Mar 28 2008
I’m going to be taking a break from the blog for a little while, including my Music on Mondays posts. With the wedding, house, and now allergies, my stress level is way too high to have to worry about keeping up appearances around here. I’ll be back, but right now I just need to not worry about blogging with any frequency.
Mar 24 2008
Future Husband and I have been house hunting, as you well know. Yesterday we spent the afternoon with our realtor looking at resale homes. We figured if we can get pretty much the same exact thing that we looked at when we were at the builder’s models the other day, but pay quite a bit less, then it was worth it to investigate. We saw these homes, but the thing is, the real estate market right now kinda sucks. During the boom a few years ago, it really was a BOOM in Las Vegas. So many people bought thinking it was easy money. So many people got in over their heads and trashed their homes when they were foreclosed on. Out of everything that we looked at yesterday, only one home, the first one we saw, would have been worth it. It needed some cleaning and new carpet, but the carpet wasn’t terrible. After that, it all went downhill. The last one we looked at we were in for about 5.3 seconds before we walked out. FH and I talked and realized that if we had to put that much work into a resale, the money would work out just as well, and our peace of mind would be much greater, if we went the new route.
We went back to the new home community today with our realtor, and it turns out that a plan we like came back on the market just today. We looked at a couple of other finished units last week, but they backed up to the main road. This one doesn’t, and though we can’t choose any options at this point, the ones that were in the home were well-chosen. FH isn’t keen on the laminate countertops, but I’m ok since it’s all I’ve ever known, and this patter won’t show every freaking speck like the solid white we have in our apartment now.
We ran to the bank to get some dough, and ran back to the sales office. Then we spent the next hour signing papers. This is just the offer! I need to exercise my hand for closing. Tomorrow we visit the lender to sign more reams of paper for the loan paperwork, and if all goes well we should be good to move in at the end of April. FH is a bit shellshocked, but
I’m excited. This place is twice as big as our current apartment, with 3 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths, and a mini-yard with a covered patio. I can’t wait - it’s a bit nerve-wracking, but like I said, exciting.
Mar 24 2008
One of the mix exchanges I participated in, the very first one, the one that started it all, was all about chick music. We titled it the V@g1N@ Catalogs, which is a play on the stage show the V@g1N@ Monologues. I chose the less spamable V-Cat 2.07 for the title of my disc (the 2.07 is for Feb 2007, the month in which I was due to send my mix out the the group). V-Cat and all the other mixes I received in this exchange are all really wonderful discs, and fit in with my favorite musical genre of angsty chick music. Since this mix holds a special place in my heart, I wanted to share with you all the songs I received over the course of this exchange.
Mar 21 2008
I am discovering that the mother of the bride has one single job: to drive the bride absolutely fucking batty. I just got off the phone with my mother, who has announced that she wants to stay at a non-casino hotel (no biggie, there are plenty here) that my stepdad can use his points at (narrows it down to 2) that has the shuttle from the airport and to the strip. Ok. Here’s the problem with that: the hotel she decided on, while convenient to the strip, airport, and of course me, is not really near anything convenient. It’s next to a business park. There will be nothing for her to do after the last strip shuttle, which is really early for this town. Oh, and she’s thinking she’s gonna hitch a ride with my dad after they take the same flight out here and my dad rents a car. They’ve only been divorced for 30 years now, but she thinks she knows what I want for my color scheme, so she’s gonna pick out a new tie for my dad. She says she’s really good at picking out ties. If she makes my dad look like a schmuck then he’s going without the noose, which I’m sure he’ll appreciate when it’s a hundred and fucking degrees out.
As much as I would love to have more of my family out here for my actual wedding, I did have to tell my mom to stop telling people they can come. I will be happy to see them, but I am so NOT happy with my mom taking over my wedding plans. The shindig here is going to be small - as in, we’re having the reception at a small Eye-talian restaurant and only making reservations for about 30. The rest of the place is open, and we won’t get a private room. There isn’t really one available, and even if the bar area that’s being built is open by the time of the wedding, we don’t want to ask them to close the place down on a Saturday night just for us. We’re already having the reception after the dinner rush as it is.
The whole point of the wedding tour was so that my mom could get all Momzilla and plan something back there, so that I don’t have to and I can still celebrate with my entire family. She is NOT to get Momzilla for the Vegas edition. When I got off the phone with her this evening, FH asked me if I wanted to start drinking now. I might need to. And take muscle relaxers so that I can chill the fuck out over all this. He said that he’s never heard me talk to my mom like that, but if I don’t put my foot down, I’m not going to get my wedding the way I want it. *sigh* I guess all brides go through this with their mothers, right?
On the plus side, I did order a really nice skirt to go with my corset, so that’s out of the way. I also stopped at Ulta and let the saleslady put some of that Bare Minerals makeup on me. I usually hate wearing makeup, but I can’t go totally barefaced on my wedding day. I’d heard good stuff about Bare Minerals, so I was willing to let the clerk graffiti my face. I’ll be getting the starter kit on my next payday. Shoes will be easy - even with my super skinny foot. I’m wearing black patent pumps, so I pretty much know where I can find them in my size. And at that same mall, I know of a kiosk where I should be able to find some options for my hair. I tried on the veil and while I like it, I don’t love it - especially enough to spend more than I spent on the skirt for something that will only be on my head bugging me for maybe 30 minutes of my life.
Tomorrow we pick up our little trial cake, which will be cool. We also need to do the guest list and order invitations, which will be done online. I found some really nice ones, and they’re a bit contemporary and really nice - different but not “out there” if you know what I mean. We still need to get the marriage license, but considering that the county clerk’s office is open till midnight during the week and 24 hours on the weekend, we don’t doubt that we’ll have time. And Sunday, even though it’s Easter, we’re dragging the realtor out to look at more houses. Happy times.
Mar 19 2008
When I was younger, I always used to wish that I would fall in love with someone from the moment I first saw him. It always happens in the movies, and includes the schmaltzy music and the first glance in which the two lovers have an epiphany and realize that they need to be together. But real life is not like the movies. There is no such thing as love at first sight - is there?
Future Husband and I were first introduced by a mutual friend. This friend had dated FH for a short time, and though it didn’t work, they stayed friends. The two of us were out one night when she suggested that he and I get together. I said sure, set it up - give him my MySpace or something. She did that, and we emailed a few times but then it faded out. I’m not much for trying to impress someone by email. Though I write well, the “getting to know you” part just doesn’t do well in writing. It faded out after a few emails, and I wrote it off. But he never had his picture on his MySpace (at least not until after we met).
A couple of months later, I was out meeting with a social group when I saw someone who caught my eye. I was introduced to him by another woman there, and we exchanged hellos. That night I was really not in the mood to be out at all, and was debating going home. During my internal debate, I walked around the room, trying to decide if I should just go or try and talk to this person. FH later described it as “circling like a buzzard.” Finally, he got tired of it and came up to me to talk. “So we finally get to meet,” he said. Huh? I didn’t think I should know him, and we were just introduced a short time ago. “The emails.” Oh no, I had never emailed him. Had I? I think I would remember. “MySpace? Miss A tried to set us up.”
Now I remembered. All of a sudden I was shocked, intrigued, panicked, fascinated, wanting to run out of there and wanting to talk more all at the same time. Talking to him came easy, now that he was in front of me, so I did that. We talked until 2am and made plans to meet the next day. We met the next day, and the next. The 4th day it was Monday, and he had a business trip that would have him out of town until Friday. Friday could not come soon enough! I so went over the minutes on my phone that week. Finally, when Friday arrived, I rushed over to his place after work. We went out, and I spent the night. Actually, I never again spent another night in my own apartment, and ended up moving in, which was fine since the lease was just about up anyway.
I don’t remember what music was playing exactly (some kind of bar music), and there was no starry-eyed first look, but I was drawn to him the first minute I saw him. I circled like a lion circles its prey. In just over 3 months from now, he will become MisterL4W. It was love at first sight.
Mar 18 2008
We are doing the super-casual, super-budget-friendly wedding. So a lot of the things on the bridal magazine checklists are just not for us. Still, there is a lot to do once we figure out what we want and need. We could just elope and tell everyone, “Hey, by the way…” but I don’t really want to look back at my wedding and feel like I missed out on anything. I want to have the feeling that I had a wedding day, not ran an errand and ended up married. Even with just a few things, it’s amazing at how fast the costs spiral up and up and up.
We went and ordered part of my dress today. Rather than the traditional wedding dress, I’m going for separates, since I know I can wear them again. The top is a custom-made corset, from the fab folks over at Bad Attitude. Ialready have one of their corsets, so I know I can wear it for a length of time. Then we went to dinner and talked to the owner of the establishment about having the reception there. It’s a nice cozy Eye-talian joint that we frequent, so the owner is willing to accommodate us. Plus, having it in a restaurant we figure we’ll just have people order whatever from the menu, and we provide the cake and champagne. Works out better that way - cheaper for us, of course, and everyone will be happy with their meal since they have more than 2 choices.
We still have cake, favors, flowers to consider, I’m really trying to get in touch with VegasRic and convince him to be my photographer, even though he usually takes pictures of nekkid ladies, since that’s so much more fun and profitable. So keep your fingers crossed there. And oh yeah, invites. And the rest of my dress. And the license, to make it legal. And probably a few things I can’t think of right now. I’m reading the Kvetch boards at Indie Bride to really make my head spin.
We went back to look at some of the condos we saw yesterday, to get a better feel for it and remember it better. We saw so much yesterday that it was hard to keep them all straight. But our lease is up in 6 weeks, and we either sign another lease - 6 month minimum - or fork over an extra $100/mo for the priveledge of not having a lease. Plus we don’t want to move too close to the wedding, and after the wedding will be blazing hot.
When will my head stop spinning with all this stuff? And when oh when will I stop staring at my ring long enough to be productive?
Mar 17 2008
aka Lilith Fair edition. Has anyone been to Lilith Fair? I have - twice, actually. Not bad considering that the tour only lasted 3 years. I didn’t go to the first concert, but I don’t recall why. I do remember the hype surrounding it, though, and a lot of singers I like were headlining. By the second year, I was listening to more and more music that was or could have been featured at Lilith Fair, so I looked into tickets. Not being an avid concert-goer, I had no idea how much tickets would cost, but I was surprised to find out that they were general admission tickets. For only $35, I could get tickets to see up to a dozen different singers. That sounded like a bargain to me, so I bought a ticket for me and my mom.
It was far, on the southern end of the state, and as anyone who’s ever been to a concert knows, parking was a mofo. But this concert exceeded my expectations as soon as I got through the gate. Free sampler CDs were being handed out to the first thousand people to walk in, so I snagged one of those, which quickly became, and still remains, one of my favorite compilation albums. I checked out the map and set up my plan. It wasn’t going to be possible to see everyone that was playing that day, since with three different stages there was bound to be some overlap. If I could do it over again, I’d have spent more time at the tiny village stage, where the least known artists were performing. Bic Runga
Chantal Kreviazuk
Abra Moore
letters to cleo
Aimee Mann
Kendall Payne
Then of course there’s all the ones you are familiar with: Sarah McLachlan, Jewel, Natalie Merchant, Sheryl Crow, etc. Most of the music I heard at Lilith Fair, both the new stuff and the stuff that got me there in the first place, is music that I still listen to today. I wish Lilith Fair or something similar was still touring today, because it was such a great musical event. Oh, and I’m sure you’re wondering - What’s with the Angsty Chick Music label? Well, that’s what Boyfriend calls it. It’s fitting, don’t ya think?
Mar 16 2008
I suppose my schedule will only get busier in the coming months. We had house guests this weekend, and I had to work on Saturday to catch up on some stuff that I got behind on when the feces hit the rotary air circulation device earlier in the week. Today, instead of relaxing, I did get to sleep in a bit, but then we spent the afternoon going around with the realtor looking at condos and townhouses, along with a few single family homes. Our wedding is in 14 weeks, so there’s lots to do on that front, too. Future Husband thinks we are crazy by trying to buy a home and plan a wedding at the same time, but hey, lots of couples do it, right?
On the wedding front, we don’t want a huge shindig, and we don’t need to put in all the traditional elements. A registry is not necessary, either - I was looking at the suggested items to register for, and we have pretty much everything on the list. So what do we need to register for? We just want to get the things that are important to us and have a really nice wedding. And since we are buying a house, we don’t want to spend tons of money.
Anyway, that’s life right now. This week is more houses, more wedding shopping, and more work.
Mar 14 2008
I got a few answers, but there are still some quotes that no one got on my Guess That Quote post. Since I figure you’re all guessed out, and distracted with news of my upcoming wedding, here are the rest of the answers:
1. I heard that Hell is when all your dreams come true. This one is from Ruby in Paradise - an excellent movie - Ashley Judd’s first, but unfortunately it’s not available on DVD unless you have a Region 2 DVD player.
2. If I feel you’ve changed, I’ll tell you. I’m honest. Unlike some people, I tell it like it is. With all the Aussies that read my blog, I’m surprised no one got this. It’s from Muriel’s Wedding.
6. I’m so rich, I wish I had a dime for every dime I had. This is an oldie - it’s from Arthur, in which Dudley Moore plays a hysterically drunk, wealthy man.
8. Listen up, you little spazoids! I know where you live and I’ve seen where you sleep. I swear to everything holy that your mothers will cry when they see what I’ve done to you! Tommy Boy! I love this movie; it seems to get funnier every time I see it.
10. We’ve come for your daughter, Chuck. This one’s from Beetlejuice. I remember this line so well because my friend Belching Biker Babe nearly made me drown from laughter when she uttered this line as I was diving into the pool.
12. If word got around that I had been liberated for half a million dollars, I could never show my face in polite society again. Diamonds have no value except that which is placed upon them. Everyone girl who loves Ewan MacGregor and his delightful accent should see this movie - A Life Less Ordinary.
14. Dear Lord, we ask that you bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies. And we ask forgiveness, Lord, for the fornication that Mr. Sprock and me committed this morning on this very table. Where the Heart Is, which is one of my favorite chick flicks.
Way to go everyone who participated. I’ve also had fun reading the quotes and answers that everyone else has put on their blogs. It’s funny how something like this can give you a major case of brain block, isn’t it?
Mar 14 2008
I do have things that I’d love to be able to do with this blog, but they’d require me quitting my job and becoming a hermit. I don’t network this blog as much as I could, but I’ve also recently become satisfied with what I’ve got here. I’ve read some article lately that have to do with being satisfied with the size of your blog and the number of comments, and while I do get a bit disappointed when I don’t get any comments, I’m happy with my blog’s size the way it is. I also think I’ve gotten better at the blog-life balance, and that is pretty cool.
So what’s in store for the next year? Well, you’ll continue to hear about me, and I might write the occasional blogging article as well. I’ll continue with my Music on Mondays, and I’ll do my best to make sure this blog doesn’t hit the Terrible Twos.
Mar 12 2008
I have barely slept all week - I’m still really excited! I feel like Monica in Friends. Remember this clip? That’s me, and it’s not even my wedding day yet.
So loose plans are made. There are a whole bunch of Silly Little Game friends coming to town the weekend of June 21, so we’re gonna do it that weekend - Vegas chapel or something like that, then an informal dinner/reception somewhere. Since our families are on opposite coasts, and very few of them are keen on the idea of traveling to Vegas (especially in summer!), we’re gonna take the show on the road. We’ll spend a long weekend in California to see his family sometime this summer, and then since Future Husband (formerly known as Boyfriend) has never been to New England and really wants to see it in the fall, we’ll visit my family sometime around late September/early October. This way, everyone who wants to gets to see us gets to without having to travel, except for a few people who live away from family hubs. And we figured it would be good because that way the families can plan a party or something for us while we’re visiting, which will satisfy their need to get involved without actually interfering - specifically my mother and his mother.
I want to wear something I’ll wear again, but not an everyday dress, so I’ll probably get a white skirt that I will end up dying black when it’s all said and done, and nice overbust corsert for the top. We’ve decided on black and white for colors, very classy, and of course tiny jolts of red thrown in there. So note to all those who are coming: wear black and white, and if you want you can punctuate it with red, but not that orangey red, pick something like scarlet or claret.
As for the rest of the details, we (meaning I) are trying to come up with things that are unique, but not so out there that they will be off-putting to everyone else. Stay tuned for more news on this developing story…
(For those who missed it, the wedding is the weekend of June 21 - exact date still unknown, but plan for June 21. If you are out of town and live in a place that will be featured on our wedding tour, mainly San Jose, CA or Manchester, NH, don’t think that you can’t come. You are still welcome at the Vegas wedding. Just let us know that you plan on attending, and No, you cannot stay at our house. There are plenty of roomier options with privacy included in this town.)
Mar 10 2008
For my Mommy, who insists on uploading her pictures to Kodak because she can’t figure out any other way.
First thing you have to do is take that flat plug thingy and plug it in from your camera to your computer. I assume you know how to do this, because your pictures cannot get to Kodak without this step. Once you plug it in and turn your camera on, you will get something that looks like this:
See that option that says “Import Pictures using Windows? That’s the one you want. If you just keep clicking next, your pictures will be saved to the “My Pictures” folder. You get to that one by going to the pretty picture you like to look at when you turn your computer on. Then go to a folder that looks like a regular file folder. It will say “My Documents.” Double click this with the left button on the mouse. Then you will see some more folders. Find the one that says “My Pictures.” Got it? Good.
Inside this folder you’ll see all sorts of folders, if you’ve been putting stuff in there. If you want to know what everything is with a really quick glance, go to the top part of this box where you see some words like File, Edit, View, etc. Click on the one that says View. It will get longer and have more words on it. Find the word that says Thumbnails and click on that. The words will go away but you will see mini pictures. This will help you find what you want.
If you need to look in one of the folders in the My Pictures folder, they will probably have dates on them that correspond to the day you put them there. That helps you figure out how to find them. You can rename these folders if you want, but that’s a lesson for another day. Anyway, now you know how to find the photos once you got them out of your camera.
To email the pictures, I’ll give you directions that are specific to Yahoo, since you use that for email. Go to write the email like you always do. Then click on the button that says Attach Files. By the File 1 box, click Browse. A box will pop up, and on the left hand side of this box you can click on My Documents. Then on the right side, you will see the folder that says My Pictures. Go in here - it’s just like when you were finding the pictures before! - and find the picture you want to send to me. You can attach up to 5 pictures for each email message, so you can send me lots of pictures all the time. When you are done, find the button that says Attach Files. Wait a sec while it puts them in your email. When that’s done, near the top, click on the button that says Continue to Message. That will bring you back to the regular email, so you can finish writing your email. Don’t forget to hit SEND when you are done. Soon I will be looking at all those pictures you tell me you take of Bubba, Messy J, and Imp Master J. Get it?
If my overly simplistic directions didn’t help you, then call Uncle Bubby. Hopefully he can help. If not, the slowly step away from the computer.
Mar 10 2008
Announce your engagement. Seriously, I go and mention to a few friends that I am getting married, and my traffic skyrockets. Check this out:
I had 139 views on 3/10/08, which since my blog stats day is 8 hours ahead of my day, was the day I announced my engagement. My previous high traffic was 91 views, a couple days after I made the move to WordPress back in January. So yay, great news! I wonder if I can maintain this level of traffic as I get closer to the wedding date?
Mar 10 2008
One of my favorite kinds of music album to buy is the movie soundtrack. I mean, think about it. If you buy a CD that features just one artist, you have to like the artist quite a bit to justify buying the whole album, because even with your favorite singer in the whole wide world, you probably won’t love every song on the album.
Generic compilation albums tend to have the same songs over and over again, so again, these can be hit or miss, unless you know exactly what you are looking for. In that case, the 100-CD complete set of 80s songs is what you want. But for a decent mix of music you pretty much know you are going to like? That’s when I turn to the movie soundtrack.
Movies and music go hand in hand - it’s rare that there’s a movie out there that doesn’t contain at least a single note. The music featured in a movie, whether it’s by various artists, a single artist, or original score (that’s the no-singing background music composed just for the movie, in case you were wondering), music in the movies is carefully chosen to enhance a particular scene and/or the mood of the movie in general. When Harry Met Sally is a great example - not only did it capture NYC the way I like to think about it, the music chosen had the added benefit of making the movie timeless. Here it is, 20 years later, and it seems that the movie has hardly aged at all.
Garden State is an awesome album unto itself. Even if you’ve never seen the movie, it’s a great listen. I could go on about how it won a Grammy, or how Zach Braff picked the songs for the movie, but you’ve probably heard it all before. It’s just a great, mellow album without being sleep inducing.
Sometimes it seems there is a case of the music coming before the movie. Cameron Crowe sometimes seems that way, but the soundtracks to his movies are just as well known as the movies themselves. Say Anything is a perfect example. What person who grew up in the 80s doesn’t think that “In Your Eyes” is one of the most romantic songs ever? If that song had not been featured in that movie the way it was, it would have been just another Peter Gabriel Song. The movie catapulted the song into the stratosphere.
Next time you’re watching a movie, take note of the music. Most movies these days will issue a soundtrack to go along with it, so if you like the movie, think about picking up the soundtrack. For me, movie soundtracks are some of the best “mix tapes” I own.
Mar 09 2008
Boyfriend and I went out this afternoon. We were going to meet a realtor because we are looking to buy a house. We met at a home we had seen online, and it was a bit of a dump. But had it been a lot nicer we might have been interested, because the layout was more or less decent. The realtor has an idea of what we are lookng for, and she’ll be selecting some properties for us to look at next weekend.
After looking at this house, we were heading out to get some lunch. It was absolutely gorgeous out today, so we weren’t picky about cuisine. I wanted to eat somewhere that had an outside patio, but I couldn’t think of anything. Boyfriend suggested the pub near the airport. There’s an outside patio that overlooks the runways, and even though the service usually sucks, we enjoy it because we get to watch planes.
On the way there, Boyfriend started telling me that he’s been thinking a lot lately. He said that every so often something happens that makes one change their mind on something they thought they were sure of. Gee, a conversation like that can go in several different directions. But he started talking about how we have been together for just about a year now, and that we are looking at buying a house together, and that he was thinking that he’d like to marry me. Or something like that, I don’t remember the exact words. Of course I said yes. He said, “Yes what?” I said, “Yes, I’d like to get married.” He said, “Ok, so we need to find some guy for you to marry!” Then I said, “Yes, I’d like to marry YOU!” Of course I cried and did the waving my hand thing that girls do when they’re so excited they’re crying, and Boyfriend couldn’t understand why I was crying, cuz he’s a guy and guys don’t do that sort of thing.
He didn’t have a ring, because with my tiny little fingers he wasn’t sure what would fit or look good on my hand, and I’ll be honest, it doesn’t take much to overwhelm my long, slim fingers. So after lunch we went to the jewelry store and picked out this:
I called my mother to tell her, and Mommy had to make sure that I said that I am GETTING married, not GOT married (I do live in Vegas, you know). Then I called my dad, and he said congrats. I talked to my nephew, who said, “That sounds good.” After that I called my sister, who asked if I was going to wear a white dress or not try and fool anyone and wear something else. Silly Sis.
So that’s the news for now. I need to figure out what to eat for dinner since the time change threw me off and I didn’t realize it was so late! I’ll keep you all posted on the plans.
Mar 09 2008
Alyndabear has a meme of sorts on her blog about movies. Since I got one right, I thought I’d post it here.
Mar 07 2008
I don’t often write about work, mainly because I work for Big Company and I don’t want to get myself in trouble for anything that might end up on this blog. But this I have to tell you about (without giving away any major identifying details, of course).
We had what was being sold as a mandatory departmental meeting, being held at an off-site location. Of course, this location was a well-known video game arcade. We were supposed to be doing team-building exercises. Most people I know aren’t keen on these forced fun activities, but hey, it was an afternoon out of the office on their dime, so who cares if we have deadlines!
I headed over to the meeting location and was shown to a room with lots of tables set up, and sat down at a table with the rest of my group.
We found out the meeting was being catered, so we all lined up to fill our plates with yummy fajitas and enchiladas. Good stuff, man. The brownies and eclairs were divine. Oh, and there were drink tickets. We were assigned 2 each, but there was very low security surrounding the tickets, so obtaining more than the alloted 2 drinks was really easy. But, I did have to drive home, so I only had 2 of these, which went perfectly with the Mexican food. Did I mention I have a camera phone? Comes in really hand, let me tell you.
After stuffing our faces, we were let loose in the arcade. We had a list of 10 games in the place, were put into teams, and each team had to have most of its members play every game on there. Each teammate had to play at least 3-4 games. Then there was scoring and shit. Our team ended up tying for 2nd place. Woo hoo!
I’m generally not an arcade person, but since it was for the team, I decided to play. (We had cards for free play, btw.) First up was Indy 500 racing. I came in 1st when racing everyone else on my team, then in the finals came in dead last. It was cool, though, because you sit in this car that moves so you feel all the bumps in the road. They are really hard to handle! But way fun.
Basketball is kind of basic. I got 14 in like, a minute or something. Then it was on to skateboarding. I had no idea what I was doing, but ended up with 34/50 coins, which is pretty decent on the tutorial level, I hear. Ms. Pac Man was easy, since I played that as a kid. The motorcycle one was really hard. I ended up getting lost INSIDE a building on that one. And the pinball game we were supposed to play was broken, so I played another one. Good old fashioned fun! I did skip the Dance Dance Revolution, since I was being a responsible driver and not swiping everyone else’s drink tickets, which would have been the only way you could have gotten me on that game. Also skipped 2 shooting games and the Star Wars one, since I suck at all those kinds of games. All in all, a decent day, even if it was supposed to be for team building. But I do think that mission was accomplished, because we were all put on teams with people we didn’t really know all that well, so I met some people I had never seen before in our department.
Check out these other pictures I took with my camera phone:
Here’s the Coke Bottle from inside the building.
The Lion in front of the MGM Grand.
Mar 06 2008
Yep, it’s tax time. Boyfriend got the popular tax software, so it was my first year using it. It was pretty easy, mostly just data entry, and I’ve got everything ready to mail out. I didn’t bother forking over the extra money to e-file. Even though I used software to tell me what to do, I still totally understand my return, which is great. I’m adamant about doing my taxes myself, because I like knowing that I can. My situation is simple enough that there’s no reason why I should have to pay someone to do it, so I done gone and did it myself. Tomorrow I just have to stop by the post office and send the returns out, along with the rebate forms for our new phones.
I also spent some time this evening updating my checkbook. I use software for that, but since it’s on my desktop computer, which I rarely use since it’s in the bedroom, so I had a month’s worth of receipts to enter. I need to make more of an effort to get on the desktop more often, not only to keep my accounts updated, but also because my iTunes library is there, and I’m itching for new music to listen to on my iPod at work.
I’ve been writing some new Music on Mondays posts, since I got caught at the last minute without a post this week. And of course in doing that I’ve not posted here. I know it’s only been about 2 days, but I had the last couple posts written ahead of time, so it feels like forever since I’ve actually written something. Such is life.
So that’s about it for now. It’s nearly 11pm and I still need to clean up the dinner dishes, fold laundry, and catch up on everyone else’s blogs before bedtime. I’ll try to have a more worthwhile post for you soon!
Mar 04 2008
Ok, I figure I’ve done a long enough dramatic pause after the first part of this post. Now you get to find out the current state of my education.
I did find a great job last summer, and was there on a contract basis for about 6 months before I was finally hired on permanently. It’s the kind of job I was heading for when I left the executive search firm back in October 2006, with the idea that I wanted a job with more room for growth. I loved working in a small company, but there usually isn’t any room to advance in small companies. I am now at a large company (technically a medium sized company since we have less than 5000 employees), but there are lots of opportunities. My office looks like something out of Office Space, but nowhere near as dreadful. I’m an admin in the finance department, and while the work is easy, I’m looking forward to the opportunities.
When I started looking for more opportunities, I had the idea in mind that I wanted to study accounting. This is a subject that, while I did well in the class in college, I didn’t have a clue about it and therefore was not fond. It’s hard to become excited about something that is all theoretical when it should be practical. But in the working world I developed a fondness for it. The principles of it don’t change, numbers keep the same rules wherever you go, and it’s something that you can take anywhere, from the biggest cities to the smallest towns. Being in the finance department is like a dream come true in this regard.
Another wicked awesome thing is that my company has educational reimbursement. I spoke to my boss about this the other day and told her of my intentions to become edumacated on their dime. Since I already have my foot in the door there, I have the perfect setup to work my way up and learn lots of different areas of concentration while I go to school. My boss likes my thinking as much as I do, so the plan is to sign up for a class as soon as the summer schedule comes out. I have all my core classes done, with the exception of math, so I only need 12 classes for an associates degree. After that I’ll transfer to a 4-year and continue on so I can earn a Bachelor’s degree. After that, who knows.
Besides the abstract idea that I should go back to school, and finally deciding what I want to be when I grow up, I have been craving the academic life a bit lately. On our Thursday night outings, Boyfriend and Big Bad Mama Detroit, who is a high school English teacher, often get into discussions that can take a literary turn. I find myself missing English classes, since those are subjects that I always enjoyed and did well in. While not something I want to do career-wise, literature and writing are almost exhilarating. I consider myself to be somewhat well-read, but the fact that I can’t participate in their discussions as well as I’d like makes me feel like a bit of a dummy. I feel that my writing suffers at times as well. So many other blogs I read are so well-written, and I struggle with being able to express myself at times. It’s like I don’t even know the words to be able to say what I want to say. While I’m not specifically interested in increasing my vocabulary, I feel that my writing skills in general have become rusty. I do want to earn my degree in Accounting, but after that I think it would be fun to take some lit and writing classes.
Another interest I have, that I would like to pursue on more of a leisure basis, is graphic and web design. Ever since working for a graphic design firm, I have been somewhat interested in designing for print. Having my blog has increased my technical interest, and I’d also love to be able to design my own themes and fully understand what I’m doing when I try to make my blog look the way I want. But since I know exactly why it is that I want to learn these things, I don’t feel at this time that it would be prudent to invest that kind of money in a hobby. Maybe someday I’ll do it on a personal interest level, but again, accounting is where it’s at for me.
It’s time to stop floundering around with my jobs. I think that admin and retail jobs are largely professions that people fall into these days, rather than deliberately choosing them. It’s time for me to get out of this place I’ve fallen into and take charge of my career. It’s time to go back to school.
Mar 03 2008
Boyfriend and I went bathing suit shopping today. Boyfriend found one within minutes, at the sporting goods store, on sale. I didn’t find anything there because they only have women’s suits for hard-bodied Olympic swimmer wannabes. We went to the department store instead and I found one with lots of support in a few of the places I need it, it doesn’t have leg openings that go up to my ribs, the straps don’t fall down, and it cost twice as much as Boyfriend paid for his. For those who are not women, bathing suit shopping can be traumatic. I’ll need some time to recover.
No, you can’t have pictures. I’d like to keep what little shred of self-esteem I have left.
On a brighter note, we bought new phones the other night. Boyfriend’s phone was starting to cut out for no good reason, and while mine was still in decent shape, it was 2 ½ years old, and I really wanted a camera phone. It could come in very handy when we see stuff while out and about that we want to photograph for posterity. Like say, 4 guys with the bling going on thinking they’re all that because they have a limo waiting to take them out on the town. Then the valet brings up their car so they can get some stuff out of it, and that car is a mini-van.
Anyway, time to eat dinner now. New post coming out in just hours.
