Monday, June 26, 2006

Get off the phone...

...or you might get hit by a train? In a nutshell, some nutcase who couldn't get off her cell phone was "tapped" by a train last night. An Amtrak. Not like those things move at a steady clip OR with a soft foot. She saw the one train go by, thought the gate was taking too long to lift, walked around the "Do not cross" flashing signs and bam!

I bring this up only because I am now ultra curious to know if my BF's roomie's parents (get all that??) got caught up in the mess? It was at about the time they would have been on the train heading back to MN. What a fantastic couple of folks. Now it is prep time for my mommy to breeze into town for a visit.

BF is not stressing that one at all because, well, she was supposed to come before. When I graduated. From grad school. She couldn't make it then. Something or another and I was totally bummed about it but chalked it up to the usual. So if she doesn't come this time, I think there might be words. We have not seen each other in close to 5 years. Same with my cutie newphew tagging along for the ride. Brace yourself for the kiddie pictures sure to ensue.

Went to lunch and ate way too much--11 courses! That is just wrong. This is why I am not a lawyer. No way I could attempt to keep pace with folks who, evidently, think it is perfectly normal to serve not only 11 courses, but a full bar (or, at my table, a full bottle of wine...or two) on a 91 degree day and then expect some productivity for the last 4 hours. Right. Time to go swimming. Here's hoping like heck I don't cramp up and sink to the bottom of the pool. Actually, sinking to the bottom--not half bad. Fat girls float. Especially those with the built in flotation devices. Uggh. Swimsuit time again. All in the name of love, getting fit and a fantastic journey that I just might have to start another blog about. Stay tuned my pretties...

Thursday, June 22, 2006

What?

A wednsday and no post. Stalkers are in an uproar! I'm going to post some intense personal info below so be warned. But before we get there:

I FINALLY got my music to transfer over to my player. Finally. Now I can rock out to my trash.

I walked. A lot. Yesterday. Then had this amazing japanese food at a good restaurant. Amazing what happens when you branch out.

Time to plan to lose my shirt this weekend.

Why am I at work? There was a fatality accident on the West Seattle Bridge today. Thank goodness I didn't have to drive or ride by that. I would have freaked. BUT...my boss so didn't expect me to be in today because of it. She didn't think I was in it, but the bridge was shut down for the investigation. Maybe tomorrow I'll not be in...

okay...personal:

1. FIRST NAME? Bernadette. Yeah and now that I’ve “grown up” people actually call me by it.
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Yesterday…probably. Frustrated with something or another.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Love it.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Pesto chicken breast.
6. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Alas…no.
7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? probably
8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? You mean beside pouring out my soul on here?
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? No. not at all. Never. Ever. Okay. Always.
10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Let me look…
11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? How much are you paying me?
13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Pullleaze. Queen of lazy here…
14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Emotionally…nope. Physically…well. Mentally…tough as nails.
15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Peanut Butter Cup Peanut Butter Ice cream.
16. SHOE SIZE? Well…9-11 depending on the shoe.
17. RED OR PINK? Depends on the mood. Love the color red for just about everything but prefer to wear pink
18. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Do it perfect and successfully or don’t do it at all. Can be a bit inhibitive.
19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My grandmother
20. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? 1977 – out in the West Texas town of El Paso…
21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? no pants, no shoes. Oh yeah I am wearing shoes…brown.
22. WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Icki “catered” breakfast. Pan fries, scrambled eggs with cheese (I think), two sausage links, a bit of watermelon, pineapple and cantaloupe. Time to go purge…kidding, kidding, kidding. I know, it’s not funny.
23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The chatter in the cubicles around me
24 IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? I think they call me mocha (smile)
25. FAVORITE SMELL? The desert after it rains
26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED WITH ON THE PHONE? Robert (of course)
27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU MEET? Eye color
28. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Define “special”
29. FAVORITE DRINK? Jones Crème soda of course
30. FAVORITE SPORT? Come on…I was born in TX…that’s a no brainer
31. HAIR COLOR? Black(ish)
32. EYE COLOR? brown
33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope—20/20 baby! And then some when I’m not faking it and trying to land some cool glasses
34. FAVORITE FOOD? Thai, Mexican, Indian, Ethiopian…the theme—spice up my life!
35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Both. Just don’t try to mix the two.
36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Stupid waste of my life “The Beach”. Really…classic.
37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Orange…or tangerine for the fashionistas out there.
38. SUMMER OR WINTER? Both—love the summer weather, but I’m really a winter baby and love the snuggling and hot chocolate and did I mention the snuggling that comes along with it.
39. HUGS OR KISSES? Both…
40. FAVORITE DESSERT? Peanut butter cup peanut butter ice cream
41. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? An End to Poverty, The Summer Fletcher Greel Loved Me, Our Kind of People: The Story of the Black Upper Class…heavy stuff.
42. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Mouse pad? What mouse pad…
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? rain, filthy crazy rap music, my nephew chatting with me, my boyfriend telling me to think calm girlfriend thoughts…
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Who or who??
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? St. Martin (or maybe Toronto is farther…)
46. IF YOU COULD PICK ANY TWO PEOPLE TO HAVE DINNER WITH, WHO WOULD THEY BE? My boyfriend and Bill Clinton. Fun times (smile)…

Friday, June 16, 2006

New Toy...



Look what I just bought. Here's to hoping there is no buyers remorse.

See, here are the issues. At home, I have no internet. At home, I also have no laptop. I used to have both. Now I have neither.

At home, I like to listen to music. To dance. To procrastinate. To scrap. To live. I, clever gal that I am, had rigged up this whole system for being able to do so.

Easy really. On my laptop (which no longer exists) I had downloaded Yahoo Music Unlimited. It was cheap, they had the songs I wanted, and there was free player. It worked. Cause see, you can use the player even when you are not online. It automatically saves all your downloaded subscription music to your computer. Each time I went to BF's place or took the laptop to work, when I was on the player, it would automatically update my playlists and music from other times when I was online and snagging music.

Snazzy.

Then it got wonky. Was giving me error messages on the laptop but still playing. Then said laptop died. On the new computer, I have sound card issues. Really. So the really cool speakers I bought to bump my music from my laptop were really going to waste. Sad.

I really like music. But I really needed a mass storage device (ie, a jump drive).

If I were smart and had done my research, I would have seen that I could have both an MP3 player AND a storage device for transfering files (see above photo). Would have had an FM tuner too to listen to my Kube. But I don't research like that.

This evening, I will pick up the toy above. God help us all if I have download issues after spending hours trying to switch my Yahoo music subscription to the "to go" version so I could listen on this little thing. I'm assuming (yes, I know...) that I can plug my speakers into the headphone jack and fill my home with sound. Lord REALLY help us if that doesn't go down.

Thinking calm girlfriend thoughts.

Column went out today--look for it in print in next Friday's Olympian. All about diversity in scrapbooking and why it matters (smile).

Need to pick up the shredder for the bf at OM on the way home. And then make my way to Paper Zone 2 just to be sure that there are not items there that I couldn't find at the other one to create with. I got out of that place for $55 yesterday! And I bought a tool! No idea what I'm talking about? Check the scrap blog my pretties...

...sOOooOOoo...

...bf is gone. In chi-town. Boozin' it up. Tomorrow night I get to go and play spades. Tonight, if it clears (and i do see patches ofblue) i get to go and take pictures. Then I spend all night long online trying to proof and assemble them. Real fun times.

Work is slow, scrap life is heated, photog times are all consuming. But I do have a bit of nerd fun to explore. Like how the UN is not really hosting an Early Entry Professional program (you think?!) and how I really need to find something to DO with my life. I woke up and laid in bed for a good hour this morning. Contemplating what I had to do...looking out the window...figuring that I didn't really "have" to do anything because everything I wanted to do was fun. So...time to revamp the blogs. I can't believe I've been here for half a year. Time to clean the house (and I mean really clean it). Time to head to the spa.

What a life...to have TIME to do whatever I want. No pressures. No worries. Did I mention I love my life?

Thursday, June 15, 2006

"Work"

I kid you not:

From: [innocent party]
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 5:28 PM
To: lawstaff list of lots of folks
Subject: Monday, July 3, 2006, Work Day

All, Monday, July 3, 2006, is a scheduled work day at the University. Due to the Independence Day holiday on Tuesday, July 4, 2006, we have cancelled classes for Monday, July 3, 2006, since we believe many students would choose to take this day off if we held classes. Since we will not have classes on Monday, July 3, 2006, we will officially be closing our offices and declaring an office work day, with no services available to students.

Monday, July 3, 2006, is an official University work day. However, since we will not be providing scheduled services to students all employees may choose to schedule a vacation day with their supervisor on this day. Please coordinate the scheduling of this vacation day with your supervisor. Employees may also choose to work their normal schedule on this day.

Have a happy Fourth of July, and a very long weekend if you choose to use a vacation day!

So then says my boss:

From: [coolest boss I've ever had]
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 9:51 AM
To: [coolest bunch of co-workers I've ever had]
Subject: RE: Monday, July 3, 2006, Work Day

I think this is a perfect day for “staff enrichment!” If you would like to stay home and think of new ideas for the office, that is fine with me. J My expectation is that you will come up with 3 ideas on how we as office can work together to make your work more fulfilling.

[innocent]
Assistant Dean for Admission
[fantastic] School of Law

Did I mention that I just LOVE this job?!

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Friday? And you're blogging...

well of COURSE my dears. Although it is actually Saturday now, this is about my wonderful Friday.

Got everyone trained for the LSAT. Gotta love working in a field "on the other side" so that you know just what you need to do to get in on "this side". Anyhow. Confused myself with that double talk.

Got to do the alumni welcome for my grad program's graduate dinner this Friday. I always tell the BF that I hate networking and rubbing elbows because I'm just so shy. Really. Okay...then you stick me in a room and it's dynamite! I preface this by saying that this night was not at ALL about me. BUt it felt so GREAT to be there. It was like going home again. Speaking of which...

I need to get back home to El Paso, TX. Quick. Or not. My mouth is watering for Chicos tacos and I think the BF is starting to wonder just why it is I don't want to introduce him to my family. Trust me and you both...it is not him. It is not even them. It's just...yeah.

Anyhow.

Last night was fantastic. We had a few people over at his place and we chatted with how those folks from Canada are thoroughly confused. Why not just call them states already? Or the bathroom--not the washroom. It sounds about the same...but really...it is not. Glad that is cleared up.

Had some FANTASTIC stir fry that my BF whipped up. I get to cook tonight. He did last night. I also need to figure out something to do today. Details. Something cultural. I'll figure it out somehow.

Time to go home and scrap away. OR not.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Toronto

Wow...I'm exhausted. But what a trip.

Other than the fact that I had to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed, let's see.

I helped to fund terrorists by staying at a hotel owned by a Saudi Prince. So the picketers say.
I met some amazingly powerful lawerly types that made me think and made me like it.
I got to catch up with Rick who is always a pleasure to sit and just chat with. Pure Pleasure.
I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
I tried caviar and actually LIKED it.
I want to have some more risotto with mushrooms.
The CN tower is better than the Space Needle?? Said my coworker
I missed the BF far more than I ever thought I would.
I learned good and bad news all in one moment, one morning, getting out of the shower.
I love fruity deserts with fruity sauces.
I like using my passport and only wish that visas were required for entering Canada.
I like the fact that I might need a visa soon enough if all mountain plans pan out.
I have a great new computer that was old once.
I spend way too much time playing Cubis now that I have returned home.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have some scrap stuff to complete today. Have a lunch at 1 to attend. A toast for my grad program to write. A proposal to propose to my Feminist Women's Health Clinic colleagues. And an LSAT to proctor. Time to get getting.