So we were at Wal-Mart today waiting for an oil change. This is a dangerous thing to do because for at least an hour you end up wandering around finding things to buy. I was perusing the $2 nail polish options when Chris came up to me with an ceramic incense/tea light holder burner thing and some cinnamon bun scented incense.
My look must have said, "Do we really need this?" because he started defending it.
"It's not very much and our house always smells weird. And I really like cinnamon buns."
I just looked at him.
He murmured in my ear, "I like these cinnamon buns," and pinched my butt.
"Then smell that," I said.
He immediately turned and walked away. "That's disgusting."
:D
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Weird
I got the following e-mail from UNR today:
An unusual incident occurred yesterday on a University construction site. Work has commenced on the new residence hall at N. Virginia St. and College Drive. Yesterday, in the course of initial construction site work involving heavy equipment, the construction crew discovered a grave, as indicated by the presence of remains with a casket. Work was immediately halted and the University, in partnership with the general contractor, began a process of notifying appropriate agencies starting with University Police and the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The history of this site provides important background. The site was once the location of a cemetery which was owned by the Catholic Church. It was purchased by the University decades ago from the area diocese of the Catholic Church and, related to that purchase, the diocese oversaw the relocation of the cemetery and re-interment of remains at the current Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Cemetery in 1963. The University has notified the diocese of this matter and is working with the diocese to determine appropriate next steps to be taken relative to re-interment. Construction site work will remain suspended during this period and care is being taken to treat this matter with dignity.
Me again- I don't mind saying that I would totally not want to live in those dorms.
Time to stop dressing in the dark.
All day yesterday I felt at peace, even when I forgot to bring change and had to park at Valley and 8th. I had left myself enough time to walk so that helped, but more importantly I just knew financial aid was coming. Sure enough, I found a check in the mailbox when I got home. AND at work earlier, I had checked my VA benefits online and it finally showed a paycheck on the way. I can't tell if it's the one from November or now, but one down, one to go.
At home, I ran in to drop my bookbag, grab my purse and Ant. I found him sitting in Chris's lap, crying. He was very upset because that morning, after I left for work, Chris came out of the room singing, "It's January 20th today!"
"What's so special about that?" Ant asked.
"It's my birthday," said Chris.
Ant felt horrible. He got all upset about it again that afternoon. Chris hugged him and swore it was okay. :(
I dragged Ant with me and we hit the bank and a couple stores to search for gifts. I really hate doing that last minute but I was broke, as you all know. Ant picked out a funny card and some earmuffs and gloves. We also got him a replacement tea kettle (after he broke the last one with his man paws). Chris recently explained to me that he is uncomfortable receiving gifts- he'd rather buy his own toys. Yes, I get that by now. He said he'd rather get practical gifts, like underwear- things he'd rather not spend money on. Plus he just got back from that NAMM conference in L.A. That was his birthday present, so I had to work against my inner guilt/generosity and decide that that was enough and not go overboard. So he got three little gifts (that I got GREAT deals on), and we went out for Indian food for his birthday dinner.
He opened his presents when we got home and Ant made us tea. Then I went into my room and finally noticed that all day long I had been wearing a zebra print bra under a pale yellow shirt. Nice.
At home, I ran in to drop my bookbag, grab my purse and Ant. I found him sitting in Chris's lap, crying. He was very upset because that morning, after I left for work, Chris came out of the room singing, "It's January 20th today!"
"What's so special about that?" Ant asked.
"It's my birthday," said Chris.
Ant felt horrible. He got all upset about it again that afternoon. Chris hugged him and swore it was okay. :(
I dragged Ant with me and we hit the bank and a couple stores to search for gifts. I really hate doing that last minute but I was broke, as you all know. Ant picked out a funny card and some earmuffs and gloves. We also got him a replacement tea kettle (after he broke the last one with his man paws). Chris recently explained to me that he is uncomfortable receiving gifts- he'd rather buy his own toys. Yes, I get that by now. He said he'd rather get practical gifts, like underwear- things he'd rather not spend money on. Plus he just got back from that NAMM conference in L.A. That was his birthday present, so I had to work against my inner guilt/generosity and decide that that was enough and not go overboard. So he got three little gifts (that I got GREAT deals on), and we went out for Indian food for his birthday dinner.
He opened his presents when we got home and Ant made us tea. Then I went into my room and finally noticed that all day long I had been wearing a zebra print bra under a pale yellow shirt. Nice.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The First Long Day
I walked into the Black Rock Press at 9:25, twenty minutes before class started. Only there were people in there already. Quiet. Listening to the teacher. It's funny how confusion sets in first instead of anything logical. I thought I had interrupted another class.
"Oh," I said.
"What class are you looking for?" the teacher asked.
"Book making."
"That's us."
"9:45?"
"9:00," he replied.
"Oh no!" Damn damn damn! How did I mess that up? Stupid ePAWS...
"Did you get lost?" he asked.
"Nope," I said proudly. Big dummy.
I sat down and whipped out my class schedule from ePAWS. 9:00-11:45. Shit.
The teacher seems very nice and I was excited to learn that we will be doing more than just the one book. There are two smaller projects first. Whew! After a lot of talking through the syllabus, rules, schedule, history, etc., he showed us some examples of student work and special editions and some of the neat things you can do with paper. Then he made a proof and set up the press, tested it a couple times and ended the class by letting us each run a copy. Here's mine:
That's a neat way to start the class, huh?
The second class started at 1 and I made it there on time, but I forgot my book. Thankfully I didn't need it. That's the proposal writing class and I was really not looking forward to it. I was very intimidated by both classes but I feel much better now. I know a very nice girl in the class who was in my nonfiction class last semester- that always helps- but the teacher introduced the class in a very welcoming way. She essentially said Do Not Be Afraid. We'll be working for a nonprofit (Reno Bike to Work Week) and she emphasized it would look great on a resume. Duly noted. After that we'll be doing our own proposals for whatever we need them for. Grad school applications? Grants? Hmm.
After waiting in a huge line at the bookstore I STILL had a three hour wait until the next class. Yes, I did homework. Let's hope I keep that up. The last class was Art History. Yeah.
Now I'm going to go curl up in my room and see if I can't find some Forensic Files or Cupcake Wars on TV. I won't be asleep by 9, but maybe by 9:25. Ha ha.
"Oh," I said.
"What class are you looking for?" the teacher asked.
"Book making."
"That's us."
"9:45?"
"9:00," he replied.
"Oh no!" Damn damn damn! How did I mess that up? Stupid ePAWS...
"Did you get lost?" he asked.
"Nope," I said proudly. Big dummy.
I sat down and whipped out my class schedule from ePAWS. 9:00-11:45. Shit.
The teacher seems very nice and I was excited to learn that we will be doing more than just the one book. There are two smaller projects first. Whew! After a lot of talking through the syllabus, rules, schedule, history, etc., he showed us some examples of student work and special editions and some of the neat things you can do with paper. Then he made a proof and set up the press, tested it a couple times and ended the class by letting us each run a copy. Here's mine:
That's a neat way to start the class, huh?
The second class started at 1 and I made it there on time, but I forgot my book. Thankfully I didn't need it. That's the proposal writing class and I was really not looking forward to it. I was very intimidated by both classes but I feel much better now. I know a very nice girl in the class who was in my nonfiction class last semester- that always helps- but the teacher introduced the class in a very welcoming way. She essentially said Do Not Be Afraid. We'll be working for a nonprofit (Reno Bike to Work Week) and she emphasized it would look great on a resume. Duly noted. After that we'll be doing our own proposals for whatever we need them for. Grad school applications? Grants? Hmm.
After waiting in a huge line at the bookstore I STILL had a three hour wait until the next class. Yes, I did homework. Let's hope I keep that up. The last class was Art History. Yeah.
Now I'm going to go curl up in my room and see if I can't find some Forensic Files or Cupcake Wars on TV. I won't be asleep by 9, but maybe by 9:25. Ha ha.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
I might never have found it.
So I just read an e-mail from the teacher of the book making class. He sent out a link to the website of Black Rock Press to give us an idea of how to find it tomorrow. The directions on the website end with:
Our double doors face N. Virginia Street and are to the left of the main doors, behind the big blue dumpster.
Sounds awesome, right? Lol.
Our double doors face N. Virginia Street and are to the left of the main doors, behind the big blue dumpster.
Sounds awesome, right? Lol.
First Day of School
The first day of school went well. I have homework already (Damn!) and I must schedule accordingly because I won't have many opportunities to do it. Sneaky Tuesday homework. I know four people in the class and it seems like it will go pretty smoothly. Good news.
In other good news, I just had a snack. (Wow, that's awesome...) I ate 6 triscuit and cheese and did not justify eating two or three times that and defeat the purpose of dinner. It's a struggle. That shit is good.
In lack of willpower news, I just got back from the used bookstore. I was looking for the first book on the syllabus but they didn't have that so I came back with a pocket dictionary (for school so I can figure out these big fancy words on the go), a grammar exercise book, and a few books for Ant. $18 later... D'oh! I even had a coupon for a free book! Damn you, Mignon Fogarty!
Tomorrow I'm going to resell four books at the Unhelpful Nincompoop Retchatorium bookstore and maybe earn enough to pay for half of the book I need first. Then I will rely on Borders coupons for the rest.
I'm off to do my homework.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Whew
I just rechecked ePAWS because I am a glutton for punishment and found that- HOLY CRAP!- funds have been disbursed. Not all of it- the loan is still hung up somewhere- but the Pell Grant came through as well as a state grant. I got a $1500 state grant! Ahhh. Did they read my blog?
So Frustrated...
I am missing a paycheck from my work study job... from November. I resubmitted the time sheet for the third time last week and on Friday I sent in another one. That's $800 I've earned but can't touch yet.
And Financial Aid... they should change their name to Financial Unhelpful. Let's start placing bets on when I will receive my check- I've got to make money somehow. Once again I am left dangling with nothing. I checked in with financial aid two weeks ago and was assured that everything was in order- the Pell Grant would come through in time to pay tuition and the loan should be the week after that. Well, this is the loan week and according to the Department of Education, my school plans to disburse my funds on January 17th. Today's a holiday, so I guess that means tomorrow. I was prepared for that wait, but where is the frigging Pell Grant? If ePAWS still shows nothing tomorrow morning, I guess I'll spend my first day of school standing in line for hours waiting to be told god knows what. Maybe they've got another surprise in store for me like last semester. There ought to be security guards and licensed therapists standing by at that counter. My violent angry demonic side envisions a large platter of bricks arranged nicely on a doily on the students' side of the counter. I bet that would inspire the people who worked there to be a little more careful.
Yes, I should probably go take some more anger management classes. I have confessed before that when my computer doesn't know what I want it to do I slam the mouse down several times as if that will help. Then I yell, then I cry. I'm laughing now, which is of course exactly why I tell you these things. I have to vomit rage until I can giggle about it and what better place to do that than an imaginary world where I can take fabulous dream road trips instead of spending Spring Break crawling back and forth to the bathroom?
I had lots of rage this morning starting when I checked to see if FA (Frigging Assholes) had forked over my money yet. Of course not. Is my VA pay here yet? Nope. Is it on its way? Ha ha ha. So I called Charter to ask why they were sending me a disconnect notice for my house phone. I was all prepared to fight about it but the guy said to disregard the letter, my payment had cleared and I had until the 24th the pay this month's bill.
"Oh."
Nothing makes you feel like an asshole like getting all charged up over... well, nothing.
Sheepishly I say, "Ok, no that's all I needed. Thanks!"
Now if I could just get that kind of response from FA (Fraudulent Armamentarium):
"Oh, Miss Pickerell, we're so sorry for the miscommunication! We forgot to update ePAWS because we were so busy working 20 hour shifts through the holiday weekend to process everyone's financial aid before the semester started! We have erased your late fees and here, let's not have you wait for snail mail, you can pick up your check now. We added in the scholarship you were supposed to get during the fall semester. Oh, and here's a 50% off coupon for the bookstore. We give them to all the students we've inconvenienced."
Jenny slowly lowers her brick...
And Financial Aid... they should change their name to Financial Unhelpful. Let's start placing bets on when I will receive my check- I've got to make money somehow. Once again I am left dangling with nothing. I checked in with financial aid two weeks ago and was assured that everything was in order- the Pell Grant would come through in time to pay tuition and the loan should be the week after that. Well, this is the loan week and according to the Department of Education, my school plans to disburse my funds on January 17th. Today's a holiday, so I guess that means tomorrow. I was prepared for that wait, but where is the frigging Pell Grant? If ePAWS still shows nothing tomorrow morning, I guess I'll spend my first day of school standing in line for hours waiting to be told god knows what. Maybe they've got another surprise in store for me like last semester. There ought to be security guards and licensed therapists standing by at that counter. My violent angry demonic side envisions a large platter of bricks arranged nicely on a doily on the students' side of the counter. I bet that would inspire the people who worked there to be a little more careful.
Yes, I should probably go take some more anger management classes. I have confessed before that when my computer doesn't know what I want it to do I slam the mouse down several times as if that will help. Then I yell, then I cry. I'm laughing now, which is of course exactly why I tell you these things. I have to vomit rage until I can giggle about it and what better place to do that than an imaginary world where I can take fabulous dream road trips instead of spending Spring Break crawling back and forth to the bathroom?
I had lots of rage this morning starting when I checked to see if FA (Frigging Assholes) had forked over my money yet. Of course not. Is my VA pay here yet? Nope. Is it on its way? Ha ha ha. So I called Charter to ask why they were sending me a disconnect notice for my house phone. I was all prepared to fight about it but the guy said to disregard the letter, my payment had cleared and I had until the 24th the pay this month's bill.
"Oh."
Nothing makes you feel like an asshole like getting all charged up over... well, nothing.
Sheepishly I say, "Ok, no that's all I needed. Thanks!"
Now if I could just get that kind of response from FA (Fraudulent Armamentarium):
"Oh, Miss Pickerell, we're so sorry for the miscommunication! We forgot to update ePAWS because we were so busy working 20 hour shifts through the holiday weekend to process everyone's financial aid before the semester started! We have erased your late fees and here, let's not have you wait for snail mail, you can pick up your check now. We added in the scholarship you were supposed to get during the fall semester. Oh, and here's a 50% off coupon for the bookstore. We give them to all the students we've inconvenienced."
Jenny slowly lowers her brick...
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Don't make me pee on my territory.
I am not pleased with how many people I'm "friends" with on Facebook. The other day I got a request from Ant's best friend's sister. This is the girl who HAS TO come over any time Bubba does. And she's usually sick. She's either hacking like crazy without covering her mouth (and giving me dirty looks when I ask her to) or vomiting in my sink. I have hated Eva Mendes for a while now and just recently I realized why- she looks just like this little princess. Ahh.
So here I am trying to decide if this new blog place is worth moving to and I would like some feedback. There are a lot of things I want to vent about but I can't on Facebook because I'm "friends" with the child. Right now he's drinking out of my favorite glass in the whole wide world. THIS IS NOT ALLOWED. Go ahead, call me insane- I know it. Chris told me I was crazy for putting my favorite glasses on a high shelf to keep Ant away from them. I could pretend like I do that just so that he won't break them, and that may be part of it, but I also just don't want him using that one. It's mine. Sorry. I reminded Chris that he has a favorite plate. He said yes, he does, but he doesn't need to use it all the time. He even volunteered to go home and break said plate to show how little he was attached to it. Um, don't do that.
Mom thinks it's a privacy thing, or a lack thereof. I can see that. On the trip I got horribly grossed out when Chris packed our bathroom stuff to move to Tracy's and he put my toothbrush in Ant's toothbrush holder. It's not the long rectangular thing that holds the whole toothbrush; I might have been able to deal with that. It was the kind that you shove down over the head of the toothbrush. No, no, no. I expressed my stress to Tracy and she had a few new toothbrushes on hand, thank god.
Did I complain about that already? If so I'm sorry.
I will go cook dinner and try to rein myself in a bit. I will rescue the glass at the first opportunity and put it on an even higher shelf. Or I'll pull a Jody and just hide it in my room. Chris thinks I need my own apartment that I can keep just so. Yeah, I do, so don't inspire me to go get one.
I don't hate this kid- far from it. But I don't want his cooties. You may not believe it, but it's hard to confess to being this immature. I can't help it. My counselor challenged me to figure out what I need and I thought Mom was probably right about the privacy thing. I posed that to Chris and the conversation didn't go well. He took it as though I am never happy. Well... of course not. But I would probably be a little less controlling if he would return my things- respect my stuff. Ant does much better at this than Chris does, but Ant receives the anger from it. How the hell does that work? Now I feel like an asshole. I often feel like the asshole.
So here I am trying to decide if this new blog place is worth moving to and I would like some feedback. There are a lot of things I want to vent about but I can't on Facebook because I'm "friends" with the child. Right now he's drinking out of my favorite glass in the whole wide world. THIS IS NOT ALLOWED. Go ahead, call me insane- I know it. Chris told me I was crazy for putting my favorite glasses on a high shelf to keep Ant away from them. I could pretend like I do that just so that he won't break them, and that may be part of it, but I also just don't want him using that one. It's mine. Sorry. I reminded Chris that he has a favorite plate. He said yes, he does, but he doesn't need to use it all the time. He even volunteered to go home and break said plate to show how little he was attached to it. Um, don't do that.
Mom thinks it's a privacy thing, or a lack thereof. I can see that. On the trip I got horribly grossed out when Chris packed our bathroom stuff to move to Tracy's and he put my toothbrush in Ant's toothbrush holder. It's not the long rectangular thing that holds the whole toothbrush; I might have been able to deal with that. It was the kind that you shove down over the head of the toothbrush. No, no, no. I expressed my stress to Tracy and she had a few new toothbrushes on hand, thank god.
Did I complain about that already? If so I'm sorry.
I will go cook dinner and try to rein myself in a bit. I will rescue the glass at the first opportunity and put it on an even higher shelf. Or I'll pull a Jody and just hide it in my room. Chris thinks I need my own apartment that I can keep just so. Yeah, I do, so don't inspire me to go get one.
I don't hate this kid- far from it. But I don't want his cooties. You may not believe it, but it's hard to confess to being this immature. I can't help it. My counselor challenged me to figure out what I need and I thought Mom was probably right about the privacy thing. I posed that to Chris and the conversation didn't go well. He took it as though I am never happy. Well... of course not. But I would probably be a little less controlling if he would return my things- respect my stuff. Ant does much better at this than Chris does, but Ant receives the anger from it. How the hell does that work? Now I feel like an asshole. I often feel like the asshole.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)