Sunday, November 16, 2008

Opposites weekend

Friday night and all day Saturday-bad.
Sunday-amazing.

Friday and Saturday-worked the friday night shift, went home and spent the night getting the crap kicked out of me by my doggie nephews who don't know they're too big to share a bed, then worked a double filled with pissy coworkers and hordes of holiday shoppers on top of the usual Saturday craziness. Bad points also include finding out that I couldn't use christmas lights and ornaments when I decorate at work this week, buying snacks and being too tired to eat them by the time I got home, realizing the whole dry-winter-hands thing has started, and spending another night getting kicked, shoved and woken up by my aforesaid doggie nephews. Side note: I love these dogs more than you would believe. I just can't stand sleeping with them.

Sunday: got to church only 3 minutes late (which is 2 minutes early in Glenn time) got to see some of my besties and had one bestie come home with us and hang out this afternoon. Listened to my new cd that Ben made for me- awesome. Both the cd and Ben, I mean. Spent time with Uncle Timmy and Aunt Mel. Had some cheap strawberry wine, eggnog and coffee (not at the same time) and Tate's amazing chocolate cake. Sugar overload, what? Browsed the newspaper and found that a cd I've wanted to find is at target AND on sale. Remembered a favorite version of a Christmas carol, which has now been added to my playlist. By far the best thing about today though, was hanging Christmas lights with my dad. We haven't always hung Christmas lights at this house. I remember at our old house, being little and looking out on this big, primary-colored bulbs. You know those ones that are considered to be a little bit retro now? Those ones. But this house isn't conducive to Christmas lights hanging. This house does not have a straight roof line reachable by stepladder. Nope, to hang lights at this house, you have to use a very tall ladder on very uneven ground, getting poked and scratched by multiple vindicative bushes perhaps getting back at you for the pruning you did this summer. But that's what we did a few years ago, and it's been a tradition ever since. Untangling the white icicle lights and lining them up in neat lines on the driveway, setting up the ladder and getting to work. We make a pretty kickass lights-hanging team, if I do say so myself. Like, if hanging Christmas lights was an art, my dad and I would be the masters. Dad hangs the lights on the really high parts, I hang the lights behind the bushes, and we do the rest together. Slipping the wires around each hook and carefully stretching out each white strand. Making the inevitable run to the store for more Christmas lights. Hanging a giant wreath on the huge oak tree by the windows. Finally stepping back and admiring our work-a bright white glow envelopes the house in perfectly slightly-looped strands, and peeking out from the wreath are those big, bright, colorful bulbs, almost exactly the same as the ones I remember. You know that saying "Some things never change?" I'm glad that Christmas lights are one of those things.
It's not really the lights that makes "lights hanging day" one of my favorite days of the year, though. I do love my Christmas lights, don't get me wrong. I love driving in after work and seeing them light up the yard, and I love looking out at them with a cup of hot tea in my hand and being surrounded by my family and feeling like there's nowhere in the world that I'd rather be. Why I really love lights hanging day is the fact that I get to do them with my dad. With his insanely busy schedule and my mildly crazy one, we don't get to spend a whole lot of time together. When we hang the lights, we get to talk and laugh and listen to Christmas carols. We watch our fingers turn cold-purple together. (Did I mention that ladder is metal? Holding onto it in the interest of self or dad-preservation ensures self and dad-preservation, but it's mighty cold.) We get to catch up on stuff we haven't gotten to say, and we get to spend time together with just him and I. And I wouldn't trade that for anything.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

All sorts of random goodness

Today is a miserably gray, cold day. I have a crap ton of homework to do, a shift in the writing lab ahead of me and not enough change for a soda. But I'm in a fantastic mood! Reason for this mood include, but are not limited to-

1. My discovery of an awesome, makes you loud out loud blog at waiterrant.net. A formerly anonymous waiter spills about what serving is like in a upscale restaurant in new york, working as both server and manager. Funny, funny stuff. If you work or have ever worked in a restaurant, it's hilarious. Sit in the comp lab grinning like an idiot at the computer screen funny.

2. Updating my playlist to include Christmas carols! yay!! I know some people think it's too early (read: most people) but I can't wait to put up Christmas lights and make Christmas goodies and see all the decorations at the mall and all that good stuff pertaining to holiday cheer.

3. The fact that I'm quickly catching up on the homework that fell by the wayside over my amazing weekend. Side note: the weekend was worth the catch up time! Hanging out with the whole family, celebrating my dad's last day at his job and a lil bro's birthday, watching my brother in law's fight (who did awesome), having a photo shoot in the christmas decoration aisles of Target with Tate and laughing like idiots...good times and worth every moment of the desperate catch up that I'm playing now. Well, not *right now,* cuz I'm blogging. But the catch up I'm supposed to be doing. That I'm gonna go do now.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

A good day.

What a day, huh? Record voter turnouts. A historic election either way. Free coffee from Starbucks.
I voted. I filled in the bubbles and that was it. What's done, is done, right? All that's left to do is pray and keep my fingers crossed that Indiana and Virginia turn red. It's a strange, teetering feeling. This time tomorrow, we'll know who our next president is going to be and our whole world could shift. Wow. Yikes.

On a lighter note-getting up early actually means I accomplish stuff on my all-day days. Tuesdays, I usually get up, go to school, go to work, come home and go to bed. This morning, I got up, voted, went to Starbucks (see: above.) did some birthday shopping, bought and listenened to a Christmas Carols cd all the way to Ankeny and then to school. Working in the writing center listening to someone say she wasn't sure where to vote. (maybe that's something you should've figured out before November 4th, hmm?) Then off to work, then home to watch the election results. So this Tuesdays more than a little fuller and a lot better than most.

Also, I found out Tate did an amazing job on her literature midterm and made her big sister proud, AND she and I came up with an absolutely fabulous, fantastic, wonderful idea that has me excited for the month of November.

Anyway, first-time voting, free coffee and unexpected girl time makes for a pretty awesome Tuesday.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Hello, cold season.

I hate colds. Not as much as I hate the flu, but I hate every runny nosed, foggy headed, tired, achy, irritable minute of having a cold. I hate going to work with a cold. Every minor grievance or petty annoyance, every b-witchy customer or complaining coworker, everything that usually gets brushed away in light of how much I really do like my job-yeah, with a cold, i'm too short tempered to deal with it and end up wanting to scream and/or cry. I'm too foggy headed to be as on top of things as I usually am, and that annoys me too. Mom made me some horrific death-potion that's supposed to cure what all ails you. Lemon, garlic, honey, fresh ginger-it doens't sound too bad, does it? well, it is.
However, the fact that she hand grated and chopped and peeled all these ingredients for me is what makes me feel better. As are the mashed potatoes she made, and the box of teddy grahams she bought me. Little kid, what? :D
Well, I think pajamas, peppermint tea and watching a good dvd are in order....

~Sickie

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Optimism

Reasons to be happy today include, but are not limited to,
The beautiful weather. Bright blue sunshine and a temperature so perfect I didn't mind the walk from Elings to Rasmussen, even with my ginormous bag hitting my knees and attempting to cripple me.
Happy memories. In philosophy class today, instead of thinking about Descartes, my mind inexplicably picked up on a memory that made me smile. For the life of me, I don't remember what it was-just that it had Tate and I in it and we were laughing.
Good music. Melodies wrapping around you, blocking out the world when you want to simply by turning the music up. Plus, you look cool with headphones in and you know it.
My favorite clothes-my sister jeans, my striped lightweight sweater and my yellow converse. That's like pulling on a smile and a hug at the same time.
The fact that Tate's gonna be here in 30 minutes so we can go get soda and chill in the writing lab before I have to tutor.
The fact that after *that*, i'm going to go celebrate one of the coolest girls in the world's birthday, at my favorite restaurant in the world, with some of my favorite people in the world.
and then after THAT, I'm going to go to a cooking club with my big sister, who also happens to be one of the coolest girls in the world, and also happens to be on the short list of my favorite people in the world.
Lists. Not many things can perk me up than making lists of reasons to be happy, or keep me organized like lists of all the crap I have to do, or make me feel guilty when I ignore them than lists do. I still like them.
That I just found the absolutely-perfect-Christmas-gift for some of my people, and perfect bday presents for Tytom and Richard.
That the $50 purse I've been coveting is now $12.50 on Target.com/clearance. Yippee. Good things DO come to those who wait.
That I've been blessed to be able to go to school. Even though I whine about homework, and heaven help you if you speak to me on Friday between 7 a.m and 12:50, I do love this place and everything I get to do. Keep your eye out for the new issue of Bifrost, GVC's literary mag, coming out in the spring-guess whose name is gonna be under the "Editor" slot? This girl.
Opportunities. Whenever I see something cool or artistic or beautiful or admirable, I think "I wish I had gotten to do that." Then I realize I've got all the time God's given me to do just that. I could learn to play the violin, I can watch those films and read those books, I can write that story, and I can travel wherever the heck I want. I can volunteer my time, I can learn to quilt, I can rescue a puppy. The world is pretty much a limitless possibility at this point, and I still have my family to come back to to ground me. How many people can say that?
Grape soda. This one needs no explanation.
Good hair days. Neither does this one.
Trick-or-treating. I can't wait to take the sibs out to hear them tell lame jokes and giggle and get handfuls of candy, especially since I've placed dibs on all the Snickers.
Getting homework done ahead of time. I am thisclose to having all my homework done that's due between now and Monday morning. Two response papers and one journal entry to go, and this girl is a free bird.
Thanksgiving. Can I put this one on here when I've just put down trick-or-treating? Actually, it's my list, so I'm gonna go ahead and put the day before Thanksgiving on here too. There isn't another day in the year that I'm as happy and secure as when I'm standing in the kitchen with my mom and sisters the day before Thanksgiving, baking up goodness and listening to christmas carols. Then comes Thanksgiving itself, which is full of cinnamon rolls, parade watching, more food, Day-after-Thanksgiving ads, and the best part-being surrounded by family and friends. And it's *justaroundthecorner.*
The fact that I'm 2/3rds of the way through the semester, and after that, only one semester left til I graduate. I love what I've learned and gotten to do, but I am ready to see what comes next. Real life? Grad school? Homeless-with-an-English-degree? who knows, but I can't wait to find out.
The fact that we get to vote next Tuesday. When you think about how few the years between now and when some of us didn't get to vote, it makes me that much more thankful for the opportunities we have now. No matter who's elected in 6 days, I'm still going to be proud of this country.
The fact that Brandon and Ty are coming home from IA city for the weekend in 1.5 weeks.

Well, I guess I should get back to that whole homework thing. But I'm keeping the headphones in, cuz even though I'm not blogging anymore, I still want to look cool.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Awkward Turtle

So I realized today-my life tends to be a series of awkward moments. Pretty much whatever I do, I realize at some point that some aspect of whatever I did could have been done better. Then there's always that period of decision-should I go back and explain myself, or try to subtly bring it up in conversation so they'd know what it is that I really meant, etc, etc. Maybe I should just drop it. Maybe I should blog about it in the hopes that people will read it, and the next time I do something stupid, they'll be like "Oh yeah...Bri said she often does stupid, awkward things. That's just her. I'm sure she didn't mean to blow me off or belittle me." That's really my hope of what happens.

I also realized that my reading list has grown and grown and grown, but I'm not knocking stuff off very fast. So I'm going to write it down and possibly add to it, and just maybe actually get reading.

1.Winesburg,Ohio-Sherwood Anderson
2.A Farewell to Arms-Hemigway
3.The Old Man and The Sea-also Hemingway!
4.In Our Time-Hemingway again.
5.The Sun Also Rises-the last of my Hemingway list.
6.Maggie-Stephen Crane
7.The Red Badge of Courage-Stephen Crane
8.The Natural-Malamud
9.Anna Karenina-Tolstoy
10. The Grapes of Wrath-Steinbeck
11.Tortilla Flat-Steinbeck
12. Collected works by Flanner O'Connor. (Note: I have bought copies of most of 1-12, using my prize money from my poem. That was about two years ago. I have not read them.)
13. Not My Will. The book from Katie that I borrowed probably a year ago and haven't read yet.
14. Brisinger. 170 pages in to a 700 page book. Read in the 30 minute intervals that I'm doing, I might have it done by Christmas. Thankfully, my friends thath have read it understand the importance of NOT SPOILING THE ENDING.
15. Mere Christianity-C.S. Lewis.
16. The Year of Magic Thinking- Joan Didion
17. Two or Three Things I Know for Sure-Can't remember the author
18. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius-Dave Eggers
19. Of Mice and Men-Steinbeck
20. Secret Life of Bees-Too lazy to look up the author
21. The LOTR trilogy- J.R. R. Tolkien
22. Something, ANYTHING, by James Joyce, basically so I can say I read him.
23. Something by Salman Rushdie, for the same reason as 22. And because I think I can name-drop and sound pretty pretentious.
24. Pere Goriot- Honore de Balzac
25. Moby Dick
26. The Great Gatsby
27. To Kill a Mockingbird
28. Slaughterhouse-5
29. Love In the Time of Cholera
30. Water for Elephants (just because I'm behind on reading the NY Times bestsellers that were hip and cool to have read and talk about a year ago (example-20,29,30...) doesn't mean I don't want to read them and be hip and cool TOO.)
31. Lolita
32. Animal Farm
33.One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
34. Reading Lolita in Tehran
35. The KJV Bible, all the way through
36. Most of Shakespeare's major works
37. One Hundred Years of Solitude
I think that's where I'll stop for now. Yes, I am an English senior, and I have not read those books on that list. That was basically a 37-point admission of guilt right there.

I shall also start a list of books I want to add to my collection. This is not a hint for birthday presents, it's more just a reminder to myself so I can keep track of the books I'm coveting. Pretty much, anyway.
1. The Chronicles of Narnia
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy
3. The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson collections of fairy tales. Notably, the ones at Borders that are beautifully bound and presented, at $19.99 each. I have coveted these for a while. I would not mind these ones as a birthday gift.

I guess that's really it for now. I'll wait to add to this one after I've read the ones on my other list and decided if it's worth owning.

What a strange tangent this post took.

Monday, October 13, 2008

...

...I am so tired today. My wonderful, crazy-filled weekend has caught up to me. Blech. On the plus side, I did just finish a Spanish quiz in 15 minutes, because I'm awesome. AND i'm fairly caught up on homework so I don't really have to do any homework today, also because I'm awesome.
The girl next to me is looking at photos on the computer, and unexplicably, I keep looking over there. I think I'm weirding her out.
Has anyone seen the lineup for movies this fall? all i can say is Yippee!! or i guess I could also say YAYYY!! "Holla!" might also be appropriate. There are some truly fantastic looking movies coming out, AND i just found out that Leatherheads came out on DVD last month! So much goodness, I don't know what to do with myself! Except maybe stop by the movie store tonight!
Oh, and I hope everyone notices that I added new music to my playlist, and I finally uploaded the 500 pictures on my camera, so yesterday was productive. Yes, I do qualify doing these things as actually accomplishing something.
I think it's time to go get some caffeine. at least i ALMOST made it to noon without it.