Bar Study

Bar Study

Another day at work. Another employee calling in sick so I had to work the register. I don't like that part of retail. People are difficult. And I get worn out quickly trying to small talk with everyone. I suck at small talk.

Then, after a several hour nap and a no-cook dinner of crab and cucumber wrap with ranch dressing, it was time for our weekly Bible study at Jackson's Sports Bar. No, really. Denise and I are quite proud of ourselves. We've finished Genesis as of last evening, and will be moving on to Exodus Saturday. Jacksons has good crinkle fries. Needed fry sauce though.

Then kareoke. Another great evening. Minus Mexi-pro getting completely hammered. But Metal/Hella/Pro-pro showed up for the first time in months, which was awesome. He must take naps on tuesdays every week. Hail, hail the gang's all here!

Alright, back to the grindstone.

Post-Christmas Jubalation

Post-Christmas Jubalation

Last night I rushed home from Seattle for a semi-annual meeting of the girls' night out. Bean called and was only going to be in town until this morning. So I had Denise do the calling while I tried to make it over the pass quickly. Two years ago we met at the Barrel House, but the lateness of the evening being a factor, we opted to hang out at my place this time. Unfortunately sans multiple bottles of wine and Godiva hot chocolates. We did have a pot of Pecan Praline coffee and some leftover Christmas exchange cookies.

We talked for about 5 hours about everything under the sun. Well, ok, we didn't cover that much ground. Mainly recent flings, new boyfriends, related miscelaneous, I talked about the Calzones, Denise had stories of Oklahoma!, Bean and I exchanged teaching anecdotes, and we ended with a rather heated discussion about Harry Potter.

I'm glad I've stayed in touch with everyone. And it's great when we get to meet up again.

What it takes to make a Pro blush

Just what would it take to make a Pro blush?

I think that the Calzones need to do a cover of Bette Davis Eyes just for the sake of these lyrics:

She's precocious
And she knows just what it
Takes to make a pro blush

So this morning,

So this morning...

I awoke to knocking on my door, and thought it was Nancy. So I dragged myself up and opened the door. Standing in my hallway was the jail force work crew and their warden.

Nine men saw me in a pair of black lace boy shorts and a white tank top. This has capped off my week.

Sleep...FInally

Sleep...Finally

I got nine hours of sleep last night after four nights insomnia lasting anywhere from 2-4 hours. Not being able to breathe is a pain.

Today we skipped prayer breakfast. The mission staff is on vacation now, so we felt we could use a break, too. It was nice to sleep in.

Last night I watched "While you were Sleeping." It's a good flick.

Today is more of the half off sale. The merchandise is starting to clear out, finally. We've been needing to dejunk this place for a while. Once we get the trees down in January we're going to be able to rearrange the store. It will be nice to refresh the place. It's been just stuffed full of things since thanksgiving.

Hopefully my lunch break will be at New Thai today.

The Voiceless Wonder

The Voiceless Wonder

I have a killer cold. Exacerbated, I'm sure, by the fact that half of our building isn't heated, and band practice. The only bummer with being an "above the garage" band is trying to play in sub-freezing temperatures. Sunday Mini-pro had the heat cranked from 8:30 until noon, and it was still unbearably cold. I do alright because I pile on the layers. I'm not sure why the guys still show up in t-shirts. Amazing amounts of machismo or something. Speaking of which, today I dressed for the arctic to go to the annual gift givaway at the youth center. All hands on deck. The boiler has been out for weeks, so we were told to come prepared. They didn't send out a second memo telling us they'd brought in propane heaters. So I showed up in my two pair of long underwear, nylons, jeans, three shirts, wool sweater and two pairs of socks, and it's the warmest I've been since the freeze happened.

This half off sale is going well. I'm tired of Christmas retail, and I don't think I've told a single person "Merry Christmas." The Christmas station finally got bored of the same 15 songs and have started playing the Muppets and Barbra Streisand's Christmas album. And the Oakridge boys. We've had trees up since September, so I'm a little Christmas-ed out. I almost didn't put a tree up in my place. Last week an entire box of victorian ornaments in white, pink, and red came in, so I took them upstairs and filled a four foot. We've sold almost all of our pre-decorated trees today. Note for next year, instead of selling boxed trees, we should just decorate them all and sell them for an obscene amount of money. At least the smaller ones.

My last day of teaching was today. Two week break! Hurrah! In the absence of my voice (I'm singing notes I'm not capable of hitting) we watched the Disney 12 Days of Christmas. I saw it three times.

No symphony chorus tonight, so I have a few hours to sit and read before the Tuesday Evening Activities commence. I hear we're forgoing Jackson's in favor of the Kareoke competition at Suzie's Saloon. Sean and Angela are both in the finals. Denise and I have yet to come to a concensus about where to have Bible Study beforehand.

Mary Hunt Revisited

Mary Hunt Revisited

I had to go to the bank again. True confessions time for all of you financially confident ones out there. I had an unexpected expense, then let my accounts go for a bit while I was out of town, and realized I'd gone over too late to stop a three check landslide (ouch). So today I went to the bank to see if any of my overdraft charges could be waived. Luckily one could.

The guy I was working with was very polite. As long as I was there I wanted to get a truly free checking account (My California one was free as long as I had direct deposit, but I don't anymore), and see if there was anything that would link overdraft into my savings, instead of a credit card. He said there was, but with a minimum daily balance of $1,000. Ha. As if THAT'S ever going to happen on my paycheck. Anyway. So he kept pushing the credit card option, which I don't want to do because in college that was the beginning of my debt landslide. I continued to "Roll over" things from my checking onto my credit card, and I maxed it out three times, my limit was increased, and I continued spending. So that isn't really an option for me. I'd rathe rpay the occasional overdraft than be tempted to spend money that isn't there. Once he heard about that he kept pressuring me "Based on my financial history." But he wouldn't believe me when I said that I've had things under control for a while, and it isn't really a problem anymore. I mean, one landslide in a year isn't bad compared to my college years. But he only saw me for what I had been, not the progress I'd made, and I'm so frustrated!

Luck of the Pink Sweater

Luck of the Pink Sweater

I have a pink sweater. It was a present for my birthday. It happens to be the softest sweater ever made. Turtleneck, long bell bottom sleeves, the bottom cuts right across my hips. The sleeves are a little long for me, but it's like a cuddle sweater I used to wear with (gasp) leggings in front of the fireplace in winter when I was little. All in all the perfect article of clothes for me.

My luck began the first time I put it on. At my early birthday party a few days after Thanksgiving. I bowled well for starters. But that could have been a fluke. Later that evening, Grant hugged me goodbye. Then hugged me again. And a third time. "Man, that is the softest sweater ever. I'm going to just take it with me."

Tuesday I wore it again to kareoke. A total stranger came up and asked if I would dance with him. I did.

I've worn the sweater several times since then, and each time something like this has happened. So, I'm going to start a chronicle of the Luck of the Pink Sweater. Starting tonight. Because I'm not feeling well, and my pink sweater is just the thing.

Sick

Sick

My lovely roommate decided to share her even lovelier cold with me. I worked half a day and then retired at 3 for a several hour nap. I'm taking the day off tomorrow. Stupid sore throat/headstuffiness/eye itching/body aching cold.

Bored at Work

Bored at Work and Running like Crazy

Today is another one of those packed full and overlapping days. Today we got up early for our 9am tutorial on the new alarm system. I showered last night and put my hair in rollers to take a few minutes off the morning ablutions, and woke up with a serious case of 80's hair. It has been tamed. Barely.

I relied on Sharon, Lois and Brahm today for a lesson plan. My entire semester of teaching is on their live concert video, so it was nice not to have to think or entertain for a day. My 1st grade overachiever made sure I knew that they didn't know any of these songs...but the next song was "Fish and Chips and Vinegar" so that put the end to the frantic hands in the air. They really liked "Jenny Jenkins." And I still have half of the video left to use for another day. My John Denver and the Muppets Christmas album is going to take care of the rest of my classes until Christmas break.

Then I ran to Gilbert to pick up old Wilson band uniforms. Our "Drummer Drumming"'s costume needed some attention. I hope he's my size. I grabbed the one that fit me. I am about the size of the average 5th grader. As my tourmates told me as I got lost in a crowd of schoolchildren touring a museum in Sacramento.

They played the Muppet's 12 days of Christmas on the Christmas station about an hour ago. That made my afternoon. Even though in general hearing that song, after singing it six times a day, three days a week, and playing learning games with it, makes me want to curl up in a ball, rock back and forth, and mutter gibberish (Too many rings, precious, only need one...).

My big triumph yesterday was: During the dress rehearsal all of my kids sang all twelve days and impressed the heck out of the other faculty that they all knew it. (Ok, true confessions, my kindergarteners got a little lost after 8 Maids a Milking ... but they sang REALLY LOUDLY on FIVE GOOOOLD RINGS!)

I'm blogging between trips to bring stuff in from outside. It's COLD out there. Duh. The freezing fog can stop. Can't. Feel. My. Fingers.

Tonight is my Christmas Program. Finally. Then Symphony Chorus, if I make it to any of it, then Bible study and finally, yay, kareoke. Which I rarely partake in, but it's fun to watch the pros get up there.

Brrrrh. Three trips that time.

Alright, I guess I need to go do stuff. Like finish that pot of coffee I brewed. Pecan Praline. Wouldn't want that to go to waste.