Wednesday, September 30, 2009

140

I got bored.

That's not true, blogging is still my one true love. Or something like that. Just trying something new for a change...

If you have Twitter, please leave me the link to your page in the comments!

Sorry I've been MIA... will return tomorrow!

"We were on a break!"
-Ross Gellar, Friends

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Commuter Woes

Things accomplished today; Wednesday, September 23, 2009:

- TV man came to our house and mounted TVs in KS's room as well as mine. Check.
- Crate & Barrel bumped up the delivery of the chair I ordered eons ago to two weeks from now instead of another month. Check.
- Got in a car accident. Check.
- Missed training appointment because of accident. Check.
- Medicated by going to the gym with MG and subsequently ordered pizza, drank wine and watched the new episode of Glee. Check.

So yeah, productive day. Except for the whole fender bender situation. I won't rehash the whole thing because I will only get annoyed with myself and other people for not paying well-enough attention on a crowded highway to avoid it. "Sometimes these things happen," my mother reminded me one of the six times I called my parents within an hour of the accident, "you can replace cars, you can't replace people." Though she may have spoken a bit soon, considering that I am 24 and clearly still a liability.

I dragged myself home and retold the story to KS, who was getting ready for a date and MG, who was on her way out to go to the gym. KS offered for she and her date to stay and hang out with me until MG returned, which was sweet because she was concerned about leaving me alone after my rush hour trauma, but I assured her that there was no need to put me on suicide watch. I threw on gym clothes, admired my newly mounted TV for a hot minute and left with MG.

We ran a few other errands, including a trip to CVS where we purchased superfluous drinks with electrolytes in them and MG bought pencil sharpeners for her students who apparently broke hers with their ardent sharpening habits. Kids these days.

We watched Glee, which I would highly recommend if you're looking for another TV show to get addicted to, took showers and I called my parents again to get some things organized for my morning tomorrow. I got the name and number for my car insurance representative and also looked up the hours for the service department at my dealership. I took a gander at an accident reporting sheet on their website and there was actually a box on the page where it asked you to draw a sketch of what happened. Pass.

To be really Suzie Organized I got out my cute leopard agenda which has impressive space for things other than calendar days, and I found the Important Phone Numbers section. I was baffled to find that opening right-hand page of this section included places for restaurants, salons/spas, health clubs, cleaning services, garbage pickup, recycling pickup, lawn service and snow removal. Even "decorator" made it in before insurance information or even more importantly, medical information. Is the number for the recycling service seriously that important? How many months out of the year is snow removal really a pressing issue?

This is all rhetorical, of course. You wouldn't want someone who seriously debated which is better: G2 Gatorade or 10-calorie Vitamin Water long enough to fog up the freezer windows at CVS to prioritize the Important Phone Numbers in your agenda either.

"The car goes where the eyes go. It is true, my young friend. It is very, very true."
-The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Thanks Eve

I have discussed before my Community Group; a Bible study of girls my age that meets every Thursday night. I love it- it's a great opportunity both to learn about God and about my friends who share that time.

We did fun, social things over the summer since the teachers who get summers off were in and out on vacation, then met a few weeks ago to get back into a routine with the fall approaching and everyone back in school mode. I may not be in school, but I like when everyone settles back down, sharpens a few #2's and restores sanity to my mind so that I don't pop a blood vessel thinking about how everyone is having the time of their life while I'm at work.

That's a big fear of mine: missing out on fun.

So Thursday night rolled around last week (which was not spent blogging, I know) and as our friends dragged themselves into our house, we fed them semi-stale kettle corn and got into our discussion. Anyone who works or goes to school knows that Thursdays are a conundrum. You are happy that the week's almost over but completely exhausted from all of the working and the waking up early; you're happy to see your friends but your eyes are only half-open.

We all recognize this delirium and abate it as best we can during our hour and a half window of Community Group. This past Thursday we were in our discussion of the first chapter of Luke, one of the Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible, and we got to talking about Mary, who found out she would become pregnant with Jesus, and Zecheriah's wife Elizabeth when she found out after a lifetime of infertility woes that she too would have a child.

Elizabeth went into seclusion during her pregnancy, which segued into how awesome it would be to sit around for months and watch movies and read books while pregnant (unlike women today who work full-time until their water breaks). Since none of us can relate to pregnancy, we then detoured into talking about how women in Biblical times who were "incapacitated" could spend that week out of every month chilling out in the red tent. A better explanation might be that the red tent predated Midol.

What brilliance, we thought, to just let women go hang out together, be hormonal and eat chocolate in peace (or cocoa beans, as someone pointed out that Hershey's was not yet in business). And let's be honest; the ability to have a baby is an amazing gift, but it is a privilege that your body prepares for and recovers from for most of your life.

People paint the red tent to seem like women were shunned back in those days and had to hide out, but we thought it sounded kind of awesome... no complaining to the outside world that your abdomen is staging a coup on your body and affecting your ability to rationalize, no having to say "it's nothing" when someone male asks you why you are in a bad mood and/or crying. Throw in masseuses and central air conditioning and I think we could sell a lot of people on the idea.

Now to convince the outside world we need 4-5 days off every month... we'll have to discuss that at a later meeting.

If women are supposed to be less rational and more emotional at the beginning of our menstrual cycle when the female hormone is at its lowest level, then why isn't it logical to say that, in those few days, women behave the most like the way men behave all month long?
-Gloria Steinem

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Without an Umbrella

I was in four different states over the weekend: Texas, New Jersey, New York and Arkansas.

The weather was identical in all four locations; a slight coolness in the air and unrelenting rain. I packed poorly, seeing as this meant my favorite jeans were in various states of soaking wet for much of the weekend.

The last leg of the trip; Little Rock, Arkansas, was not a part of the original itinerary (see: weather and technical difficulties) but I made it home today and now find that it is 11:30 PM and tomorrow is indeed Monday.

I couldn't resist, I had to stay up and watch the crazies on the MTV Video Music Awards with my friends. Three words: totally worth it. Or just two: Lady Gaga.

Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.
-Unknown

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Trust the Expert

MG came home from school yesterday, debating whether or not she should wash her hair and start all over with the getting-ready process for a date her Aunt set her up on for last night.

KS and I both responded that no, she didn't need to do that because her hair still looked good. KS also pointed out that she shouldn't look like she's trying too hard; look good but not too good, an understandable philosophy but one that confused us. When KS is the one going on a date, she's always dressed to the nines.

KS is our resident guru, mind you, concerning all things Male since they may as well be aliens as far as MG and I know. KS seems to understand them a bit better, on a non-extraterrestrial level.

Without missing a beat or looking up from her laptop, KS pointed a finger in the air and said:

Do as I say, not as I do.

Touché, my friend. Case. Closed.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

In Charge

My friend CC is currently "babysitting" a kid for nearly two weeks while his parents are out of town.

By "kid" I mean 17-year-old high schooler, and by "babysitting" I mean she's making sure he keeps a normal routine and doesn't throw any raves, stay up all night playing Guitar Hero or eat McDonald's for every meal.

Or maybe just the part about the rave-prevention.

I'll be honest, it sounded at first like a super-easy gig. First of all, the kid has a car and can drive himself everywhere, and secondly, I would much rather look after a teenage boy than deal with all the crazy that comes with a teenage girl. CC is getting paid to live in someone's lovely Park Cities home and make sure Sam (we'll call him Sam) stays in one piece. The kid's family and CC's family are good friends, so for all intents and purposes, it's in his best interest to behave. CC is not a mom, but she's one of those people who you just know will be a great parent one day. Completely ideal for this situation.

My family and I flew back from Austin on Sunday morning and CC and I decided to meet for church and go to dinner Sunday evening. KS joined us, and we ended up back at our house with CC, discussing the "sex talk" sermon we had received at church. We had rolled our eyes a little bit at the beginning, but of course if someone mentions sex in church, people listen. (I'm sure you can find it online or on iTunes. If anyone is interested I'll send you more information... it was actually pretty good.)

So while CC and I were discussing some high points of the sermon with KS, CC's phone was going off every few minutes with a new text. She attributed this popularity to Sam, saying that she quickly learned Sam was non-responsive to phone calls, but that texts she sent would be answered promptly.

Sam, she said, was asking permission to see a late showing of District 9. She hesitated because she knew that his friends had recently gotten in trouble while under the guise of going to a movie, though he had not been involved. While she was debating, I checked the times for the movie on my phone and confirmed that there was indeed a showing for that movie at the time he claimed. It was one of those "he hasn't given me a reason not to trust him" moments.

We then checked the length of the film to get an idea of what time he would be arriving home. Parents have to be so thorough these days, you know.

She already had other funny stories from the weekend; she had the inside scoop that he had already asked a girl to Homecoming (the end-all be-all social event for Texas high-schoolers), but was going to play dumb so that she could ask him about it. Such a Mom move. CC, KS and I all have younger brothers, so we are familiar with such tactics.

CC, being a very planny-person, said she had texted Sam to let him know her plans for the day around lunch time, and asked what he would be doing for the remainder of the day. She said that asking a teenage boy his plans beyond the hour was akin to requesting an outline of his five-year plan.

It's almost unbelievable what you can learn about being a mother in a single weekend, and it's probably more entertaining when you haven't had to deal with their antics for 17 years.

And who has a five-year plan these days, anyway?

My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.
-Mark Twain

Friday, September 4, 2009

Let the Games Begin

It would be an outright insult to my upbringing and to the entire state of Texas if I did not discuss the beginning of college football season this week.

Ambitiously, I hope to make it to three of A&M's football games; one will be played at the new Cowboy's stadium in Dallas in October, one is the requisite Thanksgiving game against UT which others in my family also attend, and then spend a weekend in Houston and catch another. It's been far too long since I've been to College Station, undoubtedly because of my family and all their trickery.

Yep, with the advent of football season flares the family rivalry, one in which I am vastly outnumbered.

This weekend I will be attending a college football game, oh yes, but it will not be my Alma Mater's game. You see while A&M is playing New Mexico, I'll be in Austin with my family for the UT vs. Louisiana-Monroe game, 120 miles away.

The sunny weather, the hanging out with family and friends who will be in town, the good Mexican food... poor me. Truth be told, I always enjoy Austin and there's nothing better than the opening weekend of college football season.

I don't know what exactly it is about football particularly. In Texas we build shrines to the sport; stadiums that hold upwards of 90,000+ fans on a single day. Maybe the excitement stems from the fact that a football team's schedule is concentrated; teams play only a handful of games and thus every one could potentially make or break a season, unlike in baseball or basketball where upwards of 80 or 100 games are played before the post-season. Maybe there is a buzz because football season coincides with the beginning of a new school year. It could be the tailgating, your team's fight song or a myriad of other things. Football season just comes with an energy that is wonderfully infectious.

Students really don't know how good you have it until you leave college, leave your season tickets and friends and figure out that no, TV stations in New York do not regularly broadcast Big 12 games into your tiny apartment and no, you cannot go to a game a certain weekend with friends because you are traveling for work.

For those of us who have graduated college already, it gives us the opportunity to reminisce for a few hours, to relive the glory days when committed time did not extend beyond 15-18 hours a week, friends became family and studying could wait.

Wherever you are this holiday weekend, be it Austin, College Station or hunched over your iPhone checking scores from an ill-timed wedding, happy football season to all!

Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you it's much more serious than that.
-Bill Shankly

Thursday, September 3, 2009

"i'm now a blog addict... thanks a lot"

... That was the subject line of an email sent to me by KS with the links to a few new blogs she wanted to recommend. She was about four feet to my right at the time, as we sat on couches in the same room. Sometimes we even gchat while under the same roof, which, if you're wondering, is completely normal.

KS is in interior design school. She has a huge drafting board that fits perfectly in the landscape of our even more huge front room and always has scrolls of very thin white paper surrounding her, right next to Ruby (MG's lab) who will prop her chin up on the window and lounge under the desk to keep her company while she measures, draws, erases, reads and draws again. She also has subscriptions to most every design magazine you can imagine.

Being a blog lover and still in need of some decor throughout our little house, I started looking through design blogs a few weeks ago. As evidenced by KS's email, she now joins me in this new search, and even though I started sending them her way initially, she now reads even more of them than I do.

My favorite design blogs are full of pictures, blips of creativity and color in an otherwise text-filled day. Some of them even incorporate clothing, shoes and jewelry inspired by a similar design, which I personally love. Since I know nothing of professional design and my creativity usually comes more in the form of words or meddling around in the kitchen, I look to places like these for inspiration:

Delight by Design
Pink Wallpaper
Absolutely Beautiful Things
Annechovie

A girl can dream.

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way--things I had no words for.
-Georgia O'Keeffe