sick

morning. i can't say "good" because it isnt. i'm too sick to feel good about anything. i even went to cvs last night and bought robitussin! its not helping my cough, just making my coughs not as deep, but the deep coughs are the better ones. they hurt more, but i like them for some reason. anyway, i'm going to keep this short and sweet and maybe write more later when i'm home. for now, check out this AWESOME tea infuser! i found it on this site and i think its AWESOME. i've just said that twice. see how sick i am? being sick is NOT awesome. tea is AWESOME though. i had my last bag of throat coat last night. thats too bad. i'd like some more. my throat is all scratched up. my birthday is coming up, too.

i think i'll call someone and whine to them. i am not a very good sick person.

dream apartment - 25

AWESOME idea. from apartment therapy. this totally makes me want to have a house with a secret room, hidden by a bookshelf. it may or may not need to link directly to the conservatory via a hidden tunnel...

more travel adventures from san diego

ok. back again. on a flight. but no internet so this will go up later. thought i would write about my trip some more while its fresh in my mind. i think i was writing about how we had dinner almost every night with my grandma's extended family. it was good fun.

friday night, my mom and i met my grandma, my 2nd cousin and her husband and my great uncle and his wife at a seafood restaurant. for some reason, my grandma ordered salmon even though she doesnt like salmon, or any fish, for that matter. she complained about her food. i, personally, think she ordered it because my 2nd cousin's husband heard her mumbling about having a steak and he said "steak?! no! you can't have steak at a seafood restaurant! you should have fish." and my grandma said, "well, i dont know what to have" and he said "have salmon, salmon is great." of course, my grandma has no ability to reason to herself that she doesnt actually like seafood. so she ordered a salmon. and didn't eat it all. she ate some of it, of course, because you can't put food in front of her without her eating it (she forgets that she's eaten a lot and forgets what she does and doesnt like).

saturday, my 2nd cousin's husband took my mom and i out for a drive to see different areas of san diego (i previously briefly mentioned that). he kept complaining about all the homeless people we passed, or the people who sued the city because there was a big cross on top of a hill (what about the jews or the arabs or the atheists? the lawsuit mentions). he also lamented about how this woman had made a little beach for kids and now a bunch of seals have found the beach and want to live there (and thus the kids cant swim there). now there is a big controversy about seals vs. kids. i'm indifferent to all of it, and i honestly have no idea how he feels - he was just complaining that people were divided on the issue, i think. i dont know really. BUT i thought it was curious that when giving a tour, these were the things that were talked about. [oh, and as an aside, when we said goodbye, he said he would miss me the most! ha ha - i think he just likes to argue.]

after the tour, we met the same group of people for dinner again. we were going to go play bingo, which i was kind of looking forward to, but apparently it was too busy and we couldn't get a reservation (a reservation to play bingo?? apparently). so we ended up going to a mexican restaurant instead. my 2nd cousin's husband, who took us on the tour, complained about the restaurant we were going to. he was like, "this is like going to italy and having burgers" or something like that. curious, my mom and i looked up reviews of this restaurant online and we found one woman who gave it 5 stars (out of 5) and said "i live in minnesota and i love going to this restaurant each time i'm in san diego. it's great mexican food! it's like the red lobster of mexican food." ... yes. i kid you not. apparently red lobster is a high class joint in minnesohta. i, personally, enjoyed my tacos and we had a great server. my grandma said to her "bring me the bill" because my great uncle paid for dinner the previous night. the server didn't miss a beat and said "which bill? my internet or electricity?" my grandma didn't get it, she replied "i want to pay for dinner." which made the whole thing even funnier. the server just grabbed my grandma's shoulder and laughed as she said, "yes, of course!" again, my grandma didn't order food she would like. there wasn't enough gringo-y food on the menu, so i had my grandma order an enchilada. she ate part of it and a lot of rice and beans. so hard to please.

sunday, i coaxed my mom in to joining me in the pool. it was fun and felt great - LOVE heated pools! then we got ready and went shopping - i bought 3 pairs of shoes, which is stupid because i dont really have room in my suitcase for it, but i do love me some new shoes. we went to this place called venice pizza for dinner that night and it was the regular crowd - great uncle and his wife, 2nd cousin and her husband, gma, mom and i AND a whole bunch of additional people - another great uncle (who was diagnosed with parkinsons a few years ago, so he doesnt go out much) and his wife, one of their daughters, and another cousin (from the first great uncle). it was good fun and the pizza was delicious. i told my mom that if you werent from the area, and hadn't been going to it for years, you would probably just skip the place because its in a not-super-nice area and in a kind of non-descript building. we took lots of family photos - if you want any, let me know.

each night we were home by 9pm. oh, except saturday when we went to a movie - the joneses. it was really good! if its playing in your area, i def recommend it. but i'm not going to tell you a lot about it, because i think it would be even better if you dont know what its about. so just remember to see it (you can remember because it has to do with "keeping up with the joneses") and let me know what you think. (its very independent, so it might be hard to find)

monday we hung out on our own and went to torrey pines golf course to make my brothers and dad jealous (hehehe). we also went shopping downtown in the gaslampe district. i was actually really really disappointed in that area. i thought it would be really cutesy area with tons of boutique, independent shops. we found one or two, but the majority of the stores there were big chains - puma, vicky's secret, etc. i found a neat shop where i bought a bag and another one where i bought some necklaces and earrings. we had lunch and then took off. we watched dwts together and then split a burger in the hotel restaurant. it was a nice break from the big crowds.

that night, i woke up at 1am to find my mom in the bathroom using my laptop. she couldnt sleep. so she came back to bed and we watched tv for a bit and each used the computer. we were up until after 3am before both falling asleep again. oh, right, i forgot to mention that this WHOLE TIME i have been sick. i wake up with a hacking cough and a sore throat every morning. i'm trying not to cough on the plane so as not to spread my illness. this is the FIRST TIME i have been sick since i quit my job 2 years ago. its all about transportation, i tell you!

tuesday, i went swimming by myself for a bit. and get this, I GOT a HEAT RASH. in 65 degree san diego weather. yep. i kid you not. my chest was totally splotchy and i was nauseous. can you imagine me in africa?? i can't even handle southern california sprintime. after i recovered, we went to my great uncle's house and discovered that my grandma hadn't taken her medication for 2 or 3 days. when we pointed it out to her, she said, "i have NOT missed my medication!" no use arguing with her, but it explained why she didnt feel well. we went over to their house around 2pm and grandma was still in her house coat with her hair going every which way. i had a GREAT talk with my great uncle. i made a mini family tree and got the scoop on my ancestors. i'm related to this famous explorer from canada - he (peter warren dease) even has a wiki page! my great uncle is one of the nicest men i have ever meet - i have never heard him say a bad thing about anyone. i showed him videos of player playing basketball and all of the pictures that i had on my laptop. my grandma took a nap while we were there and then the 5 of us left for dinner at outback steakhouse - my first time ever at an outback. my mom's 3 cousins met us again and we had a good time. i got to know my two 2nd cousins a bit better. grandma was very silent at dinner because she had a headache, but she finally got some food she liked - a steak and potato. i asked her how her food was and she said "the steak is a bit tough." hard to please.

mom and i used a tomtom all weekend and we would've been dead in tijuana without it. it was great. i DEF suggest buying one and bringing it with you whenever you travel. i'm going to take my parents' with me on my trip to the east coast. and now i'm back to sac for a few weeks. more to come on the job front and my half-country drive a bit later... catch you on the flip side.

from san airport

fun from airports... i'm at the san diego airport waiting for my flight back to sacramento (via lax - of course, it would make too much sense for me to go directly from san to smf). i've been here almost a week (since last thursday). it was a great trip (no sarcasm, at all!) and i'm quite sad to go back to the real world.

in case i didn't explain this earlier, a few months ago, my grandma (who i call twice a week, but she thinks i call every day) mentioned on our phone call "i think i might go to california. i'm still deciding." it is absolutely clear to everyone in our family that she can NOT go alone, so i promptly hung up with gma and called my mom: "hey, why don't i take grandma to san diego?" my mother, who grew up catholic and therefore has the "guilt gene," said "i couldn't let you go alone!" i didn't mind, at all, but she insisted that she should bear sole responsibility for my grandma, so we thought about looking into flights for the three of us. we found a time that worked for her to get some time off from work, and for me, and we booked flights. i really really wanted to fly to fargo first and then take the flight with them from fargo to san diego. i know it sounds completely illogical, but i really really wanted to be with someone who would 1) allow me to board the plane early and 2) get to take the car from one gate to the next. alas, the cost did not overcome the coolness of sitting in the "handicap" seats at the airport. so i flew in last thursday evening and my grandma and mom flew in later that night.

the first few days, my grandma stayed with my mom's cousin. my mom and i stayed in a hotel at the airport and met up with everyone every evening for dinner. most days, mom and i stayed in bed until noon or so... we always had to ask the cleaning lady to come back. oh and "everyone" includes my grandma's two younger brothers and two of their daughters, as well as the other cousin of my mom.

oh crap. i have to board my plane to lax in a few minutes and i have to run to the bathroom first. ok, i'm going to post this because i can (and havent written for a few days) with more updates on my trip to come soon...

dream apartment - 24

this isn't necessarily the ULTIMATE chair, but i definitely do want AN overstuffed chair, similar to the one above (from the slumberland website - i saw this chair in person in fargo and fell in love with it) for my new room in boston. and this one is on sale! do you think i should get it? i already have 0% financing at slumberland, so i could just pay for it a little each month for the next 18 months. what do you think?? my parents mostly convinced me to not bother since i'm technically unemployed... yes? no? sale and financing AND i really want it...

[update since writing this: i am now employed! so does that mean i should get it??]

can't think of a subject and have to go

it is now clear to me: i have missed my calling in life. i should've been a synchronized swimmer.

i'm in san diego with my mom and grandma. we're staying at the hilton harbor island and i spent part of today swimming in the fabulous pool that is NINE FEET DEEP. thats deep enough for me to do all sorts of tricks and stuff. it was AWE-wait for it-SOME. then i went in the hot tub to relax my tired muscles. swim dancing is tough work.

so this trip is interesting. my mom and i are trying super dooper hard to do as little as possible, but we keep getting sucked in by our family - aaaaaagggg!!! no, i'm partially kidding. we love our family, we just want to be lazy and they're making that difficult.

last night, we met my mom's cousin (does that make her my second cousin or my cousin twice removed? i never know) and her husband who are taking care of my gma, at a restaurant with my gma's brother and his wife. none of the three people (the husband, my great-uncle and his wife) here remember meeting me last time i was here (10 years ago when my great gma was here). i wonder what that means... not memorable...? i'll ignore. anyway, we met them at a seafood restaurant where the youngest person was... yep, you guess it. me. and next up was my mom. by like 20 years. i had salmon and shrimp and crab cakes (it was a platter) with veggies and rice pilaf. oh my god. how annoying would that be if i started to write about EVERYTHING i ate?? then i had a piece of bread and a martini. haa ha. just kidding. i'm over that. anyway, it was nice catching up with them. we almost didn't make it because we didn't trust the tom-tom, but it got us there, so i guess that was good.

i was going to write more about my trip, but my mom is giving me the nasty eye because we have to leave again for dinner tonight.

oh, just quickly - today, my mom's cousin's husband drove my mom and i around la jolla and some other fancy areas. i would guess, based on his constant disparaging remarks about all things government-related, that he is maybe a bit right of the spectrum from me. i didn't say much, but we all know how long that lasts with me... so at the end, when he said some things, that i honestly didnt really understand, i started questioning him on it, and he started arguing with me some more, but i was like, 'well, you just said this....' and pointed out what he said and he got upset that i wasn't just agreeing with him. so he thought of some more examples, which i questioned some more and finally he said, "are you on a debate team?" and i said, "well, no, but i was in high school." and he said, "well, that explains it!" and i was like, "yeah, but i'm not really a normal debater" to which my mom disagreed. i thought that was funny...

dream apartment - 23

if you don't know by now that i love stairs, then... well... i guess you dont know. but now you do! i LOVE love LOVE love LOVE me some stairs - cool stairs, afraid to walk on them stairs, boring stairs, whatever. and my new goal is to have this - above. no, not a spiral staircase. i will have one of those in about a month when i move to boston. my goal is to have a place where i have stairs that lead to NO WHERE. how awesome and completely non-functional is that??? it's like having my own sitcom! thanks, apartment therapy for helping me realize another goal. you can check out more stairs here.

r.o.c.k. in the u.s.a.

i have a general question for people: what are your thoughts on subsidies? i'm from a farming state and i believe that a lot of farmers in north dakota receive subsidies, but i dont have much information on it. i know there are issues with sugar subsidies and the whole sugar/corn syrup industry has boomed (and some could argue at the same rate as american's waistlines) because of subsidies and this bothers me. i recently read an article on rum subsidies in peurto rico and the US virgin islands. the article makes me not want to drink rum anymore. i worry about the effects that these large multi-national corporations are having on these small island communities. sure, one could argue that they're providing jobs and improving the economy of these countries. but what happens when the company no longer cares about the local economy? they force governments to give them tax breaks or their employees to take pay cuts so that they will stay in business on the island. the islands have no choice but to comply: they need these rum distilleries for their economy. the whole thing sounds fishy to me. and i've never seen a large mnc give back to the community and care about the little people. why are people like you and me ok with the idea that mnc's will always "do good." their primary focus is on profits and they do that at whatever cost to the economy, their employees, the environment. and americans like you and me, we are not concerned with where our products come from, just that they are cheap (but we use the word "affordable"). i'd rather buy a more expensive pair of sneakers that was made with quality in the US than a pair of shoes from a company that spends millions in advertising (part of which goes to pay a womanizing, infidel man who happens to be excellent at golf, but not necessarily a good person) so that their "brand" and "name" are worth more. when i was in junior high, i had a cloth bag that said "American M.A.D.E - Making A Difference Environmentally." at the time, i thought it was important to buy american goods, but then as i got older and saw the different prices of things and started taking business classes, i drifted away from this notion. i read case studies about nike using child labor and i convinced myself that not paying a living wage in far east asia was "ok" because "something" was better than "nothing." but then i listened to this man speak about his crusade to convince nike that they are doing harm to these economies and not helping anyone. you can read more about it here. it made me really upset and sad. and i will never buy another nike anything.

to that extent, when i needed new shoes last fall, i found a pair of sneakers made in the US by new balance. the proceeds from the sale of my shoes went to support breast cancer (the shoes are bright pink and i got them personalized to say "in memory of gma helen" on the tongue for my father's mother who died of breast cancer when she was 35). see picture here:

i was pleased with myself for buying these shoes and just liked the idea behind them, but i was even MORE excited when i read about the shoes:

Congratulations - you now own a pair of shoes that were made or assembled by the New Balance team in one of our five US factories. New Balance proudly relies on our manufacturing associates to produce a quarter of our North American footwear worn by consumers (approx. 7 million pair of shoes) in the US each year. We made our first pair of running shoes in 1938, and hold the distinction as the only company that still manufactures athletic shoes in the US. As a company, we are proud to invest in American workers who provide some of the greatest working spirit, commitment to advancement and ingenuity known in the industrial world. For us, Committed to American Workers is more than a slogan or viewpoint - it is the heart and "sole" of our company.

and even more excited when i got an email from new balance, which reads:

Dear ,

I wanted to follow up regarding your recent purchase from us.
I sincerely hope you are enjoying the comfort and fit of your
New Balance gear.

Understanding you have many choices, we truly appreciate your
business. NB Web Express is committed to earning your loyal
patronage by surpassing your expectations and being open to
suggestions for improvement.

You can contact us directly via email or by calling
1-800-595-9138(Toll Free) with any comments or suggestions.
We welcome your feedback!

how great is that? i realize its a standard email and probably sent automatically from some server, but have you ever gotten that from any other shoe store? and maybe if more people buy their shoes and make comments that its because they were american made, they'll move more production here...

[song by john mellencamp because its good to support america where we rock]

dear mr. man

woo hoo! this is a $10 blog post, fyi. i am writing to you (and then posting) from the sky above. i am currently on a flight from msp to smf (minneapolis to sacramento) and they have wifi on the plane! its not free, but since this is my first flight with wifi, i decided to buy it for the low price of 9.95. and also because i haven't written in quite a few days and i feel guilty about that.

i'm really excited about using the internet on my computer - the only problem is that my battery will wear out - i'm at 88% already (/only). this alone would make me take delta from fargo to sac anytime in the future (lately i've been flying united through denver so that i could get more united miles, but now i would TOTALLY change). alas, there are no more flights from fargo to sacramento in the foreseeable future.

so i was home for a few days because i found a really cheap flight online and have been increasingly bored on the weekends. it was a good weekend - i got in at midnight friday night. on saturday night, i went out with my brother and his friend and my parents. we went to listen to this band... oh crap, i was going to put their website here. let me see if i can find it (their business card is in my suitcase which is stowed above and i dont want to waste battery time looking for it). woo hoo! i found it. i'm so good. they're called the radio stars band. it was fun. my dad knows the first guy in the band, so we went to support them. i had a good time and paid for it sunday morning.

after recovering, i went mattress shopping with my mom. i decided to buy a bed in fargo and take it with me to boston instead of trying to get to a mattress store in boston (where i wont have a car) and paying higher prices there, higher sales tax, and not supporting a north dakota company. i got a really fancy mattress - i hope i like it! i'll pick it up once i get back to fargo in may. oh and i felt bad for the saleswoman. so that partially convinced me to buy from her. she explained that the mattress i was looking at came with a 60 day trial period. after she brought this up the third or fourth time, i explained that i wouldn't really do that because i was moving to boston. she seemed surprised. "oh, ok. well, you can take it with you" or something lame like that - yes, that is in fact what i was planning on doing. so my mom and i are laying (lying? i can never remember) on the beds and she walks away. later, she comes back and i explain that i'm interested in doing financing, but i wans't totally sure and i'd have to come back the next day to do it. she wasn't working on monday (not until wed) and said that i'd have to do it on sunday. i know i could've done it with someone else, but i dont like to switch sales people after they've already helped me. oh, and there was this thing about how they order on monday to be delivered on friday. so, i explain that i dont live in fargo and was leaving on tues. she asks where i live and i explain sacramento. then she seems really confused. why don't i have a bed in sacramento? and i'm bringing all my stuff from sac to fargo then going to boston? so i explain i'm homeless in sac and staying with a friend. and all my stuff is in fargo. it's overly complicated, i realize. BUT - i got a bed!

yesterday i worked from home and then made my brother feel guilty enough for being bad at communicating that he drove from his apartment all the way to my parents house (its annoyingly far - they should just move to north fargo already. :)). after going on a bike ride with my mom, i showered and when i came downstairs my brother, homie, surprised me by being there - zaz! that was cool. we celebrated his passing of an A+ certification test with some bubbly and pizza - great combination. after that, it was dwts with my parents and then they went to bed and i stayed up.

i was up early this morning (at 5) to get ready to head to the airport. again, i'm on a plane. its really cool. i'm easily entertained obviously.

and today has been weird from a flying standpoint. first, security. i have been through quite a many different airports in my life - i would probably guess at least 50 different ones (that may make an interesting post sometime - i'll have to write about that. good idea, d!) and i have long held that security is TOUGHEST at fargo's hector international airport (and yes, its an "international" airport because we fly to canada so stop right there with your thoughts...). i don't know if its the fact that people in fargo care about their jobs and take them seriously, the pay for security people is enough to sustain a decent life in fargo (even if its the same across the country - the cost of living in far is so much cheaper) and therefore the security people are happy and willing to do their jobs, people in fargo are typically law-abiding citizens, or they're just afraid of letting a terrorist get on a plane in fargo (most likely via canada - crossing the border in a car or something)... no matter what the reason, security is TOUGH in fargo. i can't tell you how many times i've had to open my luggage AT the check=in desk and show them whats in it. then, they actually look at your picture when you get to the security gate. then they are super strict about passing laptops, liquids, and other items through security. almost every time i fly, they have to rescan my bag - and they ALWAYS do it very professionally and politely. they politely explain "ma'am, i'm going to have to run your bag through again." and how often have they had to look at it after they've scanned it twice? multiple times. i must carry on funny items or something because it seems to happen to me more than other people. and it happened again today - the security guard asked me "do you have a 40 in your bag?" i gave him a blank stare because i was trying to translate - "did he really mean a 40 oz can of beer??" apparently he did. upon seeing my expression turn to the quizzican he said "or maybe a water bottle?" ahhh, yes. i did have a tin water bottle in my suitcase. i explained that i was empty and he politely said he'd need to take it out and scan the water bottle and suitcase separately just to make sure. but this makes me wonder - how many people are bringing 40s in their carryons?? and why did he think *I* would be one of them??? why was his first thought "40 ounces of beer" instead of "water bottle"???!! that was strange. i wish i had thought to say "honey, if i had a 40, i would've drank it as soon as i got up" or something witty like that that would make him laugh and remember me all day. but no. so the water bottle was empty and i was on my way.

the next weird thing happened when i was waiting to get ON the plane in fargo, standing in the jetway. this older woman says to me "going on a business trip?" and i explained that i was actually just visiting fargo and didn't live there. but it made me wonder - why did she assume i lived in fargo? and how did she know i was in "business" and not some other profession? was it my super fancy black and pink suitcase? my "suitcoat" with jeans outfit? maybe i just look like a smart business person. but it still made me wonder why i gave her that impression. not enough to ask, though. i typically avoid small talk conversations.

so i get to minneapolis and i'm walking to a new terminal and this guy tries to get me to sign up for the gold delta amex. i happily told him "i already have one!" (even though technically i dont bother to pay for "gold" and i just have the regular delta amex) there were 3 or 4 sales people standing in front of a table and i wonder why he singled me out. its obviously my classy appearance.

so then i get to my gate (G17, which if you know MSP, you know there are not enough seats at this gate). i move along a "fence" type thing - is that called a "rail" when its inside? rephrase: i move along this rail separating a completely empty chilis seating area and the gate seats and stopped torwards the end. this guy behind me, i *think* he looks at me and says "i'll move down next to you since there are no seats." i vaguely smile because i'm thinking... "he's with someone - there is a woman following him - AND i clearly have headphones on. they happen to not be playing anything, so i can hear him, but how does he know that??" i'm confused that he's trying to talk to me. well, i dont really know if he is, in fact. which confounds me more. so i pull out my phone and call my mom but since my headphones are stuck in my shirt (thats where i keep them when they're not in my ears - yep it looks like they're almost in my cleavage, but they're not) and the head phones are connected to my ipod and my ipod is in my bag, i kneel on the ground (again, there were no seats). my mom and i are chatting and i see this empty seat on the end of a row (i hate to sit in the MIDDLE of two people, so i prefer to kneel) so i say "mom, i gotta call you back!" and hang up. i throw the phone in my bag and start to assemble my purse, fancy black and pink rolly case and my grande soy no-water chai, and stand up. the seat is gone. the guy makes some comment, but i wasn't looking at him, so i dont know what he says, so i ignore it. he might've been talking to his companion. so i kneel again and call my mom back "there was an empty seat but i wasn't fast enough" i explain. so then i go on to tell her why i really called. i listened to this npr episode on alzeheimers (more to come on that in a different post) and she tells me how i am like my aunt b. so that makes me happy because i like my aunt b. THEN i see the same seat open up again - why are people not staying in this seat?? so i say "mom, hold on!" and throw the phone, in the middle of a call, in my bag. i assemble my things again and stand up and the seat is gone. the guy looks at me and says "i heard what you said about alzeheimers and i agree with you." i'm like, "umm... yeah..." feeling totally awkward because 1) my mom is still on the phone in my bag and 2) i HATE IT when people listen in to your conversations and then comment on them. oh and i dont really know how to make small talk. minor point. so i'm kind of standing there like, "... " i know he wants to talk, but i pull out my phone and kind of give him that "sorry, i'm on the phone look" and start talking to my mom again. THEN the seat opens AGAIN and this time i'm already ready, so i go grab it, all the while still on the phone with my mom. so i just completely DISSED this man who was trying to talk to me in a non-drageur way. sorry, mr. man.

so when i get on the plane from msp to smf, where i am currently as i write this, i sit in my aisle seat (slightly annoyed because no window seats were available and when i checked in online yesterday they had me in a MIDDLE seat which is just completely UNACCEPTABLE and the aisle seat is moderately better...) and dont put my seatbelt on or store my bag because i am expecting someone to come sit in the middle seat. there is a man in my window seat but i am starting to be ok with him. i can tell we're both anxiously watching all the other passengers board the plane, waiting for our seat mate. and guess where the ONE empty seat on the WHOLE plane is. thats right, peanuts! right next to ME! woo hoo. and because i feel bad for dissing mr. man earlier, i say to my one-seat-away-seatmate "i'm anxious for someone to come and sit here" and he said "yeah, me, too" so we make small talk of a total of about 36 words a piece and then no one sits here. its fanTASTIC. and now we aren't talking anymore, and i feel TOTALLY fine with it - i was polite and somewhat witty and neither of us feel uncomfortable now. i'm totally redeemed.

and with that, im going to post this so that the few people who are online can read it right away and give me pleasure for paying $9.95 to write this.

[song title by prince - good song]

drive you home

i am so grateful to my friend for letting me stay with her and her husband and their two cats. but i am really ready to settle down. i've been living out of a suitcase since basically last august - i had a 4-month assignment in ohio, which was great and worked out well because i knew, at the beginning, that it was going to be 4 months. i had a great apartment (i guess i forgot to take pics of it. hmm...) for the last 3 months and it was in a great area. then i went home to fargo for a few weeks and came out to sac to an unknown place to live. it was unacceptable. for over $1200 a month, i was living in a trailer the size of a car - here are the pics:

view from the doorway:
view also from the doorway, turned to the right:
here is the mini-fridge, note there was no freezer and no oven. the "silverware" was in the plastic bin to the left of the fridge:
the bathroom had a toilet and a stand-up shower (which is fine), but no sink, so i had to brush my teeth and take out my contacts using the tiny kitchen sink (seen above in the top left corner). there was a mirror - kind of.

very cutely decorated, and clean and new, but much too small, especially considering that my brother and his fiancee were coming to stay with me - i couldn't even put out my yoga mat, so i had to move from this place:

to a proper one-bedroom trailer. a bit bigger, and decent furniture and amenities (a real fridge and oven and flat-screen tv!):


with a cute little desk area:
and a functional bathroom (although when i turned the shower on, i could hear water dripping under the trailer - i dont know if this is normal, or not):
and a clean bedroom that felt like a bedroom on a ship:


this place wasn't bad, but it was not worth the $1700/month that i paid. the carpets were sticky (i dont even want to know!) and it was basically in the ghetto. so i moved out. i ended up at a friend's house who was out of town and i took care of their cats. it was great, but i felt like i was imposing. so when my contract got extended for another 2 months, i decided to move to an extended stay hotel which was closer to my budget of $1200/month (still a LOT). i think i wrote about my check-in experience and how i ended up in the 3rd room they gave me (again with sticky carpets, hair in the bathroom, cigarette stains / burns / holes in the blankets). i stayed there because it was close to work and i wasn't in anyone's way (that i know of). it was uncomfortable and not worth the money (again), so when my contract was extended for ONE MORE MONTH, i decided to move back in with my friend, hoping to stay out of their way (and paying rent!). i'm glad i'm gone a lot because i hate to feel like i'm in anyone's way. and the point is this: i've been living out of a suitcase for 9 months - moved 6 times in 9 months and its time for a PERMANENT HOME. and my belongings have been in boxes for TWO YEARS while i traveled around. i need to unpack, get rid of things, organize, put up paintings, have my own bed, etc. i'm so looking forward to getting back to boston just for this reason...

pictures of my new home to come soon!

[drive you home by garbage on the beautiful garbage cd because i hope to be driving myself home soon!]