Ahhh moving: boxes, backaches, books, and big pieces of furniture.  Never really a picnic.

I have a special distaste for moving – mainly because I have a bizarre combination of both a nomadic nature & a hoarding nature.  This means I carry a lot of random s*%t everywhere.  Remember the classic 80s movie featuring David Bowie, The Labyrinth?  I’m kinda like that scare bag lady that has lots of stuff on her back.  Scary.

In addition to large quantities of essentially useless things (and I swear I try frequently to simplify) I have ridiculous amounts of the following three things: 1) clothes.  2) BOOKS.  3) antique furniture.  As for the clothes…no big deal.  The antique furniture…usually not heavy, but awkward and tricky to move (especially with the fear that if I break or scratch it – anymore than I already have – my mom might kill me).  Now the books…

I don’t think you understand the sheer quantity.  They filled up the entire floor of the living room.

So, needless to say, I had a little bit of anxiety about moving.  For one thing, I work two jobs…when in the world was I going to pack?  Luckily my stellar roommate, Carley, assisted me a lot with this.  And since we weren’t going far, a lot of stuff we literally loaded into a shopping cart and trekked across the parking lot (in the rain).  Perhaps not the most efficient means, but certainly sufficient.

But despite all of the above hindrances, and despite all of my anxieties about moving, we succeeded!  Granted, it took about eight hours because we hadn’t really completely packed, as mentioned above.  Still, we had a lot of help (my baby brother even drove down to give us a hand – since he is a giant…) and we managed to get everything done without any major mishaps!

Despite remaining within the same complex and not going too far, our apartment feels completely novel   We LOVE it.  It’s amazing.  And you should come visit.  In addition to being absurdly large (I have a walk-in closet!!!) it’s in a more accessible location that is shaded by trees and next to the laundry facilities – even tho I have a washer/dryer hook-up inside the closet   So we’re pretty happy.  We did run into a few maintenance-worthy problems upon our move-in

Home Improvement

(see how we jerry-rigged the toilet to work?)but those have all been taken care of less than a week later!  And everything is unpacked & decorated…minus Carley’s room, but that’s because she recently graduated from college and thus has her possessions scattered to the four winds.  But this too shall shortly pass as we continue to settle in.

Speaking of settling in, here are couple of pictures to give you an idea of what we’re working with…but you should just come see it in person!

SPACE!

Magic happening?

I freaking love my bathroom.

Soo I’m moving in a week…which means I have to pack up all my s*&t.  And a lot of that s*&t is books.

Which is my not so-smooth segue into my book review post!  I’ve put it off for awhile, so forgive the brevity & lack of specific recall…

1.  Are You There Vodka?  It’s Me, Chelsea. – Chelsea Handler.  The follow-up to a book I previously reviewed, My Horizontal Life.  This book focuses less on Chelsea’s struggles with relationships and more on her struggles with…life in general, I suppose.  It was a quick, easy read, and fairly entertaining.  I agree with other reviews that determine it to be “disjointed”, but I still think her sense of humor makes up for it.  Plus, I mean, if she can get on the Forbes 100 list through her crazy family, love of alcohol, and absurd mistakes, isn’t there hope for us all?

2.  Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Create Peace…One School at a Time. – Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin.  Holy.  Cow.  This book was spectacularly amazing and inspiring.  Greg Mortenson is truly a unique & bold individual.  This book made me want to a) catch the next plane out of the country.  b) join like 17 different mission projects.  c) go back and fix pre-9/11 problems in the Middle East.  d) whack a lot of people over the head for their ignorance and lack of willingness to help.  e) personally thank generous donors of time and money for all they do.  Seriously, how the heck did he do all of this?  It involves such great personal sacrifice that I can’t even imagine.  And his mission is totally on point – education is the key to solving our international crises, specfically those involving the Taliban.  But, I’ll let you come to your own conclusions through reading the book on your own.  This is, once again, a story that merits being read simply because it needs to be heard – no matter what conclusion it leads you to.  The sheer dedication this man has is astounding, even if you disagree about the direction of his dedication.  Also, it’s incredibly badass that he made it as far on K2 as he did.  And his childhood stories alone are gripping.  And I still can’t believe he and his wife got married after one week.  C-razy.

3.  The House of the Scorpion. – Nancy Farmer.  This book was actually recommended to me (read: demanded to be read by me) from a client.  So, I took it with me on my vacation.  And proceeded to way over-analyze her connection to the main character.  But I digress.  As it is, it was a pretty good book.  Definitely an engaging plot.  Certainly not handled with the greatest finesse – in particular I felt as though the exposition was disproportionately large compared to the wrapping up of the story… – but definitely entertaining.  To sum up, it creates a fictional world in which cloning of human beings exists, and Farmer actually creates a semi-believable (altho terrifying) futuristic world in which to debate the ethical dilemmas of this, and other issues.  Pretty good.

4.  The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume I. – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Ok so first of all, the title of this bothers me.  How can it be the “Complete” Sherlock Holmes when it’s only Vol. 1?  But anywho.  So this included 3 of the Holmes novels, as well as about 40ish of the short stories Conan Doyle published serially in newspapers/magazines.  Needless to say, it was a rather large book, and I was rather tired of Holmes by the time I completed the book – altho this should not imply that I did not enjoy the book, or that it was not excellent, as it predictably was.  The Hound of the Baskervilles particularly lived up to the hype.  True, my thought processes became a little muddled as I was reading this book while being caught in the midst of a Criminal Minds obsession via TV media, so I began over-analyzing any situation and evaluating it in a criminal capacity…but still.  Soooo good.  Really had some very funny moments at times too.  To be sure, that vague predictability of style and method that frequently taints mystery novels did occur at times (say, around the 38th story…) but not on too large a scale.  And truly, the final novel really was excellent.  I highly recommend picking this up to read at some point (especially as you can pick it up and put it down multiple times…) especially if you enjoyed the movie.  Fun fact?  Holmes only says “Elementary my dear Watson” one time in one story. 

5.  Have a Little Faith. - Mitch Albom.  I know most people have strong opinions on Mitch Albom, and I do see how his voice can sometimes come across in a…condescending? manner.  But.  I loved this book.  I read it in approximately 36 hours.  It really spoke to me where I was, and as I enjoy personal stories, I definitely enjoyed the interview style approach to the story.  Albom’s rabbi sounds like an dear, wonderful, wise man, and Pastor Henry also has a wonderful testimony.  Essentially the book looks at the lives of two “men of faith” – one a Jewish rabbi, and one an evangelical pastor, and the effect they have on the lives of those around them.  In particular the life of Albom.  To that degree, it does chronicle a bit of Albom’s faith journey, tho not as much as I expected.  Still, some great points are raised throughout the book.

6.  Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders. – Vincent Bugliosi & Curt Gentry.  Ooh dear.  So, remember how I talked about being obsessed with Criminal Minds during my review of Sherlock Holmes?  Yeah, I had to not allow myself to watch that show while reading this book.  Because this book is insane.  Those people were absolutely 100% out of this world C-R-A-Z-Y.  Now, I had heard the name “Manson” and the phrase “Manson Family” and definitely grew up associating them with a) insanity  b) cults  c) murder  d) evil, but I really had no idea what had happened.  Helter Skelter is an in-depth look at the entire experience – the brainwashing, the murders, the hapless investigation, the trial, and the aftermath.  Additionally it takes the time to explain Charles Manson’s philosophy and motive.  It was largely unbelievable and disturbing, but excellently written, and a large kudos must be given to Vincent Bugliosi for his part in ensuring that these severely disturbed murderers were not allowed to walk free.  I highly recommend it…but not if you are prone to nightmares or live alone.

7.  Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy and Commitment. – Steve Harvey.  Ok.  I’m duly embarrassed to admit I read this.  But first of all, it was a birthday present.  Second of all, I DESPERATELY needed to read something light-hearted after all of tha Sherlock Holmes, Criminal Minds, and Helter Skelter business…particularly as my roommate was out of town and I still needed to be able to sleep.  And in that regard, Steve Harvey totally delivered.  I certainly laughed a bit and did not feel emotionally involved in the reading material.  Now, granted, I did not always fully and totally agree with what he was saying, but I do think he raised some good/interesting points.  Plus, he is a funny man.  A quick & easy read.  I didn’t really walk away with much from it, but I wasn’t exactly trying to for anything overly-stimulating at the time.  Still, some of the material could easily lend itself to spirited debate, if you so chose

So.  It’s July.  And tomorrow (the 14th) is my two year mark at work.

To celebrate, I got to lead team today.  Woo.  Hoo.

After this, Lauren and I decided to get a sandwich.  Downtown.  Naturally, we rode together.  In her car.  And naturally, as it looked like rain, I first rolled up the windows in my car.  Fast forward an hour and a half and…I’m back at my car.

And I realize I have locked my keys in the car.

And my car is running.

And has been running for 1.5hours.

And the gas tank had been on E right before I got to work anyway.

So, I call Triple A.  And since TCH is a confusing campus in which it is difficult to provide directions, I offer to walk to the entrance to meet him.  So I’m walking and texting Carley the lamentable condition of my morning while I’m cutting through a field.  Halfway through the field, I stop: I am walking through a straight-up minefield of bees.  Literally, easily over a hundred of them.  Swarming.  And I am walking.  In flip flops.  And I’m in the middle of the field, so I couldn’t exactly turn around.

But, I made it.  Maybe while mildly hyperventilating the whole time about the distinct possibility that one bee could sting me, causing a few dozen more to sting me until we’re in a situation quite similar to the tragic ending of My Girl.  It’s not like I’m *afraid* of bees, but there is something about feeling 30+ bee wings brush my skin and watching every footstep for approximately six yards that will inspire a gentle panic…

So anyway, eventually, the guy pops my door open.  La di da fixity fix.  But, now I’m out of gas.  So I call Carley up and proposition her for an adventure.  An adventure in which we go to the gas station, purchase a little gallon can, and fill it with gas.  And then try to get the gas in my car…

Which, needless to say, did not go well.

Carley and I still smell like gasoline.  I may have spilled some on each of us.  Repeatedly.  Maybe.

PS book review post coming soon!

Well dear ones, summer is officially here…which is pretty unbelievable.  I’m pretty sure it was only a few weeks ago I was wearing sweaters and knit caps.  But, I can’t ignore the signs any longer.  Aside from Sister Dearest’s charming blog post about the season, there are quite a few of those signs.  Probably my favorite is simply the smell of night summer air while driving.  It’s so North Carolina – one of the reasons I love NC.

Plus, the POOL is open!  Which means it’s tanning/swimming season (depending on how active you’re feeling).  Before you get started telling me all of the horrible things about tanning, relax…I know all of them.  But, I love Vitamin D.  A lot.  Plus, pale is really not my color.  It’s unfortunate.

So, I’m doing my best to enjoy the summer atmosphere – times of wine, margaritas, swimsuits, pools, Mexican food, dance music, tank tops, nail polish, flip flops, reading, iced coffee, etc etc.  But unfortunately, I only get to participate in the summer fun intermittently as I’m working my a$$ off.  But that’s actually ok – I really like the waitressing job folks.  And I REALLY like having a little extra pocket money (that I should be saving for graduate school…).  Still, I’m looking forward to VACATION NEXT WEEK!  3 days in Florida, 6 in Pittsburgh with small children.  Should be epic.

In the meantime, I apologize for the inconsistencies on my blog(s).  I’m just working a lot.  And that doesn’t really provide very good fodder for blog posts…also, it kind of leaves me somewhat incoherent and unable to string thoughts together.  Oops.  But, despite the busyness of this season, I would love to hear from you at any point in time   So don’t hesitate to call!