I've been meaning to do a little recap of the year, as best I can remember. Just because.
January: A beginning of my love for Latin during Mass, and the beginnings of some feelings of unrest.
February: Nothing too interesting, other than the Olympics and knitting...and knitting.
March: The break of my worst travel experiences yet, the inevitably very much regretted decision, and general disappointment in everything but mostly myself.
April: Mom visiting for a weekend, a whole year without JPII, and the best Holy Week I've ever experienced.
May: An ending that luckily wasn't, ultimately, an end, and graduations galore.
June: Jobs and more jobs.
July: The start of an internship I loved, the switch from one retail job to another, and a lovely camping trip.
August: One last fun family day before Peter went off to boot camp, the beginnings of the ultimate realization, a new school, and the knowledge that nothing compares to ND.
September: Steve's wedding and the first ND football game!, a celebrity death that affected me more than I ever would have thought, and successfully reaching the age of legality.
October: A final decision, Peter graduated from boot camp, and of course, my first bout with pink eye.
November: A lovely weekend at ND, and another lovely Saturday watching ND at Air Force.
December: Re-discovering the amazingness of Celtic Woman, one of the most proud moments of my college career thus far, finding out one of the best things that's happened to me for awhile, and of course, the lovely lots of snow (even if they bookended Christmas, instead of happening on Christmas).
Wow that took awhile. And $10 says I messed up at least one of the links, but who's really going to click on them all anyway? What an interesting year it's been, and very interesting to look at posts made a year or six months or even just a few months ago. Hm.
Well, that's it for 2006 I suppose.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
End of the Year Meme
It's Sunday, and New Year's Eve; what else am I gonna do?
1. What did you do in 2006 that you’d never done before?
Stepped off the path? Made a decision?
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Probably didn't keep last year's (don't really remember any, other than the givens that everyone says), and I kind of have already made a few that I hope to do better with this coming year.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not really.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thankfully.
5. What countries did you visit?
Heck, I barely visited any other states. Oh, I guess technically I visited New Hampshire and Oklahoma.
6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006?
hahaha...ok I won't say what I'm thinking. Instead I'll say...a niece. hehe. Or another nephew. Either way.
7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Oh man...there's a few. One of the last days of August, when I was sitting in class at UCCS and realized just how wrong it all felt; Oct 26 when I saw my Army brother for the first time since he left for boot camp; Nov 4 when I made it back to ND for a game (and Julie's 21st!); Dec 18, when I found out I'll be back on campus next year. Etc. There's probably some dates from earlier in the year, but the first half of the year seems just so far away from now.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Hm...getting clarity?
9. What was your biggest failure?
Possibly that fateful decision I made back in March, which set up a semester's worth of heartache. Possibly not a failure because possibly it was necessary. I just wish I hadn't done it.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing major that I remember until the end of October when I got more sick than I've been in awhile, with some pink eye thrown on there just for fun.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Possibly the Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia books I bought in March. Or maybe my new digital camera which has, thus far, been quite good to me.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Hm. My sister's pretty much a trooper with a lot of crap she's had going on. And I guess my little brother's decision to volunteer and join the army is pretty laudable.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Not sure if there's anyone whose behavior made me depressed, but lots of people in general (think society) can make me appalled by their behavior.
14. Where did most of your money go?
No clue. My dad (tied into tuition and loans and such I pay for), my credit card (generally spent on lots of little things--not huge impulse purchases, I promise), a few trips that I guess were well worth it, and...more than I'd like to admit...purchases of things at my place of work, namely some leather and suede coats, a purse, and some gloves. Although not all were for me.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Uh, dude, Notre Dame football! And Notre Dame. (Again, I suppose this is mostly a second-half of the year recap thing, as I've changed quite a bit since the first half...Although ND football always made me excited.)
16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
hm...Probably some country songs, as I started listening to country in summer of 06, and before that I didn't listen to a whole lot of new stuff.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder?
Probably quite a bit happier. Which is quite lovely.
thinner or fatter?
Ok, I have no real conclusive proof of this, as we own a grand total of zero scales in this house, but I think I'm at least a bit thinner.
richer or poorer?
No clue, really. I might perhaps have slightly more money in my bank account, but I really don't know. Not significantly changed either way I guess.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Realizing how good I had it at ND, and more being at ND.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Thinking, and analyzing, and being stupid, and complaining, and spending money, and above all, less being at home. Not that home is bad, but...yeah. You all know what I'm talking about.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Well, I spent Christmas with my family--Christmas Eve Mass at 10:30 pm, eating some foods afterwards (and giving myself a nice little cut on my finger that still bothers me and for which I am still wearing a bandaid), then getting up in the morning and spending good family time together. Good times.
21. Did you fall in love in 2006?
Well...with ND, all over again...
22. How many one-night stands?
18. Minus 18. ha.
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Actually managed to like less TV this year. For awhile it was LOST, but that's off the air for awhile and who knows if I'll get back into it. I do sometimes enjoy Without a Trace, but usually what I watched most consisted of syndicated reruns. And Conan. Oh, Conan.
24. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn’t dislike this time last year?
Well, it's possible that I met someone at UCCS that I didn't know last year and who I now don't like so much. But I didn't really get to know anyone there either, so I shouldn't really say I dislike any of them. Even if there are certain teachers I was less than fond of all semester...
25. What was the best book you read?
Well, before getting Harry Potter for Christmas, I was reading this book I found recently that I had bought at Hooked on Books, but as that one turned out to be a rather crappy waste of my time in the end, I'm just going to say Harry Potter, even though I haven't quite finished the first one yet. The Hobbit was a pretty darn good book too, I guess I read that this year. Or at least finished it this year. A while ago though.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Celtic Woman, even though I think I did know about them a year ago. Or perhaps the awesomeness of James Taylor, or The Police, or Rascal Flatts. Or once again re-learning the greatness of classical music in general. Oh, classicals. How you are awesome.
27. What did you want and get?
Clarity. Wonderful, amazing, peaceful clarity!
28. What did you want and not get?
...no comment, again...hehe...um...Well, so far, a room in Cavanaugh. Or any number of DVDs or CDs that I keep wanting to buy but don't. :-P
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
The Pursuit of Happyness was pretty great (even if Mom thinks people shouldn't see it because it's too depressing for 90% of the movie)...Stranger than Fiction was good...Chronicles of Narnia is awesome...don't really know.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I went to Texas Roadhouse with my parents, got a margarita, and then a few days later had a bit of a celebration with my whole family (minus little bro), although I wasn't feeling too celebratory as it happened to be the same day of a certain quite painful ND game, played against that stupid team from the north that calls itself Michigan. Oh, and I turned the big 2-1.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Clarity back in March. Or February. Or, heck, even January. Or possibly the ability to make decisions, or to live with decisions.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
2006: The year of the skirt. And some slightly more fashionable shirts. As well as the year I finally bought a nice jacket.
33. What kept you sane?
Family, and God
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I've come to despise, or nearly so, a majority of celebrities/public figures. So...yeah I don't know that there's any I can think of, off the top of my head, that I "fancy." Unless perhaps the Pope, but that's a different kind of fancy. There may be someone else, but I don't know who. (Although I will admit to having a slight crush on Kyle Chandler, one that I had back when he was in Early Edition--an amazing show--and one that I just can't help. But it's purely superficial, as I know nothing about him. hehe.)
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Well, the biggest one here this year was the stuff about keeping marriage between one man and one woman, and not giving homosexual couples special rights to stuff and whatnot. Luckily, the outcomes of those two things were some of a very few that turned out well in November.
36. Who did you miss?
First half the year: Family and such. Second half: ND people. Eh, what are ya gonna do?
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Huh...um...don't really know that I met a whole lot of new people...I did quite enjoy my history teacher though, I guess that's the closest thing I have. Oh dude, I'm an idiot, what about Brenda? She's pretty awesome, I must say, and I will be sad to leave her, if I won't be sad to leave Wilsons.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006?
How can I sum it into words? I suppose something along the lines of absence truly does make the heart grow fonder, as well as sometimes you have to lose (or get rid of) something to realize just how vital it is to you...something like that.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Ew. Um. Hm. Really no clue at the moment. Sorry.
I just looked at the Basilica's website for some reason, forget exactly why now, but did you know they changed it sometime in the last few months? It's quite pretty now. I like it. And wanna hear something funny? The second I saw that page, I got the sensation of smelling incense. Quite lovely. The Basilica always smells so nice. Mmm. Isn't it wonderful?
Devotions Meme
(Seen around various blogs, and thus I am stealing it.)
1. Favorite devotion or prayer to Jesus?
Sacred Heart of Jesus
2. Favorite Marian devotion or prayer?
Definitely the Rosary
3. Do you wear a scapular or medal?
I always wear my miraculous medal (which is attached to a medal of St. Joseph), as well as my Crucifix (they're both on the same chain). I'd like to get a scapular, though.
4. Do you have holy water in your home?
We do.
5. Do you offer up your sufferings?
Not nearly as much or as good as I should.
6. Do you observe First Fridays and First Saturdays?
No.
7. Do you go to Eucharistic Adoration? How frequently?
I do, probably at least a couple times a year, but I do wish I went more often.
8. Are you a Saturday evening Mass person or Sunday morning Mass person?
Definitely Sunday morning.
9. Do you say prayers at mealtime?
Usually.
10. Favorite Saint(s)?
Well, I always liked Elizabeth Ann Seton (enough even to choose her as my saint when I got confirmed), and St. Anthony is a life-saver sometimes (or at least a peace-of-mind-saver), and of course Mary, and St. Anne, and St. Helena, and Thomas Aquinas, and oh so many.
11. Can you recite the Apostles Creed by heart?
More or less.
12. Do you usually say short prayers (aspirations) during the course of the day?
Well, I definitely talk to God a lot, if that counts.
13. Where is your favorite place to pray?
Mmm the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. (Hey, interesting, the Sacred Heart's my favorite devotion, and it's the name of my favorite church/place. Just realized that...)
14. Bonus Question: When you pass by a automobile accident or other serious mishap, do you say a quick prayer for the folks involved?
I try to.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Just a few
Ok, so I want to get music by the following people: James Taylor, the guy who sings Sweet Caroline whose name is very much escaping me right now, and I am apparently too lazy to look up, and the Police. And then in a month I will of course need to get the new Celtic Woman CD, as well as the new Norah Jones CD, and for that matter I have yet to buy the new Josh Groban CD and that's been out almost two months.
And yet, I probably won't get any of these for awhile. Just because I hate spending money. Even on something I really want, like a few of those CDs if not all. Neil Diamond. That's who sings it. (Figured I couldn't say I really want that CD if I can't even think of his name, so I looked it up.) Ah well.
This whole waiting to see what dorm I'll be in thing is very much like the summer before freshman year. Trying not to hold out hope for any particular dorm, for fear my hopes would be dashed, only this time it's much harder as I have pre-set opinions and such about different dorms, whereas before freshman year I purposely didn't look much into any of the dorms so I wouldn't put one ahead of the others. Now, obviously, I'd much prefer to be in Cavanaugh as it'd make things easier, as well as reducing the need for much change or getting used to things on my part. A different dorm means different people, different rules, different ways of doing things. And yet, there's a part of me that almost wants that. Just to see. Just to know. But in any case, it doesn't matter much what I'd prefer at this point, because I'm just thrilled to be on campus at all. And even if I get stuck in a West Quad dorm, or a Mod Quad one, I'll be ok with it for two reasons (at least): I'll be on campus, which is what I want above all, and the number one reason I'll be ok with it is that, no matter what, I left it all up to God and thus, hopefully, whatever happens is God's will, and will be the best choice for me--even better than one I picked myself. (As if that's hard to top.) It really is quite nice leaving things up to God, putting it all in his hands, and letting it all fall into place as he decides. No chance of me mucking things up that way. Quite lovely.
New Years Eve is quickly approaching. Every year, I want to have fun on New Years Eve. But here's the thing. I don't want to go out. I'm not even sure how much I want to have people come here, if people didn't already have plans. In years past I've had at least a few friends come hang out over here, and it's fun of course, but I don't know. But at the same time, I don't want to be a "loser" who stays in all night with her mom and dad. Now, let me qualify that statement. I personally don't really have a problem with doing that, aside from the occasional feelings of being a 3rd wheel or whatnot (but I'm generally past that--I just wonder if my parents sometimes get sick of me. But they don't have to put up with me much anymore, in a couple weeks). Would be nicer if one of my siblings were there too, but I'm sure Cathy will be staying in with Bobby and Jason, Tom will of course be up in...Longmont? Lafayette? I keep forgetting exactly where it is. Right by Louisville. Near Denver and Boulder. Yeah. anyway. And I'm sure Peter will be out somewhere with some friend. I don't know. Oh well. One of these years, I'll have a good, fun, up-to-expectations New Years Eve. Maybe.
I got a call on my cell tonight from work, saying that tomorrow the mall wasn't going to open until 10, instead of the as-planned 8am. Even though this means a possible two hours less of pay, I'm pretty happy because I wasn't relishing the thought of going to work at 8am. I think there's a chance I might stay until later than the scheduled 1pm because of this, which I would be ok with. But who knows. All I know is it's 10 am now, even though the snow seemed to have done not much of anything today, in the Springs at least. It's been much windier today than yesterday, but much less new snow. I guess we're still supposed to get 3-8 inches by Sunday morning, but I don't really think that'll happen. We'll see I guess. Either way, I'm enjoying this as much as possible (although I'd enjoy it a lot more if I had someone to go play in the snow with me), because snow like this just doesn't happen much here in Colorado Springs, despite what non-Coloradans think. But I do feel lucky, because I have a feeling the next few months here will be snow-filled as well, at least more than normal, and probably ND won't be very snowy (as in the two winters I've spent there, I have yet to experience, really, what I had heard so much about regarding the winter weather up there), but I won't be able to feel to disappointed about missing out on it because I got these wonderful snows. Snows that were quite unexpected. I mean, two weeks ago I didn't think I'd see any snow during Christmas break, and then all of a sudden there was talk of a blizzard, out of nowhere it seemed. And then a few days later, snow was on the forecast again for this week, and I was doubly thrilled. So anyway. I never do understand when people complain so much about the snow and cold that happens in winter. It's not like we live in Florida, people. I guess the fact that we have something like over 300 days of sun a year makes people think we do live in a more warm-weather climate, but it's just not true. We're in the mountains, and snow is a part of that. And it's so rare, I just can't stand to see people curse it and wish it away. I mean, heck, last week with the blizzard we had maybe two days (the day before and the day of the really bad stuff, and then maybe half of the next day) without sun. And that's it. What's wrong with a few clouds and snow here and there? Man, I need to go live in the tundra somewhere or something.
Ok I guess that's all I have. I think it's time for some more Harry Potter reading. And I'm not sure if I'm done my scarf or not. I think it's a good length, but I kind of want just to finish the whole skein of yarn, as what's left doesn't seem like it'd be very good for making anything. (And seeing as how it's probably a good 30 years old, I'm guessing it'd be hard to find anymore from the same dye lot. Or, heck, even the same brand! Man, it'd be nice to have a skein like that only cost me $1.36, as the price sticker still on the label says. Now it's like $4 or 5, and I'm not sure they're as big as this one either.) So I may just finish with all the yarn and have a rather long scarf. or I could always undo a bunch of it and maybe have enough for two shorter scarves. But I don't know if I would have enough. Oh well.
Hey. Two more days of 2006. Two more days to work on last year's resolutions! ha.
And yet, I probably won't get any of these for awhile. Just because I hate spending money. Even on something I really want, like a few of those CDs if not all. Neil Diamond. That's who sings it. (Figured I couldn't say I really want that CD if I can't even think of his name, so I looked it up.) Ah well.
This whole waiting to see what dorm I'll be in thing is very much like the summer before freshman year. Trying not to hold out hope for any particular dorm, for fear my hopes would be dashed, only this time it's much harder as I have pre-set opinions and such about different dorms, whereas before freshman year I purposely didn't look much into any of the dorms so I wouldn't put one ahead of the others. Now, obviously, I'd much prefer to be in Cavanaugh as it'd make things easier, as well as reducing the need for much change or getting used to things on my part. A different dorm means different people, different rules, different ways of doing things. And yet, there's a part of me that almost wants that. Just to see. Just to know. But in any case, it doesn't matter much what I'd prefer at this point, because I'm just thrilled to be on campus at all. And even if I get stuck in a West Quad dorm, or a Mod Quad one, I'll be ok with it for two reasons (at least): I'll be on campus, which is what I want above all, and the number one reason I'll be ok with it is that, no matter what, I left it all up to God and thus, hopefully, whatever happens is God's will, and will be the best choice for me--even better than one I picked myself. (As if that's hard to top.) It really is quite nice leaving things up to God, putting it all in his hands, and letting it all fall into place as he decides. No chance of me mucking things up that way. Quite lovely.
New Years Eve is quickly approaching. Every year, I want to have fun on New Years Eve. But here's the thing. I don't want to go out. I'm not even sure how much I want to have people come here, if people didn't already have plans. In years past I've had at least a few friends come hang out over here, and it's fun of course, but I don't know. But at the same time, I don't want to be a "loser" who stays in all night with her mom and dad. Now, let me qualify that statement. I personally don't really have a problem with doing that, aside from the occasional feelings of being a 3rd wheel or whatnot (but I'm generally past that--I just wonder if my parents sometimes get sick of me. But they don't have to put up with me much anymore, in a couple weeks). Would be nicer if one of my siblings were there too, but I'm sure Cathy will be staying in with Bobby and Jason, Tom will of course be up in...Longmont? Lafayette? I keep forgetting exactly where it is. Right by Louisville. Near Denver and Boulder. Yeah. anyway. And I'm sure Peter will be out somewhere with some friend. I don't know. Oh well. One of these years, I'll have a good, fun, up-to-expectations New Years Eve. Maybe.
I got a call on my cell tonight from work, saying that tomorrow the mall wasn't going to open until 10, instead of the as-planned 8am. Even though this means a possible two hours less of pay, I'm pretty happy because I wasn't relishing the thought of going to work at 8am. I think there's a chance I might stay until later than the scheduled 1pm because of this, which I would be ok with. But who knows. All I know is it's 10 am now, even though the snow seemed to have done not much of anything today, in the Springs at least. It's been much windier today than yesterday, but much less new snow. I guess we're still supposed to get 3-8 inches by Sunday morning, but I don't really think that'll happen. We'll see I guess. Either way, I'm enjoying this as much as possible (although I'd enjoy it a lot more if I had someone to go play in the snow with me), because snow like this just doesn't happen much here in Colorado Springs, despite what non-Coloradans think. But I do feel lucky, because I have a feeling the next few months here will be snow-filled as well, at least more than normal, and probably ND won't be very snowy (as in the two winters I've spent there, I have yet to experience, really, what I had heard so much about regarding the winter weather up there), but I won't be able to feel to disappointed about missing out on it because I got these wonderful snows. Snows that were quite unexpected. I mean, two weeks ago I didn't think I'd see any snow during Christmas break, and then all of a sudden there was talk of a blizzard, out of nowhere it seemed. And then a few days later, snow was on the forecast again for this week, and I was doubly thrilled. So anyway. I never do understand when people complain so much about the snow and cold that happens in winter. It's not like we live in Florida, people. I guess the fact that we have something like over 300 days of sun a year makes people think we do live in a more warm-weather climate, but it's just not true. We're in the mountains, and snow is a part of that. And it's so rare, I just can't stand to see people curse it and wish it away. I mean, heck, last week with the blizzard we had maybe two days (the day before and the day of the really bad stuff, and then maybe half of the next day) without sun. And that's it. What's wrong with a few clouds and snow here and there? Man, I need to go live in the tundra somewhere or something.
Ok I guess that's all I have. I think it's time for some more Harry Potter reading. And I'm not sure if I'm done my scarf or not. I think it's a good length, but I kind of want just to finish the whole skein of yarn, as what's left doesn't seem like it'd be very good for making anything. (And seeing as how it's probably a good 30 years old, I'm guessing it'd be hard to find anymore from the same dye lot. Or, heck, even the same brand! Man, it'd be nice to have a skein like that only cost me $1.36, as the price sticker still on the label says. Now it's like $4 or 5, and I'm not sure they're as big as this one either.) So I may just finish with all the yarn and have a rather long scarf. or I could always undo a bunch of it and maybe have enough for two shorter scarves. But I don't know if I would have enough. Oh well.
Hey. Two more days of 2006. Two more days to work on last year's resolutions! ha.
Lost World
I came across this article today, which I think I remember hearing about much earlier this year. And it made me think. It's kind of sad that there's so much explored that it's news to find a little piece of the world as-yet unblemished by the rest of us. It's sad to me to be in history class, hearing about the frontier of America being closed because it just wasn't new anymore, it was getting too full, too like the rest of the country. It's sad to know that there's so few places left where one can go and feel disconnected from the fast-paced society we live in, because even if one goes out into the country somewhere (if there's true country still to be found), I'm sure that that person can count on hearing some evidence of the world we live in, whether it be a highway, or a plane overhead, or perhaps loud music or a movie coming from someone's car. (I experienced that last one this summer, when, while camping up in Rocky Mountain National Park, the people in the campsite right next to us pulled into their spot, set up their tent or whatever, and promptly sat outside and proceeded to watch Wedding Crashers on some portable TV they had brought with them. All while I was trying to enjoy the quiet, the dark, the stars, the night.) Anyway. Reading that article makes me sad both for me and the rest of us who can never really, truly experience a life untouched by modern society, as well as for that new world that was found for I have no doubt that their idyllic unchanged world now cannot stay like that for long. Because of who humans are, we want to explore and understand and learn anything about everything, until nothing is new anymore and we must find or create something else to explore. For better or worse, that's the way we are.
At least there's one highlight to all this. No matter what we do to the world around us, there is a place that can never be tarnished by anything we try to throw at it, a place that we will never be able to understand or explore fully, because of what it is. That place, of course, is heaven--the place that is better than even the most wonderful, quiet, country home that I can conjure up in my head. No matter where we are here on earth, we can all (hopefully) look forward to that day we'll be in the place we'll never ever even imagine leaving once we get there.
At least there's one highlight to all this. No matter what we do to the world around us, there is a place that can never be tarnished by anything we try to throw at it, a place that we will never be able to understand or explore fully, because of what it is. That place, of course, is heaven--the place that is better than even the most wonderful, quiet, country home that I can conjure up in my head. No matter where we are here on earth, we can all (hopefully) look forward to that day we'll be in the place we'll never ever even imagine leaving once we get there.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Thursday night Roundup
First: I just read a thing that said Hussein will be executed sometime this weekend. Weird. I mean, I guess if ever someone deserved to die, it'd be him, but I still don't think the whole killing for killing works well with me. But it's weird that this guy who has controlled so much for so long, and dominated so much time and energy, will be gone soon. Weird.
On to less depressing and serious topics. I just read this thing by some guy on cnn.com who listed his top ten movies of 2006. I really can't take his list seriously because of at least two of them on there: Borat and Talladega Nights. Now, I didn't see Borat, but I don't see how that could be one of the best 10 movies of the year. And Talladega Nights? Ok, perhaps it wasn't terrible, but top 10? Nuh-uh. Eh whatever. They're all subjective anyway.
It snowed today. Ha. Understatement a bit. Snow was supposed to start this afternoon sometime, but had started before 10am this morning. There was probably a good inch already by the time I left for my eye appointment at 11. Maybe more. Not sure. But yeah. So I drove to the appointment, which was interesting (especially trying to turn right off of my street, when I failed to be able to stop at the stop sign and luckily could just go because there was no one coming--and even luckier that there was no one coming either direction, as I managed to slide almost to the other side of the road before my car was turning much and before I got back into control a little bit. So that was fun). The bigger roads weren't as bad, just very dirty slushy. And driving was slow, of course. Visibility wasn't great either. After the appointment (which went wonderfully, no change in prescription, will be getting more contacts soon, and they even adjusted my glasses so that they actually fit my face better now! yay!), I drove to work even though it was only like noon and I didn't have to be there until 1, and it's like a 3 mile drive or something like that. Took a good 15 minutes though, as it took at least 5 minutes to get from one intersection to the next at one point. And I'm really not sure why, either, since it was still only slushy at that point on Academy. but anyway. Got to the mall, parked, etc. Decided just to go in and maybe I could walk around or something after I put my stuff in the store. Discovered, while walking and continually getting hit on the back of my leg by something, that one end of the belt thing that goes around my brown sweater jacket I have (which I didn't tie this morning) must have not made it all the way into my car when I got in after the eye doctor, and now was quite gross-slushy on the last inch or two. Oh well. Washed it off a little (as well as the back of my pants where it had hit on the slushy walk from my car to the mall--in clogs, no less, definitely not the shoes for a very snowy day) when I got in. Then I went to JCPenney to see if maybe they had any other good khaki possibilities (they didn't), and briefly walked into American Eagle (another bust--did you know that it is ridiculously hard to find tall khakis that aren't hideous? Or even that are!). Then I just gave up, didn't feel like being in the mall anymore, and went and sat in the back of Wilson's and read Harry Potter until my shift. And it was lovely.
Most definitley didn't want to be at work, though, especially knowing what was going on outside, even though I knew it probably wasn't bad enough for the stupid mall to decide to close. Finally at close to 3:30, Michael sent Kim out to go ask a security guard who was just passing what the status of stuff was. She eventually came back with the report that they weren't closing, but if we felt we had to for safety reasons, we most certainly could. So eventually Michael decided that's what we should do, because he didn't feel like driving home in conditions like he did last Wednesday, when it took him like two hours to make a drive that normally takes 15 minutes or so. So we left a little before 4. Once I got on Academy, I couldn't believe that there were people who were voluntarily driving in that stuff. (I took Academy the whole way instead of my usual Briargate Blvd to Union to Academy, as last week Union ended up being closed at some point, and I didn't relish the idea of driving on that hilly, curvy road with the conditions being what they were--and I just heard that there's lots of stranded cars on Union now, so I probably made the right choice, even if they weren't stranded until well after the time I was home.) Like, to go to the mall, for example. It was crazy. I hoped that it would be a little better once I got off of the little road that goes around the mall parking lot, but Academy didn't really offer a respite. I think it might have had a little to do with my tires or something, but I don't know. It was only really kinda bad when I had to start going again after having to stop for a light or something. And then when I started my wheels would take awhile to catch on, and I kept having to turn my wheel crazy fast this way and that to keep from sliding into the other lane or the median (good thing I started and stayed in the left lane and didn't have to worry about cars on both sides of me), and then eventually my wheels would start going correctly and I'd be pretty much ok until the next time I had to stop. I stayed a safe distance away from the cars in front of me (in part because most of them probably didn't have such a hard time getting started from the stops), and allowed plenty of time to stop, and didn't go fast. I was very safe. And then by the time I was getting close to my house, ish, things really started getting interesting. Firstly, both my rearview mirrors (on the sides) got snow covered during the drive, and while I could somewhat clean off the one on my side when I stopped or whatnot, and did that twice, but I couldn't do anything about the other one. And to make matters even more fun, at some point snow that had been on the top of my car slid down to cover the back window, and my stupid back defroster likes to turn off by itself when it decides it's done, and for the life of me I couldn't get it to stay on long enough to melt off much of that snow. So I basically couldn't see out of the back of my car either. made for a fun last few miles before I got home. Oh yeah, and then my windshield wipers eventually got so snow-caked that as I was pretty close to my house, it kind of started just spreading the wetness on my windshield instead of wiping it very effectively.
It was a fun drive.
Took me close to an hour to get home. Not terrible, but it wasn't terribly fun either. Far too many people out. And it was especially fun when this car that was in front of me was going to turn left onto a side street, which I sometimes do off of Academy but wasn't going to today because I definitely didn't want to go on side streets any more than necessary, but he was the only car in front of me at that point, and the left turn is a specific turn lane. So I couldn't tell where the median was, where the normal lane was, and where the turn lane was, and I ended up following this guy until it was a bit too late to go back to the regular lane, especially as I couldn't tell where the cars behind me were in relation to me because of the aforementioned covered rearview mirrors and back window. So I had to turn. Which caused the ride to be a little longer, because when I got to the other place where I'd turn from the backroad onto a slightly bigger one, first of all I couldn't get a space between cars to turn left safely, and then when I tried my car wasn't going to go, so I just backed up and ended up just turning right, and eventually made it. And actually, the closer to home I got, the less slippery it seemed as it wasn't slush that had iced up, it was just snow, which seemed to give me a bit more traction. Visibility was sucky the whole way, both because of the snow and because of fog (man, I love fog! hehe), and especially once I had turned onto Oro Blanco and such. But I made it home ok. It wasn't fun though.
Oh, and for the record, I've never had this much of a problem when driving in the snow--either the conditions or my car. But I've also never really driven during a storm like this, either. And definitely never an hour-long drive. So I definitely don't blame the car. (Although this experience is making me think a car with heated rearview mirrors might be awesome. Of course, this kind of weather probably won't happen again for years, as this never happens. Two blizzards in a week? Two blizzards in a year never happens here.) My poor, old, falling apart car. Did I mention the blinkers stopped blinking a few days ago? Now both sides it's just a steady light. Which, I suppose, is better than not blinking at all, right?
It was so lovely being home by 5. Although, I couldn't believe it was already that late when I got home, because it had been before 4 when we closed up and such, and I just kind of lost an hour in transit, during which I didn't really notice the passage of time as my mind was otherwise occupied. But yeah. I was going to go crazy if I had to stay all 8 hours today, I think. I was already getting restless after just being there like two hours. So I was thrilled to leave early. Plus, since I had gotten in to work, I still got paid for my whole shift. Which I was also rather thrilled about.
Good times. Luckily I got nowhere to be tomorrow, so I can stay in, read the lovely Harry Potter (dude, it's awesome), and perhaps finish knitting this scarf I'm working on (on which I kind of halted production for awhile as last week I noticed an imperfection, a spot I had messed up, and it was a good 30 rows or something I had to undo to get to it. And I most definitely was not about to let it stay and not fix it, because that would just make me go crazy, and I'd never be able to wear it without thinking of it. And I'm planning on keeping this one. So I just finally today got to that spot and fixed it--I hope--and then also tonight redid everything I had unraveled to get to that spot. All while watching the first half of the 3rd Lord of the Rings. Good stuff), and finish watching LOTR. Sounds like a lovely day to me. Oh, and I'll be enjoying watching the snow as well, of course. It is quite beautiful, just better appreciated from inside a house rather than inside a car. Unless, perhaps, you're sitting inside your car in your driveway and watching it for some odd reason. Mmm snowy days enjoyed inside by the fire. Lovely. And especially because I think I pulled a muscle today. Noticed the back of my right leg hurting, the back of the thigh, as I went to clock in for work. Must have happened when I was walking outside at some point and slipped or something, and it just took awhile for the pain to come. But now the back of that leg is sore, and oddly my right arm as well. Weird. But it makes me laugh, because that's what I do when I'm sore or in pain. Most times. Not always.
Well, the desire to read more Harry Potter and/or continue knitting is calling. Yay!
On to less depressing and serious topics. I just read this thing by some guy on cnn.com who listed his top ten movies of 2006. I really can't take his list seriously because of at least two of them on there: Borat and Talladega Nights. Now, I didn't see Borat, but I don't see how that could be one of the best 10 movies of the year. And Talladega Nights? Ok, perhaps it wasn't terrible, but top 10? Nuh-uh. Eh whatever. They're all subjective anyway.
It snowed today. Ha. Understatement a bit. Snow was supposed to start this afternoon sometime, but had started before 10am this morning. There was probably a good inch already by the time I left for my eye appointment at 11. Maybe more. Not sure. But yeah. So I drove to the appointment, which was interesting (especially trying to turn right off of my street, when I failed to be able to stop at the stop sign and luckily could just go because there was no one coming--and even luckier that there was no one coming either direction, as I managed to slide almost to the other side of the road before my car was turning much and before I got back into control a little bit. So that was fun). The bigger roads weren't as bad, just very dirty slushy. And driving was slow, of course. Visibility wasn't great either. After the appointment (which went wonderfully, no change in prescription, will be getting more contacts soon, and they even adjusted my glasses so that they actually fit my face better now! yay!), I drove to work even though it was only like noon and I didn't have to be there until 1, and it's like a 3 mile drive or something like that. Took a good 15 minutes though, as it took at least 5 minutes to get from one intersection to the next at one point. And I'm really not sure why, either, since it was still only slushy at that point on Academy. but anyway. Got to the mall, parked, etc. Decided just to go in and maybe I could walk around or something after I put my stuff in the store. Discovered, while walking and continually getting hit on the back of my leg by something, that one end of the belt thing that goes around my brown sweater jacket I have (which I didn't tie this morning) must have not made it all the way into my car when I got in after the eye doctor, and now was quite gross-slushy on the last inch or two. Oh well. Washed it off a little (as well as the back of my pants where it had hit on the slushy walk from my car to the mall--in clogs, no less, definitely not the shoes for a very snowy day) when I got in. Then I went to JCPenney to see if maybe they had any other good khaki possibilities (they didn't), and briefly walked into American Eagle (another bust--did you know that it is ridiculously hard to find tall khakis that aren't hideous? Or even that are!). Then I just gave up, didn't feel like being in the mall anymore, and went and sat in the back of Wilson's and read Harry Potter until my shift. And it was lovely.
Most definitley didn't want to be at work, though, especially knowing what was going on outside, even though I knew it probably wasn't bad enough for the stupid mall to decide to close. Finally at close to 3:30, Michael sent Kim out to go ask a security guard who was just passing what the status of stuff was. She eventually came back with the report that they weren't closing, but if we felt we had to for safety reasons, we most certainly could. So eventually Michael decided that's what we should do, because he didn't feel like driving home in conditions like he did last Wednesday, when it took him like two hours to make a drive that normally takes 15 minutes or so. So we left a little before 4. Once I got on Academy, I couldn't believe that there were people who were voluntarily driving in that stuff. (I took Academy the whole way instead of my usual Briargate Blvd to Union to Academy, as last week Union ended up being closed at some point, and I didn't relish the idea of driving on that hilly, curvy road with the conditions being what they were--and I just heard that there's lots of stranded cars on Union now, so I probably made the right choice, even if they weren't stranded until well after the time I was home.) Like, to go to the mall, for example. It was crazy. I hoped that it would be a little better once I got off of the little road that goes around the mall parking lot, but Academy didn't really offer a respite. I think it might have had a little to do with my tires or something, but I don't know. It was only really kinda bad when I had to start going again after having to stop for a light or something. And then when I started my wheels would take awhile to catch on, and I kept having to turn my wheel crazy fast this way and that to keep from sliding into the other lane or the median (good thing I started and stayed in the left lane and didn't have to worry about cars on both sides of me), and then eventually my wheels would start going correctly and I'd be pretty much ok until the next time I had to stop. I stayed a safe distance away from the cars in front of me (in part because most of them probably didn't have such a hard time getting started from the stops), and allowed plenty of time to stop, and didn't go fast. I was very safe. And then by the time I was getting close to my house, ish, things really started getting interesting. Firstly, both my rearview mirrors (on the sides) got snow covered during the drive, and while I could somewhat clean off the one on my side when I stopped or whatnot, and did that twice, but I couldn't do anything about the other one. And to make matters even more fun, at some point snow that had been on the top of my car slid down to cover the back window, and my stupid back defroster likes to turn off by itself when it decides it's done, and for the life of me I couldn't get it to stay on long enough to melt off much of that snow. So I basically couldn't see out of the back of my car either. made for a fun last few miles before I got home. Oh yeah, and then my windshield wipers eventually got so snow-caked that as I was pretty close to my house, it kind of started just spreading the wetness on my windshield instead of wiping it very effectively.
It was a fun drive.
Took me close to an hour to get home. Not terrible, but it wasn't terribly fun either. Far too many people out. And it was especially fun when this car that was in front of me was going to turn left onto a side street, which I sometimes do off of Academy but wasn't going to today because I definitely didn't want to go on side streets any more than necessary, but he was the only car in front of me at that point, and the left turn is a specific turn lane. So I couldn't tell where the median was, where the normal lane was, and where the turn lane was, and I ended up following this guy until it was a bit too late to go back to the regular lane, especially as I couldn't tell where the cars behind me were in relation to me because of the aforementioned covered rearview mirrors and back window. So I had to turn. Which caused the ride to be a little longer, because when I got to the other place where I'd turn from the backroad onto a slightly bigger one, first of all I couldn't get a space between cars to turn left safely, and then when I tried my car wasn't going to go, so I just backed up and ended up just turning right, and eventually made it. And actually, the closer to home I got, the less slippery it seemed as it wasn't slush that had iced up, it was just snow, which seemed to give me a bit more traction. Visibility was sucky the whole way, both because of the snow and because of fog (man, I love fog! hehe), and especially once I had turned onto Oro Blanco and such. But I made it home ok. It wasn't fun though.
Oh, and for the record, I've never had this much of a problem when driving in the snow--either the conditions or my car. But I've also never really driven during a storm like this, either. And definitely never an hour-long drive. So I definitely don't blame the car. (Although this experience is making me think a car with heated rearview mirrors might be awesome. Of course, this kind of weather probably won't happen again for years, as this never happens. Two blizzards in a week? Two blizzards in a year never happens here.) My poor, old, falling apart car. Did I mention the blinkers stopped blinking a few days ago? Now both sides it's just a steady light. Which, I suppose, is better than not blinking at all, right?
It was so lovely being home by 5. Although, I couldn't believe it was already that late when I got home, because it had been before 4 when we closed up and such, and I just kind of lost an hour in transit, during which I didn't really notice the passage of time as my mind was otherwise occupied. But yeah. I was going to go crazy if I had to stay all 8 hours today, I think. I was already getting restless after just being there like two hours. So I was thrilled to leave early. Plus, since I had gotten in to work, I still got paid for my whole shift. Which I was also rather thrilled about.
Good times. Luckily I got nowhere to be tomorrow, so I can stay in, read the lovely Harry Potter (dude, it's awesome), and perhaps finish knitting this scarf I'm working on (on which I kind of halted production for awhile as last week I noticed an imperfection, a spot I had messed up, and it was a good 30 rows or something I had to undo to get to it. And I most definitely was not about to let it stay and not fix it, because that would just make me go crazy, and I'd never be able to wear it without thinking of it. And I'm planning on keeping this one. So I just finally today got to that spot and fixed it--I hope--and then also tonight redid everything I had unraveled to get to that spot. All while watching the first half of the 3rd Lord of the Rings. Good stuff), and finish watching LOTR. Sounds like a lovely day to me. Oh, and I'll be enjoying watching the snow as well, of course. It is quite beautiful, just better appreciated from inside a house rather than inside a car. Unless, perhaps, you're sitting inside your car in your driveway and watching it for some odd reason. Mmm snowy days enjoyed inside by the fire. Lovely. And especially because I think I pulled a muscle today. Noticed the back of my right leg hurting, the back of the thigh, as I went to clock in for work. Must have happened when I was walking outside at some point and slipped or something, and it just took awhile for the pain to come. But now the back of that leg is sore, and oddly my right arm as well. Weird. But it makes me laugh, because that's what I do when I'm sore or in pain. Most times. Not always.
Well, the desire to read more Harry Potter and/or continue knitting is calling. Yay!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
One resolution
I just thought of something I'd like to do for a New Year's resolution. Did you know that we are actually still required to abstain from something on Fridays, like meat? (We being Catholics, I mean.) Everyone knows about Fridays during Lent, but we're supposed to do it on normal non-Lent Fridays as well.
Canon 1251
Catholic Encyclopedia: Abstinence
Fast and Abstinence
I didn't know this until this year (kind of like the genuflecting during that part of the Nicene Creed during the Feast of the Annunciation and Christmas--amazing what you can learn from reading a faithful, orthodox Catholic message board, eh?). So my goal for 2007 is to introduce some sort of penitential thing on Fridays. Probably the meat thing, as that seems fairly simple. I might could try something like weekly confession, but that might be a bit much. Not to say I couldn't use it, but I don't know. Monthly seems better. And as I don't do that right now either (it's gone from a maybe once or twice a year thing to now a 4 or 5 times a year thing), I might try to work on that next year. I'm sure I could benefit from monthly confession.
Anyway. That's two things I'd like to work on for 2007.
Canon 1251
Abstinence from meat, or another food according to the prescriptions of the Conference of Bishops, is to be observed on all Fridays throughout the year unless they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Friday AbstinenceCatholic Encyclopedia: Abstinence
Fast and Abstinence
I didn't know this until this year (kind of like the genuflecting during that part of the Nicene Creed during the Feast of the Annunciation and Christmas--amazing what you can learn from reading a faithful, orthodox Catholic message board, eh?). So my goal for 2007 is to introduce some sort of penitential thing on Fridays. Probably the meat thing, as that seems fairly simple. I might could try something like weekly confession, but that might be a bit much. Not to say I couldn't use it, but I don't know. Monthly seems better. And as I don't do that right now either (it's gone from a maybe once or twice a year thing to now a 4 or 5 times a year thing), I might try to work on that next year. I'm sure I could benefit from monthly confession.
Anyway. That's two things I'd like to work on for 2007.
Stuff
Ugh I don't even know why I try to fit that stupid retainer on my teeth anymore. It never fails just to piss me off, and doesn't get me anywhere. It's just pointless. Despite what Foy seemed to think last time I went, I can't just stick it in my mouth, bite down for a few hours, and have it suddenly "pop into place." Unless it'll somehow magically get a bit bigger, it's just not going to happen. It doesn't fit, plain and simple. The back teeth, on both sides I've decided, don't fit into the back of the retainer. They just don't. And I don't see how sitting here trying to bite down on it for hours will somehow make my teeth suddenly fit into an area that they just don't fit. And so every time I try it, it just pisses me off (and often makes me gag at least a few times). It's so frustrating. And it just frustrates me. Much like work. Which is completely unrelated, but I just thought of it because I have to work 8 hours tomorrow and I plain and simply don't want to. But back to the retainer thing. It's so frustrating. I can't even express it enough. According to Foy, I can just wear this last one as a retainer, it's just not quite as good I guess, as the retainer is more stiff and thus I would assume will hold up better and help keep my teeth in place better over the years. So I don't know. I guess I'm just going to have to do that, because I simply cannot see how the retainer will ever fit. Which very much frustrates me, because it's like I'm stopping before everything's completely finished. I mean, this one I'm wearing is pretty much the same as the retainer, but the retainer is more stiff like I said, but yeah. I think this one must have stretched out as I've been wearing it for a ridiculously long time. I mean, they're supposed to be the same. But from looking at the two, it looks like the retainer has slightly higher walls on the back teeth, and it just looks a little narrower than the one I'm currently wearing. Maybe it's my imagination, but they're certainly not exactly the same or I wouldn't have this much trouble. Did I mention that it's frustrating? Especially when I get into those stupid appointments and feel like an idiot for not being able to get this stupid piece of plastic that's theoretically the same size as the one I'm wearing fit on my stupid (but nice, I will admit that,) teeth. Sigh.
Ok, so I've seen this floating around recently, but only just now watched it. It's Danny Bonaduce basically going off on some dude I've never heard of who's trying to get him to agree that the whole war in Iraq and such is BS and a lie and blah blah blah, all that stuff liberals like to argue. It's pretty funny. If you have about three minutes, go watch it. Made me laugh a bit.
Well, unfortunately I do have to go to work tomorrow, so I should go to bed fairly soon. I won't, but I should. I want to read some more Harry Potter first too. And I have an eye appointment at 11:15. And it's apparently going to snow tomorrow into Friday, but I tend to think people might be overplaying this one just because of last week and how hard it hit, so they're overhyping this so it might not seem as bad or something. So I bet it just won't be very bad at all, and we'll get like two inches or something. Not the 10-16 they're currently predicting for the Springs. But who knows. Perhaps tomorrow night on my way home I might be lucky enough to get stuck, if the roads have gotten bad by then. Roads that have still not quite recovered fully from last week's blizzard. Good times. Would be awesome if it was pretty bad toward the afternoon hours, and then maybe the mall would close early again. Although I somehow doubt that'll happen. You never know though. Just four more days...four more days. Perhaps five, if I decide to work next Tuesday, which I might just for the money.
Ok. Harry Potter time. Yay! (Even if the book is all water-logged and crinkley and such from the water damage. Stupid USPS.)
Ok, so I've seen this floating around recently, but only just now watched it. It's Danny Bonaduce basically going off on some dude I've never heard of who's trying to get him to agree that the whole war in Iraq and such is BS and a lie and blah blah blah, all that stuff liberals like to argue. It's pretty funny. If you have about three minutes, go watch it. Made me laugh a bit.
Well, unfortunately I do have to go to work tomorrow, so I should go to bed fairly soon. I won't, but I should. I want to read some more Harry Potter first too. And I have an eye appointment at 11:15. And it's apparently going to snow tomorrow into Friday, but I tend to think people might be overplaying this one just because of last week and how hard it hit, so they're overhyping this so it might not seem as bad or something. So I bet it just won't be very bad at all, and we'll get like two inches or something. Not the 10-16 they're currently predicting for the Springs. But who knows. Perhaps tomorrow night on my way home I might be lucky enough to get stuck, if the roads have gotten bad by then. Roads that have still not quite recovered fully from last week's blizzard. Good times. Would be awesome if it was pretty bad toward the afternoon hours, and then maybe the mall would close early again. Although I somehow doubt that'll happen. You never know though. Just four more days...four more days. Perhaps five, if I decide to work next Tuesday, which I might just for the money.
Ok. Harry Potter time. Yay! (Even if the book is all water-logged and crinkley and such from the water damage. Stupid USPS.)
Here's hoping
Well, I just got back from the post office. After standing in line for probably close to half an hour, although maybe not really that long, the guy was very nice but told me that I need to get the original mailing receipt from the sender to get any compensation for the damage. As well as a receipt showing the total value. So I'm just hoping she still has both, but particularly the mailing receipt. I just send her an email asking her about it, so we'll see. Ah well. It wasn't totally unexpected, as that's what the website said. Although I don't really understand it, as the customer copy that she'll have is the same as what I have on the package. As far as I know anyway. Oh well. Hopefully it'll still work out. Stupid USPS.
Update!
Remember that post I made last week, with the title of "Snow Pictures"? Well, I finally got the pictures to upload! So go check them out. There's some from that night (Wednesday night, the worst of the two days), and then some from the next morning and day. Good times.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Good news
Today Dad went over to Cathy's, where much of our Christmas trash was taken as our trash people didn't come last week (they normally come Thursdays, we got a call that said because of the snow and whatnot they'd be a day behind, but then they never ended up coming). So our trash can is currently pretty much full. Anyway, one of the bags of Christmas trash that was taken had the bag from the post office that my Harry Potter books were in, so Dad went to see if he could find it. Well, he did, thankfully. So I was just going to take it to the post office, along with the books, and hope that they'd be nice to me. I picked it up tonight, and happened to see a thing on the back--a printed thing that says "your item has been damaged" etc. I was quite happy to see that. They better not give me a hard time--I have proof right there that they damaged it, and that it was an express thing--which they say on their website qualifies for filing a complaint or something. So I'm planning on going down there tomorrow and attempting to get something for my troubles. Despite the lack of an original receipt. So that made me pretty happy.
Know what else made me happy? At Christmas Eve Mass, we sang O Come, All Ye Faithful at one point, a song I quite enjoy. I especially enjoy it in Latin, but didn't expect it--but then after the three verses we had in English, the fourth was the Latin version of the first verse! Of course, literally translated it's a bit different, but lovely. It was funny--there are two words in that Latin verse with G's in them, and as I've been used to pronouncing classical Latin as opposed to church Latin, I was pronouncing those as hard Gs instead of soft. Well the first one anyway, and then I remembered and I think I did the second one right. But anyway. The whole thing just made me so happy. The Latin-sung versions of O Come O Come Emmanuel and O Come All Ye Faithful are two of my favorite Christmas songs. Seriously. They just sound so lovely and wonderful.
I'm so excited to get a class ring. I hope I still can, and I hope I don't have to wait a long time after ordering it.
Did you know that on Christmas and the feast of the Annunciation we're supposed to genuflect during the Nicene Creed, the part where on every other Sunday, etc, we're supposed to bow? ("By the power of the holy spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man"--the Incarnation.) I had only found this out a few months ago, as in my church you're lucky if there's maybe a dozen who actually bow during normal Mass. I wanted to genuflect when we were there on Sunday night, but talk about sticking out like a sore thumb. Of course, we were in the next to last row practically, but still. Maybe one of these days I'll not feel like I'm sticking out when I do things like not holding hands at the Our Father, or receiving on the tongue (actually I really don't give that a second thought anymore, as I've been doing it for over a year now and am quite comfortable with it, and most people probably don't notice anyway. And I always receive from the priest (usually) so it's not awkward like it is sometimes with EMHCs. Anyhoo. Have I mentioned how excited I am to go back to the Basilica? (Although, sometimes it's almost harder to receive from a priest there, because of how big it is and sometimes they don't have a lot of priests doing communion and such, and yeah.) Cannot wait. I may begin going to the 10:30 Sunday Mass instead of the 11:45 one I normally go to when I'm at school. Who knows.
It's funny. Or not. But normally, the thought of going back to school in a few weeks might cause some feelings of apprehension in me. The thought of leaving here and whatnot. And while I do know I'll miss my family, and my pets (what will Colt lay on when I'm gone???), and all that jazz, but for the most part I'm just so excited to get back. And I know that it's even more so because I will be on campus, no matter where it is. I'd have a lot more apprehension if I was off campus somewhere. But anyway. I'm excited, and that makes me really happy.
Know what's weird? If Holy Days of Obligation fall on Mondays (with a few exceptions, of course, obviously Christmas being one of them), you're not required to go on Monday. They wrap it into the Mass for the Sunday previous, I guess. I don't really understand that, beyond people don't want to go to Mass twice in two days and so the USCCB or something decided to make it easy on people and do it like that. I guess I could look it up somewhere, but I don't want to right now. All I know is I think it's weird. (The reason I'm thinking of this now is that normally New Year's Day is an HDO, but this year it's not as it falls on a Monday. I think I still want to try to go, though. Like I would ever really not want to go to Mass on any given day.)
I got this pair of earrings from Brenda at work the other day. They're dangly ones, of course, and they're pink stones with a few red ones mixed in. Which is funny, because just that day I had been thinking I didn't have any pink earrings. And they happened to match the shirt I was wearing Christmas Eve quite perfectly. Now, the not so great thing: The metal is gold colored. I'm much more of a silver jewelry person, generally, and thus don't have nearly as many gold necklaces. So I was looking for a jewelry box I have, that I know contains at least one or two gold necklaces I own. For a good two hours, I turned my room upside down, as well as looking other places, but could not find the box. I have no idea where it is, and I'm worried I lost it in transit at one of the three out of town trips I've taken this semester. I don't remember the last time I saw it, as I tend not to change the jewelry I wear very often, except for special occasions mostly, but yeah. I have no idea. It's really troubling. I mean, I don't think I had any favorite pieces in there or anything, but I did love the jewelry box, and I'm sure I had at least a few nostalgic things in there. I really really hope I find it. No idea where I'd find it, but it's gotta be somewhere, right? I'll be so sad if I can't. But back to the original topic, I decided today to look in the store where Brenda bought me those earrings to see if they had a necklace to match. Didn't look that hard, but I didn't see anything right away. But yeah. I don't know what the point of writing this all is.
I need to get some sleep soon, I think. Thankfully I have nothing to do tomorrow, except for Katie's, and I think we're going to see the Pursuit of Happyness tomorrow night. And I'm going to get down to the post office at some point tomorrow too. I'm looking forward to no responsibilities for the morrow, though.
Apparently Gerald Ford died tonight/today sometime. They broke in to Law and Order at about 9:50 with a "special report," but only had basics and whatnot. I wonder if tomorrow will be anything like the day after Reagan died, TV-wise. I somehow doubt it. Man, I was really sad when Reagan died for some reason. It's weird how some deaths like that hit me hard, but a lot of them I couldn't really care less about. Ok, maybe that's not true and that's a little mean to say, but there's so many people who die that it's just hard to put a whole lot of emotion into them all. But every once in awhile, for who knows what reason, one will break through the wall and make me feel. But I don't think this will be one. I mean, I doubt most, if anyone, would put Ford anywhere near Reagan, and yeah. Yes, it's sad, but he was 93. It's not like he was really young, or this was really unexpected or anything. Anyway. But there it is. A former president of the United States, the 38th, died, and respect should be paid.
And now off to bed soon.
Know what else made me happy? At Christmas Eve Mass, we sang O Come, All Ye Faithful at one point, a song I quite enjoy. I especially enjoy it in Latin, but didn't expect it--but then after the three verses we had in English, the fourth was the Latin version of the first verse! Of course, literally translated it's a bit different, but lovely. It was funny--there are two words in that Latin verse with G's in them, and as I've been used to pronouncing classical Latin as opposed to church Latin, I was pronouncing those as hard Gs instead of soft. Well the first one anyway, and then I remembered and I think I did the second one right. But anyway. The whole thing just made me so happy. The Latin-sung versions of O Come O Come Emmanuel and O Come All Ye Faithful are two of my favorite Christmas songs. Seriously. They just sound so lovely and wonderful.
I'm so excited to get a class ring. I hope I still can, and I hope I don't have to wait a long time after ordering it.
Did you know that on Christmas and the feast of the Annunciation we're supposed to genuflect during the Nicene Creed, the part where on every other Sunday, etc, we're supposed to bow? ("By the power of the holy spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man"--the Incarnation.) I had only found this out a few months ago, as in my church you're lucky if there's maybe a dozen who actually bow during normal Mass. I wanted to genuflect when we were there on Sunday night, but talk about sticking out like a sore thumb. Of course, we were in the next to last row practically, but still. Maybe one of these days I'll not feel like I'm sticking out when I do things like not holding hands at the Our Father, or receiving on the tongue (actually I really don't give that a second thought anymore, as I've been doing it for over a year now and am quite comfortable with it, and most people probably don't notice anyway. And I always receive from the priest (usually) so it's not awkward like it is sometimes with EMHCs. Anyhoo. Have I mentioned how excited I am to go back to the Basilica? (Although, sometimes it's almost harder to receive from a priest there, because of how big it is and sometimes they don't have a lot of priests doing communion and such, and yeah.) Cannot wait. I may begin going to the 10:30 Sunday Mass instead of the 11:45 one I normally go to when I'm at school. Who knows.
It's funny. Or not. But normally, the thought of going back to school in a few weeks might cause some feelings of apprehension in me. The thought of leaving here and whatnot. And while I do know I'll miss my family, and my pets (what will Colt lay on when I'm gone???), and all that jazz, but for the most part I'm just so excited to get back. And I know that it's even more so because I will be on campus, no matter where it is. I'd have a lot more apprehension if I was off campus somewhere. But anyway. I'm excited, and that makes me really happy.
Know what's weird? If Holy Days of Obligation fall on Mondays (with a few exceptions, of course, obviously Christmas being one of them), you're not required to go on Monday. They wrap it into the Mass for the Sunday previous, I guess. I don't really understand that, beyond people don't want to go to Mass twice in two days and so the USCCB or something decided to make it easy on people and do it like that. I guess I could look it up somewhere, but I don't want to right now. All I know is I think it's weird. (The reason I'm thinking of this now is that normally New Year's Day is an HDO, but this year it's not as it falls on a Monday. I think I still want to try to go, though. Like I would ever really not want to go to Mass on any given day.)
I got this pair of earrings from Brenda at work the other day. They're dangly ones, of course, and they're pink stones with a few red ones mixed in. Which is funny, because just that day I had been thinking I didn't have any pink earrings. And they happened to match the shirt I was wearing Christmas Eve quite perfectly. Now, the not so great thing: The metal is gold colored. I'm much more of a silver jewelry person, generally, and thus don't have nearly as many gold necklaces. So I was looking for a jewelry box I have, that I know contains at least one or two gold necklaces I own. For a good two hours, I turned my room upside down, as well as looking other places, but could not find the box. I have no idea where it is, and I'm worried I lost it in transit at one of the three out of town trips I've taken this semester. I don't remember the last time I saw it, as I tend not to change the jewelry I wear very often, except for special occasions mostly, but yeah. I have no idea. It's really troubling. I mean, I don't think I had any favorite pieces in there or anything, but I did love the jewelry box, and I'm sure I had at least a few nostalgic things in there. I really really hope I find it. No idea where I'd find it, but it's gotta be somewhere, right? I'll be so sad if I can't. But back to the original topic, I decided today to look in the store where Brenda bought me those earrings to see if they had a necklace to match. Didn't look that hard, but I didn't see anything right away. But yeah. I don't know what the point of writing this all is.
I need to get some sleep soon, I think. Thankfully I have nothing to do tomorrow, except for Katie's, and I think we're going to see the Pursuit of Happyness tomorrow night. And I'm going to get down to the post office at some point tomorrow too. I'm looking forward to no responsibilities for the morrow, though.
Apparently Gerald Ford died tonight/today sometime. They broke in to Law and Order at about 9:50 with a "special report," but only had basics and whatnot. I wonder if tomorrow will be anything like the day after Reagan died, TV-wise. I somehow doubt it. Man, I was really sad when Reagan died for some reason. It's weird how some deaths like that hit me hard, but a lot of them I couldn't really care less about. Ok, maybe that's not true and that's a little mean to say, but there's so many people who die that it's just hard to put a whole lot of emotion into them all. But every once in awhile, for who knows what reason, one will break through the wall and make me feel. But I don't think this will be one. I mean, I doubt most, if anyone, would put Ford anywhere near Reagan, and yeah. Yes, it's sad, but he was 93. It's not like he was really young, or this was really unexpected or anything. Anyway. But there it is. A former president of the United States, the 38th, died, and respect should be paid.
And now off to bed soon.
Tired
Tired of work (yet still wanting more money), tired of customers, tired of people, tired of the mall, tired of lack of sleep (my fault or not), tired of having a dirty car that used to be white. I'm just tired right now.
Sigh. So glad I have tomorrow off. I plan on sleeping in and doing nothing all day long. Twill be wondermous.
Sigh. So glad I have tomorrow off. I plan on sleeping in and doing nothing all day long. Twill be wondermous.
Monday, December 25, 2006
So, I have to be at work in 8 hours. Not I have to wake up in 8 hours, but I have to be there actually 7 hours and 50 minutes from right now. Isn't that fun? So that means I should wake up in less than 7 hours at the latest. Which is terribly exciting, of course. At least I only have to work until noon, and at least...um I forgot what else might be good about it. I may stop by a store in the mall before I leave (namely, Claires, possibly to exchange a thing of 6 pairs of earrings I got today), depending on how crazy things are. And also depending on that, I may or may not go to Barnes and Noble before heading home as well, to see if there's anything they can do for me. (Working at Wilsons, and hating returns, I feel bad returning anything--although it's exchanging, not returning, and if it's true that they just send stuff like that back, then I guess I don't feel that badly about it.) But if things seem crazy, I might just wait a day or two. I don't know if tomorrow's a day a lot of people have off, but if it's not, then I would hope noonish wouldn't be too bad. But I don't know. I'm also hoping work won't be crazy, as I'll be too exhausted to be able to deal with it very well I think. I can't handle lots of people being in the store at one time, especially when I'm exhausted. I have to be there at 6 to do price changes and crap, we open at 8 and it's just me and Michael until 10, I believe, when Cassy comes in. And then I leave at 12. So I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
I think I was going to say something else, but I don't remember what...hm. Oh yeah. It may have been something along the lines of Bing is such a cool name. (As in Bing Crosby. Whose real name is apparently Harry.) I want to name my kid Bing. haha. Ok not really.
Guess it's off to bed for me, folks.
I think I was going to say something else, but I don't remember what...hm. Oh yeah. It may have been something along the lines of Bing is such a cool name. (As in Bing Crosby. Whose real name is apparently Harry.) I want to name my kid Bing. haha. Ok not really.
Guess it's off to bed for me, folks.
Christmas
Today's been a pretty good day so far. Woke up around 8:30, went downstairs, we opened presents and such, and I'm am quite satisfied with my stash for the most part, so that's good. (Including and especially this awesome book that my parents got me, "Common Phrases and where they came from" or something along those lines. It's very awesome. And she told me about this other book she saw there, Woe is I, and after reading a bit about it on Amazon, I'm seriously considering buying it. Hehe. Good times.) Then we ate some breakfast and such, and after a little while I dozed off on the couch (well, actually it was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch, with my head laying on the seat part of the couch). Woke up a bit later (I have no idea how long I was there), and decided to go up to bed to sleep for a little longer. set my alarm for like an hour later, but then turned it off when it went off and slept for a bit more than an hour after that. Got up, took a shower and such, went downstairs and didn't do a whole lot else after that. Some knitting and such. Good times.
Now, I do have one complaint today. I absolutely loathe the USPS. I know, they give us mail and crap, whatever. They suck. I got a special delivery package today (before I was even awake), my present from the secret santa we do with the cousins on Dad's side, and it's pretty nice of them to deliver today, although because of my feelings on having to work holidays, I definitely don't fault anyone taking today off. Now, the present is awesome. It's the first three of the Harry Potter books, so I'm quite excited. But they were wet! My cousin had wrapped them each separately, in wrapping paper obviously, and then they were tied together with a ribbon, and put in a plastic bag. And then on top of that was a plastic bag thing from the USPS, with the address label and such on it. So somehow, recently, somewhere in transit, they got wet. And they're paperback, so it kind of screwed them up a little. I mean, they're still readable of course, but the covers are just messed up looking. And there's general water damage. Now, apparently if I bring in the packaging, as well as the original receipt thing, I can apply for like a damage thing or something, since it was an express package. Two problems with this though: I noticed this after I had thrown out the packaging and such, and I obviously don't have the receipt. I could probably get it from my cousin, but that's assuming she still has it. And it's just a pain. I hate the post office. Of course, I don't really know if it's their fault, but I do seem to remember the post office bag it was in being open before I opened it. So I'm blaming them, because we all know that there's no love lost between me and the post office. I refuse to trust them, or to like them, and given a choice I'll always pick UPS over the USPS.
So there.
I'm going to try and bring them to Barnes and Noble, because according to Tom they don't care and they just send them back anyway. So I'll try that. Otherwise, I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Kinda sucks, but I guess that's life with the USPS.
Now, I do have one complaint today. I absolutely loathe the USPS. I know, they give us mail and crap, whatever. They suck. I got a special delivery package today (before I was even awake), my present from the secret santa we do with the cousins on Dad's side, and it's pretty nice of them to deliver today, although because of my feelings on having to work holidays, I definitely don't fault anyone taking today off. Now, the present is awesome. It's the first three of the Harry Potter books, so I'm quite excited. But they were wet! My cousin had wrapped them each separately, in wrapping paper obviously, and then they were tied together with a ribbon, and put in a plastic bag. And then on top of that was a plastic bag thing from the USPS, with the address label and such on it. So somehow, recently, somewhere in transit, they got wet. And they're paperback, so it kind of screwed them up a little. I mean, they're still readable of course, but the covers are just messed up looking. And there's general water damage. Now, apparently if I bring in the packaging, as well as the original receipt thing, I can apply for like a damage thing or something, since it was an express package. Two problems with this though: I noticed this after I had thrown out the packaging and such, and I obviously don't have the receipt. I could probably get it from my cousin, but that's assuming she still has it. And it's just a pain. I hate the post office. Of course, I don't really know if it's their fault, but I do seem to remember the post office bag it was in being open before I opened it. So I'm blaming them, because we all know that there's no love lost between me and the post office. I refuse to trust them, or to like them, and given a choice I'll always pick UPS over the USPS.
So there.
I'm going to try and bring them to Barnes and Noble, because according to Tom they don't care and they just send them back anyway. So I'll try that. Otherwise, I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Kinda sucks, but I guess that's life with the USPS.
Merry Christmas!
Hope you all have a great Christmas! (And I hope I do too!) Kinda can't believe it's already Christmas, yet again, but that's the way things go. Hooray, Jesus is born!
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Dreams
One of my life dreams is to receive Communion from the Pope. Wouldn't that be amazing? I think it would be, anyway. But even to be at a Mass said by the Pope would be pretty awesome too. I wonder how you get to be one of the people who receives from the Pope's line. I guess it might depend on when you get there or something. Not sure. Either way. I hope to be able to go to Rome some day and experience at least the Mass part.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Good job, Starbucks people
So, I went to Starbucks tonight, right? On one of their chalkboards, they had this thing, you can like buy a pound (or something) of coffee, and they'll send it overseas to the soldiers. Or something like that. Only, they had misspelled "soldiers." It was spelled "soilders" and it made me laugh a little bit. Inwardly of course. But you'd think they'd notice that, and perhaps want to change it. Maybe I should have told someone, but I didn't think of that once I got up to the counter. Oh well.
Seriously.
Ok. Who doesn't want Captain Von Trapp? Especially when being played by (a 1960s) Christopher Plummer.
Best movie ever. (Julie Andrews is pretty freaking awesome too, by the by. In a different way, of course. hehe.)
Best movie ever. (Julie Andrews is pretty freaking awesome too, by the by. In a different way, of course. hehe.)
Great days always follow crappy ones, right?
Today just sucked. Very little about it didn't suck. And very little about it lived up to any expectations I had previous to today. Started with Blackie throwing up (or hairballing) on my bed. Third time that's happened in the last few months. And it was between the time I woke up and the time I got back into my room after my shower. Very very irritating. The bright side is it makes me wash my sheets, which I have a bad habit of not doing very often. (For a germophobe, there are certain things many others might find gross that don't bother me at all. Which I find interesting.) And then, of course work sucked (although it was nice getting there at 8:30 and not having to deal with any traffic--not a single car in front of me driving through the parking lot). It was busy, and thus a little stressful, but really not too bad--poor Brenda though, she started feeling sick yesterday and is even worse today, and she thinks she has the flu or something. So now I'm quite worried I'm going to get it. Oh well. Sad story though, work was probably the best part of my day. How's that for a great day, huh? Afterward I was supposed to go shopping with my sister, but that ended up getting postponed like an hour and a half and it was all just crappy and such, and then by the time we met up at the mall we had like an hour and a half because I had to go to the 5:30 Mass thanks to working 7-12 tomorrow morning (although that was my choice, as it was either that or work until close at 6 and I definitely didn't want to do that), so argh. And Mass was, well, it was Mass I guess. One good thing about the Advent changes they've made the past four weeks is the inclusion of incense at the beginning of Mass, during or after the candle lighting. I do love incense. But beyond that, it was Mass. Which is nice, but...well we all know what I'm thinking about that. Plus I was exhausted and had a very hard time keeping my eyes open for a little while. Which always bothers me when that happens, anywhere.
And after Mass, the one thing I was really looking forward to today was Sound of Music, which last time I had checked, I thought started at 7pm. It was 7 when we got home, I turned it on, and it was already a good bit into the movie. It must have started at 6. I was quite disappointed. (EDIT: TVguide.com says it started at 7. Maybe it was already like five minutes in, and I thought it was more. Oh well.) But then I decided to go to Blockbuster, so after I got my car from the church parking lot (as I had accidentally locked my keys inside my car, I think for the first time ever--luckily Peter and I had met Mom and Dad at church so we could go home with them), I went to Blockbuster, got Sound of Music, and then went to Starbucks as I wanted to go at least once more before Christmas to get their Christmas flavor. Specifically gingerbread latte. I wanted to go at the mall today, but the line was long. And then I got home and everyone had eaten without me, so I decided to be pissy again, because it was just one more thing. Cathy was mad at me for being mad, like she was mad at me for being mad at her earlier in the day, but I just wasn't in a good mood today. I'm allowed to be mad once in awhile. Plus I think I'm a bit emotionally sensitive today, if you know what I mean.
I don't know, I just felt very...unimportant today. Like a second thought, or not a thought at all. I hate that. Sometimes it's just like, why am I even here? Why do I try to hold on to things? Why do I look forward to things? Why do I attempt to keep things traditional or habit? Why do I try? Why do I expect to matter much to anyone? I don't know. I'm just not in a mood to be understanding or kind right now. I kind of just want to cry.
At least Starbucks and Sound of Music always make me happy. And I do think this might be the first time, or one of a very few times, that I've seen Sound of Music on a real video, as opposed just to on TV.
Here's hoping the next few days are better by leaps and bounds. Despite the ever-constant presence of work. Stupid, stupid work. I know I need money and all, but seriously. It's starting to make me go crazy a little bit. I cannot wait to be done. And yet, sadly, I still have to go for another two weeks. Stupid 12 hours after New Years. Argh.
Well, before I find something else to complain about, I'll end this.
And after Mass, the one thing I was really looking forward to today was Sound of Music, which last time I had checked, I thought started at 7pm. It was 7 when we got home, I turned it on, and it was already a good bit into the movie. It must have started at 6. I was quite disappointed. (EDIT: TVguide.com says it started at 7. Maybe it was already like five minutes in, and I thought it was more. Oh well.) But then I decided to go to Blockbuster, so after I got my car from the church parking lot (as I had accidentally locked my keys inside my car, I think for the first time ever--luckily Peter and I had met Mom and Dad at church so we could go home with them), I went to Blockbuster, got Sound of Music, and then went to Starbucks as I wanted to go at least once more before Christmas to get their Christmas flavor. Specifically gingerbread latte. I wanted to go at the mall today, but the line was long. And then I got home and everyone had eaten without me, so I decided to be pissy again, because it was just one more thing. Cathy was mad at me for being mad, like she was mad at me for being mad at her earlier in the day, but I just wasn't in a good mood today. I'm allowed to be mad once in awhile. Plus I think I'm a bit emotionally sensitive today, if you know what I mean.
I don't know, I just felt very...unimportant today. Like a second thought, or not a thought at all. I hate that. Sometimes it's just like, why am I even here? Why do I try to hold on to things? Why do I look forward to things? Why do I attempt to keep things traditional or habit? Why do I try? Why do I expect to matter much to anyone? I don't know. I'm just not in a mood to be understanding or kind right now. I kind of just want to cry.
At least Starbucks and Sound of Music always make me happy. And I do think this might be the first time, or one of a very few times, that I've seen Sound of Music on a real video, as opposed just to on TV.
Here's hoping the next few days are better by leaps and bounds. Despite the ever-constant presence of work. Stupid, stupid work. I know I need money and all, but seriously. It's starting to make me go crazy a little bit. I cannot wait to be done. And yet, sadly, I still have to go for another two weeks. Stupid 12 hours after New Years. Argh.
Well, before I find something else to complain about, I'll end this.
Crowded malls and emtpy Village Inns
So, funny story. I thought it would be a good idea to leave a little early today, given the fact that the roads still aren't exactly up to snuff, and quite a number still don't have the amount of lanes they generally do thanks to big snowbanks blocking a lane here and there. Not to mention still-abandoned (and now quite buried, thanks to the snowplows) cars. Anyway. So I was driving along, had gotten on Academy, turned onto Union, and had just passed Woodmen, and I was doing great. At that point I was on track to get to work at least 20 minutes early, since the drive up to then really hadn't been any slower than a normal day. And then halfway up the hill between Woodmen and Briargate Blvd, the traffic began. The left lane was filled to about the halfway point between the two lights, and everyone was waiting to turn left onto Briargate. After maybe three or four cycles, I finally got to turn. I wasn't frustrated or anything by that point since I had plenty of time and like less than a mile to go. Drove down Briargate, and then hit more traffic. Lots of cars. But that didn't take too long, to get from there to the road surrounding the mall parking lot And then I got stopped. Thanks to that snow, one of the two lanes on the side of the road I was on was blocked, so that made traffic go even slower. And there were lots of cars. And people were trying to get into and out of the parking lot. And it was crazy. I figured I might as well just cut my losses, go park in one of the overflow lots instead of driving around trying to find a spots, and walk a bit farther than normal. So I did that. And then I had to walk along the side of the road (a part of the plan I hadn't thought over very well, as I should have gone this different direction when walking as it would have put me in the parking lot and out of the road faster. Oh well. As it was I did get a little slush splashed onto my freshly washed (just last night) khakis. But I shall survive. twas just annoying. Oh, and seeing empty spots as I was walking sure didn't help either. And after all that, I ended up being like five minutes late to work. ugh. I gotta say, traffic at Citadel seems to flow much better than Chapel Hills. Or maybe I just picked the crappiest way to go. I don't know. Either way, it was a long cold walk back to my car after work tonight. But I survived, and all is grand.
I haven't laughed, like really really laughed really hard, in quite awhile. I realized this tonight, and it makes me a little sad. Perhaps sometime this weekend, I shall get the opportunity. My family's usually good for that. Even if the laughing does come from them making fun of one of the "remember when Susie did that" stories. Hehe. Always fun, right? I love my family.
I walked around the mall a bit tonight during my break, and on my way back I passed a guy wearing a green Fisher sweatshirt. As in, Fisher Hall at ND. It was cool. It's one of those sweatshirts you wouldn't really get or recognize unless you go there. Like my Cavanaugh one. It just made me smile though.
I went to Village Inn with Lauren after work. Twas quite fun. She's fun. I hadn't seen her since she left for school in August, so it was fun. I enjoyed it immensely. Sadly the other two (Kristina and Kaleena) couldn't make it. But the four of us will be reunited at least once this Christmas break, or else. Man, we better. I'll be quite sad otherwise.
Hm. Well I have to be at work at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Isn't that grand? And I get to stay until 2 now, instead of 1. Even better. (I am slightly sad that I won't have 30 hours this week, thanks to yesterday, but oh well.) After I get off, me and Cathy are going to meet at the Citadel and go shopping for a few hours, and then I have to go to the 5:30 Mass as it's the only Sunday-obligation fulfilling Mass I can make this weekend. Since I have to work 7am-12pm Sunday morning. Which is lovely, no? I do wish I could go twice on Sunday. That'd be fun. I don't really like going Saturday night. Alas.
Man I'm going to be tired next week. Last night I didn't get much sleep, thanks to staying up until after 4 because I wanted to wait up for Peter, who didn't get in until 3:30 this morning (oh yeah, Peter came home for Christmas! Flew from Alabama to Dallas on Wednesday, and then obviously his Dallas to CS flight was cancelled, so he got put definitely on a flight on Christmas, and then could do standby until then, but yesterday he and a guy from his company who also lives here decided to rent a car which they got for quite cheap thanks to a chance meeting on Wednesday, and then they drove here yesterday. And it took much longer than it normally would have, thanks to the snowy roads and such, and a 2 hour wait after getting stuck behind an accident. But he made it home, finally, this morning). Woke up earlier than I normally would have this morning, for whatever reason, and have been tired all day. And I'm not going to get enough sleep tonight, as it's almost 1am, and I have to wake up at probably 7 or so. Is that right? Yeah, 7 should be good. Let's see if I can actually make myself do it though. And then tomorrow night...if I can get to bed at a decent hour (ha, yeah), but then I have to be at work at 7 so I doubt there's any reasonable scenario in which I'd get enough sleep tomorrow night. And then I never sleep much Christmas Eve, just because. Not because I'm all excited like I was when I was a little kid, just because...I don't. Wrapping presents and such. Yeah. And then the day after Christmas I have to be at work at 6. Ick.
Well, guess I should go get in whatever sleep I can tonight. Goodbye, my lovelies.
I haven't laughed, like really really laughed really hard, in quite awhile. I realized this tonight, and it makes me a little sad. Perhaps sometime this weekend, I shall get the opportunity. My family's usually good for that. Even if the laughing does come from them making fun of one of the "remember when Susie did that" stories. Hehe. Always fun, right? I love my family.
I walked around the mall a bit tonight during my break, and on my way back I passed a guy wearing a green Fisher sweatshirt. As in, Fisher Hall at ND. It was cool. It's one of those sweatshirts you wouldn't really get or recognize unless you go there. Like my Cavanaugh one. It just made me smile though.
I went to Village Inn with Lauren after work. Twas quite fun. She's fun. I hadn't seen her since she left for school in August, so it was fun. I enjoyed it immensely. Sadly the other two (Kristina and Kaleena) couldn't make it. But the four of us will be reunited at least once this Christmas break, or else. Man, we better. I'll be quite sad otherwise.
Hm. Well I have to be at work at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Isn't that grand? And I get to stay until 2 now, instead of 1. Even better. (I am slightly sad that I won't have 30 hours this week, thanks to yesterday, but oh well.) After I get off, me and Cathy are going to meet at the Citadel and go shopping for a few hours, and then I have to go to the 5:30 Mass as it's the only Sunday-obligation fulfilling Mass I can make this weekend. Since I have to work 7am-12pm Sunday morning. Which is lovely, no? I do wish I could go twice on Sunday. That'd be fun. I don't really like going Saturday night. Alas.
Man I'm going to be tired next week. Last night I didn't get much sleep, thanks to staying up until after 4 because I wanted to wait up for Peter, who didn't get in until 3:30 this morning (oh yeah, Peter came home for Christmas! Flew from Alabama to Dallas on Wednesday, and then obviously his Dallas to CS flight was cancelled, so he got put definitely on a flight on Christmas, and then could do standby until then, but yesterday he and a guy from his company who also lives here decided to rent a car which they got for quite cheap thanks to a chance meeting on Wednesday, and then they drove here yesterday. And it took much longer than it normally would have, thanks to the snowy roads and such, and a 2 hour wait after getting stuck behind an accident. But he made it home, finally, this morning). Woke up earlier than I normally would have this morning, for whatever reason, and have been tired all day. And I'm not going to get enough sleep tonight, as it's almost 1am, and I have to wake up at probably 7 or so. Is that right? Yeah, 7 should be good. Let's see if I can actually make myself do it though. And then tomorrow night...if I can get to bed at a decent hour (ha, yeah), but then I have to be at work at 7 so I doubt there's any reasonable scenario in which I'd get enough sleep tomorrow night. And then I never sleep much Christmas Eve, just because. Not because I'm all excited like I was when I was a little kid, just because...I don't. Wrapping presents and such. Yeah. And then the day after Christmas I have to be at work at 6. Ick.
Well, guess I should go get in whatever sleep I can tonight. Goodbye, my lovelies.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Ick
I just checked my schedule for today, when I'm supposed to be at work, because I couldn't remember if it was 4 or 4:30. Well, good thing I looked, because it's actually 3:30. Ain't that lovely? Sigh. Six hours just seems so much more...doable than seven. Even if it's really only 6.5. If I have to be there seven hours I'd much rather skip out on lunch (as I probably won't eat anyway), and just get paid for that extra half hour. Not like he'll go over on payroll or anything, since there's a day and a half that no one got paid for, at all. It just feels like such a waste of time, aimlessly wandering around the mall for half an hour. (And my desire for going shopping at the Citadel just to go doesn't count, as it's being there voluntarily, and being there for the sake of being there--not because I have to be there, or anything like that, and plus wandering around for a few hours is much nicer than wandering around for half an hour. You can't really do anything in half an hour, but you can find plenty to do with a few hours.) The few things I have still to get I can't get at the mall anyway, as far as I know. But I have a feeling I might will be able to use a break come time for it, as I have a feeling it'll be ridiculous today. I can only hope that no one wants to buy leather, because I just can't handle the busy-ness. Not at all. Makes my stress level go through the roof, especially when you get those people who are impatient and get pissed just because they have to wait in line, and then you're not quick as a flash ringing them up. Jerks. Working in retail sure makes you appreciate everyone else who works in retail. Not that I've ever really been jerky to sales people, as far as I know, because I always prefer it when people are amiable to one another. I dislike it when I get a pissed off salesperson just as much as I dislike having to help a pissed off customer. Perhaps even more so with the customer, though, because they have no reason to be pissy with us. Salespeople get stressed, and have to deal with said customers, so I can much more understand their frustration. But customers have no right to get pissed just because we don't have the exact briefcase they're looking for, or just because we don't have another medium of that style in the back because this one has a little wrinkle or a teeny tiny dot of discoloration that no one would likely ever notice. Argh.
Can you tell how much I'm looking forward to going into work today? Whoo boy let me tell you. But I guess I should get going soon, as I had wanted to stop at the library on the way--that might not happen, though. Depends on the roads and my progress and such, I suppose. Argh. I don't want to go to work. Ever again. And I never did get a chance to tell Michael that I definitely can't work on Jan. 3, because when I called the day after he called me, they had already closed, and then we haven't been open since then until today, and I hadn't been thinking about it until just now, so I might as well just wait until I get in there. Although I think he was only working until 1:30 today...guess I'll just have to leave him a note. I have a feeling he already made the schedule, and made it with me working that day, and I have a feeling he might be pissed at me, but I also have a feeling that I don't care and that I gave my two weeks a week ago so that I wouldn't have to work anymore after next week but then I felt bad so I agreed to work an extra 12 hours the next week which I'm realy wishing I hadn't agreed to, so screw him if he's going to be mad at me for not wanting to work during my school's BCS bowl game.
And that's that.
Can you tell how much I'm looking forward to going into work today? Whoo boy let me tell you. But I guess I should get going soon, as I had wanted to stop at the library on the way--that might not happen, though. Depends on the roads and my progress and such, I suppose. Argh. I don't want to go to work. Ever again. And I never did get a chance to tell Michael that I definitely can't work on Jan. 3, because when I called the day after he called me, they had already closed, and then we haven't been open since then until today, and I hadn't been thinking about it until just now, so I might as well just wait until I get in there. Although I think he was only working until 1:30 today...guess I'll just have to leave him a note. I have a feeling he already made the schedule, and made it with me working that day, and I have a feeling he might be pissed at me, but I also have a feeling that I don't care and that I gave my two weeks a week ago so that I wouldn't have to work anymore after next week but then I felt bad so I agreed to work an extra 12 hours the next week which I'm realy wishing I hadn't agreed to, so screw him if he's going to be mad at me for not wanting to work during my school's BCS bowl game.
And that's that.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Snow Thursday
Well, I was in limbo most of the day because first we were opening at 10, and then it was going to be 2pm. I kept checking all day to see if they had decided just to cancel altogether, but alas, no luck. So at 1pm my manager called me as he said he would, and told me that the mall management was going just to stay closed all day, but then people were showing up at the mall or something so they decided to open at 2. I was slightly annoyed at those people, but I had no choice, so yeah. And then like twenty, twenty-five minutes later he called me back and said that he had told the district manager of Wilsons that me and the other sales associate, who was coming in later in the day, either couldn't make it out of our houses or our parents didn't want us to go or something like that (which is partially true, and I wasn't entirely convinced I'd be able to make it to work without getting stuck somewhere on the way--if I could even get out onto my street), and she told him to call the mall and see if there would be a fine for not opening today, but they said there wouldn't be, so we just didn't go in. And how wonderful it is. So I spent the afternoon knitting.
Dad had brought some knitting stuff home this summer that had been stashed away in Grandpop's house, a few needles and quite a few things of yarn (although mostly rather bright colors, so I'm not sure if I'd use them for a real project, but maybe), and I haven't really had any reason to look into it much. But today I finished the projects I had been working on, and didn't have any new yarn or anything new to do, so I decided to pull it out and check it out. And now I'm trying this scarf pattern that I had attempted with my last project but kept messing up. It's going wonderfully now, though. If you're interested, it's this one. Mary Poppins' scarf! I very much like it. So that's exciting. But yeah. Anyone want me to knit them anything? A pillow? A throw? An afghan? A scarf? A shawl? perhaps a hat? Maybe one of these days I'll figure out how to do mittens and socks. Anyhoo.
I discovered today that this black button up sweater I bought from Kohls back in September is quite warm. I was standing outside for a few minutes today, taking some pictures (so fun) while my parents shoveled the driveway (yes I'm a horrible person), and all I was wearing was my jeans, my boots, a long sleeve t-shirt (my Christmas one, with the little dog with the Santa hat!), and the black sweater. My hands were quite cold as they were exposed, but the rest of me was perfectly fine. Particularly my shirt-covered area. It was a little windy, and obviously rather cold (probably in the 20s somewhere, so not really terribly cold), but yeah. So I'm happy about that. I like this sweater.
I don't know what happened about those pictures. I'm quite sad. Hopefully I can figure it out soon.
Dad had brought some knitting stuff home this summer that had been stashed away in Grandpop's house, a few needles and quite a few things of yarn (although mostly rather bright colors, so I'm not sure if I'd use them for a real project, but maybe), and I haven't really had any reason to look into it much. But today I finished the projects I had been working on, and didn't have any new yarn or anything new to do, so I decided to pull it out and check it out. And now I'm trying this scarf pattern that I had attempted with my last project but kept messing up. It's going wonderfully now, though. If you're interested, it's this one. Mary Poppins' scarf! I very much like it. So that's exciting. But yeah. Anyone want me to knit them anything? A pillow? A throw? An afghan? A scarf? A shawl? perhaps a hat? Maybe one of these days I'll figure out how to do mittens and socks. Anyhoo.
I discovered today that this black button up sweater I bought from Kohls back in September is quite warm. I was standing outside for a few minutes today, taking some pictures (so fun) while my parents shoveled the driveway (yes I'm a horrible person), and all I was wearing was my jeans, my boots, a long sleeve t-shirt (my Christmas one, with the little dog with the Santa hat!), and the black sweater. My hands were quite cold as they were exposed, but the rest of me was perfectly fine. Particularly my shirt-covered area. It was a little windy, and obviously rather cold (probably in the 20s somewhere, so not really terribly cold), but yeah. So I'm happy about that. I like this sweater.
I don't know what happened about those pictures. I'm quite sad. Hopefully I can figure it out soon.
Update
Well, the snow continues to fall. Today it's falling a bit more calmly than yesterday, thanks to a much reduced amount and power of wind. Got a call at 7am this morning (oddly enough, like two seconds after my alarm started going off, so I was already out of bed and almost to my phone anyway) and it was Michael saying that we weren't opening until 10. So I set my alarm appropriately, and went back to sleep for a little while. Got out of bed and took a shower and stuff, wondering if we were still opening at 10 (especially as I continued to hear more and more closures and such, I couldn't imagine that we'd still have to go in at 10). When I got out of the shower, I turned on my laptop and checked the chapel hills mall page, and it said they were opening at 2. I checked one more page of updated closures and delays (updates every few minutes or something), and that said 2pm as well. So instead of my stupid work clothes, I put on my comfy clothes. Mmm. Michael called me a little later and told me, and also said he'd give me a call around 1 or so as mall management apparently isn't sure yet if they'll even open at 2. So here's hoping they don't let their pursuit of money come before everything else, and they stay closed. Twould be awesome.
So that's the status as of now. Airports still closed and stuff, I-25 still closed between N. Academy and the south side of Denver as well as, apparently, the south side of Pueblo to the New Mexico border. And lots of highways and such going east from here to like the Kansas and Nebraska borders and such. (Which means if you're stuck here because of a flight cancellation, you're pretty much STUCK here. For today at least.)
Good times. (Unless, of course, you are stuck. Or somewhere else wanting to get here. Because that does suck, and I will admit that.)
So that's the status as of now. Airports still closed and stuff, I-25 still closed between N. Academy and the south side of Denver as well as, apparently, the south side of Pueblo to the New Mexico border. And lots of highways and such going east from here to like the Kansas and Nebraska borders and such. (Which means if you're stuck here because of a flight cancellation, you're pretty much STUCK here. For today at least.)
Good times. (Unless, of course, you are stuck. Or somewhere else wanting to get here. Because that does suck, and I will admit that.)
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Snow pictures!!!
Backyard
That's our garden off to the right of this above one
Our Christmas tree, with the Advent candle thing Dad made showing through the window
Snow and some of our Christmas lights (plus the Advent wreath--the 4th candle obviously wasn't lit yet)
Some of the snow drifts in front of our porch/garage
Drift that formed around the van
Our pretty house, all snow-covered and lit up
My car (and our trash can), getting snowed in
Our porch with the Christmas tree in the window
Snow on the porch--can't tell where it ends and the step is
View of the porch/yard from the doorway
Our pretty Christmas wreath, all covered in snow
View from the living room window (w/tree reflection and all)
Fence in our front yard the next day (notice that the sun was out--a day after one of the worst blizzards we've had in awhile, and the sun can't even stay away a full 2 days)
Drift by the corner of the porch
Fire hydrant in our front yard
Little baby trees almost covered by the snow in our front yard
Snow on our sidewalk
After a bit of shoveling
Hood of my car, snow almost covering the bumper and such
My car, all snowed in, after Dad cleaned it off in case I had to go to work
Our porch (and rocking chair)
Porch swing and table
View from the doorway the morning after (and there's a step somewhere in all that snow, where that pole is)
Backyard the morning after, with snow drifts going halfway up the fence
Car that got stuck in the snow the morning after, right outside our house
Yay snow!
That's our garden off to the right of this above one
Our Christmas tree, with the Advent candle thing Dad made showing through the window
Snow and some of our Christmas lights (plus the Advent wreath--the 4th candle obviously wasn't lit yet)
Some of the snow drifts in front of our porch/garage
Drift that formed around the van
Our pretty house, all snow-covered and lit up
My car (and our trash can), getting snowed in
Our porch with the Christmas tree in the window
Snow on the porch--can't tell where it ends and the step is
View of the porch/yard from the doorway
Our pretty Christmas wreath, all covered in snow
View from the living room window (w/tree reflection and all)
Fence in our front yard the next day (notice that the sun was out--a day after one of the worst blizzards we've had in awhile, and the sun can't even stay away a full 2 days)
Drift by the corner of the porch
Fire hydrant in our front yard
Little baby trees almost covered by the snow in our front yard
Snow on our sidewalk
After a bit of shoveling
Hood of my car, snow almost covering the bumper and such
My car, all snowed in, after Dad cleaned it off in case I had to go to work
Our porch (and rocking chair)
Porch swing and table
View from the doorway the morning after (and there's a step somewhere in all that snow, where that pole is)
Backyard the morning after, with snow drifts going halfway up the fence
Car that got stuck in the snow the morning after, right outside our houseYay snow!
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