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.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2004
"Oh...thank you."
Just recently found out that my health care coverage under my dad was terminated as of June 1, 2004. They sent the form for dependent children in late May--I remember because I was home. And my dad couldn't find anywhere on it that told when my coverage would be cancelled, so since the form wasn't due until August 1, we made the apparently incorrect assumption that I was covered until then. I had two doctors visits and tests during the month of June, neither of them particularly cheap. Yeah, we should have investigated on our own what the date would be, but I also think they should have indicated somewhere in the paperwork when I'd be thrown out. So...here's hoping I don't get sick or break anything. :-P
Virginia here I come!!! :-)
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Life's so hard...It's the little things that seem to be saving me today
I fear that some day very soon the month of July will hit me and I don't know how I will react. So much has been happening and there has been very little time for even breathing it seems. I have had very little time to really deal with it emotionally, but that is oftentimes how I deal with things, especially in the presence of others (which has been the majority of the time lately). And there were so many things I had wanted to do by this point in the summer and none of it has been accomplished--at least not in the way I had planned.
I have a friend who called me this weekend and left a sentimental message and I don't know when I'll get the chance to call her back. It was really good to hear from her even if it makes me miss her and all my other GC friends (had been trying not to let myself think about that either). This next week I get to busy myself further with "little things" (and some "big things" :-)) that should keep me from taking the crash I know will undoubtedly come eventually, even if it isn't until September. Like a wonderful wedding where I have decided to just have fun and, *gasp*, DANCE! And I realized that not only do I get to see Alex again, meet his beautiful bride, and meet his brother you've seen poking around here a bit, but I also get to meet Naomi and the whole rest of the family that I've merely heard about and seen a few pictures of. And to top it all off, I do believe that I will get to see my Erin the day we go down to Virginia Beach! It will be so unbelievably good to see that girl...she always makes me feel better and I miss her coffee! ;-)
"Little things" for today: Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 (at a drive-in movie theater :-)), my predicted birthday present of the first season of Gilmore Girls on DVD, and finding out I don't have to fill out another extremely detailed application for a different position at the same place that turned me down before. Life is good, we just need reminders every now and then. :-)
Thursday, July 22, 2004
How unbelievably irritating
Yes, I know, I'm post-happy today. ;-) This one will be brief, though, because I desperately need to pack and wouldn't mind getting a walk in before leaving town for 2+ weeks.
One of the errands I had to run today before we left was picking up my pictures at Target. Target, unlike Wal-Mart, has always treated me unbelievably well when it comes to developing pictures. I've been faithful to them for years even though they were infinitely more difficult to get to by bus. So I walk up to the counter, give my name, and am handed my pictures. The first thing I notice is the big barcode sticker saying "$8.48" and the envelope feeling more than twice as heavy as normal. I have never in my life paid that much for getting pictures developed at Target even when I've gotten doubles, which I knew I specifically hadn't done because I didn't need doubles of anything on this roll. So I checked and made sure it was mine, then promptly showed the girl who was working there that I had marked the Target Quality Processing 3" Basic Prints, one set. She looked at it and said they must have given me the Kodak PerfectTouch option. Well, great, I didn't WANT Kodak PerfectTouch because I'm not made of money and don't care that much. Then she realized why they processed them that way: I had written in special instructions of "matte finish" which, in the past, has always meant that they would give me Target processing 3" prints with matte finish and it would take an extra day or so. Apparently, matte finish is only offered on Kodak PerfectTouch now. This is something that was not posted anywhere or indicated on the envelope, but she said the new envelopes they just got in say it. Wonderful. I didn't have one of those envelopes. How was I to know that by doing exactly what I've always done I'd be screwed out of twice as much money as I expected to pay for something I didn't even want in the first place? Did I express any of this to her? I probably should have, but we all know I'm not one for confrontations.
So I now have more pictures of vintage tractors than I know what to do with and am in search of a new photo developer. Really makes me miss Watson's Drugstore in Greenville, but that's kinda far to drive just to get pictures developed. ;-) Any suggestions if I refuse to use both Wal-Mart and Target? :-)
And now for something completely different
In the interest of balancing out the seriousness of my previous post (and showing that it's not the only thing on my mind today--I don't have time for it to be! :-P), I have something very special for you all. The other day I was going through some of my college schoolwork from Iowa State trying to find a project (or anything about it) I did for my Managerial Accounting class. I did successfully find what I was looking for, but I also found many quotes on the inside covers of my notebooks. I had forgotten them and especially had forgotten there had been so many. So sit back and enjoy some of the professors I had in Spring 2002:
William Duckworth II, Stat 227
"Crossing the street is an experiment: either you'll make it or you won't."
"You know, it's a business course, not a course about gambling."
"Obviously, because if you put a carbonated drink in a bottle and it shatters a few hours later, that's bad business." 2/28/02
"You've been sufficiently brainwashed, I hope, to know that y=mx+b. You may not know what y, m, x, and b are, but at least you know y=mx+b." 3/25/02
"So why do we talk about [ô, except with a "p" in place of the "o"] if there's something else that always works? I've asked myself that many times... It's because it's in the book." 4/11/02
"You don't believe me, I know that." 5/3/02
Fred Choobineh, MIS 330
Oh, the stories I can tell about a class with this man...some other day. :-)
"Losing your head is fun." 2/27/02 In reference to having being robbed at gunpoint as a New York City cab driver.
Neal Iverson, Geol 100
He was one of my two favorite professors at ISU and, unfortunately, I never got to take his upper division geology class I'd been signed up for in the fall. Such is life.
"Well I don't see it but you do and that's all that matters." 2/18/02
"I don't know what your textbook says." 3/6/02
"We don't know why the glacier decided not to make drumlins in Iowa." 3/27/02
"Many people left their homes and many great novels were written." 4/1/02
"Who's to say the tigers weren't depressed the week before?" 4/19/02
"On this particular trip, he froze to death. So there ended Alfred Wegener." 4/26/02
Sharon Brown, Memorial Lutheran Church "Studying" 101
"I'm gonna move to the western shore of Australia... and give up." 5/7/02
"Why fill your brain?" 5/8/02
One year ago tonight...
...I had my heart broken much worse than earlier in the year because at least that one I knew was coming. So let me be clear about some things that he will probably not appreciate hearing, but this is about me, so what should he care? This was his decision, not mine.
Am I over him? No.
Have I tried? Yes.
Should I be? I don't know.
Am I trying to move on? Yes, and getting closer every day.
Do I want to? No.
Do I still cry over him? Yes.
Do I still miss him? Only every second.
Do I still love him? More than I can express.
Can I still see a future with him? Yes.
Am I being overly dramatic? I wish I were.
Was the school year easier this way? Mostly.
Have I improved myself? In more ways than I could possibly count.
Has it been for him? Not in the least.
Has it been because of him? Quite a bit.
Do I know what the future holds for me? Not in the least.
Am I stepping out of my comfort zone? You have no idea and I'm scared to death, which is half the fun.
Am I hopeful? What kind of person would I be if I weren't? :-)
[Did I cry as I wrote this? What kind of person would I be if I hadn't? :-)]
[Disclaimer: I actually wrote this over a month ago and since then have debated about whether or not to go through with posting it. However, it's all still 100% true and I figured there was no better time for blunt honesty than today. I'm just praying it doesn't damage a friendship that means more to me than I can say.]
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
I already was not looking forward to this week
At church after work today I managed to dribble hot "cafe mocha" on my hand and down my leg. Thankfully it was not hot enough to cause burns of any kind. However, somehow I also managed to cut myself twice in the past two days without realizing it at the time. Yesterday was at the pool and today was at church. And I'm back to being carless for about 24 hours while the van gets fixed.
What do I know I have to look forward to the rest of the week? Only one other custodian in town (and our boss isn't even around either), packing, making sure all my library stuff is renewed or returned, writing and sending out thank you cards finally, getting a resume to Pastor Osslund before I run off for 10 days, somehow holding to my promise to cover cleaning at church with everyone gone and my parents wanting to leave for Wall Lake for the weekend on Thursday and there is a wedding afterall...and I have to be ready to leave for Wisconsin/Maryland/Virginia on Sunday.
If I get through this week and weekend, then here's what I get: To go to a Chicago Cubs game (that I don't have to pay for because Beth and Josh decided for me that I was going), my birthday present (and this year I don't have a clue what it is, but do have a hope... ;-)), to fly for the first time in my life, to see one of my very first internet friends (and one of my dearest :-)) get married (I have not forgotten you asked me to take pictures with your camera if you still want me to, btw), to meet Peter (despite the fact that his groom of a brother keeps saying he wants to hook us up...he's always enjoyed getting a rise out of me :-P), to see Matt and Kim and hopefully Virginia Beach again (I still wish there were a way we could see Erin in Newport News! :-() and to see one of my other first internet friends (and also dearest :-)) graduate from Navy training and spend some time with her before she ships off to wherever it is. Then maybe I can breathe long enough to figure out the rest of August. :-)
Despite the small cut I got yesterday (which didn't bother me at all, except out of curiousity, until I got another mystery cut while working today), I had a great day yesterday. I went to the pool with Megan Thomas, who I hadn't seen since Thanksgiving, and we just had a wonderful lazy time catching up, laughing, and catching some sun. :-)
++++++
I realize none of them read this, but my heart and prayers go out to the Grimm family. I found out today that Jessica's father passed away last night. There is a prayer service at church tonight as a result and I would consider going if I had a car. I never met the man and only saw him from afar at the wedding, but it wouldn't be the first funeral-type service I'd been to for a friend's father I didn't know.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
I don't think I deserve some of the friends I have
I had a fun chat with Shannon tonight, as usually happens when she and I happen to be online at the same time. For some more fun (and I hope you find it as fun as I do), I've decided to share snippets of that conversation with y'all. So here come some words of wisdom, insight, sweetness, stupidity (her word, not mine ;-)), and just plain goofiness:
Shannon: make me stop being a girl!
Shannon: i just hope i didn't work my creepy magic and run him off
Karly: hmm
Karly: could just be coincidence
Shannon: could be
Shannon: but not likely
Shannon: why do i scare people...namely boys?
Karly: Shannon, dear...
Karly: only foolish people are scared by you :-)
Shannon: awww
Shannon: criminal
Shannon: ticket him right away
Karly: I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!
[Inside joke...don't even try to understand it. :-D]
Karly: and I really wonder at my sanity that I encourage the pain ;-)
Shannon: maybe we're weirdly masochistic or something
Shannon: it must be a girl thing
Karly: I think it is
Shannon: we're tough
Shannon: ooh i have to read your blog, btw
Shannon: i promised to before and never did
Shannon: i am a butt
Karly: ah, I mentioned ya twice! :-)
Shannon: hahaha
Karly: want a sneak preview of the post I will probably put up?
Shannon: yes!
Shannon: i love anything sneak preview
Karly: :-)
Karly: we never saw hidalgo again at the cheap theater :-(
Shannon: oh we stink
Shannon: yeah i make you work out
Shannon: i like that one
Shannon: what, perchance, did i write in your address book?
Shannon: i enjoy your blog, btw
Karly: oh, something about loving me :-)
Shannon: yay
Shannon: i'm glad i make you smile
Shannon: cuz you make me smile
Karly: me too :-D
Karly: awww....yay!!!
Shannon: and you deserve to smile all the time
Karly: well now you're gonna make me cry!
Shannon: oh i hope i don't...but it's the truth
Shannon: someone great like you should have a sore face from smiling so much
Shannon: i wish i could just shut feelings off like a radio
Shannon: it's like 'hey, girl here...it's not nice to talk about others when you're with one'
Shannon: i need to stop hanging out with texans
Karly: hehehe
Shannon: i've seriously adopted the y'all
Shannon: and it's only gonna get worse in nashville
Karly: :-D
Shannon: i'm gonna be a bonafide southerner in no time
Shannon: my accent is so impressionable
Karly: we'll make a country girl out of you yet! :-)
Shannon: not even joking
Shannon: ha
Shannon: no way man
Shannon: :-)
Karly: so is mine
Karly: I still sometimes catch myself talking like St. Louis
Shannon: but i kinda like the sweet southern accent they have in nashville
Shannon: especially in guys
Shannon: oh baby
Karly: :-)
Shannon: i will marry a boy with a southern accent
Shannon: i promise you that one
Shannon: mark my words
Shannon: :-)
Karly: hehehe
Karly: watch you marry a canadian now ;-)
Shannon: oh no no no no
Shannon: southerner...i know it
Shannon: i got this one figgered out
Shannon: and blue eyes...gotta have 'em
Karly: :-D
Shannon: again, what a nerdo i am
Shannon: if i were you, i'd be barfing at how girly i am
Karly: no you're not
Karly: nope, nope
Shannon: let's start saying things like, "i will get the man of my dreams"
Shannon: maybe that's part of our problem
Shannon: :-)
Karly: lately I've gotten bit in the butt by getting my hopes up too many times about too many things
Karly: at least a pessimist can either be right or pleasantly surprised instead of disappointed ;-)
Shannon: that's an optimistic view of pessimism
Shannon: nice job
Shannon: way to be a paradox
Shannon: :-)
Karly: yep, I like that view of pessimism
Karly: hehe....mannoia would be so proud ;-)
Shannon: oh he certainly would
Shannon: you've been transformed for a life of character and service
Shannon: as is evidenced by your paradoxicalness
Karly: lol!!
Shannon: i should be greenville's poster child
Shannon: 'cept...woops...i don't go there anymore
Shannon: dang details
Shannon: i'm getting far stupider as the hour gets later
Shannon: i'm glad you find me amusing...it's what i'm here for
Shannon: try to keep your chin up, kiddo
Shannon: all will be well
Shannon: rest always makes things look better
Yes, indeed, it does. Goodnight.
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Sometimes work isn't so much about work as it is about pastoral care
I headed down to church this afternoon to do a little work because I can always use the money and figured the distraction would do me some good. Oh, the plans I make...I should learn to stop. ;-) I didn't end up working. Instead, I stood around talking to Pastor Osslund for a good 20 minutes or so. He asked me how the job search was going so I told him what happened today and all about it. First of all, he suggested that possibly they already had someone in mind, but had to post the opening publicly regardless. He then asked me if I would send him a very general resume so that he could send it out to churches in the two Iowa districts of the LC-MS. He said that he didn't know of anything specifically open, but that you never know what church might be out there looking for someone and not knowing where to go to find them. So we'll see what might happen. He also gave me a really good suggestion for how to refinish the sanctuary floor--one I hadn't thought of. Yay. The day is definitely looking up. :-)
I still need to work out, though...Shannon, what on earth did you do to me this year?? :-D
Lesson of the year: Rejection sucks.
In the mail today I got the answer to my question. And it was the answer I expected from the sinking feeling in my stomach after discovering they'd taken the job down and I hadn't been called for an interview. In answer to Kim's questions: We don't really have a good place to work on the train right now, but I do have a temporary job to keep me busy. And yes, this was a job that I was especially interested in. It wasn't fully PR, but enough that my education more than qualified me for it, which I loved the idea of because I don't want a straight PR job. And it would have offered me great benefits, including living in a part of the state I've been in love with since I don't know when. I can't help wondering why on earth it all happened so fast, though, because I sent my resume as soon as I ran across the advertisement (which I know was the first day, maybe second). By the end of the week, they'd sent me an application, which, unfortunately, I didn't get until the next Wednesday because we weren't anticipating being gone quite that long so my parents didn't bring me my mail from Saturday. I filled it out as quickly as I could and then hand-delivered it on Friday so it got there as soon as possible--a week and a half after sending my resume. And they say they did an "intensive screening process and thorough interviewing procedure." Maybe it's just me looking for excuses, but it feels like I wasn't really given much of a chance to get in on that. If I was so "very qualified for this position," then why wasn't I included in the interviewing procedure?
I'll be ok, really, I've just got to keep reminding myself not to get my hopes up and let dreams carry me away so much. And at least I have friends who make me smile about it:
PrincessBeandip: did it all work out?
KalyB7382: nope, got a rejection letter today
PrincessBeandip: WHAT
PrincessBeandip: they don't know what they are missing those po po heads
Thanks, Christy. :-) Now it's time to go work out some of the frustration and maybe track down the Megster to see about working out....I'm going through withdrawl! :-)
Remember, just keep swimming...
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
"I never thought I'd have a daughter who would want my old train set"
As many of you already know, my grandfather passed away a week ago when his whole family was around for our annual family reunion. The timing was no mistake, I'm sure of that. It has been an interesting time and thank you all for your kind words and hugs. :-)
Anyway, in the midst of sitting by his bed at the nursing home in his last couple of days and funeral arrangements, we continued on with sorting through my grandparents' house to prepare for the estate auction to be held in just under two weeks. Much to my mother's chagrin, I now have dishes and silverware for my eventual apartment. I also have many of the old toys that we used to play with--to be divided among the grandkids (who weren't able to be there) because if I hadn't said anything, they would have either been thrown or sold. I also made it known to my father that I'm interested in some of his old toys....tractors, barn, and especially his train, which, when I get my own place, I'm hoping he'll let me borrow, clean, and set up. :-) We also discovered that I am a perfect fit for my aunt Carol's 70s wardrobe, so I am now the proud owner of several vintage and extremely cute (and extremely short!) dresses and jackets.
It has been a long and exhausting but very good week. I got to know my dad's sisters and their husbands much better than I ever thought I would. And learned so much family history and got to know the amazing Carol Neutzman better, too. I am telling you, that woman never stops.
Somewhat off-topic....if a person applied for a job that was only listed on the organization's website for two weeks (and others have been up there since long before that job was posted and are still there), is that a good or bad sign that they took it off today? I hate waiting... :-P
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
So much running through my head to say...
...and yet here I sit in the Sac City Public Library, speechless.
All I can say is that this weekend has been a humbling reminder of how the Lord works in mysterious ways and His timing is always perfect.
Friday, July 02, 2004
Mission: Impossible?
Good morning, Miss Weitzel. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, involves the finding of an unclaimed campsite in Story County on Friday of the Fourth of July holiday weekend. You must work alone, but may have consultation at a distance from Mrs. Beth-Annie Prins. You have twelve hours to find a site and inform the Prinses where it is located, how to get there, and where to meet you. As always, should any member of your team be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow all knowledge of your actions. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.
*yawn* 6am will come far too soon, but I'm looking forward to it... :-)
