Bitter Amalgamations

So close to 2009!

  

2008 was such a whirlwind of a year…I can’t believe it’s actually already drawing to a close.  Altho I am extremely excited to see what 2009 will bring.  I’m itching to start making some lists of goals and aspirations etc…and Real Simple’s latest issue thus was irresistable to me, as it is the “List Issue”.

And speaking of lists, here are some of the more interesting things to happen to me in 2008 in no particular order:

1.  Going to South Africa - too much to possibly include here
2.  Being cussed out…and being used to it?
3.  Following the 2008 presidential election more closely than I have ever followed any sort of political thing
4.  Moving into my own apartment
5.  Dating Michael Whatley
6.  Graduating from college
7.  Learning how to cook
8.  Learning how to do physical restraints
9.  Going from a partying social butterfly (i.e. lots of alcohol) to an introverted, boring adult (i.e. pretty much no alcohol)
10.  Beginning training for a 5k (me!  The world’s worst runner!)
11.  Becoming totally enamored of yoga
12.  Learning how to knit
13.  Becoming addicted to podcasts
14.  Being a maid of honor in the coolest, most multicultural, most politically correct, most colorful, most beautiful, and most sheer fun wedding ever.

Sooooo…it’s been a year of growth, overall, I’d say.  Obviously, one thing I have failed at that is thus not on the list is keeping my blog updated and interesting.  I wistfully long to do so, but for some reason it seems so elusive.  As it is, I am beginning to feel sleepy and am afraid I shall depart from this post soon.  Here are just a couple of updates:

1.  Michael and I went to Charleston!  It was a brief, brief trip, but it was a lot of fun!  It really is a beautiful city.  I think it would have been more fun, in some ways, if we had been on a for real weekend and had some events or festivities to go to.  As it was, being a normal person’s work week, we just kind of roamed around on our own in anonymous tranquility (except for the fact that I kept pulling the camera out).  Then again, you all should know that I prefer to see the locals live in their standard fashion, rather than through the eyes of a tourist.  Plus it was cool to actually plan and pay for a trip on my own, even if on a small scale.  And we didn’t get all that lost!  Even more exciting.

2.  Christmas was good, albeit it kind of rushed due to work.  Lots of cooking lessons & family time.  It was also very nice to finally be able to actually buy Christmas presents, so I had a lot of fun with that.  However, I am so emotional on the holidays and I hate that, but it was ok.  Probably necessary as well.  I take so damn long to process things.  Sigh.

3.  I’m officially on vacation!!!!!!!!!  I’m taking a week off of work in order to head to the Wyche Oyster Roast, which of course promises to be a proper New Year’s Eve extravaganza.  Also, one word:  babies.  Huzzah!

4.  I’m finally on the last book of the Twilight series, which is Breaking Dawn.  I have very mixed feelings about this series.  On the one hand, I am a hopeless fool for vampire stories.  On the other…what decade/century is it in?!?!  The gender roles and views on male-female relationships is just absurd.  Also, the main character is the most annoying main character ever written.  Maybe it’s just because I work with teenage girls who aren’t healthy…maybe it was because I was once an unhealthy teenage girl myself…but honestly.  She just needs to stop.  Too dramatic.  And completely unbelievable as a character.  The vampires and werewolves are more believeable.  Sigh.  But thankfully I’m almost done, because I am addicted to the plot.

And with that…see you on the other side of 2009!

My mood is: Playful.

The weather outside is frightful

  

It has been raining and cold for awhile now.  And I am currently sick.  I hate being sick, but especially when it’s wet and cold outside.  I’m really over being sick.  I don’t think my body is over it tho; it seems to be getting worse.

But aside from all of that.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Mine consisted in a lot of movie watching and a lot of Sudoku puzzles while waiting around the cottage.  Fun times.  However, while it sucked not to see my family or go anywhere for the holidays, it was kind of nice to just not be doing much and relax.  I got my apt cleaned, which was good.  I did not, however, get much reading done.  Sudoku seems to have taken over my life.  It’s terribly addictive.

I did get my apt decorated for Christmas tho!  And did a little bit of shopping.  Sadly, I’m kinda poor and not able to purchase all of the wonderful presents for people that I would like to.  I do, however, need to get started on my Christmas card.  Also, I’m trying to be kind of creative with gifts this year.  Which is fun.

In other news, I am re-applying to grad school.  Which is a completely annoying process.  For the second time.  It’s also nerve-wracking; doubly so than last time.  However, I feel like I know more of what I’m doing.  And I’m much more focused.  I’m only applying to one program: Wake Forest’s MA of Counseling program.  From there I can either do school or community counseling.  It’s a 2 year program…I’m hoping I get in.  It would really work well for me I think…we’ll see.  Prayers & fingers crossed please!

My mood is: Sickly.

Fun Survey Stolen From Candace

  

Countdown

THIRTEEN THINGS YOU LOVE:
1. TV on DVD
2. Podcasts
3. Words
4. Web Sudoku
5. New underwear
6. Yoga
7. Theater/Theatre
8. Younger guys…i.e. Michael Whatley
9. Photos
10. Breakfast food
11. My family
12. Books/bookstores
13. Driving barefoot

TWELVE MOVIES:
1. When Harry Met Sally
2. Dark Knight
3. Charlie Wilson’s War
4. Tommy Boy
5. The Birdcage
6. Mean Girls
7. A League of Their Own
8. Dangerous Beauty
9. Something’s Gotta Give
10. Stranger Than Fiction
11. Talladega Nights
12. Me, Myself & Irene

ELEVEN GOOD BANDS/ARTISTS:
1. The Beatles
2. Ingrid Michaelson
3. Crooked Still
4. The Dixie Chicks
5. Johnny Cash
6. Rilo Kiley
7. Regina Spektor
8. Billy Joel
9. The Indigo Girls
10. The Decemberists
11. Christina Aguilera

TEN THINGS ABOUT YOU:
1. Passive aggressive.
2. I am not good at managing money
3. I like being at home alone
4. I’m very territorial
5. Fall is my favorite season
6. I like rainstorms
7. Jealous streak
8. Anti-socks
9. Cleaning relaxes me…when I do it
10. I can’t do cartwheels

NINE GOOD FRIENDS:
1. Michael
2. Cristina
3. Jessica
4. Kevin
5. Cat
6. Kristen
7. Rachel
8. James
9. Jamie Lee

EIGHT FAVORITE FOODS/DRINKS:
1. Diet Coke
2. Diet/Mountain Dew
3. Sundrop
4. Hot chocolate
5. Milk
6. Rum
7. Fried Egg Sandwiches
8. Brown rice

SEVEN THINGS YOU WEAR DAILY:
1. Glasses/contacts
2. Hair-tye
3. a bra
4. sunglasses
4. earrings…usually
5. a smile?
6. lotion
7. footwear of some kind

SIX THINGS THAT YOU HATE:
1. Tepid Coffee
2. Bad drivers
3. Gossip
4. Having an itch
5. Ignorance
6. Poor Grammar

FIVE THINGS YOU DO DAILY:
1. Brush my teeth
2. Think
3. Breathe
4. Eat
5. Pray

FOUR TELEVISION SHOWS YOU WATCH:
1. The Office
2. Arrested Development
3. The Biggest Loser
4. Friends

THREE THINGS YOU WANT:
1. A normal schedule
2. To live abroad…but not be far away from friends & loved ones
3. To write a book

TWO THINGS YOU SAY OFTEN:
1. Appropriate/Inappropriate
2. I’m Sorry

ONE PERSON YOU COULD SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH:
1. Edward Norton

My mood is: Sleepy.

It’s the end of October already?

  

Apologies apologies for not being more consistent with writing here and keeping in contact with all of you who may or may not read my blog.  Life has been a bit ridiculous lately.  Plus I’ve been slightly lazy with keeping up with things I guess.  Work takes a lot of energy, and on my days off I pretty much don’t want to do anything.  But here is a cursory update, somewhat in the style of the amazingly talented Candace - who I not only admire for her theater and blogging skills, but just generally for being fabulous.

1. Yes, I do like my job.  Yes, it is incredibly hard and I do daydream of a normal schedule (with normal people’s weekends and a healthier social life).  Yes, I don’t get paid much and it can be very stressful.  But ultimately, it is what I want to be doing and I can’t really imagine much else at this point.  It’s an incredible experience and I am learning so so so so so much.  And I genuinely love the girls, and the people I work with - despite frustration and complications at times.

2.  Michael Whatley is awesome.  The end

3.  I voted early!  Huzzah!  And more importantly, I have actually been staying informed in the news since about August.  Oh, the things that you can accomplish when you still have constant internet access, but don’t receive emails or watch YouTube videos all that often.  I listen to podcasts & read news sites, and sometimes even watch the news on TV.  I feel so informed!  And now is a good time to be so.

4.  I think my cooking has reached the mediocre level.  The next level is apparently going to be a little tougher to break into.

5.  I am budgeting!  Despite this, I find myself unable to resist bookstores.  Or eating out occassionally.  And recently I gave in and bought some CDs.  I’m embarrassed.  But I am in love with media type things.  I purchased two of Crooked Still’s CDs (they are now one of my favorite groups and I highly highly recommend them), Shaken by a Low Sound & Still Crooked, as well as Ingrid Michaelson’s latest album, Be OK.  As for books, I purchased The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs, and Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (altho I have not yet finished reading Virgin: the Untouched History by Hanne Blank).

6.  On the note of fabulous books, I have joined the website LibraryThing and am loving it.  It really helps my OCD, and also helps me catalog all of my books (for all my 101 in 1001 friends out there - #61!).  Also, it is incredibly user-friendly and aesthetically appealing.  I haven’t had the chance to fully explore the site yet, but I really like what I see so far.  Like a lot.

7.  Speaking of new websites, I have also joined HubPages.  It’s an attempt to become more disciplined with my writing/make extra money…so far it is not going very well (the discipline part affects the more $ part and heaven knows - and you know, if you re-read the first paragraph of this post - I am not getting much accomplished on my days off).  BUT, aside from all of that, I am loving the concept of this site, and truly do want to start contributing more.  I think it’s pretty cool, and gives me a false sense of expertise on random things.

8.  The Office.  I’m on Season 4.  Oh.  My.  God.

9.  Halloween is this week!  I don’t know what to dress up as.  The girls have a party to go to and my co-workers and I want to dress up as well, but I never really dressed up for Halloween until college, and aside from being over the slutty costume thing, I literally can’t because I’m now a role model.  Terrifying actually.

10.  My sister has now been married for a month!  I don’t believe I updated very much about her beautiful wedding: it was incredible.  I cried a lot.  It was very vibrant and colorful and wonderful and just generally a good time.  Here are some pictures (not mine).

I think I’ll end it there for now…altho of course there are a ton more things I could update on.  Oh, I do have to add that I carved a pumpkin for the first time on Saturday.  Fun times :)  But anyway, things are going well.  I like life.  And, once again, I promise to try to update more regularly.

Inspired!

  

Lindsey Hardegree inspired me to update a bit on my 101 in 1001 :)  I crossed off 4 more things - I completed a nice scrapbook of my abroad adventures!  I also had to cross off the following three:

#23 - pull gpa up to 3.5.  I think I got it up to 3.4, but then I graduated.  And really, that’s what counts.
#41 - Save $1000 by graduation.  That ship has sailed.  I’ll definitely be re-structuring that goal for the next one!
#50 - Visit Hanna & Noah in Atlanta.  Sadly, I don’t keep in touch with this friend anymore, so while I do desperately want to see Atlanta, I don’t think it will include visiting them.

Meanwhile, life is pretty wonderful, but I unfortunately am not yet going to start updating regularly.  I think after my sister’s wedding I shall really commit to my routine.  There are too many incidental things going on right now with the start of the academic year, the start of work, the wedding, the settling into the apartment…I’m trying to set up my routine, and alas, this is kind of taking a backseat temporarily.  Many apologies, but I do hope to really get back into it ASAP.

So far I seem to not have achieved my goal

  

So much for my return to the blogging world.  To be fair, I did just recently get my internet set up.  And things have been just a tish busy since then.  To summarize: I am now in my 3rd week of real work, I am completely unpacked and my apartment is all set up, I have started volunteering again, and life is speeding by rapidly.  Things are, overall, going wonderfully.  I absolutely love my apartment; it feels so huge for a 1 bedroom!  But I can’t tell you how wonderful it feels to actually be unpacked.  All of the junk I own in one spot and set up and put away…it’s amazing.  And luckily there are huge perks to the hand-me-downs of being third born and I actually am fully furnished.  I’m very happy in it

Work is also going well, altho of course it is a difficult job.  But not that much.  The rest of the staff is incredibly supportive.  And it’s pretty easy to remember that the girls have issues going on and that’s why they’re acting out.  The hours are long, and definitely not worth the pay, but it usually goes by pretty quickly because there is a schedule.  I’ve made a ton of mistakes, I am sure, but I really do feel like I am learning *so much*, so it’s wonderful.

Speaking of learning, I am gradually upping my cooking knowledge.  Nothing crazy or huge yet, but actual real meals.  Of course, the downside to this is that I have a ton of leftover food that inevitably does not all get eaten before it goes bad.  But I try to eat most of it.

Otherwise, things are good.  Real blogesq posts to come after this dull update about my life.

My mood is: Thoughtful.

I suppose it’s actually time to return (for real) to the world of blogging

  

I don’t have internet in my apartment *quite* yet, but I do have plans for it to be installed next week.  August 4th is rapidly becoming, for many reasons, an important day.  In the meantime, I’m feeling that anxious feeling that usually means there has been an absence of lists in my life.  Which undoubtedly means I need to make some.  And one of my new goals is to make my blog more reader-friendly & interesting, as it kind of took a backseat to…well, everything that is life…this past year.  But in an effort to actually discipline my writing a tad, and to broaden my own interests, and really, just have a chance to appropriately run my mouth on whatever I find interesting (because what place is better for that task than the all-accepting internet?) I am re-committing to my blog.  How silly and technological of me.  So, apologies for the dryness and sheer lack of postings for the 2007-2008 academic year, and cheers to high hopes for 2008-2009 Look for changes on a variety of levels.

Sidenote: Isn’t it interesting that I still find a need to timeline my life according to the academic year rather than the calendrical one?  So silly.

My mood is: Happy.

Brief status update

  

Clearly, have not resolved the internet situation yet.  Honestly, have been too busy to really focus on it.  But soon!

Apartment life = fabulous.  Don’t have all of my stuff yet, but have unpacked everything as much as possible withouth additional things to put them in lol.  But all of the boxes are gone!  And hopefully everything should be down by the end of August (it will be nice to have more than 2 forks…and a table…and a desk…etc.)  But I have bookshelves, and a wonderful boyfriend bought me a microwave as a housewarming present :)  It may not *sound* like a romantic surprise, but it totally was, trust me.  Speaking of, I’m actually enjoying using my oven/stove and cooking!  I’ve mostly been sticking with things I already knew how to make, but I did make “easy” chicken & dumplings (thanks Bisquick) which I think turned out pretty good.  Then again, I’ve never had them before, so who really knows.

As for work, I’m almost done with pre-service training…and I actually start on Saturday.  8am-10pm.  Nothing like jumping in feet first, eh?  But I love everyone I’ve met so far and am excited about who I’ll be working with…make no mistake about it, though, this will be an incredibly difficult job.  And I’ve already learned so much, and I know this is nothing compared to what I’ll have to pick up from experience.  But it should be an amazing opportunity.

So, all is well!  Love to all.

So so brief

  

First and foremost:  I need to work on setting up internet in my apartment ASAP.  This sketchily hanging around campus in my random  bouts of free-time that I don’t spend exhausted or unpacking (or both) is just not conducive to good web communication.

So, super-brief update as I have to get back to training: I have moved to Winston!  Just moved Friday.  Started training at The Children’s Home for position of Residential Counselor on Monday.  Training is until the 25th, and I start work on the 31st.  I work every other Wednesday (beginning the 6th) and Thursday-Saturday in the second shift, which means my schedule falls somewhere in 2-12 range.  Crazy!  Learning so much in training.  Love the organization and the people more and more each day I’m there.  Mildly terrified of how hard this job will be (and depressed by how little it will pay) but overall excited :)  Still dating Michael.  That’s wonderful.  And in my spare time, I am trying to get ready for my sister’s wedding in September - so exciting!

Phew.  Hopefully will update more later!

I know this doesn’t excuse my lack of a real entry, but it’s a fun survey…

  

1. Bold every book that you’ve read.
2. Place brackets around those books you were required to read in school.
3. Underline every book that you’ve read and loved.
4. Italicize every book that you intend to read.
5. Strike every book that you started but never finished.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

5 [ To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee ]

6 The Bible

7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

[14 Complete Works of Shakespeare] *read partially?

15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell

22 [The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald]

23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34 Emma - Jane Austen

35 Persuasion - Jane Austen

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

[41 Animal Farm - George Orwell]

42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel

52 Dune - Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

[57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens ]

58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72 Dracula - Bram Stoker

73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill

75 Ulysses - James Joyce

76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal - Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession - AS Byatt

[81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens]

82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

[87 Charlotte's Web - EB White]

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

[91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad]

92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94 Watership Down - Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo