Monday, June 25, 2012

Room Themes

This blog will talk about two of my family's norms.

First, we still do Christmas lists.  The rest of the family meets on the second Saturday of October at a pumpkin patch to get pumpkins, exchange lists (although most of us do this online now), and eat corn on the cob and elephant ears.  The kids' birthdays are in the summer so they don't get the benefit of this arrangement, but my sister, my brother-in-law, and I do. 

So we exchange lists, which should include items of varying expense and varying ease of acquisition.  I have a separate page of books, which my aunt has asked me to re-order twice.  First alphabetically, then by how much I want it. 

On my list, I also include my themes.  See, our family also has themes for each of our rooms.  My sister's kitchen in watermelon themed, and her bathroom is Victorian themed.  It used to be peach, so my aunts still call it The Peach Room.  As a student, I didn't really have themes.  I guess my general theme was "poor college student."  I tried to give color suggestions; those were my themes.  Awhile ago, I decided that my kitchen was going to be Finland themed.  The colors are Finnish flag blue, and I put a little Finnish flag up and some other Finn stuff that I have.  Sisu!
A year or two ago, I was trying to think of how to make my place less "poor college student"-esque.  I decided that my mismatch of picture frames was one issue, so I asked for only wooden frames.  That's sorta helped. 
Looking at potential apartments in my new location, I got excited because I can finally afford a two-bedroom apartment!!  And my new job provides a private office, which is unheard of for community college faculty.  So I reviewed my themes. 

I've decided for awhile that I'd like my bedroom to be rainbow themed.  It just makes sense.
With my new work office, I quickly decided that it should be science fiction themed.  I already have an R2-D2 USB port, and my pens are in a Darth Vader mug.  That was sorta an easy decision. 
With all of my pictures of the kids and my family, I decided that my living room should be family-themed.  The wooden framed pictures will look nice with my earth-tone furnishings.
My kitchen is already on its way to being Finnish, and my bathroom has been pastel-themed forever.  I based it off this wicker had that my longest friend made back in junior high or something.  I've always put it in my bathroom because I don't really do pastel.  I decided, after I stained my lavender bath mat with hair dye, that instead of pastel, I'd like my bathroom to be lavender.  That should help the mismatched look of all of the different pastel colors.  Especially the different shades of pink.  I'm just going to focus on the color lavender, but I'm sorta hoping that my family will also get things with the lavender flower on it.  I think that'll really set the look.
But since I've realized that I might get a two bedroom apartment, and thus my very own home office, I've struggled with the theme.  It can't be science fiction again!  Not only would that be redundant, but it requires that I decide, for each science fiction office supply, which office I put it in.  Oy, the agony.  No, that is not a feasible plan for me.  I bugged my roommate about it, and she came up with the perfect solution.

Superheroes.

That's PERFECT!!!  So my home office will be superhero themed.  I already know some pictures that'll go there (which is good, since they aren't family-themed or rainbow!), and am excited to look for a superhero desk set when I move!  It'll also allow me to focus the color my other furniture and decorations since so many superheros are red, white, and blue.  I also might throw in some green, too.  I'm SOOO excited by this idea!! I can't wait to get this stuff and start setting it up!

Less interestingly, my family, especially my mother, also has seasonal themes.  For example, a lot of my
Mom's winter and Christmas decorations are snowmen, while my sister's winter theme is snowflakes.  Even
though I don't decorate for most seasons, except for fall (Halloween!!!) and winter, I've still thought about
my themes.  Here they are: 
Fall/Halloween- pumpkins, 
Winter/Christmas- candy canes and Christmas cookies
Spring- eggs, bunnies
Summer- ??? sun?

In case you missed it, my family's norms are Christmas lists and themed house decorations.  
Now, who's going to buy me my first superhero office supply?!  

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Horseback Riding

Last year, I took my niece horseback riding.  I enjoyed it, so I wanted to take a couple of lessons to see if it was something that I could turn into a hobby.  I don't know why I keep looking for hobbies, though, since I don't really have time for anything new!  When a Groupon for horseback riding lessons came up, I grabbed it. 

I finally was able to schedule the lesson a few days ago (remember, I have no time in my schedule?).  It was fun, but might require more coordination than I have.  But it was also a good workout; yay!  When I put "horseback riding" into my SparkPeople.com cardio counter, it said that I burned several hundred calories in my half hour lesson!  And today, a few days later, I really feel it.  My inner thighs are totally sore.  Good!  That means that I did something!

I'll check out how much lessons are without the coupon, but might not go again until I move up to a more rural area.  I should have lots of options for lessons, then! 

Moving: Apartment Hunting

I'm searching for an apartment near where my new job is.  I imagine there'll be some interesting stories involved.  This is my first weekend looking.

Even though I've always had the best luck in finding places through an actual newspaper (not online), I looked online the night before I drove up.  I found several places in my price range that had pools (which is a necessity since it's 100 degrees here this weekend.  Literally.).  I also want the place to have a refrigerator.  Of the three states that I've live in, California is the only one that doesn't offer refrigerators as standard appliances in their apartments.  It's weird.

I called the apartments before I left on Friday, asking for appointments for Saturday.  One apartment said that they only have appointments Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.  This sounds ridiculous.  How do people with jobs ever go see them?
I left my place around 1:30pm, and thought that I'd get to this inconvenient apartment office between 4:30pm and 5pm.  Okay, I left my favorite bagel place at 1:30pm, after getting a peanut butter smoothie and a large coffee.  Then I got suck i n LA traffic.  My bladder was bursting before I even got out of LA county!!  Seriously, it hurt.  So when I thought that I was sorta free of the city (Burbank, may be?), I took an exit.  There was an incredibly long line turning right, so I turned left.  But I went MILES without seeing a gas station.  There were only parks and a golf course.  My bladder hurts!  So I turned around, and found a gas station one block past the freeway; I  should've stayed in that right turn lane.  Sigh.

I was still hoping to catch the apartment manager, but I got to the place around 5:30pm.  I drove around to see what it was like.  That's when I understood why  it was $100 less than other apartments.  It was set up like a barracks.  There were creepy people loitering.  It only had those crappy window unit air conditioners.  And no one was in the pool.  It was 97 degrees, and no one was in the pool?  What's up with that?

That's when I came to a huge realization for me.  I don't have to rent the lowest priced apartment with a pool.  My new salary will be the same as I'm making now, and apartments in my new city are what I'm paying now.  For a two-bedroom, I can pay what I paid for my last one-bedroom!  This is the first time this has every happened to me.
Don't get me wrong, I want something that I still have money to pay off my student loan.  But it's quite a nice thought to know that I can get what I consider a super-fancy apartment, even a two-bedroom, and still pay less than I was paying a two years ago!  When I was making slightly less money, even.
It'll be quite a challenge for me to decide what level of luxury I "deserve."

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Camp Pendleton 10K Mud Run 2012


  • Number of creeks to cross:  2
  • Number of walls to climb (with the help of Marines): 2
  • Number of Marines that I stepped on:  2
  • Number of Marines that I kicked in the face: 1
  • Number of industrial hoses spraying water on us:  2
  • Number of muddy ponds:  2
  • Number of hills:  too many to count
  • Number of muddy hills: 1
  • Number of injuries I sustained:  2 scratched knees
  • Number of fake boobies:  a higher proportion than most of my races
  • Number of minutes that the Camp Pendleton 10k Mud Run took me:  95
  • Number of minutes that I waited for my teammates so that we could finish together: 45
  • Number of times that a Marine yelled at me:  1 (in the shower line!)
  • Number of naps on race day: 3
  • Number of hours of sleep the night before:  4
  • Number of clever teams and outfits:  too many to count.  My favorite?  "The Mudder Games.  May the mud always be in your favor," with "Tribute" on the back.   
  • Number of times that I'll do another mud run?  Lots!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Summer Schedule

At my current job, we work a 4/10 schedule during the summer.  My schedule becomes 8:30am to 7pm, M-Th.  This is the week that we switched to our summer schedule.

Luckily (?), I teach on Mondays, so I left at 5:30pm, so I got out of my first 10 hour day!  Let's not talk about the fact that I taught until 9:30pm, because then it'd be a 13 hour day...

Today, I voted.  Our contract (secured through our union), allows us two paid hours to vote.  I got up at my normal time (okay, okay, may be a few minutes later...   Not more than 15...), voted, stopped at Fresh and Easy to pick up salsa for a Mexican potluck we had at work, and got to work only a half hour late!  Oh, I also got a skinny iced caramel machiatto from Starbucks; it was right next to Fresh and Easy!  Anyway, although I did stay until 7pm, it wasn't quite a 10 hour day since I got there a little late.  And, really, the Mexican potluck took some time, too.

I went to the gym after work, and remembered that I get better parking during the summer!  But it's very discouraging to get home at 9pm.  Then I got distracted by The Big Bang Theory, and watched a half hour of that.  After flossing, brushing, showering, and getting ready for bed, I was only 15 minutes after my bed time.  But still, it sucks to get home and pretty much only have time to get clean.  

Tomorrow will be my first full 10 hour day for this summer.  And another trip to the gym, so I won't get home until 9pm again.  Ug.

On the bright side, I'm leaving three hours early on Thursday (a 7 hour day!) to go to a Cirque du Soleil  show.  I'm seeing Iris, and am excited.  It's my first CdS show, and I'm sure that I'll love the physicality of it, as well as the film theme of this show.  Plus, I got a Goldstar discount on the tickets!



Sorry, there's no pithy ending to this blog.  It really is just a pointless anecdote, a First World complaint about my work hours.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Snow White and the Huntsman

I gave Kristen Stewart the benefit of the doubt, and went to see this movie.  The people that I saw it with really liked it.  I was all "meh."  Here are the problems that I have with it (there might be SPOILERS in here...):

  • Someone who was locked in a tower her 10+ years would not have the stamina of a huntsman.  Or any stamina at all.
  • Who gets to decide who's the fairest of them all?  What if I only like red-heads?  Or chubby women? What if my type is mixed-race gothic punk?  It's just sorta simplistic for today.
  • The camera spent an inordinate amount of time on Bella... uh, Snow White when she wasn't really doing anything or expressing anything.  She was mostly just breathing (and then that whole scene where she wasn't breathing..."
  • We also were looking at her back a lot.  I guess to show what she was seeing, what was in front of her.  But it was more breathing, really.
  • The last scene was ridiculously uninteresting.  Again, she really just breathes.  And almost smiles.  
  • Kristen Stewart doesn't close her mouth much.  She's a mouth-breather.  
  • The rallying speech was uninspiring.  I don't blame that all on Kristen Stewart, though.  The writing does have to take some blame.  And really, in the context of the story, she wouldn't have had to rally too much.  Everyone was on her side, she just had to mention the little fact that she had the power to kill the queen.
  • I'd like to have seen more between William and the Huntsman, to know what each of them were thinking of the other one.  I liked that bit in the third Hunger Games book where Peeta and Gale talk about their predicament with Katniss.
  • The huntsman mostly just glowered for the first half of the movie.  The acting during that first half was really lackluster.  Director:  "Kristen- look scared.  Chris- glower.  Good!"
But it wasn't all bad.  Here is what I liked:
  • Snow White was very persistent.  Against odds, she just kept running, kept trying.
  • A Snow White story finally gave some background as to why a grown woman would care if she's the prettiest, why she would care so much that she'd destroy for it.
  • I liked how they made Snow White peaceful and loving, a friend of animals.  
  • Yay, the apple's back in the story!
  • I liked that Snow White was unsuccessful in defeating the queen when she was basing it out of anger, but was successful when it was more like protecting herself.  That keeps with the theme of the character. 
What about diversity?  I care about that in a movie, too!
  • Well, the whole cast was white, except may be for one evil guard.  Fail.  
  • There were, obviously, two female main characters.  They did talk, to each other, about something other than men, so it passes the Bechdel Test.  And they both were strong characters, in their different ways.  
  • There were little people; is that a disability?  
  • Presumably everyone was straight.  Wouldn't it have been awesome if Snow White was a dyke?!