The Interview That Really Wasn't

As I told Jason, apparently the reason I came to Boston was to pull together the materials for my DC Bar application. I didn't really have an interview it seems. Oh sure, I put my suit on and had the jitters and took the T down to the firm and met with one of the partners. But as soon as we sat down in her office she basically said that she saw my resume and thought it was interesting and wanted to meet with me, but who knows when they'll be hiring again, but it's good to have resumes on file.

Um...K.

So we chatted for 20 minutes or so and I told her about me and my experience and she told me about the firm and said she'd pass on my info to the health care people too.

Afterwards I stopped by the office of the attorney I interned for last year to say hi. When I explained the not-so-much interview to her she looked flabbergasted and said, "Are you kidding? They had you come up for that? That's bizarre." After a pause she said, "Well, maybe they're going to be hiring someone in the near future and wanted to get you in to talk to kind of feel you out." So that's a thought I suppose.

I'm trying not to feel too discouraged. I liked the firm a lot from their webiste, and everything the partner told me today just confirmed my initial impression. It sounds like they would be a great firm to work for. But that hopeful, maybe they'll hire me feeling is obviously gone since, you know, they're not hiring.

On the other hand, right now I have about 27 resumes out there and I've only heard back from 5 firms. I know one firm that I sent a resume to in DC is actually hiring because the HR person called me asking me to send them a transcript and writing sample too. And next week I'll get on the job boards again and send out some more. One young attorney I was talking to who did this process not too long ago told me that she set a goal for herself to get out 3 resumes a week. Since January 1 I haven't had a problem meeting that standard, so I just have to keep it up.

It's been great to be here this week though. I turned in my swearing in materials and am officially a barred attorney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts! I got my law school certification and my certificate of good standing from Mass to turn in with my DC Bar application, which is complete except for entering in the date that I was admitted to the Mass Bar. Tomorrow when I get home I'll print out the DC Bar app and Friday I'll head down to the DC Court of Appeals and hand it in, thus making me eligible for contract attorney work and maybe I'll be able to not drain my bank account in between every paycheck for once.

I also got to have lunch and dinner yesterday with 2 different friends. If anyone is wondering, the Sesame Shrimp Salad at John Harvard's is excellent. I'm also a big fan of their chicken pot pie.

I've also had a good time with Jason. It's almost like we're a normal couple, hanging out every day, running errands together, being all, well, normal. Like last night he had a choir practice so I went to dinner with Santa Cruz Jenn (who is Cambridge Jenn while doing a post-doc this year) and then met up with him afterwards. We came back to his place and watched a movie (Shaun of the Dead. Hilarious! I was only too grossed out when one of the cast was, um, disemboweled. Ewww! But they're zombies, so that's to be expected). Normal is so nice when it's just been a weekend here and a weekend there for the past 5 months.

So, Um, That Was Kind Of Weird

Something weird happened today as I was sitting in the dining room of my new hair stylist getting my hair cut. I was checking out the titles of the books on her bookshelf as she trimmed away when suddenly the room went kind of skewed. It was only for an instant, but for that instant I had a full sense of what people are talking about when they say "the room was spinning." Weird, right?

When I was younger I remember family members talking about how Nana had vertigo. When I looked it up in my Funk & Wagnalls (yes, I owned my very own Funk and Wagnalls) it only confused the matter more because I got the idea that it meant you get sick because things seem to spin around when you're up high. So could Nana not stand on stepstools or ladders or what? At 5' 10" Nana was a giantess in her small Missouri farming community, but I don't consider 5' 10" to really be a high place. So why did she get vertigo?

Of course seeing the Alfred Hitchcock movie several years later just confused the matter for me.

I think what it means is that things just spin, period, without you necessarily having to be up high. So is my spinning head this morning a touch of vertigo? How do you know if you have vertigo? Do I have a propensity for vertigiousness because my Nana had it?

On the upside, my hair is cute again! I am so thrilled. I haven't had my hair cut in 8 months. 8 MONTHS! For the past few years I've been getting my hair cut on average every 3 months. Then right before graduation I got my hair cut, dyed and highlighted, which lasted me through the graduation celebration, the Bar and my post-Bar trip. I fully intended to get a trim before heading to DC in the hopes that I would look stylish and impressive for any potential interviewers, but it didn't happen.

Days, weeks and eventually months passed with my hair getting longer and more scraggly. I sent an email to the ward listserv and got several hairdresser recommendations, but I just never got around to it/didn't want to fork over the money. It occurred to me last week that I should probably get my hair cut before my interview on Wednesday so I at least feel confident and pulled together. And lo and behold, this week a girl sent an email to the listserv advertising her sister's hair styling services. She just had a baby and is working out of her home and is super cheap.

Sign? Why, yes, I think so.*

I went over to her apartment this morning. When she opened the door I was duly impressed by her cute haircut and sassy highlights despite having given birth a mere 7 weeks ago. That's dedication to style, people. I knew I was in good hands.



* I'm just going to say everything that happens in my life from now on is a sign. It's more fun that way.

I've Hit the Website Wall

I was going to write an entry last night, but I was just too darn tired and wound up dozing off in front of the TV watching a Tivoed episode of Waiting For God at around 10:30 PM. Some of you may say, "Why, Kelly, 10:30 is a perfectly respectable time to be dozing off." And I would reply, "Yes, that may be true, but I'm usually a night owl who goes on 6 or 7 hours of sleep and I don't need to be up until 7 AM because I have fine-tuned my morning routine so that I can shower, eat breakfast, and catch some Headline News and my daily Weather Channel report all before I catch the bus to get me to work at 9. Plus, I usually wind up talking to Jason at 11 or 12."

Last night I had a feeling reminiscent of hitting that wall last July when I was studying for the Bar. That wall where no more information can be crammed into my head and all further reading and lectures are just clicking sounds. See, I've been writing a website. No, not this website, the website for the firm. (Huh, I never put that whole "this is a website and that is a website and maybe that website is the reason I'm not writing much lately on this website" thing together before). I did some writing for the firm's website before Christmas, but the majority has been done since the holidays. Right now the website document is 104 pages, and I think I probably drafted at least 60 of those.

Basically over the past month or so I have had a crash course in elder law, trusts and estates law, and disability law. I knew some of the trusts and estates stuff from the Bar and from the class I took last Spring, but in a more general sense, not in the detail that is needed to fully explain the concepts. This is the way it's gone down: the attorneys give me a topic, I research it for a couple of hours, and then write write write some little synopsis that is client-friendly. I've learned a massive amount of information, but as of last night, my brain is full. One of the attorneys and I were making final edits to a section last night and as she was explaining a fine point that needed to be added, I realized that I no longer had any idea what she was talking about. Good thing it's almost done.

My one consolation is that unlike the Bar, I don't have to spew all of this information forth on a 2-day exam in the next week or so. I just tuck it away and hope I can sound smart if someone in a future interview should happen to ask me about it.

Should I Feel Bad About My Illegal Car?

Or reasons why it's good to be a sweet-looking girl with a nice smile and the ability to make her eyes look very big and pitiful.

I took my car to get inspected on Saturday. It didn't pass the safety inspection, but I got the sticker anyway. My car has had a light on on the dashboard for, oh, about a year. I've read on some message boards about it and apparently it's rather common in my car and often ends up being nothing more than a short and not a real indication that there's a hazard. I've had oil changes and been on road trips in the meantime and the car is ok. The ONLY way I can get it checked out is to pay $80 to the dealer so they can hook it up to their extra-fancy, super-secret Ford machines to diagnose the problem. $80 bucks! And that's not even to fix it or anything, but just to hook it up. Those of you who've been reading for awhile know I've never been what you'd call "well-to-do" and $80 seems rather extreme in my mind for not even fixing the problem.

So Saturday the guy came into the waiting area at the gas station and told me that the light was on and asked if I had a place where I could take it because that was a problem for the safety inspection. I'm sure I must have looked pitiful as I told him that when I was in Massachusetts I was told that only the dealer's special machines could figure out the problem and it would cost me $80 just to get my car hooked up to the machine. He said, "Hold on" and went out to try to hook my car up to their machines. No go. So I sat there waiting for him to finish the emissions check (which I passed fair and square) wondering where I was going to come up with $80 to get the light checked, not to mention whatever it cost to fix the thing if there was, in fact, a problem before January 31st.

The guy pulled my car out of the garage and I went out to meet him. He leaned in and said, "I'm going to pass you. But you have to get that checked as soon as you can." I nodded dumbly and thanked him profusely and drove off with my happy little inspection sticker on the windshield.

I'm feeling a little bad about this now. Like it was ok when I knew the light was on, but I still had a passing inspection sticker and knew I was fine according to the state. But now I've been told it's not ok, not really.

Here's the thing though. Last year the light was on and the Massachusetts gas station people had NO problem with it. I thought for sure it would come up, but they didn't mention it. Now, Virginia and Massachusetts have some sort of reciprocity going with their inspections so I figure it's not a huge deal if the Mass guys didn't even mention it. Of course, there's also the slim chance that my boys at my gas station in Cambridge let it slide because I always went there for gas and such. Hmm....

Well, I'm going to try not to feel too bad about it and just as soon as I am making a decent amount of money such that shelling out $80 for nothing more than hooking my car up to a machine doesn't make me choke and sputter with indignation, I'll get that light taken care of.

The Firm

It seems rather unfair that just as I'm getting really comfortable at the firm where I'm working, my last day is Friday. I've enjoyed being there, even though the atmosphere is pretty stressful at times. Not only is the workload crazy busy, but they just fired an attorney who basically didn't do anything for the four months that she worked there and they're trying to clean up her messes. A couple of clients have already terminated the firm because of their frustration with her.

Everyone else is great, though. We can be sassy and sarcastic and be appreciated for it - in fact it's encouraged, as long as the work gets done. The partner is from Newton, MA and thinks it's great that I went to BC. When we were writing up the employment manual he said that the inclement weather policy was whatever they said in Newton, MA. I replied that they never close the schools in Newton, MA and he said, "Exactly." So I typed up "Please refer to school closures in Newton, MA to determine whether the office will be open or not." My alternate policy was "The office might be closed due to inclement weather, but I wouldn't bet on it." He thought that was hilarious.

He can be a protective dad-type. On Friday he asked me if I was going to Boston over the coming weekend and I told him no, but I would be going in a couple of weeks. He looked concerned and asked me if Jason ever comes down here because it's not very fair for me to be the only one schlepping myself around (he sprinkles Yiddish words liberally in his conversation). I assured him that I go up to Boston one weekend a month and Jason comes down here another weekend. He looked satisfied and said that was alright then.

And here I have to say good-bye and start somewhere else. It's too bad they're not hiring another attorney because despite the stress and the craziness I would so apply for that job.

Knock On Wood and Don't You Be Counting Any Chickens

I got an interview. At a law firm. In Boston.

OK, now that I'm home I can tell the story. No names will be used, because I have learned much from Dooce. Actually it's not so much a story as a narrative sentence. Last week I sent out about 9 resumes to some smallish firms in Boston and today one of them called me to schedule an interview. Hurrah!

But here's the thing. It's like I was getting prepped for this starting yesterday. Yesterday I started emailing all of my temp agencies to let them know that my current assignment ends on the 20th. I got the impression from all of them that I should keep them posted but they'd really like to know when I get my DC Bar application in, and to be sure to fax them the stamped copy of the DC Bar application, and, oh yeah, how's that DC Bar application coming.

Yesterday afternoon I met with a woman over at the temp agency I'm working with right now. They place legal support staff, no attorneys, but it worked out pretty well this time. Originally I was hired to be the secretary, but after they hired their new secretary, they kept me on to do deeds and research and write articles for their website. Anyway, the temp agency lady seemed all hot and bothered about TWO prospective positions, both permanent. One was for a paralegal, one for a research assistant.

I told her that was great and all, but I would still be looking for a job as an attorney and I don't know if these people would want some sort of set commitment. She asked me if I would consider being hired on in this other capacity, if they could then bring me on as an attorney within 6 months. Yeah, ok lady, you go tell the law firms who they're hiring as an attorney. I'm sure they'll love that. I told her I was looking for a job as an attorney and that money was a factor as well, explaining to her how much I could potentially make once I get my DC Bar application in and that I have loans, etc. If she could work something out, fine, but I left there thinking, "I'm not holding my breath."

So I got back to work feeling kind of discouraged about my future in the DC legal scene. Basically I came to the conclusion that I need to get this DC Bar application thing done already. I started thinking about my options and concluded that maybe I could come up to Boston for a few days the week of the 23rd and show up at my law school and the Supreme Judicial Court to get my various certificates that I need for the DC Bar app. Just before I left work I emailed a woman at the SJC to find out how quickly I could get my Certificate of Good Standing if I turned in my swearing in materials in person.

Then things started falling into place. Last night I checked flights. Lo and behold Air Tran had just started a HUGE sale. It's the cheapest ticket I've seen in between here and Boston since Jason and I started with our bi-monthly trips. And it's only $50 to cancel. I figured if I got a temp job that week after all then I could cancel and it wouldn't be a huge deal.

This morning I had a reply from the woman at the SJC who told me I could get my Certificate immediately if I showed up and turned in all my materials in person.

About an hour later the firm called to schedule an interview.

Hmmm. I guess I'm going to Boston week after next.

Jason says I look for signs too much and I'm too fatalistic, but I just think that when everything falls into my lap in a tidy little package, it's not all happenstance. I'm not trying to decipher it really. I mean, maybe the firm and I will not click and it won't be the right job. But maybe this was the reason I needed to get up there to get the DC Bar app done. Or maybe the firm and I will rock each other's worlds. We'll see. Either way I'm excited that I'll be able to get the application done finally and I'm excited about the interview and I'm excited that I don't have to wait 3 weeks to see Jason after all.

Dance Dance Revolution

This is an awesome website, although if you're skittish about the booty talk, then I would suggest not clicking on any of the Booty Bass buttons.

It took me back to my days as a raver. Yes, your local good little Mormon girl has been to a few raves in her time. I was always the designated driver, but frankly I never felt like I needed any mind-altering substances to enjoy myself. In fact sometimes I would get so wrapped up in it that I think I would have been too overwhelmed with something else in my system. Just me and several hundred other people all writhing around to the beat in a huge smoky room (or one time on the fringes of the desert) with lights flashing everywhere. Soon it was 4 AM without me really realizing it.

There were also lots of good times in the Happiness Is Submission to God apartment* with me, Santa Cruz Jenn, a blue lightbulb in a ball-shaped Japanese lantern, and an Orbital CD.

I never dance anymore. Well, that's a lie. I dance in my bedroom. I dance in my bathroom. Just the other night I shook my booty a little to New Order when Jason and I were cooking dinner. I just don't dance so much in public anymore.


* On Euclid and 6th in Tucson there is a building with "Happiness is Submission to God" painted on the side. Jenn and I lived in one of the attached apartments. Yeah, how cool were we?**

** My apologies to Jordan for snagging her asterical comments, but they're very useful.

Will Work for Student Loan Payments

I was in Boston this weekend. I always feel so popular when I'm in Boston, and not just because I have a cuddly boy there who seems to think I'm neat. I go to church and I have friends. Check it out, I have FRIENDS! Friends who are happy to see me and tell me so. One said she always feels a little happier when I'm there at church with them. Yes, I'm sure she was exaggerating a bit, but that's not the point. It still made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I'm feeling a bit more positive, probably partly because it's been less than 24 hours since I've seen Jason.* But there are a couple of other reasons.

First, in the mail today I received instructions from Massachusetts telling me how to get sworn in remotely. According to them I just have to get sworn in via a method recognized by the jurisdiction where I am getting sworn in. Anyone happen to know how you can get sworn in in DC? Do I have to go to a judge, a clerk of court, a notary?

I'm still waiting to hear back from Mass as to whether I got the requisite 133 on the MBE. It would be nice if they'd just TELL US how we did on the MBE. What's the big secret? Other jurisdictions give people their scores when they tell them whether they passed or not. I'd kind of like to know, since the MBE was FREAKIN' HARD whether I barely scraped by and my essays made up the slack, or if I surprised myself and got in the 150's or higher. It would also make this whole waiving into DC process less complicated. But then they couldn't charge me $25 just to tell me whether or not I got a 133. Not to give me my actual score, mind you, but to say, Yes, you did get above a 133, or No, you didn't get above a 133.

Anyway...

What was the second thing...? Oh yeah.

Second, the job postings are looking up, in that firms are actually posting a job or two here and there. A couple of them actually want entry-level type people. For awhile the job board that I pay a monthly fee for was chock full of volunteer attorney positions, but no real jobs. I don't think a board that charges you a fee should be allowed to post volunteer projects when you can probably google volunteer + attorney + boston and come up with the same thing. Maybe I'll write a strongly-worded letter telling them exactly what I think about that.

Third, my temp job got extended until the 20th, which gives me one more week of a paycheck, which is always a good thing. I'm liking this job pretty well because they do a lot of health care and estate planning stuff. It reminds me a bit of what I did at my job while I was in law school. I'm researching and writing, but then they also have me drafting deeds and some other things that feel more useful. They got rid of an attorney at New Years (but they're not hiring another one), so I'm helping wrap up some of her cases. It's almost like lawyering! Sort of.


*Um, yeah, have I mentioned that I really like him? Oh, you noticed?

Blogging

I have come to the realization that there is a distinct lack of funny going on at Chez Blog Kelly. This time last year I had a couple of friends who told me they read my blog and it cracked them up and I should really write, which was my failsafe in the back of my head should the whole law thing not work out. Well, the law thing isn't working out yet, but I don't think I can fall back on my writing prowess since a) I don't think I can find anyone to pay me to write a blog, and b) my writing is dreary and dull lately.

I've come up with a couple of reasons why my blog is less lighthearted than it used to be.

1) I have a boyfriend now. I have to save all my funny for him so he will be continually entranced by my wit and think I'm the most interesting girl ever and, as a side benefit, not notice my expanding hips. He reads the blog too so I can't be all funny here and then go send him an email saying the same thing. I think he'd feel a bit unspecial.

2) Um, if you haven't noticed, my life just isn't really feeling all that lighthearted lately. I have student loans coming due that I have no possible way to pay and am sending off forbearance and deferment forms when what I really, really want to be doing is sending in payments so my debt will actually go away someday.

I'm making half of what I could be making because the freakin' state of Massachusetts still hasn't sent me the info on how to swear into the Mass Bar so I can send in my DC Bar application. I've called several times and have been told that it's coming. Never mind that I'm almost 98% positive that I gave them my new address so the fact that they sent my Bar results to my old address first and by the time it got forwarded to me I had missed the RSVP for the swearing-in ceremony is distinctly their fault.

My thighs and hips are expanding and I'm feeling like all that hard work I did last year was for nothing because I've basically gained it all back now. I'm not up to pre- and early-Boston weight, but I'm up nonetheless. And I just can't get myself out of bed at 5 AM to go swim, which is the best way my body loses weight, because I'm working all day and trying to look for a real job at night.

I'm really lonely here in DC. I talked about that before, but it's still true. However, I had dinner with a friend last week and got invited to a SCANDALOUS Adult Tupperware-esque Party (by a Mormon friend, no less) in a couple of weeks, so that has helped.

I'm continually discouraged in my job search. I get myself all psyched up, thinking I'm going to hit the job boards and send out resumes to firms and network with my contacts and SOMEthing will work out of course! Then I actually go to the job boards and realize that no one hires entry-level attorneys. I send out resumes and get a pile of thanks, but no thanks letters. I talk to my contacts and am told that the job market sucks (I'm paraphrasing).

This time last year I was stressed out, but I still had hope that I would find a job, that this move to DC would work out great. So I apologize for my blog being so bleh lately. I want to keep it going because it is a good outlet for me, but it's not as fun as it used to be for me either. I don't know...I guess I need to think about it.

Day 3 of No Sugar and Food Is Already Conspiring Against Me

Today at work we have a lovely selection of Ghiradelli chocolate squares, dark chocolate covered almonds, AND a Godiva chocolate selection. I curse thee, gods of sugar! Thou willst not tempt me with thy fine confections!

This has pointed out to me HOW MUCH crap I've been eating because there's always crap on the counter at work and why my hot butt pants officially fit again after being baggy for months. I draw consolation from the fact that even though this means I'm back up a size, at least my butt looks hot.

I discovered last night that the Gingerbread Cake on the stand right when you walk into Trader Joe's has sugar listed as the 5th ingredient! I figured that was good enough as I picked it up to take over to a friend's house for dinner. Step away from the Chocolate Midnight Cake and go for the Gingerbread Cake.

What the Neon Green Sticker On the Ford Explorer in Front of Me Said

"This car violates New York City parking laws. Your street was unable to be cleaned because of this car."

They don't kid around in New York. Not only do they give you a ticket, but they tag your car with a bright green, apparently unremovable sticker that tells the neighborhood why they have the dirtiest street in the city that week. Which sticker also explains why the anal-retentive neighbors have slashed your tires.

That's Right!

Your Nail Polish Color is Red

How you're unique: You have an incredible eye for style and art Why your style rocks: You are classic and classy - and that's hot! What this color says about you: "I'm smart, sassy, and sexy. And I know it."

What Color Nail Polish Best Fits You?

Here are a couple of pictures of the gingerbread house that Jason and I made in December.

I'm particularly proud of our cobblestone pathway of generic M&M's.

A New Year

It’s a new year, time for a new blog look. I’ve been feeling bored with the old one.

Resolutions? Anyone?

Resolution Number 1: I am seriously back on the diet and exercise wagon. I’m gaining weight, I’m feeling like crubbish. Starting tomorrow I’m on my no sugar plan again. I managed to not eat sugar except for one splurge day a month for 6 months in 2005. Everything kind of fell apart after the Bar Exam as I justified eating anything yummy in the name of celebration. Ironically I was in the best shape I’ve been in since college or so when I took the Bar Exam. I was swimming almost every day and eating very well. That's probably key to why even though I was stressed, I actually felt good about myself and managed to pass the Bar.

I bought some Haagen Daaz chocolate chocolate chip today to celebrate my last day of sugar. Tomorrow: no sugar, no white flour. AND I’m going to give no caffeine a shot too. Dum dum dum! We’ll see how that whole no caffeine thing goes. I may cave on that one.

Starting Monday, I’m working out again. That’s right! Pulling my lazy butt out of bed first thing in the morning.

Resolution Number 2: I need to figure out once and for all where I am going to be. I’ve been playing this back and forth game between Boston and DC for the past four months and all it’s done is make me feel flighty and alone.

I haven’t assimilated into my DC ward in any sense. It’s hard enough to find your place in a singles ward. Since I’ve been gone one weekend a month and generally sleeping in past my 9 AM Sacrament Meeting and going to a later ward on a second Sunday, I’m sure the ward is very concerned about my activity level. Well, if they’ve even realized I’m there at all.

Here’s the saddest part of all of this. It’s New Year’s Eve and I am home alone redoing my blog template. OK, actually the geek in me thinks redoing the blog template is fun, but the point is, I’m home alone. Jason and I couldn’t be together because it was too pricey. He asked me today why I wasn’t going out with anyone tonight and I pointed out to him that I have no friends here. Well, that’s not totally true. I do have some people I’m friendly with here, but not really anyone to hang out with on a regular basis. I took a step outside of my introverted self yesterday though and asked a work friend what she was doing and if I could tag along. Unfortunately, she herself is crashing a gathering tonight and didn’t think it would be cool to bring a total stranger, which I agree with. (But on the upside, we might be getting together to do something later this week).

Anyway, as I feel myself spiraling further into this isolated depression, I know that trying to meet some people around here is key. And I need to get a job. That would help the depression a lot too. Soooo, Boston or DC? We shall see. I'll keep you posted.


OK, so these resolutions are sort of a bunch of little resolutions within resolutions. Basically right after I took the Bar I was on top of the world. I wasn't sure if I had passed, but I had completed the process and felt proud of that. I looked good and was feeling sassy. I was looking forward to moving to DC and the exciting adventures in lawyering that awaited me. Unfortunately the DC thing hasn't worked out as well as I'd hoped. But I'm getting back into my job search and something will come up. At the very least I'll finally get sworn into the Mass Bar, file my DC Bar application, and be able to make more than I am right now (that is, if the Mass Bar ever gets around to sending me the info I need to get sworn in. Last time I called they said it would be going out next week). Anyway, what I really want is to be back in the good place I was in a few months ago. That is my ultimate goal.

Those Crazy Mormons

I am back at work, mercifully migraine-free. Hallelujah!

I always think of this story when the Mormons Are So Weird stories turn to tales of polygamy.

During our study of late-19th century American Government my senior year of high school, we came across that Supreme Court case outlawing polygamy. Despite growing up in a 5-stake city, I was usually the only Mormon my friends associated with on a regular basis. Unlike everyone else in my ward who went to the neighborhood high school, I went to a high school in the middle of the city where the Mormon population was decidedly lower. I think there were probably 40 of us out of the 2000 or so students.

So when the teacher stopped his lecture on the polygamy case and looked contemplative for a moment, I knew I was in trouble. He began with, "Now I just don't understand this whole polygamy thing." {pause} "Is anyone here Mormon?"

My lone little hand slowly went up as my friends who knew my religion turned to look at me.

The teacher then proceeded to ask me in front of the entire class, "So what was up with that polygamy thing?"

Um.... Red-faced, I mumbled something about traditional families, more women than men, survival on the trek West, blah blah blah.

I still don't have a good answer for that one, but I must say that Mr. McAndrew could have taught a course on how not to win over a 17 year-old. (Between that and his diatribes on the Vietnam War with multiple pronouncements about all of his buddies who came home in body bags, the man had issues).

The good thing about me being outed as a Mormon in Government class is that I became known as "a cool Mormon" for the first time. I may also be cool because when we had a free day and everyone was drawing and playing Hangman, I wrote the counting part from "Kiss Off" by the Violent Femmes on the board.*


*Did I mention I went to a nerd high school? Yeah, that's key.

Back in DC

Yes, it's true. I'm back in DC, all alone in my little apartment. I am supposed to be at work, but I sent myself home sick. I had a headache yesterday and I thought it had gone away, but by the time I got to work this morning it was a full-fledged migraine. After an hour and a half of attempting to get work done, I admitted to myself that five minutes of work followed by ten minutes of cradling my forehead in my hand with my eyes closed was probably not the best recipe for productivity.

I did all of my remedies: ice pack, Coke Slurpee (something about the frozen caffeine usually nips the migraine in the bud), Excedrin, Ibuprofen in case it's being cause by tension in my shoulders. I had a veritable over-the-counter drug cocktail going on. Nothing was working, but now finally it seems to be gradually seeping away. I hope it goes away completely. One of the cruddy parts of this whole temping thing is that I get no sick days, so I got a whole hour and a half of pay today. That's not going to pay rent, now is it? At least it's a slow time at the firm because of the holidays so I don't feel like I'm completely leaving them in the lurch.

How cool is this? My dad's sisters gave him a coonskin cap for Christmas. Apparently when he was 8 or so he had the entire Davy Crockett ensemble, complete with buckskin shirt and pants. I would love a picture of that, but for now the picture of his mumble mumble-year-old self in the coonskin cap will suffice.

And here he is opening another present with glee:
He does glee pretty well, don't you think?

My mom showing off our Christmas PJs (she and I always have matching Christmas Eve PJs/nightgowns so we can watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Christmas movies in comfort and style . This year they were white thermals with blue flowers. Very cozy.)

My lovely olive wood holy family. A present from Jason.

And do you all know what this is from?

Department 56 had an A Christmas Story village this year, which my parents snatched up. The family's home even has the leg lamp in the front window. Fabulous!

The Haul

Do you remember coming back from Christmas break when everyone would ask everyone else, "So what did you get?" OK, well let's be honest, that still happens, doesn't it? I got:

• A pretty carved olive wood holy family (this isn't exactly the one I got, but it's similar)
• The Truth (with jokes) by Al Franken
• An Ansel Adams picture book and calendar
• Netflix gift subscription
• 2 purple cashmere cardigans (apparently there was a bit of a mix-up. My dad thought he had already bought the teal one so he got me another purple one. That's what gift receipts are for!)
• A pretty pink v-neck with sequins
• Cracker Barrel Christmas ornament. Seriously, it's a Christmas ornament shaped like the Cracker Barrel. It makes me giggle.
• The Princess Bride DVD
• Mushrooms (this is a tradition. I love mushrooms and used to steal some every time my dad opened a jar when he was cooking. One year my parents gave me a jar as a stocking stuffer. I've gotten some pretty much every year ever since.)
• A street sign that says "Swimmers Lane" that made my dad think of me and basically means I need to get my butt in gear and get back to the pool.

Anyone else? What did you get?

Tomorrow I am hitting the after-Christmas sales bright and early. I love shopping for Christmas decorations after Christmas because they're usually 75% off or something crazy like that. Target has a line of crimson and silver decorations this year that I'm hoping haven't been completely picked over. That's why I've got to wake up early. Well, the decorations and my favorite yarn that's on sale at Jo-Ann. And pretty much the entire inventory of Kohl's.

Merry Christmas!

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

What Is It About Spanish Class?

I have a recurring nightmare that pops back into my life periodically for no discernible reason. In the dream, it's coming up on finals time and I have a Spanish final coming up in a day or two. The only problem is, I went to the first day of class, and then kind of got caught up in the rest of my classes and life and all of that so I never made it back to class. In fact, the textbook is sitting in my locker with a perfectly unbroken spine. I usually spend most of the dream either crying or freaking out to a friend with a big ball of panic in my throat.

I had the dream last night and was so relieved to wake up and discover that not only do I not have a Spanish final tomorrow that I am woefully unprepared for, but in fact I am no longer in school and don't have any finals to prepare for ever again. So that's kind of nice. But it doesn't really make up for the sheer panic I felt while I was asleep. My subconscious needs to relax.

Harvey Says, "Merry Christmas!"

Sorry he's so blurry. It's really hard to get a good picture of him because apparently my hands shake so the flashless pictures are blurry, but he's really reflective, so I can't use the flash.

Isn't his Christmas schwag pretty?

Jason made me a bunch of Christmas CD's that I'm loving. There is one of Irish Christmas music and then several of Christmas choral music, including Nine Lessons and Carols from Kings College Chapel. The music is beautiful and there's something, I don't know, fancy about scripture read in a British accent.

Sacred choral music is Jason's little red wagon and he's trying to teach me about it, although my apathy is making me a slow learner. I think it's great that he loves it and I will go to concerts and support him and listen to it with him, but I don't feel the need to know all of the composers and be able to recognize in just a couple of notes who wrote the song because it's so typical of Vaughan Williams or whoever. Jason is expanding my horizons, though, and isn't that part of what this whole couple thing is about after all. I wonder how I expand his horizons. Teaching him the finer points of the Pixies? Instructing him on why make-up isn't really evil after all? (And my mom thought I'd never land a man because I didn't wear enough make-up. I bet she didn't figure on my finding a great guy who recoils in horror whenever I threaten to kiss him with a lipsticked mouth).

This past weekend we went to Maryland to see a big Winter Lights display on Saturday. My one complaint is that it was a 3 1/2 mile drive through sparse decorations. I would have much preferred a walking tour through a denser display of lights. But the characters were very cute and I think we got some cute pictures. Then we saw King Kong, which rocked. I'm still a little freaked out when I think about the giant bugs, though. And I actually like bugs. I can't imagine how the squeamish people took that scene.

Sunday we saw the Master Chorale of Washington perform their Christmas candlelight concert. The music was beautiful and the conductor was funny and charismatic. I kind of wonder how much of a chummy type of guy he really is, though. Every time he told a joke that made the audience laugh uproariously, I glanced at the choir to see their reactions. I saw a slight smile or two, but no big smiles on their faces and definitely no laughing along. So either the jokes are old and they've heard them all before OR he's a hellish taskmaster and the choir hates him OR the choir was just in the zone and I am a Philistine for expecting them to unfocus enough to notice a little joke or two.

As promised, the Swiss Chalet advent calendar:

Obscure Griping

I'm pretty sure only me and some health care professionals and health care attorneys care about this, but I'm really annoyed with CMS (The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). They redesigned their website, which is great because their old website was a big stinkin' piece of crubbish, but now ALL the links from ALL the websites in the entire world that used to link to some CMS resource are wrong and send you to an error page.

This is not helpful when I'm trying to do research and just trying to find out which state Medicaid plans offer Hospice benefits (there used to be a page at CMS that would tell me that according to Google and a bunch of hospice websites). Could they have maybe kept the same links or told me where the new pages are or SOMETHING?

Sigh. OK, I'm done now.

Does Need = Love?

I'm ruminating and I wonder what other people think. I've been thinking about the whole concept of needing someone. A friend sent me an email forward about a man and a woman where she asks him a series of questions and he says no to every single one, then responds with something even better. For instance, one of the questions is something like "Do you want me?" and he says, "No," then tells her, "I don't want you, I need you." (He also says No, she isn't pretty, she's beautiful. Along those lines.)

It got me thinking about the whole concept of needing someone. When I was with my ex, I needed him. But that wasn't necessarily a good thing. I needed him to be there for me and to build me up because I was incapable of doing it for myself. I needed him to tell me I was pretty and smart because I didn't believe that I was. I needed him to be my other half (a phrase we used often) because I didn't feel like a complete person without him.

I remember bursting into tears in my roommate's car one day because I could feel my relationship with the ex falling apart and I was powerless to stop it because he had stopped talking with me. I felt like half of me was being amputated because that is the power I had given him in my life.

Fast forward 2 1/2 years, with a year of therapy and anti-depressants under my belt, and I realize that I never want to feel that way again. Maybe it's self-preservation. I prefer to think that it's just me realizing how unhealthy it is to see myself as inextricably wrapped up in another person. I'm sure the ex wasn't destroyed when he broke up with me because despite his words, it wasn't really how he felt. I, unfortunately, did.

If Jason and I broke up tomorrow would I disintegrate into nothing, needing a couple of years to pull myself together again? I don't think so. I would be very, very sad, of course, because I do love him and love being with him and it would be awful if he didn't want to be with me anymore. But that girl who fell apart, it's just not who I am anymore. More importantly, it's not what our relationship is. I don't see us as two halves of one person, but two people coming together to create this (what I consider) pretty cool couple. We both have our individuality, and sometimes that strains things because we both have fairly strong opinions and don't always look at things the same way. But so far that's working, I think because we're both willing to compromise and we both want the other one to be happy.

So what does it mean to need someone? Is it ok to need a certain person? Is need in love the same sort of need as in, I need water or I need air? What is "need"?

Positive Movement

It's official. The new administrative assistant is starting on Wednesday, which means I won't be doing the admin stuff anymore, but will instead be doing more interesting, substantive work. Right now I'm researching the changes in estate taxes for 2006 to write up something for a newsletter. Hurrah! (Now if only they'd pay me what they pay her. I typed up her offer letter on Friday so I know for a fact she's making more than I am. Plus benefits.)

Negative bit: they know I have a boyfriend in Boston. They were all asking for updates on the weather on Friday with the whole will she or won't she make it to Boston this weekend situation. So I think the odds of them hiring me for real, which were never great since I don't think they want to hire a permanent attorney and why would they when they can get me at bargain-basement temp rates and still have me doing semi-substantive stuff, are pretty slim because they know about the Boston boy. I should just shut my big mouth and say I'm visiting "a friend."

The Fantabulous Tennessee Thanksgiving Adventure

Every cloud has a silver lining. My flight is now supposed to leave at 12:40 AM, which is an improvement from the 1:30 AM it was at when I left work. Despite the wondering if I'm going to make it to Boston tonight or, really, at all this weekend, I am a little glad because I came home to my new computer cord. Hurrah! On to the pictures!

Day One: Wednesday - Driving to Tennessee
The trip wound up taking about 8 hours, what with stopping for lunch at all. It was a lot of fun, and I think Jason and I are pretty good travel companions. We stopped for lunch in a town outside of Roanoke and spent our meal snickering at the thick accents floating around the restaurant, particularly the man in line in front of us who sounded just like Boomhauer from King of the Hill. We then spent the rest of the next 5 days talking to each other mainly in thick Southern drawls.

One issue that came up: Jason is convinced that I hate his penny whistle (no, that is NOT a euphemism, you dirty people). See, we both like the high-spirited Irish music and he made me some CD's that we listened to on the way down. At the start of the first song, he whipped out his little penny whistle, which he's practicing in preparation for eventually learning the Irish bagpipes for our someday Irish band which so far includes me, his brother and sister, his brother's girlfriend, and probably his cousin in Rhode Island. Now I'm all for his practicing his penny whistle skills - for a bit. Along about the 8th song, I was getting a little tired of the high-pitched whistle drowning out the rest of the music. So I asked him to stop and he did after giving me a hurt look and then ratted me out to my cousins, telling them I hated his penny whistle. Tattletale!

We arrived amidst many hugs and welcomes and settled into Kingsport life relatively quickly. Or at least what I consider to be Kingsport life, which consists of extensive chats with family members and naps.

Following are the reasons why even if Jason and I had broken up before Thanksgiving, he was still coming with me to Tennessee, darn it:

Exhibit A - Cousin George and his wife Angie

Exibit B - Cousin Greg and his fiance Rosie

Exhibit C - Cousin Amy and her boyfriend Craig

Exhibit D - Cousin Geoff and his fiance Megan (showing off her bling)
Did I mention they're ALL younger than me? Any questions?

Day Two - Thanksgiving:
Lots of food. No, really, LOTS of food. (my dad gracing us with his carving skills despite my aunt not having the right knife. Yes, everyone was just as shocked and appalled as he was. Have I mentioned my dad's a bit of a knife snob?)

My mom and dad.

Aunt Laurel, hostess extraordinaire: She was up into the wee hours basting the turkey and baking pies in her brand new double oven.

Everything tasted great and being able to spend quality time with family who I haven't spent quality time with in years was wonderful. I took a nap in the late afternoon, letting the tryptophan work its magic, which was lovely as well.


Jason woke me up and told me he'd learned a lot while I was asleep. Specific topics included deer hunting and digging a hole with a Bobcat.

Day Three - Black Friday
While I've only personally ventured out on Black Friday once in my life that I can remember (in Harvard Square. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who is claustrophobic and/or does not like crowds), Jason is an old pro, scouring the ads beforehand. We hit Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Max, Wal Mart and Target.

This year's deal that everyone had was a portable DVD player. Jason got one at Best Buy using the rebate and his McDonald's Best Buy bucks that he'd been hoarding and that were going to expire soon.

That afternoon the ladies minus me went wedding dress shopping for my cousin's fiance, Rosie. Jason and I got back kind of late from shopping and I was worn out and feeling grungy because if you're going to drag me to the stores at 6:30 AM, I'm not going to shower beforehand.

Jason and I went to dinner at Cracker Barrel with my parents. Yee-haw! I had a big Southern breakfast for dinner with grits and biscuits and gravy. I really hope that my Heaven has lots of Southern food. We also took advantage of the slashed prices on all of Cracker Barrel's autumnal wares. I got a great silver maple leaf candle holder.

Day Four - Saturday
Bays Mountain Park day! I have many fond memories of going to Bays Mountain Park when I was very small and feeding the ducks in the lake. It was also the first place I saw Hardware Wars, a classic for every Star Wars fan, in my opinion. I had a crazy flashback when we turned a corner going up the mountain and the side of the dam was in front of us. I didn't even know that I remembered what the dam looked like, but it was total deja vu.

I also have fond memories from when I was eight of freaking out my big tough, camo-wearing, shotgun in the Everglades-shooting cousins (one of whom is now a Marine), by holding the GIANT snake after the snake presentation, and then letting it wrap around my leg because it was cold. Poor snake.

We walked all around the park and saw snakes, big bullfrogs, wolves, deer, and a fat possum named Poindexter.
It looked like the ducks were all gone for the season, which I was sad about since I was looking forward to seeing them again. As you can see from the pictures, it was a beautiful day.

Inside the main building some of the exhibits were the same ones that were there when I was four. I should have taken pictures of the diagrams of how bees make honey and the plastic dinosaurs showing the various dinosaur eras (plus the wooly mammoth and giant deer. There were giant deer back then! I had no idea. And based on what were surely accurate scale model representations, those suckers were almost as big as the T-Rex).

The best part, in my opinion, was the kiddie cave, which explicitly forbade anyone over 11 from entering. WhatEVER. As you can see, Amy and I had no qualms with joining my cousin's stepdaughter, Carrigan, in the cave.

We stayed for the planetarium show, which took us on an exploration of space complete with a snazzy spaceship and a futuristic theme song that Jason regaled us with afterwards while Amy danced.

Day Five - SUNDAY
Sad day. We said good-bye to everyone the night before and headed out early Sunday morning. We met up with Jason's brother and his girlfriend in Shepherdstown, WV, a cutesy-pie little town with cutesy-pie little stores near the site of the Battle of Antietam.

Here's a cannon:


Yep.

Then we got lost and stuck in major Thanksgiving weekend traffic coming back and were dead tired by the time we made it back to my place. The next day Jason's flight left first thing and then I went to an interview for the job I have now. All in all, a successful weekend.

As a side note, the family LOVES Jason. Every single one of them. Now I'm going to give him a big head, but I got lots of thumbs ups from the men and many "He's so cute!" and "He's great!" from the women. So I think we've officially reached the point that if I break up with him I will be shunned and ridiculed forever in my family circles.

Freakin' Weather!

Don't get me wrong. I generally love snowstorms. Watching the snow out my window, reveling in being all warm and cozy inside and possibly indulging in a mug of hot chocolate, going for a walk and enjoying the strange silence of a deep snowfall.

But really, I would love this one a lot more if I was ALREADY IN BOSTON WITH JASON!!

But no.

As of now, my flight is delayed two hours and is supposed to take off at 9:50 PM. Of course, the airline can't actually tell us that the flight is officially canceled, as I'm very sure it will be, until the last minute, so I'm going to have to drive myself out to Dulles, park, wait for the shuttle in the COLD, get through security and all that jazz, and wait at the gate for 3 or 4 hours until they send us home. I was planning on taking public transportation out there, but if they cancel my flight after, say, 11 PM, I'm basically stranded because I refuse to pay $75 or whatever it is for a cab. So I will drive.

It's so frustrating because the weather is absolutely fine here. The storm came in, dumped a few inches of snow on us last night, and then moved out, leaving a cold, yet sunny day. This morning the storm was moving fast and they said it would stop snowing in Boston by early afternoon. I've been getting email updates from Jason all day and the basic fact is, weather people lie.

I am reminded of the time when I lived in Tucson and a HUGE scary hurricane was supposed to sweep over us via the Gulf of California in between Baja and mainland Mexico. It was all the news people could talk about for 3 days. The storm's a-comin'! Grab your children and hold on tight! People in low-lying areas sandbagged their homes, people in the foothills stocked up on food in case all the washes filled up and they couldn't get to the store. It was madness.

Guess what? Not a single drop of rain.

Weather people are LIARS!

Actually I wish they could have been bigger liars in this case and completely mispredicted the snowstorm.

Alright, I'm going to go check the airline website again.

My Lights, They Are A-Fallin' Down

Last night I was sitting in the family room watching this really awful AMC/Entertainment Weekly holiday movie special. I Tivoed it because I thought it would be a cute little holiday retrospective, but as soon as it started and I realized the little 2-second snippets of holiday movies were going to be interspersed with a not-so-delightful farce starring French Stewart (the weird guy from 3rd Rock From the Sun), I probably just should have stopped it right there. I must remember that AMC is no longer the awesome American Movie Classics from my childhood, but is now the crazy random movie channel that played Halloween 5 a couple of nights ago.

Anyway, I was watching this solely for the 5-minute interviews with directors of some of our favorite holiday classics, when this riiiiip sound shot through the room, scaring the crubbish out of me. Then I noticed my lights had fallen. See, I stuck them on the wall with the help of these little holiday decoration brackets, marketed and sold by Wal-Mart with the promise that they would hold up my lights. They consist of these plastic brackets stuck on sticky circles, which then stick on the wall. The sticky circles are still on the wall, but they have lost their hold on the plastic brackets.

But here's my plan. Maybe you remember that I fixed my broken bookshelves with the miracle of epoxy? No, I'm NOT going to epoxy the lights to the wall. I'm going to epoxy the little plastic brackets to the sticky circles and make them super sticky in the hope that they will hold my lights up through Christmas. That's my project for tonight.

Also, tonight I'm going to the National Cathedral to see Jan Karon, author of the Mitford book series, speak. Those are some of my favorite books and I'm so excited!

Going Through Withdrawal

I'm so desolate without my computer at home. Over the last couple of days I've managed to pop on for a second here or there just to check and see if I had any pressing, important emails. Yeah, that never really happens, but I can pretend.

Last night, the battery officially died. I was reading an email and suddenly my little Dell was preparing to hibernate. Fine. I hope my new cord comes soon.

I still want to post about Thanksgiving, more for my own journaling record, I suppose, since it's now a week and a half after the fact and you all are probably over Thanksgiving stories. But I have some cute pictures.

I decorated my little family room down in the basement this weekend. Jason and talked about getting a tree Sunday night after Thanksgiving, but we got back to town late. We did manage to find one tree lot just about to close, but the little trees were $35 and I wasn't feeling that dedicated to it considering I'd be decorating it by myself and all since he was leaving at 6 AM the next morning. Plus I was really, really tired and not feeling all that Christmasy.

Well, Saturday I pulled out one Christmas box looking for my Santa Claus Christmas countdown door hanger. I didn't find it (and am really wondering where it is...), but I did pull out some cute figurines of angels and santas, including the angel music box that used to sit on my piano every Christmas when I was growing up. I also happened upon some lights that I decided to check and see if they still worked. One of the long strands worked perfectly, so I sat on my floor for a moment, mulling over the set-up in the room and deciding what to do. I wound up stringing the lights across one side of the room and placing burgundy velvet bows on the lights intermittently.

I spent the weekend basking in the Christmas light glow. When I was little I used to lay almost under the Christmas tree, reading Anne of Green Gables or A Christmas Carol in the glow of the lights on the tree. Um, that may be one of the reasons why my glasses prescription is so strong.

Also, my mom and dad sent me this amazing Swiss chalet advent calendar. I don't know if anyone besides me ever noticed this, but in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation in between each day they show this beautiful Victorian house that is an advent calendar. They open a window every day, and behind each window is a painted scene of Victorian holiday fun. On Christmas Day they open the front door, where you see the family gathered around a huge tree. It's probably wrong that my most vivid memory of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is the scene-changing advent calendar, but there it is. I also rather liked Eddie's bright red dickie under his cream sweater.

Anyway, my parents found this advent calendar in the shape of a Swiss chalet with snow on the roof and evergreen and holly in the window boxes. There are no painted scenes, but instead the windows either open to reveal an empty space or pull out a little drawer perfectly sized for a little Christmas treasure. So cute! I have taken pictures and will post them once I get the computer cord.

See how much of my blogging destiny hinges on getting that computer cord?

Since I have a job at least until Christmas, I find that I'm getting into the Christmas mood. It has come late this year, but it's here and I'm glad. Yesterday I Tivoed "Christmas" and "Holiday" for the next couple of weeks to find the programs I don't want to miss. I'm looking forward to some festive TV viewing.

Work

The people I'm working for now are a hoot. I'll explain more once I can get on my computer at home again.

Here's something that I really believe is true: you work to people's expectations. In my last job I was coddled and led around, doing menial tasks, with my boss overexplaining and double-checking everything. Here, they've kind of thrown me into the deep end and expected me to swim. So far, I've come through. And because they know my credentials and trust me, I'm in charge of a couple of projects and once they hire the permanent secretary I'll be doing more substantive work.

Frappr

I'm jumping on the Frappr bandwagon. Come, look, tell me where you are.

Back Downtown

Today I started work in the District again and it feels really good. I think there's just something about getting on a train and walking a few blocks on busy city streets that make me feel like I'm going to work for real. Driving just stresses me out and being out in the suburbs makes me feel removed from any sort of action. There was even a saxophone player playing Christmas carols when I stepped out of the Metro station this morning. As much as I loved being in Tennessee last weekend and as much as I want to have my own house with my own garden and my own trees someday, there's a bit of me that loves the rush of a city too.

Quickie Update

My power cord on my computer has officially died, which means I can't update my blog from home, which means no pictures yet of my Fantabulous Tennessee Thanksgiving Adventure. Well, it wasn't that adventurous. We sat around and ate a lot and caught up with one another. It was fantabulous though. The boy (oh heck. Jason.) has ordered me a new power cord because he is the King of Bargains and I should be getting it soon. My cousin Amy has posted pictures of our holiday on her blog (see link at right). I think both Jason and I look like we're settling nicely into our tryptophan comas.

In other news, I got a temp job at a firm that does health law-related stuff. I'm so excited! It's just an administrative position, but they're really busy and because of my background they've assured me they'll be throwing lots of stuff my way.

Fashion Misstep of the Day

Uggs and gaucho pants.

Um, no.

How Many Thanksgiving Dinners Have YOU Had?

I just had my second Thanksgiving dinner. My first was last night at this big potluck thrown by some girls in my ward. It was great!

The one today wasn't as good. Corporate food in chafing dishes just can't beat homemade. But, hey, free food. One of the perks about working at the fancy-schmancy firm is they like to throw parties. Today we got Thanksgiving dinner for lunch and we're having a dessert buffet at 3:00. I'm hoping for some pecan pie.

Of course the best Thanksgiving meal is going to be in Tennessee on Thursday. I'm so excited! I haven't seen my relatives down there in 4 years and not only do I get to see them and my parents who are driving down from Chicago, but I also get to show off the boy. I plan to parade him around and rattle off his credentials so everyone will be very impressed and say, "Well, we were worried about Kelly for awhile there - she is 29 and still single after all - but looks like she found herself a good one."

In addition to being excited about the holidays, I'm also feeling a little more relaxed about the temp job thing. I met with another staffing agency this morning and they have two potential things for me. They sent my resume in for one of them already. It's at an elder law firm in the District dealing mostly with Medicaid issues. Um, can you say right up my alley? It would be more administrative, but it's a small firm and I'd be working mainly with the head partner. Also, my boss at my job now asked me today if I could potentially stay into December. So either way, it looks like I'll have something for at least the first couple of weeks of December, which is a relief.

So now I can pick up the boy at the airport tomorrow and drive to Tennessee on Wednesday with a lighter heart, knowing I will be able to pay my rent for the next couple of months.

The Stairs. They're Out to Get Me.

Um, so I fell down the stairs again. I think this is the fourth, maybe the fifth time. And I feel like an idiot. But in all fairness the carpet is really slippery. Plus, there's always an extra factor that just pushes me over the edge. Like on a couple of the other occasions I had just put lotion on my feet. Or I had on very slick shoes, as was the case last night. I'd kind of skidded a little on the tiles at work so I knew my shoes were slick already.

I gouged a nice hole in my left knee that, once it scars over, should nicely complement the scar from skidding in some gravel while racing my friend Randy on my bike when I was 7. I also ripped my last pair of hose. And tore a nail. Oh the humanity!

One issue that I have with the stairs, besides the fact that they are dangerously slippery, is that they only seem to trip me up when one of my roommates is home, often standing at the top of the stairs or nearby for maximum auditory and visual impact. I would just like to note that I go up and down those stairs at least 10 times a day with no mishaps. When I was home all day in September, I went up and down probably 50 times a day. See, the kitchen and the front door are upstairs so if I need to leave or get something to eat or drink, or just feel like being social with my roommates (on the off chance that we're home at the same time), I have to navigate the stairs. So 4 or 5 stumbles down an incredibly dangerous and slippery staircase out of 3 months of living in the apartment really isn't that bad. Right?

Back in the Saddle Again

Everyone be proud of me. I got up at 5:15 AM and swam 60 laps this morning. I'm proud of me.

I sort of wondered over the past year if part of my motivation behind working out and losing weight was the hope that I might meet a boy who found me attractive. Well, I did and he does, and he still does even now after 3 1/2 months of no regular workout routine, eating sugar, and increased bodily squishiness. But I'm not happy with myself right now.

I've been feeling like such a blob. Ever since the Bar, it's been a sugar free-for-all. I've been basically eating whatever I darn well pleased and not swimming except for sporadically (and not at all since I started working a month and a half ago). I looked at my back yesterday and realized the rolls are coming back. I measured myself this morning and discovered I've gained width on my hips and waist. This has got to stop. I will NOT put those 45 pounds that I lost since Chicago back on! And I still want to lose 35 pounds (maybe more now. I don't have a scale so I don't know how much I've gained back).

Plus, there's the added benefit of feeling better mentally. As I contemplate this job ending and wonder if I'll be able to make January rent, and as I continue to hunt for that elusive job, I need something to boost my spirits. I bought a 20-swim pass at the local pool a couple of months ago and after today I still have 14 swims left. Those will defintiely help my mental state.

So it's not because of a boy or the prospect of a boy. It's because of me. I like the way I feel when I'm exercising and have that regular rush of endorphins. I like watching my body become less and less flabby. I like being able to fit into smaller sizes of cute clothes.

I'm going to go swimming tomorrow and next Tuesday (I can't go Saturday, Sunday and Monday because of other commitments). Then I'll let myself enjoy Thanksgiving, but until Christmas I'm back on the no sugar plan and I will do my best to exercise at least 3 or 4 times a week.

The Girls

I've been stewing over this since watching Gilmore Girls last night, and since Katie wrote about it, I figure I should just get it out there.

First, I LOVE Luke and Lorelai together.

Second, I am really angry with the whole


**SPOILER**




illegitimate daughter thing. Please! I know the writers are just coming up with a way to split Luke and Lorelai up because the ONLY way they could be split up is if Luke got all sullen and noncommunicative because of this secret illegitimate daughter because Luke and Lorelai are so perfect and happy and complement one another so well. Grrr!




**END SPOILER**

Third, I think Christopher is a loser and needs to go away. The guy was never around when Rory was growing up and now he only pops in when it suits him. And when he does pop in he's all territorial with Rory and Lorelai. I'm sorry, was Lorelai supposed to put her life on hold for 21 years until you got your head out of your butt and decided you wanted to build a life with her after all?! GO AWAY, Christopher! You're not wanted.

OK, I'm done. Now that Rory is back and sassy and not such a punk anymore, I just want things to be nice for a little while. Let's go back to having a normal life in Stars Hollow.

Manipulative Music

I have a 90's playlist on my iPod that automatically pulls in everything I have that came out in the 90's. This includes soundtracks and classical music, which wasn't really the idea, so I may have to modify it some.

So I was just sitting here merrily going through some correspondence and suddenly a song came on that jerked me right into a very very sad moment in a movie that is now recognized by all as being cheesey. I don't even want to say it.

Alright, it's Titanic. (I'm prepared for an onslaught of "I can't believe you have that soundtrack!" and "I can't believe you thought that was sad at all!" and the boy probably wanting to distance himself from me from now on).

Yes, yes, I know it was a sappy movie and I personally could care less about the supposed allure of Leonardo DiCaprio. But I actually like Kate Winslet generally and I thought the movie was pretty amazing as far as effects and recreating the ship and the costumes and everything go.

And, yes, I cried. Alright? I was 21 and reveling in sappy movies. So when the song came on my iPod just now that played when Rose released the frozen Jack into the ocean and then swam to the frozen seaman to blow the whistle so the lifeboat would come back for her, my eyes welled up a little. I'm not proud of this, but there it is.

The music in the movie is lovely, thanks to James Horner AND some blatant plagiarism of Enya. Seriously. There are two key songs in the Titanic soundtrack that are just variations on two songs from Caribbean Blue. Has anyone else noticed this besides me?

Time's Up

I just found out my temp job ends November 30th. I have mixed feelings. The obvious downside is that my paycheck stops in a couple of weeks. The upside is that I won't have to commute out to the 'burbs anymore. The commute has been really wearing on my clutch and my nerves.

Another upside is I won't have a boss that I feel the need to walk on eggshells around. OK, truth is, I might have a boss like that again, but some craziness happened right after I started here and I've been tiptoeing around ever since to ensure that the craziness does not happen to me too.

Another upside is that I won't be doing the same old mind-numbing paper shuffling. No, if I get another temp job I'll get to learn all new mind-numbing paper shuffling. At least learning the routine is interesting at first.

So really the ups outweigh the downs. But the down is a pretty big down.

I've already emailed all my staffing agencies to let them know. This week I was planning on getting on the ball with a huge resume blitz of the DC and Boston areas. This just gives me more of an impetus to make sure that happens.

The issue I'm debating right now is whether I should work 3 hours of OT tonight. I was planning on going home and doing job stuff, but 3 hours of time and a half will come in handy in a couple of weeks. I'm working OT Wednesday and Thursday, but then next week I'm only working two days because of Thanksgiving (Reason number 467 why it sucks to be a temp: no holiday or vacation pay). I'll probably end up staying tonight.

I'm tired of this. I just want a real job with real pay and real benefits.

Animal Magnetism

The boy's cat loooves me. It's very sweet. Last night he bounded off of the boy's lap to come snuggle on mine. I think this explains why when I was 13, my mom wouldn't let me touch our new kitten for a couple of weeks. Animals like me, I don't know why. Cases in point:

My cat TC: she came into our house a scared, formerly abused little girl kitty and decided that she would live under my bed for the rest of her years. I managed to coax her out, though, and she glued herself to my side. She used to climb up my back and perch on my shoulders when I was sitting on the floor doing homework. If I took too long downstairs eating breakfast she would stand at the top of the stairs and meow for me to come back up. Then she would sit on the top of the toilet and watch me get ready for school, purring all the while.

The two bloodhounds down the alley: My friend Carrie and I used to take a shortcut through an alley on the way home from school. Behind one fence were two bloodhounds, one very old (Mama Dog) and one obviously younger (Baby Dog). They barked and barked at us as we rode by. One day, I stopped and walked toward the fence. They stopped barking and cocked their heads, watching me walk toward them. As I got to the fence, the younger dog stuck his nose under the bottom of the fence. I let him sniff my fingers and he gave me a little lick. Then he ran to the other side of the yard, got his ball, and trotted back, pushing the ball under the fence to me. We played fetch for a bit. Every day I would stop for a few minutes and play with them. It got to the point that if I showed up and they weren't outside, I could whistle and they would come dashing out to greet me.

Santa Cruz Jenn's dog Bob. Although to be honest, Bob loved everyone. But there was always a certain high-pitched whining and excited piddling on the floor that was meant just for me

Beauty, the neighbor's Springer Spaniel: again with the piddling.

Sammy, the other neighbor's cat: if I took too long getting out of the car after pulling into my parking spot, she would jump on the hood and peer at me through the windshield, plaintively mewing. Once I got out, she would leap in front of me and writhe around on the sidewalk, begging to be petted.

My mom has this natural affinity for children, and apparently I have that with animals. Except for my aunt's cockatiel. She has an affinity for men and adores my uncle above all others. Unless I have pasta - then she's my best friend.

So, boy, I'm very sorry that your cat likes me so much and jumped off of you to come see me. I'll try to ignore him next time I'm visiting if you like.

Thoughts

Oh the cuteness! You need to go look at my old college roommate's post for today. Her two little girls are such dolls and since we all live in NoVa, I get to see them occasionally. Hurrah!

I was reading through some of my pre-Bar posts the other day(see months of June and July) and realized that despite berating myself for my lack of diligence at the time, I really did a lot of studying. No wonder when some people saw me at a wedding reception post-Bar they looked all confused and said, "I thought you moved already..." It was because I DISAPPEARED during July. Good thing I passed because I honestly don't know if I could have put myself through that again.

On Naming

I want to take a poll. Do you name your car and/or iPod? The boy and I have been having a debate about whether this is a strictly girl thing. My opinion is that it's more of a family thing, since my family has a long tradition of naming cars, including my grandpa with his Suburbans Big Blue and Blue 2, and my uncle with his blurple Infiniti named Tyrone. For those of you who haven't heard, I personally have a white Ford Focus named Bunny.

The boy says that he thinks it's a girl thing because a lot of girls he knows have named their cars, versus the manly men he knows who spit upon the idea of anthropomorphising cars (I'd just like to point out that the boy's car has a name, but whatever...).

I'd also like to announce that I have named my iPod. Enrique. Partly because he's currently clothed in a fabulous Miami-blue iSkin. Sexy!

Let's Hear It For Fancy-Schmancy Litigation Firms Who Bill A LOT

Because I passed the Bar, my supervisor (at my temporary job, mind you) took me and the temp who's leaving today and the supervisor's long-suffering assistant out to a fancy lunch. Then she gave us Barnes & Noble gift certificates and fancy chocolate bars (I took the dark chocolate. Mmmm...dark chocolate...).

In addition, if I work more than 2 hours of overtime on a weeknight I get free dinner on the firm, up to $15. Can you say leftovers? I'm not making the big bucks, but some of these little perks of being in the big firm milieu are nice.

Quaintness and Character Are Sometimes Overrated

I went to Boston this weekend and flew back to DC this morning on a 6:17 flight. I'm getting through this day on sheer willpower and big cups of Diet Coke with Lime.

There are these great brick sidewalks throughout Boston and Cambridge that make you say, "How quaint!" and reflect upon the history of the town and area, especially as you stroll by graveyards with ancient tombstones. Yes, the bricks looks nice, but just try walking in heels on them. None of them really meet in what you might call a straight and unfettered line. There are usually cracks and fissures between the bricks, just about the perfect size to suck in a kitten heel. I got used to walking on the bricks while I lived there, but in just a few short months I've forgotten how to be obsessively aware of the brick patterns and where I can actually place my foot. I counted no less than four instances of walking along holding hands with the boy, and having to pull him back and balance on him as one or the other of my shoes refused to budge from between two bricks.

Saturday night we went out for dinner at The East Coast Grill to celebrate my passing the Bar. The food was yummy. The restaurant does upscale cuisine in a semi-divey atmosphere with lots of boisterous activity. I have a soft spot for dives, so I thought it was great. In addition, they served the limes in my Diet Coke on plastic skewers shaped like marlins (or swordfish. We couldn't decide). Those are now tucked away in my purse, destined for use in future drinks at home. I also have to give a tip to anyone around Inman Square who goes to Christina's for some fall ice cream. Pumpkin and Ginger Molasses are fabulous together!

Sunday I saw some friends at church, which was kind of weird. I loved seeing them and it made me realize how much I miss everyone up there. But I'm not really sure what to say when people ask how it's going, so I usually wind up being truthful. I do like DC, but it hasn't been easy. I haven't really built a life here for myself yet because I'm back and forth to Boston and the boy comes here, plus I haven't gone to the singles ward yet due to being gone and conferences and wanting to check out the family ward first. The job search feels stagnant and I don't feel very encouraged from some of the other recent grads I work with. Plus, I'm constantly waffling between whether I should even invest the time and energy and a LOT of money to waive into the DC Bar if I'm going to move back to Boston maybe. I feel a constant tug back to Boston because of the boy.

It would also be very nice if spending more time with him actually managed to satiate me a little and help me get through the two weeks in between our visits. Sadly, the more time I spend with him, the more time I want to spend with him. Thank goodness I only have to wait 4 days this time. Yes, it may seem kind of ridiculous for me to have been there this weekend, come back for 4 days, and then go back this coming weekend, but the reason is, his birthday is Friday and we didn't want to go 3 weeks without seeing each other. (Gah! I can't believe I just wrote that in a public forum! I apologize now for the present and future mushiness that may occasionally invade my blog.)

I also figured out the best way in the world to get to Dulles Airport if you don't have someone who can chauffeur you around and if you conveniently happen to work near the airport. There's a park and ride bus stop right near where I work where I can park overnight and catch the Dulles bus. Very, very handy for these weekends and, since all I have to pay is $3 each way on the bus, much cheaper than the Dulles $9 a day cheap lot parking.

Shout It From the Rooftops!

I PASSED THE BAR!!!!!!

The 80's

If the Mass Bar folks are going to post the results today, the least they could do is be nice and post them at 9 AM today. But no.

So in the meantime, here's a list I stole from Chris because I'm so in an 80's mood, what with my Fashion Plates nostalgia and all.

1. You had a crush on one of the New Kids on the Block members.
Yes, but only because of peer pressure. And because Jon seemed so nice. He was the quiet, misunderstood one.

2. You wanted to be on StarSearch.
Of course.

3. You ever uttered the word “Radical!”
Probably. Most likely "Rad," though.

4. You wore jelly shoes and jelly bracelets
I LOVED my jelly shoes and had piles of jelly bracelets.

5. You thought “Ghostbusters” was by far the coolest movie
I don't know if it was THE coolest, but it was up there.

6. You remember watching shows like “Punky Brewster” , “Webster”, “You Can’t Do That On Television” , “Wild&Crazy Kids” and “Double Dare”
Yes. Jenn in Santa Cruz and I share a passion for Alistair from "You Can't Do That On Television."

7. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off. Or even when he had those freaky eyes in “Thriller” at the end of the video.
Yes. Poor Michael. He used to look like a human being. Even with the freaky Thriller eyes.

8. You wore a banana clip in your hair or one of those slap on wrist bands at some point during your youth.
I definitely had a few banana clips.

9. You rolled up the bottoms of your splatter painted jeans.
Um, I rolled, but they weren't splatter painted.

10. You wore loafers with everything, and you put the laces in those little rolls.
No

11. You had slouch socks, and puff painted your own shirt at least once.
Absolutely!

12. You owned a doll with ‘Xavier Roberts’ signed on it’s butt.
Yes, Inga Sallie. I got her Christmas of 1983 when I had the chicken pox.

13. You knew what Willis was “talkin’ ’bout.”
Yes.

14. You know the profound meaning of “Wax on, Wax off.”
Yes. As well as how to do the crane move.

15. You can name half of the members of the elite “Brat Pack.”
Probably all of them actually.

16. You can remember watching Full House and Saved by the Bell for endless hours!
Oh yes!

17. You have seen at least 10 episodes of Fraggle Rock.
Dance your cares away,
Worries for another day.
Let the music play,
Down at Fraggle Rock.

18. You yearned to be a member of The Babysitters Club, and tried to start a club of your own.
Totally! I thought Claudia and Stacy were cool, but realized that in reality I was probably most like Mary Ann.

19. You sat on your back porch, playing with your “My Little Pony” , “Rainbow Brite” , and “Strawberry Shortcake” dolls
I never had Rainbow Brite, but I was all about the My Little Ponies and Strawberry Shortcake. To prove what a child of the 80's I am: I had a Strawberry Shortcake Atari game.

20. You know that another name for a keyboard is a “Synthesizer.”
Well, duh.

21. You hold a special place in your heart for “Back to the Future.”
Love it!

22. You know where to go if you “wanna go where everybody knows your name.”
To Cheers of course

23. You thought Molly Ringwald was REALLY cool.
Anyone who gets Jake Ryan in the end is obviously someone I should model my life after.

24. You know what “sike” and “not!” mean
Yes

25. You fell victim to 80’s fashion : big hair, crimped, combed over to the side, big hoop earrings, and possibly the worst:you wore spandex pants.
Oh yes. The shame.

26. You wanted to be a Goonie, or Elliot from E.T.
Goonies!!!

27. You owned an extensive collection of Cabbage Patch Kids and trolls.
Only one troll, which was the mascot of my little car, but by virtue of being the recipient of many hand-me-downs, I wound up with 12 Cabbage Patch Kids.

28. You knew “The Artist” when he was humbly called “Prince.”
Yes

29. You actually saw Ted Danson as the MacDaddy he played “Sam” to be.
I didn't know any better. He also played the same character in Three Men and A Baby.

30. You ever wore flourescent -neon if you will clothing….
Yes

31. You could breakdance, or wished you could.
I sort of wished I could.

32. You know who He-Man and She-Ra are.
By the power of Grayskull!
The fate of the world in the hands of one beautiful girl! She-Ra! Princess of Power!

33. You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game system.
See above with the whole Strawberry Shortcake thing.

34. You know all the words to “Ice Ice Baby”.
Yes

35. You remember MC hammer well.
I think I still have that tape somewhere...

36. You can still sing the rap to “Fresh Prince of Belair”.
It still runs through my head occasionally

37. You own any cassettes.
Yes

38. You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we’d all be living on the moon.
Well, at least by 2001.

39. You remember and/or own any of the CareBear Glass collection from PizzaHut.
Mm, no.

40. Pizza Hut was the coolest place to hang.
Actually, it was The Biggest Taco Bell in the World

41. Poltergeist freaked you out.
Absolutely. Love it!

42. You carried your lunch to school in a Gremlins or an E.T. lunchbox.
I think I had a Smurfs lunchbox...

43. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the ONLY female smurf.
Yes

44. You wanted to communicate with some being named Cinergy, or you wanted green hair like that lead singer of the Misfits.
Truly truly truly outrageous!

45. You totally LOVED Barbie’s cooler, punkier counterpart, “Jem” and her “Rockers”
Isn't that the same as 44...?

46. You wanted to have an alien like Alf living in your house.
No because he would have eaten my cat.

47. You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt stylish.
No, but I envied the girls who could pull that off.

48. You wore tights under shorts and felt stylish.
Yes. I'm so ashamed.

49. You layered your multi-colored slouch socks, and added suspenders to make your outfit complete.
I definitely layered the socks

50. You ever had a Swatch Watch.
No, but I was envious of them

51. You actually spent countless hours trying to perfect the care-bear stare.
No

52. You had a crush on one of the Coreys
Corey Haim was much cuter. He's weird looking now.

53. You remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.
and then not funny...and then funny...and then not funny...

54. You had WonderWoman or Superman underwear.
Um, I believe the term is underROOS! Wonder Woman and R2-D2.

55. You wanted to be The Hulk for Halloween.
No, but I think Wonder Woman or Princess Leia would be the girl equivalent.

56. You believed that “By the power of Greyskull, you HAD the power”
Well, I needed the sword first

57. You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.
Yes

58. Partying “like it’s 1999″ seemed SO far away!
Yeah, like I would be 23 in 1999. That's SOOOOO old!

59. You ever owned or wanted any of the NKOTB action figures or dolls.
No, thankfully, no.

60. You remember when Deborah Gibson was “Debbie” Gibson.
Of course!

Happy Holidays

I've decided that despite my angst and uncertainty, despite my lack of funds and wondering if I'll be able to pull together enough money to buy a ticket to Chicago for the holidays, despite the fact that I won't see the boy for the entire stretch of Christmas and New Year's, I need to get myself in the Christmas mood already. I mean, Wal-Mart has been in the mood since August, so it's about time I catch up.

Usually by this time of year I'm listening to my Christmas music and feeling happy and jolly courtesy of Perry Como, who in my mind is the King of Christmas Music. Don't get me wrong, I love Bing and Frank and Nat and all the others, but Perry is the king. This year has been different because September crawled by filled with anxious interviews, emails, and calls to firms and staffing agencies. Then I started temping in October and fouond myself just holding on until the next paycheck and working overtime in the meantime. Plus, I've been counting the days off every for two weeks so I can see the boy. Somehow, October FLEW by.

So I have a plan. First, of course, I'm going to start listening to Christmas music when I get the chance. I have some work to do up in my lonely office on the 9th floor this afternoon, and I brought my iPod and I think my Christmas mixes from last year are still on it.

Second, I'm going to sell some Christmas ornaments - or at least try to. In the early summer I took pictures of some of my old ornaments that are very pretty, but go more with my 13 year-old rose and cream Victorian Christmas aesthetic than my current gold and crimson Elegant Christmas aesthetic. I'm hoping to be able to sell some on ebay and early November seems a good time to start that process since people are starting to think about Christmas. Going through those will help me feel festive.

Third, even though I'm going to Tennessee for Thanksgiving weekend, which is my traditional Christmas decorating weekend, I need to make a point to make my little corner of the apartment look festive. This is usually my absolute favorite time of the year and I should start reveling in it, darn it.

I <3 the 80's

Talking with Jen in Berkeley Sunday night helped me feel better about things. I don't know if she just says the things I want to hear, or if she's saying the right things and those things are resonating in that little spot inside of me that lets out a little "Ding ding ding!" when the right things are said or felt.

Either way, I feel better.

Must. Learn. Not to. Obsess.

Except, word on the street is that Bar results may be coming this week! Scary! So I'll just focus all my angst on that.

And really, a Kelly with no angst just isn't Kelly at all.
(everybody feel sorry for the boy now)

*SUBJECT CHANGE*

So I've been Tivoing the "I Love the 80's in 3-D" episodes because I realized there's been a whole new VH1 80's series out there in the world for weeks now and I haven't seen any of it. Last night I watched 1980 and 1981. Overall I'd have to say that this 3rd installment of the 80's isn't as good as the first 2, but it did have its bright spots.

For instance, Fashion Plates. I forgot about Fashion Plates! Fashion Plates have various squares of hard plastic with pieces of clothing in relief. You pick a head, a top, and a bottom, put them in the little holder with a piece of paper on top and then do charcoal rubbings of the outfit, which you can then color. Fabulous! We were all little fashionistas in the making.

I can't believe I forgot Fashion Plates. VH1 helps me get in touch with my inner child. And then makes me wish I had her toys.