potty talk

since i've been at this new job, there is only one thing that has really bothered me: the bathroom. i've resisted talking about this as most of you are probably not they type to talk about such vile topics; however, i am not above it.

i don't mind using public facilities (unlike my friend lil who would go home from work to potty if she couldn't hold it), but i do want some privacy. and it seems here, it's difficult to come by. i think it must be because this floor of the building is quite busy and contains most of the offices.

when i say i like my privacy, i just mean, i'd much rather be in there alone than with someone else there to act as witness, and i think at least some other people feel the same. take for instance the trip i just made there... someone went in just before me and i was done and washing up before this person was able to get her shy flow to come out of hiding.

so i'm just thinking maybe i should seek out another place to go or maybe we should devise a schedule...

like a cab on commission

i think everyone who ever reads my blog knows that i consider myself a relatively intelligent person. but you'll also agree that i am still blonde and have moments where we can all laugh at me. and i just had one of those moments so i thought you might enjoy the laugh as well...

i bought the new mariah carey cd because i heard several songs i liked and while i think she should probably cover up her lovely lady lumps a bit better, i support a girl who has a nervous breakdown and comes back like she has.

today at work there are only about 4 of us in the building it seems so i'm trying to keep myself entertained until 4 when i feel like i can leave since i came in early. so i'm listening to mariah and i decide to look at the lyrics online.

i realize i've been singing "Like a cab on commision, i gotta get up out of here and go somewhere" instead of "Just like the Calgon commercial, I really gotta get up outta here and go somewhere". Calgon commercial, cab on commission... same thing.

i just wish i was near my brother so i could annoy him by singing it wrong; he likes it when i do that.

treasures

i have been trying to think every day about something i really enjoy. today's joy came early. i realized how much i love putting on a coat for the first time of the season. there are always little treasures in the pockets that make me smile.

work has been going well. i can't believe i'm in week 3 of a new job. of course, i don't feel like i've really done anything. if you know me, you know i like to have a task, a goal, something to strive for. these first weeks have really just been fact finding and trying to figure out what i want and need to do.

in more exciting news, cara finally got her ring this weekend. i guess that means i need to start working on getting pregnant since she wants me to have to wear a tent ;) i'm not sure i can clear this idea with k just yet though. i think we have another year or two to wait. we'll get all three of us married first before we start the baby rotation. but i think it does mean i should get serious about losing some body mass.

well, back to work it is...

day two

i survived the first two days of the new job. i think i'm going to love it (what am i saying, i already do). it's always going to be a nice place to be when you boss comes in and says 'i have a prize for you' and hands over an iPod shuffle for no real reason other than 'everyone else has one and i didnt want you to feel left out'. how cool is that?

i've already acquired several projects to begin working on. there is SO much room for me to do my own thing and do some new, different things for them. i think i'll be glad when i finish teaching these THREE courses I have going. i'm ready for a break from that.

i'm super into this fall thing. something about the north east inspires it in me. leaves changing, mums in full bloom. i've been making pumpkin delight, spice cake and trying different types of squash. i made and ate spaghetti squash for the first time in my life last week. it was excellent with just a little butter (actually Promise spread since i'm trying to get un-fat), salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese. this weekend i made butternut squash soup (or mush), and i have an acorn squash left to attempt.

k's parents are coming for thanksgiving. it'll be the first time i think i've had a holiday at my house. i've never made a turkey before so it should be an interesting adventure... as long as i don't put grits on it i'll be fine. (that's a family inside joke that does require a story).

---

One Thanksgiving several years ago we were at my Papa's house. He's an excellent cook, but my mom was in charge of the turkey that year. My papa was up early and wanted to get the turkey in the oven before things got wild so he went in to my sleeping mom to ask what he needed to do. she told him to put it in the browning bag, tie the bag and put some slits in the top. Once we were all up my mom checked the turkey to find white specks all over the top of the turkey. Upon inquiring it became clear that there was a mis-understanding in the sleepy pre-dawn conversation... she said slits and he heard 'grits'.

my lovely lady lumps

in just a few hours we're headed to philly for the Black Eyed Peas and Gwen Stefani. i can't wait.

i've been grading all morning, but i think i'm all caught up. in the course(s) i'm currently teaching one of their discussion questions for this week is about blogs and blogging. they all have such a hatred for blogging. idiots. they just don't understand how wonderful it is to live vicariously through others.

i guess i need to go iron for today and tomorrow. i still haven't decided what to wear tomorrow for my big first day. decisions, decisions.

back in the saddle

i know, i know. i haven't been here in a while, and I promised to get back earlier this week, but alas it is friday and here i sit. it's my last official day of full-time work for my current employer. monday, i start a fresh.

i think i hate coming back to this after so long because i have too much to say. So maybe i'll say some short, sweet things and you can ask for me if you really care...

ONE. yes, i had a great trip to louisiana. i ate lots of good things and just hung out with my family. it was nice.

TWO. yes, new orleans looks as bad as the news makes it out to be. actually, i think it worse in person. i flew in to NO and went with dad to his staging site by Audubon park. there were refrigerators standing by the curbs to replace the usually colorful characters that line the streets of new orleans.

i think the hardest part of the trip were all the long faces on the planes to and from. conversations about fema trailers and relocation and mold replaced the usual war stories of drunken nights, eating too much and when to plan the next trip to party. i did run into a college friend who was down to visit her family. she's been relocated to philadelphia so maybe we can get together while she's here. two feet of water in her house have washed away many of her things. but she still had that killer smile that attracts all the boys.

THREE. yes, i'm excited about my new job. i'm not excited that my hair is cut funky and i feel fat and frumpy. weight watchers and working out here i come.

FOUR. yes, i am crazy. this is my last day of full-time work for them, but i will continue teaching my faculty course through the first of december AND i have two online courses i'm teaching (luckily same course, two different sections). so basically i'm swamped until christmas.

FIVE. speaking of christmas, i have no ideas for presents. i think my gift giving ability is cyclical. last year i did great. had ideas for everyone, and this year i suck. so if anyone has any ideas, let me know.


I think I'll end with five for now. maybe after i do some work i'll add a few more. until then...

change on the horizon

well, it finally happened. Lafayette College called. i actually had to listen to a voicemail last night because when he called I was on the phone with John Curtis who I have only talked to maybe twice since Katrina.

i called them back today to talk details, and i've been weighing my options since. i'll let you see what you think:

Current job

Lafayette job

work from home - wear whatever i want no commute (except into the next room) flexibility to run errands, do laundry, etc. lonely and lack of creative cynergy isolated (esp when Tim's not around) pay - same as current benefits - same as current professional development - not much if any maxing out my abilities at a distance mostly Blackboard support mostly support faculty larger school; Michigan name recognition

go in to an office - must look "professional" only 4 mile commute work normal 8:45 - 5 hours people to bounce ideas off of potential to meet new people, make community connections pay - slight increase benefits - .5% difference in retirement professional development - highly supported opportunities for building new skills and using more of my creativity than now more "academic" technology work with faculty, staff and students smaller, liberal arts; back to my roots

toenails red as skittles

not sure about the title of this post other than i just spent a few minutes of my work day giving myself a little pedicure. i've been noticing that because of this work at home thing i've been letting myself go a little. got to stop that.

it's been a long boring day. i know it's my fault since i do have lots of work that needs to get done, but i just couldn't bring myself to do much of it. i did get caught up with grading for that faculty training course i teach. that's another thing i've sorta let go. it's really hard when there are just two people. and the other issue is that i've been spending lots and lots of time with my Baker class. they're so needy. i just can't figure out why it's so hard to read something in a book and copy it to your computer. but they seem to be having a problem with it. i think maybe it's the attention to detail that they lack.

they offered me a contract to teach this same course two sections each term for winter. i'm not sure how i feel about that. i mean, don't get me wrong $6200 in 12 weeks sounds grand, but it's a hassle. so i have to make a decision what i want to do. i wish i had heard from lafayette to know if that's a go. if i knew, i might could make a better decision. but still i wait.

nothing very exciting to report. it rained all weekend. we did go buy a deep cleaner for the carpet. kelvin used it in the living room on sunday afternoon. it works nicely and the cleaning stuff smells great so that's a plus. i just wonder if the little spots will come back or if they're gone for good.

on another random note, i do love the cold weather. it makes hairy much more of a lovey. basically, she's cold and i'm warm so she endures sitting on me and sleeping near me in exchange for some additional warmth. she's just a user.

well, i think my friend Oprah is calling...

a nice new sticker

well, i didn't have to let loose any deamons on the heads of people at the car dealership who did my inspection. luckily they didn't have to order any parts to put the new sticker on. i guess now i can stop cursing their name. i was so looking forward to them saying 'well, it's been over 30 days, you're going to have to pay again'. At which point i had practiced a manouver to leap over the counter and unleash some of my "southern charms".

other than that lack of excitement this morning, nothing really going on. still working from home. still waiting to hear back from my interview. i knew it was going to be at least a couple of weeks so i'm not super anxious about it yet. i do however, keep thinking of things i wish i would have told them or answers i could have given. isn't that how it always works though?

well, back to the salt mines...

girl power!

I spent less than half an hour today doing some light mechanic work on my car. I felt so empowered. I had finally had enough of this tail light drama so I went to Auto Zone and ordered the part. It was delivered to their store about 24 hours later and I picked it up last night. Getting my hands a little dirty was so worth the $50 saved and the lack of hassle.

I'm not sure that's I've shared the tail light drama on here so some of you may not be informed. See, here in the lovely state of pennsylvania they require two different inspections: a general mechanical inspection and an emissions test. I took my car in mid-August for both of these. I paid them the $55 and they passed my 10 year old car on emissions but said to get the mechanical i would need to have my right rear tail light replaced. They said they could get one from a junkyard and it would be $140 with labor and everything. I said sure and had them order it, or so i thought. The suggested 3-5 days passed and no call so on day 8 i called them. Seems no one told the parts guy to order it so he assured me he would and would call when i came in.

So another 8-10 days pass and no call. So I call again and this time it was a 'oh, the junk yard didn't have it in when we called and we didn't know what you wanted to do.' What i wanted to do was go up there and stangle them, but instead I asked that they order the part new and give me a call when it was in. It was only a $10 difference so I was going to be flexible. My flexibility gave out last week when kelvin called for me and sure enough, no part.

This is when I took matters into my own hands literally.

So the word to all my female friends is to put it to the man next time and just do it yourself. It's a great way to waste a half hour. And i think i'm going to use the $50 saved for a really nice pair of shoes.

a fun weekend

Other than grading all day yesterday I had a fun weekend. Saturday Kelvin and I escaped to the mall for a few hours. I picked up some nice thing including a brown suit. Hopefully I won't have to wear that other than for maybe the presidential inauguration at Lafayette (am I wishful thinking?).

We drove down to Wilmington to meet up with friends for the evening. It was nice to dress up for a change. We ate at this place called Pharohs. I don't advise it if you're on a schedule. Then we went to this new cool club. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting the northern Delaware area. It's call Lux and it was very nice. I recommend the drink "Sunset on Normandy". I'm sure we'll be back there soon. Kelvin had called a few days before and spoke with one of the co-owners. She was super nice and hooked us up with a nice loungy corner for the evening. We did a little dancing, but mostly talking to the THIRTEEN of us that ended up there together. Kelvin and his entorage...

the morning after

This morning after I awoke from my light coma I watched a movie and just relaxed. It was such a long day yesterday, but I feel like it went well. I think it would be a great opportunity to move in a slightly different direction than I'm currently headed. I hope if they make an offer it's quite attractive so the decision will not be difficult.

The school, and especially the newly renovated library facility where I would work is amazing. They certainly don't cut many corners; everything is top of the line. I think I wouldn't be disappointed with a 21" studio flat screen connected to a G5 on my desk :)

One member of the search committee is going to be out of the office for two weeks (how's that for vacation and personal development time?) so disappointedly, I probably won't hear anything until mid to late October. Once they meet, they'll decide if the "need to bring in another candidate."

So again I sit and wait.

Good news

After weeks of bad news I finally got a breath of fresh air yesterday. Lafayette College called. I have an interview there on the 29th and 30th of this month. I guess it's going to be a busy couple of weeks.

I leave Sunday for Flint. We have our faculty development day next Wednesday. I'm trying to ignore the fact that I have four presentations to make that day. It is exciting to see everyone and meet a few of the faculty I've been working with but haven't met.

For the second time in two weeks I got a wicked migraine Monday night. Though not as bad it's been lingering on. I feel like my eyes might explode. I think it's going to be a long day...

storm work

Mom sent me a few photos of dad's new portable office and the mamoth truck they used to move it to Metarie this weekend. It's really good to know that dad still has a place to prop his feet up on a desk. I wonder if he's still able to get his after lunch nap in? Actually she said he was probably sleeping in there last night... Luckily they have a fouton.

guilt

i've discussed this with several people whose judgement and opinions i trust. with them i've come to the conclusion that these feelings we're having all boil down to guilt.

guilt for having left my former home for yankee country.
guilt that i care now but probably didn't before.
guilt that even though i care, i still do very little.

i've given some money to the red cross, and i bought a Walmart gift card to send to a friend to help her and her family. it doesn't feel like enough, but it's all i have to give for now.

the email i sent out this morning

I don't usually send out email like this, but the past week and a half has been nothing usual.

As most of you know, I am from Louisiana and my family still lives there. My parents who live in Baton Rouge had just a few trees down but no real damage from the storm. My brother who lives on the Northshore of Lake Ponchartrain also fared okay. Most of the siding is gone off their brand new home, but they're all safe.

My dad works for the electric utility company there and has been working 18-20 hour days making sure restoration crews have meals and at least a cot to get a little sleep. While schools and universities have been closed my sister has gone up to their church to play with children and help the 80-90 people who are staying there for the week.

While my family's lives are okay, many of my friends and former students are living with friends and family in other cities throughout the state as they can not return to their homes in New Orleans.

This morning I've been online getting information for my dad who is trying to help arrange a way to get a 13 year-old boy to San Antonio. He was separated from his mom during the evacuation, and they located her at a shelter in San Antonio. I can't even imaging how frightening it would be for anyone, much less a child.

I say all this to encourage you to help in any way you can. I know on campus there is a collection going on today for the Red Cross, and if you feel compelled, please give. There are many other organizations accepting donations so I encourage you to find the way that feels right to you, and give what you can no matter how great or small.

We think of tragedy like this striking people who are very far away, but this feels very personal to me.

a long, tearful week

i realize i haven't posted in several days. mostly becuase i couldn't find words. i've gone through the whole gambut of emotions: fear as the storm went through, relief when i talked to cara who was lounging in bed watching the rain, panic as we didn't hear from my brother for several days, sadness to watch my fellow statesmen with nothing but their life, anger listening to the blame game from ivory towers when people are still hurting and lost. i don't think i've ever cried so much watching the news. i can't decide if i would be better off if i were closer. it's been tempting to load up the car and hit the road headed south.

but instead of heading south i just wait on instant messanger for any of my family to get online and talk to me. i can't tell you how many times i've listened to the operator tell me 'due to the hurricane in the area you are calling your call can not be completed'.

i've also tried to contact several of my friends and former students who i believe may have been effected. i've also scoured several message boards and websites just checking up on people. i'm so glad to hear from them or about them.

Katrina coming to visit

I talked to my sister this morning. They were laying awake in bed watching the storm come in. I'm so nervous about what's happening back home. I hope they come through alright. As you can imaging the cell phone service is busy so I'm not sure when I'll be able to talk to them again. Soon i hope; I worry until then.

When I talked to my brother they were going to Fallyn's parents house because they have a theatre room with no windows where they could at least be safe from flying glass. They live on the Northshore of New Orleans on Lake Ramsey. I just hope they're far enough away to stay safe.

I guess we'll just watch and wait. I'm sure dad will put in plenty of overtime in the coming weeks.

Not sure if anyone reads my blog, but this is one I've been keeping up and refreshed as this begins: http://www.nola.com/weblogs/nola/

a Tide-al wave

What an eventful evening. Instead of going upstairs and working like I should have, Kelvin and I popped in our second Netflix: Million Dollar Baby. It was the first few minutes of the movie and i was having a hard time focusing. All of a sudden this loud explosion sound came from the laundry room. I jumped up only to realize the huge bottle of Tide that I had used for the first time to wash this load had wiggled off the washing machine in it's final spin cycle. It's not just a regular bottle, it's the he Tide from sams that does 150 loads or something crazy like that. It fell on the top and the lid shattered and a font of blue slimy liquid was gushing all over the laundry room floor.

Kelvin went up and got a handful of towels and I began cleaning up the mess... Boy we have some clean towels this week.

Cheeseburgers in Paradise

Last night I was able to finally experience a Jimmy Buffet concert live and in person. It was such an experience... I think if I ever have a third opportunity to go, I'd even enjoy just doing the tail-gating that happens pre-concert. What a fun party. Kelvin says it's such a white-person thing... wear grass skirts and crazy costumes, drink beer, eat crap, bring pools with sand or water... you probably get the picture.

Kelvin and I are going to run some errands today since he took the day off. We're in search of a book shelf for the office that will hold all our written treasures. Seems with me not having an office we have way more crap in here. Other than that, no real weekend plans. Maybe a movie or dinner out... we're so wild and crazy.