subjectless post

its wednesday night.

i am sooo tired. i'm going to bed soon. hopefully in the next 7 minutes.

so, just quickly. did some apartment stuff after work today - went to west elm and bought a dresser (5 drawers - tall) and another dresser for downstairs (storage) so i could have 2 pieces of the same style for whatever i do next. so i buy the pieces, sign up for the card to get a decent discount, go outside to the zipcar my roommate rented just for the occassion and ... voila. the pieces aren't in boxes. they're fully put together. so they dont fit in the car we rented. so i take one piece home and have to find a way to get the other piece back to my place. delivery via ups is $125. yep. for a store like 3 miles away. so... not sure what to do about that.

we get the piece home and so i order pizza and we watch man of the year with robbin williams. and of course - a movie made 5+ (?) years ago and why are ALL THE ISSUES THE SAME?? you'd think we've made some progress but noooo... none at all apparently. its pretty sad. i couldnt stay up for it, i'm just too tired. hopefully the wine i had for dinner won't keep me up later tonight. i'd love to be like a toddler and sleep through the night.

and here are a few notes of things i read online today:

• woman gives labor for TWENTY DAYS. not hours. DAYS. just another reason not to have kids.

ok, nm. i thought i had more but now i cant find them. i'm off to bed!

dream mother

this morning is already a weird day. i woke up in a sweat from a really bizarre dream where my aunt b and my mom had rented a rental truck to move some of my grandma's stuff. after my aunt returned it, my mom asked if she had gotten everything out of the back and my aunt didn't realize there were things in the back. so, my grandma, mom and i drive to go get the stuff from the rental return place. it was in a really sketchy area of town and my mom parked, in a big cargo van, at the end of this alley. the alley had a random smackling of houses but was mostly open fields with dried grass. it was at least a quarter of a mile long. there were crack addicts and homeless people swarming all around. i walked to the trailer where i thought our stuff was. i knocked on the door and an average-looking white woman with braids opened the door. i explained that we had left some stuff and she told me that they had just loaded it into the other room. she showed me where it was and it was then that i noticed this woman had tattoos everywhere and missing teeth. the trailer was gross and dirty. so i start picking up some of the stuff from my grandma's truck and the girl sits on the couch and falls asleep. oh, i think she was pregnant. so i grab as much as i can and run out of there because it felt like the sort of place where someone might go and just "never leave" or disappear... so i run to the alley and i have some stuff in my left arm and 3 cabbage patch kids dolls in my right arm. i'm waving my arms trying to tell my mom, in the van at the end of the alley, to start the van so we can leave asap. i get to the van and she's like "where's the other stuff?" and i explain it wasn't worth getting. she didn't listen to me, so we drive around to the front of the trailer and park. my mom goes in first, and this sketchy white-trash guy opens the door and welcomes her in. he didn't see me. he was really excited to see her and looked at her like she was "fresh meat." he closed the door right as i put my foot in it. he looked disappointed to see me when he realized i was with the woman who had just rung his bell. the pregnant girl came to the room and i explained that i left hoping not to wake her up. she understood and my mom and i took the rest of our things. my grandma was in the van completely oblivious to the area of town we were in. i then told my mom that she shouldn't have gone in to the place alone because the guy would probably try to shoot her up with drugs and make her a prostitute, and he thought she would be an easy target because she was black. i'm not sure why my mom was black in my dream. it wasn't until we were back in the van that my mom realized how dangerous of a situation we were in, so we rushed off to my grandma's apartment. something else happened at the apartment, but i can't remember it. my grandma was concerned we had all of her things, but there was no way we were going back.

any dream interpreters out there? what does all of this mean??

back to work today. i hope it feels like a monday and i get a lot of things done. i didn't get much done yesterday because i went to satc2 in the middle of the afternoon. it was decent. its fun to watch characters you've known for a long time, BUT i feel like it was a bit over-acted and over-the top. i dont remember the tv show being like that. i'd have to rewatch it. i then stopped at west elm and found some furniture i think i'd like a lot. gonna try and get higgs to take me tomorrow after work so i can organize my room. i tried doing a lot last night but its almost overwhelming and i was working very slowly. i still haven't found either of my phone chargers (although i distinctly remember thinking "i'll put this HERE so i remember where it is and have easy access to it." of course i remember thinking it but not where "here" is). i DID find my keys to the apartment, which means i found my jeans because they were in my jeans pocket. why i would leave them there, i dont know, but i do remember thinking "i'll remember these are in my jeans pocket." even though i NEVER put keys in my jeans pocket. i need to find my keychain... and apparently its going to rain today, so i need to find my umbrella. i was awoken TWICE last night by the thunderstorm.

ugh. ok, i have to head to work.

["dream mother" is a song by jeff buckley on his album "grace"]

ideas to help bp

so just for your fun on sunday, check out this link to a video (with no picture - sound only) about someone who called bp with some suggestions of how bp could fix the oil spill... it made me chuckle.

what would you suggest??

baby don't hurt me

sunday morning. i set my alarm for 9:40 am so i could finish picking up and organizing before i have people over today, BUT i woke up at 7am because of some cats in the park fighting. it sounded like it was right next to my ear. i stayed in bed until 8 trying to get back to sleep and was not able to. its after 9 now and so i am going to throw some books in a box and take them downstairs to storage. then i need to vacuum and sweep the floor and... i guess i should probably eat breakfast and then shower and get ready.

one of my best friends is moving from boston - she actually moved TO boston when i moved away, SO... i'm thinking this is some sort of hint or something that she doesnt want to be in the same city as me. :) actually, she just graduated from babson and is moving to texas. she is having a going away party today: first at a restaurant in my neighborhood and then at her place afterwards. since she's coming all the way over to this area, i thought i'd have her and her bf over for some mimosas before brunch. so that is what i'm getting ready for.

my room is still a mess. actually, the word "mess" is being too nice. its a disaster. whenever i dont know where to put something, i just throw it in my room. then i'll start organizing my room and i'll make piles on my bed, then not get to them until later, which just means that when i want to go to bed, i have to clear off the piles and i still have no where to put them, so i just throw everything on the floor. then the cycle repeats the next day. ugh.

well i'm off to be super productive and get clean...

[my roommate has "what is love? baby, don't hurt me, don't hurt me" on downstairs. hence the subject by haddaway. feel free to begin bobbing head a la night at the roxbury.]

up all night (frankie miller goes to hollywood)

it's 3:09am on saturday morning (/friday night) and there are birds CHIRPING out my window. is that normal?? i have no idea. i am not usually awake at this time. which is to say that it is not that i just WOKE UP. i have been awake since friday morning when i got up to go to work. i left work at about 3pm today (friday, that is, technically "today" is saturday) because it was the day before a holiday and the office closed at 2. i had enough stuff to do to stay longer, BUT i really really really need to unpack and get my place organized or my whole zenness is gone... or never arrived, i guess. i'm feeling a lot of self-imposed pressure to get this place in tip-top shape. ohh and now i have even MORE pressure (and external forces, at that): guests coming sunday morning. SO.... i have less than 48 hours to get this place in order. i walked home with a bunch of stuff in my bag, such that my back and shoulder hurt. i must find a masseuse here in boston. any suggestions? and i stopped for some chicken naan - LOVE it - so i didnt get home until 4pm. i ate and then higgi and i got to work. we picked out spots for all our artwork. it was so much fun! i'm really excited to hang things. then i set out working on the 20 or so boxes with some sort of kitchen stuff in them (also including, but not limited to, a pair of boots i bought in france and have never worn - they are STILL sexy sexy, sheets, a magazine rack, underwear (clean! i promise!), lots and LOTS of socks, golf balls, etc). we figured out what we would keep out and what i would put in storage, once i have bins in which to store them. this is all with some wine, of course.

we did a bit of work upstairs and after higgs left, i talked to a friend in asia online. it was good fun talking to her and she is the reason why i am still online (although technically she no longer is... hmph). i've been organizing my books and realized a few things:

1. i buy a lot of books
2. i have not read 90% of them
3. i have a lot of books on how to learn french and how to learn german
4. i barely speak french and do not speak german
5. i have a lot of books that would be FABULOUS for my career
6. i need to read them
7. i have a lot of books that were cheap that i probably shouldn't have bought
8. once i read them, i will donate them

oh.
my.
gosh.

i JUST put on a podcast while i was thinking of some more things i learned about myself during the unpacking and she said "do you have too many business books and not enough time to read them?" thats me!! holy crap! how ironic. i'll have to listen to what she says.

anyway, i think i did a pretty good job of packing... only 3 broken glasses! (one wine glass, one martini glass, and one sushi bowl) i can't find a lamp, so that is a bit interesting... i have the lamp shade and the twisty thing that goes on TOP of the lamp (to hold the lamp shade in). but no actual lamp. hmph.

so my first (business) week (5 days) in boston is almost over. thus far, i have run to catch the bus, worn the same sweat pants for 4 days (NOT to work - but changed when i got home), locked myself out of the apartment, almost caught up on my restaurants (i had a certain number i really wanted to eat at when i got back), worked two days, found about 39 bruises all over my lower body. and more, i'm sure.

saturdays goals (after i wake up): get furniture, finish basement, finish books, finish bedroom, finish jewelry, finish bathroom. potentially go to work to catch up on emails, etc.

having said all that, i need to go to bed. time is now 3:24.... night!

[song (because i am up so late!) is by counting crows. i dont listen to them or have their cd, but this song name was on a list about ... something. nice title. its funny. get it? ha ha]

informer

good morning my lovelies!

i didn't think i'd get a chance to write today before work (my first day - eek!), but my alarm just went off and i've been awake for over an hour... i've already showered AND put my clothes in the dryer. talk about being productive. i LOVE being productive.

and how productive have i been at unpacking?? well... i've emptied most of my boxes... i had people come by last night to pick empties up (posted an ad on craigslist and made sure my buff, scary roommate was around so that i wouldn't get held up - you know boxes are obviously a hot commodity). wait. when i say "empties" does that imply beer? hmm.... you know what i mean. for my room, i basically just took boxes that would normally go in my room, threw the clothes and office stuff on the floor and cut up the boxes. i dont' have a dresser, or a desk, or a bookshelf. nothing. for some reason, i own a lot of side tables. side tables don't do much for storing clothes, though.

tonight i'm going to get some more people to pick up some more boxes and then attack my room. i have to get organized with my clothes - i have NO IDEA where my work clothes are - on the bottom of a pile? in some other boxes? who knows? i found some and threw those in the washer last night, but i don't have enough for next week. and to that extent, i need to actually get some new clothes for work. so i was thinking of opening a credit card with a department store to get some good discounts - i was thinking macy's, but my roommate "hates" them (i forgot to ask why). he suggested lord and taylors, which to me seems way more expensive. i want to take advantage of memorial day savings this weekend - so, which do you think? macys or lord and taylors? i want to do business with a company that i like, that treats its employees well, and has a strong US presence, etc. i'm still learning towards macy's because 1) its also in fargo 2) its on the way to work and 3) i've always shopped there. let me know your thoughts, though. or is there some other department store you prefer?

this makes me think of an article i read about the best customer service companies, found here. the main thing: big banks, credit card companies, cable companies and sprint (oh and aol, but who uses them??) are the worst companies for their customers. i only really do business with one (a bank) and am looking to shut that off soon... ooo... i'm just reviewing the good companies and nordstrom is on it. should i shop there maybe?? i feel like they're pretty expensive, but idk. i like netflix, trader joes, and amazon. so that makes me happy that they are high on the good list.

what do you think? wish me luck on my first day!

[Snow - "Informer" song was picked as the 84th best song of the 1990s. it came out in 1993, and was #1 US)]

long, long way from home

well hello again.

this time from boston. i am sooo exhausted despite waking up after a good night's sleep. i look around me and i just get... overwhelmed. there is soo much stuff! and everything is up in the air! maybe i should back up...

i arrived in boston on monday - safely and on time. my roommate, higgs, and i unloaded the truck. it was HOT outside and i have a ton of stuff. it was sticky. and gross. after we took a break to have a beer (which is my new favorite "refreshing" drink, btw), my friend lisa showed up to help us unpack, so that got us going again. all in all, it took about 3-4 hours to unload (with breaks). higgs and i were tired and sore, sweaty and sticky, the kind where you touch your face and it feels like you stuck your head in the ocean and then let your face dry. ugh. i HATE that feeling. so we took the rental truck back to its campground, but they were closed, so we had to leave it there. then we walked and walked and walked looking for a cab to take us home. we got pizza and had some more beer and then bubbly to celebrate me moving in and we watched chuck. it was too much to even think about unpacking.

yesterday morning, i woke up after spending the night on the couch because we had loaded boxes all over my bed and took some videos of the chaos that is now my apartment.



and this is video two, taken a bit later because i had to delete a bunch of pictures on my camera so these videos would fit...



i spent like 8 hours yesterday just moving boxes around to the "area" in the apartment where they should go. BUT i'm moving in to a fully furnished apartment, so most of my stuff isn't even needed; HOWEVER, i can't really just throw my boxes in storage (of which there is plenty - dont get me wrong) because almost all of my boxes were packed 2 years ago in a fit of packing by all my friends when my moving company just decided not to show up... (long story - will DEF write about later). SO i have NO IDEA what is in half of these boxes. some are labeled accurately ("cds and towels" - there are like 5 or 6 boxes labeled this way) and some are not "wine - empty" (and its no longer wine NOR empty). and none of the boxes are strictly for one room. e.g. "kitchen" i'll find glass vases with computer stuff or light bulbs mixed in with workout stuff. i'm not complaining, at least not in that way, i'm just explaining why this is such a daunting process. its taking a long time and that is making me not so pleased. actually, i kind of like the stress. BUT i am still stressed...

so its wed morning and i promised i would upload these videos, so i have finished that. now i am going to get dressed, start unpacking some more before the heat sets in for the day. then i am going to run to cvs and work on unpacking downstairs (its much much cooler down there). tonight i need to fill out a kazillion forms for work tomorrow (oh yeah! did i tell you i start tomorrow?? which just makes this process all the more disheartening) and find work clothes... crap! i have NO IDEA where my work clothes are...

ok, i gotta go. will write more about my trip later.

[long, long way from home by foreigner - from the complete greatest hits. because i am now a long, long way from fargo...]

another quick update

greetings from milwaukee where i stayed last night. i can't believe how quickly time is passing and apologies - i meant to write about my first two days driving last night, and didnt get a chance to. yesterday i was 15 min late and today i'm over 45 - more like an hour late. its raining in milwaukee and i am hoping i didnt get a parking ticket for my truck. i am going to leave in a bit and head to columbus - today is my longest day (8 hrs). eek! and tonight is the one night i'd actually like to have some time in columbus except, its raining there TOO. and i have to leave early tomorrow morning because i'm taking my friend to the airport and then getting on the road. i hope we dont have a banger of a night tonight. i'm going to try and take it easy since i'm driving so much tomorrow... (to syracuse which is 7 hrs). i will most certainly try and catch up and fill you in on all my travels tomorrow night. i've taken some fun pictures from the road... so i'll post those, too.

ok, gotta run.

quick update

super super quick note - i'm running 15 min behind this morning. i am fine and well - on day 2 of my journey across the country. thank you to everyone for the birthday emails, texts, twitters, facebook thingies (which, my account is now deleted, btw, as i said), calls, etc from yesterday. i will get back to everyone later today hopefully...

gotta hit the road to milwaukee!

happy birthday to.... meeeeeeeee!!!!

i found this article on line titled "26 things i've learned in 26 years" and i thought - what i good idea! so in honor of my birthday, i am making my own list of 29 things i've learned in my 29 years... in no particular order:

1. education is of utmost importance
   
2. treat others how you would like to be treated - even if it means doing something you dont want to
   
3. family is very important and won't be around forever
   
4. respect yourself
   
5. respect others
   
6. don't take everything so personally - that person who cut you off on your drive to work may be a bad driver, or may be in a hurry to get to a sick loved one, or may just be a jerk, but the point is, he wasnt trying to cut YOU off.
   
7. always make sure to have an unexpired passport handy
   
8. you aren't always right. its practically statistically impossible to be correct 100% of the time
   
9. ask questions
   
10. be sure to always have dreams. if you obtain your goals, set new ones.
    
11. the world does not revolve around you
    
12. travel. to see the world, to understand yourself, to understand others
    
13. try new foods. at least once.
    
14. laugh at yourself
    
15. be consistent
    
16. respect your elders
    
17. know how to do at least one thing really well
    
18. its ok to be different, and should even be encouraged
    
19. stand up for yourself
    
20. stand up for something
    
21. do not trust companies 100%
    
22. eat a variety of foods to naturally get vitamins and minerals (instead of taking a multivitamin)
    
23. be open minded
    
24. stay active
    
25. give up one thing for at least a few months
    
26. don't spend more than you make
    
27. save for a rainy day
    
28. keep in touch with friends, but when a friendship/relationship is over, let it be over
    
29. feel honored to know me. :)
    

ok, the last one is admittedly because i am trying to finish this and post it so i can go back to bed. but i'm certain to have missed something... what tenants do you try to live by?