sum res cogitans

8 is Great!

2011-07-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

I've another song for all the people not reading my blog! At this point, it's just a way to keep track of the songs I really like right when I really like them.

This one was on a TV show today!

2011-07-08T19:38:00.000-07:00

Song number 7 come from my past a little. I first heard this song on one of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series playlists. I was reintroduced to it today while watching season 3 of Criminal Minds on DVD. It was at the begining of one of the episodes, and I love this song!

Song number 6

2011-07-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

I'm going to get around to posting about my new apartment and moving and all that jazz one of these days, I've just been working 52 hrs/week for a few weeks here and sometimes I just want to sit around and veg and not think! Now that I have a run on sentence, here's the 6th song in this little playlist that I've got going!

Yes, it's two videos, but they're both to the same song, and they're both amazing in their own way. I couldn't choose!

And the 5th song right after the 4th

2011-06-24T21:57:00.001-07:00

Now, this is one hella fucked up video, but this is one of my favorite songs of all time, and I couldn't put off posting it any longer. Every time I feel homesick, every time I need to blast some music, if I need to pop up my mood, I listen to this song. It instantly makes me think of home, and going out with Mandy to transmission Wednesdays. Hell, forget combating homesickness, this song makes me homesick! Enjoy Kids by MGMT.

Playlist song #4

2011-06-24T21:48:00.002-07:00

So here's Get Over It by Ok Go. My favorite part of this music video are all the random little things that match the lyrics they're singing. Just watch it a few times, you'll figure it out!

The internet is a scary place

2011-06-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

It's frightening how much of your web surfing habits are recorded. Today I followed a link for FLOR carpet tiles from Pioneer Woman's page because I wanted to know what they were. Next ting I know, every webpage that does advertising has FLOR advertisements in their boxes! Yeesh!

Another song in the playlist (#3)

2011-06-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

I started hearing this on the radio, and didn't know what it was called. So like I always do, I wrote down the lyrics so I would remember once I got to my apartment (and consequently my computer) and googled away! This video might make you cry, but the song is great! So here's #3:

I should start a running playlist, consider this song #2, #1 being Young Folks

2011-06-22T20:30:00.001-07:00

Apparently I'm going to make a habit of posting music videos from YouTube on here. Well...just consider it your musical education, and enjoy!

I heard the last bit of this song on the radio yesterday, this morning I Googled the lyrics to figure out what it was, then downloaded it to my iPod before work at 8 am, and spent the entire first hour listening to it on repeat. Then I listened to it on and off through the rest of the day when I had a chance. I hope you do the same, or at least enjoy this!

Sometimes I have friends

2011-06-21T18:36:00.001-07:00

I have one friend outside of either of my jobs. Her name is Nikki and you met her a few posts back.

A few weeks ago, we went for a drive and ended up at Fossil Creek Creamery. My love of goat cheese started that day. Obviously all the cheese I got from there is now long gone, eaten with delicious crackers. Well she went there a few days ago and got more cheese, so we are going to have a wine and cheese and movie night. I'm excited! I'm going to go have an adult evening with a friend I made as an adult!

ADD

2011-06-15T20:38:00.002-07:00

Sometimes I have trouble concentrating. I've learned to deal with it, but it gets annoying at times. Sometimes it's just my braining flitting from thing to thing, and other times I want to do too many things at once so my concentration can't stay on any one thing until I get really absorbed in it. Like right now I'm trying to look for Dark Angel fic that I read in the past (aka 11 years ago, how does this even happen!!) and either didn't put into my favorites in ff.net, or has since been deleted. I hope I just didn't favorite the stuff, because I'm really looking forward to a memory lane trip. But I digress (see what I'm dealing with here!); I'm trying to find stuff, but I'm trying to listen to this song at the same time! SO I listened, and now I will listen to something that I can fade to the background of my concentration, and I will give you the video so you can hear what's distracting me!

Trip into my past

2011-06-15T18:36:00.002-07:00

I'm revisiting my high school days, watching Dark Angel. Good times! Think I'm gonna have to read some DA fic later! Woohoo!

Aaannd Theeeeenn

2011-06-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

After mom and I spent, what, 2 days? in Chicago; she LEFT ME!! ("He left us, he left us!" "But that's not what I'm gonna do!" name that movie!) All ALONE!!! In the big city of CHICAGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To wait for Lindsey to come pick me up! :)

We had already checked out of the hotel (because those crazy places make you leave my like 11am, in what universe are people awake by 11am on their vacations? ...Oh yeah, this one.) The hotel people were nice enough to let me leave my baggage in the storage area so I didn't have to lug it around while exploring on my own and waiting for my ride. With just my purse and my jump on/jump off bus card, I took mom to the train station, cried a little, and rode the bus all by myself (look mom, I'm a Big Girl Now!) around the city till I decided what I would do. Unsurprisingly, I decided to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo.

I would just like to take this opportunity to say that Chicago has one of the nicest bus systems I've ever had the pleasure to navigate. I didn't use the L-train while I was there, but the buses are fantastic.

For those of you not in the know, the Lincoln Park Zoo is in Lincoln Park in Chicago just north of the Miracle Mile. It is huge and free to get in and parts of it are coaxingly nice, and I think that other parts will catch up eventually. I had my camera (when do I not) and took pics. I even recorded a bit of video of my talking to/for the animals like mom and I do so I could show her later when I go home. Yes, mom and I are those people.

They have a fantastic ape house with chimps and gorillas. I tried not to use my flash, so most of my pics from in there ended up blurry.

The big cat house needs some serious work, but they have lots of different cats, which I LOVE!

He's in a box! Like a house cat!

This tiger was so cute, it was like he was posing!

After I shot these, I took the bus back to Miracle Mile and found a place to sit and have a coffee while Lindsey was fighting traffic into the city. After she made it, we drove back out to the zoo and looked around for a bit since she had never been there before. While we were in the cat house, the male lion started roaring. He walked into his outside exhibit and continued while we watched (and while I filmed it). It was awesome! I love lion roars!

He tired himself out with all that effort and had to take a nice nap!

After the zoo closed, Linds and I took the bus back into the city (it's a few blocks) while leaving her car since we found a free parking spot next to the zoo. We were going to go eat at this one place, possibly pizza, but we were starving! and the wait was like an hour, while standing outside in the COLD! So we went to the Hard Rock and ate.

After dinner was the long drive to Peoria, where Linds lives. The next day, we went to another zoo!!!

Chicago and the Field Museum

2011-06-11T22:40:00.000-07:00

On out second day in Chicago, mom and I were going to get ourselves out to the Brookfield Zoo, but it was cold and Brookfield is kinda out there so we decided to go to the Field Museum, a natural history museum. It was a great idea! That place is HUGE! There is no way you could get around it in one day. We saw all kinds of stuff. My favorite part were all the life sized dioramas. That trip is now going to be illustrated in photographs.

Michael Jackson was apparently around in the old Egyptian days!

I had more I wanted to put on here, but the vertical shot ones uploaded horizontal. :(

Chicago

2011-06-10T22:52:00.000-07:00

A while ago, before I moved this ~~godforsaken~~ place, Mom and I took another trip to Chicago. This was partially and mom/daughter trip, and partially getting me to Chicago so my friend in Peoria IL could come pick me up and we could hang for a few days. I have known this girl since I was 16. She worked at my first job, but you'll hear more about her later when I write about when she came to visit me here. This post is about mom and me.

We went to the Hard Rock for dinner the first night we were there. It was a busy evening, and there were a lot of people that out waitress was taking care of, but the service didn't seem bad to us. When we were near finishing our dinner, the manager on duty came up to us with a dessert tray and asked us to pick dessert as an apology for poor service. Well, as stated above, we thought the service was fine, but since there were a lot of needy/roudy teenaged people in our section that were taking a lot of our waitress' time, I guess she felt we were jipped. So we decided on two of the dessert shooters. They were delicious!

Goldfield

2011-06-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

I had the day off Tuesday, and so did my friend Nikki, so we decided to take a little trip. I had found this ghost town online that was only like 35min from here called Goldfield Ghost Town. It's this little tourist trap kind of place. The guy who built it did so in an area near the Superstition Mountains where a lot of people had discovered gold in the rush. He built very near the original town site, but most of the town an disappeared years before. All the buildings are built to look like they're from the early-mid 1800's.

There's a narrow gauge train that takes you on a circuit around the town and the conductor tells you all about the area and why this was built, etc etc. Since it was summer, the reptile house that I really wanted to see was closed for the season. I'll have to come back in the winter. There's also a mine tour and a mystery house. We didn't do either of those things. We wandered around and looked at the shops.

Nikki and I in front of the train.

Hurry Up Ernie giving the tour.

Goldfield from the train.

This was just cool.

Superstition Mountains

After we left we went to see this housing complex that Nikki is thinking of getting a house in. Looking at that house made me want a house. I am tired of renting, but I also don't want to buy a house and have that keeping me here. I want to leave Arizona in a few years and don't want to have to sell a house.

After that adventure we went to Sweet Tomatoes for a late lunch, vegged out at my place for a while, and then parted ways. I then took a short nap, and watched 8 episodes of Criminal Minds. It was a good day off!

Outside the Bordello in a Go-Go dancer cage

Took this pick just for mom!

We're in elevators!

The Zoo Saga, part 1

2011-06-09T21:23:00.003-07:00

Me and Annie, the GHO. I'll get to this stuff later, we're starting from the very beginning here!

This all started about a year and a month ago, in May of 2010. As you may know, I had been applying for zoo jobs all over the country for months and months. I had just about given up on finding one any time soon, and had actually decided to stop for the time being and just work, get my own place, etc etc. At the end of April I moved out of the Desnoyer House (and away from Kate The Horrible Roommate!) and was currently living with my grandma and aunt. A few days before I moved, I got a call from Phoenix asking if I would like to set up an interview. Well, obviously I took it, because to not would have been crazy. I had my interview over the phone at my parent's house.

It seemed to go well, but they needed a video of my presentation skills, since a large part of this job was presenting animals to the public. I can't tell you what an ordeal this was! I decided to do a little giraffe talk, and since I like props, I got a little stuffed giraffe puppet and held it on my hand while recording myself giving this talk. Apparently the talk didn't actually have to be factual or even very informational; they just wanted to see my style. I must have recorded and re-recorded myself 10 or more times. I had propped the camera up in my mom's office and was doing it myself since this was embarrassing. Well finally I just had my dad hold the camera outside, did it twice more and decided that it was as good as it was gonna get, uploaded it to YouTube, and let fate take the rest. A few days later I got the call offering me the job.

I SCREAMED! I may have frightened my future boss a little. I think I got offered the job sometime around the second week of May. My start date was the beginning of the second week of June. My parent's were gonna be gone most of the first week of June helping Andy and his girlfriend move to Cincinnati . I don't know that this could have come at a worse time.

Sometimes I get competitive

2011-06-09T20:50:00.002-07:00

My room mate has started a blogger. By the competitive nature of myself, I now have to keep mine updated. That's where the problem comes in; I have nothing to write about. Nothing really interesting has been going on in my life recently. Expect, in the context of my blog's life, a lot has happened! I think I should write the story of the last year of my life. A year ago, I think just about to the day, I moved to Arizona to work at the Phoenix Zoo. I guess I can write about that adventure so I don't forget every little last bit. I've already forgotten a lot, so I better write down what I remember!

Deep thoughts before bed

2011-03-23T22:32:00.004-07:00

Sometimes, I wonder if things don't happen for a reason; if there's something or someone out there helping stuff along. Like, at some point, there is going to be a change in your life that will lead you down some path, and if that's the wrong path, something happens that you can respond to in some way to either continue down that wrong path, or alter it correct again. It's when stuff like this happens that I think there might be some higher power, or at least some other power. If you're wondering what has brought about this bout of existentialism, I'll tell you.

This evening, after working at PetCo, I ran to the grocery store to pick up some essentials for the next day. Mind you, it's about 10pm when I'm shopping. I was listening to my iPod in the car, and I liked the song that was playing, so I put my headphones in and listened to it while shopping as well. I was in the self checkout lane, checking myself out...like ya do, and after I was done, the lady in line came up to my register. I still had my headphones on, but I acknowledged her, and she started talking. I took my headphone off and she was asking for help using the self checkout, she didn't know how. Now, there are obviously people around for this very purpose, but I know how to work them, and I was standing right there, so I helped her. We got her all checked out and we went on our separate ways.

Now, I'm a thinky think sort of person, as anyone who knows me could tell you, so I started wondering. Did she want me to help her because I had my headphones on, off in my owl little world, cut off from the rest of humanity going on in the store? she could have gone to an empty register and asked an employee for help, or one of the other patrons checking out, but she asked me. I saw her let a guy go ahead of her, presumably so I could help her. Did she decide this on her own, to pull me back into the world, or did something put the seed of this idea in her head. If she hadn't asked for my help, and I had walked out of the store, still listening to my music, would something else had happened? Something bad right then, or further on down the road. Maybe this one act of keeping myself apart from others would have started me on a path of recluseivness that I wouldn't be able to stop. Maybe this woman saved me from myself in some little way. Or, maybe she just liked the look of me, I was the only woman at the checkout, the rest were guys. I guess we'll never know.

Sad

2010-12-30T00:00:00.003-07:00

I'm reading my friend's backdated blog posts from earlier this month, and there are tears streaking down my face. She had a tragedy early in December, and I was (am) 2000 miles away, instead of right there where I felt that I should have been. But she has friends and family, people closer to her than I am, and I trusted them to get her through it. I didn't want to bother or poke and prod. I hope I can offer my condolences next time I'm home; I hope I can see her then, offer whatever she needs. I wish I had been keeping up with her blog, or any bloggers, so I could have commented when she posted, but I haven't. I've been busy and not spending as much time reading the blogs of people I know as I should be. I can't even imagine what she's going through. I love you Ginger!

Well this should be interesting

2010-04-02T09:11:00.001-07:00

I downloaded Windows Live Writer and that is where I am writing this post. I guess we’ll see how it works, looks good so far. Gonna put in a few pics to check out that feature, maybe a link to somewhere. Here goes!

View Full Album

Oh look, it’s an album! I could have put them in as individual pics, but this looked interesting. These are from Viktor’s 1st birthday party, which took place in the 13 of March. My little boy is growing up! I posted about this on my LJ too, that post is here.

Since I don’t have any videos to put in, I think that is gonna be it for my current foray into WLW land. It’s been cool!

New toys!!!!

2010-03-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

time for...umm... cleaning!

2010-03-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

My room is an unholy disaster (or at least it was about 40 min ago). I need to get up at 5am. Instead of sleeping, like I should be, and am tired enough for, I am cleaning. Does anyone else see the backwards in this? I could very well clean tomorrow, but I don't know if I could sleep in this mess of a room one more night, so cleaning. It's much better now, though the eradication of the Giant Dust Bunnies of DOOM!! will have to wait until tomorrow, when I can run the vacuum without waking my room mate.

on a quest

2010-02-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

Today I'm pretty sure I burned far more calories than I consumed. Yay!

Also, still no chocolate, despite manifold temptations!

oh TV

2010-02-27T01:15:00.003-07:00

True Blood has eaten my brain. That is all.

hello square one, nice to see you again

2010-02-23T00:05:00.003-07:00

I'm back to applying for zoo jobs again. I took some time off from it for a while because I craved some consistency and stability in my life after 4 and a half years of a seasonally nomadic existence. I wanted to sit still and stay on one place for a bit. But while I really like my current job, it's not something that I can do for long, and I don't want to put down any really firm roots here (like a year long lease or something), so I'm back to trying to get a job I want for a while. So far I have applied to three zoos:

Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, IL) for a seal keeper position
Dallas Zoo (Dallas, TX) for a mammal keeper position
Jackson Zoo (Jackson, MS) for a general keeper position

I really hope I get one of these jobs. I just need to get a foot in at a zoo, go there, work for 2 or so years, then if I don't like it I will have the experience to try to get a position I might like better. Ideally I would like a job around the Midwest so I'm not moving really far from my family, but Texas and Mississippi are both better than Oregon, and I've been there. Wish me luck!

In other news, I have not had any chocolate yet. This is actually quite impressive for me since I have dark chocolate squares and chocolate covered espresso beans in my room.

Lent is a four letter word

2010-02-18T21:14:00.004-07:00

Today, I decided to give up something for Lent. This is the first time I've ever done this. I'm not really into giving things up, especially when I like them. And what's the point of giving something up for Lent if you don't like it in the first place? This one is gonna be a doozy too! Are you ready for it?

Are you SURE!?

Well, here it is...

...

...

CHOCOLATE! Yes, that's right, I am giving up chocolate for Lent. She of the constant having of chocolate chip cookies, the near daily mocha, the lover of all things chocolate (especially dark), is giving up chocolate for Lent. Really, the largest downside to this plan that I see is that I'm going to have to find a new caffeine delivery system, because I NEED my caffeine! So, I figure that when I walk into Dunn Bro's Coffee in the morning, and the person behind the counter asks me if I would like my usual small skim mocha with whip (yes, they know me there, what of it?), I will have to politely inform them that for some crazy reason, this crazy woman decided to nix chocolate 'till Easter and ask instead for a small chai latte.

This should be an interesting few weeks. I'm going to have to stock up on fruit flavored hard candy, because I need something sweet!

How long is it 'till Easter???

laundry day

2010-01-24T23:35:00.000-07:00

I just washed:
3 pairs of jeans
1 sweatshirt
2 t-shirts
1 camisole
2 bras
all my socks and underwear

in the bathtub because my washer still doesn't work! Annoying roomie's dad thought he fixed it, and it does indeed spin now, but it doesn't fill with water. This is getting ridiculous! Normally I would just take my laundry to my parent's house to wash it, but all my work clothes were like 6 days dirty (in a place where you really only want them 3 or 4 days dirty) and I don't have time tomorrow before work to go clean them. I'm probably gonna need to run the dryer for 2 cycles to get them all dry. Oi!

In other news, I have a purring cat sitting on my lap, chewing on my sweatshirt string.

Bored bored bored

2010-01-17T10:56:00.003-07:00

I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go. Really, nowhere at all, since it is a Sunday at noon! Grr! Oh well. In lieu of doing something, have an awesome song!

Relax, Take it Easy

love, hate, as long as there's passion!

2010-01-11T01:19:00.003-07:00

Were The World Mine

Make The Yuletide Gay

I have a love/hate relationship with romantic movies. I love them because they make me happy and feel good. I hate them because they remind me that I don't have anyone, and I would really like to have someone!

This post brought to you by the viewing of:
Make the Yuletide Gay
Were the World Mine

Yes, I am a straight female getting sappy and boyfriend wanting over two gay movies, what of it, they're sweet! And Were the World Mine has some great music!

OMG, if you haven't seen it, you must, and then you should watch the guy who plays Timothy, oh so gay, esp while dancing. Love It! So very Hay Gurl Hay!

go team?

2010-01-10T08:53:00.001-07:00

This pic that I took is now 24" x 36", framed, hanging on someone's wall. That's kinda cool.

Sometimes I even look like a girl

2010-01-08T22:23:00.003-07:00

Today I didn't have to work.
Plan for day:
get up at respectable time (8:30am)
feed cat
take shower
get dressed
don't sit on the computer for hours
make bed
gather laundry
go to parent's house to do laundry
buy groceries
go to Home Goods
get recipes from Grandma
go home
sew

How day went:
Cat woke me up around 8am, so I fed him, shut my door, and set my alarm for 10am since I got less that 5 hours of sleep the night before and I was tired. After Viktor ate, he came to my door and started meowing annoyingly, but in true tired parent fashion, I ignored him and went back to sleep. Got out of bed around 10:20am, discovered fanfic, took shower, more fanfic, got dressed, made bed, left for parent's house around 2:30pm. On the way I got coffee and stopped at work to get my schedule for this week. Since all my jeans were dirty, I had put on dark purple tights, light khaki capris, and a cute pair of boots. I also did my make up, put on earrings, and wore my cute coat. usually I go to work with my hair in a pony tail, jeans, black t-shirt, no make up and tired looking. The cute look went over well. Now, if only there were any available guys at my work. But alas, there are two males, the rest are girls.

Finally got to my parent's house, put laundry in, went to Grandma's around 3:30, left there around 5:30, changed laundry, went grocery shopping, had dad change laundry while out, got back to parent's house, got laundry, finally got back to my house after 9pm, put all my stuff away, had a salad, and now we're here. Ah well, at least I got the laundry and grocery shopping done. I bought fruit so I won't die of scurvy.

Now my cat in climbing in my closet and it's bugging me. I would close the door, but then he just plays with the door which is also annoying since they swing and make noise.

I finished Torchwood yesterday. That is one dark show, but I love it to pieces and must buy it at my first opportunity. Ianto is the best ever, and I love him and Jack together. I believe that's all the rambling I have in me tonight. I love my new computer.

Hello there No One!

2010-01-03T19:40:00.006-07:00

I should update this thing more often, but i don't think anyone but my mom reads it anyway, and I talk to her all the time! I've had some life improvements since I last posted. Since it's Christmas break, I've been Annoying Roommate Free since like, the weekend before Christmas. It's been really really nice and I'm not looking forward to her coming back.

On November 30th, I became a first time parent! I got a 9 month old cat, previously named Andy, who I renamed Viktor! He is now around 10 month old, and gets cuter, and more annoying, every day. But I love him and he's fantastic and I LOVE having my own cat! Viktor is really good for the stress and tension level in this house. He mellow people out a bit. And when I get mad at AR, I can just go cuddle my cat, breathe, and calm down a bit before I kill her. he is crazy playful and full of energy, and he is really a people cat. He loves being where ever you are. I had to bring him to my mom's house for the three days surrounding Christmas since I had to go there too because it snowed so much that I wouldn't have been able to get to work. He and my mom's cat Oliver got along great, the other cat would have been find with him given more time, and the dog loved Viktor, though Viktor wasn't a fan of her. So he's great and I love him and Mandy love's him, AR likes him, though I don't really care what she thinks. Mandy had a dream the other night that someone came to take Viktor away and she was all "NNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" and tried to stop them, so I guess she really likes him.

Also, I got a shiny new computer! It's a HP Pavilion 17.3" widescreen with 4GB of RAM and 320GB hard drive. I love it !

The continuing saga of crazy room mate

2009-11-12T08:58:00.002-07:00

I have people coming to dinner tonight. This means I have to use the kitchen a lot today. I have to cook and bake and clean and stuff. All my dishes as of now are clean. I clean them in small groups shortly after I use them so they don't pile up and get annoying to me and everyone else. Sane roomie did hers last night, and now she just has a small bowl and a cup or something like that. Crazy roomie on the other hand, has had dishes piling up for a week. She has all of our sauce pans dirty (which I will need to use), one of them has water and some unknown foodstuff in it. It would be fine if she put the water in a little bit ago in preparation for washing her dishes, but she didn't. No, that water and foodstuff have been siting in that pan for a week. She also has a skillet, another pan, and a bunch of cups, bowls, plates, and flatware. It's a giant freaking pile of dishes.

Now, I see no reason why I should have to wash that pile of dishes. I keep up with mine in a timely fashion, I don't let them pile like that. They are hers, and she has had ample opportunity in the last two days (at least) to do them. Instead of washing her dishes, she takes a loooooong ass bath, or plays computer games, or does who knows what the hell else. She cleans the already clean living room, instead of cleaning the giant stinky pile of dishes containing pots and pans that are for communal use. It's not right or nice of her to dirty them and then leave them for a week so we can't use them unless we wash them ourselves.

So, I get up this morning, and know that I'm going to have to ask her to do her dishes. So I'm in the kitchen putting away the clean dishes from the sink and counter so she doesn't have that excuse to work with. I say "Hey CR, can you do your dishes today?", and she says "Yeah, ok.", in a way that makes it clear she won't be and thinks I'm a crazy bitch for asking such a reasonable question. I tell her I would like them done by 4 since I have to cook and I have people coming over that evening. I wrote all this on out message board Tuesday night BTW. She says she's not going to be able to do that. She says, You could just do them Kira, and I inform her that they're her dishes and she is more than capable of cleaning them herself. She says that's not what she meant and I know it. I don't know what else she would have meant by that. SO I say that they are her dishes and she can clean them, I clean my dishes in a timely fashion since it's gross and rude to leave them so long; and if she can find time to take a long bath or play computer games, she can do he dishes. Through this I am very calm and reasonably rational. She on the other hand is getting mad and stubborn. She tells me to just do the dishes Kira, I do yours. She does not do my dishes. If she is on a cleaning jag and I have a few things sitting there she does them, but it's never a pile like this. And I would rather she didn't do them. So she tells me that I should just stop saying things out loud since she's not listening anyway.

This is what I have to deal with. There is absolutely no talking to this girl! I was perfectly justified in all of my calmly stated arguments, and she refuses to clean her dishes! So I will be cleaning the ones I need, and putting the rest of them in a bag in the basement. I tried reasonable, now I'm gonna go for drastic.

Reasons I Like Going to Work

2009-10-29T22:49:00.002-07:00

-my job doesn't suck
-they put me in FL more often, and I like it there
-when I'm having a bad day, it's not hard to find a dog to snuggle to make it all much better
-the people don't suck
-there's a cute boy that's really really nice to look at
-especially when he wears his skinny jeans
-Shady
-Yarkko
-Cow & Moo
-All the Lucys'
-Beaglepalooza
-I get paid
-I get paid to do something that I actually like
-cute boy
-cute dogs
-I think I'm losing weight

Cons:
-sometimes I start at 6:30am
-sometimes I start at 6:30am and they put me in NY with the crazies and I have a headache and am tired and cranky and just want to go home
-can't think of a third con

I tried to go without, but I really like living!

2009-10-16T21:32:00.002-07:00

You know what, food is expensive!! I spent $100 today on groceries! Well, about $85 was groceries, I also needed body wash and I bought this teal/aqua colored pashmina that was on clearance at Target. It's pretty, it can keep my cream one company! But back on topic: OMG!!! I've never spent that much on groceries! I have cost my mom that much on shopping trips when I was in college and such, but I personally have never bought that much. Oh man, I better not need food again for a long while!

In addition to groceries, I also went to Home Goods and Barnes & Noble today. At Home Goods I picked up two bowls and a matching mug for $1.99 each, and a set of 4 glasses for $4.99. At B&N I got a book, Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher, and a box of Godiva chocolates because they were 50% off and I couldn't resist. This new box of chocolates can join the box I got from the Godiva store the other day. The one from B&N is the Gold Ballotin 19pc, the other is a 27pc Dark Chocolate Assortment. I rarely ever buy yummy yummy chocolates like that, so I decided to treat myself when my mom and I went out for dinner the other night.

I'm really excited to start my book tonight. In fact, I might just have to put on hold the fanfic I just started on and go read this! Yay for books!!

GrrArgh

2009-10-15T10:06:00.002-07:00

I am looking for a new place because the roommate of doom is getting to be too much to deal with. I really really hate looking for apartments. What's online on these apartment search sites can not possibly be all there is, but it's the easiest thing to look for, and I hate having not enough money. But I do have more money than I had, so that helps. Where do you people look when you're trying to find an apartment?

I either want a studio for just me, or a 2 bed for me and the roommate that I like and also can;t stand anymore of the roomie of doom. Good roomie doesn't want to spend much more than we're spending now, so it just might be me all on my own, though I think she has it in her head that the only place we're gonna be able to find it gonna be like $2000/month each or something. Wish me luck, and give me advice please! Also, Cindy, wanna live with me?

Wanderlust

2009-08-25T22:46:00.006-07:00

So, I was going to write about how I got a freaking job, but I'll leave that till later. Right now I'm going to write about the crazy that is my head. (and seriously, could I start more posts with "so"?)

If you know me, you know that I'm crazy. Not certifiable, but bad enough. One of those crazy aspects is how...not contrary, but I can't think of the right word right now, I can be. But I like things that are opposite of each other. I like black, but I also like very colorful things, for example. I'm a homebody, but I love to travel. I want to stay in one place for more than a year, but I'm always looking for a job somewhere else.

The thing that got me posting this was looking at this picture on Dooce's website. When I was in Oregon last summer, I couldn't wait to get home to flat land. And the instant I got home, I wanted the mountains back more than anything. I wanted to go back to Arizona and see the red rocks, the high desert, the beautiful mountains of Colorado, the dry heat and wonderful scrub of Santa Fe. God I miss it! And the whole time I was in Oregon, I was yearning for green. I wanted green grass and rain and leafy trees and green grass! Everything was dead and tan/brown. But when we got through California and into Arizona a little way, I started to fall in love. It was beautiful! I loved driving down a mountain pass into a valley and seeing it all stretched out before me. What I wouldn't have given to have been able to pull over and wander off to take rolls and roll of photos. Black and white that I could develop in the darkroom I don't have. I wanted to set up the perfect shot, swim in that pool we found (but was too cold to go in).

I wanted to stay in Sedona and Santa Fe for days, weeks. I want to move there and drink in the dry heat, bake in the sauna of the desert. Explore and live and run away from giant bugs and complain about the heat and work and play. I want to go back so bad! I want to see the rest of the desert, take pictures of rocky outcroppings miles past where Jesus lost his sandals.

But at the same time I want to go here and here and see trees covered in moss, and streams running through forests. I want to go back to England and explore the grassy hillsides, commune with the sheep. I want to go to huge cities in the hustle and bustle, or in calmer neighborhoods of those same busy cities. I want to go to Europe and find tiny bookstores tucked in side alleys in the Italian countryside. And in any of these places, I could probably live happily...at least for a while. At lease until my feet start calling again, wanting to wader away into that good night.

But God do I miss the high desert and the mountains. I want to spend time in Colorado some day. I want to move to Phoenix with my friend, see what a sprawling city is like, instead of one that goes straight up. But the contrary part of me is, I look at pictures of the red rock mountains of Utah and Arizona and I gasp and the beauty and the longing, but I have the same result when I look at pictures of all the green in the English countryside. I don't know id I'll ever be completely content to settle in one place, if my wanderlust will ever be sated. I guess only time will tell. If would probably help if I actually wandered a little too!

i will never be without bookmarks again!

2009-08-23T22:23:00.001-07:00

I love this whole Delicious thing! I am a bookmarking, tagging fiend over here man! It's so nice, I will never be without my bookmarks again! That's gonna be one of the worst things abut changing computers or ever just internet operating services. When I switched computers, I obviously lost all my bookmarks/favorites, and now I will always have these. It's so nice! I've been bookmarking up a storm, a STORM I tells you!

Tonight mom dad and I went to see Zed Leppelin, the Led Zeppelin Tribute Band at the Lake Harriet Band shell. Then we rode the trolley. It was a very enjoyable evening. Good music, beautiful evening, brought food along, it was great!

I still don't have a second job. I had my working interview at the doggy daycare, and expressed my interest in the job, but nothing back yet. That was Tuesday. If I don't hear anything by the time I leave for work tomorrow, I'm gonna give them a call. The girl told me to think about it and email her, which I did. And then I sent a follow up email to make sure that my first one actually got there, but that one didn't get a response either, so looks like I'm gonna have to call. I hate calling people.

I wrote up a rental agreement last night because this whole situation is getting annoying, and no one else was going to get around to doing it, so I had to take the reins on that one. Big surprise there. Oh wait, no it's not. Mandy took it to her mom to see if that would work out, but she's not back yet. Hopefully it does, in which case we will all be paying $125/month in rent, which is a massively good deal. Not as good as free, but pretty much as close as you can get, considering we're living in a house, not a puny little apartment.

I think that's pretty much all that's new in my life. Well, and my birthday is in 9 days, on September 2nd. I will be 24. One more year before I can rent a car without incurring age penalties and fees. I'm gonna go read some HP fic I found again while I was updating my Delicious. Laters!

I love the printing press

2009-08-15T22:43:00.002-07:00

Without it, the public at large would probably still be mostly illiterate and I wouldn't have had the immense pleasure of reading fanfic for 6 hours straight tonight. And as soon as I am done posting this small love note to the written word, I will be going back to the reading. I love language! And literacy!

Quite the quandary

2009-08-13T22:44:00.001-07:00

Must sleep, would much rather read fanfic, will regret fanfic decision in the morning, much more concerned with instant gratification. This is quite the quandary; which will win, sleep or reading.

...

I'll give you a hint, sleeping never wins

Precipitation

2009-08-08T08:37:00.002-07:00

It's raining. That was fine last night when I was all snug in my house enjoying the long missed sounds of a thunderstorm, but today I want it to be dry! Today I have plans to go to art fairs, and they are no fun in the rain! If I knew it was going to keep raining, I would have stayed asleep; I'm so tired. And oddly enough, I don't really feel like reading. So I think I'm gonna go and start cutting out my mom's purse while watching Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. The only problem with this plan is that my hands hurt. I think I've been using them too much. And after typing out a few blog posts last night, I think typing might be a contributing factor to my hand pain as well as sewing/knitting/work. This whole pain thing is really not fun and I would like it to stop now kthnxbai.

Caffeine

2009-08-08T01:19:00.002-07:00

I knew I shouldn't have had that mocha at 8:30pm. That was an all around bad idea. I have no desire, and every need, to go to bed right now. Hell, for what time I need to wake up, I should have been asleep hours ago. Mom and I are going to a few art fairs tomorrow, and we want to get an early start because it's supposed to be beastly hot. Hopefully the weather is wrong and it doesn't get to 91, but I won't hold my breath for that one. Ok, I'm off to try to sleep. Wish me luck!

Maybe I should post some actual content

2009-08-05T19:49:00.003-07:00

I've been posting a lot of nonsense and drivel lately. Not that it terrible matters because no one really reads this except me. But if I'm gonna have to look at it, I might as well put something here about my life. I applied to a few more jobs a week or so back. On of them was at a doggy daycare called Downtown Dogs. I emailed, then got a response saying "Hey lazybones, come in a fill out a app, dork." So I did, then got called back and set up an interview. First interview time ended up clashing with work, so I called back to reschedule. Person who I needed was in a meeting, and didn't call me back that day. Just as I was going to call yet again the next day, she called back, and we rescheduled for Monday the 10th. The she called me back again saying that Oops, I have something that day and time. So NOW I have an interview there on Tuesday at 3pm. Hopefully it doesn't go more than an hour because I have to work at 5, which means I like to be out of the house and on the road by 4. But I will be a little closer to work coming from the interview rather than my house.

Hopefully I get this job. It's working with animals, and is pretty much a job I've done in the past. Well, more of a conglomeration of various jobs I've done. If they don't hire me, they're crazy. I am totally qualified! Hell, I'm probably over qualified, but hopefully they'll hire me anyway. The I can push back my JoAnn's jobs to fewer hours and not have to drive all the way out to Maple Grove quite so often.

In other news, my roomie Mandy's cousin had a baby girl, and Mandy's mom bought two onesies and a hat off of me. Yay! She got these three:

Songs I love

2009-08-04T00:11:00.004-07:00

Bolero (from the closing credits of Moulin Rouge)- Moulin Rouge 2 soundtrack
Riverwide, The Difficult Kind- Sheryl Crow
My Body Is A Cage- Arcade Fire
Bella's Lullaby- Twilight Soundtrack
While My Guitar Gently Weeps- The Beatles
Viva La Vida, Lost!- Coldplay
Hands of Time- Groove Armada
Warm Tape, Road Trippin', We Believe- Red Hot Chili Peppers
When Water Comes To Life- Cloud Cult
I've Gotta Feeling- Black Eyed Peas
Here With Me- Dido
Let Go- Frou Frou
Mexico- Incubus
Lucky- Bif Naked
Wild Horses- The Sundays
Hermes Bird- Remy Zero
For What It's Worth- Buffalo Springfield
Existentialism on Prom Night- Straylight Run
White Houses- Vanessa Carlton

I was going to wax poetic about Bolero, because it is totally worthy of poetic waxing, but then I could probably was poetic about most of these songs. Some I like even more than others, but these are some of the songs that, when they come up on my MP3 or WMP playlist, I don't ever skip. I might occasionally skip one or two of them, but that's very rare. Most of these, I could just play, lay back on my bed, and breathe to. I love music, I don't know what I would do if I went deaf or music was suddenly outlawed, but I don't want to find out!!

My brain, it's all eated up

2009-08-02T03:01:00.007-07:00

Fanfic has eaten my brain...again. I really need to stop bringing my comp over to my bed at night, it's making for more reading and less sleeping, and I really should be sleeping. Just got done reading ad AU Doom/ST Reboot crossover, and it was absolutely fanfuckingtastic! If you haven't seen either movie, then you would love or appreciate it as much as I do, but really, great writing, fantastic story, awesome ending. It was so much love. And if you haven't seen either Doom or Star Trek XI, well, what the HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR! Go! NOW! :D

Oh dear God

2009-07-26T00:34:00.003-07:00

Knitting is usually a nice relaxing hobby for me. I spend a movie or two calmly knitting together some sock or lace shawl or other, and come away from the whole experience feeling some sense of accomplishment and relaxation. Well kiddies, NOT TODAY!

Let me just tell you, knitting for 13 hours on a deadline is possibly one of the least relaxing things you can do while not risking the potential of grievous bodily harm at the hands of fate or some horrible person who wants to torture you. And we all know, fate is a cruel bitch. I am tired and I am sore, and at this very moment, I want very much to never pick up a knitting needle ever again. ...Well, no, that's not true, well at least the part about not wanting to see a knitting needle. But I am sore. My hands hurt, my arms hurt, my back and knees and head and neck all hurt. And I'm not done yet! I have to do this all again tomorrow...errr, later today. Why did I knit for so long today if it wasn't fun, you may ask? I did it so my room mate's mom can bring the comfort shawl I'm knitting to her friend in the hospital. And hopefully she'll only be there for a few more days, so I want to get it done by tomorrow night so Meg can give it to her friend. And so I can get monies. No no no, I'm not doing this for free. I'm also not doing it at cost. I am broke and there are many things I would have rather spent my day doing, than knitting almost two skeins of Homespun. I have about 24 more rows left in the second skein, but I just couldn't do it any more. My hands are really starting to revolt. Though if I find enough to read on the comp tonight, maybe I'll go get my work from the living room and see if I can finish that last skein up.

But hey, I watched some movies, and some of Wonderfalls, that was fun at least. Got to see Karl Urban wearing pretty much nothing and swinging swords around. (bonus points if you can name that movie) So now, I am going to read some lovely Star Trek fic, and then go to bed. Then I'm going to get up, shower, knit if I have time, go to parents house, go to musical, come home, and finish knitting. It should actually be done by tomorrow night...hopefully. If it's not done by midnight, I'm going to bed because I have to work at 10am on Monday, which means I have to get up by 8am. Oi.

The most fun I've had in a long while

2009-07-20T23:18:00.002-07:00

The Murder Mystery Party was, as is stated in my title for this post, the MOST FUN I'VE HAD IN LIKE FOREVER!!!! At the very least, probably the most fun I've had since graduating college. It was just a blast! I got to hang out with my friends who I haven't seen in far too long (though, when you're 23, three weeks is far too long!), ate great food, drank some wine, played a game, and took lots of pictures.

We each had our characters, and we had a booklet that went along with each character. Inside there was info that we had to tell about other people, and info about ourselves that we didn't want coming out. There were four rounds, and then we took a guess on who did it, then in the back of each booklet there was a bit to the end of the story about who did it and who didn't and why and whatnot. It was fabulous! I can't even get over how much fun I had. We are planing to have another one, which will probably be a potluck so Kelly (and Toria and Nika, but mostly Kelly) doesn't have to pay for everything and do so much work. There are themes for other ones and it's all fantastically great fun. I can't wait till Kelly gets the pics up, they are fantastic.

Kelly and Nika made everyone place signs with their character's name on them and objects that pertain to their character. My character was Evelyn C Leigh, called EC. She was a cheerleader in high school. On my poster is says EC, and there is a mega phone, and balloons, and a chain cutout of girls in skirts and a speak balloon saying Go Team! I put it on my bedroom door, because I'm totally still 12, I swear.

After we were done, we went out in the back yard to get pics of everyone with their sign, and I did them like mug shots, it's pretty cool. The we took a few group shots of various kinds, girls pics, guys pics, and random other stuff. The we sat around and hung out and stuff until like 9pm. I had such a great time! I miss these people so much! I realize how much of a hermit I am when I get around my friends and need to be around them for a long period of time.

Still squeeing!!

I got a nibble

2009-07-10T20:51:00.003-07:00

So I applied to some more zoos. One of the places I applied was the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City, Kansas. I sent in the app probably about a week and a half ago. They called me yesterday to set up an interview, but I was at work and didn't get the message till everyone there was gone for the day, so I called back today and have a phone interview set up for tomorrow at 1pm. I hope it goes well, I could really use this job. They pay well, and they have benefits, both of which I need. I would have to move to Kansas, of all places, but at least it wouldn't be Texas. I applied for a job is Texas and Tennessee both. Kansas is probably the best choice of the three. Wish me luck!!!

Arachnophobia

2009-07-08T23:43:00.001-07:00

There are itty bitty tiny spiders all over my room and I don't know why or where they came from. They're mostly congregating in the corner by my lamp, but there were some on my desk and by my window and I'm really creeped out. Icky!

Etsy FTW!!!

2009-07-04T19:17:00.001-07:00

I just made my first sale ever on Etsy! OMG YAY!!! So much WIN!!!!

Awesome new stuff!

2009-07-01T21:34:00.002-07:00

I added some cool new things for sale over at my crafts blog. Go check them out!

Cool baby hats and pincushions!

I'm minorly suprised I've never been injured

2009-06-30T15:18:00.004-07:00

I like animals. I always have, and I've worked with a lot of them. Frankly, I'm a little surprised I haven't lost a finger, hand, limb, my life yet. Well, not really that surprised, I'm very careful.

But I've been really close to a lot of animals that people usually don't get that close to. The above picture, for instance, is me about 8 or so feet from a male black bear. I've been much much closer.

But as of yet, I've never been bit or intentionally scratched or clawed at by anything I have pet or been very close to. Though, in this pic, the capybara is attempting to chew on my shirt. It's a giant rodent and I had been cutting up food for the last 2 hours, what do you expect.
I have gotten unintentional scratches, but if you hold something that doesn't get a regular mani/pedi, you're gonna get a scratch.
Does it look like I'm really close to the giraffe in this pic? That's because I really really am. But I'm not an idiot. I loved my job.
I really loved my job. This guy is twice my height. He's awesome.

This was my favorite animal in all the zoo last summer, followed very closely by the giraffe from a few pics up. He's such a neat boy.
And yes, I really am standing that close to a rhino. It was pretty much awesome. When you're shoveling poop most of the day, it's nice to get the occasional awesome perks.

Yep, that is my hand, feeding a grape to a lemur.Nope, there's no glass or fence here.
Here either. Awesome huh? I miss animals. I miss working in the zoo. I miss brown bear lips reaching for dried berries, scratching tiger butts through fences, getting licked by a cheetah, petting a leopard and treating it meat. I miss tigers playing in the water of a hose, watching the bears scowl at us for giving them coconuts (which are harder to get into than you may think). Hell, I miss having a pet. I want a zoo job, I want my PhD, I want a lot of things. Mostly, I want to be back with my animals, or new ones. Oh kids, you guys were so great. Thanks for not killing me. And to me, thanks for not being an idiot.

Fishing

2009-06-28T00:48:00.006-07:00

Dad and I went fishing today! It was really fun. We were gonna leave early this morning, but it started raining late last night and when I wok up at 6:30am was still going. We gave it till 8am, and then decided to just go later in the day/evening. We left for the lake (we ended up on Eagle Lake I think) around 2-ish, got fishing liscences, and went a fishing! We don't have a boat, we have a canoe, and it took me all of 30 seconds to remember that canoes scare me. Especially when it's windy and the water is more choppy, like it was today. But we didn't tip over. Mainly stuck to the shoreline around lily pads and reeds that broke the waves nicely. I caught like 7 or 8 fish total. A sunny or two, two bass, a blue gill, and a few of something else I can't remember right now.

I got over my irrational fear of the canoe, and had a great time. Dad caught a lot more fish than I did, but it's all good. He's got that whole jig lure thing down a lot better than I do.

Braaaaaaiiinssss!

2009-06-25T13:21:00.005-07:00

Star Trek Reboot (XI) has eaten my brain. That is all.

Ok that took long for a whole lot of nothing

2009-06-24T22:38:00.002-07:00

I finally figured out how to get my display language back to English. It was stupidly easy, and thats all I'm gonna say about it.

Anyway, I've been gone from here for a while! Still broke.

Dad gave me a new hard drive for the laptop I'm using and I have successfully loaded Windows XP onto it. YAY! I'm not running Linux anymore! And now I should be able to connect my old HD to this comp and get my stuff off of it/use it on there. I'm so excited! Now I have to go find a pretty picture for my desktop, because this whole default rolling hills thing isn't really working for me.

And by pretty, I men pretty boys. Hallelujah!

HELP!!!!!!

2009-05-25T20:15:00.004-07:00

I don't know what I did, but now my top navigation bar and all buttons and text relating to using blogger are in a different language! I can post in English, and all the stuff I have posted (all user content) is in English, but everything else is in like Arabic or something. How do I fix this!!???!!??!?!?!?!?!

Look...more paint

2009-05-20T23:06:00.002-07:00

I'm painting my parents' fence surrounding the yard. I am doing this for money, so I am all for it. the only problem is that it's a lot of fence. This is not a small yard, and the fence is at least as tall as me in all places, taller in most. About half of it has large bush roses growing in front of it, and I would rather not a) scratch myself to hell, or b) ruin the bushes. Mom said something about putting a large board down and/or having someone hold them back while I paint. Well, I'm going to go paint for a few hours tomorrow, and I will be starting on the parts not covered by thorns. There is a significant portion of the fence (i.e. the other half), that I should be able to get done. I'm gonna break out the rollers tomorrow, so hopefully the rest will go faster than the first little bit I did with a brush. Yeah...that was fun. oh wait, no it wasn't. but it will all be worth it. Wish me luck!

OMG YAY!

2009-05-11T00:31:00.002-07:00

We finally have the interwebs! Hello from my new house!

Aaaaaand...goodnight

Grrargh!!!

2009-05-10T06:58:00.001-07:00

He snuck out the back, he won't come in. I have to go to church!!!

Just maybe...

2009-05-09T22:47:00.004-07:00

I'll get one of these to replace it. I really want one!!!

And I would totally get it engraved. It would say:

Finally! Kira's ipod!

Thanks Mom!

Or maybe it would say something different. Maybe it will be a long time before I get one, or maybe I will never get around to getting one. But one thing is for sure, I need NEED NEED!! an MP3 player.

*le sigh*

Lost: One MP3 player

2009-05-09T21:22:00.004-07:00

I can't find my MP3 player! It's as if I am missing a limb, I swear! I listen to that thing constantly, and I've been missing it since I moved on Monday. I am so sad! Granted, it was only like $85, but still! I love that darn little thing. It was so cute and small, but held just enough songs for me, and pictures too! It fit in my pocket perfectly. I miss it so much. I don't think i can cook/back without it, and my driving has been so much less interesting to listen to. Ugh, radio only. I really hope I find it soon! Woe!

Adventures in dog sitting

2009-05-06T20:33:00.002-07:00

I'm dog sitting for the next few days. He likes to steal things, and let you know about it. I walked in and put my shoes for work down, and he immediately picked on up and walked out on to the sunporch with it. He doesn't keep the stuff, or fight giving it back, he just grabs stuff and walks away with it. A minute ago he walked into the room with a blue teddy bear. Pretty sure it's not his. Silly dog.

Something for nothing

2009-05-06T15:30:00.002-07:00

I want to win something. I enter contests at different places (especially Pioneer Woman) all the time, and gosh darnit, I want to win one of them!!

Random work stuff

2009-05-06T10:46:00.002-07:00

JoAnn's is sending me to Fargo next week. I'll be there Monday through Friday.

I should never answer my phone when I think it's work calling. At least I'll be getting paid more than I thought I would this week.

Crazyness!

It's a process

2009-05-06T09:51:00.003-07:00

I'm pretty much moved in. I have all my big stuff, like bed, dresser, desk etc in the room and set up how I want them. I even bought a lamp yesterday, since my lamp finally died while trying to move it. It was one of those octopus lamps with the 5 heads and different colored plastic shades, and I've had it for like 5 years, it finally went kaput. After that many years of light bulbs that were apparently too strong for the lamp, the sades were brittle and crumbling apart, so I trashed it and got a new lamp. I just have little things to move it now. Artsy stuff that's laying all around my pathetic looking room at my parents house. I'm gonna move that stuff today, then dog sit till Sunday. And after work, mom is taking my grocery shopping! Gotta make the most of it since this is probably the last time she will.

Now I need to check out other internet related stuff, since we still don't have the internet at my new house (I'm at the parents house right now), and then I need to gather up the rest of the stuff I want, shove it in the car, and check on the dog. Laters!

Purple

2009-05-03T22:13:00.002-07:00

I painted yesterday, finished up today after church. My new room is painted, some of my stuff is already there, and the rest of it is going tomorrow. Now I am tired and going to sleep I will take pics and blog all about it when we get internet there. Laters

Kira out

the color of our lives

2009-04-30T23:17:00.003-07:00

Color of the wall in my current room

I have paint chips picked out. I can't decide if one of the colors is going to be too dark, so I think I'm gonna see if I can get a few of those little samples tomorrow after work. Then I'm gonna go to the house, slap some (neatly) on the walls, and see what I like. I know the color I'm going to have on three of the walls, it's the accent wall I don't know about. I have the accent wall narrowed down to two colors of purple. I would go with a red wall again, but I have a red wall in my bedroom now, and though I love it completely to death, I think, new house, new color.

Things I realized today

2009-04-29T20:06:00.003-07:00

I could have a cat!

Or rats! And my rats can have ittle teddys!

I can make my own curtains!

I can make silk flower arrangements!

And since I work at a craft store, I would get discounts of half of this list!

:D

Fresh paint

2009-04-28T23:19:00.004-07:00

The change is near, I can see the light and I don't think it's a train! There is an open window, and it's not to throw myself out of but to let the fresh wonderful air of change in. Now I just need to get that job and I'm home free for a while. Hope along with me people! Because either way, I'm gone! (And I really need the money)

And after that:

Guess what I ate last night

2009-04-27T21:19:00.004-07:00

I had a piece of Sushi last night. A friend and I went out to Azia in Minneapolis. It was really nice. Great atmosphere, cool building, and really good food. I wasn't that hungry, so I got the cranberry puffs of the starters menu and a glass of red Zinfandel. He got the sushi, and I tried a piece of his. It was a crunchy roll, and I'm not sure what was in it, but I don't think it had any fish. The thing I could taste the most was the sea weed. It was weird, and next time I eat sushi (because now I need to try one with fish), I'll be prepared for it.

It's nice to get out of the house part 2

2009-04-26T18:34:00.004-07:00

I went dancing last night! It was much of the fun. Mandy and I went out at like midnight, went to one club, danced for a while, then went to another one and continued. And damn does that girl need some cock blocking! Holy God! First off, this girl is taller than me anyway (not hard when you're 5'2"), and then she was in like 4" heels! So she tall, this, has a large ass, and blond. Of course she's going to get creeped on. Me? Not so much. I am the champion cock blocker. I think she had to move me away from someone once or twice, but who's going to creep on me when I'm standing next to the Amazon. Bitch. Love her to death, but I always forget that going out with her is bad for my self esteem until I get to her house and see her. Anyway, it was fun times, got to dance to some good music, and I'm gonna have to hit up both clubs again some time.

Quilting, and other domesticities

2009-04-23T00:45:00.005-07:00

I'm starting a new quilt! I've made 4 already, two that required piecing according to a pattern, and two that were made out of 4" flannel squares sewn together in a pattern. I am now making a log cabin quilt. I have one more round to put on all the squares (the last light and the last dark), and then I will be done making the squares. The I need to square them up, and sew them together. The comes bored #1 and border #2, then backing and batting, binding, and finally quilting. Each of the squares should end up about 14" square, and it's going to be 4 blocks by 6 blocks. This is going to be a pretty big quilt. We'll see how my machine manages that. I don't have a long arm or anything, so I don;t know if all the fabric will roll up to fit under my quilt arm.

I am terribly domestic. I sew, quilt, knit, bake, cook, clean. I will make someone a great little housewife someday. Ugh, gag me with a spoon! Not that there's anything wrong with that, but at this stage of my life, that is like the last thing I want. What I want, is a great job (or hell, a job that pays!) and to get out of my parents house. We're all going a little crazy. Well, when I get the latest quilt done, I'll post pictures. I should take pics of my last quilt too. It turned out pretty cool.

Kira wants big boom

2009-04-20T20:39:00.005-07:00

I recently found some pics from this summer. These are from the 4th of July while I was in Oregon. It was a good display.

Woe

2009-04-20T20:03:00.001-07:00

my love of blow pops is warring with my love of my tongue piercing. It's more convenient to take it out when enjoying a blow pop, but then I miss it.

...

So pathetic.

...

Woe

It's Poppy Seed Bread Time!!

2009-04-19T20:49:00.005-07:00

Dear interwebs, I give you... POPPY SEED BREAD!!!

So, we have finally come to the anticipated portion of this Easter season. I am going to devote an entire post to the wonder that is my grandma's home made poppy seed bread. This lively first picture is a cut loaf of poppy seed bread. See all that black stuff? Yeah, that's formerly dried and now gooey and slightly sugary slightly bitter poppy seed.

Grandma did a great job this year. The bread was soft, and there was a ton of poppy seed. Just look at it all! There's so much that it can't stay together and just had to fall out as soon as you pic up a slice. That's when you know it's perfect. By the time I took this series of pics, I was on piece three of the day.
That's not counting the four pieces I had last night after my aunts go back from church. Yes, I am a pig.
But is sooo good and we only get it this one time of year!
It is, unfortunately, possible to over do it. Combined with all the other food I stuffed into my face today, I got a nasty case of acid reflux for a bit there.
But it's gone now, and I refuse to learn my lesson! Tomorrow I will be right back at that poppy seed bread.
I just hope no one needs me to take a drug test any time soon. :/

Food, Glorious Food!

2009-04-19T16:51:00.003-07:00

Food, food is glorious, and I feel sorry for people who don't get to experience much of it. Easter lunch/dinner is probably the best holiday food all year. We have ham, sausage, eggs, home made bread, poppy seed bread, potato salad, jello (with fruit), and cake. Really, it doesn't get much better. I love ham, and bread, and love love love poppy seed bread.

This is our spread from today. Tasty tasty!

Next up, and entire post, mostly photos, devoted to poppy seed bread. It's gonna be great!

Oh, and BTW

2009-04-19T01:39:00.003-07:00

My pops for last Sunday turned out really cute!

And tomorrow, after I steal my moms camera and take pics of the food we eat, I will be posting an ode to poppy seed bread. Just thought you should know. And this way, you have something to look forward to!

Easter Easter

2009-04-19T00:53:00.003-07:00

My Grandma's Easter is different than mine. She is Orthodox, so they celebrate on a different calendar. Her Easter is tomorrow, the service was tonight starting at 11:30pm. I went over to her house to hang out for a bit before my aunts left for the service, because I wanted to say HI and give my aunt her basket cover that I made. I had intended to stay for a bit, then come home and get some stuff done while waiting for my aunts to get back home. You see, it's tradition that after the service, we have a little snack of the food that got blessed at the service. A bit of ham, sausage, home made bread and poppy seed bread, and hard boiled eggs. Its pretty much what we will have for lunch tomorrow as well, though there is more stuff tomorrow.

Anyway, I was going to go home and wait for them, but Grandma has Direct TV, and I got pulled in by the programming, and then there didn't seem a point to going home (home is all of three houses down and one house over) so I watched Mythbusters, The Chronicles of Riddick/Dirty Jobs, this program on History Channel about the Dust Bowl, and some of the Matrix. The my aunts got back, we had some foods, and one of my aunts drove me home. And this year I DIDN'T fall down! And now I need to go to bed, so I can get up and go to church, the spend a large portion of the day with my family, which requires more sleep than I'm going to get tonight. Happy Holidays all!
Kira Out

I'm so boring

2009-04-18T18:54:00.004-07:00

Today, I did nothing interesting. I got up absurdly early (8am), showered, dressed, ate, and went to work. On my way to work, I stopped by a gas station for a coffee, since I was so tired I almost fell down. I burnt my tongue. Work was uneventful. I stocked stuff, was at the registers for a big, and went to lunch with a coworker. Lunch was good at least. Had Leann Chin and nice conversation.

The I came home. I checked the internets, changed, and went to the Campership Dinner at my church. It's a dinner you buy tickets to, and the kids do most of the work serving and setting up and whatnot. It's to raise money for kids to go to camp if they so choose. I had Chicken Kiev and ate till I was stuffed. Now I am sitting in front of my computer, eating dark cocoa candy melts, and checking up in the Internets again. I really need to stop eating these things, it's starting to make me sick. Gotta go drink some water.

After I press Publish Post, I am going to go over to my grandmas in my pj's and see her and my aunts off to church. I would go, but I will just fall asleep. The I will finish Emily's apron, and wait for them to get back to chuch so I can go over and have a little snack. I will be glorious, providing I don't fall and kill my knee like I did last year.

In the middle there, I might talk to some people and try to fine some good The Host fanfic to placate me until I can get my book back. It's currently living with someone else. I miss my book. *sad face*

Well, I'm off now. Laters!

Too much sugar!

2009-04-15T19:38:00.001-07:00

I have no will power! It's true! I am powerless to resist my will!

This pathetic post comes to to courtesy of eating too much candy.

Work is a four letter word

2009-04-15T15:42:00.003-07:00

I applied for five jobs yesterday and today. Four of them were application bu email, which is nice. The other I had to send in. I will be compiling another and sending that as well in the next day or two (probably tomorrow).

Of these 5, now 6, jobs, none of them is in Minnesota. For those of you reading this who don't know (unlikely that there are any) I live in Minnesota. I applied for two jobs in Ohio, one in Colorado, another in Iowa, and the last in Texas. The one I will apply for tomorrow is also in Ohio. These are all zoo jobs. They are at the zoos to follow:

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo , Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Cincinnati, Ohio.

The Toledo Zoo, Toledo, Ohio. (And seriously, that giraffe pic on the home page? CUTE!!)

Blank Park Zoo, Des Moines, Iowa.

Houston Zoo, Huston, Texas.

Any of these would be fine, I'm sure, but I'm rooting the hardest for Colorado an d Iowa. Iowa because it's close to home, and Colorado because it's pretty. And I think I would like Colorado. I liked it when we drove through. You may not think so, but you can get a pretty good general feel for a place simply by driving through it. There are places I know I would never like to live. Houston would be crazy hot and humid and full of giant bugs, and Ohio is...Ohio. Ohio is probably fine, but one of me Ex's is from there, which instantly turns me off of it. But we'll see. Hope and pray for me guys, I need a job!!!

Sometimes it's nice to get out of the house

2009-04-14T22:39:00.006-07:00

It gives you a chance to see a drunk guy who told some ugly girl that you were less cute than she in the back of a squad car after a concert!

Raise your hand if you understood that.

Anyone...anyone? Bueller? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Let me clarify. I went to a concert yesterday with a friend from work. It was fun, had a great time. It was the All American Rejects, and they were great. The band right before them (Shiny Toy Guns) not a fan of. So Em and I were sitting down trying to ignore STG, and this rather drunk couple was stumbling around and grabbing each other and generally being gross. And they walk over toward us and she says "How about her?" while looking at me. I have no patience for drunk creeps, so I get up and walk, and Em heard him tell her (the woman he was with), that I was not as cute as she was. Not, let me tell you something. This woman: short, fatter than me, spiral permed bleach blond roots showing BIG hair. I am SOOOO cuter than her! I am totally cute sometimes! I'm the blond in the pic, over on the right. Sadly, this is like the most recent pic I have of me. I am about 7 pounds lighter now, and looked a lot better last night. And when the concert was over, EM and I saw the guy ins the back of a squad car. It was great.

Anyway, the concert was fab, and I had a great time! Ta!

More putzy shit

2009-04-14T17:21:00.002-07:00

Yesterday, I bought something. I got an Ukrainian Easter egg dying kit. I got it from the Ukrainian Gift Shop. They have a website, but I got it from their actual store. I made the dyes today and currently I'm just waiting for them to cool so I can get my egg dying on! Hoo boy! This is gonna be fun!! :D

candy is dandy

2009-04-14T00:15:00.002-07:00

But the gum inside is annoying. I have a tongue ring, the top ball is acrylic, or whatever plastic it is that they use. The gum inside Blow Pops is really sticky, so I currently have gum stuck to my tongue ring. It is annoying. Note to anyone who wants to get a tongue piercing: be prepared for stuff to stick to it.

that bittesweet feeling

2009-04-13T10:41:00.002-07:00

I both love and hate finishing books, especially good/great books. I love it because I got through the book, I know the ending, and the curiosity is over (sorta). I hate it for pretty much the same reasons, I got through it and now it's over. The only problem is, the curiosity, it pretty much just sticks around! I want to know what happens after the book is over, and I want to know NOW! I can just make things up, or read fanfiction, but it's never as good as the books. Well, there is some REALLY good Harry Potter fanfic out there, stuff that I would rather read than the books. But when your book's fan base is mostly crazy teens flowing over from the authors other teen based books, the fanfic tend to be bad. A lot of little girls writing poorly about romanticized versions of things they've never before experienced. AKA, really BAD sex scenes!

Anyway, this post does have a purpose besides the bad fanfic rant I was starting. I finished The Host last night. It was a really fantastically great book! Amazing story, fantastic characters, plot twists, some violence, a bunch of love, some understanding and changing of ways, and a superb ending! Really, I recommend it, even if you tried to read Twilight and gave up, read this. It's not in the Twilight universe, it's characters and stories all it's own. And it will make you want to go to Arizona really bad! At least id did for me, since I've been there before. So really, GO READ!

Them, after you read The Host, go give Twilight another turn. You don't have to let anyone know that you're reading it. You can read it in seret under your covers at night. But give it a chance. They might be a little silly or unbelivable at times, but it's FICTION people! It's not supposed to mesh with this world perfectly. Things are supposed to be a little fantastical, so give Bella and Edward and everyone else another chance. It might just turn out to be a guilty pleasure!

Hoppity hop hop

2009-04-12T16:22:00.002-07:00

So Easter was good. My immediate family doesn't do a whole lot for Christian Easter. My grandma celebrates Orthodox Easter, so that's more or less what we celebrate. We go to church for this Easter, and usually do something involving dinner and candy. Today was also the birthday of our pianist, and he doesn't have a whole lot of family around, so we had a combination surprise birthday party/Easter dinner after social hour after church today. It was nice. There was good food, good people, and I made awesome cake pop centerpieces. The pics are on my mom's camera, I will post them when I can get them off. The I came home and I have been doing absolutely nothing of significance all afternoon. It's been GLORIOUS!! Now I'm gonna suck on my Blow Pop and continue doing nothing!

Kira Out

Um...ouch!

2009-04-10T20:17:00.001-07:00

My feet are killing me. That is all.

Little Obsessions

2009-04-09T22:12:00.007-07:00

I have a confession. I love kitchen stuff. Mixing bowls especially. Nesting mixing bowls extra especially! Not counting Tupperware, I have two sets already. I also have a big yearning love for clear glass. I don't know what it is, I just love the stuff!

Today while I was at a thrift store by my house looking for a book, I happened across these. This is a set of 11 clear glass nesting mixing bowls. I have wanted a set like this for some time now. I saw them and was instantly in love! I HAD to have them!
So I got them. The best part? Only $12.99!! If you were to buy this set new, it would cost you at least $35 for 10 bowls. I have 11! They range in size from big enough to raise bread in, to this tiny little pinch bowl. I am in love with that tiny bowl. The other great thing about this set? They are tons of fun to take pictures of! So many aperture options, so little time.
This here is my other set of nested mixing bowls. If you were around in the 60's and 70's, or know someone who was and kept their kitchen stuff, you may recognize these ones. My mom got them for me as a graduation present. I found them in an antique store in the town where I went to college. I miss that antique store, it was small, but not too, and it had the most amazing stuff.
Like, for example, these lovely bowls! There is actually a fourth, bigger, one. It is also blue with white flowers, but it's in a box somewhere. I'll find it when I move out. If you think you should recognize them, but don't, that could be because they are blue. The olive green and mustard yellow were more popular, and many had the little farmers on the side.
Well, many of the ones I've seen match that description anyway. I think this might be the only blue set I've ever seen. I showed them to my mom when she came to visit one time. I told her how I loved them. The next time I went back, they were no longer there. Unbeknownst to me, she had gone back to the shop before she left and bought them! I'm pretty sure I called to tell her they were gone too!!
I love my mixing bowls. And old latch top Ball jars, but that's a post for a different time.

The entrepreneurial spirit

2009-04-09T21:59:00.003-07:00

A little back story. Over the Christmas holidays, I made ans sold cookies. They went over like gang busters, especially at church. They also sold well among the few outside people to get my flier. Well, then I started making cake bites and cake pops. So I made another flier and am selling those as well. The egg and chick ones are selling great! Since my job pays crap, and I can't seem to get a job in my field of study, I've taking to making and selling things. So far just my food has been selling, but that's also the most advertised. I also have been making purses and stuff, which can be found at my other blog, Sassafras Handicrafts, and at my Etsy page.

Anyway, that making stuff has much to do with my day today. This morning, I got up at 7am. For those of you who know me, you know this is not something I do voluntarily! I had to get ready and drive some cake pops downtown. I'm nice and I deliver, as long as it's relatively close. I remember after I get in my car, that I have little gas left. Well, oh well, no time to stop. So I make it to Minneapolis (which isn't far, I can see the skyline from my house), and there's traffic. Oi. Made is to the building where the woman worked, gave her her pops, and got my money. Then I need to figure out how to get out! But that went pretty good too. Got turned around, but figured it out, and managed to make it to a gas station!

Whenever I have to be up that early, and don't have to work, I like to go to Panera for breakfast. Their baked egg souffles, are divine! I brought a book along that I wanted to start, and just needed to be sitting somewhere without distractions to get around to it. SO I got my breakfast, curled up in a booth, and read for like two hours. It was positively blissful!! And now I am like 170 pages into The Host. Great book!

I found gold dust today

2009-04-07T22:50:00.002-07:00

And I made my cake bites pretty with it!! I'm so excited, this is so much fun!!

I made some tasties

2009-04-06T16:24:00.004-07:00

So, thanks to Bakerella and Pioneer Woman, I am now obsessed with making cake bites and cake pops. I made these yesterday.

What goes around

2009-04-05T19:27:00.001-07:00

The only good thing about snow in April, is that it's usually gone by about noon the next day. It took until about 2 or 3 today, but it's all gone now!

Will winter ever just go away??

2009-04-04T22:02:00.003-07:00

At about 8pm or so tonight, possibly before, it started raining. By the time I got off at 9:30pm, it was slushing. Emily and I went to Perkins because we felt like it, and it started snowing around 10-ish. We left at 11:30 and there was snow everywhere! It was still really slushy on the roast, but every surface that wasn't paved was white. Grrr! Will winter ever just leave! This better not be a repeat of last year when we had a snow storm in April.

My all time favorite picture

2009-04-03T21:47:00.006-07:00

And yeah, these are my three best college friends. The one behind me in the cap is the girl I lived with for 3 years. The guy is probably the only guy I've ever been completely at ease around, and the girl with the half blue hair and the red jacket is someone who has been one of my best friends since high school; whom I've known since elementary school. This is my favorite picture of all time. This will be the one that I look at when I am old and gray, and will reminisce about the old days over.

All about me, part 5

2009-04-03T21:41:00.005-07:00

I graduated college, and came home after Oregon, and now I am here, working retail and trying to find a better job. It's not going so well. Oh, yeah! I also have 2 younger brothers and still married parents, with whom I currently live. And that's life!

All about me, part 4

2009-04-03T21:33:00.006-07:00

So, somewhere in there I also got my tongue, nose, and lip pierced. Just saying. Also, I interned at two zoos. The first one was the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls, SD. That was the summer after my junior year. It was really fun, and really awesome, and at times kinda scary. Grizzly bears, even behind bars, are FREAKY! I love them, but really, they are NOT to be messed with! The cats were awesome. Less scary than the bears, and I loved them to death.
I could post about all the animals all day! But on to the next place. This last summer, after graduating, I interned at the Wildlife Safari Park, in Winston OR. Great place, horrible weather. I'm used to rain and thunderstorms in the summer. There is it HOT and dry all summer. Oi! But I got to work with all of the animals, including giraffes! And this little guy. He's a prehensile tail porcupine, and I think he's about the cutest thing ever!

All about me, part 3

2009-04-03T21:21:00.004-07:00

I started at UMM. It was a good 2 1/2 hours from home. Now, I like home. I like my mom, and I get stressed at big changes. College is a BIG change! Classes were fine, but I was stuck in dinky little Morris, MN, with no car, and with people I didn't know, and didn't like all that much once I did know! I seriously considered transferring somewhere closer to home. But over the summer I got a car, and I had a boyfriend in Morris, and a few roomies expecting me to hold up my share of the on campus apartment rent. The car helped, I could get off that blasted campus! And I got glasses, and a few new good friends! And gained weight, but oh well.

I also got a job, that I wish so much I could go back to! That was the best job I ever had. It was on campus and I loved it. I loved my boss and the work I did, it was so much fun! And I got free food! I found a roomie I liked and lived with here the last three years of school. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in biology with a minor in psychology. And now I need a job!

All about me, part 2

2009-04-03T21:11:00.006-07:00

Then I went to high school. I had a few different looks. For a while, I had long hair and wore a alot of khakis. Then one summer I rediscovered jeans. It was glorious! We didn't always get along, and it was sometimes impossible to find jeans that fit right, but all women have this problem. I still had long hair when I found jeans. The next summer, two things happened. I found Hot Topic, and I saw RENT. Hot Topic inspired my clothes, and RENT inspired my hair. I cut it to my shoulders, and came back to school wearing all black.
My high school was also small, about 900-1000 people grades 7-12. When you live in Minneapolis, that's a small school! Because of the size, and fact that everyone had been going to school together practically since kindergarten, you pretty much knew everyone, at least by sight. I didn't hang with the "popular" crowd, but I was popular in my own way. People knew who I was and occasionally took notice. This was obvious when I came back to school dressed in black, like in the above photo. I never wore dark makup, and had naturally really blond hair, so I never really looked goth, but it was a drastic change from the previous year.

Well, I graduated 3rd in my class, and went on to college.

All about me, part 1

2009-04-03T20:53:00.006-07:00

My name is Kira, I believe you have figured that out already. I am 23, I believe that has already been established as well. I started off something like the picture up there on September 2nd. Then I grew up. I went to elementary school, where I wasn't terribly popular, but I had friends that were bigger than me and stuck up for me. I'm rather opinionated, and don't get along with everyone, so having intimidating friends is a must. My school was small, K-6 together, even though we are in the city. I did well in school, it was easy. I was short, and kinda chubby, but life was good enough.

Today at work

2009-04-02T16:46:00.003-07:00

So, I work at a large chain retail store. Needless to say, working registers are essential to the proper and smooth functioning of said store. Well, today those registers stopped working. We couldn't sign in, could ring anyone through, couldn't even look up prices. We had to hand write everything out, hoping that either the price was on the item (which it isn't 9 times out of 10), or wait for someone to get done with the hand-held device that we can use to look things up on. Those were still working, thank God, or we might have had to close down the store!

I stayed an extra half hour to help out at the registers, and when I left the registers still weren't working. Here's hoping they start soon, or it's going to be a very long night for the people still there.