Today is the second day in a row that I’ve put 4 brand new bobby pins into my pocket, intending to use them in my hair as soon as it’s sort of dry, and after arriving at work found that I only have 3 bobby pins left. I’m not sure where the fourth one goes, I mean it must fall out somewhere, but when? This morning, after realizing that I only had three – AGAIN – I spotted something on the floor of the car in the passenger side, and pounced on it, thinking it was an abandoned bobby pin. But alas, it was a piece of plastic trash. Lucky for me, the person who sat at this desk before me left a SINGLE bobby pin in a cup of paper clips. Victory!
Last weekend I went and saw Sam’s new baby. He’s gorgeous. I held him for over 2 hours and he didn’t cry. Just made sleepy noises. Adorable. Plus he was dressed in a little froggie onesie. Why do babies get all the cute clothes? I want a froggie footsie onesie with sleeves that turn into little mittens. That sounds so comfortable.
Anyone else enraptured with Charlie Sheen’s downward spiral?
On Friday Drew and I went to Berkeley to see Collapse at the Aurora Theatre. This was closing weekend and they were totally sold out, but we were #1 on the walk-in list because I called three weeks ago and did industry walk-in because I was too cheap to pay for tickets.
Luckily we got in, and we even got two seats together. The show was great, funny, and only 80 minutes, which we both loved since it had been kind of a long week, and we had to catch BART back. Sitting in the lobby beforehand, waiting to be let in to the empty seats, I flipped through the program and read everyone’s bios, and I started to feel that itchy feeling that I recognize all too well: I like being backstage, I like being part of a production team, I like meeting a whole rush of new people every couple months. Oh no, am I going to miss PA-ing? One week back on the real-job wagon and I’m already looking for a new fix?
Then, while watching the show, the crew is moving furniture around in a low-ish level transition light, and I’m sitting there, wearing green, out on a date on a Friday night, all weekend stretching ahead of me, and I thought, “Hells no, I made the right choice.”
On Saturday Drew and I went up to Milagra Ridge and climbed around. The views are gorgeous and it was great to get some fresh air. Lucky we went when we did, since it clouded up pretty good later than afternoon.
By that time, we were grocery shopping with a little windfall of cash we had come across. We were also buying girl scout cookies, and I was buying used paperbacks from a thrift store next to Safeway – four Stephen King books (that I need for my complete Stephen King collection) for a dollar each. (I would have paid up to $4 per book, but don’t tell them that.) (Today I swung by that thrift store and found Brian Jacques’ Redwall.)
This, by the way, is the picture I took and sent to Erin, to try to convince her to move back to California.
And what better way to start a lazy Sunday…than by calling the cops on a domestic dispute happening right outside your window? We were awakened by a man yelling, “Gimme my phone!” and a woman yelling, “Gimme my baby!” and screeching tires. Still not sure what was going on, but, because of the repeated screaming at each other, the manhandling of said baby, and the fact that I saw the cops outside the couple’s building just a few weeks ago, possibly talking to the same guy…Drew called and requested an officer to come out and make sure everything was okay. So that was our Sunday excitement.
Both yesterday and today we made dinner and watched Dexter (we finished Season 2 tonight), and just hung out. Incredible. I could get used to this. I could get way addicted to making dinners and packing lunches and going to bed at 11:00 to get up at 7:00 and go to the gym and go to work and watching TV at night and being around on Tuesday nights for friends dinner…you get the idea. This is living.
CHILDREN
I got a call this evening from my 10-months-pregnant friend, and our conversation went like this:
Me: Hey there!
Her: Hey, sorry I missed lunch today.
Me: That’s okay. Did you have a very good reason?
Her: Yup!
Me: What is it?
Her: A baaaaybeeee!
Me: OMG!
Her: It’s so weird!
Me: AND?
Her: It’s crazy!
Me: AAAAND??
Her: It’s a boy!
I am so stoked for her. She’s still at the hospital but once she gets home it will be all I can do to not bother her constantly to let me come over…especially as I now drive RIGHT past her house to get to work.
Hopefully she won’t make me wait too long before I meet him. I want to see him when he’s still very small. (Not that he was THAT small – almost 9 lbs apparently, yikes.)
I might have teared up a little when she told me. I wasn’t there throughout her entire pregnancy but the last three months (is that all it’s been? doesn’t seem like it) have been all about this moment. When I didn’t see her on Facebook or gchat for a couple days I figured that’s what was going on. Weird that I couldn’t just text her and be like “Are you pushing right now?” Weird when you have to take some time off from instant gratification.
& ART
On the job front…I can’t believe I’m so happy. I didn’t expect to be SO. HAPPY. I love it, I’m just having the best time. It helps that I remember most stuff so I’m not training from scratch. But I love the team there now, I love the space we’re in, I love the work I’m doing. The work days are flying by and everything is interesting. And I don’t think that’s going to disappear, I think it’ll just get better as I get more situated.
Today I spent large amounts of time on a storyboard for an “audio slideshow” – which we use as a show “trailer” on the website. So I storyboarded the images and text that will go up there to sell the next show in the season. It’s great having some creative parts of the job to go along with the sales parts.
I’m not sure what’s different about the job this time around, that I’m a trillion times happier there. (I have a couple theories though.) I’m just uber grateful that this worked out the way it did, and that I’m now in this position. It’s a far better situation than I figured I’d be in, back in the beginning of February as I looked ahead.
Because I don’t start until 10, I’ve been getting up when Drew leaves (at 7:00) and going to the gym. Because there is no way I’m going to come home at 6:00 and then go to the gym. No freaking way. I think I’m going to try going every day next week, and then I could take the weekends off.
So happy today – everything is great! Makes it easy to be thankful. All color and light.
Elton Richards – the pastor out of pasture – broke down prayer for me into four types. It’s a handy mnemonic: ACTS. A for adoration (praising God). C for confession (telling God your sins). T for thanksgiving (being grateful to God for what you have). S for supplication (asking God to help you).
–The Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs
Like most people, I’m pretty good at Supplication. But I also think that I’m good at Thanksgiving: when it’s an especially pretty day, when I get home safely in the pouring rain, when I get a sweet parking space. I try to get some Adoration in there too: it often goes hand-in-hand with Thanksgiving. I don’t do a lot of Confession, but maybe that’s something I should explore.
Last week found me supplicating silently all the time. Sometimes specific, sometimes just “Please please please.” When I was being specific I couldn’t quite bring myself to say, “Let me get this job,” but rather, “Give me the confidence and courage to nail this interview” or “Let this job be part of your plan for me,” since even I don’t presume to know what’s best for me and my life.
But on Friday, when I got the job, I was equally as enthusiastic (and speechless), sticking mostly to “Thank you thank you thank you!” I threw in some “You’re amazing!”s to mix it up. It’s things like this that make it really obvious that there is a plan for each of us, and that God has a hand always in our lives.
The job in question? Sales Manager at one of the major Bay Area theatres…incidentally the exact position I held when I worked at this company for four months in 2009. Which is another story altogether. But now I’m back, and while they have done some major renovations and overhaul on the building, it sort of feels exactly the same.
So here’s to the first day at a new job career, and to getting what you need (not always the same as what you want), and to prayers being answered.
And let’s not forget, a (brief) moment of silence for my (brief) subbing career. Which I enjoyed but was perfectly willing to give up.
A series of texts from my inebriated friend:
She: Consider yourself drunk dialed.
Me: Thanks, I will save the message forever.
She: I wish you were here like Incubus.
Me: What does that even mean?
She: The sekrit is in the vine.
Me: So you’re feeling pretty good?
She: I love u en la biblioteca con un gato.
❤
Recently I teetered on the edge of a disaster – having to go all day without my cell phone. Luckily, I found it in Michelle’s car and all was well. But maybe it was all just foreshadowing.
Last Thursday I checked my Verizon online account and noticed that I was getting perilously close to going over both my minutes AND my texts. It’s bad enough I was close to my minutes: but I spent a lot of time on the phone this month for the teaching stuff, and then with our insurance trying to ask questions about our plan. So I accept that. But 1500 texts this month? I try to make it sound less bad by saying it’s sent and received texts, but I know the truth: I just text too much. I feel slightly ashamed.
That was Thursday. So I’ve just been limiting my phone usage, and over the weekend I could use it to make calls to my heart’s delight, but I’m finding this whole thing restrictive, overall. NO tweeting, NO Facebook status updates, and NO FEWER pointless texts to Drew (“Hi! What are you doing?” etc). It also means no texting things to my email, which I do all the time, either pictures or reminders of things I have to do.
Either I don’t always realize, or I purposely block out, how much I rely on texting to keep me entertained. I text so much at work, disregarding all rules, although I did refrain from that while in the classroom, my mom would be happy to know. I’m one of those people texting while walking, while eating dinner, texting without looking at the phone. Texting while talking. I have truly embraced texting.
There are many useful things about it, especially in terms of my job. It’s a great quick form of communication, instant and no pressure. “Can you please turn over the laundry?” “Are we still good to carpool?” Things like this don’t require a phone call and who has constant access to their email? (I know, I know: people with smartphones, that’s who.) I don’t like some of the texting abbreviations (UR, nite, C U L8R), and I struggle to maintain grammar and punctuation, although sometimes I have to sacrifice those for 160-character limits. But I do find myself using LOL, bc, and np on a regular basis. So who knows, maybe it’s just a matter of time.
I have a friend who doesn’t text. She says she could get a text plan on her phone for $10/month, or she could save that $120 every year. And texting isn’t worth that $120/year to her. I wish she texted, I’d love to have her just a “how’s your day going?” message away, but I’m not going to drop her just because I have to make a little more effort to talk to her. (Dare I say I appreciate our conversations more because they don’t get watered down?)
I have just about made it through the end of my billing cycle (an hour and 25 minutes to go!) with 11 texts and 14 minutes to spare! Tomorrow I can text and talk to my heart’s delight. And my phone will no longer be just a calculator/timekeeper. Glory be to God for dappled things and electronic communication!
Update: It’s after midnight! Time to email myself some of the pictures you’ve been missing out on.
There’s this guy who has set out to tweet an entire novel. Here are the salient points.
Here are things I don’t like about it.
This is a really interesting concept and now it’s something that I’m just thinking about, in the way you just let things marinate. I think it could be a really amazing way to “publish” something.
I’m reluctant to put his website here, because I don’t want to give him any traffic, lol. This is an awesome concept and I love the idea that the book speaks to social networking bringing about redemption. So it bums me out that a) so far I’m not impressed with the writing or the story, and b) he’s hardly committing if it’s only 10 months and less than 30,000 words.
But, his website is tweetheartnovel.com, and you can follow him on Twitter and get all the text-speak updates if you want. (I’m not.)
Speaking of things I meant to say before…last Monday (!) I met up with a personal trainer at my gym for a “fitness orientation,” which is basically a trial personal training session. Going in, I mainly just wanted to get some advice and tips on things like form and strength training. How many reps, how many sets, how much variation, etc.
His name is Chris and I picked him out from his picture on the wall of trainers. Well, and he came recommended by their staff. I didn’t really want a hot girl trainer, and he looked nice.
It was just a 50 minute session, and we spent half of it talking about fitness and goals and diet. He raved about Weight Watchers. He was super encouraging and nonjudgmental. As you know, I’m always paranoid about getting “sold to” but if this was all him just pitching for a sale, he did it super well. He really talked about my goals and my plan like it’s something that I’m achieving now, rather than this brand new regime I have to undertake. He was very optimistic.
He said he likes to focus on “functional resistance training” (I might be making that up?) and said that before he throws someone in to lifting weights he has them work on being able to lift their own body weight. (That sounds gross and sad.) So we ended up doing a lot of planking, “bird dog,” bridges, one-legged bridges, and squats. All super sloooooow and controoooooolled. All things I’ve done before but it makes a huge difference having someone correct every tiny aspect of your form – I really felt the difference. (And then REALLY felt it the next day, and the next day.)
Being able to include a personal trainer in my budget is a major goal for me. Even if it’s only once a week. Or even less than that. I think being accountable to someone, and also having that support and help and guidance, would be awesome. So one more thing to add on to my list of 2011 resolutions…
Last Saturday Liz and I met up in Davis and hung out for the day. “The day” included lunch, Borders browsing, cheapie manicures, visits to our senior year college apartments, and cupcakes.
The best thing we saw was this guy advertising…ice cream?…and putting his dog to good use. The dog is dressed as a banana split, and his name is Hudson.
Yeah, we talked to the banana guy while we were stuck at the light turning left, so we could take pictures of him.
(Banana guy, if you stumble across this, you made our day.)
***
Tonight I made an apple pie. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever made an apple pie. I did not make the crust, because I thought that might be a little too ambitious. But other than that serious mark against me…I think it’s a pretty good pie.
The Cameraphone Diaries 