Posts (page 2)
I'm excited because finally, within the next three weeks or so, I'm supposed to be getting the rest of my stuff from home moved up to my apartment (the load spread is anytime from now to July 8, so I'm not sure exactly when this event will be. Plus, I have to see if my family can sign all the paperwork in my absence because there's no way I can leave work. Hmm.) And I'm finally going to get my bookcases! Yeah!
Now that I will have a place to put my books and other items where I want them, it made me think of things I want to put onto these bookcases. With my fun student loan repayment budget in mind, I'll all for the budget-conscious choices.
-Scientific American Book Club. I'm going to have to do more research on this, but I am such a nerd for science books, and this offer seems really great. 3 books for $1.99 each plus $5.97 for shipping and handling, and then you have to buy only 2 books over the next year. It seems like an inexpensive way to add more science books to my shelf.
-Cheap books from Amazon. Amazon is a great way to build your book collection since Barnes and Noble is much too pricey (who wants to pay $15 for a paperback?!), and you can't always find what you need at Half Price Books. On my ordering list?
I mentioned in a past entry how much I like these books. I think there are five total, so I'm getting the first book and one I haven't read yet.
-American Girls Collection. Okay, this one is going to be a very, very slow undertaking. I adored the American Girl books when I was little and had wanted one of the dolls since I was seven, which is when I first started reading the books. Getting the Molly doll for my fifth grade graduation was a very exciting day. Now that I'm older, I'd love to start collecting. Of course, the dolls are still as expensive as they were when I was little, so it's going to be awhile before I get myself one. I think I'm going to focus on getting some of the clothes (as they are much cheaper) and look for collectibles that are currently discontinued (Amazon has great deals for them). My brother collects special-edition Mr. Potato Head dolls, and my dad collects cool novelty toys, so it'll be fun to build a collection (slowly) of my own.
Today was a good day, but the "jubilation" part of my title is from the song "Cecelia," which is currently STUCK IN MY HEAD FOR GOOD. I did an earworms post last summer, and I don't know how this song didn't make my list. It was stuck in my head for the longest time and I finally got it out, but I heard the song again today.
What's with New Kids on the Block being big again? When did we revert back to first grade/1990?
So today was good. I think I'm going to have to start showing up to work at 8 instead of 8:15ish. I'm definitely not the only one who doesn't show up at 8 (luckily the environment is very flexible). When I got to work this morning, I saw that I had been invited (or, rather, told) to attend a meeting, since I would have to take over the rest once the chair left. The email had been sent late yesterday, and I didn't receive it until this morning. The meeting started at 8:30. I read this email at 8:25. Cue Jenny scrambling for her materials.
The project is going well. Now we have an intern, and it's weird to think that I have enough work to where I can be delegating a little bit of it to her. This project has gotten really busy in the past couple of weeks, and I'm getting more and more work/responsibility. I'm just at the EIT level so I can't imagine how busy it must be for the project managers! I'm learning so much in this project. If you had asked me if anything related to water (water lines, wastewater) was interesting back when I was in school, I would have laughed at you. I thought, what's the big deal about water lines? Design them, put 'em in. Boring. But there's so much more to it than that. Sure, details about valves can be dry no matter how you spin them, but it's the whole design process that makes this work interesting. You can't provide a design without all the details-do you have access to this land to do the design? Are there any critical environmental features to avoid? What about designing through creeks? Traffic control? Is TxDOT is building new roads? What legal and political factors are driving this process? I wouldn't mind being a remediation/infrastructure hybrid. Infrastructure is turning out to be more interesting than I thought it would be.
So after work I went to my eye appointment. Besides the shot of air and bright lights, I love eye appointments (I'm such a nerd!) It's fun to pick prescriptions (when I was younger, I would drive my doctors crazy because I was so indecisive. "Is 1 or 2 better?" "Um...I'm not sure...can you go back? 1. No, wait. 2. I think.") Mine went pretty quickly, though. My eyesight got worse, not surprising. I have new contacts and ::cue heavenly music:: I am no longer blind. It's been about 2 months since I've worn my contacts, and I always forget how awesome they are until I wear them for the first time after a long time. I can't help thinking, "I can see, I can see!"
The run today was good. I think I'm getting acclimated? It was 101 and I felt stronger during this run than I have in awhile. I need to push myself more, though. I'm getting to the point where I'm just running in my comfort zone because I'm inherently lazy, and there isn't any solid improvement. I was doing alright but by the last lap I was getting tired (more mentally than physically, I think). Some older guy kept running behind me and that was annoying, so by the last lap I made sure I drank my water slowly so he could run ahead of me. I'm competitive and if someone is running behind me, I want to run faster and I wanted to take this last lap slower. By the end, Anya, who coaches running on the side, ran up behind me. "You have the potential to run a minute faster than the rate you're running at now," she said. "Try lengthening your stride." I obeyed and sprinted to the finish line. It was tough but I felt exhilarated at the end. "You finished at a 6:30 pace," she said. "And you quickened your pace by even more than a minute." I was grateful for Anya's kick to the ass. I need to push myself because I will be a better runner for it.
I'm trying to eat healthier. I'm a terrible sugar fiend. I'm trying to give up soda except for special treats, and I'm trying to remember to take my vitamins. I bought a bunch of healthy snacks and brought them to work. I brought tea to work too because I am rather hyperactive and anxious, so tea is relaxing. I brought honey too, because honey is supposed to be a natural stimulant (or so I read), and heaven knows I need a stimulant since I gave up caffeine for the umpteenth time. I felt good during the run today thanks to my healthy snacks, so I'm going to keep this up.
Some progress is being made...I think :)
Mother of eff, it's 11:49 and I need to head to sleep. My family is coming in tomorrow. Yay! If you read all this...then you are amazing. Because I just wrote a huge, meaningless post.
I haven't blogged in a couple of days and I feel like it's been forever. I'm so used to writing in this thing.
This weekend was fun. I went home for Father's Day. I got home later on Friday than expected because apparently there were a bunch of events going on here that I was unaware of. I was stuck in the City traffic for an hour and a half, and it took me an hour and a half longer to get home. My dad got his Father's Day gift early. My mom and I got my dad some Reno 911! dvds, which he liked a lot.
My dad got me an early birthday gift and convinced me to open it early (okay, so there wasn't very much convincing on his part). It is a flatscreen, 19-inch LCD TV! AND it's 1080p! My parents still spoil me. The color is really great on it. Now I can play my XBox and not have to squint at what's going on. My parents were making fun of me because they left my gift on my desk, and I was so tired on Friday that I just kind of dropped my bag off in my room without looking around it. Then my dad came in and as a joke pointed to his small fridge that he stores there during the summer and said, "I got you a fridge!" I faked a look of joy and happiness (I thought it was a weird gift since I already have a fridge, but I wanted to be grateful), and my parents made fun of my apparently convincing acting skills. (But I really like my new TV. I wasn't faking that).
This weekend I saw the National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and Semi-Pro. I liked both but I thought the first National Treasure was much better (and slightly more plausible, if that makes any sense at all), and Semi-Pro doesn't hit classic status like Talladega Nights. Other than that, I just relaxed and did errands, like getting synthetic oil put in my truck. It took forever, and Pat and I went through the whole Master of Puppets album before we were finished. The last time I had synthetic oil put into my car was with the first Pearl back in January, and then I got into the wreck three weeks later. So here's to hoping that this round lasts a LOT longer than the first.
This weekend my family and I were in the HEB parking lot, and this woman literally about ran us over when she was backing up. Her windows were open, and we were all pretty nice considering what had about happened. Instead of being contrite for almost, you know, mowing us down with her vehicle, as we were walking away, the woman sarcastically yelled out, "Thanks for your comments, have a nice day!" My dad was laughing and hollered, "We didn't even say anything!" (Patrick later said that he had called her stupid, but I don't remember hearing him say that). But she kept on talking trash and simultaneously backing up without looking. My dad turned around and yelled, "You better pay attention to what you're doing, you're about to hit someone." Sure enough, she was this close to backing into another vehicle. We all had a pretty good laugh about her.
Work has been keeping me busy. I like it.
The run today was good but still quite warm. We did Fartlek intervals, 15 x 200's with a 50-m recovery. I did the Fartleks at a comfortable pace, and I took water breaks in between. I could feel my head pounding a little, which means I didn't drink enough water during the day. It's better to stop and replenish your water and energy instead of trying to look badass and getting sick later.
Lindy dancing lesson tomorrow. Yay!
I'm having company this weekend :) At least I have a working fridge!
My friend Meg officially is on her way to Alaska. I'm going to miss her, she was a good pal to me.
Changes are in the works. Look out, world.
I finally have a new fridge. Yay! The new part would have taken 15 days to get in, and apparently was more expensive than the fridge itself. Finally. The other maintenance men (who for some reason had to repair and replace my French door in the kitchen) made me mad, though. I'm going to have to let the office know. I came home and found that they had moved my table without putting it back, and placed my blinds in one of the rooms. I had closed the door before I went to work. If the door is closed and you do not have a maintenance job related to that room, then you have no business opening it. I have a glass table, and even though I may sound like a wimpy girl, it's heavy to lift that glass up again. I did it but I would rather not do it again. There's two maintenance men, they should have no trouble putting that table back in a minute. People live here, assholes. Put everything back the way you found it.
I went on a good run today. The weather was cooler so it wasn't as bad, but my legs were so sore from Monday's workout (and I think even from dancing a little yesterday, because we worked on bouncing in rhythm.) So I've decided that I'm definitely going to try and make it to the downtown swing dance next week. Yeah! I've heard that these dancers are amazing, so I really want to see what I can learn. Eventually I want to take lessons down there as well, because they have this amazing lineup of Lindy classes. My major concern is parking; I've heard it's challenging in this area, but I'll ask people at my class next Tuesday and see where the best places to park will be. Worse comes to worse, I can be a major nerd and show up super early to snag a good spot. I would like to go tomorrow, but since I have a long day ahead of me on Friday (what with work and travel), it'd be best to get a good night's rest. Dancing always leaves me keyed up for a couple of hours, and unlike my good old college days, I can't dance until midnight, go to sleep at 2, and then wake up nice and late. I have a JOB. BOO responsibility.
Work has been keeping me busy. I finally have a use for a planner. It used to be that I could just remember things for school and activities, but now there's more important things riding on my memory, so writing everything down is key. Plus, it's terribly satisfying to look at my planner at the end of the day and see how much is crossed off (and a little depressing to see how much I have yet to do). There's one major project that pretty much takes up all my time. It's a huge project and I'm doing some engineering and real estate support work on it, and there's always something to do with it. Always. But I love being busy!
I finished a mystery novel and really enjoyed it (I need to start doing book reviews again, I'm so lazy). It is from the Maisie Dobbs series, a series that I enjoy immensely. It is about this woman detective in the 20's and 30's and they are really good books. I really like the character and the stories don't get bogged down with any romance either. There are some books where I don't mind romance being a key plot (i.e. Gone With the Wind), but in others, I find it a pain if it interferes with mystery or action stories.
Crap, it's already 11 and I'm wide-awake. I need to go simmer down before bedtime. I'd like to try to get another run in tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.
I went back to Lindy lessons tonight. It was so much fun. I was a little rusty but not as bad as I'd thought I'd be. And even though it was a beginning class, most of the people there had had lessons before, or even go to the downtown dancing scenes. One of these even said I was an excellent dancer (ha!) After tonight, there's no way I can stay away from the downtown dancing scene. I'm going to give myself till the end of the summer. I'm definitely going to have to do it.
Why do you blog?
Submitted by littleduckling.
Why do I blog? Well, I've kept a diary of some sort since I was seven, so it's just natural that I record my daily activities in some fashion (though I haven't actually kept a written diary in years). I love writing and often blogging is the only sort of fun writing I get to do all day. I like having an outlet for my random ideas, musings, opinions, and misadventures (of which there are many). Sometimes a bad day doesn't seem that bad once you write it out. And it's nice being able to go back and see what I was up to on a certain day on a certain year. Finally, like any writer, it tickles me that people actually read what I'm writing.
It's already another Monday. I can't wrap my head around how fast these months are zipping by. Well, this weekend was really fun. One of my friends from high school had his 24th birthday celebration this weekend, so we hung out and went to Outback. Outback sucks but I had a lot of fun being there with my friends. It's crazy to think that I've known some of them for nearly 10 years!
This weekend I also went back to swing class. It's beginning, so it was kind of boring ("Let's learn how to do a rock step and triple step." Sigh). And also...how do I say this politely? The people attending the class were not in my age demographic. But one of them said I was easy to dance with since I knew what I was doing (but then again, remember that these are all beginners so that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm terribly skilled). I'm going to try and head to the Lindy class tomorrow evening. Even though it's a beginning class too, it's been awhile since I've taken a Lindy class and I need a brush-up on the basics. I hate dancing with guys who are just learning Lindy, because they are so rough and don't have any rhythm.
But I can't complain, because I know I made a lot of mistakes when I was learning it (like not keeping enough tension and, um, trying to lead). But I'm really glad I went back, at any rate. I love dancing. It allows me to express the graceful side of me that usually does not exist. Plus I have fun ballerina flats to dance in now. I should have listened to my dancing instructors from college; those are way more fun to dance in than heels! Even though this dance studio isn't the downtown scene, it still offers really great classes. I think I'll want to take West Coast later on. I took one West Coast class last year (last year already?!) and it was a lot of fun.
Today at work I kept busy, busy, busy. I'm working on one project and it keeps me busy pretty much every day, every week. It's a huge project though so I'm learning so much from it.
Today at the running group we had to do circuits. We had to do 100s at a "reasonably fast but not all out sprint" and then do calisthenics. The circuits were push-ups, lunges, crunches, and then jumps. I thought it would be easy, but hale no. I did 4 of those and then ran a really slow mile. I heard it takes 6 weeks to get acclimated to the heat. I want to hurry up and get acclimated already.
If I were Paul Bunyan, I would drop-kick my refrigerator down a flight of stairs and watch it crash to the ground with a sickenly satisfying crunch.
What are your first thoughts upon waking?
Submitted by Cher Cabula.
"I will sleep for FIVE more minutes only!" (then proceeds to sleep for at least another 15 minutes)
What are some of the best(and worst) things about summer?
Submitted by L33tchica.
Best Things
-Long days
-Baby birds!
-The weather being nice and sunny 99% of the time
-My birthday (what?)
-4th of July, which is both a great holiday and the day before my birthday (what?)
-Really frothy, sleazy reality shows that get you hooked (hello, Denise Richards: It's Complicated)
-Cute fashion
Worst Things
-The hot, stifling weather
-Having to work through it :)
1. I think I found a new favorite show.
I don't know why it's taken me so long to start watching this show. I watched maybe one episode years ago and thought it was alright. Then I saw the movie last summer and thought it was hilarious, but I still didn't get into it. My dad and brother watch it a lot so they are the ones who have gotten me into it. It's the spit-your-food-out-while-laughing sort of funny. But if you are ~easily offended~ then this is not the show for you.
2. I hate my hair right now. The "cool rocker chick" layers I got a couple of months ago are taking awhile to grow out. Right now it's just in the "blah" phase. I miss my long hair and I'm going to grow it back. You hear that, universe? YOU WIN!
3. So summertime is one of my favorite seasons, partly because it's BABY BIRD SEASON. I am such a sucker for baby birds. They just make me melt every time I see them. So you can imagine how excited I was to find out that there's a bird's nest right outside of my apartment. YES! This completely makes up for the fact that my fridge was out for two weeks (it's working now, but I'm not holding my breath).
Here they are two weeks ago:
They were pretty tiny, so you can barely see their little beaks rising above the nest. Here are the pictures I took tonight. I think the pair may be their parents...I'm unsure of whether the birds would grow that quickly.
I can't wait until they reach the stage where they're learning how to fly, which means they get to hop around and flop their wings and just be utterly adorable.
