gimme sum gumbo!

I'm a fan of gumbo. I discovered gumbo in Disneyland over Spring Break and now it is one of my most favorite foods. A little over a week ago, my friend Sarah and I had a farewell to Eugene sort of evening. For dinner, we went for some of that delicious Papa Soul Food Gumbo. I almost cried I was so happy.

Ah.....

Getting back to blogging

How does one call oneself a blogger if she never blogs? I don’t know. Thus, I am blogging to show that in fact I do blog and write on occasion. This month (August) has been crazier than crazy. I was in Portland for a few Monday/Tuesdays early on while volunteering at the fabulous OPB. The commuting business turned me into a major stress case. So I decided to make mochas and lattes for the remainder of my August in Eugene instead. Then my thirty days at the apartment in Eugene were up and it was time to move back to Dayton. That’s where I am now. I live in my brothers’ old bedroom and am working at my old grade school. My new job started just two days after I moved here. But instead of chillin’ at that grade school in Dayton where I’m going to work, I headed to Albany for some training about teaching kids with autism. I am excited for it and scared for it at the same time. I’ve never worked with children with autism before. I suppose there’s a reason I’ve become fascinated with the most popular disability in the U.S. Who knows… I’m sure it’ll be an interesting experience to add to my life adventures.

Yesterday, I chatted briefly on Facebook with one of my favorite people in Eugene. He asked me how things in Dayton were. I didn’t have much to say. Much of my activities lately have revolved around organizing my room, cleaning the dishes, and watching Gilmore Girls. But I also get to hang out with Madelyn, my four-year-old niece. She likes to follow me around. Her baby sister is only about six months old. She doesn’t know her Tia Rece very well these days. Anyway, Madelyn was my buddy yesterday. She brought me a tiara to wear to my second cousin, Mia’s princess birthday party. It was… well… it was a princess party. It was sweet. I haven’t actually been to a princess party in a while, but it was good. I told my sister-in-law that if it’d been ten years ago, I would have been ALL decked out as a princess and majorly into the cheesy dancing or something.

Other than the occasional princess party and “trip to town,” I haven’t been up to a whole bunch. So folks, that’s it for now.

Book Geeks

I work with a bunch of book geeks… or maybe we’re book nerds. I’m not sure. Whatever we are, we are AWESOME. Together, we do one of the most important jobs at the University of Oregon. We process and repair books. Yep. It’s THE most important. Without the books, how would we learn? This whole digital thing is just a fad. It’ll be gone in no time.

Anyway, tonight we had a library crew garden party. It was quite wonderful. We made mini books, looked at Marilyn’s (one of the boss’s) chickens, and ate a fabulous feast.

Here’s a taste…

Craft time was the best. Jonny didn't bring his supplies but most of the girls did. It was great. Seriously, our work at the library feels a little like this fun craft time.


I'm not gonna lie. When the girls started talking about the types of chickens they have and what color eggs they lay and basically anything chicken, I realized I was way out of my league. I totally ignored everything chicken when I was a kid. I didn't like the meat, I hated feeding them and basically disliked all the farm work I had to do. Ironic that now I want that kind of life here in Eugene.



Please note: I don't know the name of the above chicken. But I believe it's the one they pet and talk to a lot. Will I ever get over my fear of being pecked to death by a hungry chicken? Not sure...

Packing city!

Not only has it been ages since I've blogged... it's also been ages since I've taken a picture with my rad camera. This is a problem because I love my camera. It's one of the things I feel like I need in life. :)

But anyway, here's a picture for ya.



It represents my life right now... a huge pile of boxes, some empty, some falling into other boxes, and some half full. I wish my life could be more organized during this "transitional phase," but that seems to never be the case.

Eh, things will settle down and then I'll be able to blog about WHY I have a pile of boxes in my apartment and why I haven't used my camera recently.

Until then, enjoy this unphotoshopped image.

Trusting a toy

This morning, I got to sit at a new desk. I was at my non-internship volunteer workplace. It was amazing to have my own cubicle. I didn’t have to sit in the studio everybody needed to use and I didn’t have to sit in the table in the middle of the room and read the newspaper twice.

But instead of jumping into the online news when I entered the cubicle, I did what every smart person would do. I picked up the Magic 8 ball. I asked it the ultimate question, the question every woman over 26 who’s moving back in with her parents must ask: Will I ever get married? I shook it up, closed my eyes for a second, willed a positive response, turned it upside down, and looked down.

DEFINITELY NOT.

What? This can’t be. I was shocked. How could this happen? I took a walk, got a drink of water, and went to the toilet to catch my breath. Then I realized. The Magic 8 Ball didn’t understand the question. It was made in China. It doesn’t know English.

I texted a few of my friends to get their responses. I got a few “hahas” and a “Rece, you’re so funny.” Abby said I shouldn’t put much stock into a piece of plastic with blue water in it.

I tried again. Negative. Third time’s a charm, I thought. I got the answer I wanted. Not a yes. Not, “sure.” But it was a positive one for sure. I took a deep breath. I texted my friend Lena to let her know the good news. Rece was not going to turn into an old hag with crazy cats.

I think I’ve learned my lesson. Magic 8 Balls are not toys. And if you want to ask them a question, you must finesse it out of them. And ask the question slowly. Enunciate. Then maybe you won’t have to try three times for the right answer.

My Little Butterscotch!

I’ve adopted a bunny. It’s true. I came home to “the farm” AKA BBJ Ranch and encountered the cutest bunny I have seen in years. It used to run wild and free, but it ate my sister’s and her neighbors’ berries. My dad caught it and it’s been in a cage ☹ in my parents’ “woods” for the past few months.

It’s mine now. And sure, it’s going to live in the cage for right now and all, but I’m going to treat it like the princess or prince that it is.



That's Butterscotch. Isn't he/she cute? Don't worry. I'm going to figure out what "it" is.

Here’s what I know about my new baby right now.

1. It’s a rabbit.
2. Its name is Butterscotch. (I named it today.)
3. It’s sweet and cute.
4. It has light brown fur, like a butterscotch brownie.
5. It’s sweeter than the other one, the one I call, Lumpy.

So yeah, I’ve found a new pal, a new project. And we’re going to figure out how to build him or her a cute and sweet little home. ☺

Summer Catch-Up!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog. It’s actually been a bit since I’ve done things I truly loved to do. There haven’t been many early bird movie specials, puzzles in the kitchen or days of nothing but writing. Instead, I’ve been having a crazy summer.

The end of school started out with a bang. Me and my gals from DHS went on a road-trip to Spokane to catch up with one of our other girls. It was amazing. We hadn’t all hung out for quite a while. I’ve been fortunate enough and persistent enough to see all of them several times in the past nine years (plus one of them is the Ethel to my Lucy or the Lucy to my Ethel – I’m not sure which). While there, three of the five of us got tattoos. It was great. Now I have three, a good number.



After that, I headed back to Eugene to continue work as a barista and book repairperson at the University library. That’s what I did for the second half of June. I worked… a lot. Ask my friends. I wasn’t around for much playtime.

Now that it’s July, my volunteer hours at OPB have started. I’m pretty stoked. Let’s just say, I love volunteering somewhere and I’m uber-excited for new adventures at a radio station.

In TV news, I’ve discovered the show, Samantha Who? I love it! Christina Applegate is so funny. And Barry Watson is so cute. I totally forgot he was from 7th Heaven until I wikipediaed him. Also, he looks a lot like Timothy Olyphant, Mr. Funk from The Boss episode. It’s crazy. I feel as if the two of them could be brothers or something. And Andrea is a new character to add to my list of favorite television characters. ☺

So besides filling random parts of my days by watching television, I have spent some time with the fam. That’s always a thrill. ☺

I suppose that is all for now. More later.

All the best.
XOXO