it's too late...

I feel like I need to post because it's been so long, so here's my terrible effort. I admit to being energized to post this morning and losing that energy as the day wore on and my sneezes got closer together. Now my head and face are tight and I'm not happy. But here's my post:

Most of last summer I wore nothing but skirts and two pairs of longer shorts. I just had a 10 line IM conversation with my sister about what I should call the shorts. Answer? Not culotte (I was misinformed). Bermuda shorts. And if you're curious, you should wikipedia "shorts". Back to the point. I wore shorts and skirts. I loved the skirts especially and so decided that this year I wanted to branch out into dresses. And let me tell you, the sun dress hunt has been amazingly difficult. I saw one million. Tried on twenty. And bought two (pictures at end of post). That's a bit sad, yes? I guess I'm starting my dress campaign small.

The last part of the campaign was to find the right shoes. And honestly, I wrote this whole boring post just so I could tell you how much I love these shoes. They kick ass (we'll see about comfort, but I think they'll fail there). Expect to see a lot of these shoes:

I'm not sure of what I see...

My sister told me yesterday that she feels like the world is telling me to get a robot tattoo. This after I went to this website and Barack Obama built me a robot. Apparently this was strange since she clicked a dozen times and never got a robot. So Barack Obama wants me to get a robot tattoo. And just now, when I was finding that link, he thinks I'm cute. I feel like using the word kismet here.

I've been thinking long and hard about the failure of the experiment and today I had an epiphany. My cookie maker was dying. So I bought some batteries, and whiz, bang, I think that might explain things. I also want to note that I think I might have been in a mid-winter slump. I think there were things adding to the weather causing glumness...but I think I have crested the slump. I will be trying the experiment again - but this time I'll be "eating cookies" 5 times a week. I'm thinking April. Or should I just go ahead with March?

And, in a moment of craziness, I found myself thinking what my modern day dowry would be. Let's say that tradition was still around...what would my dad bribe some guy with to get me hitched? Here's the list I quickly created:

1. In lieu of goats, livestock, etc, one little gray schnauzer.
   
2. Cases of wine
3. A pinball machine
4. A guitar or two
5. Some golf clubs

That list solely comprised of things my dad has in abundance. Besides piles of cash. I think that dowry might make me a pretty desirable catch...

Sames and opposites...

Things I know and love:

• my cat has a faux hawk, and faux hawks are almost always lovable
• Barack Obama suddenly, thankfully, seems like he might have a shot. Let's do this.

Things I know and hate:

• a migraine + weird tonsils? That's cruelty.
• datamart

I have mad skillz yo...

It just occurred to me that in about half a year I'll get to change that blurb about my blog. Because then I will just be a twenty-something crazy cat lady who is no longer in school. Cannot wait.

I've spent the last 5 days solid with a ton of people I love madly. And it's funny, because in 2007, it suddenly seems like we actually had time to spend together (which is rare). And because of the level of fun we have, I end up with some "friend hangover" in the form of:

• sadness that the time is over (and sadness that it likely will not be as much time in '08)
• hilarity and a solid case of the giggles whenever I "reflect" on our time or look at the pictures that result from these outings. And by whenever I look, I mean at least once an hour. If there is one thing facebook has done for me (besides impress my family and friends with my mad scrabble skills. If one is so lame as to type mad skills...I feel it should probably be done with a z...mad skillz) it has allowed me to look at my pictures all day from any computer with internet access (blah, blah, blah, flickr, blah, blah. Not as fun).
• it may sound weird, but some sense of solidity. Peacefulness. I can't really explain that one. But spending time with people who know me and still love me...and even laugh at me...makes me feel like me.
• And in the end, it makes me feel happy to be here, on my couch alone. Weird, maybe. But spending time with people often makes me need an equal amount of opposite time (perfectly alone, and right now...just sitting in silence. Besides occasional cat trills).

Happy New Year all...this one started out deliciously. I hope it proceeds as such...

Crack o' dawn...

So I'm up at the crack of dawn, to see my friend "maybe I'm jewish" Janet off to her residency interview. I haven't updated this piece o' crap for quite some time. The lull after NaBloPoMo or post-kitchen lackadaisicalness? You be the judge (and yes, I did pull out a big word at 7am. I'll go ahead and pat myself on the back).

Here's what's been happening:

• I did, in fact, step all over the wet varnishy kitchen floor. I was pissed and horribly, rottenly entitled. On the first two steps my shoe stuck and the third step I slid in a pool of varnish...and then I panicked, grabbed a fork and back tracked. I didn't ruin the floor all that badly. The one spot that is noticeable is actually a sock mark at the very edge - from where I had to lean to use the microwave.
  
• I finished some baby socks and gave them away (pictures at the end of the post). I was also commanded to start making those socks for my friend's unborn babies. That she isn't going to start having until she is 30. Which is 5 years away. What she doesn't realize is that those tiny little socks are a pain in the ass to make and she'll be lucky if she gets one pair.
• Lot of emailing to Canada. Then a phone call to the burbs. Welcome back to Chicagoland Al.
• Christmas shopping and the like...
• Figuring out what my chances are to hit it on New Years (I'm going to go with...7 to 1. And by hit it, I mean something tame like...make out). Apparently I'm going to be forced into a shopping trip with "baby sock commander" friend where I will be forced to try on humiliating hootchie shirts so that I can show off the ample cleavage. But like "maybe I'm jewish" friend states: they're there - it's not like anyone is going to miss them. Why sluttify myself? Let's struggle with that one shall we? Because apparently I would have a better chance with men if I wore tighter clothes (courtesy of "baby sock commander" and husband). But what they don't understand is - I don't want to be that girl. If you only like me because my shirt is tight and my boobs are large then fuck off.
  

See? Boring. What does it matter if I post if when I do there's not much to say....

The temperature is dropping and it feels like...

I walked home from the gym with stars in my eyes because the snow was so delightful. Falling silently, thickly...and at one point, even getting so deep as to crunch under foot. I was super content.

Then I got home and ate cookies for dinner.

Because this is the kitchen:


It's an empty shell. It has a beautiful new floor (I mean, I love that floor. Almost as much as I love a rounded doorway. Apparently I have a passion for parquet). A beautiful new floor that will likely be ruined because they never found the source of the water. Anyway, a whole cabinet is missing, the stove, the fridge, the sink. All gone. Only one of the items was relocated to the foyer:

You should all enlarge that picture and look at the items on my fridge. Particularly the hot shot of Justin Timberlake. The contents of the other cabinets? On the table and on the floor behind that picture. It's a disaster here. If I have all my glasses, silverware, plates after this whole thing I'll be shocked. Because the dishwasher disappeared while it still had a clean load of dishes in it. So, I have access to my fridge. But...no plates. The plates are still in the wall cabinets. And I have no access to my pantry. I'm food less.

It's interesting living here. In a mostly negative way. I want out.

Anyway, I still sort of have snowflakes on the mind and my good mood...not really ruined which is super surprising.

Drunk dial the second...

I had a real post planned (may be put off until Sunday). Then I looked at my cell phone and saw I had missed a call from my cousin, Bee, at 2am this morning. Luckily, I had a voice mail. A hilarious voice mail. If only I could post the audio here.

My cousins, the whole lot of them (well, the one family that we're really close to), are notorious drunk dialers. I've had more drunk voice mails from Bee than anyone. This morning, she called to say happy thanksgiving, that she loved me, that she's sorry we didn't see each other. Then she went into this whole thing about how one of her friends, who I know fairly well, wants to marry me. And how she had told him (oh giggling just thinking about it) how pretty I was in "makeup and jewels". Then she put him on the phone and he made less sense than she. Then my uncle got on the phone and I heard how much he loved me. Then cousin is back and she says "____ just said he's going to marry Katie lastname". And hung up.

Ah, Happy Thanksgiving to me. What more could I want from my favorite cousin/family than a drunk voice mail?

And in this moment I am happy...

Pretty sure I've used that post title before. On this Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I'd like to take a moment and jump up and down for joy - this is the two year anniversary of my last day of work at soul sucking insurance job. It seems like it all happened so long ago. But it's only been two short years. I am so glad (and thankful) that I had the resources and support to quit that job.

Most of the ways in which I'm different have been slow in coming. And I think it's mostly been a progression that no one much notices. I am happier. I am far more easy-going. I am more stable. I am better off.

In the end, I guess I have to be glad I went through that whole thing. It made me understand what it feels like to be stifled. And I don't want that feeling again.

My apartment has been...plagued with problems. All of them water related (me and water? enemies.). I have a very real fear of mold and I need to get out of this place soonish. But I love this apartment, it is home. And I refuse to move to another place in between. Which is why I lust for a condo so badly...but I can't afford it. And the sister said, well, someday you'll land a job that will pay the big bucks. And my fear is...that job, that job that pays me a lot of money? Will that job stifle?

Last call...

Last call for questions....I'm going to go ahead and extend the invite to anyone...and if you don't want questions in return, I respect that, you can now ask without having to answer in reciprocation.

After that, it's back to blogging as usual (and then in November, blogging daily)...

A slice of my Friday...

Boku is snoring softly upstairs. The TV is on mute. I pause in my reading ("The application of e-business practices can provide a massive......"). I have a vague recollection of an amazing line I read in a book last night that perfectly captures my feelings about Chicago and feel happy.

Before them, the skyline towered. Colin had always loved Chicago's skyline. Although he was not a religious person, seeing the skyline made him feel what is called in Latin the mysterium tremendum et fascinans - that stomach-flipping mix of awestruck fear and entrancing fascination. - An Abundance of Katherines, John Green

Just feeling happy tonight (and it doesn't hurt that I just finished that reading and am so, one less reading away from being utterly behind in my course)....don't miss the Questions post below this one...

Things I'm loving right now...

• Dominick's Signature Baked Potato soup
• The flexibility of my job, which allowed me to leave early earlier this week when I wasn't feeling so great
• Colder weather...where did you go?
• Jim & Pam being together, 30 Rock actually producing real laughs
• Baby zoo tigers (although did you read the story, the horrible story? Poor baby zoo tigers).
• Easy peasy classes.
• This donkey:

And now I'll go the opposite...

Things I'm loving lately...

• Almost all of the rest of my coworkers. "Gassy cubicle wall sharer" is the lone wolf in that unhappy coworker category.
• The artist Jen Stark. I absolutely would love to have something like that on my wall some day (if you hit her site, I'm talking the "sculpture" section). I wonder how much that stuff costs? Because of course the one I love best is "Production Line" and I feel like I would desperately want all 3 (that's the sculpture picture on page 15). But to be honest, I love most of them...
  
• My family.
• The cooler weather that was here about a week ago. Today? This past week? Not so much. But I know it's coming....I can feel it. Ha ha you hot weather lovers, fall is coming...suck it!
  
• Big paychecks, no longer paying for individual healthcare (hell yeah!) and tuition waivers.
• Scrabulous! Although I don't love that nearly every time I go in to play, that terrible Glamorous song by Fergie goes through my head (but of course, it is: It's Scrabulous, scrabulous, scrabulous. It's scrabulous. Foxy, foxy....)
• One of my professors seems absolutely worthwhile and I think I might learn something! Rejoice!
• And on that same note, watching (listening) to my class while tooling around on the Internet or knitting (or writing a blog post), on the comfort of my own couch. Ah distance learning...I embrace you.
  
• Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays....

Hope you all have a good weekend. I'm thinking of trying to get another picture Saturday up tomorrow...

And off I go...

I officially was offered a job! My first day is next Tuesday (just in case you're new here, it's the same job I currently do...only I'll be a "real" employee with a salary and benefits and the like...instead of an intern).

In other "good for me" news I worked out today. I have lots to say about this...bullet points? Yes, I think so...

• My ridiculing coworker works out every day at the same time I plan to. And yet I didn't see him today. And I must say, I was on edge waiting for him to pop up and point at my sweaty forehead and ridiculous little ponytail and laugh. Ok, he probably wouldn't do that, he's honestly sort of nice to me on most occasions. But either way, being on edge was not fun. I think it'll get better tomorrow as I get more comfortable with the place and the machines. The edginess is going to go away.
• I don't think I'll ever be comfortable standing naked in a women's locker room.
  
• I started on the elliptical and felt like..ok, I'm not so bad. Then I realized I was at about a 13 minute mile and that's like a fast walk. Eerrrr...not so hot. I also moved to the bike and my thigh muscles couldn't handle even two levels of resistance. Because..you know, they've all atrophied.
• For some reason I'm intimidated by the weight machines. And to be honest, it might be because it was all men hanging out over there. And again, I think when I get more comfortable with the place, I'll wander over there and work my arm muscles (which seriously need it).
• A question for those of you "in the know"....what should my target heart rate be and how long should I work out while at that target? I could look it up, but I'm lazy and sneezy and don't feel like it. If it helps, I'm 5' and weigh about 125 - 130. I thought maybe those of you bored at work could research that for me when you're bored.
• I expected all the girls at the place to be skinny Trixies. And they weren't! Maybe that'll happen next week though...
• The absolute worst part/hardest thing about working out was the walk home. It was evil and long. I don't understand how working out gives people energy. I think I could get in bed right now happily.
  

And finally, it smells bad here. Like gas. Or glue (which is what it actually is). Glue that is holding down my newly repaired parquet floor...