I made it through my first day back to work. No harm. No foul. I realized that as long as I don't think about what I'm supposed to say, it'll come to me.
I found four pennies on the plane. I think that nearly doubled what I earned today.
I'm going to learn how to sleep well. I think I just need to be more disciplined and it will come.
I don't mind the rain as long as it isn't really cold. I did feel like I was sliding off the interstate this morning on the way to work though. I think we might be getting caught up on our drought.
I had lamb lollipops at Two Urban Licks the other night. They were really good. I'm thankful to Molly for introducing me to the half glass of wine. Such a great way to really enjoy wine. Too much makes it no fun.
I took the GRE on Thursday and survived. I didn't feel like the math preparation I did covered the questions on the test, but somehow did 110 points higher in math than verbal. I have never seen so many words I have never heard of before. Oh well.
I saw Michal dance in Guys and Dolls on Thursday. I went with my guy. The play was cute and fun, and Michal did a great job. She is so beautiful.
When I cook food, especially food that requires creativity, and J loves it it makes me feel proud of myself and very happy. The other day we made "salad" with frozen roasted corn, chopped up tomatoes, and black beans cause that's all there was. Then a few days later I added the rest of it to leftover jasmine rice and leftover TJ's rattatouille sauce and it was delightful. Trish nearly vomited at the thought of all those leftovers :-).
I love Hiltons. It's nice being in a cozy clean room with a per-cup coffee/tea maker. The beds are great as well. I'll be back home by noon tomorrow.
Currently reading:
A Year in the World: Journeys of A Passionate Traveller
By Frances Mayes
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
quiet
Except for the traffic on I-85 and my fingers on the keys, all is silent here at home. The last couple of days have been quiet days. Days where the things going on inside haven't been developed to the point of words. Or where there just aren't words.
I'm going back to work soon. I don't really know how I feel about it. I'm not really looking forward to it, but the closer it gets the more I realize that it's time. When I planned to have 8 weeks off of work I knew that if I came away from it with nothing to show except scars on my foot I would be disappointed in myself. I think I have accomplished a lot. I didn't do everything I wanted to do, but I did some things I hadn't planned on doing. But thinking about what I've been doing has made me realize I want to be doing much more.
On Sunday there were two plane crashes. These always make me stop and be still for a while. I can't help but think about the families back home who are getting the call that their pilot husband, mother, brother, friend won't be coming home. I paid attention to the Fedex crash because there was a crazy video of it. It was sad and awesome (in a terrible way). The other plane crash didn't catch my attention as much until Jonathan called to tell me that they were friends of his.
Since then it has been a sad few days. And as is usually the case when there is death, I have been thinking a lot about life. I don't have any grand revelations to share. No epiphanies. I'm still in the quiet stage. I do feel incredibly loved and blessed - but thankfully that isn't a new feeling.
God has given me so much. He gave me a second chance to live. I pray that I will learn how to live my life to the utmost and not waste a single day.
I'm going back to work soon. I don't really know how I feel about it. I'm not really looking forward to it, but the closer it gets the more I realize that it's time. When I planned to have 8 weeks off of work I knew that if I came away from it with nothing to show except scars on my foot I would be disappointed in myself. I think I have accomplished a lot. I didn't do everything I wanted to do, but I did some things I hadn't planned on doing. But thinking about what I've been doing has made me realize I want to be doing much more.
On Sunday there were two plane crashes. These always make me stop and be still for a while. I can't help but think about the families back home who are getting the call that their pilot husband, mother, brother, friend won't be coming home. I paid attention to the Fedex crash because there was a crazy video of it. It was sad and awesome (in a terrible way). The other plane crash didn't catch my attention as much until Jonathan called to tell me that they were friends of his.
Since then it has been a sad few days. And as is usually the case when there is death, I have been thinking a lot about life. I don't have any grand revelations to share. No epiphanies. I'm still in the quiet stage. I do feel incredibly loved and blessed - but thankfully that isn't a new feeling.
God has given me so much. He gave me a second chance to live. I pray that I will learn how to live my life to the utmost and not waste a single day.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
new things
Last night we celebrated Iina's birthday. She's a girl I met through my new roommate Trish. Her fiancee, Corey, and Trish planned it so she'd think she was coming over for our housewarming party and we'd surprise her.
The night started off well. Trish made a chocolate chocolate cake in a bundt pan. It looked and smelled beautiful. We put the candles in while we were waiting for Iina to get here but when we looked at the cake a while later they were all crooked. Trish pulled one out to straighten it up and someone commented that she had put them in upside down. She had, in fact, put them in right side up, but the end of the candle had melted into the cake leaving a bare wick.
Fortunately no one died from wax consumption and we proceeded on to Happy Karaoke. We were all very skeptical - not being big karaokers - but when it's your birthday everyone does what you want, so we went along. It was up off of Buford highway where there are more Asian signs than English ones. It ended up being a private karaoke place. There were about 10 of us in a private room where we could sing whatever we wanted (as long as you could find it in the huge book of Korean songs). Some of the vital ones were lacking (Baby Got Back) but we got by with songs like Africa, It's Raining Men, Womanizer, Livin La Vida Loca, Whatever You Like, and Can't Touch This.
The words were up on several of the nine screens that were in a square in the front of the room. They had the most obscure videos going in the background. Some of them would be European cities, then they would be penguins, people on the beach, baboons, elephants swimming (underwater view), or fields and fields of flowers. Every once in a while there was one that actually seemed to have something to do with music but it was pretty rare. To top things off, our room had one of those spinning balls with colored lights (not a disco ball, but close).
We had a really good time and nearly everyone sang at one time or another. I have never missed my other vocal chord so much since I don't have much of a range without it, but microphones do wonders for a lack of volume. Being loud is kind of addictive.
I thought of Israel a lot while we did this because I think it's similar to what they do a lot in China. The way the place looked and the fact that we were the only non- Asian people there made it feel like we were actually in a different country.
After all the lame ones went home a few of us headed over to Iina and Corey's house to play Rockband. I have never played Rockband. I've only played wii once before and I nearly dislocated my shoulder playing imaginary tennis. But since I'd already done one new thing tonight I figured I might as well keep going.
Since I'm used to stringed instruments I decided to start with the guitar. I thought I was doing well until it said I failed. I didn't know you had to "strum" the lever on the side of the guitar while you're hitting the notes. So dumb. Trish and I took turns on the guitar and drums and the drums ended up being the only one I didn't fail every time on.
While we were playing and Iina was singing Corey was making us delicious, custom tortilla pizzas (to spare us all the extra calories). They are quite the hosts. I nearly won all of Trish's money but sticking my finger in the snapping turtles' aquarium, but after watching them snap at the glass decided her wallet wasn't big enough to pay for the loss of my finger.
Around 5am we decided we'd had enough fun and came home. I'm pretty sure I was still hitting the bass drum in my sleep. I'm thinking of getting a microphone that I can just carry with me all the time to make sure people can hear me :-). Happy birthday to Iina!
The night started off well. Trish made a chocolate chocolate cake in a bundt pan. It looked and smelled beautiful. We put the candles in while we were waiting for Iina to get here but when we looked at the cake a while later they were all crooked. Trish pulled one out to straighten it up and someone commented that she had put them in upside down. She had, in fact, put them in right side up, but the end of the candle had melted into the cake leaving a bare wick.
Fortunately no one died from wax consumption and we proceeded on to Happy Karaoke. We were all very skeptical - not being big karaokers - but when it's your birthday everyone does what you want, so we went along. It was up off of Buford highway where there are more Asian signs than English ones. It ended up being a private karaoke place. There were about 10 of us in a private room where we could sing whatever we wanted (as long as you could find it in the huge book of Korean songs). Some of the vital ones were lacking (Baby Got Back) but we got by with songs like Africa, It's Raining Men, Womanizer, Livin La Vida Loca, Whatever You Like, and Can't Touch This.
The words were up on several of the nine screens that were in a square in the front of the room. They had the most obscure videos going in the background. Some of them would be European cities, then they would be penguins, people on the beach, baboons, elephants swimming (underwater view), or fields and fields of flowers. Every once in a while there was one that actually seemed to have something to do with music but it was pretty rare. To top things off, our room had one of those spinning balls with colored lights (not a disco ball, but close).
We had a really good time and nearly everyone sang at one time or another. I have never missed my other vocal chord so much since I don't have much of a range without it, but microphones do wonders for a lack of volume. Being loud is kind of addictive.
I thought of Israel a lot while we did this because I think it's similar to what they do a lot in China. The way the place looked and the fact that we were the only non- Asian people there made it feel like we were actually in a different country.
After all the lame ones went home a few of us headed over to Iina and Corey's house to play Rockband. I have never played Rockband. I've only played wii once before and I nearly dislocated my shoulder playing imaginary tennis. But since I'd already done one new thing tonight I figured I might as well keep going.
Since I'm used to stringed instruments I decided to start with the guitar. I thought I was doing well until it said I failed. I didn't know you had to "strum" the lever on the side of the guitar while you're hitting the notes. So dumb. Trish and I took turns on the guitar and drums and the drums ended up being the only one I didn't fail every time on.
While we were playing and Iina was singing Corey was making us delicious, custom tortilla pizzas (to spare us all the extra calories). They are quite the hosts. I nearly won all of Trish's money but sticking my finger in the snapping turtles' aquarium, but after watching them snap at the glass decided her wallet wasn't big enough to pay for the loss of my finger.
Around 5am we decided we'd had enough fun and came home. I'm pretty sure I was still hitting the bass drum in my sleep. I'm thinking of getting a microphone that I can just carry with me all the time to make sure people can hear me :-). Happy birthday to Iina!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sleep
I think about sleep a lot. We don't always have a good relationship. I'm not sure why. I wish we did, but sometimes I find that it's my fault we don't.
I'm babysitting two little girls ages three and five. I've long since given up on the phrase "sleeping like a baby" because I'd rather sleep for more than three hours at a time. Tonight I saw the three year old fall asleep at 6:45pm while watching cartoons. I carried her upstairs, put her in bed, and then got her up later to go to the bathroom, and she slept through it all. I started thinking they should change the phrase to "sleeping like a child".
Then she started waking up and crying randomly. This reminded me of the madness that was sometimes a part of my sleep as a child. I used to have crazy dreams, walk around the house, and talk. I also remember having trouble falling asleep when I was little sometimes.
This makes me wonder how our sleep patterns develop. Are they tied into our personalities or based on our circumstances and environment? I've been thinking about the people I know and the way they sleep but can't seem to find any consistent connections between personalities and patterns (I'm mostly referring to how easily people fall asleep since that's the problem I have).
I feel that discipline plays a big part in falling asleep. If I was more consistent about when I went to bed and got up that would help. Not eating and drinking before bedtime would also help. Not distracting myself with communication or the internet would help. But I don't think any of these things are the cause of my problems.
I have a personality where I like human interraction. I found it to be really difficult when I lived in Spain and would lie in bed at night, unable to sleep, and have no way of communicating with anyone. I didn't have a phone or computer. Not even morse code. I read a lot of books in those days. I think somewhere in my mind I make myself stay up because I don't want to miss something.
My mind and body can't ever seem to come to an agreement at bedtime. My body is so tired, but for some reason my mind decides we're staying up forever. If there isn't anyone to talk to then I'm going to think about everything possible. I'm going to worry about the shoes I spent $54 on and don't fit right and why did I have to throw away the box and return paper and what will I wear and maybe I can sell them on ebay but I won't get much for them and I need the money because I haven't worked and will my foot ever feel normal and when will my doctor clear me and will I be able to get things done before then and will I have to fly the 900 when I go back and will I be absolutely miserable and will I be able to get the time off in May for all the weddings and wasn't there something else I had to plan for and where will we stay for all these events and will I ever have a normal life and why am I still awake?
Get it?
Back to my original thoughts - I wonder if we have a sleep personality that is as hard to change as our real one. I wonder why my old roommate could lie down, fall asleep immediately, never move all night, and as far as she knows has never had a dream. How did she get on sleep's good side? I'm sure someone has already done the research and knows the answers. Maybe one of these nights when I can't sleep I'll learn about it.
For now, I'm going to see if sleep and I are friends tonight. I have to get two kids ready for school in the morning and I'm a little out of practice.
I'm babysitting two little girls ages three and five. I've long since given up on the phrase "sleeping like a baby" because I'd rather sleep for more than three hours at a time. Tonight I saw the three year old fall asleep at 6:45pm while watching cartoons. I carried her upstairs, put her in bed, and then got her up later to go to the bathroom, and she slept through it all. I started thinking they should change the phrase to "sleeping like a child".
Then she started waking up and crying randomly. This reminded me of the madness that was sometimes a part of my sleep as a child. I used to have crazy dreams, walk around the house, and talk. I also remember having trouble falling asleep when I was little sometimes.
This makes me wonder how our sleep patterns develop. Are they tied into our personalities or based on our circumstances and environment? I've been thinking about the people I know and the way they sleep but can't seem to find any consistent connections between personalities and patterns (I'm mostly referring to how easily people fall asleep since that's the problem I have).
I feel that discipline plays a big part in falling asleep. If I was more consistent about when I went to bed and got up that would help. Not eating and drinking before bedtime would also help. Not distracting myself with communication or the internet would help. But I don't think any of these things are the cause of my problems.
I have a personality where I like human interraction. I found it to be really difficult when I lived in Spain and would lie in bed at night, unable to sleep, and have no way of communicating with anyone. I didn't have a phone or computer. Not even morse code. I read a lot of books in those days. I think somewhere in my mind I make myself stay up because I don't want to miss something.
My mind and body can't ever seem to come to an agreement at bedtime. My body is so tired, but for some reason my mind decides we're staying up forever. If there isn't anyone to talk to then I'm going to think about everything possible. I'm going to worry about the shoes I spent $54 on and don't fit right and why did I have to throw away the box and return paper and what will I wear and maybe I can sell them on ebay but I won't get much for them and I need the money because I haven't worked and will my foot ever feel normal and when will my doctor clear me and will I be able to get things done before then and will I have to fly the 900 when I go back and will I be absolutely miserable and will I be able to get the time off in May for all the weddings and wasn't there something else I had to plan for and where will we stay for all these events and will I ever have a normal life and why am I still awake?
Get it?
Back to my original thoughts - I wonder if we have a sleep personality that is as hard to change as our real one. I wonder why my old roommate could lie down, fall asleep immediately, never move all night, and as far as she knows has never had a dream. How did she get on sleep's good side? I'm sure someone has already done the research and knows the answers. Maybe one of these nights when I can't sleep I'll learn about it.
For now, I'm going to see if sleep and I are friends tonight. I have to get two kids ready for school in the morning and I'm a little out of practice.
Friday, March 6, 2009
What a slacker
I've been a very bad blogger lately. I think because I'm not working I don't have as much time on my own just to write and I don't have as many stories to tell. I'm also studying for the GRE so that's been taking up a lot of my sit at the computer time.
Last week I added a new state to my list of states visited, and I couldn't have picked a more exciting one. J's grandmother passed away the week before and he asked me to go to the funeral with him.
We flew into Sioux Falls, SD on Friday morning and it was 0 degrees. The warmest it got all weekend was about 11. I don't understand why people live in places like that. Everything was covered in snow, but it wasn't as deep as I would've expected. I think because it's so flat the wind blows a lot of the snow away. Not sure. We drove out to see the family's old homestead. Nearly everything, even the grass, was covered in ice making it quite a beautiful scene. In some places the golden gross is frozen in a blowing position. I wanted to take pictures, but it was too cold to be outside any longer than necessary.
It was great to meet more of his family. His grandmother was 92 when she passed away and, from the stories that were told, quite an amazing woman. She was still mowing her lawn (and sometimes her neighbor's) last summer.
After spending our weekend in ice and snow we got a ride to the Omaha airport to fly home. We got there about 11:30 for a 1:15 flight. We ended up parking at the gate in Atlanta at 1:45 the next morning thanks to the blizzard that hit Atlanta on Sunday. It was a great day of surfing the internet and eating Kracky's ridiculously overpriced fast food.
Since then I have signed my name to an apartment in Midtown. I'm excited that after being an Atlanta resident for most of 28 years I will finally have an Atlanta address. I'm also excited because I'll have a real closet, and my own bathroom. I will miss the roommates, but I'm pretty sure my new roommate will be awesome. We go this afternoon to get the keys and then I get to start the lovely task of moving.
I'm going to study some more before I go do lots of boring adult errands.
Last week I added a new state to my list of states visited, and I couldn't have picked a more exciting one. J's grandmother passed away the week before and he asked me to go to the funeral with him.
We flew into Sioux Falls, SD on Friday morning and it was 0 degrees. The warmest it got all weekend was about 11. I don't understand why people live in places like that. Everything was covered in snow, but it wasn't as deep as I would've expected. I think because it's so flat the wind blows a lot of the snow away. Not sure. We drove out to see the family's old homestead. Nearly everything, even the grass, was covered in ice making it quite a beautiful scene. In some places the golden gross is frozen in a blowing position. I wanted to take pictures, but it was too cold to be outside any longer than necessary.
It was great to meet more of his family. His grandmother was 92 when she passed away and, from the stories that were told, quite an amazing woman. She was still mowing her lawn (and sometimes her neighbor's) last summer.
After spending our weekend in ice and snow we got a ride to the Omaha airport to fly home. We got there about 11:30 for a 1:15 flight. We ended up parking at the gate in Atlanta at 1:45 the next morning thanks to the blizzard that hit Atlanta on Sunday. It was a great day of surfing the internet and eating Kracky's ridiculously overpriced fast food.
Since then I have signed my name to an apartment in Midtown. I'm excited that after being an Atlanta resident for most of 28 years I will finally have an Atlanta address. I'm also excited because I'll have a real closet, and my own bathroom. I will miss the roommates, but I'm pretty sure my new roommate will be awesome. We go this afternoon to get the keys and then I get to start the lovely task of moving.
I'm going to study some more before I go do lots of boring adult errands.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)