I'm tired. Yay three-day weekend!
Last week I began to search for apartments. It happened really fast that I haven't had much time to process everything. I had found a nice looking place on the Citi-Habitats website and contacted the agent listed with it. He emailed me back right away and said "Let's meet up Saturday" and I got excited. Nice price. Right down the street from where I am now. Lots of sunlight. He never called me again. I had Mark call him. No dice. Eventually, when the guy just disappeared and the apartment was rented away, Mark decided to write a letter of complaint to the agency and an agent called us to apologize and told us 'not to give up on Citi-Habitats'.
Then I registered online with a really small and local agency here in Inwood. Immediately she called me and next thing I know I was looking at 5 apartments one evening after work with my dad. My head was spinning. I liked the last apartment we had looked at. It was right next door to the 'lost Citi' apartment. It had an elevator. But a tiny kitchen. It was in great shape so the rent was higher than I had set out for. I went home, my head spinning with ideas of living in that apartment. But I had to calm down. It was the first time I looked at anything. And all I could think was 'if I'm going to pay higher on my bracket of ideal rent, I might as well have a bigger kitchen'. So I got over it.
One night before going to bed I was obsessively looking at more listings when I decided to visit the Citi-Habitats site again. I came across an apartment that had a different agent, same neighborhood, rent still reasonable, and in the pics it looked nice and spacious. I emailed and he emailed back.
The next day!! There I was being shown around my hometown 'hood. I looked at 4 places with dad again. (Mark's schedule and then Lasik eye surgery make him unable to traipse around with me). The last apartment I was shown was the one I inquired about. It faced the front of the building, the kitchen was nice, the bathroom nice, the rooms spacious. It's only real drawbacks? Small closets (can you say armoire?) and it's the top level of a 6-story walk up (can you say no armoire?). Mark squeezed in a viewing with the broker and he gave the place a thumbs up.
Well, we tried to get the rent lowered and we were probably laughed at behind our backs but Mark and I decided that the rent was still reasonable and overall the place had most of the things we were looking for. For days and hours I've been printing and collating and filling out paperwork. We've been running to eye doctors, post offices, and banks in order to get everything done before they close for the weekend and a federal holiday.
In NYC they demand so much personal information to rent an apartment it's just overwhelming but I'm not surprised. Here people rent and rent for decades. It's not so transient. My dad pointed out that in NYC the tenant has so many rights and it's hard to have them removed for any sort of infringement that landlords just want to make sure you're practically a perfect citizen before they let you move in.
Well now it's finally done. We wait to meet up with the broker this afternoon to hand over the stuff. Money orders filled out. Fees, Fees, Fees. But here I sit, next to a manila envelope with tons of financial and employer information. I wonder if I should throw in a urine sample for safe measure. But they might not like that.
Well...wish us luck. Oh, is anyone available to move boxes up six flights of stairs? Around February 1st? Dinner is on me!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Let Me Count the Ways
Sometimes Mark wants to be all philosophical and meaningful about the truth about love and why there is love and why we love each other. I think that's great and all. A rare thing to find in a man. Heck (yes, heck) it's a reason I love him! But as I was cleaning the disaster my mother left in the kitchen (the apartment search is ON!) I was just thinking that the real basic 'Man Things' that he does are so important to me too. They make me happy. They make me feel cared for in the very basic day-to-day ways. I felt the need to list them:
Mark cleans up dead mice. This has such an amazingly high importance I can't even explain it to you (but I'm going to). For those of you who know Mark because of his Tahoe Life you will not be surprised. Mark was the man who had to clean up vomit and poop on a daily basis. It was his job. And he could be passionate about it.
I especially appreciate his talent at cleaning up dead mice whenever I come across that particular Sex and the City episode (com'on Blair!) when Charlotte is dating the Gay-Straight Man and a mouse gets stuck on the glue trap. For a hilarious moment Charlotte and her GSM are kicking the mouse back and forth to each other, squealing like girls, and begging each other to 'get rid of it'. That will never happen with Mark. If I come across a crime scene I simply have to remove myself and my gentleman will take care of it. There is no "you just left it there all day?" or "I did the last one it's your turn". Dead Mice = Mark's job.
Mark cares about my music collection. In the summer of 2005 my father suggested that for my birthday I get an iPod. He accompanied me to the Apple Store in Soho and there I realized he wasn't offering to get me an iPod for my birthday he just thought I should buy myself one and justify the purchase because it was around my birthday. I was pretty annoyed because I'm pretty sure I was perfectly happy traipsing around with CDs and probably would still carry around a Discman if it wasn't for that purchase. Either way that was my big step into the mp3 world and it has pretty much been my only. When it comes to items over $100 I absolutely stick to the school of thought "Don't replace it until it's very broken". Therefore even though my iPod is pretty much insanely outdated I don't give a (dead) mouse's tushy. I'm not buying another one. I don't need it. But that doesn't erase the fact that one day I'm going to go play some music and my iPod will not work. And all my music gathered from my own collection and from communal computers across Stanford Sierra Camp property will be gone! Gone and missed! I get sad just thinking about it.
But Mark to the rescue. A number of months ago Mark put all of my music on his hard drive. He sacrificed precious gigabytes for my music protection. Not only was that nice but it was necessary. Do you think I was going to dedicate hours of my time finding the right program, figuring out how to use it, loading, moving, arranging, filing. Whatever it all is? No. He did. Because he cares.
Mark does Man-nagging. He bothers me. About the important life things that I just can't get to in time. While a woman will nag about the pair of socks on the floor or the dish in the sink, this man nags about bigger things. My problem is credit. I have none. My credit is so non-existent that I was denied a credit card designed specifically for young people who have little-to-no credit. Huh? I was perfectly happy to shrug my shoulders and continue to live life with debit card transactions. But Mark said 'Nay'. He researched how to investigate credit issues. He scoured FAQ pages. He created a desktop folder with all the information I would need. And then he nagged me until I filled it all out and mailed it. And I only did that because there were like 3 lines to fill out. He had done everything else.
Our wedding. Ugh. I can't even think about it. In fact, I often don't. I don't like to plan. I'm not good at it. I get all worked up and can't breathe. Mark sat at his computer and created spreadsheets. Worksheets. Plan-o-grams. He completed his guest list. He saved it all on a desktop folder that is easy for Jamie to find. Everyday he asks me if I completed my guest list. What do you think the answer is?
Mark eats anything. I was raised in a house that has this man. We'll call him the Dad. And Dad likes three things. Rice, beans, plain meat. That's it. 3 things. That's boring. And if you try to 'mix it up' the Dad complains. He moans, he bitches, he whines. If, by some miracle, he actually likes whatever 'new thing' you've done, he's surprised. Wow! That was good! I don't really like that but it was good! He says it in a way that makes you wonder if he thinks that 'it' being tasty was an accident. That it was supposed to taste like crap because it isn't rice, beans, meat but by mistake you put something in it and it tasted good. This time at least. Anyway, my point is he's not very adventurous and gets upset when you mess his dinner time up with 'something different'. (Though will he cook? No. He's The Dad.)
However, Mark will eat anything. Learning to be domestic and cook dinner was fun for me when we had our own place in Tahoe. I could cook anything! Mark would eat it! And almost all the time he liked it. Even when I didn't. It was exciting to cook because he was excited to eat. I could complain that he doesn't exactly volunteer to cook. That the ratio of Mark cooking meals to the ratio of Jamie cooking meals isn't exactly equal but why bother? I have years of marriage ahead of me to do that. Also, Mark only cooks one thing. And he didn't know how to boil water until he took a cooking class. WHA? Hello! Is that warning enough that I don't necessarily want to be begging for the culinary creations of Mark? I mean, boiling water? In the words of Geico, It's so easy a Caveman could do it. And Mark couldn't... apparently. But I digress. This is about how I love Mark.
Mark has become an indentured servant for my happiness. TJs is his master. With TJs Mark will supply us with a nice-ish, Extreme Uptown Manhattan apartment (instead of middle-of-nowhere Brooklyn), food (for me to cook), privacy, cleanliness. Mark moved to NYC to make me happy. And how did I repay him? By finding a job fair for TJs where he went, wowed them, and was hired. Now he works 50 hours (or more) a week, spends the rest of his waking hours on the NYC Subway, is chronically exhausted, Vitamin D deficient, and chronically unhappy. It's all my fault.
Which is why when we have a space of our own where I am The Boss of the House (that's right Mark, me) I will do my absolute best to make sure it's a space where he can be happy for the 20 minutes he is awake eating food and the 4 hours he gets to sleep. And all the little snippets in between.
Mark cleans up dead mice. This has such an amazingly high importance I can't even explain it to you (but I'm going to). For those of you who know Mark because of his Tahoe Life you will not be surprised. Mark was the man who had to clean up vomit and poop on a daily basis. It was his job. And he could be passionate about it.
I especially appreciate his talent at cleaning up dead mice whenever I come across that particular Sex and the City episode (com'on Blair!) when Charlotte is dating the Gay-Straight Man and a mouse gets stuck on the glue trap. For a hilarious moment Charlotte and her GSM are kicking the mouse back and forth to each other, squealing like girls, and begging each other to 'get rid of it'. That will never happen with Mark. If I come across a crime scene I simply have to remove myself and my gentleman will take care of it. There is no "you just left it there all day?" or "I did the last one it's your turn". Dead Mice = Mark's job.
Mark cares about my music collection. In the summer of 2005 my father suggested that for my birthday I get an iPod. He accompanied me to the Apple Store in Soho and there I realized he wasn't offering to get me an iPod for my birthday he just thought I should buy myself one and justify the purchase because it was around my birthday. I was pretty annoyed because I'm pretty sure I was perfectly happy traipsing around with CDs and probably would still carry around a Discman if it wasn't for that purchase. Either way that was my big step into the mp3 world and it has pretty much been my only. When it comes to items over $100 I absolutely stick to the school of thought "Don't replace it until it's very broken". Therefore even though my iPod is pretty much insanely outdated I don't give a (dead) mouse's tushy. I'm not buying another one. I don't need it. But that doesn't erase the fact that one day I'm going to go play some music and my iPod will not work. And all my music gathered from my own collection and from communal computers across Stanford Sierra Camp property will be gone! Gone and missed! I get sad just thinking about it.
But Mark to the rescue. A number of months ago Mark put all of my music on his hard drive. He sacrificed precious gigabytes for my music protection. Not only was that nice but it was necessary. Do you think I was going to dedicate hours of my time finding the right program, figuring out how to use it, loading, moving, arranging, filing. Whatever it all is? No. He did. Because he cares.
Mark does Man-nagging. He bothers me. About the important life things that I just can't get to in time. While a woman will nag about the pair of socks on the floor or the dish in the sink, this man nags about bigger things. My problem is credit. I have none. My credit is so non-existent that I was denied a credit card designed specifically for young people who have little-to-no credit. Huh? I was perfectly happy to shrug my shoulders and continue to live life with debit card transactions. But Mark said 'Nay'. He researched how to investigate credit issues. He scoured FAQ pages. He created a desktop folder with all the information I would need. And then he nagged me until I filled it all out and mailed it. And I only did that because there were like 3 lines to fill out. He had done everything else.
Our wedding. Ugh. I can't even think about it. In fact, I often don't. I don't like to plan. I'm not good at it. I get all worked up and can't breathe. Mark sat at his computer and created spreadsheets. Worksheets. Plan-o-grams. He completed his guest list. He saved it all on a desktop folder that is easy for Jamie to find. Everyday he asks me if I completed my guest list. What do you think the answer is?
Mark eats anything. I was raised in a house that has this man. We'll call him the Dad. And Dad likes three things. Rice, beans, plain meat. That's it. 3 things. That's boring. And if you try to 'mix it up' the Dad complains. He moans, he bitches, he whines. If, by some miracle, he actually likes whatever 'new thing' you've done, he's surprised. Wow! That was good! I don't really like that but it was good! He says it in a way that makes you wonder if he thinks that 'it' being tasty was an accident. That it was supposed to taste like crap because it isn't rice, beans, meat but by mistake you put something in it and it tasted good. This time at least. Anyway, my point is he's not very adventurous and gets upset when you mess his dinner time up with 'something different'. (Though will he cook? No. He's The Dad.)
However, Mark will eat anything. Learning to be domestic and cook dinner was fun for me when we had our own place in Tahoe. I could cook anything! Mark would eat it! And almost all the time he liked it. Even when I didn't. It was exciting to cook because he was excited to eat. I could complain that he doesn't exactly volunteer to cook. That the ratio of Mark cooking meals to the ratio of Jamie cooking meals isn't exactly equal but why bother? I have years of marriage ahead of me to do that. Also, Mark only cooks one thing. And he didn't know how to boil water until he took a cooking class. WHA? Hello! Is that warning enough that I don't necessarily want to be begging for the culinary creations of Mark? I mean, boiling water? In the words of Geico, It's so easy a Caveman could do it. And Mark couldn't... apparently. But I digress. This is about how I love Mark.
Mark has become an indentured servant for my happiness. TJs is his master. With TJs Mark will supply us with a nice-ish, Extreme Uptown Manhattan apartment (instead of middle-of-nowhere Brooklyn), food (for me to cook), privacy, cleanliness. Mark moved to NYC to make me happy. And how did I repay him? By finding a job fair for TJs where he went, wowed them, and was hired. Now he works 50 hours (or more) a week, spends the rest of his waking hours on the NYC Subway, is chronically exhausted, Vitamin D deficient, and chronically unhappy. It's all my fault.
Which is why when we have a space of our own where I am The Boss of the House (that's right Mark, me) I will do my absolute best to make sure it's a space where he can be happy for the 20 minutes he is awake eating food and the 4 hours he gets to sleep. And all the little snippets in between.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Past Reads 2008
With a new year I decided to "file away" my Past Reads list for 2008 and start anew for 2009. This isn't everything I read since I don't think I thought of making this list until about April or May of '08 but I still think it was a nice list.
Happy New Year.
Books I read in 2008*:
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond
Eden Close by Anita Shreve
The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner
Light On Snow by Anita Shreve
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
The Tattoo Artist by Jill Ciment
Sister Mine by Tawni O'Dell
The Flamenco Academy by Sara Bird
What Matters Most by Luanne Rice
Widow for a Year by John Irving
Music For Torching by A.M. Homes
Black Girl White Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
The Mistress's Daughter by A.M. Homes
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant
Gardens of Water by Alan Drew
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
*April '08 - Dec '08
Happy New Year.
Books I read in 2008*:
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond
Eden Close by Anita Shreve
The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner
Light On Snow by Anita Shreve
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
The Tattoo Artist by Jill Ciment
Sister Mine by Tawni O'Dell
The Flamenco Academy by Sara Bird
What Matters Most by Luanne Rice
Widow for a Year by John Irving
Music For Torching by A.M. Homes
Black Girl White Girl by Joyce Carol Oates
The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
The Mistress's Daughter by A.M. Homes
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
The Last Days of Dogtown by Anita Diamant
Gardens of Water by Alan Drew
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
*April '08 - Dec '08
Monday, December 15, 2008
Applesauce!
Last week I saw two pigeons sparring with beaks. It was pretty fun to watch and I wish I could've recorded it.
On Saturday I had my big exam for a job posting for the Unified Court System of New York State. Basically it was a test to see if I can type and if I can do clerical work. Considering there were a butt-load of women and a few men taking the same test I really don't see a job coming out of this but I'm happy to have it done with, as I had studied myself into a panic for the damn thing.
Unfortunately, I woke up that morning with a raging cold. I freaked out a bit because I couldn't believe that I would wake up sick on the morning of the test. But no worries, I ate my breakfast and took some cold medicine and off I went to waste hours on a test that will probably get me nowhere. Though, whaddya know, as soon as the test actually starts, after the herding around of large masses of people, after the reorganization of tainted scantron answer sheets, after the deep sighs of annoyance from state and future state employees, my cold medicine runs out and so does my breakfast.
In a tiny classroom on West 41st a whole lot of strangers got to listen to the INSANELY loud grumblings of my stomach which does not like to be kept off schedule. Add that to the incessant sneezing and sniffling (half my answer sheet was covered in snot tissue) and I definitely had to perform under pressure.
I thought it was a runny nose run amok so I headed downtown to meet up with Steve and Laurie to a "show". I didn't know that it was a kinda gallery showing in a pizza place. The artist (a Purchase Alumna) went to Amsterdam for her honeymoon and a year later ended up with these paintings inspired by the many cafés she and her new husband had visited. The story in its full version is really cool and as the artist, Michele, tells you how it all came to fruition she lets you flip through her sketchbook. Anyway, I bought a print of my favorite one because I cannot afford real art and you can go to her website if you're interested in seeing whatever cool graphic-type stuff she came up with.
The bad news is that my cold only got worse and I felt like death on Sunday. After a long and slightly traumatizing morning on Monday I now have three different prescriptions that will make me feel better.
And feeling better means going to work (which leads to feeling worse but I won't go there for now).
At work we've been preparing for the arrival of Hanukkah and I can't get this song out of my head. While this version is a little slower it is no less awesome. I beg you to go here and get a sampling of what is going through my head at a fairly constant rate.
On Saturday I had my big exam for a job posting for the Unified Court System of New York State. Basically it was a test to see if I can type and if I can do clerical work. Considering there were a butt-load of women and a few men taking the same test I really don't see a job coming out of this but I'm happy to have it done with, as I had studied myself into a panic for the damn thing.
Unfortunately, I woke up that morning with a raging cold. I freaked out a bit because I couldn't believe that I would wake up sick on the morning of the test. But no worries, I ate my breakfast and took some cold medicine and off I went to waste hours on a test that will probably get me nowhere. Though, whaddya know, as soon as the test actually starts, after the herding around of large masses of people, after the reorganization of tainted scantron answer sheets, after the deep sighs of annoyance from state and future state employees, my cold medicine runs out and so does my breakfast.
In a tiny classroom on West 41st a whole lot of strangers got to listen to the INSANELY loud grumblings of my stomach which does not like to be kept off schedule. Add that to the incessant sneezing and sniffling (half my answer sheet was covered in snot tissue) and I definitely had to perform under pressure.
I thought it was a runny nose run amok so I headed downtown to meet up with Steve and Laurie to a "show". I didn't know that it was a kinda gallery showing in a pizza place. The artist (a Purchase Alumna) went to Amsterdam for her honeymoon and a year later ended up with these paintings inspired by the many cafés she and her new husband had visited. The story in its full version is really cool and as the artist, Michele, tells you how it all came to fruition she lets you flip through her sketchbook. Anyway, I bought a print of my favorite one because I cannot afford real art and you can go to her website if you're interested in seeing whatever cool graphic-type stuff she came up with.
The bad news is that my cold only got worse and I felt like death on Sunday. After a long and slightly traumatizing morning on Monday I now have three different prescriptions that will make me feel better.
And feeling better means going to work (which leads to feeling worse but I won't go there for now).
At work we've been preparing for the arrival of Hanukkah and I can't get this song out of my head. While this version is a little slower it is no less awesome. I beg you to go here and get a sampling of what is going through my head at a fairly constant rate.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Free Writing
Hello friends. If you've been a dedicated checker-of-the-blog, I thank you. Obviously I haven't written in a very long time. I felt that I didn't have much going on and I had nothing much but whining to dish. While me whining is nothing new I try to keep it to a minimum in order to keep ya'll happy. Maybe I fail at that mission but maybe I don't!
So I decided to just drop in and say what's up with me.
Some of you know that the month began with me becoming engaged. In a way it's nice to see a relationship develop. It's totally like a promotion from Mark. 'Congrats on being a wonderful mate, you move up to the next phase!' Of course many people have wonderfully happy long-term relationships that never become 'engagements' so all this is my personal take on my relationship.
The proposal was a total surprise which I think is my favorite part of all this. No, I didn't see it coming. No, we didn't go on a vacation where all I could think is "This is it!" (not that I'm that kind of girl anyway). No, it wasn't a Christmas or Valentine's proposal (Thank God!). In a way the election of Barack Obama will always be the "when did he propose" reminder.
We quickly went to stores to get my finger sized because the size 5 ring was much to big. After learning I'm a size 4 we sent away the ring and we were told it would take about 8 weeks to get it resized. I said goodbye to my ring "see you in January!". True to their excellent customer service (and unbeknownst to me) Blue Nile, our jeweler, had my ring back in exactly one week. Which means Mark not only surprised me once with a ring but twice! That guy is good!
Other than that, November has been pretty standard. I'm not in love with my job but some days are okay. Some days I think that the kiddies are just the cutest things in the world. I'm more just nervous of where to go from here. I still don't know what I like, what someone would hire me for,what I can stick with.
I'm grumpy about the time change. It's already dark by the time I (and thousands) get off of work. Which means my after-work walks through the trees are cancelled until further notice.
Have you seen the new Go-Phone ad with Steve Buscemi as the voice of a gingerbread dad repairing his gingerbread house? Awesomely funny.
Thanksgiving Dinner at the Uncle and Aunt's house was tasty. My highlight? The latest addition to our family is now 2 years old and he's a cutie.
My introduction to the world of Yoga is going well. My Saturday class is pretty much done. It was really basic but it gave me something to do. The teacher told me she has another class on Tuesdays and Thursdays which I didn't know about, it was never advertised. I wonder if it's like an invite only type of thing since all the students know her well.
So I registered and attended, not wanting to lose my rhythm of having any physical activity. It's intense! Nothing like my Saturday class which is filled with some Senior-types. I loved it even though it leaves me with a rushed feeling all day, having to get home quickly to walk the dog, eat, and change before class. And then when I get back from class it's pretty much bed time!
While the positions are challenging I really like it. The "challenge" I don't love is my right wrist. It's so damaged from time at the computer and using a mouse that it's really weak and I have trouble supporting my weight doing some poses. A huge bummer since I'm only in my twenties!
I'm having trouble getting into any reading. I haven't finished a few books I started and nothing is really catching my interest. I'll have to do some big shopping at the library. I'll need a good read for my holiday break coming up. If you have any suggestions please let me know!
'Til Later.
So I decided to just drop in and say what's up with me.
Some of you know that the month began with me becoming engaged. In a way it's nice to see a relationship develop. It's totally like a promotion from Mark. 'Congrats on being a wonderful mate, you move up to the next phase!' Of course many people have wonderfully happy long-term relationships that never become 'engagements' so all this is my personal take on my relationship.
The proposal was a total surprise which I think is my favorite part of all this. No, I didn't see it coming. No, we didn't go on a vacation where all I could think is "This is it!" (not that I'm that kind of girl anyway). No, it wasn't a Christmas or Valentine's proposal (Thank God!). In a way the election of Barack Obama will always be the "when did he propose" reminder.
We quickly went to stores to get my finger sized because the size 5 ring was much to big. After learning I'm a size 4 we sent away the ring and we were told it would take about 8 weeks to get it resized. I said goodbye to my ring "see you in January!". True to their excellent customer service (and unbeknownst to me) Blue Nile, our jeweler, had my ring back in exactly one week. Which means Mark not only surprised me once with a ring but twice! That guy is good!
Other than that, November has been pretty standard. I'm not in love with my job but some days are okay. Some days I think that the kiddies are just the cutest things in the world. I'm more just nervous of where to go from here. I still don't know what I like, what someone would hire me for,what I can stick with.
I'm grumpy about the time change. It's already dark by the time I (and thousands) get off of work. Which means my after-work walks through the trees are cancelled until further notice.
Have you seen the new Go-Phone ad with Steve Buscemi as the voice of a gingerbread dad repairing his gingerbread house? Awesomely funny.
Thanksgiving Dinner at the Uncle and Aunt's house was tasty. My highlight? The latest addition to our family is now 2 years old and he's a cutie.
My introduction to the world of Yoga is going well. My Saturday class is pretty much done. It was really basic but it gave me something to do. The teacher told me she has another class on Tuesdays and Thursdays which I didn't know about, it was never advertised. I wonder if it's like an invite only type of thing since all the students know her well.
So I registered and attended, not wanting to lose my rhythm of having any physical activity. It's intense! Nothing like my Saturday class which is filled with some Senior-types. I loved it even though it leaves me with a rushed feeling all day, having to get home quickly to walk the dog, eat, and change before class. And then when I get back from class it's pretty much bed time!
While the positions are challenging I really like it. The "challenge" I don't love is my right wrist. It's so damaged from time at the computer and using a mouse that it's really weak and I have trouble supporting my weight doing some poses. A huge bummer since I'm only in my twenties!
I'm having trouble getting into any reading. I haven't finished a few books I started and nothing is really catching my interest. I'll have to do some big shopping at the library. I'll need a good read for my holiday break coming up. If you have any suggestions please let me know!
'Til Later.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
14th Street
I obviously love the city I grew up in. I made Mark move back here with me so there must be some affection, right? But at the same time when I walk through my neighborhood all I can think is "I hate it here." But maybe it's just my neighborhood. Today as I was walking west on 14th Street heading towards the A train I saw all this randomness that made me feel glee at being there.
First, I fucking love the architecture. I never knew I loved architecture but every time I learn anything about architecture and/or the history of a building and why it appears and was designed the way it was I soak up the information and feel pure happiness at learning it.
The way the sun set was glowing off the top of Empire State Building and the subtle artfulness of the details on the older buildings along the street made me so excited. And even though it can be heart wrenching when some ugly glass beast gets erected occasionally they are so stylish that the juxtaposition of the shiny structure next to a beautiful pre-war building can be quite charming in that Old World meets Modern City kind of way.
I especially love the new ways that awkward old buildings are being used. On the corner of 14th and Eighth Avenue there is a Balducci's, an upscale grocery store. It's housed in an old bank building. Awesome.
Then there was the energy of being in Union Square. The people who conglomerate there trying to make a buck. You've got tables of "pashminas" next to rows and rows of Obama buttons, stickers, T-shirts. You've got the table with African inspired earrings and bracelets, the guy selling all his old James Patterson novels, the smell of hand mixed frankincense being burned. Today my particular favorite was the older man with the snow-white hair in the style of Doc from Back to the Future. He was decked out in his plaid suit complete with vest, buckets of fresh vegetables lined up in front of him demonstrating these knives, maybe a vegetable peeler. A kitchen knife demonstration on the corner of 14th and University?
Sometimes I feel self conscious walking around that area. So close to the Village, NYU housing, Fifth Avenue. Everyone is so freaking trendy and stylish it makes me feel like a hobo. But then you pass Forever 21 and Strawberry and realize that you can appear trendy for not too much money it's just a matter of putting a lot of effort and a little less body fat into it. And who needs trendy anyway, right? If anything, I enjoy the fact that there are so many senses of identity, so many ideas of what style is. I can appear perfectly fine in my sneakers and SSC fleece, my knee length jacket. As long as I have headphones I appear to be like everyone else.
So that's when I like New York. When I'm in an area where there are so many great sensory things to take in. My neighborhood just doesn't have that glam. Never will.
First, I fucking love the architecture. I never knew I loved architecture but every time I learn anything about architecture and/or the history of a building and why it appears and was designed the way it was I soak up the information and feel pure happiness at learning it.
The way the sun set was glowing off the top of Empire State Building and the subtle artfulness of the details on the older buildings along the street made me so excited. And even though it can be heart wrenching when some ugly glass beast gets erected occasionally they are so stylish that the juxtaposition of the shiny structure next to a beautiful pre-war building can be quite charming in that Old World meets Modern City kind of way.
I especially love the new ways that awkward old buildings are being used. On the corner of 14th and Eighth Avenue there is a Balducci's, an upscale grocery store. It's housed in an old bank building. Awesome.
Then there was the energy of being in Union Square. The people who conglomerate there trying to make a buck. You've got tables of "pashminas" next to rows and rows of Obama buttons, stickers, T-shirts. You've got the table with African inspired earrings and bracelets, the guy selling all his old James Patterson novels, the smell of hand mixed frankincense being burned. Today my particular favorite was the older man with the snow-white hair in the style of Doc from Back to the Future. He was decked out in his plaid suit complete with vest, buckets of fresh vegetables lined up in front of him demonstrating these knives, maybe a vegetable peeler. A kitchen knife demonstration on the corner of 14th and University?
Sometimes I feel self conscious walking around that area. So close to the Village, NYU housing, Fifth Avenue. Everyone is so freaking trendy and stylish it makes me feel like a hobo. But then you pass Forever 21 and Strawberry and realize that you can appear trendy for not too much money it's just a matter of putting a lot of effort and a little less body fat into it. And who needs trendy anyway, right? If anything, I enjoy the fact that there are so many senses of identity, so many ideas of what style is. I can appear perfectly fine in my sneakers and SSC fleece, my knee length jacket. As long as I have headphones I appear to be like everyone else.
So that's when I like New York. When I'm in an area where there are so many great sensory things to take in. My neighborhood just doesn't have that glam. Never will.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Updates and Thoughts
I love the fact that New York City parking tickets come in neon orange envelopes. There is something festive about the bright color. Like Halloween! But then again it might also be reminiscent of convicts coveralls. And that's not so festive.
It's like:
Dear NY City vehicle owner. Welcome back to your car! Here's a surprise for you!
On Thursday at 9am I will have ALL FOUR of my wisdom teeth removed. I'm terrified. The scheduling of the whole procedure was a real pain in the ass. As someone who works in a classroom taking time off during the school week can be a real issue with your employer for obvious reasons. I was hopeful that I could schedule my appointment for this coming Monday afternoon and then have Tuesday off for Veteran's Day. Problem solved!
But with this procedure I'm having general anesthesia so they expect you to come in early in the morning because you will have had the whole night with no food or water. So I have to go in early. Top that off with the fact that the oral surgeon I'm seeing only works on Thursdays. What a life! So now I have to go in on Thursday. The scary part: I'm expected at work bright and early on Friday. UGH. I really hope I'll be able to pull that off. It's just one day right? Yeah, right.
In other news Your's Truly is engaged. Freaky. It's so adult I don't even know how to process it. But I really like my ring! It's sparkly.
It's like:
Dear NY City vehicle owner. Welcome back to your car! Here's a surprise for you!
On Thursday at 9am I will have ALL FOUR of my wisdom teeth removed. I'm terrified. The scheduling of the whole procedure was a real pain in the ass. As someone who works in a classroom taking time off during the school week can be a real issue with your employer for obvious reasons. I was hopeful that I could schedule my appointment for this coming Monday afternoon and then have Tuesday off for Veteran's Day. Problem solved!
But with this procedure I'm having general anesthesia so they expect you to come in early in the morning because you will have had the whole night with no food or water. So I have to go in early. Top that off with the fact that the oral surgeon I'm seeing only works on Thursdays. What a life! So now I have to go in on Thursday. The scary part: I'm expected at work bright and early on Friday. UGH. I really hope I'll be able to pull that off. It's just one day right? Yeah, right.
In other news Your's Truly is engaged. Freaky. It's so adult I don't even know how to process it. But I really like my ring! It's sparkly.
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