all work, no play

Every once in a while, I use a drill at work. It's kind of fun. I prefer the actual sewing of the booklets, but the drill comes in handy when people congregate around the sink and chat about the placement of the recycle bins. The loud drill sends them back to work.

Life as a grad student is getting more and more complicated. Thus, this is short. I must read for class.

First Day of School

My mom stayed at home with me until I started first grade. She treated me as her sidekick. She took me everywhere with her and probably shared too much about the family finances, etc. with me, her little girl. Example, as a first grader, I was deeply concerned with the prospect of paying for college. Taking out loans didn't make sense. If I didn't have money, there was simply no way to pay for college.

Lucky for me, I didn't turn into a complete worrywart. Instead, I became a cute little girl in bright neon pants. My mom and my aunt picked out this outfit for me to wear on my first day of school EVER. I had stayed home for kindergarten. Thus, first grade with Mrs. Corona was my first experience with public school.

My sister, Shelli, also had to wear the neon clothes that year. She didn't like them much. I LOVED them. That outfit is probably what turned me on to my love of really intense colors. I need color to survive, thus the variety of colored objects found throughout my apartment.

I was a shy kid back in first grade. I had a crush on a boy in my class and would never speak up about it. My parents convinced me that liking boys should not be a priority, so instead of talking to the boys or telling my friends about my crushes, I lived with all my feelings inside. That's just no good on a little girl. No wonder I'm so confused in relationships.

Today was my first day as a full-time grad student. I have some pretty cool classes and an incredibly full schedule. Sometimes I wish I could be like the shy girl in the bright neon pants in the picture. But I can't. I'll just have to keep being the crazy girl with black and green glasses trudging through life in Eugene.

Chillin' at the Beach

Stress isn't fun. To keep stress away, we often need to get away and experience a change of scenery. Today, my two bosses and and I left work early and headed to the beach. It was nice. I hadn't planned on going to the beach, but the spontaneous trip made the day-before-school-starts a fabulous day.
My friend (and boss) Brenda decided to play Baywatch while we were walking. She kept running in slow motion and tried to get Audrey and I to join in. I finally did and during my fifteen seconds as a baywatch girl, my hat flew off and my coat started to float away. It was crazy!

I still think I might want to live on the coast when I'm a "real" adult. Okay, I know I'm an adult now, but I feel as if going back to school has taken away some of the adult responsibility. I'll get there. Three more terms of classes, an internship, and a huge project and it'll be time for me to settle down!

Sand relaxes people. Walking in it usually causes people to slow down a bit. The desk sand boxes in offices help people calm down after stressful meetings. Sand is just awesome. And there is a lot of it at the beach.

"You've got to take the bull by the teeth."
--Samuel Goldwyn--

My dad is a take charge kind of guy. He's very direct and honest, sometimes making waves and hurting feelings as he moves. I like to be direct as well. But my life gets difficult when I try to tell people things without hurting their feelings. If I seem to be saying something, it's probably true. I don't like to fake feelings, but I also HATE hurting other peoples' feelings. This can leave me in a tough spot. Is it best to hurt someone's feelings with my honesty or should I continue to get annoyed by a person's inability to get my subtle message?

Hmph.

Christmas dreams in late September

It's getting close to Christmas. I know, I know. Technically, Halloween comes first, but in Sharece's world, Halloween is just the opener before Christmas season really begins.

To start out my "Holidays," I put up the three Halloween decorations I own. I also got a head start on my Christmas card/letter list. That's right, I already have begun writing addresses on my Christmas cards. It's exciting and fun. I won't write the letter until after Halloween. (I hope.) I've been itching to write my Christmas letter for weeks, but I feel that things are sure to get exciting in October. If nothing else, I need to at least start classes before jumping into my Christmas letter.

I'm contemplating watching a Christmas movie tonight, but I could also watch some more Grey's or the BBC mini-series, The Pallisers. Oh, decisions.

Happy (early) Holidays, folks!

Little Miss Chatterbox

A few years ago, I bought the small book, Little Miss Chatterbox. My mom and sister thought it was the funniest thing ever. Why would they think this was so hilarious? Well, it was because they thought of me as a Little Miss Chatterbox.

It's true, I suppose. I like to talk. Today, when taking the bus to Gateway Mall, I actually talked to TWO fellow passengers. This isn't normal for me. Often I try to appear disinterested, but today I felt incredibly chatty. It was nice.

Finding this Little Miss Chatterbox at Target today made me incredibly happy. I'm considering buying it for myself. I mean, seriously, I have a cabbage patch doll on my bed. This cute pink thing would fit right in!

I suppose I should quit being chatty blogger now. Thanks for reading!

the Rumor Weed

A few weeks ago, I went to spend time with an old friend. We made soap together. But in the time when we weren't making soap, we hung out with her kids. They were so cute and adorable. The older kid told me about the rumor weed. They talked about the rumor weed at Vacation Bible School this summer. The rumor weed is the worst weed. It chokes people and hurts everyone.

I talk a lot. I'm not always sure what I talk about, but I know that I talk a lot. I hope that I'm not just a rumor spreader. I don't want to be like Michael Scott on a recent episode of The Office. I think I'm better than that.

Ketchup Queen

As a child, I disliked ketchup. It tasted yucky. It wasn't until I was in late grade school that I started to taste the red sauce. Maybe I thought it looked too much blood. Or I could have thought it was too salty. All I really remember is that it was a girl named Abby who got me to eat the ketchup. Our church kids' group went to McDonalds for special outings and Abby ALWAYS had ketchup. I tried it once, wanting to be as cool as my new brown-haired friend. It was okay, I guess, I have been a ketchup person ever since. But better than that, I've stayed friends with that ketchup-loving cool girl. We ended up hanging out in school. We were even best friends in high school.

It's crazy how food can meld a memory and bring people together.

Apples and such

"An apple is an excellent thing - until you have tried a peach."
--GEORGE DU MAURIER--

In high school, I loved VeggieTales. My Bible study watched some of the movies. We talked in depth about the messages in the films and how they applied to our lives.

My favorite parts were the Silly Songs with Larry. My favorite song was the cheeseburger song with Mr. Lunt. I showed the song to my dad. He hated it. He thought the subliminal message was to forget about our "bacon and eggs" and head for the cheeseburger. Basically, he thought the song condoned cheating. I was shocked. To me, the song was just funny. I mean seriously, it was a song about a cheeseburger. A vegetable was the singer. Was this really something I needed to analyze?

I like apples. They are my favorite fruit. Sure, on occasion, I'll buy a peach, but it will always be second to my solid, gala apple. I couldn't ever buy a peach unless I already had an apple for lunch.

I believe in honesty and loyalty. I'm sticking with my apple, no matter what.

Caprice and me

CAPRICIOUS: (adjective) impulsive, like when you change your mind on a whim, or unpredictable, like when you're teetering on the edge of disaster

My Ukrainian host mother, Alya, once told me that I was capricious. What? I wondered. I didn't know the word in Ukrainian. We had to look up the translation. At first, I was shocked. I know my own mind, I thought. Why would Alya think that I was such a flake?

It turns out that this word describes me more than I would think. It's not a horrible thing. It's not as if I can't make small decisions and rely on other people to help. Instead, I tend to make decisions quickly and on a whim. My check book has always suffered from this part of me. I'm what my mom calls an impulsive shopper. It's sad, I know.

Before coming to the U of O, I actually had a bit of a mid-twenties crisis. I couldn't decide whether or not to attend. I asked so many people for advice. What should I do, I asked. In the end, it didn't really matter what they said. I decided to come here because I fell in love with the program, or the idea of the program at least.

I'm hoping that my capriciousness doesn't hinder me in some way. Example: meeting some guy on a trip to Vegas and getting hitched because I "feel the spark." Not a good idea. We'll see. I never know quite how my life is going to turn out. And that's a good thing, I think.

sister of England

"No people have true common sense but those who are born in England."
--CHARLES DE MONTESQUIEU--

When I was in high school, I started to beieve that I had been born in the wrong place. I thought I belonged in England, that I should have been born there. My inability to catch a high school boyfriend led me to develop a crush on Prince William. This crush extended to all boys with British accents. Upon graduation, I planned to move to England, permanently, and to find my prince.

Things didn't turn out quite how I had planned. Instead of going to England, I went to Idaho. I felt it was a good choice. It was my two sisters that drew me to college at NNU. During my four years at NNU, I spent five months living in England. I liked it, but decided that I didn't want to live there forever. Perhaps the truth was that I didn't feel scholarly enough to live there forever. Nonetheless, I ended up back in the states.

These days, I am starting to long for England again. I miss her rich history and the beautiful underground. Hopefully, I'll be heading back there before I hit 30. I have a few years. It could happen.

Date Night

Friday nights are fun nights. Couples go home, dress up, and head out for an evening free of work and chaos. Some watch movies. Some hang out in the bars. Others go to friends' houses. But basically, Fridays are the day to celebrate and enjoy the start of the weekend.

Tonight, I had a lame Friday night (date night). It wasn't due to not having a date (which I didn't have because at present I have no boyfriend). Nor was it because I didn't hang out at a bar or restaurant with my Eugene friends.

My night was lame because I called the dell guy. For 30 minutes, I waited on the phone for someone to answer. During this time, I sliced some bread, wrote a thank you card, and wrote a complaint on facebook. Then, Nicolas in Florida answered the phone. For an hour and fifteen minutes, Nic and I tried to figure out what is wrong with my computer. We had no luck. When he was working with me on the computer, everything seemed to be fine. Talk about embarrassing. He had a cute voice so of course I was a little embarrassed. But now, as I sit here typing, my keys continue to fail me.

My date with Nic was unsuccessful. My computer is still a little edgy. She's mad about something I'm sure. And I'm pretty sure I'll never chat with Nic, my dell date, ever again.

what ice cream should be

Ice cream should be flavorful. This is one lesson I have yet to teach my parents. These two sixty-somethings think that vanilla is the best and only flavor of ice cream. What could they possibly be thinking? What about Goo-Goo Cluster? Peppermint? And cheesecake ice cream? There are so many kinds of ice cream.

This morning, my mom bought pumpkin ice cream for me. I made a big deal about the kind of ice cream we were going to eat at our barbeque. It should be good. At least it's not plain, boring vanilla.

Movie girl

Movies. I absolutely love movies. I think that going to a movie is one of my favorite things to do for fun. I suppose it has something to do with my family. That used to be what our family did together. We'd go to the movies for New Years or sometimes even on Christmas day.

Today, I went to see All About Steve with my best friend's mom. It was pretty good. I laughed so hard through the first half. It was so crazy and ridiculous. And then the movie's ending was just as it should have been. I'm probably not going to buy it, but I imagine netflixing it in the future.

Band of Horses

When I was in Ukraine, I started getting into music. I discovered Death Cab and realized that there was an entire part of loving music that I was missing. My concert experience had been extremely limited. Since the end of 2007, I have been trying to fix the problem. I go to concerts. I listen to music I love. I'm starting to try bands I kinda know. I did that tonight.

Tonight, Band of Horses came to Eugene. I bought their newest CD a few weeks ago, to get ready for the concert. It helped to know a few of the songs, but I still think I could have loved the show had I not known any of the tunes.

Here is a video of one of my favorite of their songs. It's the first song of their second album, the one I currently own.

I'm hoping to check out some other bands and music around Eugene this fall. If you have any suggestions, please share.

Ring, ring

Dayton is a small town. Just about everybody knows the names of everybody around them. New people don't take long getting acquainted and finding their footing in the community.

In junior high, I broke out of my first shell. (I would say I have had more than one shell because of the VARIOUS changes I've gone through in my life.) I was loud, I was outgoing, and I was easy to talk to. At the beginning of my eighth grade year, I became the new girl's first best friend. We had P.E. together. I'm sure she picked me because I could fill her in on all the gossip. I've always been good at juicing up stories. Nonetheless, the two of us became good friends. I realized this when she called me every day to talk on the phone. "What do I say to her?" I asked my mom. You see, I didn't like talking on the phone. It seemed like a waste. I didn't understand the purpose. If we wanted to talk, why not just hang out at the Pirate's Den?

My opinion on phone talking changed when I moved to England. The first time, when I studied in London, I would find the red telephone booths and call my mom from them. They were so cool. I refused to call her from another type of phone. When I lived in Oxford, I came to enjoy the phone even more. I would call my mom or my sister, Shanna, to find out new news and see what was up on the homefront.

The real phone-talker in me came out in Ukraine. I called my mom once asking her to give me a wake-up call. At the time, I didn't know how to set my phone alarm. Later, I would call my sister, Shanna, because there were people shouting at me outside my windows at 2 a.m. Although I enjoyed my life in Ukraine, it was essential for me to keep in contact with my people back home.

In the past few years, I have tried to become less of a phone-talker again. Unfortunately, I can hardly go a day without talking to my mom on the phone. There is always a really good story to tell her. And my sister, Shelli, lives all the way in Idaho. The only way I can keep up with her is via telephone.

Today, I talked to my seven-year-old nephew, Spencer, on the phone for a few minutes. After telling me a few things about school and his new teacher, he told me that his mouth hurt so he couldn't talk anymore. Um, that's just funny. How many times have I wanted to tell people that my ear or my hand is killing me? I'm a dork. I know it. Before, I've positioned my phone to rest on the same pillow as my head so I didn't have to work at talking on the phone. Perhaps I should invest in one of those headsets for my cell phone.

Phones are okay. They keep us connected. I just like to chat too much. Phones COULD become a real problem. If that ever happens and I have to go to AA-type meetings regarding phone use, you'll still probably be able to find me active on facebook. I'm just THAT kind of social!