Original post date: 29 May 2008
One great thing about working at Raytheon are the holidays - we get paid holidays for Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas to New Years. So we got Monday off, and since Raytheon also does flex time, we could pile up our work earlier in the week and we took Friday off, too. Hooray for four day weekends!!!
We've been talking about going camping for a long time now - there were even discussions about a Valentine's Day camping trip up in the woods, which would have been insanely cold. And snowy. Glad we didn't do that! Camping in May, it turned out, was cold enough. We were planning on going high up into the southern Sierra Nevadas, but when we heard that the place where we were intending to camp got snow earlier in the week, we decided to camp at a lower altitude.
We drove up there on Friday and found our perfect spot. Most spots that we passed along the way were basically glorified parking lots or turnoffs of the highway, with lots of tents crammed in. It's not really camping if you're in a parking lot within five feet of the highway. So we drove on, determined to have a good, at least somewhat private camping site. We found one way off the highway, down a poorly-maintained, pot-hole-laced dirt road that my car could barely handle and only the most insane people would ever consider taking an RV down - although plenty of people did. We set up camp and had a weinie roast and made smores and it was fabulous. The camp site was much more spartan than I'd anticipated - there were no pre-set camping sites, you just came and set up and claimed that spot, there were none of the trappings of the camping sites that I'm used to - picnic tables, fire pits with grills, bathrooms, not even a spigot somewhere that would give you drinking water.
So it was a bit more "roughing it" than I was used to. We even had to dig potty pits in the bushes. That was fun. And definitely a first for me!! James was an absolute dear and dug mine for me. That's love!Saturday, our first full day camping, we woke up freezing cold at 5:30 am and it felt remarkably like a sleepover, with us bundled down deep in our sleeping bags and giggling and talking and stuff. We didn't get much sleep either night due to the cold and the noisy neighbors (camping etiquette sure has changed lately! Since when do people bring stereos and blast music and party all night long?) and the especially the deep cold - I had dreams about snow! We talked about getting up and having a little parade through the campsite, banging pots and pans, to greet the day for all the hung-over partiers. But we thought we might come back at the end of the day to find our tent burnt down, so we got up and made breakfast instead (pancakes and eggs taste better outside!).
We went first to see Camp Whitsett, where James worked for two summers as a camp leader. He was in charge of the cope course, one of those scary rope courses that's strung up on telephone poles and you have to get from one pole to the other. From there, we hiked to the top of Sentinel Peak. It was about a 1000 foot climb in elevation. It took us a couple hours to get to the top, and it was a lot of fun and pretty and full of fresh air and nature and all that good stuff. There was one scary part, where we had to cross a sheer rocky face when one small mis-step could send you tumbling a pretty far way down. But we made it through and at the top we had a picnic lunch. It was getting pretty cold up there, so we didn't linger too long before we began the long hike back down.
That night we were too tired to cook dinner back at camp, so we went to a steak house on our way back out from semi-civilization to middle-of-nowhere, where our camp was. We got to the steakhouse an hour and a half before it opened, and we were so exhausted that we just fell asleep in the car until it was time to eat. That night back at camp, we made a roaring fire and roasted more marshmallows. We got invited by a few people to join them in their partying, but we stayed in our spot, being old fashioned and cute. That night before bed, we did take a walk through the rest of the camp site, and we got invited in to join a group where the men were singing and passing around a guitar. After some gentle prodding, James got up and sang a song that's very special to us. And I just sat in my chair and melted.
The next day, we made breakfast amid some mild rainfall, then ate said breakfast cozied up under the overhang of our tent. When the rain stopped, we packed up camp and headed to Porterville to stay with his parents for the night. It was nice to visit them -- and show them the ring! And it was amazing to take a shower and not have to squat over a dirt hole to pee, I'll tell you.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
The Engagement (aka the happiest day of my life)
Original post date: 13 May 2008
I bet you've been waiting for this update. I'm sneakily doing this at work because I need to write this down before I forget all the little details and I'm just not finding the time outside of work and I'm not doing anything at work right now, so.... I'm being bad.
Anyway.
Rewind to Thursday, May 1. James lets it slip that he's going to ask me "very soon." I start wondering if that means that weekend or that coming week or that month. The next day after work, James and I went to Venice Beach to bike around on the strand. It turned out to be quite a strange night. We parked in Marina del Rey and biked to Venice, and as we pedaled down Venice Beach Blvd, I accidentally swerved my bike right as a car went zooming by me. I felt like I narrowly missed being hit, even though most likely it wasn't as close a call as I imagined it to be. Anyway, I was shaken up by it and we pulled over to the side and I told James what had happened and I got a little teary at the thought of my close brush with death. Or injury. Or whatever.
We went on to Venice Beach and cruised through the crowds on the boardwalk (which isn't a boardwalk in the East Coast sense at all, there being no boards involved whatsoever, it's all cement) and then went out onto the bike trail for a little bit. It was getting on towards sunset and I had speculated with Alison that afternoon if he'd choose to do it on the beach at sunset. So I was wondering that as we biked along, but I couldn't help noticing all the homeless people huddled on the grassy hills that separate the bike path from the boardwalk. And I was affected by their desperate situation, and how hopeless life must seem to them, and how bizarre it was that everyone was ignoring them and the strange contrast between the beauty of the beach and the misery of their condition. And I was talking to James about this and feeling rather down, and the sunset was smudgy and smoggy and disappearing behind the Santa Monica mountains and being altogether unimpressive. And then as we biked along I saw a homeless man staggering and falling over, and I couldn't help but watch him and hope he wasn't hurting himself, when all of the sudden I realized he was peeing and I was looking at his... thingie. Talk about traumatizing.
So we biked a little bit but then turned back and went to a restaurant on the boardwalk. We ate greasy food and drank disappointing, slurpee-like margaritas, and it wasn't too surprising that afterwords my stomach revolted and I felt incredibly lousy. we biked back to the car, maybe a fifteen minute ride, and it was misery the whole way. When we got home, I had to deal with the unpleasantries of my rioting stomach, and then all I could do was lie in bed with James and watch a DVD from Netflix. It was a strange evening and I was secretly glad that James didn't propose that night.
The next day, Saturday, James, Steve and I went to a craft fair in the park near our apartment. James and I looked around a while and lost track of Steve until I got a call from him saying that the cable guy was in the apartment and we needed to come home right away because he had to leave for class. We hurried home, excited at the fact that it was 12:30 and the cable guy was scheduled to come between 1 and 4pm, which meant that our afternoon was no longer held hostage with waiting for him to show up. The cable guy quickly installed our telephone, and James and I had lunch and went on our way to Point Mugu State Park, a place James wanted to scout for our Memorial Day camping trip. On the way we stopped at Target and picked up a few things, including a camping stove. We had packed a cooler and some food and we were planning on cooking dinner somewhere in Point Mugu.
We had a lovely drive up the coast to Point Mugu, with me reading articles out of the Time 100 issue aloud to James. We came across a random sand dune piled high against a cliff, and there were a bunch of cars parked below and people scampering about on top. James asked me if I wanted to stop, and of course I said yes. Who wouldn't want to clamber up a random three story pile of sand? So we climbed it, huffing and puffng our way all the way to the top, sliding back a little with each step forward, getting sand deep into our shoes, conquering that steep mother in ten step bursts. From the top, we had a great view of the coastline and the truck looked impressively tiny parked down below - too bad I forgot to grab my camera out of my purse before assaulting the dune! There were kids running around and threatening mischeif, so we didn't linger there too long. We trotted down, and as we did one of the kids blazed down the hill and almost bowled James over.
We continued on to Point Mugu, stopping once along the side of the road to look at a swath of wetlands or bogs or something along those lines - anyway, there were a lot of frogs croaking away in there. Then we drove into the Point Mugu and parked in a little non-descript parking lot. We found the trailhead and there was a little sign that said "waterfall - 0.8 mi" and James said "Let's go there," so off we went.
We passed a pair of women walking in the other direction at one point, but otherwise we were totally alone on the trail. We hiked through a canyon that was nestled between two scrubby hill-mountains. There were rocks and cacti and the trail was dusty and I was thinking about rattlesnakes hidden along the way and James teased me about scorpions. I was wondering if he'd propose but I dismissed the idea because he wasn't nervous at all and I was expecting that he'd be constantly patting his pockets to make sure the ring was still there. He wasn't, so I wasn't expecting anything to happen.
We found the waterfall, which was really just a few trickles of water over some mossy green rocks, and there was a little crystal pool of water at the bottom. There were three hummingbirds flitting around when we got there, and a dove startled and flew off. I commented about how magical it was - there was something very Secret Garden-y about this spot. We clamberd down some rocks to a rocky ledge overlooking the canyon, and James looked around and said "Well, this looks like a good place to propose."
I immediately clapped both hands over my mouth and said "Ohmygodreally?!" I felt tears welling up in my eyes. James pulled the ring out of his jeans pocket and got down on one knee. This is probably where I started bawling - it's hard to say exactly when it started, just that it was definitely happening. He looked up at me and said "Suzi, will you take this ring and marry me?" I remember gripping his right hand - the ring was in his left - for support. I said yes and extended my very shaky left hand towards him, and he slipped the ring on my finger. I dropped to my knees and hugged him and kissed him and said yes a couple more times. Eventually we settled at the edge of the rocky ledge and held each other and looked at the ring - I didnt' get a good look at it until that moment - and James took pictures of the two of us because my dad had asked him to get pictures after he asked me.
We sat there holding each other for a while, then we hiked back to our car. I was still in shock and randomly bursting into tears - a state that continued for about two hours. I called my parents because it was getting late on the East Coast, and I told them how it happened and cried a little and my parents congratulated us and said how happy they were for us.
We drove to the beach and parked at a nice little spot with fires in big metal drums and picnic tables and a couple families around. It was just past sunset, so James and I went over to ask one group what time the beach closed. I kept thinking how we'd just gotten engaged and how magical it had been and how all my dreams were coming true and I could help but tear up again. I was trying to hold it back but the moms in the group started looking concerned and I couldn't hold in in any more and I burst out "We just got engaged!" and I thrust my be-ringed hand towards them. All the ladies cooed and everyone started saying their congratulations and I was laughing and crying at the same time. One of the ladies said we had to take a bottle of wine, and she went into her SUV and pulled out a bottle of sparkling white, which someone uncorked. They gave us the bottle and a couple styrofoam cups and we thanked them profusely and went on our merry way. We found a massive tree trunk of driftwood that was resting at the water's edge, and we sat down on it and toasted to our future with the waves crashing at our feet. It was absolutely perfect.
After a little while, we climbed into the truck bed to try and start making dinner, but it was getting windy and cold and dark. It wasn't too long before a diembodied, official-sounding voice came over a bullhorn and informed us that the beach was closing. So we packed up and drove off to look for a restaurant. Along the way, James called a couple friends but it was too late on the East Coast for me to call anyone. We found a little Mexican restuarant that was miraculously still open - it was pretty late on the West Coast by this time, too - and James called his parents. I talked to his mom a little bit and she welcomed me to the family, which was really sweet and a tiny bit overwhelming.
We had dinner and drove back home. I told my brother right away and he congratulated us and I hugged him and he kept saying how happy I was - I was grinning like mad.
The next day we spent a good amount of time calling people to let them know... and glowing in our happiness. We also had to do our normal Sunday chores, grocery shopping and laundry and the like - and I kept marvelling about how we were doing all the things we normally do -- except now we were engaged!
We've been engaged for over a week now and I'm still slipping into wonderful "I can't believe this has happened to me, I'm the luckiest girl in the world" reveries.
I bet you've been waiting for this update. I'm sneakily doing this at work because I need to write this down before I forget all the little details and I'm just not finding the time outside of work and I'm not doing anything at work right now, so.... I'm being bad.
Anyway.
Rewind to Thursday, May 1. James lets it slip that he's going to ask me "very soon." I start wondering if that means that weekend or that coming week or that month. The next day after work, James and I went to Venice Beach to bike around on the strand. It turned out to be quite a strange night. We parked in Marina del Rey and biked to Venice, and as we pedaled down Venice Beach Blvd, I accidentally swerved my bike right as a car went zooming by me. I felt like I narrowly missed being hit, even though most likely it wasn't as close a call as I imagined it to be. Anyway, I was shaken up by it and we pulled over to the side and I told James what had happened and I got a little teary at the thought of my close brush with death. Or injury. Or whatever.
We went on to Venice Beach and cruised through the crowds on the boardwalk (which isn't a boardwalk in the East Coast sense at all, there being no boards involved whatsoever, it's all cement) and then went out onto the bike trail for a little bit. It was getting on towards sunset and I had speculated with Alison that afternoon if he'd choose to do it on the beach at sunset. So I was wondering that as we biked along, but I couldn't help noticing all the homeless people huddled on the grassy hills that separate the bike path from the boardwalk. And I was affected by their desperate situation, and how hopeless life must seem to them, and how bizarre it was that everyone was ignoring them and the strange contrast between the beauty of the beach and the misery of their condition. And I was talking to James about this and feeling rather down, and the sunset was smudgy and smoggy and disappearing behind the Santa Monica mountains and being altogether unimpressive. And then as we biked along I saw a homeless man staggering and falling over, and I couldn't help but watch him and hope he wasn't hurting himself, when all of the sudden I realized he was peeing and I was looking at his... thingie. Talk about traumatizing.
So we biked a little bit but then turned back and went to a restaurant on the boardwalk. We ate greasy food and drank disappointing, slurpee-like margaritas, and it wasn't too surprising that afterwords my stomach revolted and I felt incredibly lousy. we biked back to the car, maybe a fifteen minute ride, and it was misery the whole way. When we got home, I had to deal with the unpleasantries of my rioting stomach, and then all I could do was lie in bed with James and watch a DVD from Netflix. It was a strange evening and I was secretly glad that James didn't propose that night.
The next day, Saturday, James, Steve and I went to a craft fair in the park near our apartment. James and I looked around a while and lost track of Steve until I got a call from him saying that the cable guy was in the apartment and we needed to come home right away because he had to leave for class. We hurried home, excited at the fact that it was 12:30 and the cable guy was scheduled to come between 1 and 4pm, which meant that our afternoon was no longer held hostage with waiting for him to show up. The cable guy quickly installed our telephone, and James and I had lunch and went on our way to Point Mugu State Park, a place James wanted to scout for our Memorial Day camping trip. On the way we stopped at Target and picked up a few things, including a camping stove. We had packed a cooler and some food and we were planning on cooking dinner somewhere in Point Mugu.
We had a lovely drive up the coast to Point Mugu, with me reading articles out of the Time 100 issue aloud to James. We came across a random sand dune piled high against a cliff, and there were a bunch of cars parked below and people scampering about on top. James asked me if I wanted to stop, and of course I said yes. Who wouldn't want to clamber up a random three story pile of sand? So we climbed it, huffing and puffng our way all the way to the top, sliding back a little with each step forward, getting sand deep into our shoes, conquering that steep mother in ten step bursts. From the top, we had a great view of the coastline and the truck looked impressively tiny parked down below - too bad I forgot to grab my camera out of my purse before assaulting the dune! There were kids running around and threatening mischeif, so we didn't linger there too long. We trotted down, and as we did one of the kids blazed down the hill and almost bowled James over.
We continued on to Point Mugu, stopping once along the side of the road to look at a swath of wetlands or bogs or something along those lines - anyway, there were a lot of frogs croaking away in there. Then we drove into the Point Mugu and parked in a little non-descript parking lot. We found the trailhead and there was a little sign that said "waterfall - 0.8 mi" and James said "Let's go there," so off we went.
We passed a pair of women walking in the other direction at one point, but otherwise we were totally alone on the trail. We hiked through a canyon that was nestled between two scrubby hill-mountains. There were rocks and cacti and the trail was dusty and I was thinking about rattlesnakes hidden along the way and James teased me about scorpions. I was wondering if he'd propose but I dismissed the idea because he wasn't nervous at all and I was expecting that he'd be constantly patting his pockets to make sure the ring was still there. He wasn't, so I wasn't expecting anything to happen.
We found the waterfall, which was really just a few trickles of water over some mossy green rocks, and there was a little crystal pool of water at the bottom. There were three hummingbirds flitting around when we got there, and a dove startled and flew off. I commented about how magical it was - there was something very Secret Garden-y about this spot. We clamberd down some rocks to a rocky ledge overlooking the canyon, and James looked around and said "Well, this looks like a good place to propose."
I immediately clapped both hands over my mouth and said "Ohmygodreally?!" I felt tears welling up in my eyes. James pulled the ring out of his jeans pocket and got down on one knee. This is probably where I started bawling - it's hard to say exactly when it started, just that it was definitely happening. He looked up at me and said "Suzi, will you take this ring and marry me?" I remember gripping his right hand - the ring was in his left - for support. I said yes and extended my very shaky left hand towards him, and he slipped the ring on my finger. I dropped to my knees and hugged him and kissed him and said yes a couple more times. Eventually we settled at the edge of the rocky ledge and held each other and looked at the ring - I didnt' get a good look at it until that moment - and James took pictures of the two of us because my dad had asked him to get pictures after he asked me.
We sat there holding each other for a while, then we hiked back to our car. I was still in shock and randomly bursting into tears - a state that continued for about two hours. I called my parents because it was getting late on the East Coast, and I told them how it happened and cried a little and my parents congratulated us and said how happy they were for us.
We drove to the beach and parked at a nice little spot with fires in big metal drums and picnic tables and a couple families around. It was just past sunset, so James and I went over to ask one group what time the beach closed. I kept thinking how we'd just gotten engaged and how magical it had been and how all my dreams were coming true and I could help but tear up again. I was trying to hold it back but the moms in the group started looking concerned and I couldn't hold in in any more and I burst out "We just got engaged!" and I thrust my be-ringed hand towards them. All the ladies cooed and everyone started saying their congratulations and I was laughing and crying at the same time. One of the ladies said we had to take a bottle of wine, and she went into her SUV and pulled out a bottle of sparkling white, which someone uncorked. They gave us the bottle and a couple styrofoam cups and we thanked them profusely and went on our merry way. We found a massive tree trunk of driftwood that was resting at the water's edge, and we sat down on it and toasted to our future with the waves crashing at our feet. It was absolutely perfect.
After a little while, we climbed into the truck bed to try and start making dinner, but it was getting windy and cold and dark. It wasn't too long before a diembodied, official-sounding voice came over a bullhorn and informed us that the beach was closing. So we packed up and drove off to look for a restaurant. Along the way, James called a couple friends but it was too late on the East Coast for me to call anyone. We found a little Mexican restuarant that was miraculously still open - it was pretty late on the West Coast by this time, too - and James called his parents. I talked to his mom a little bit and she welcomed me to the family, which was really sweet and a tiny bit overwhelming.
We had dinner and drove back home. I told my brother right away and he congratulated us and I hugged him and he kept saying how happy I was - I was grinning like mad.
The next day we spent a good amount of time calling people to let them know... and glowing in our happiness. We also had to do our normal Sunday chores, grocery shopping and laundry and the like - and I kept marvelling about how we were doing all the things we normally do -- except now we were engaged!
We've been engaged for over a week now and I'm still slipping into wonderful "I can't believe this has happened to me, I'm the luckiest girl in the world" reveries.
These are the facts
Original post date: 30 April 2008
1. Two weekends ago, James and I went up to the "diamond district" in Los Angeles to look at rings. It was a pretty sketch-tastic affair, all of the jewelry stores seemed to operate on the same level of chintz and gaudiness. The window displays were crammed with rings and baubles and the windows themselves were drenched in knots of gold necklaces. It started looking like it was all costume jewelry being hawked as the real thing, and I didn't feel comfortable with buying anything there. I mean, one of the places had a big gold marijuana leaf pendant hanging in the window! That doesn't exactly scream "Classy jewelry store" to me.
2. So, disappointed (and a bit overwhelmed) by the diamond district, we drove down to Torrance to go to the Robbins Brother's store, allegedly the world's largest engagement ring store. James had already spoken with a guy there, and told him what he was looking for, and the guy was getting a ring shipped from Texas that matched James' specs. It wasn't going to be in the store yet, but we wanted to see what they had. It was a muuuuuch classier place, like a respectable jewelry store, not seeming at all like they buy their stuff out of the backs of trucks in some deep dark alley at 3 am. We saw a ring that was very similar to the ring that was being shipped, and I loved it. Love love loved it.
3. Last Wendesday, we went back to Robbin's Brothers and saw The Ring. The guy brought it out and showed it to us, then handed it to me and said, "Well, try it on." I did, and it was absolutely perfect in every way.
4. As soon as I slipped the ring on my finger, I started to cry.
5. That day, we selected a diamond.
6. Last Friday, James snuck back to Robbin's Brothers and paid for the ring.
7. The sneaking was unnecessary since he couldn't help but tell me about it over the weekend.
8. On Monday, he went back Robbins Brothers again and picked up the ring.
9. Yesterday, he called my parents and asked for my hand.
1. Two weekends ago, James and I went up to the "diamond district" in Los Angeles to look at rings. It was a pretty sketch-tastic affair, all of the jewelry stores seemed to operate on the same level of chintz and gaudiness. The window displays were crammed with rings and baubles and the windows themselves were drenched in knots of gold necklaces. It started looking like it was all costume jewelry being hawked as the real thing, and I didn't feel comfortable with buying anything there. I mean, one of the places had a big gold marijuana leaf pendant hanging in the window! That doesn't exactly scream "Classy jewelry store" to me.
2. So, disappointed (and a bit overwhelmed) by the diamond district, we drove down to Torrance to go to the Robbins Brother's store, allegedly the world's largest engagement ring store. James had already spoken with a guy there, and told him what he was looking for, and the guy was getting a ring shipped from Texas that matched James' specs. It wasn't going to be in the store yet, but we wanted to see what they had. It was a muuuuuch classier place, like a respectable jewelry store, not seeming at all like they buy their stuff out of the backs of trucks in some deep dark alley at 3 am. We saw a ring that was very similar to the ring that was being shipped, and I loved it. Love love loved it.
3. Last Wendesday, we went back to Robbin's Brothers and saw The Ring. The guy brought it out and showed it to us, then handed it to me and said, "Well, try it on." I did, and it was absolutely perfect in every way.
4. As soon as I slipped the ring on my finger, I started to cry.
5. That day, we selected a diamond.
6. Last Friday, James snuck back to Robbin's Brothers and paid for the ring.
7. The sneaking was unnecessary since he couldn't help but tell me about it over the weekend.
8. On Monday, he went back Robbins Brothers again and picked up the ring.
9. Yesterday, he called my parents and asked for my hand.
So this is the real world
Original post date: 23 April 2008
So I started my job on Monday. It started with a morning of general (and generally useless) orientation, after which my supervisor, Katina, met me and took me out to lunch. She seemed nice, slightly abrasive, and I'm not sure yet if I'll like working for her or not. She said something about overtime that gives me pause: she said "we're all businesspeople" so if we work 50 hours in a week, we just bill for 40. Huh??? If I legitimately work extra hours, I want to be paid for them! I'm not donating my time to Raytheon, puh-leaze.
I've been pretty nervous these past three days, my stomach's been feeling funky every day. And it's not like I have that much to stress about - I'm spending most of my time taking these mandatory online courses on superfun topics like harassment and trade embargoes and ethics and things. They're starting me on some actual scheduling tasks, but they're doing it in small steps so it's not bad. I have my own little cubicle on the 11th floor in a building about 4 or 5 blocks away from where James works. I went to Target yesterday in search of some girl-ifying things for my cube - it's awfully drab. I didn't have much success. But I'll keep looking for ways to brighten up that space. There are no windows in the room where my cube is, so it's kind of depressing. Good thing James and I will meet up for picnic lunches whenever possible!
So I started my job on Monday. It started with a morning of general (and generally useless) orientation, after which my supervisor, Katina, met me and took me out to lunch. She seemed nice, slightly abrasive, and I'm not sure yet if I'll like working for her or not. She said something about overtime that gives me pause: she said "we're all businesspeople" so if we work 50 hours in a week, we just bill for 40. Huh??? If I legitimately work extra hours, I want to be paid for them! I'm not donating my time to Raytheon, puh-leaze.
I've been pretty nervous these past three days, my stomach's been feeling funky every day. And it's not like I have that much to stress about - I'm spending most of my time taking these mandatory online courses on superfun topics like harassment and trade embargoes and ethics and things. They're starting me on some actual scheduling tasks, but they're doing it in small steps so it's not bad. I have my own little cubicle on the 11th floor in a building about 4 or 5 blocks away from where James works. I went to Target yesterday in search of some girl-ifying things for my cube - it's awfully drab. I didn't have much success. But I'll keep looking for ways to brighten up that space. There are no windows in the room where my cube is, so it's kind of depressing. Good thing James and I will meet up for picnic lunches whenever possible!
Original post date: 20 April 2008
I start my job tomorrow at 8 am. Iiiiii'm nervous as anything. I'm not actually qualified for this job and I know I'm going to feel very lost and scared for a while as I get my bearings. James keeps telling me that I'll be fine, I'll do great, there's nothing to worry about, but I'm still scared. My stomach has been in knots all day.
I start my job tomorrow at 8 am. Iiiiii'm nervous as anything. I'm not actually qualified for this job and I know I'm going to feel very lost and scared for a while as I get my bearings. James keeps telling me that I'll be fine, I'll do great, there's nothing to worry about, but I'm still scared. My stomach has been in knots all day.
Getting jacked up (on caffine)
Original post date: 14 April 2008
A couple of weeks ago, I bought a simple stove-top espresso maker and yesterday I finally got around to buying ground espresso beans at the grocery store. I just made my first batch! I do believe it makes at least two espressos, but seeing as I don't have the properly sized espresso cups, it's hard to tell. I'm drinking it out of a small-ish mug but it looks like a lot of espresso. Anyway, yummm! And I'm prepared to be buzzed for the rest of the day.
So horseback riding on Friday was tons and tons of fun. I rode a black lady horse named Limo, and James rode her boyfriend, Tonto. Too cute! Limo was fond on plodding directly behind the horse in front of her (nose to rump) and if I put even the slightest tension on the reins, she tugged at them until I let go. She was even worse at this on the way home, I couldn't hold her back for anything. I like holding my horse back and then making them trot to catch up because trotting is the most fun. Anyway, Limo wouldn't really let me do that but I got a couple good trots in anyway. Tonto was constantly trying to eat the mustard grass on either side of the path, and every so often I'd hear "Tonto, no!" from behind me, and I'd look back to see James futilely tugging on the reins as Tonto buried his nose in a clump of grass. We rode an hour and a half in through the Hollywood hills (right past the sign!) to a little Mexican restaurant, where we had dinner. Mmm, enchiladas! (I never had enchiladas as much before I met James, but now I love them!) Then we got back up on our horses and rode an hour and half or so back to the ranch. I was soooooore Saturday morning. And Saturday day. And Sunday. And a little bit today, too. James wasn't so bad. Lucky duck. It hurt so bad to sit down to breakfast Saturday morning that I had to ask James to go back upstairs (climbing stairs hurt my legs too much) to get a pillow for my tender bum! But it was worth it. I just loved every minute of being on the horses. And being around the horses before the ride, just seeing them at the ranch. There were also a few dogs at the ranch and when I sat down and waited for James to go back to the car for something, all the dogs started climbing all over me and begging to get petted. I loved them, too. Typical Tonto behavior Very very excited to be on a horsie. Wearing my new shirt from Target, which I thought looked appropriately cowgirl-ish for a horseback ride. :) And my Target sunglasses, which broke sometime during the ride from being in my jacket pocket. :(
We had a very lazy Saturday (which was good because of my soreness), but around 3:00 we got it together and went out to do lots of errands - we hit up Target and JC Penney and the mall (Sees candyyyyyy yummmm!) and Bed Bath and Beyond and Home Depot. We got lots of good things. And we did some exploratory engagement ring perusing at different stores. We saw some reallly chintzy yucky ones and a few nice ones and only two that I really liked. I actually tried a few on, the first time I've done that since high school when my girlfriends and I went into the Zales in the mall and the nice lady behind the counter let me try one on for fun. So now we have a really good idea of what I like (some things I didn't realize until I actually had a ring on my finger and saw how it looked). It's good information to have... for just in case, you know? ;)We had a nice lazy Sunday morning too (I made a smoothie with the new blender we got at BB&B, it was super yum), then James had to go back into work so I did all the grocery shopping and errands that I needed to do. I wanted to bake a strawberry rhubarb pie, but didn't have enough time, so I'll do that this afternoon. When James got home from work, we went on a lovely bike ride to the Manhattan Beach pier, where we saw seals (!!!) swimming around. We also went into the cute little aquarium at the tip of the pier and touched sea cucumbers (squiiiishy!). When we came home, James helped me make a yummy dinner, then we watched one of the episodes of The Life of Birds BBC documentary series with Steve. It was a lovely day and a wonderful weekend.
Mmmm my espresso is all gone and I'm wiiide awake now! :D
A couple of weeks ago, I bought a simple stove-top espresso maker and yesterday I finally got around to buying ground espresso beans at the grocery store. I just made my first batch! I do believe it makes at least two espressos, but seeing as I don't have the properly sized espresso cups, it's hard to tell. I'm drinking it out of a small-ish mug but it looks like a lot of espresso. Anyway, yummm! And I'm prepared to be buzzed for the rest of the day.
So horseback riding on Friday was tons and tons of fun. I rode a black lady horse named Limo, and James rode her boyfriend, Tonto. Too cute! Limo was fond on plodding directly behind the horse in front of her (nose to rump) and if I put even the slightest tension on the reins, she tugged at them until I let go. She was even worse at this on the way home, I couldn't hold her back for anything. I like holding my horse back and then making them trot to catch up because trotting is the most fun. Anyway, Limo wouldn't really let me do that but I got a couple good trots in anyway. Tonto was constantly trying to eat the mustard grass on either side of the path, and every so often I'd hear "Tonto, no!" from behind me, and I'd look back to see James futilely tugging on the reins as Tonto buried his nose in a clump of grass. We rode an hour and a half in through the Hollywood hills (right past the sign!) to a little Mexican restaurant, where we had dinner. Mmm, enchiladas! (I never had enchiladas as much before I met James, but now I love them!) Then we got back up on our horses and rode an hour and half or so back to the ranch. I was soooooore Saturday morning. And Saturday day. And Sunday. And a little bit today, too. James wasn't so bad. Lucky duck. It hurt so bad to sit down to breakfast Saturday morning that I had to ask James to go back upstairs (climbing stairs hurt my legs too much) to get a pillow for my tender bum! But it was worth it. I just loved every minute of being on the horses. And being around the horses before the ride, just seeing them at the ranch. There were also a few dogs at the ranch and when I sat down and waited for James to go back to the car for something, all the dogs started climbing all over me and begging to get petted. I loved them, too. Typical Tonto behavior Very very excited to be on a horsie. Wearing my new shirt from Target, which I thought looked appropriately cowgirl-ish for a horseback ride. :) And my Target sunglasses, which broke sometime during the ride from being in my jacket pocket. :(
We had a very lazy Saturday (which was good because of my soreness), but around 3:00 we got it together and went out to do lots of errands - we hit up Target and JC Penney and the mall (Sees candyyyyyy yummmm!) and Bed Bath and Beyond and Home Depot. We got lots of good things. And we did some exploratory engagement ring perusing at different stores. We saw some reallly chintzy yucky ones and a few nice ones and only two that I really liked. I actually tried a few on, the first time I've done that since high school when my girlfriends and I went into the Zales in the mall and the nice lady behind the counter let me try one on for fun. So now we have a really good idea of what I like (some things I didn't realize until I actually had a ring on my finger and saw how it looked). It's good information to have... for just in case, you know? ;)We had a nice lazy Sunday morning too (I made a smoothie with the new blender we got at BB&B, it was super yum), then James had to go back into work so I did all the grocery shopping and errands that I needed to do. I wanted to bake a strawberry rhubarb pie, but didn't have enough time, so I'll do that this afternoon. When James got home from work, we went on a lovely bike ride to the Manhattan Beach pier, where we saw seals (!!!) swimming around. We also went into the cute little aquarium at the tip of the pier and touched sea cucumbers (squiiiishy!). When we came home, James helped me make a yummy dinner, then we watched one of the episodes of The Life of Birds BBC documentary series with Steve. It was a lovely day and a wonderful weekend.
Mmmm my espresso is all gone and I'm wiiide awake now! :D
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Oh, happiness
I have to say, life is grand. The new job is coming up shortly (I got my offer on April 2, and James and I went out for margaritas that night to celebrate), and I'm scared and nervous and excited. Assuming all of my paperwork goes through ok, I'll be starting April 21. It's going to be tough at first, I won't know what I'm doing and there will have to be an adjustment at home since I won't be able to do all the cooking and cleaning like I've been doing. But James is great and tells me that once I start he's very willing to split chore duty with me (he'd do chores now but I get them all done during my long boring days at home).
Last night, Steve, James and I went to the farmer's market in town and had dinner. And crepes!!! MMM, hot nutella crepes. And James bought me gorgeous roses and a whole mess of strawberries, which I want to make into a pie this weekend.
My beautiful roses!
Tonight, James and I are going horseback riding up in the Hollywood Hills. I'm wicked psyched, I love horses and I haven't ridden in ages. Ages and ages. Yaaaay horsies! I'm so so excited. Can you tell? Will be sure to take lots of pics and post them on facebook, complete with giddy, horse-loving captions.
Since I'm starting a new job, I went to Target and bought myself some new clothes this week. Very necessary. It has to happen every once in a while, and I haven't bought any new warm-weather clothes since last year (and warm weather clothes see an awful lot of usage out here), and it was a lot of fun and I got a lot of things for not too much money. I want to be sure to look good at work and not be wearing the same thing all the time or be forced to wear older, worn-out-looking things. Aaaand I got a pair of silver ballerina flats because they were too cute not to. But it's okay because I'll have a job soon and I'll actually be able to afford it!
Last weekend, James and I wanted to go horseback riding but because of brutal traffic we couldn't get to the stables in time. So we ended up going to Pink's for dinner. (Pink's is a very famous LA hot dog stand that specializes in making lots of crazy-topped hot dogs with everything on them from bacon to pastrami to onion rings.) It was fun and I'd been wanting to go for a while. We last went in October. There's always a huge line, it's this whole experience. Good times.
Also last weekend, we went to see the George Clooney-John Krasinski-Renee Zellweger feature, Leatherheads. It was cute (JK was definitely cute) and amusing, but not great. And we went on a bike ride up to Marina Del Rey and had dinner up there on Sunday, which was lovely, at a rather fancy Italian place on the water.
What else. In the cooking department, I've made my very first ham, which I baked with a molasses-pecan-bourbon glaze. That was some goood ham. And I cooked the bone down into some super yummy split pea soup. Hooray for kitchen adventures!!
Other exciting news: last night, James and I bought the TimeWarner cable-internet-phone package, yaaaay!! No morestealing borrowing the neighbor's unsecured wireless, no more using precious daytime minutes for local calls, aaaand it should be a lot easier to call Norway when I won't have to use minutes. Yaaay! And of course, glorious glorious television. The Office started back up last night, I'm so psyched. Aaaand we bought tickets to PA for the week of the 4th of July, yay!! We'll be visiting with my parents, possibly (hopefully!!!) getting up to Laporte, and looking around PA for places we'd like to settle.
And the most exciting news of all: James and I are planning on taking a trip to Hawaii in August for our one year anniversary! Eeeee!!!!!!
Last night, Steve, James and I went to the farmer's market in town and had dinner. And crepes!!! MMM, hot nutella crepes. And James bought me gorgeous roses and a whole mess of strawberries, which I want to make into a pie this weekend.
My beautiful roses!Tonight, James and I are going horseback riding up in the Hollywood Hills. I'm wicked psyched, I love horses and I haven't ridden in ages. Ages and ages. Yaaaay horsies! I'm so so excited. Can you tell? Will be sure to take lots of pics and post them on facebook, complete with giddy, horse-loving captions.
Since I'm starting a new job, I went to Target and bought myself some new clothes this week. Very necessary. It has to happen every once in a while, and I haven't bought any new warm-weather clothes since last year (and warm weather clothes see an awful lot of usage out here), and it was a lot of fun and I got a lot of things for not too much money. I want to be sure to look good at work and not be wearing the same thing all the time or be forced to wear older, worn-out-looking things. Aaaand I got a pair of silver ballerina flats because they were too cute not to. But it's okay because I'll have a job soon and I'll actually be able to afford it!
Last weekend, James and I wanted to go horseback riding but because of brutal traffic we couldn't get to the stables in time. So we ended up going to Pink's for dinner. (Pink's is a very famous LA hot dog stand that specializes in making lots of crazy-topped hot dogs with everything on them from bacon to pastrami to onion rings.) It was fun and I'd been wanting to go for a while. We last went in October. There's always a huge line, it's this whole experience. Good times.
Also last weekend, we went to see the George Clooney-John Krasinski-Renee Zellweger feature, Leatherheads. It was cute (JK was definitely cute) and amusing, but not great. And we went on a bike ride up to Marina Del Rey and had dinner up there on Sunday, which was lovely, at a rather fancy Italian place on the water.
What else. In the cooking department, I've made my very first ham, which I baked with a molasses-pecan-bourbon glaze. That was some goood ham. And I cooked the bone down into some super yummy split pea soup. Hooray for kitchen adventures!!
Other exciting news: last night, James and I bought the TimeWarner cable-internet-phone package, yaaaay!! No more
And the most exciting news of all: James and I are planning on taking a trip to Hawaii in August for our one year anniversary! Eeeee!!!!!!
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Updating the old blog
(As requested by my sister, I will now be cross-posting entries from my Livejournal here, so that everyone can comment.)
This is going to be totally random and stream-of-consciousness. Deal with it. :)
1. Car - My car was parked on the street over Easter weekend while James and I went up to Porterville (more on that later) and someone sideswiped it or backed into it or something. Anyway, they didn't leave a note, and the driver's side door and the panel over the driver's side wheel are both bashed in. I haven't taken it in for an estimate yet. Bonus: my insurance won't cover anything. Yaaayy.
2. Bikes - speaking of breaking things, I had a cheapo bike that I bought on Craigslist that was too small for me and too hard to pedal, so James gave me his old bike. We've been going on bike rides down at the beach. Then I broke the bike by shifting going up a hill and the little sproingy sprocket thing on the back wheel that moves the chain bent up and around and somehow got lodged in the spokes of the wheel. It's completely busted. BUT when we were in Porterville we told his parents what happened and his mom gave me her bike!! Oo, I need to write a thank-you note for that! Anyway, the bike rides can continue, yaaay!
3. Easter - We drove up to Porterville for Easter, but James was fighting an awful cold. He slept most of Saturday. It was nice to be up there and visiting with his family, but it was a bit odd to be mostly by myself at his house and keeping myself entertained by reading and listening to my ipod. I went out to lunch with his brothers, which was really nice. They're good guys, and lots of fun. And interestingly enough his mom let James and me share a room rather than having me across the hall from him. (The room has two twin beds.) His brothers didn't want to sleep with his snoring/sickness, so I did. I wonder if that'll happen again or if it's a one-time thing.
4. Sickness - James got really badly sick from this cold, he had to take last Monday off and he's still fighting it off. He's even on antibiotics and ear drops for a nasty ear infection. I got it too but not nearly as badly. I only had one real sick day and it didn't even matter since I'm not working. The worst couple days James took care of me by taking me out to dinner so I wouldn't have to cook or wash dishes or anything. Isn't he a sweetie?!?
5. Job - I had to fill out another application online for Raytheon, this time about all my employment history for the last ten years and agreeing to urine tests and stuff. I got a call today asking if it was done yet so they could send me my offer. I finished it today (remembering every little job I had at BU and in college was really annoying - especially tracking down all the addresses and phone numbers aaaand even remembering peoples' names) soooo I should be getting my offer soon.
6. Hike - yesterday James and Steve and I went on a hike with some of Steve's UCLA friends. It was a lot of fun and really great to be outdoors in the sunshine, but the hike was a bit more intense that we'd expected. Since James and I are still recovering from our cold, we fell behind on the hike pretty quickly. The path was very steep for long stretches as we climbed up these hills that rose above LA, up near Malibu. It was lovely, though. There were lots of wild flowers. Afterwards, we all went to a Mexican restaurant and had second lunch/dinner (it was about 4 pm). Mm, margaritas. I want to go out with James and get margaritas after my first day of work. Which shouldn't be too far off!!
7. No more baby - the neighbors next door with the baby that cried every morning at 5 AM have moved (YAY) and we got new neighbors. I made cupcakes for them but I need to frost them! And then give them. Yummmm, homemade vanilla buttermilk cupcakes.
I think that's about it for now...
This is going to be totally random and stream-of-consciousness. Deal with it. :)
1. Car - My car was parked on the street over Easter weekend while James and I went up to Porterville (more on that later) and someone sideswiped it or backed into it or something. Anyway, they didn't leave a note, and the driver's side door and the panel over the driver's side wheel are both bashed in. I haven't taken it in for an estimate yet. Bonus: my insurance won't cover anything. Yaaayy.
2. Bikes - speaking of breaking things, I had a cheapo bike that I bought on Craigslist that was too small for me and too hard to pedal, so James gave me his old bike. We've been going on bike rides down at the beach. Then I broke the bike by shifting going up a hill and the little sproingy sprocket thing on the back wheel that moves the chain bent up and around and somehow got lodged in the spokes of the wheel. It's completely busted. BUT when we were in Porterville we told his parents what happened and his mom gave me her bike!! Oo, I need to write a thank-you note for that! Anyway, the bike rides can continue, yaaay!
3. Easter - We drove up to Porterville for Easter, but James was fighting an awful cold. He slept most of Saturday. It was nice to be up there and visiting with his family, but it was a bit odd to be mostly by myself at his house and keeping myself entertained by reading and listening to my ipod. I went out to lunch with his brothers, which was really nice. They're good guys, and lots of fun. And interestingly enough his mom let James and me share a room rather than having me across the hall from him. (The room has two twin beds.) His brothers didn't want to sleep with his snoring/sickness, so I did. I wonder if that'll happen again or if it's a one-time thing.
4. Sickness - James got really badly sick from this cold, he had to take last Monday off and he's still fighting it off. He's even on antibiotics and ear drops for a nasty ear infection. I got it too but not nearly as badly. I only had one real sick day and it didn't even matter since I'm not working. The worst couple days James took care of me by taking me out to dinner so I wouldn't have to cook or wash dishes or anything. Isn't he a sweetie?!?
5. Job - I had to fill out another application online for Raytheon, this time about all my employment history for the last ten years and agreeing to urine tests and stuff. I got a call today asking if it was done yet so they could send me my offer. I finished it today (remembering every little job I had at BU and in college was really annoying - especially tracking down all the addresses and phone numbers aaaand even remembering peoples' names) soooo I should be getting my offer soon.
6. Hike - yesterday James and Steve and I went on a hike with some of Steve's UCLA friends. It was a lot of fun and really great to be outdoors in the sunshine, but the hike was a bit more intense that we'd expected. Since James and I are still recovering from our cold, we fell behind on the hike pretty quickly. The path was very steep for long stretches as we climbed up these hills that rose above LA, up near Malibu. It was lovely, though. There were lots of wild flowers. Afterwards, we all went to a Mexican restaurant and had second lunch/dinner (it was about 4 pm). Mm, margaritas. I want to go out with James and get margaritas after my first day of work. Which shouldn't be too far off!!
7. No more baby - the neighbors next door with the baby that cried every morning at 5 AM have moved (YAY) and we got new neighbors. I made cupcakes for them but I need to frost them! And then give them. Yummmm, homemade vanilla buttermilk cupcakes.
I think that's about it for now...
Friday, September 15, 2006
Friday, March 10, 2006
i <3 eeyore
just trying to figure out how flickr works. here's a picture of me and a giant eeyore in disneyworld. he was crazy expensive.
An update...
It's been over a year since I last posted. I switched to livejournal, but maybe I should keep up with blogspot too.
What's happened in the past year?
-graduated from lafayette
-visited carrie and leif in norway
-moved up to Reading, MA
-started grad school at Boston University in the film production program
-switched my program to screenwriting after the first semester
yeah, ok, that's about all i've got for now.
What's happened in the past year?
-graduated from lafayette
-visited carrie and leif in norway
-moved up to Reading, MA
-started grad school at Boston University in the film production program
-switched my program to screenwriting after the first semester
yeah, ok, that's about all i've got for now.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
So this is what senior year is like...
Yes yes, we were in a car accident. Worst day of my life, August 30 2004. I don't want to talk about it.
This semester's crazy. I've got lots of reading because I'm in two novel-based classes, and a ton of memorization ahead of me thanks to American art. And then there's my thesis. Today I definitely made progress in that department, because in talking with my advisor I finally narrowed my research down to something interesting and -best of all- feasible.
We had flooding in Easton this past weekend due to the lovely Hurrican Ivan that swept through the area, though he was hardly a hurricane. Still left plenty of damage though. I'm happy to say that Ivan didn't prevent me and Alyssa from seeing Michael Buble in concert at the state theater. He's a great performer and the show was a ton of fun. Plus he's gorgeous.
I feel the stress of the semester settling in already, with working as a WA, having to read two novels simultaneously, trying to stay on top of an ever-expanding list of art works, and having to produce research for my thesis. When will I have time to apply for grad school?? Erm... I went to the career fair today and got information about AmeriCorps and I think that might be an option for me. I'm not sure that jumping right into grad school without knowing exactly what I want to be doing would be a good idea.
The deadline for the Marquis literary magazine is coming up. I want to get published, just once while i'm here. But I don't have anything to submit so that's something else I have to work on.
So in sum, I'm glad I picked up the stress ball from the URS table at the career fair tonight. If it survives the year in one piece I'll be surprised.
This semester's crazy. I've got lots of reading because I'm in two novel-based classes, and a ton of memorization ahead of me thanks to American art. And then there's my thesis. Today I definitely made progress in that department, because in talking with my advisor I finally narrowed my research down to something interesting and -best of all- feasible.
We had flooding in Easton this past weekend due to the lovely Hurrican Ivan that swept through the area, though he was hardly a hurricane. Still left plenty of damage though. I'm happy to say that Ivan didn't prevent me and Alyssa from seeing Michael Buble in concert at the state theater. He's a great performer and the show was a ton of fun. Plus he's gorgeous.
I feel the stress of the semester settling in already, with working as a WA, having to read two novels simultaneously, trying to stay on top of an ever-expanding list of art works, and having to produce research for my thesis. When will I have time to apply for grad school?? Erm... I went to the career fair today and got information about AmeriCorps and I think that might be an option for me. I'm not sure that jumping right into grad school without knowing exactly what I want to be doing would be a good idea.
The deadline for the Marquis literary magazine is coming up. I want to get published, just once while i'm here. But I don't have anything to submit so that's something else I have to work on.
So in sum, I'm glad I picked up the stress ball from the URS table at the career fair tonight. If it survives the year in one piece I'll be surprised.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Jonathan Swift is officially invited to bite me.
I quit Excel today. Well, not really quit, I just told my professor that I had finished up all my work and that I'd rather just be finished than get more. And he was fine with that. I was relieved. Anyway, I'm done with researching Jonathan Swift poetry... forever!! yaaay!
I also ran into my thesis advisor today, we talked a bit for the first time since June. I had been avoiding him since I wasn't getting all the work done that I needed to. But lately (thanks to lots of stressing out, missing out on fun times and a significant lack of sleep) I've been getting a lot more work done. So when I saw him today, I didn't panic. That's always a good thing. And now that I have two free days thanks to no more Excel research, I'll be able to dedicate a lot more time to Shakespearean film.
I hope that in this year to come, I can remain focused on my goals but have fun while doing it. These past three years have been the best of my life, and I want to leave here with lots of happy memories of my senior year, not just a diploma and an ulcer.
I also ran into my thesis advisor today, we talked a bit for the first time since June. I had been avoiding him since I wasn't getting all the work done that I needed to. But lately (thanks to lots of stressing out, missing out on fun times and a significant lack of sleep) I've been getting a lot more work done. So when I saw him today, I didn't panic. That's always a good thing. And now that I have two free days thanks to no more Excel research, I'll be able to dedicate a lot more time to Shakespearean film.
I hope that in this year to come, I can remain focused on my goals but have fun while doing it. These past three years have been the best of my life, and I want to leave here with lots of happy memories of my senior year, not just a diploma and an ulcer.
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