Special K and Coffee
I don't really know why you'd be here. I mean, I know I'm the single most interesting person, but don't you people have lives? Really, it's quite sad.
Lame-o Links Section
My homepage
Greenville College
Iowa State Cyclones
Gilmore Girls
Bannerland
Jars of Clay
Waterdeep
Mancy A'lan Kane
Roxative
Prinsiana
Memorial Lutheran Church
Knox Knolls Free Methodist Church
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
Country Music Television
Iowa Geological Survey
Monster House
I Really Should Read These Sometime
Paul
Beth-Annie
Helen
Matt
Patty
Steve
Alex
Mandy
Shannon
Melissa
Bill
Ryan
Christy
Eric
Jessica & Levi
Katie
Ben
Archives
<< current
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
I seriously thought she was insane
After finally posting about my foot the other night, I checked my sister's blog before turning in for the night. What I found was this post about how she thought they just felt an earthquake....in Racine, WI. Now, I realized that it would not be impossible, but I also knew that it was highly unlikely, so I set out to find out what really happened. It was very late so I didn't put a whole lot of effort into finding up-to-the-minute news for the area, which I didn't really have any luck with. So I decided to just try the earthquake theory, which, of course, took me to the USGS website where I found this. Just one month later (or a year earlier) and I would have been there to experience it, too. Poo.
Several people in this area (two from Ames specifically) have reported feeling weak shaking. I was awake at the time, but if we experienced shaking here then I didn't notice it. I'm still upset that I didn't get to feel it because I have the same fascination with earthquakes that my sister does, not to mention all that geology stuff. For two years I even lived in an area that has a great enough risk of earthquakes that we had earthquake procedures in our student handbook. But did I get anything? Nope. They felt one the summer before I went down there, but not once when I was there. :-P
Sunday, June 27, 2004
"OK, stairs then shoes...stairs then shoes..."
First, let me explain that my parents usually sit around for hours after church in the lounge drinking coffee and reading the Sunday Des Moines Register because we don't get it at our house. However, the lounge is currently under major renovation, so the Sunday paper, coffee, and donuts are downstairs in the fellowship hall right now.
Two weeks ago, we went downstairs for this ritual only to discover what we suspected: the coffee had already been dumped. I kicked off my flip flops because it's usually easier to walk that way and went upstairs to start a fresh pot of coffee in the kitchenette. I went back downstairs and talked to my mom for a little bit while it brewed then went back up to get it and thought I'd be smarter than the week before and just take the whole full pot of coffee downstairs. Everything was fine until I got to what in my mind was the last step at the very bottom of the stairs....
I was wrong. I was very wrong.
I think I had been getting ready to say something and I know that church like the back of my hand and have been up and down those stairs literally thousands of times and even in the dark, so I wasn't thinking about the stairs at all. However, there was one more step than my mind thought there was. So I came down hard kind of sideways on my right foot. Now, keep in mind that I still had a piping hot pot of coffee in my hand. It wasn't exactly as full as it had been when I started the journey, but I actually spilled surprisingly little of it and what I did spill went mostly on the floor and not on me. But I was in too much pain to care much so I just sat down on the floor right where I was and set the pot down while my dad started wiping up the spilled coffee that I wasn't sitting in and I made sure I could actually move my foot and walk, which I could.
Earlier this week I was still having some considerable pain in my ankle and there seemed to be some inflamed tissue around it, so I went to see the doctor just to be sure it was nothing more serious than what we initially thought. And this may sound crazy, but I almost think that the working for 5 hours straight did it good because it has felt much better since then.
And now the long-awaited....Graduation pictures!
Friday, June 25, 2004
Five hours, one Sony Discman, two CDs, two AA alkaline batteries, three vacuum cleaners, three hallways, seven rooms, twelve bags of garbage, five cups of coffee, and one sore ankle later...
...Levi and Jessica will have a clean church for their wedding tomorrow. If I recall, that picture is from the first night they met at Thursday night Bible study (dangerous place ;-)) and sat around talking for hours after. Tomorrow is the second of two very special weddings for me this summer (using that term loosely). Until this summer, the last wedding I attended where I was friends with both the bride and groom was my sister's. Actually, let me change that statement: Until this summer, I had never attended a wedding where I was friends with both the bride and groom separately. The first of these weddings was Derek and Holly in Greenville. I first met Derek when he was in 8th grade and got to know him through SKKY and Greenville events. Holly and I had the same major at Greenville, so we had a lot of classes and Lambda Pi Eta together. And now Levi and Jessica, both of whom I met at church through various student activities (including "studying" ;-)). I remember the night they met and I remember the day Phil asked me if I could unlock the youth room (another dangerous place ;-)) for Levi to use for his and Jessica's first date. Jessica and I have had many long talks after Bible studies and Levi and I have had many long talks on that wonderful 6.5 hour drive between Ames and St. Louis. So, in short, this is a very special wedding for me and I will get to see a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time (much like Derek and Holly's wedding). I will not be surprised if I cry at a wedding for the first time, but then again, I will not be surprsied if I don't. :-)
Now a few short rants about my day...
1) Girls, dump the stupid buckets of water. Don't leave them for someone else to have to deal with before they can fill them with clean water for mopping. (I fully ranted about that about a year ago.)
2) If you're hired to clean, clean. I'm not sure when the last time the upstairs men's restroom was cleaned, but I think my dad may have said he thought it might have been a month--and there have been construction workers around every day using it. Now, I hate cleaning men's restrooms, especially urinals, but that is what the latex gloves and the not thinking about it are for. (And the holding your breath. ;-))
3) You cannot suck up just anything with a vacuum cleaner. Someone working on things in the lounge must have forgotten that because my beloved orange Hoover was making very unhappy noises tonight. It sounded like something was wrong with one of the belts, but I had too much else to do to try to figure it out. So I got the grey one, which apparently has a problem with the cord, but I got it to work long enough to clean the offices, but I still had the rugs in the hall to vacuum. Wouldn't work. I didn't even know we had a third vacuum, but apparently we do and it's blue and looks like an older version of the ones they have at Greenville, but sounds much worse. Jeanne said we may have to invest in a new vacuum.
4) Nothing ever takes as long as you plan. I made the mistake of figuring the cleaning I wanted to do would only take about two hours. It would only take two hours...if the areas I took on had been cleaned with regularity, ya know, like when I used to work there. It didn't help that I decided to check the napkin/tampon dispensers only to find one virtually out and another loaded incorrectly (and needing to be restocked as well).
5) Just because a doctor takes x-rays and tells you that you didn't break your ankle doesn't necessarily mean that you should try to work for 5 hours straight constantly on your feet when you haven't been terribly active since you injured it. It can make for a somewhat unhappy ankle. That's not so much of a rant as it is a tip. :-)
The highlights of my night, however, (besides finally getting back to work which really feels good and I get paid for it) were getting to see Levi and Jess and chat for a little bit before their wedding rehearsal and Nate stopping by just to say hi and chat because he thought it looked like me who was working. For those who don't know, Nate is my pastor's nephew and lives with them next to the church. He and I also used to not be friends at all, then were forced to sit next to each other for three years in high school choir, then we got to be really good friends through having classes together at Iowa State because we were both business majors. He also, if anyone has heard me explain why I give such hard backrubs, is the football player on whom I learned to give backrubs during choir and would often ask over his shoulder, "are you actually doing anything back there? I don't feel a thing." So anyone who has ever asked, begged, or given me a pathetic look just to get one of my backrubs (and you all know who you are :-)), you can thank him. Anyway, I tracked him down at the Golden Wok (where he works) after I missed seeing him at the early Easter service back in April because we hadn't seen each other in a long time and I had hoped to see him. And tonight he "tracked me down" (a.k.a. "went next door" ;-)) where I work to catch up a little. It really made my night--not that it would have been bad otherwise, but it was really nice to see him again (and with the most hair I've ever seen on his head...completely unshaved!).
OK, ya'll have suffered enough of my randomness and Ryan and Phil even had to suffer with some of it in real time conversation. I've had too many cups of coffee. I sure hope I can get to sleep... :-)
Oh yeah, and it's really not fair where Eric has run off to this week....I just hope I get to hear about it and live vicariously through him a little--yet again. Hehe...Jessica told me tonight she was jealous of me not getting married and said I should stay that way so she could live vicariously through me. Sounds like the way most brides get....I sometimes like the idea of just skipping the wedding and jumping straight into the marriage, but at the same time... :-)
Anyway. Bed. Now. Goodnight.
Monday, June 21, 2004
Since Josh is getting ansy...
But he seems to be the only one who really cares, so I'm not sure why I should give you all the little tidbit more of information that I am. :-P
I am considering moving somewhere and then looking for a job. Why would I do a crazy thing like that? Because I found somewhere that I have been falling in love with and it has an amazing housing opportunity and is a good distance from several towns in which I could most likely find full time employment (and have already applied for one job). I haven't yet visited the place, but am betting that it will probably make me want to make the move even more.
Of course, I have kind of committed myself to work at church until at least the end of July, but I could perhaps start in August after getting back from Virginia and Patty's boot camp graduation or whatever that is.
And, btw, it's about half an hour from Arnold's Park, if you know what I mean... ;-D
So who wants to break this idea to my parents? 'Cuz I sure don't want to! ;-)
Friday, June 18, 2004
Birthdays
Happy Birthday to my dear sister...you're gettin' old! ;-) My present is, well, not yet purchased and I'm not sure what to get ya. :-)
Speaking of birthday ideas...for no reason in particular...
Cars are always nice, as are apartments and jobs.
OK, seriously, though, Wal-Mart currently has some things I really wanted to buy if I'd been able to spare a couple $10s...
Such as this.
And this.
And this.
And this.
And this, although the Ames Wal-Mart had it for the same price as all those others.
And this.
And finally... this or this (whatever the difference is exactly...I'm not looking right now).
She's gone country. Deal. :-D
Uh...practical stuff is also a good thing at this point in my life....like a place to put hundreds of CDs. :-)
Thursday, June 17, 2004
A girl I once knew...
She would sometimes say she really liked or wanted to do something (or didn't) in an attempt to gain likeability even if she just plain didn't care or felt the opposite. She finally realized and admitted this to herself about a year and a half ago.
Now, however, that girl sometimes fears that she will be mistaken for the girl from before, so she keeps her mouth shut at times about things she doesn't want to. She's honest with herself now, but wonders if her occasional silence with others is just as bad as saying things to make herself and others believe she was something she's not.
[I apologize for the somewhat crypticness of that, but it's not something I care to go into great detail about outside of private conversation...at least for now.]
++++++++
On a completely unrelated topic....Today I watched a great movie from my childhood: The Parent Trap. The original, of course. One of the best lines came when Mitch (the father) was frustrated with his daughter Susan, who he thought was Sharon-as-Susan (if you don't understand that, watch the movie. :-)) and Verbena (the housekeeper) walks past and says just one word, just one single word...
Mitch: ...and not speaking to someone because you're mad at them is just plain...it's, uh...
Verbena: Feminine.
Mitch: Yes, feminine. And she's absolutely right. And it's the worst part of being feminine, too.
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Aggravating, ain't it? ;-D
First of all, did you know that even at Wal-Mart they want you to pay $6 for 80 sheets of resume paper? Now, I already have resume paper, but guess what, I have no idea where it is anymore, so I went and bought more. Joy.
In searching through various classifieds and preparing to apply for several jobs, I have been attempting to make myself work on my resumes. Yep, multiple resumes. One specifically for PR/promotions and one for clerical/office assistant. I had the first one pretty much taken care of already...kinda. You see, in addition to multiple types of jobs, there are also multiple types of resumes: skills based and work experience. Herein lies my problem. We have been advised to use a skills resume as a new college graduate; however, I have heard from several people, including the career services counselor at Greenville, that what employers really want to see is your previous work experience. That's great, I have previous work experience, but it's all custodial except for one month of food service two summers ago. So, tell me, how does that translate to being good at PR or office work? Even with a skills resume for clerical I'm not sure exactly what to put for that. So I don't like working on them, which is not the best approach to finding a job. Do any of you out there have advice to offer me either from the perspective of hiring or being hired? (BTW, Josh changed it so that even if you can't see the comments link, you can click on the "+" next to the time and see the comments.)
I also mentioned on Beth's blog today that I am considering doing something kind of rash... and the more I think about it, the more I want to do it and let it take me where it will, but I think I'm gonna mull it over a bit more and see what might happen in the next few days before I say anything specific about it.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Every little girl’s dream
[It’s about 2:45 and I can’t sleep. So instead of jumping back online and sitting at that dang computer for another couple of hours (and since I still don’t have mine set up in my room) I got my dad’s old Toshiba laptop and am sitting in the comfort of my bed typing this.]
Yeah, I want "the life" that I think most girls, at least at some point in their lives, dream about: husband, kids, house, etc. But I’ve learned something...I am not entirely typical about it, and much of what I’m about to share is things I learned about myself just within the past year. Several of my friends have these dreams of having a career and a family, or just a career. I hate that word--"career." Bleh. I’m glad there are people out there who want it. I am faced with the possibility/pressure of pursuing it right now simply because, as far as I know, there’s not really anywhere else for me to go with my life. However, it is my highest aspiration to be a loving, caring wife to my husband and a loving, caring mother raising our kids. In my mind, that ranks worlds above any "career." Actually, it is a career and, personally, I think it’s just about the toughest one out there and the pay isn’t worth it, monetarily speaking anyway. But it’s the one I want, which is why I always laugh when people lately have asked me what my "dream job" is and advise me to go find it wherever it might take me. Sorry, this one’s not that easy, folks.
I always hear girls talk about how they have been planning their wedding since they were 10 or whenever. Uh...did I somehow miss that memo? I’ve never done anything remotely like even pretending to plan my wedding. With so many friends around me either getting married or close to it this past year, I have tried to think about planning such an event and what all I would want. Here’s the conclusion I’ve come to: I want a groom, a simple white dress, probably only as many attendants as I have sisters, and those vows, exchange of rings, marriage license, and stuff. Oh yeah, and I want it to be at Memorial. That’s about the size of that.
Most girls, I think, want an elegant reception in a nice reception hall with dancing and a fancy meal and cake and all that. (This one I have thought about more...c’mon, it’s food, people! ;-)) I do want a cake--duh! What would it look like? Beats the heck out of me. Other than that, though, I want a barbecue with hot dogs, hamburgers, and brats. Ideally, I’d like to have pork chops or steak or something, but I’m betting that money would not be there for those. And if dancing happens, it happens, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s not gonna be planned.
Honeymoon--here’s another thing I’ve actually thought about. Hawaii? Caribbean? Europe? Nope, nope, and nope. A national park. OK, this is not exactly cheap (like those first three are!) and likely would not actually happen (plus, depending on the time of year, I could hate it because of all the people there), but this is my dream. Just which park?, you ask. Quite a few would make the list, but my first pick would be the one I was watching a special about on the Travel Channel at the beginning of the school year that inspired this honeymoon idea. It is also my favorite and I have been wanting to go back since I got my first taste of it in 1992: Yosemite. They have cabins there that you can rent, so you can have good comfort and a Jacuzzi at night and you can be out hiking and/or rock climbing and enjoying nature during the day.
While we’re on the topic of dreams such as these...I have these great dreams of a house....two stories with a balcony perhaps, in the country (or edge of a small town), front porch that wraps to at least one other side, porch swing, hammock, pool, hot tub, pool table, ping pong table, dart board, charcoal grill, and a wood-burning fireplace…and if it’s in the country, I want a stream or pond with good fishing. Ya know, nothin’ much, really. (And a boat...oh, do I ever want a boat!)
You know, though, some of it’s fun to dream about, but what really, truly matters to me is just the people. I’d be a happy girl if all I got of that were the family and we had shelter and food and could take off to go camping regularly. Huh, sounds suspiciously like my childhood. We’ve lived in the same house since the day before Beth was born. It’s nothing glamorous, but my mom didn’t work until Sarah started college (to help put us all through college), and we’ve always had shelter and food (not always the best, but we’re still alive and healthy, ain’t we?), and I can’t even remember the first time I ever went camping--I was probably maybe a year old. We’ve never had cable. Never had high speed internet. Never had a new computer. Heck, didn’t even have a computer or internet until just the past 5 years or so. With the exceptions of The Rocketeer, Schindler’s List, and Aladdin, all the movies I’ve been to in the theater were over the age of 12. Hardly ever had new clothes. Never had even a newish car. Never had a lot of things, but that’s ok because we had camping trips and my dad’s guitar and grilling on a tiny grill until we bought the red one that’s on its last legs now and bikes that we could ride around the block and climbing the maple tree in the backyard and picking wild raspberries by the railroad tracks and going to McDonald’s was a novelty and getting non-powdered milk was a novelty and Scandinavian Days and Farm Festival and VEISHEA and the most uniquely designed birthday cakes ever and 12th birthday shopping with my mom for our first cologne and Camp Okoboji and driving out to San Francisco without a plan and Prairie Home Companion and Solid Gold Saturday Night and playing at church during PHS practice and Fireball and the Fireside Club and ice skating in the side yard and "baseball" in the backyard and "tennis" on the sidewalk and stargazing and rock collecting and helping my dad with the cars and building projects and...
It’s now 4:10 and I’m now getting really hungry and tired and mushy, so I’m gonna try this sleep thing again. And now it’s raining lightly so I have that sound to help me sleep, too. :-)
OK, I know this is a little weird and I’m still up and it’s about 10 til 5, but I want to dedicate this post to some GC people...Mandy, who also wants a barbecue for her wedding reception....Erin (a.k.a. my twin), who got engaged several months ago and is not planning to mess with a wedding ceremony and wants to go camping for her honeymoon--yes, honest to goodness camping! I told her I would just want a tad more comfort and, uh, privacy, because last I knew they didn’t make soundproof tents! ;-) .....And finally, to my Shannon, who understands fully what it was like to grow up the way we did and who always brings a smile to my face, even in just looking back and seeing the note she stuck next to her address in my address book. :-) I love you three goofy girls! Thanks for helping me get through my last couple months of school and for so often allowing me to just sit in your rooms and distract each other from being productive
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Needing to get things done...
As I sit here lamenting the facts that I am not in Wyoming and that I do not know how soon the car might be free* for my personal use, I am left to decide what to do next today:
(1)Look for a job...already done this one today--in four different communities even
(2)Apply for jobs...considering things from PR for YSS to Office Assistant for Don and Sons Body Shop to Custodial Supervisor for I don't know who
(3)Set up my computer, which has my resume for #2
(4)Find what random box is hiding my resume paper for #3
(5)Purchase, write, and send thank you cards
(6)Go visit Eric in Sac City (see opening sentence)
(7)Go visit Hilary in Omaha (see note on #6)
(8)Try calling Tracy to find out where she is right now and maybe set up a time to get together
(9)Same as #8 only for Megan T, who's family, according to driving past their house last night, does not appear to even be in town right now
(10)Visit Molly's Uncle Jeff in Black Engineering. (ha! I made it an even ten! :-))
Oops, forgot some...
(11)Create a photo album-y page of graduation weekend for you all (see #3)
(12)Finish my South Dakota Trip-O-Logue (see note on #11)
(13)Just plain re-vamp both my personal and Mancy websites (see note on #12)
I'm thinking I should get on #5 and #10 if I have time....if only my dad weren't out with the car. I think that's possibly driving me more nuts than not having my license: having it and not being able to use it freely.
*"free" in the sense of my parents not needing to use it and us having title possession of it, not in the sense of monetarily free because I know that's never gonna happen.
+++++++++
So while I'm enjoying my current addictions (Mindy Smith, Sherrie Austin, and Sara Evans) as I ride around on CyRide, you can listen to my favorite song off all three albums:
I have no idea how much of the song it is or anything because I can't do fancy shmancy things like that on this computer, which is also why I didn't just give links directly to the song. So go here and choose either the Windows Media or Real Player version of the song "Otis Redding." Thank you. :-) ("Niagra" is also really good and I'm a bit partial to "Restless" since I think I know that feeling all too well sometimes. ;-))
Saturday, June 05, 2004
Getting things done
That's Rachel, my roommate. :-) See around my neck? Red and white Lambda Pi Eta cords and black and orange honor cords (Rachel is wearing hers in her heart, but doesn't get them until December when she actually graduates.) This scene was even crazier and harder to find people in than Ames High graduation!
Yep, that's right, and exactly one month before I turn 22. Now I just need a car (pretty close :-)), job (helpin' out at church again, but not that kind of job :-P), and an apartment (yeah, really don't have that yet :-)).
P.S. Who can tell me what is wrong on that form?
