So, the hours zipped by and neither of us got much done, which is FINE with me- it's better than covering desks with contact paper! Wheee!
I am spending my first evening of freedom vegging out big time. I'm not even beading. The more immobile I am, the better! Tomorrow, I'm heading down to see my friend Heather, to help her pack to head off for yet another Ironman triathlon. She rocks.
Hello, summer off!
Monday, June 26, 2006
Sparkly Warkly!
I found a pattern I liked in a beading magazine this weekend, and away I went! Seriously, these are even prettier in real life. My fave is the dark pink and green one, but that's just me.
I had my 'sit down' meeting with the principal and assistant principal at my new job today. It went pretty well, but I think they are still disappointed that they can't keep the social worker they had for part of this past year. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to make them happy by kicking some ASS!
Tomorrow is my last day of work for the school year. To my credit, I have managed to do ALL of the end of the year work I need to do, in addition to all of the end of the year work that the clerk would usually do (she was out the past 4 days). Now, I am going to be at the mercy of my boss for the last day. Here is the beginning of the list of stupid stuff she has come up for me to do... Put these keyboards in the storage room. Put these deflated playgroud balls in the downstairs closet. Collect all of the clothes the kids left here and throw them away. Perhaps in a garbage bag. Cover the desks outside the office with black tape so the kids can't write on them.
Oh, and it took her 45 minutes to come up with that list of things that will take me 30 minutes to do tomorrow.
It is going to be a long day. I'm hoping to distract her by taking her out to lunch, by saying it's a 'thank you' for all she's done for me. You know, like assigning me such meaningful work. I'm so glad I got that Masters degree. Otherwise, I might bring the keyboards down to the boiler room instead of the storage room- what a disaster THAT would be!
Wish me luck.
I found a pattern I liked in a beading magazine this weekend, and away I went! Seriously, these are even prettier in real life. My fave is the dark pink and green one, but that's just me.
I had my 'sit down' meeting with the principal and assistant principal at my new job today. It went pretty well, but I think they are still disappointed that they can't keep the social worker they had for part of this past year. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to make them happy by kicking some ASS!
Tomorrow is my last day of work for the school year. To my credit, I have managed to do ALL of the end of the year work I need to do, in addition to all of the end of the year work that the clerk would usually do (she was out the past 4 days). Now, I am going to be at the mercy of my boss for the last day. Here is the beginning of the list of stupid stuff she has come up for me to do... Put these keyboards in the storage room. Put these deflated playgroud balls in the downstairs closet. Collect all of the clothes the kids left here and throw them away. Perhaps in a garbage bag. Cover the desks outside the office with black tape so the kids can't write on them.
Oh, and it took her 45 minutes to come up with that list of things that will take me 30 minutes to do tomorrow.
It is going to be a long day. I'm hoping to distract her by taking her out to lunch, by saying it's a 'thank you' for all she's done for me. You know, like assigning me such meaningful work. I'm so glad I got that Masters degree. Otherwise, I might bring the keyboards down to the boiler room instead of the storage room- what a disaster THAT would be!
Wish me luck.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Shopping Spreeeeeee!
I had held off buying any new spring/ summer clothes because I was initially under the impression that I was soon to be incomeless. It's somewhat fortuitous, though, because I had to wait until the fabulous sales! So, when I left work today, I hit a few stores to try and find some sassy new gauchos, cropped pants, and bermuda length shorts... and naturally some espadrille-like shoes... I am determined not to feel like a schlub if I can avoid it. All of my shorts from last year are too big, and I can't find where I 'safely stored' my smaller shorts from the year before.
So, my best store of the day was New York & Company. All of the size 12's fit the same, and yes, they FIT. Plus, they weren't super expensive to begin with, AND they were running a special: buy one pair, get 2nd pair for $10. Miss Amanda left with six pairs- three 'just above the knee' length shorts, and three longer croppy ones. Wheeeee! Old Navy was good for another pair, which was missing a button and therefore was an extra 30% off... and of course, I had a button that worked out perfectly in my sewing box at home. I also found a cheap pair of espadrilles there. I wound my way around the mall and found some good stuff. Everything was on super sale, and I am tickled pink with my finds. I especially love finding pants that fit- it is a rare occurrence!
Now, I can show my face in public without feeling like a slob. Slob is generally not my idea of a good time. So, the next time you see me, you might be, like, "Whoa. Who is that snazzily dressed vision in espadrilles?" Okay, you might also be, like, "Hey, Amanda. What's up!" But whatever. As long as you don't punch me in the face and steal my new duds, I don't really care how you greet me. Really.
I just had this memory of what I used to do after my mom took me school clothes shopping- I'd do a 'fashion show' for her and my dad... my brother and sister might also have watched, but they probably got bored and left... unlike my dad, who probably got bored but stayed. I'd come out in my new outfits one after another, twirl around, and mom and dad would ooh and aah. It was enjoyable. I have always been a bit of an 'enjoyer of the spotlight'. I wish I had a roomie to take pics- I'd do an internet fashion show for my numerous readers! Whoooo!
I had held off buying any new spring/ summer clothes because I was initially under the impression that I was soon to be incomeless. It's somewhat fortuitous, though, because I had to wait until the fabulous sales! So, when I left work today, I hit a few stores to try and find some sassy new gauchos, cropped pants, and bermuda length shorts... and naturally some espadrille-like shoes... I am determined not to feel like a schlub if I can avoid it. All of my shorts from last year are too big, and I can't find where I 'safely stored' my smaller shorts from the year before.
So, my best store of the day was New York & Company. All of the size 12's fit the same, and yes, they FIT. Plus, they weren't super expensive to begin with, AND they were running a special: buy one pair, get 2nd pair for $10. Miss Amanda left with six pairs- three 'just above the knee' length shorts, and three longer croppy ones. Wheeeee! Old Navy was good for another pair, which was missing a button and therefore was an extra 30% off... and of course, I had a button that worked out perfectly in my sewing box at home. I also found a cheap pair of espadrilles there. I wound my way around the mall and found some good stuff. Everything was on super sale, and I am tickled pink with my finds. I especially love finding pants that fit- it is a rare occurrence!
Now, I can show my face in public without feeling like a slob. Slob is generally not my idea of a good time. So, the next time you see me, you might be, like, "Whoa. Who is that snazzily dressed vision in espadrilles?" Okay, you might also be, like, "Hey, Amanda. What's up!" But whatever. As long as you don't punch me in the face and steal my new duds, I don't really care how you greet me. Really.
I just had this memory of what I used to do after my mom took me school clothes shopping- I'd do a 'fashion show' for her and my dad... my brother and sister might also have watched, but they probably got bored and left... unlike my dad, who probably got bored but stayed. I'd come out in my new outfits one after another, twirl around, and mom and dad would ooh and aah. It was enjoyable. I have always been a bit of an 'enjoyer of the spotlight'. I wish I had a roomie to take pics- I'd do an internet fashion show for my numerous readers! Whoooo!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Mojito Time!
See? Now that I'm not stupendously unemployed, I am posting with much vim and vigor. Lucky everyone.
So, today's tip is how to make a mojito, which is a delicious beverage hailing from the 'you are American and therefore must be more sneaky than average to go visit it' country of Cuba. It is a deliciously refreshing drink appropriate for Cuba-like hot weather, and can be made without the alcohol- it is still tasty, and you can still drive after several of them... although you might STILL need to stop to use the ladies room afterwards. (Side note: the word 'ladies' does not appear to follow general possessive or plural rules. Interesting that I never noticed that before.)
So, without further ado, here is the recipe that I use, which I have stolen from Salvatore Calabrese's book entitled "complete home bartender's guide". And don't get persnickety with ME about the noncapitalization in the title; Salvatore himself left it uncapitalized. So there.
1 2/3 oz white rum (don't use another kind. Seriously.)
1 teaspoon superfine (caster) sugar (this melts right away rather than remaining grainy)
2/3 oz fresh lime juice
bunch fresh mint on the stem
sparkling water
crushed ice (it really is better with crushed- sadly, I only have cubes today. Boo hoo)
Put sugar and lime juice in the bottom of a highball with a thick base. Add the mint leaves and muddle (read: beat the crap out of) with the end of a barspoon or a wooden muddler. (read: chopstick or spoon) This releases the essence of the mint. Add the rum (omit if you are afraid of becoming a rummy) and fill the glass with crushed ice. Top up with sparkling water. Stir. Serve with a stirrer. (Again, read chopstick or spoon)
Okay, in typing that out, I realize why my mojito tastes a little 'off' tonight. It's the first one I've made of the season, and it just wasn't quite right. I bought the ingredients from memory, and got seltzer instead of sparkling water. Seriously, this appears to make a difference! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Okay, now the lesson has ended. Now, go make yourself a yummy mojito! Yesssss!
See? Now that I'm not stupendously unemployed, I am posting with much vim and vigor. Lucky everyone.
So, today's tip is how to make a mojito, which is a delicious beverage hailing from the 'you are American and therefore must be more sneaky than average to go visit it' country of Cuba. It is a deliciously refreshing drink appropriate for Cuba-like hot weather, and can be made without the alcohol- it is still tasty, and you can still drive after several of them... although you might STILL need to stop to use the ladies room afterwards. (Side note: the word 'ladies' does not appear to follow general possessive or plural rules. Interesting that I never noticed that before.)
So, without further ado, here is the recipe that I use, which I have stolen from Salvatore Calabrese's book entitled "complete home bartender's guide". And don't get persnickety with ME about the noncapitalization in the title; Salvatore himself left it uncapitalized. So there.
1 2/3 oz white rum (don't use another kind. Seriously.)
1 teaspoon superfine (caster) sugar (this melts right away rather than remaining grainy)
2/3 oz fresh lime juice
bunch fresh mint on the stem
sparkling water
crushed ice (it really is better with crushed- sadly, I only have cubes today. Boo hoo)
Put sugar and lime juice in the bottom of a highball with a thick base. Add the mint leaves and muddle (read: beat the crap out of) with the end of a barspoon or a wooden muddler. (read: chopstick or spoon) This releases the essence of the mint. Add the rum (omit if you are afraid of becoming a rummy) and fill the glass with crushed ice. Top up with sparkling water. Stir. Serve with a stirrer. (Again, read chopstick or spoon)
Okay, in typing that out, I realize why my mojito tastes a little 'off' tonight. It's the first one I've made of the season, and it just wasn't quite right. I bought the ingredients from memory, and got seltzer instead of sparkling water. Seriously, this appears to make a difference! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Okay, now the lesson has ended. Now, go make yourself a yummy mojito! Yesssss!
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Busy Days, Sleepless Nights
Okay, so as mentioned, I am feeling a little anxious about making that initial contact to my new job, particularly because one would think that THEY would want to call ME. But whatever. So last night, I literally tossed and turned until about 4:30 in the morning, thinking about that and about other things. It probably didn't help that I had taken cold medicine for the three nights prior, and didn't take any last night... I don't like to take medicine when I don't really NEED to. SO, 3 hours later, I had to get up for work. BLAUGH. I literally sat in front of my computer all day working on end of the year discharge summaries for kids... except when my boss interrupted me to sit in on a job interview for a teaching assistant position- thanks for the warning, there, Cathy! Oh, and the custodian interrupted me about every 15 minutes until I told him he HAD to leave me alone because I had 37 2 page reports to write. Then, he only bothered me every 30 minutes. Jerk. I got a lot done, at least. I didn't even eat lunch.
So after work, I went to the bead store to see Liz. We hung out and discussed how hungry we were. She hadn't really managed to eat lunch, either. Then, she remembered that she was invited to a free barbecue for members of some local businessperson's association, so I became her employee and we ate awesome barbecued foods. MMM. I was very happy about the whole thing.
So, we all know that I like to talk about things that annoy me: I published a post yesterday, and clearly people can see it because I got a comment, but when I go to view my blog, the post does not show up! What's that all about? It drives me bonkers, stupid stuff like that.
Tomorrow brings more paperwork, and possibly packing up my office and putting together materials for the woman who's taking over my job. And, my boss won't be around tomorrow, so that's one less person to distract me. Now, if only I could get the custodian to leave me alone... I would lock my door, but there's no air conditioning, and I need to leave the door open so that I don't suffocate.
Four more work days and then... SUMMER TIME STARTS FOR MEEEE!
Okay, so as mentioned, I am feeling a little anxious about making that initial contact to my new job, particularly because one would think that THEY would want to call ME. But whatever. So last night, I literally tossed and turned until about 4:30 in the morning, thinking about that and about other things. It probably didn't help that I had taken cold medicine for the three nights prior, and didn't take any last night... I don't like to take medicine when I don't really NEED to. SO, 3 hours later, I had to get up for work. BLAUGH. I literally sat in front of my computer all day working on end of the year discharge summaries for kids... except when my boss interrupted me to sit in on a job interview for a teaching assistant position- thanks for the warning, there, Cathy! Oh, and the custodian interrupted me about every 15 minutes until I told him he HAD to leave me alone because I had 37 2 page reports to write. Then, he only bothered me every 30 minutes. Jerk. I got a lot done, at least. I didn't even eat lunch.
So after work, I went to the bead store to see Liz. We hung out and discussed how hungry we were. She hadn't really managed to eat lunch, either. Then, she remembered that she was invited to a free barbecue for members of some local businessperson's association, so I became her employee and we ate awesome barbecued foods. MMM. I was very happy about the whole thing.
So, we all know that I like to talk about things that annoy me: I published a post yesterday, and clearly people can see it because I got a comment, but when I go to view my blog, the post does not show up! What's that all about? It drives me bonkers, stupid stuff like that.
Tomorrow brings more paperwork, and possibly packing up my office and putting together materials for the woman who's taking over my job. And, my boss won't be around tomorrow, so that's one less person to distract me. Now, if only I could get the custodian to leave me alone... I would lock my door, but there's no air conditioning, and I need to leave the door open so that I don't suffocate.
Four more work days and then... SUMMER TIME STARTS FOR MEEEE!
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
YAYYYYYYY! With a But.....
Okay, so the good news was delivered by mail today: I will be reassigned to a new school next year. It is another middle school in Lowell, but it is a regular school with 675 kids, rather than an alternative school with like 50 kids. I know some of the people who work there, and I like them, so that is good. BUT..... there are two things that concern me:
1. I am 'bumping' a part time worker out of the position. The administrators at that school hired her. They liked her. They did not get to pick me. I am replacing someone they LIKE. That sets me up for an initially lousy intro to a new place.
2. The letter appointing me to the new position stated that I have been placed there for the 2006-2007 school year. This differs from the letter that appointed me to my current job, which simply stated that I would be working there starting August 23, 2004, and gave no ending date. I fear that this is a legal loophole which they have inserted in there so that they can bite me in the BUTT if they need to later on down the road. And YES, I will be nagging the personnel director about this post haste. Okay, I MIGHT let the dust settle a LITTLE first, but only a little. Promise!
So, at least, I am not unemployed for at least another year. Yay! I am now somewhat less depressed and am more excited about the other parts of my life. We shall gloss over the fact that I have ANOTHER cold, which was probably brought on by a month of not sleeping well due to 'not having a job in the fall' anxiety. Oh, another aside... I'm very curious as to whether I'll get called by any of the other school systems I applied to while in crisis mode.
OKAY. Now back to what this blog is supposed to be about: beads and fibers! WOOOOO!
Now, first for the disappointing news: I just spent 10 minutes trying to get my camera to take a timed picture of me in the argyle vest that fits more like a minidress, but to no avail. I even had it set up on the counter near the dish drain, where I discovered I could see the reflection of what the camera would take a picture of in the metal bowl drying in the dish drain. SO COOL! But the stupid camera would not do what I wanted to, and at the moment I am too lazy to pull out the instruction manual, even though I am so impressively organized that there are only one of two places that it could be. Whoa.
Now, for the better news. I have another picture of my feet! Now, aside from the fact that I think you can spot a toe hair, this is not a scary picture. I got a pedicure and got flowers on my toes, and I think it's just dandy and adorable:
AWWWWWW. Now let's just ignore how dirty those damn sandals are... Reef has changed the squishiness content of their soles, and as we all know, my feet are tres sensitive, so I haven't been able to replace these bad boys. It's a good thing I'm so tall, so that my nose is FAR FAR AWAY from them. They are my only malodorous pair of shoes, and they are the only sandals I can reliably wear for long periods of time without blistering. EWW. We all know what THAT looks like.
Okay, wait, I promised to return to beads and fiber. Well, throughout my anxiety, I have been finding bead crochet to be quite therapeutic. Cece and Tarsha, I have managed to complete your custom orders, but I'll let you two be the first to see the finished product. Tarsha, I might need to modify yours a tad, but am perfectly happy to do so as needed. That's just how I roll. for the rest of you, here are the beautiful creations- I think these have all been made in, like, the last week. Yes, I'm obsessed. There are two pics- one is bright, one is dark. Just to please all tastes.
I guess the detail doesn't necessarily show all that well, but you get the point. Crocheting has been taking place. In a serious way.
Okay, now that the crisis has been passed, I can hopefully find the time to update on here in a more regular and cheerful way. Ooh, did I mention that today was the last day of school for the kids? Now, I have 5 days left of work, during which massive amounts of paperwork must take place. Joy. Anyone want to place bets on whether or not I can complete 37 discharge summaries in one day? (said summaries are 2 pages long each) I am not so sure, but I'm thinking I can get a good chunk done. Better bring coffee to work...
Okay, so the good news was delivered by mail today: I will be reassigned to a new school next year. It is another middle school in Lowell, but it is a regular school with 675 kids, rather than an alternative school with like 50 kids. I know some of the people who work there, and I like them, so that is good. BUT..... there are two things that concern me:
1. I am 'bumping' a part time worker out of the position. The administrators at that school hired her. They liked her. They did not get to pick me. I am replacing someone they LIKE. That sets me up for an initially lousy intro to a new place.
2. The letter appointing me to the new position stated that I have been placed there for the 2006-2007 school year. This differs from the letter that appointed me to my current job, which simply stated that I would be working there starting August 23, 2004, and gave no ending date. I fear that this is a legal loophole which they have inserted in there so that they can bite me in the BUTT if they need to later on down the road. And YES, I will be nagging the personnel director about this post haste. Okay, I MIGHT let the dust settle a LITTLE first, but only a little. Promise!
So, at least, I am not unemployed for at least another year. Yay! I am now somewhat less depressed and am more excited about the other parts of my life. We shall gloss over the fact that I have ANOTHER cold, which was probably brought on by a month of not sleeping well due to 'not having a job in the fall' anxiety. Oh, another aside... I'm very curious as to whether I'll get called by any of the other school systems I applied to while in crisis mode.
OKAY. Now back to what this blog is supposed to be about: beads and fibers! WOOOOO!
Now, first for the disappointing news: I just spent 10 minutes trying to get my camera to take a timed picture of me in the argyle vest that fits more like a minidress, but to no avail. I even had it set up on the counter near the dish drain, where I discovered I could see the reflection of what the camera would take a picture of in the metal bowl drying in the dish drain. SO COOL! But the stupid camera would not do what I wanted to, and at the moment I am too lazy to pull out the instruction manual, even though I am so impressively organized that there are only one of two places that it could be. Whoa.
Now, for the better news. I have another picture of my feet! Now, aside from the fact that I think you can spot a toe hair, this is not a scary picture. I got a pedicure and got flowers on my toes, and I think it's just dandy and adorable:
AWWWWWW. Now let's just ignore how dirty those damn sandals are... Reef has changed the squishiness content of their soles, and as we all know, my feet are tres sensitive, so I haven't been able to replace these bad boys. It's a good thing I'm so tall, so that my nose is FAR FAR AWAY from them. They are my only malodorous pair of shoes, and they are the only sandals I can reliably wear for long periods of time without blistering. EWW. We all know what THAT looks like.
Okay, wait, I promised to return to beads and fiber. Well, throughout my anxiety, I have been finding bead crochet to be quite therapeutic. Cece and Tarsha, I have managed to complete your custom orders, but I'll let you two be the first to see the finished product. Tarsha, I might need to modify yours a tad, but am perfectly happy to do so as needed. That's just how I roll. for the rest of you, here are the beautiful creations- I think these have all been made in, like, the last week. Yes, I'm obsessed. There are two pics- one is bright, one is dark. Just to please all tastes.
I guess the detail doesn't necessarily show all that well, but you get the point. Crocheting has been taking place. In a serious way.Okay, now that the crisis has been passed, I can hopefully find the time to update on here in a more regular and cheerful way. Ooh, did I mention that today was the last day of school for the kids? Now, I have 5 days left of work, during which massive amounts of paperwork must take place. Joy. Anyone want to place bets on whether or not I can complete 37 discharge summaries in one day? (said summaries are 2 pages long each) I am not so sure, but I'm thinking I can get a good chunk done. Better bring coffee to work...
Monday, June 12, 2006
Sour Mood
Well, I am officially in a hard-to-shake SOUR MOOD. This sour mood is directly related to losing my job, surprisingly enough. It has cast a shadow on my waking and sleeping hours. I have been provided respite from said mood by friends who distract me via tacos and margaritas, but I tell ya, that sour mood returns as soon as the tequila glow wears off.
I don't mean to spend my time complaining. I am in good health. I have good friends. I have good job skills and will be able to land another job somewhere. However, I do not WANT to lose my job, start all over with my seniority and professional status somewhere else. I don't want to have to break in a new set of coworkers, slowly letting them get to know me until they're 'cool' with my wacky sense of humor and offbeat ways. Even if I were to get another job within the school system, enough people know me that I'd be a bit ahead of the game!
Another big way that this sour mood has affected me is that, while I HAVE been doing SOME jewelry making, I am TOTALLY not in the mood to take ANY pictures, and certainly would not FEEL like posting the pictures if I actually managed to take them! My latest projects have been to re-make some of my 'stock' items, as well as to do some experimentation with bead crochet. I still totally dig the bead crochet, which was what I first started doing when I started the jewelry thing. Figures I'd start with the MOST complicated and work down, eh? That sounds just like me.
ANYWAY, I am sincerely hoping that good news will be along soon, and that this sour mood will dissipate. At that point, I'm sure I'll manage to be a bit more productive in the 'interesting blog that people actually want to read' arena...
Well, I am officially in a hard-to-shake SOUR MOOD. This sour mood is directly related to losing my job, surprisingly enough. It has cast a shadow on my waking and sleeping hours. I have been provided respite from said mood by friends who distract me via tacos and margaritas, but I tell ya, that sour mood returns as soon as the tequila glow wears off.
I don't mean to spend my time complaining. I am in good health. I have good friends. I have good job skills and will be able to land another job somewhere. However, I do not WANT to lose my job, start all over with my seniority and professional status somewhere else. I don't want to have to break in a new set of coworkers, slowly letting them get to know me until they're 'cool' with my wacky sense of humor and offbeat ways. Even if I were to get another job within the school system, enough people know me that I'd be a bit ahead of the game!
Another big way that this sour mood has affected me is that, while I HAVE been doing SOME jewelry making, I am TOTALLY not in the mood to take ANY pictures, and certainly would not FEEL like posting the pictures if I actually managed to take them! My latest projects have been to re-make some of my 'stock' items, as well as to do some experimentation with bead crochet. I still totally dig the bead crochet, which was what I first started doing when I started the jewelry thing. Figures I'd start with the MOST complicated and work down, eh? That sounds just like me.
ANYWAY, I am sincerely hoping that good news will be along soon, and that this sour mood will dissipate. At that point, I'm sure I'll manage to be a bit more productive in the 'interesting blog that people actually want to read' arena...
Friday, June 02, 2006
Things that have been Bothering Me
Okay, admittedly, these things are not unusually important in the grand scheme of things. But still, they warrant a moment of my time every once in a while.
Item one: Horsepower. I find this to be a stupid concept. I don't care how many horses it would take to win a tug of war against my car... that is the closest comparison I can think of, and it is LAME! Can we please come up with something better? PLEASE?
Item two: I hate that time is divided so awkwardly. I mean, if you run 5 miles in 43 minutes, you can't simply divide 43 by five and come up with your pace... you must do a little fancy footwork to get things right. I hate that!
Item three: Not using the metric system. Yeah, it would take all of us a little time to get used to, but it would make more sense. Let's face it: most of us are NOT smart enough to remember how many pints there are in a quart or a gallon, or how many tablespoons there are in a cup, or whatever.
But really, the one that bothered me the most today was the horsepower thing. I mean, what a dumb concept. Really, now. (insert disapproving glower here) (does anyone ever use the word 'glower' any more? did they ever?)
I am also possibly annoyed that there is not a secret ice cream machine compartment in my house... you know, like behind a hidden panel that I never knew was there, until the day I went to go hang a painting and boink! it just popped open... That would be awesome.
Okay, admittedly, these things are not unusually important in the grand scheme of things. But still, they warrant a moment of my time every once in a while.
Item one: Horsepower. I find this to be a stupid concept. I don't care how many horses it would take to win a tug of war against my car... that is the closest comparison I can think of, and it is LAME! Can we please come up with something better? PLEASE?
Item two: I hate that time is divided so awkwardly. I mean, if you run 5 miles in 43 minutes, you can't simply divide 43 by five and come up with your pace... you must do a little fancy footwork to get things right. I hate that!
Item three: Not using the metric system. Yeah, it would take all of us a little time to get used to, but it would make more sense. Let's face it: most of us are NOT smart enough to remember how many pints there are in a quart or a gallon, or how many tablespoons there are in a cup, or whatever.
But really, the one that bothered me the most today was the horsepower thing. I mean, what a dumb concept. Really, now. (insert disapproving glower here) (does anyone ever use the word 'glower' any more? did they ever?)
I am also possibly annoyed that there is not a secret ice cream machine compartment in my house... you know, like behind a hidden panel that I never knew was there, until the day I went to go hang a painting and boink! it just popped open... That would be awesome.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
GREAT Weekend!
Well, for Memorial Day Weekend, I went up to my parents' place in NH, as I think I had previously mentioned. It was a gorgeous weekend- sunny, warm, and all that good stuff. It was me, sister, parents, and sometimes grandma- and I managed to get in a beautiful bike ride on Sunday... it is extremely hilly up there, and those 15 pounds I managed to lose since last summer were NOT missed at all! So long, losers! :)
It was sooooo nice to just relax, joke around with the family, and eat a LOT of my mom's homemade scones and muffins. She cooks much more healthfully than, say, a donut shoppe, but they still tasted so gooooood. I would like to credit all that carbo loading for my new PR at the Good Times run! Tonight, I ran the 5k in 27 1/2 minutes! Egad! AND, because tonight was the 'sandbagger's special', they did some funky math, subtracting the fastest woman's time from my fastest time, subtracted that difference from tonight's result... and I came in 3rd overall for the women! Oh my goodness, I have never come in 3rd in an athletic competition ever! I got a PR medal, a winner's pint glass, AND a coupon for a free beer! What a night!
I must say, I jumped around like a 5 year old on Christmas. And, Charlene, the woman I've made friends with over the past few weeks, also won a medal and set a PR. We were very happy, drinking our free drinks. Yippeeeeeee!
I will end tonight's post in a good mood. PLUS, only 15 more school days left! AND, I have yummy leftovers for dinner! Now, if only some extra handsome, successful, tall, funny, interesting guy would just randomly knock on my door... and not mind that I am currently a sweaty mess with beer breath... (actually, that second part would probably be a plus, eh?) Here's hoping! If it was ever going to happen, I swear, tonight would be the night!
Well, for Memorial Day Weekend, I went up to my parents' place in NH, as I think I had previously mentioned. It was a gorgeous weekend- sunny, warm, and all that good stuff. It was me, sister, parents, and sometimes grandma- and I managed to get in a beautiful bike ride on Sunday... it is extremely hilly up there, and those 15 pounds I managed to lose since last summer were NOT missed at all! So long, losers! :)
It was sooooo nice to just relax, joke around with the family, and eat a LOT of my mom's homemade scones and muffins. She cooks much more healthfully than, say, a donut shoppe, but they still tasted so gooooood. I would like to credit all that carbo loading for my new PR at the Good Times run! Tonight, I ran the 5k in 27 1/2 minutes! Egad! AND, because tonight was the 'sandbagger's special', they did some funky math, subtracting the fastest woman's time from my fastest time, subtracted that difference from tonight's result... and I came in 3rd overall for the women! Oh my goodness, I have never come in 3rd in an athletic competition ever! I got a PR medal, a winner's pint glass, AND a coupon for a free beer! What a night!
I must say, I jumped around like a 5 year old on Christmas. And, Charlene, the woman I've made friends with over the past few weeks, also won a medal and set a PR. We were very happy, drinking our free drinks. Yippeeeeeee!
I will end tonight's post in a good mood. PLUS, only 15 more school days left! AND, I have yummy leftovers for dinner! Now, if only some extra handsome, successful, tall, funny, interesting guy would just randomly knock on my door... and not mind that I am currently a sweaty mess with beer breath... (actually, that second part would probably be a plus, eh?) Here's hoping! If it was ever going to happen, I swear, tonight would be the night!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
NOT a good week.
So, the river is still well above normal levels, but the flooded 5k route is now not flooded any more. However, in several sections, the riverwalk is covered in a 5 inch layer of sand/ gloopy mud. I will be curious to see how they deal with that on Tuesday night- will they have us run in the mud? (Ewwww!) Will they reroute the course? Will they cancel it again? Who can say? I do not have a Magic 8 Ball so can only guess. My guess is that they will reroute the course. You heard it here first.
So, on Thursday, I was given a letter stating that I do not have my job next year. This is most lousy. I would like to still have a job. The short version of the story is that a position is getting cut elsewhere, and that the person who currently holds that position has seniority over me, and was involuntarily placed into my job. What loveliness. The personnel director told me that she feels certain that I will get a job elsewhere in the system for next year, but she has no facts to back that up quite yet. Blaugh. I am attempting to maintain an optimistic outlook, but it is not the easiest.
In a veiled effort to take me out to feel better without actually saying that's what it was for, my coworkers suggested that we go out for a drink Friday after work. We went to a swell martini bar in my neighborhood. Our waitress arrived with a couple of nice, pink martinis, and her hands were shaking really badly. We were understanding, but gigglingly commenting that we were almost WEARING those drinks. Suddenly, there was a crash behind the bar, and our waitress had gone down to the floor and was having a seizure. It was awful. I really felt for her- she probably knew it was coming, but didn't want to screw up her new job (I hadn't seen her there before). She was probably just hoping it wouldn't actually happen. Someone called 911, and the ambulance came to take care of her. As a postscript, I walked by yesterday and saw that she was back at work, so she is okay. That is good, at least. It left me feeling pretty upset, though. I do hate to see someone suffering like that.
Over the past few weeks, I have been experiencing coffee cravings, after successfully kicking a daily caffeine habit back in August. So, this weekend, I decided to detox from caffeine. Man, I was sooooo tired both on Saturday and Sunday! Like, 3 hour naps tired. Whoa. I also got the killer headache today, but am hoping it's all out of my system for tomorrow. Back to herbal tea for me!
I will see what I can do about not having any wretched posts like this again. I will try to focus on happier things. Ooh, ooh. I have something. My apartment had disintegrated to such a disarray as to forbid people to come into my apartment- it was REALLY bad. But today, I found the inspiration to do a bit of cleaning, and although it doesn't exactly belong in the pages of a magazine, I could definitely let someone in without wanting to hide under a rock. Or possibly a large dust bunny. I even cleaned out the humidifier to be packed away for the summer, and wiped down my yoga mat... which suffers quite a lot due to being taken to hot yoga five times a week...
I'm gonna go see what I can do about getting a good night's sleep. ZZZZZ.
So, the river is still well above normal levels, but the flooded 5k route is now not flooded any more. However, in several sections, the riverwalk is covered in a 5 inch layer of sand/ gloopy mud. I will be curious to see how they deal with that on Tuesday night- will they have us run in the mud? (Ewwww!) Will they reroute the course? Will they cancel it again? Who can say? I do not have a Magic 8 Ball so can only guess. My guess is that they will reroute the course. You heard it here first.
So, on Thursday, I was given a letter stating that I do not have my job next year. This is most lousy. I would like to still have a job. The short version of the story is that a position is getting cut elsewhere, and that the person who currently holds that position has seniority over me, and was involuntarily placed into my job. What loveliness. The personnel director told me that she feels certain that I will get a job elsewhere in the system for next year, but she has no facts to back that up quite yet. Blaugh. I am attempting to maintain an optimistic outlook, but it is not the easiest.
In a veiled effort to take me out to feel better without actually saying that's what it was for, my coworkers suggested that we go out for a drink Friday after work. We went to a swell martini bar in my neighborhood. Our waitress arrived with a couple of nice, pink martinis, and her hands were shaking really badly. We were understanding, but gigglingly commenting that we were almost WEARING those drinks. Suddenly, there was a crash behind the bar, and our waitress had gone down to the floor and was having a seizure. It was awful. I really felt for her- she probably knew it was coming, but didn't want to screw up her new job (I hadn't seen her there before). She was probably just hoping it wouldn't actually happen. Someone called 911, and the ambulance came to take care of her. As a postscript, I walked by yesterday and saw that she was back at work, so she is okay. That is good, at least. It left me feeling pretty upset, though. I do hate to see someone suffering like that.
Over the past few weeks, I have been experiencing coffee cravings, after successfully kicking a daily caffeine habit back in August. So, this weekend, I decided to detox from caffeine. Man, I was sooooo tired both on Saturday and Sunday! Like, 3 hour naps tired. Whoa. I also got the killer headache today, but am hoping it's all out of my system for tomorrow. Back to herbal tea for me!
I will see what I can do about not having any wretched posts like this again. I will try to focus on happier things. Ooh, ooh. I have something. My apartment had disintegrated to such a disarray as to forbid people to come into my apartment- it was REALLY bad. But today, I found the inspiration to do a bit of cleaning, and although it doesn't exactly belong in the pages of a magazine, I could definitely let someone in without wanting to hide under a rock. Or possibly a large dust bunny. I even cleaned out the humidifier to be packed away for the summer, and wiped down my yoga mat... which suffers quite a lot due to being taken to hot yoga five times a week...
I'm gonna go see what I can do about getting a good night's sleep. ZZZZZ.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Next Day
Well, I have good news- the river is dropping. I guess from a photojournalistic point of view, this could potentially be seen as bad news, but let's face it: Lowell being flooded is bad. I dressed better today, in more 'weather appropriate' clothes, so was out for longer. I took a few comparison photos, and ventured out further. I must confess that at a lot of points, I just didn't have the guts and/ or the heart to take the pictures I wanted to. There were sandbagged roadblocks guarded by either the police or the National Guard, and they looked cranky, so I didn't have the guts to take their pictures. On the North side of the river in the neighborhood known as Pawtucketville, I saw a lot of flooded out homes, but I just felt way too voyeuristic to stop and take photos. I mean, those are people's homes, inside which all of their belongings are destroyed. The last thing that they (or their neighbors) need to see is some snotty person taking a picture of their misfortune. To give you an idea of the water levels, I saw a back yard with a swingset in it, and the swings were well underwater. The main road running on the north side of the river upstream from the dam was completely flooded out, and the side streets running northward were closed to traffic. I was on a more northward road running parallel to the river, and could look down the side streets: they were flooded.
Before I show the pics from today, here are a couple from yesterday afternoon. I got a couple of quick shots of the beginning of the 5k course, where you'll see that the sign featured in a couple of yesterday's shots is slightly more submerged- the water level rose a bit over the day yesterday:
And yes, yesterday was a nice day to be a duck: (more ducks later)
And now, onto today's photos. The water level has dropped. Notice the sign from above, and the 'muck level':
I then checked out "Renaissance On The River" again. The parking lot looks a bit better:
And in the back of the building, you can see both the handrails again:
The above photo was taken from the Aiken Street Bridge. The walkway you can see (okay, it IS submerged in water) goes under the bridge and pops out here- again, the muck level shows how much the water has receded:
Next, a new shot of the 'whatever it is station'. The University Ave Bridge is in the background:
Next, I zipped over to the School Street Bridge for a look at the dam. The news crews were out in force:
And here is a collection of photos of the dam itself, in all of its brown-watered glory. Lots more people were out today... probably because it wasn't raining!
This last one shows a paint line on the brick building with the number 102 on it. Is it 102 feet from the bottom of the falls? I'd probably guess not, so I guess it's 102 inches? I'd entertain guesses, both of the educated and of the uneducated variety.
At this point in my journey, I pedaled toward the area on Pawtucket Boulevard that was closed down. I had to take the back way, and passed all of those side streets. It was really quite something, to look down the streets and see street after street just disappear into the waterline. On the other end of the flooded section of the Boulevard was the Rourke Bridge. A small section of road was open so that you could get to the bridge, but the road was closed continuing on upstream.
Nice day for a duck, part 2:
The view from the Rourke Bridge didn't really show anything unusually different or exciting, but the pedestrian 'tunnel' merits photographing:
Very prison-y. down at the end is a dude in head to toe red and black Gore Tex. I don't know what he was expecting to encounter, but whatever it was, he was prepared. He was also wearing those 'glacier sunglasses' with the leather shields on the side to protect him from glacier glare. Good thing, with all that sun we've been having around here.
Some other basic info: They have not yet turned off the water, although all day yesterday various rumors were flying around. Downtown is expected to be safe, since they shut the gate that closes off the water supply to the downtown canals. There is more rain on the way. School was canceled again today. It is not sunny. Lately, my milk has been spoiling faster than it should. Oh, wait... that has nothing to do with the topic at hand, does it?
I'm guessing that the river is going to continue to recede, although it will do so more slowly than we'd hope BECAUSE IT'S STILL RAINING! Blaugh. I also hope that they will NOT turn off the water, although even if they do, I can always shower at yoga, and my tub is full of 'toilet flushing water'.
To be honest, not much else is going on around here. I did manage to finally read The DaVinci Code last night, so now I can go see the movie and have a good comparison to work from. Well, I'll go see it if it gets good reviews... otherwise, forget it!
Okay, over and out for now...
Well, I have good news- the river is dropping. I guess from a photojournalistic point of view, this could potentially be seen as bad news, but let's face it: Lowell being flooded is bad. I dressed better today, in more 'weather appropriate' clothes, so was out for longer. I took a few comparison photos, and ventured out further. I must confess that at a lot of points, I just didn't have the guts and/ or the heart to take the pictures I wanted to. There were sandbagged roadblocks guarded by either the police or the National Guard, and they looked cranky, so I didn't have the guts to take their pictures. On the North side of the river in the neighborhood known as Pawtucketville, I saw a lot of flooded out homes, but I just felt way too voyeuristic to stop and take photos. I mean, those are people's homes, inside which all of their belongings are destroyed. The last thing that they (or their neighbors) need to see is some snotty person taking a picture of their misfortune. To give you an idea of the water levels, I saw a back yard with a swingset in it, and the swings were well underwater. The main road running on the north side of the river upstream from the dam was completely flooded out, and the side streets running northward were closed to traffic. I was on a more northward road running parallel to the river, and could look down the side streets: they were flooded.
Before I show the pics from today, here are a couple from yesterday afternoon. I got a couple of quick shots of the beginning of the 5k course, where you'll see that the sign featured in a couple of yesterday's shots is slightly more submerged- the water level rose a bit over the day yesterday:
And yes, yesterday was a nice day to be a duck: (more ducks later)
And now, onto today's photos. The water level has dropped. Notice the sign from above, and the 'muck level':
I then checked out "Renaissance On The River" again. The parking lot looks a bit better:
And in the back of the building, you can see both the handrails again:
The above photo was taken from the Aiken Street Bridge. The walkway you can see (okay, it IS submerged in water) goes under the bridge and pops out here- again, the muck level shows how much the water has receded:
Next, a new shot of the 'whatever it is station'. The University Ave Bridge is in the background:
Next, I zipped over to the School Street Bridge for a look at the dam. The news crews were out in force:
And here is a collection of photos of the dam itself, in all of its brown-watered glory. Lots more people were out today... probably because it wasn't raining! 
This last one shows a paint line on the brick building with the number 102 on it. Is it 102 feet from the bottom of the falls? I'd probably guess not, so I guess it's 102 inches? I'd entertain guesses, both of the educated and of the uneducated variety.
At this point in my journey, I pedaled toward the area on Pawtucket Boulevard that was closed down. I had to take the back way, and passed all of those side streets. It was really quite something, to look down the streets and see street after street just disappear into the waterline. On the other end of the flooded section of the Boulevard was the Rourke Bridge. A small section of road was open so that you could get to the bridge, but the road was closed continuing on upstream.Nice day for a duck, part 2:
The view from the Rourke Bridge didn't really show anything unusually different or exciting, but the pedestrian 'tunnel' merits photographing:
Very prison-y. down at the end is a dude in head to toe red and black Gore Tex. I don't know what he was expecting to encounter, but whatever it was, he was prepared. He was also wearing those 'glacier sunglasses' with the leather shields on the side to protect him from glacier glare. Good thing, with all that sun we've been having around here. Some other basic info: They have not yet turned off the water, although all day yesterday various rumors were flying around. Downtown is expected to be safe, since they shut the gate that closes off the water supply to the downtown canals. There is more rain on the way. School was canceled again today. It is not sunny. Lately, my milk has been spoiling faster than it should. Oh, wait... that has nothing to do with the topic at hand, does it?
I'm guessing that the river is going to continue to recede, although it will do so more slowly than we'd hope BECAUSE IT'S STILL RAINING! Blaugh. I also hope that they will NOT turn off the water, although even if they do, I can always shower at yoga, and my tub is full of 'toilet flushing water'.
To be honest, not much else is going on around here. I did manage to finally read The DaVinci Code last night, so now I can go see the movie and have a good comparison to work from. Well, I'll go see it if it gets good reviews... otherwise, forget it!
Okay, over and out for now...
Monday, May 15, 2006
The Lord Told Noah to Build Him an Arky Arky
Folks, it's raining in New England. My town decided to close school because of the flooding! So, what's a school social worker to do? Well, I do get to go and get a shot later today (fun and excitement, oh my!), but for the moment, it's not raining, so I'm going to take my trusty fixed gear bicycle around and go look at the river to see what's what. Maybe I'll even find a flooded street or two.
(Three Hours Later, post bike ride, shower, and breakfast at the Club Diner...)
Well, of course, as soon as I left the house, it started to rain. I doggedly pressed on, on my bicycle, and got some amazing views of the river. I'm sure, as usual, the photos don't do the view justice.
Photo 1: My fixed gear bicycle. She and I first checked out the canals, which frequently are empty. Today, they looked a little different.
Photo 2: This canal is frequently empty, with a lovely mud bottom and many garbagy items in view. Today, this small opening would not even be enough for a canoer to get under, even ducking down.
Photo 3: I guess our 5k will be cancelled tomorrow night... this is usually a winding path down to the riverside walkway. The outside railing is gone completely, and part of the inside railing is missing as well. This shows the beginning of the winding path, and part of the railing.
Photo 4: A closeup of the sign we usually run by... it is taller than my head, I think... I would have gone swimming for my loyal viewers, but didn't want to die before getting home to post the pictures.
Pictures 5 & 6: Closeups of the railing alongside the walkway by the river. One side is totally gone, and one side is missing a chunk. As this was my first stop for photos, I was very freaked out and took a lot of pictures. I mean, I run on that walkway all the time!!!
Picture 7: From the Bridge Street Bridge. This is a picture of the backside of Boott Mills. I could see through that window, and construction is happening in there. Thank goodness they are way behind schedule, otherwise that would be some sad owner's shiny new condo. I'm assuming that the spiky gate is a good 8-10 feet tall in real life, and I believe there's a walkway somewhere down there, that is usually very safely out of the way of the river.
Picture 8: I was horrified at this one. This is a picture of the parking lot at Renaissance at the River. I didn't get my camera out fast enough, but there was a man being rescued by a big pickup truck. I'm assuming they had to evacuate the building, as there is no way out, and I hear that the river is going to rise another 8 feet by tonight. You can see the ramp to the left of the car that leads to the main entryway... ain't no one getting in unless they get a LITTLE wet...
Picture 9: The other side of the building. I am heartsick for all of the people who just moved into this newly renovated building. It is not in a normal 'flood zone', so I wonder if they had insurance appropriate to cover the damage. By my estimation, the water level is right around the floor level of the first floor, and is completely covering the basement. Again, you can see the railing for the riverside boardwalk. We also run along this for the race- it is a continuation of the handrail you saw before. 
Picture 10: The last picture was taken from the Aiken Street Bridge. Here is the pathway that runs below the bridge, from Lelacheur Park and behind the Renaissance on the River. This is where the waterstop for the race usually is!
Picture 11: The path was above water to the left of the last picture. But man oh man, the water was crazy upstream! I got this one behind the UMass Lowell dorms. The picture does not give an accurate idea of the height of the swells. I do not think a good swimmer or kayaker would enjoy this, although at least all of the rocks are well below the surface...
Picture 12: Just upstream, I got a shot of this, whatever it is... In the background is the University Ave. Bridge.
Picture 13: A picture from atop University Ave. Bridge, of the 'whatever it is' station.
Picture 14: General water shot from same bridge.
Picture 15: Last but not least, the Pawtucket Falls Dam. Can you see the dam? No? Funny, because usually you can see the 20-30 foot drop, rickety boards poking out and all. Today, all you can see is a scary swell of water indicating where the dam is. Creepy, creepy, creepy. Seriously, take a moment to consider what you're looking at- that bump of water is the only indication that there is a 20-30 foot drop underneath. That roiling water is THAT HIGH. No wonder they are worrying that things are going to get worse before they get better.
At this point in my tour, I had been in the rain for an hour. Because it had not been raining before I left, I was not well dressed and was getting cold. I could see far up the river that the 'Boulevard' was also completely covered. I might nip back down to one or two of the spots for an update later this afternoon, for comparison. They are saying that downtown (where yours truly lives) might actually get flooded, and that they are considering shutting off Lowell's water supply. We'll see what happens.
I'm glad I did my little trek this morning. I will post updates if I get any!
Folks, it's raining in New England. My town decided to close school because of the flooding! So, what's a school social worker to do? Well, I do get to go and get a shot later today (fun and excitement, oh my!), but for the moment, it's not raining, so I'm going to take my trusty fixed gear bicycle around and go look at the river to see what's what. Maybe I'll even find a flooded street or two.
(Three Hours Later, post bike ride, shower, and breakfast at the Club Diner...)
Well, of course, as soon as I left the house, it started to rain. I doggedly pressed on, on my bicycle, and got some amazing views of the river. I'm sure, as usual, the photos don't do the view justice.
Photo 1: My fixed gear bicycle. She and I first checked out the canals, which frequently are empty. Today, they looked a little different.
Photo 2: This canal is frequently empty, with a lovely mud bottom and many garbagy items in view. Today, this small opening would not even be enough for a canoer to get under, even ducking down.
Photo 3: I guess our 5k will be cancelled tomorrow night... this is usually a winding path down to the riverside walkway. The outside railing is gone completely, and part of the inside railing is missing as well. This shows the beginning of the winding path, and part of the railing.
Photo 4: A closeup of the sign we usually run by... it is taller than my head, I think... I would have gone swimming for my loyal viewers, but didn't want to die before getting home to post the pictures.
Pictures 5 & 6: Closeups of the railing alongside the walkway by the river. One side is totally gone, and one side is missing a chunk. As this was my first stop for photos, I was very freaked out and took a lot of pictures. I mean, I run on that walkway all the time!!!
Picture 7: From the Bridge Street Bridge. This is a picture of the backside of Boott Mills. I could see through that window, and construction is happening in there. Thank goodness they are way behind schedule, otherwise that would be some sad owner's shiny new condo. I'm assuming that the spiky gate is a good 8-10 feet tall in real life, and I believe there's a walkway somewhere down there, that is usually very safely out of the way of the river.
Picture 8: I was horrified at this one. This is a picture of the parking lot at Renaissance at the River. I didn't get my camera out fast enough, but there was a man being rescued by a big pickup truck. I'm assuming they had to evacuate the building, as there is no way out, and I hear that the river is going to rise another 8 feet by tonight. You can see the ramp to the left of the car that leads to the main entryway... ain't no one getting in unless they get a LITTLE wet...
Picture 9: The other side of the building. I am heartsick for all of the people who just moved into this newly renovated building. It is not in a normal 'flood zone', so I wonder if they had insurance appropriate to cover the damage. By my estimation, the water level is right around the floor level of the first floor, and is completely covering the basement. Again, you can see the railing for the riverside boardwalk. We also run along this for the race- it is a continuation of the handrail you saw before. 
Picture 10: The last picture was taken from the Aiken Street Bridge. Here is the pathway that runs below the bridge, from Lelacheur Park and behind the Renaissance on the River. This is where the waterstop for the race usually is!
Picture 11: The path was above water to the left of the last picture. But man oh man, the water was crazy upstream! I got this one behind the UMass Lowell dorms. The picture does not give an accurate idea of the height of the swells. I do not think a good swimmer or kayaker would enjoy this, although at least all of the rocks are well below the surface...
Picture 12: Just upstream, I got a shot of this, whatever it is... In the background is the University Ave. Bridge.
Picture 13: A picture from atop University Ave. Bridge, of the 'whatever it is' station.
Picture 14: General water shot from same bridge.
Picture 15: Last but not least, the Pawtucket Falls Dam. Can you see the dam? No? Funny, because usually you can see the 20-30 foot drop, rickety boards poking out and all. Today, all you can see is a scary swell of water indicating where the dam is. Creepy, creepy, creepy. Seriously, take a moment to consider what you're looking at- that bump of water is the only indication that there is a 20-30 foot drop underneath. That roiling water is THAT HIGH. No wonder they are worrying that things are going to get worse before they get better.
At this point in my tour, I had been in the rain for an hour. Because it had not been raining before I left, I was not well dressed and was getting cold. I could see far up the river that the 'Boulevard' was also completely covered. I might nip back down to one or two of the spots for an update later this afternoon, for comparison. They are saying that downtown (where yours truly lives) might actually get flooded, and that they are considering shutting off Lowell's water supply. We'll see what happens.I'm glad I did my little trek this morning. I will post updates if I get any!
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Events of the Weekend (so far)
Well, last night was extremely unexciting but was just what I wanted... after work, I went out to the "Knickerbocker Club", which is a local, private/ guests bar. It was selected by the principal at our school, who is a born and raised local and whose brothers and nephews evidently drink there. We were definitely given the hairy eyeball, and I managed to use yoga as an excuse to leave early. They would not let us sit in the dining area and directed us toward the 'dart room', which had some cigarette ash - covered tables for our lounging enjoyment. They would not let us start a drink tab and basically ignored us. It didn't bother me any, since I knew I was leaving early, which I did. Ha ha. The additional downside to this place was that because it's considered a private club, smoking is allowed, so I got to sweat out cigarette smoke during yoga. Extra gross.
Today, there were three bead shows within reasonable driving distance of home, but I went with the International Gem and Jewelry Show and the Intergalactic Bead Show (or, unfortunately, IBS for short), and managed to get some good stuff which is evidently not very photogenic so there will be no picture. This trip was followed by a nap on the bed with no sheets because I was going to do laundry, not take a nap... but these things happen sometimes. I then strolled over to the bead store to visit Lizzie, (you know, instead of doing laundry) and then we went to eat Indian food (again, no laundry). So now, I'm sitting here writing the events of the day (rather than doing laundry) and am going to have to put the dirty sheets back onto the bed before sleep tonight, because I'm going out again to watch a play! My sister's ex boyfriend is going to be in it, so that ought to be interesting, for sure.
Oh. The most horrible thing ever happened to me last night while I was sleeping! Okay, I'm sure I could come up with worse things, but it didn't seem so at the time. I woke up because I got a horrible charlie horse in my right calf muscle! My leg was all bent and twisted and quivering and it hurt sooooo bad. I was asleep and in pain and trying to figure out what to do about it and my leg would not straighten and it was shaking because it hurt so bad and after a bit, I thought to myself, "Well, I should just go back to sleep with it like this because it's not going to get any better..." Yeah right! So, I finally got my leg to straighten and worked on the calf for a while.... it was horrible. Then I was scared to go back to sleep, you know, in case it happened again, but it didn't. It hurt a couple of times today, and hurts in general... ouchie! I guess I didn't drink enough water after yoga last night. Gotta work on that, I guess.
Tomorrow is Mother's day. I will get to see Mom, Dad, Grandma, sister Liz, and Liz's boyfriend Markos. Liz is whom I want to see the most because she is going to move far away and I like her a lot. We are sisters, but we are also friends. It is swell. (insert hearts and flowers here)
Okay, so I convinced Lizzie (confusing, too many Lizzes- Liz = sister, Lizzie = bead store owner) to go out for Indian food with me this evening. There's a good place right near my house (and therefore right near the bead store), so we had a lovely meal. She and I have similar senses of humor... for instance, we were both dressed like slobs, and I whispered to her, "Lizzie, I am not wearing a B-R-A!" (I spelled it out) and then we both laughed ridiculously. Another good example is that I took some of the beads from her wall that were white and dagger shaped and put them up to my mouth, and proceeded to act like a dinosaur. There were other people around, but somehow, we were the only two laughing so hard we were crying. Honestly, it WAS funny! (I wish I had a picture of THAT, for sure...) So anyway, after dinner, we had our leftovers boxed up to go, and the dude brought it out in one big bag. I took mine out, which he noticed, and he went and got me another bag.... but check out the bag he brought for me:
Now, you might be confused. You might think, "Surely there must be POPCORN in that bag!!!" but no, you would be sorely mistaken. Do NOT take this bag with you to the movies, because instead of popcorn, you will find a lovely box full of lentils and rice. Not popcorny at all. This was especially funny in light of the fact that the original leftovers bag was a nice, brown bag with handles and everything. The gentleman who was helping us took his time folding down the top of the popcorn bag- just so- and the whole time, Lizzie and I were trying to stay all serious. It didn't work that well.
Okay, now to talk about knitting. I believe that the Gibson Girl is dry, but now I need the time to put together the pieces. I hate finishing pieces, sewing seams and the like... but I always end up getting around to it. Miss Clappy is now about 3 feet long and is chugging away. I really enjoy doing a project where I get to purposely drop an entire row of stitches and pull them out, and for that, I recommend this pattern to all. I heart Miss Clappy. I might also add that I have named very few of my knitted items. If any knitted items DESERVE a name, the below might qualify:
OR NOT. AUUUUUGH! Blogger has told me now six times that my images uploaded successfully. Well, unless I am missing something, they have not! I guess I'll have to try another time. Stupid Blogger. Grrrr.
So, one last thing. It has been raining a lot lately and my dad sent me a picture of a hill near their driveway. Please note the handmade moose that my brother, sister and I made for my parents' anniversary a couple of years ago. It is very cool.
So, it appears that it is raining quite a lot up there, and that the moose is surviving the storm. That is good, because he fell down once in a big snowstorm. Poor moose. Interesting how I had no problem with the moose pic, but that the other pics wouldn't upload. So it goes...
Well, last night was extremely unexciting but was just what I wanted... after work, I went out to the "Knickerbocker Club", which is a local, private/ guests bar. It was selected by the principal at our school, who is a born and raised local and whose brothers and nephews evidently drink there. We were definitely given the hairy eyeball, and I managed to use yoga as an excuse to leave early. They would not let us sit in the dining area and directed us toward the 'dart room', which had some cigarette ash - covered tables for our lounging enjoyment. They would not let us start a drink tab and basically ignored us. It didn't bother me any, since I knew I was leaving early, which I did. Ha ha. The additional downside to this place was that because it's considered a private club, smoking is allowed, so I got to sweat out cigarette smoke during yoga. Extra gross.
Today, there were three bead shows within reasonable driving distance of home, but I went with the International Gem and Jewelry Show and the Intergalactic Bead Show (or, unfortunately, IBS for short), and managed to get some good stuff which is evidently not very photogenic so there will be no picture. This trip was followed by a nap on the bed with no sheets because I was going to do laundry, not take a nap... but these things happen sometimes. I then strolled over to the bead store to visit Lizzie, (you know, instead of doing laundry) and then we went to eat Indian food (again, no laundry). So now, I'm sitting here writing the events of the day (rather than doing laundry) and am going to have to put the dirty sheets back onto the bed before sleep tonight, because I'm going out again to watch a play! My sister's ex boyfriend is going to be in it, so that ought to be interesting, for sure.
Oh. The most horrible thing ever happened to me last night while I was sleeping! Okay, I'm sure I could come up with worse things, but it didn't seem so at the time. I woke up because I got a horrible charlie horse in my right calf muscle! My leg was all bent and twisted and quivering and it hurt sooooo bad. I was asleep and in pain and trying to figure out what to do about it and my leg would not straighten and it was shaking because it hurt so bad and after a bit, I thought to myself, "Well, I should just go back to sleep with it like this because it's not going to get any better..." Yeah right! So, I finally got my leg to straighten and worked on the calf for a while.... it was horrible. Then I was scared to go back to sleep, you know, in case it happened again, but it didn't. It hurt a couple of times today, and hurts in general... ouchie! I guess I didn't drink enough water after yoga last night. Gotta work on that, I guess.
Tomorrow is Mother's day. I will get to see Mom, Dad, Grandma, sister Liz, and Liz's boyfriend Markos. Liz is whom I want to see the most because she is going to move far away and I like her a lot. We are sisters, but we are also friends. It is swell. (insert hearts and flowers here)
Okay, so I convinced Lizzie (confusing, too many Lizzes- Liz = sister, Lizzie = bead store owner) to go out for Indian food with me this evening. There's a good place right near my house (and therefore right near the bead store), so we had a lovely meal. She and I have similar senses of humor... for instance, we were both dressed like slobs, and I whispered to her, "Lizzie, I am not wearing a B-R-A!" (I spelled it out) and then we both laughed ridiculously. Another good example is that I took some of the beads from her wall that were white and dagger shaped and put them up to my mouth, and proceeded to act like a dinosaur. There were other people around, but somehow, we were the only two laughing so hard we were crying. Honestly, it WAS funny! (I wish I had a picture of THAT, for sure...) So anyway, after dinner, we had our leftovers boxed up to go, and the dude brought it out in one big bag. I took mine out, which he noticed, and he went and got me another bag.... but check out the bag he brought for me:
Now, you might be confused. You might think, "Surely there must be POPCORN in that bag!!!" but no, you would be sorely mistaken. Do NOT take this bag with you to the movies, because instead of popcorn, you will find a lovely box full of lentils and rice. Not popcorny at all. This was especially funny in light of the fact that the original leftovers bag was a nice, brown bag with handles and everything. The gentleman who was helping us took his time folding down the top of the popcorn bag- just so- and the whole time, Lizzie and I were trying to stay all serious. It didn't work that well.
Okay, now to talk about knitting. I believe that the Gibson Girl is dry, but now I need the time to put together the pieces. I hate finishing pieces, sewing seams and the like... but I always end up getting around to it. Miss Clappy is now about 3 feet long and is chugging away. I really enjoy doing a project where I get to purposely drop an entire row of stitches and pull them out, and for that, I recommend this pattern to all. I heart Miss Clappy. I might also add that I have named very few of my knitted items. If any knitted items DESERVE a name, the below might qualify:
OR NOT. AUUUUUGH! Blogger has told me now six times that my images uploaded successfully. Well, unless I am missing something, they have not! I guess I'll have to try another time. Stupid Blogger. Grrrr.
So, one last thing. It has been raining a lot lately and my dad sent me a picture of a hill near their driveway. Please note the handmade moose that my brother, sister and I made for my parents' anniversary a couple of years ago. It is very cool.
So, it appears that it is raining quite a lot up there, and that the moose is surviving the storm. That is good, because he fell down once in a big snowstorm. Poor moose. Interesting how I had no problem with the moose pic, but that the other pics wouldn't upload. So it goes...
Thursday, May 11, 2006
(My mom's gonna love this title)
I've got the CLAP!
Those of you who know what I'm talking about, already know that I'm referring to the Clapotis shawl/ scarf, not the mysterious STD... I had been toying with the idea of using my Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn to make a scarf sized Clapotis, but didn't want to blog about it until it looked like it would work and that I'd have enough yarn to make it worthwhile to knit. For some reason, I didn't feel like blogging about a failure... I'm still stinging from the Argyle Vest situation. (by the way, if you ever run into a 6'5" woman who looks to be about a size 12- you know, skinny for her height- let me know. I have a vest for her!)
So, anyway, here is a photo of my progress:
Yes, it is a very bright and cheery colorway. It's about 1 1/2 feet long so far. I only started last night, but had a 3 hour long social work staff meeting today, which is prime knitting time, as far as I'm concerned. There is one other woman who knits, but our styles are pretty different. She appears to focus strictly on baby items, made out of shiny, acrilic, fuzzy, pastel yarn. It even LOOKS squeaky! Ewwww. It is making my tongue shiver just thinking about it. I know... why my tongue? I have no idea. But, I'm willing to bet you know exactly what I'm talking about, now, don't you!!!
Even though it's May 11, I saw my breath this morning when walking to my car. And with weather.com stating that we will have clouds and rain for the forseeable future (which lasts 10 days, according to weather.com), I just might get to use little Miss Clappy before summer comes!
And, in case you were wondering, the Gibson Girl is still drying. With all of this damp weather, I'm not sure the yarn is certain as to whether it should dry, or whether it should stay kinda damp... for the next 500 years or so. As long as it dries before it develops that 'moldy' smell... that happens to my gym clothes if I hang them for too long- I always throw exercise clothes in the sink with some Woolite right away- who wants smelly gym clothes in with the regular laundry? Not this gal. Onion skin on the kitchen floor? No problem. Empty ripped envelopes lying in the general proximity of the garbage can? I won't bat an eyelash. Wearing clean clothes out of the nicely folded pile of laundry (rather than having to actually put my clothes away)? Cool, dude. But smelly gym clothes? Unacceptable! Plus, I have been working out a lot and don't have a ton of gym clothes, so I either have to keep them washed... or put on smelly gym clothes... which I have done in a pinch, and let me tell you... nothing is quite as gross... except for perhaps having to put on SOMEONE ELSE'S sweaty gym clothes! Which I can honestly say I have never done. You KNOW I'd tell you if I had! And that is one of the things you like about me, right???
Okay, this post has clearly reached a saturation level of knitting updates, and personal information about my gross habits. I should probably cut my losses at this point. Tomorrow is another day.
I've got the CLAP!
Those of you who know what I'm talking about, already know that I'm referring to the Clapotis shawl/ scarf, not the mysterious STD... I had been toying with the idea of using my Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn to make a scarf sized Clapotis, but didn't want to blog about it until it looked like it would work and that I'd have enough yarn to make it worthwhile to knit. For some reason, I didn't feel like blogging about a failure... I'm still stinging from the Argyle Vest situation. (by the way, if you ever run into a 6'5" woman who looks to be about a size 12- you know, skinny for her height- let me know. I have a vest for her!)
So, anyway, here is a photo of my progress:
Yes, it is a very bright and cheery colorway. It's about 1 1/2 feet long so far. I only started last night, but had a 3 hour long social work staff meeting today, which is prime knitting time, as far as I'm concerned. There is one other woman who knits, but our styles are pretty different. She appears to focus strictly on baby items, made out of shiny, acrilic, fuzzy, pastel yarn. It even LOOKS squeaky! Ewwww. It is making my tongue shiver just thinking about it. I know... why my tongue? I have no idea. But, I'm willing to bet you know exactly what I'm talking about, now, don't you!!!
Even though it's May 11, I saw my breath this morning when walking to my car. And with weather.com stating that we will have clouds and rain for the forseeable future (which lasts 10 days, according to weather.com), I just might get to use little Miss Clappy before summer comes!
And, in case you were wondering, the Gibson Girl is still drying. With all of this damp weather, I'm not sure the yarn is certain as to whether it should dry, or whether it should stay kinda damp... for the next 500 years or so. As long as it dries before it develops that 'moldy' smell... that happens to my gym clothes if I hang them for too long- I always throw exercise clothes in the sink with some Woolite right away- who wants smelly gym clothes in with the regular laundry? Not this gal. Onion skin on the kitchen floor? No problem. Empty ripped envelopes lying in the general proximity of the garbage can? I won't bat an eyelash. Wearing clean clothes out of the nicely folded pile of laundry (rather than having to actually put my clothes away)? Cool, dude. But smelly gym clothes? Unacceptable! Plus, I have been working out a lot and don't have a ton of gym clothes, so I either have to keep them washed... or put on smelly gym clothes... which I have done in a pinch, and let me tell you... nothing is quite as gross... except for perhaps having to put on SOMEONE ELSE'S sweaty gym clothes! Which I can honestly say I have never done. You KNOW I'd tell you if I had! And that is one of the things you like about me, right???
Okay, this post has clearly reached a saturation level of knitting updates, and personal information about my gross habits. I should probably cut my losses at this point. Tomorrow is another day.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Finally blocking!
I have made clear how I feel about blocking: I do not like it, Sam I am. I like it less than green eggs and ham.... which I would probably like just fine, I'm sure! So, I am currently soaking little miss Gibson Girl Pullover in the sink and will be blocking her momentarily. Once I have her all pinned out, I shall take a picture and place it below, like so:
It looks a little weird in this picture... the lace is more see through than it is in real life. I look forward to finishing so I can get someone to take a pic of me in it. :)
Now, we wait for it to dry. (and wait, and wait, and wait...)
Now that I can't knit on this, I potentially could start something else. However, I don't really have some yarn on deck with a project attached to it. And my 'brain wheels' aren't really spinning so fast tonight...
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Runnin' in the Rain
Well, as I have previously mentioned, I have been participating in a weekly 5k race on Tuesday nights. Tonight was the sixth one, and I set another personal best, at 28:11! Yahooooo! It is also the fifth of six Tuesday nights that has been cold and rainy. Brrrrrr. So it goes.
In knitting news, I have now finished the sleeves and the front and back for the Gibson Girl Pullover, but I hate blocking (all those stupid pins... plus, I always have to block on the floor, which involves squatting and kneeling on a concrete floor) and am at an "I don't wanna" stage. Meh.
I had a fantastically great weekend. Friday evening, I went to yoga (again- I have become addicted and I like it!), and went to bed when I felt like it. Saturday, I got up and went to a glass bead show, which was cool. It's like an art show, but with all beads... because handmade lampwork beads are so pretty! I got back to Lowell and went out to eat with my friends Chris and Christine, who have a new baby named Max, who was born on my birthday. He is cute:
And, in that picture, he is wearing a cute, tiny little crocheted hat made by yours truly. After lunch with the new happy family, I walked around checkin' out some cool old historical buildings around Lowell, that were open for "Doors Open Lowell". Later in the evening, it was over to the bead store for a two year anniversary party.
On Sunday, I managed to drag my buns out of bed early enough to go for a 45 minute 'jog' before meeting up with Liz (the best sister EVER) for breakfast. Jog is in quotes because I was going so slowly that I was sure I was going backwards! Liz and I met up at the Rosebud Cafe in Davis Square, where the wait staff is grouchy and sassy. Our waitress referred to my breakfast meat as 'snausages', which made us immediately decide to tip her extra well. We took some time planning out our trip to Eastern Europe this summer, and Liz was getting mildly irritated because I kept mispronouncing the name of a town wrong to make it sound funny. It's just one of the things I do, I guess.
After breakfast and coffee, I went to a couple of the artist studio buildings in Somerville as part of Somerville Open Studios. I got an offer from a jewelry maker to teach me how to work with metal (silver, gold, etc) for a lot cheaper than what you'd pay at an official place that gives classes. Maybe I'll tuck that under my cap for this summer!
THEN, I went to yoga. My new favorite thing. FINALLY, I ended the night at Cece's house where we knit and watched t.v. after a yummy baked chicken dinner. Deeeelicious.
Yes, that concluded my fantastic weekend. The weather was gorgeous, and I loved everything I got to do. It is not often that I have a weekend quite like that, but I do enjoy them when they come along.
And now, for sleep. Good night!
Well, as I have previously mentioned, I have been participating in a weekly 5k race on Tuesday nights. Tonight was the sixth one, and I set another personal best, at 28:11! Yahooooo! It is also the fifth of six Tuesday nights that has been cold and rainy. Brrrrrr. So it goes.
In knitting news, I have now finished the sleeves and the front and back for the Gibson Girl Pullover, but I hate blocking (all those stupid pins... plus, I always have to block on the floor, which involves squatting and kneeling on a concrete floor) and am at an "I don't wanna" stage. Meh.
I had a fantastically great weekend. Friday evening, I went to yoga (again- I have become addicted and I like it!), and went to bed when I felt like it. Saturday, I got up and went to a glass bead show, which was cool. It's like an art show, but with all beads... because handmade lampwork beads are so pretty! I got back to Lowell and went out to eat with my friends Chris and Christine, who have a new baby named Max, who was born on my birthday. He is cute:
And, in that picture, he is wearing a cute, tiny little crocheted hat made by yours truly. After lunch with the new happy family, I walked around checkin' out some cool old historical buildings around Lowell, that were open for "Doors Open Lowell". Later in the evening, it was over to the bead store for a two year anniversary party.
On Sunday, I managed to drag my buns out of bed early enough to go for a 45 minute 'jog' before meeting up with Liz (the best sister EVER) for breakfast. Jog is in quotes because I was going so slowly that I was sure I was going backwards! Liz and I met up at the Rosebud Cafe in Davis Square, where the wait staff is grouchy and sassy. Our waitress referred to my breakfast meat as 'snausages', which made us immediately decide to tip her extra well. We took some time planning out our trip to Eastern Europe this summer, and Liz was getting mildly irritated because I kept mispronouncing the name of a town wrong to make it sound funny. It's just one of the things I do, I guess.
After breakfast and coffee, I went to a couple of the artist studio buildings in Somerville as part of Somerville Open Studios. I got an offer from a jewelry maker to teach me how to work with metal (silver, gold, etc) for a lot cheaper than what you'd pay at an official place that gives classes. Maybe I'll tuck that under my cap for this summer!
THEN, I went to yoga. My new favorite thing. FINALLY, I ended the night at Cece's house where we knit and watched t.v. after a yummy baked chicken dinner. Deeeelicious.
Yes, that concluded my fantastic weekend. The weather was gorgeous, and I loved everything I got to do. It is not often that I have a weekend quite like that, but I do enjoy them when they come along.
And now, for sleep. Good night!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Things That Irritate Me
1. Students that are purposefully trying to irritate me. Exhibit A: We shall call him "Jerkface". He was sent to my office because he was refusing to do his classwork. This is the student who, after returning from court one day (for charges you'll be able to guess about after the rest of this story), sat in class, was asked to do work, said to the teacher, 'Fuck you, bitch!', then picked up a chair/desk combo and threw it across the room. Funny- he won't speak English, but managed to get that particular sentence out just fine! So, flash back forward to today. I decided to play the 'ignore the jerkface and see if he'll just be quiet' game. He caught on quickly to my wily ways, and started tapping his foot as loudly as it is possible to tap without actually stomping. This went on for about 20 minutes. Then, wily as he is, he realized that this was not going to get a reaction out of me, so he started ripping up his work. I quietly got up and took it from him and sat back down. Then, he started punching and banging on his desk as loudly as he could, and THIS didn't stop for about a half hour. At this point, I was ready to launch him out of the window, but I continued to ignore him. Finally, he gave up and put his head down and fell fast asleep. After a while, I faked a loud sneeze, but he didn't even move. I called the principal up and she took a photo for his file. Anyway, that is thing #1 for today that irritates me. There is only an Exhibit A for this- the other examples from today are so ridiculous, I'd rather not relive them... until returning to work tomorrow, that is...
2. Guys who think that if you speak nicely to them, that you must desire intercourse immediately or something. (In other words, the 'no wonder you're still single' guys!) Exhibit A: A nameless 25 year old young man from a country where they breed fast runners who, in the span of a week, has tried to buy me a beer, (I declined) insisted that I buy HIM a beer, (again, I declined), asked me how we were going to get to know each other better if I wouldn't talk to him, (I told him he was lucky I ever talked to him at all) and then tried to get me to drive him somewhere. (Yes, folks, I DEFINITELY declined!) I made the mistake of speaking in a friendly tone to this fellow a couple of weeks ago, and am now paying the price. I met him at the weekly 5k race that I do, and I tried to duck out of the celebratory festivities post race, and he followed me out, angry that I had left without saying goodbye. GOOD GRIEF!!! Exhibit B: A dude who evidently used to date one of my Team EnVision teammates saw me on Match.com and wrote to me. Silly me; I wrote back. Within the span of about 10 minutes, he had emailed me about eight times, stating that I was a very sexy dancer, (I am!) that I must have been VERY drunk at the party he met me at (I actually was not- I drove to that party and do NOT drink and drive), and that he likes tall women. (Well, DUH! EVERYONE likes tall women!) It is evidently dangerous to talk to human males these days. Very dangerous indeed. Guys like these are why I am single. Congratulations to all of you gals out there who snapped up a good one while they were still available!
3. Laundry. Enough said.
There. I think a list of three is a list of a nice length. I'll leave it at that for today. Now, I am going to muster up the energy to knit on that second sleeve to the Gibson Girl Pullover. Really I am.
1. Students that are purposefully trying to irritate me. Exhibit A: We shall call him "Jerkface". He was sent to my office because he was refusing to do his classwork. This is the student who, after returning from court one day (for charges you'll be able to guess about after the rest of this story), sat in class, was asked to do work, said to the teacher, 'Fuck you, bitch!', then picked up a chair/desk combo and threw it across the room. Funny- he won't speak English, but managed to get that particular sentence out just fine! So, flash back forward to today. I decided to play the 'ignore the jerkface and see if he'll just be quiet' game. He caught on quickly to my wily ways, and started tapping his foot as loudly as it is possible to tap without actually stomping. This went on for about 20 minutes. Then, wily as he is, he realized that this was not going to get a reaction out of me, so he started ripping up his work. I quietly got up and took it from him and sat back down. Then, he started punching and banging on his desk as loudly as he could, and THIS didn't stop for about a half hour. At this point, I was ready to launch him out of the window, but I continued to ignore him. Finally, he gave up and put his head down and fell fast asleep. After a while, I faked a loud sneeze, but he didn't even move. I called the principal up and she took a photo for his file. Anyway, that is thing #1 for today that irritates me. There is only an Exhibit A for this- the other examples from today are so ridiculous, I'd rather not relive them... until returning to work tomorrow, that is...
2. Guys who think that if you speak nicely to them, that you must desire intercourse immediately or something. (In other words, the 'no wonder you're still single' guys!) Exhibit A: A nameless 25 year old young man from a country where they breed fast runners who, in the span of a week, has tried to buy me a beer, (I declined) insisted that I buy HIM a beer, (again, I declined), asked me how we were going to get to know each other better if I wouldn't talk to him, (I told him he was lucky I ever talked to him at all) and then tried to get me to drive him somewhere. (Yes, folks, I DEFINITELY declined!) I made the mistake of speaking in a friendly tone to this fellow a couple of weeks ago, and am now paying the price. I met him at the weekly 5k race that I do, and I tried to duck out of the celebratory festivities post race, and he followed me out, angry that I had left without saying goodbye. GOOD GRIEF!!! Exhibit B: A dude who evidently used to date one of my Team EnVision teammates saw me on Match.com and wrote to me. Silly me; I wrote back. Within the span of about 10 minutes, he had emailed me about eight times, stating that I was a very sexy dancer, (I am!) that I must have been VERY drunk at the party he met me at (I actually was not- I drove to that party and do NOT drink and drive), and that he likes tall women. (Well, DUH! EVERYONE likes tall women!) It is evidently dangerous to talk to human males these days. Very dangerous indeed. Guys like these are why I am single. Congratulations to all of you gals out there who snapped up a good one while they were still available!
3. Laundry. Enough said.
There. I think a list of three is a list of a nice length. I'll leave it at that for today. Now, I am going to muster up the energy to knit on that second sleeve to the Gibson Girl Pullover. Really I am.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Bad Blogger. BAD!
I have not posted for a number of days. Here is what's been going on:
1. Knitting. On a break from anything that resembles knitting progress on the Gibson Girl Pullover.
2. Beading. I did a super fun jewelry party at Cece's house on Friday night- there were several guests and lots of beads and snacks. What could be better! Sadly, it was followed by a craft show on Saturday that was an incredible waste of my time. I used an extremely gross metaphor that involved infested dead animal parts, but I will not repeat it here... my mom reads this sometimes! (See, mom? I AM capable of filtering my comments!)
3. Keeping up with the jogging- I am super happy I'm participating in the Good Times fun runs... it makes me feel like I MUST run in between races, or suffer the consequences... and today was incredibly beautiful out! I keep wondering if running will get fun and easy again like it used to be... the verdict is still out... I'm getting faster, but haven't hit 'the zone' yet. I passed a couple of people I knew, and jumped around and waved hello at them. It was at the beginning of the run, when I had a bunch of pep... I did have a couple of weird moments during my run today where it felt like my view was from the perspective of a camera strapped to my forehead, rather than through my eyes... like, if you've ever watched the show "Fear Factor" ... they'll put cameras on the contestant's head when they're doing stunts, and you can see from their point of view... it was really weird, I assure you . I guess the good thing was that it acted like an interesting distraction for a while!
4. What I have been doing instead of blogging: Bikram Yoga. It is a 'hot room' style of yoga, where you do the same 26 poses each class, in the same order. I had been feeling some old hip problems flaring up recently, and figured that it was time to do some serious strengthening and stretching. Every day I can, I plan to go and get sweaty. I am horrible at the balancing poses- super duper wobbly. I am wondering if I'll ever get any better, or if I'll eternally flail about, distracting other yogamates and feeling unbalance-y!
What's funny, is that it turns out that a woman who lives on my floor also goes to the same yoga studio. I knew she looked familiar, but then when the instructor called her by name, I knew it was her! I introduced myself to her- she didn't remember me from the one interaction we've had... she knocked on my door several months ago to apologize for some drunken friends who had evidently been zooming up and down my hall in a shopping cart- NO IDEA how I slept through THAT one! She was probably too embarrassed to remember what I looked like, and I had been wondering if she remembered me or not, since I have laid eyes on her a few more times since then, and she had totally blown me off. One time, she and I were both waiting for the elevator, and I said hi, and she totally ignored me and then instead of taking the elevator, she ran off. Weird. Well, now that I've introduced myself, she's all like, 'Let's carpool to yoga and go out for a drink!' So, either she is weird and fake, or is shy and had a couple of flaky days. I'll go with #2 until I get evidence otherwise. I'm good like that.
And still, no pictures. So it goes. But if I were to post pictures, they would be of my Gibson Girl progress (the front and back up to the neck, awaiting joining and then neck knitting; one finished sleeve, and one partially finished sleeve). It was a gorgeous day out today, so I was also thinking I'd love to take some pics around town and take some photos of some of the spots I like a lot. Bridges, old buildings, the river, and a various assortment of what have you...
I have not posted for a number of days. Here is what's been going on:
1. Knitting. On a break from anything that resembles knitting progress on the Gibson Girl Pullover.
2. Beading. I did a super fun jewelry party at Cece's house on Friday night- there were several guests and lots of beads and snacks. What could be better! Sadly, it was followed by a craft show on Saturday that was an incredible waste of my time. I used an extremely gross metaphor that involved infested dead animal parts, but I will not repeat it here... my mom reads this sometimes! (See, mom? I AM capable of filtering my comments!)
3. Keeping up with the jogging- I am super happy I'm participating in the Good Times fun runs... it makes me feel like I MUST run in between races, or suffer the consequences... and today was incredibly beautiful out! I keep wondering if running will get fun and easy again like it used to be... the verdict is still out... I'm getting faster, but haven't hit 'the zone' yet. I passed a couple of people I knew, and jumped around and waved hello at them. It was at the beginning of the run, when I had a bunch of pep... I did have a couple of weird moments during my run today where it felt like my view was from the perspective of a camera strapped to my forehead, rather than through my eyes... like, if you've ever watched the show "Fear Factor" ... they'll put cameras on the contestant's head when they're doing stunts, and you can see from their point of view... it was really weird, I assure you . I guess the good thing was that it acted like an interesting distraction for a while!
4. What I have been doing instead of blogging: Bikram Yoga. It is a 'hot room' style of yoga, where you do the same 26 poses each class, in the same order. I had been feeling some old hip problems flaring up recently, and figured that it was time to do some serious strengthening and stretching. Every day I can, I plan to go and get sweaty. I am horrible at the balancing poses- super duper wobbly. I am wondering if I'll ever get any better, or if I'll eternally flail about, distracting other yogamates and feeling unbalance-y!
What's funny, is that it turns out that a woman who lives on my floor also goes to the same yoga studio. I knew she looked familiar, but then when the instructor called her by name, I knew it was her! I introduced myself to her- she didn't remember me from the one interaction we've had... she knocked on my door several months ago to apologize for some drunken friends who had evidently been zooming up and down my hall in a shopping cart- NO IDEA how I slept through THAT one! She was probably too embarrassed to remember what I looked like, and I had been wondering if she remembered me or not, since I have laid eyes on her a few more times since then, and she had totally blown me off. One time, she and I were both waiting for the elevator, and I said hi, and she totally ignored me and then instead of taking the elevator, she ran off. Weird. Well, now that I've introduced myself, she's all like, 'Let's carpool to yoga and go out for a drink!' So, either she is weird and fake, or is shy and had a couple of flaky days. I'll go with #2 until I get evidence otherwise. I'm good like that.
And still, no pictures. So it goes. But if I were to post pictures, they would be of my Gibson Girl progress (the front and back up to the neck, awaiting joining and then neck knitting; one finished sleeve, and one partially finished sleeve). It was a gorgeous day out today, so I was also thinking I'd love to take some pics around town and take some photos of some of the spots I like a lot. Bridges, old buildings, the river, and a various assortment of what have you...
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