Thanksgiving Tradition

My family has a lot of traditions.  I think that we've discussed this before.  We love our themes.  Thanksgiving is no different!

On Thursday, we go to my Mom's sister's house (my aunt).  My Mom's cousin lives with her, and they've adopted a now-6 year old daughter (now that's a long story!).  So our Thursday tradition is to go to her house, with each family member bringing a side dish.  I have been in charge of the relish tray for years.  It's one of the easiest side dishes for me since I live far away from them.  I try to buy the pickles and olives in August, but sometimes I forget.  :/
At Thanksgiving dinner, we have the tradition of Aunt Linda barring people from the kitchen, of a 5-minute Picking Time when we can eat pieces of turkey skin, of my brother-in-law (BiL) carving the turkey, of board games and sometimes a walk, and of the younger kids playing outside (when it's not raining).

This year, I flew in late on Wednesday night (or early on Thursday morning), so my sister and the kids picked me up and I stayed at their house.  Although I hate mornings, it was nice to wake up to the smell of coffee (my BiL is an early riser) and sound of my youngest nephew running around upstairs.  He never walks, he runs.  Or skips.  Or jumps.  That kid has a lot of energy.  Later, my BiL told me that he went o the porch to grind the beans for the coffee because he didn't want to wake me up; how sweet!  I can just see him out there with his Superman pj pants on, standing in the frost on the porch, grinding the beans.  :)

On Friday, we watch the last year's home movies and eat a guacamole bean dip.  This is one of my favorite traditions.  I love seeing the kids in action!  And I love guacamole.

On Saturday, the ladies go to a craft bazaar at out old high school (sponsored by the band, so me, my sister, and my BiL all had worked at in during high school) and the guys put up the Christmas lights.  In the evening, I usually watch a movie with my cousin.

This year, my BiL had to work at the fire station on Friday, so we combined our Friday and Saturday traditions in one day  It was a great day.  I loved shopping with my niece at the craft bazaar.  This year, I bought a lot of jewelry for myself.  I was looking for some rustic decorations for my co-worker friend, but was unsuccessin finding anything that I really liked for her.  I did find some holiday decorations for my sister, though.  I fly a lot for days like that. 

Ferris Beach

I did not like this book at all.

It had a rambling plot that didn't really go anywhere. The first person writing was way too intellectual for a a young teen. There was a rape that was probably not crucial for the plot. In addition to the rape, it seems like an awful lot of truly horrible things happened to several families in this small town, more than seems likely. Which makes me wonder that these horrible occurrences were mere plot devices, attempts to make the plot move at all. Partially unsuccessful.

In the end, as a coming of age story, it pretty much sucked and had no relevance to experiences of me or most of the people that I know. People who are demographically similar to the characters in this novel.

My review? Pass this one up. I can't figure out why it ever got on my reading list in the first place.    

Spring 2013 Schedule

Although there might be one change, this looks like my schedule for next semester;

MWF at 10am:  Introductory Psychology
MW at 2pm:  Research Methods
M at 6pm: Human Sexuality
TTh at 9:30am: Introductory Psychology
T at 6pm: Child Growth and Development

There are several great things about this schedule.  The number 1 great part of this schedule is that I have no 8am classess!!!!!  My earliest class is 9:30am!!  No more getting up at 5:30am for Professor Oja!
The second great thing about this schedule is that I taught 3 of these 4 classes this semester.  So I only have 1 new prep!  That is so awesome, and will save me so much time. 
A third great thing about this schedule is that I actually get one unit of overload, which is basically overtime.  Per my contract, I get 15 units of classes.  Usually that is 5 3-unit classes.  But Research Methods is a 4-unit class, so I get overtime by adding that to my schedule!  Woot!  Apparently, that extra pay gets saved until the summer, and distributed when I presumably aren't working.  That'll really help out my summer savings!  If I teach a class this summer, I could be really set! 
With two night classes, I'll still get to call my friend Robert twice a week.  This is a fourth cool thing about this schedule.  I know Robert will agree. 
Oh, I just realized another thing!  I'll be done with classes at 11am on Fridays!  This a fifth great part of this schedule!  It'll make it way easier to go on trips.  Hello, my niece and nephews!  :)

The change that I'm hoping for is to take away the TTh Introductory Psychology class, and add the same class in a MWF schedule.  That way, both of my Introductory Psychology classes are on the same schedule.

Birthday Plans in 2012

It's that time of year again!  It's cooling down, the pumpkins are out, and I'm getting older! 

My birthday is the one day of the year that I plan a do-nothing day.  Sure, there are other days of the year in which I'm completely unproductive, but my birthday is the day that I plan to be that way.

Usually, I try to watch a lot of Netflix and hope that someone will bring me food.  Sleeping in is mandatory, and napping is encouraged.  When available, spending some time in a jacuzzi is preferred over taking a shower. 

This year, I've decided to focus my relaxing a bit.  This birthday will be all about reading.  I want to be able to spend a whole day emersed in the books that I'm reading.  I might check out Mark Watches or Mark Reads, too.  That counts as reading!  I'm not sure if browsing Facebook counts as reading, though.  Hopefully there will also be napping, and there will probably be a little watching of Glee, but I really want to focus on the reading. 

I'm concerned, though, that I'll be reading student homework.  Or reading a textbook chapter in prepartion for a lecture.  That is not a relaxing birthday!  And it's totally productive!  How can I have a do-nothing reading day when I'm working?  So, hopefully I get my grading and lectures done beforehand.

Book List 2012

My family still does Christmas lists.  Pasted below is my extensive list of books that I'd like.  That doesn't even include the ones on my Amazon Wish List (look under my email address).  Really, if you're looking for a gift for me (my birthday is coming up soon!), go to Amazon.  If you can't find my Wish List, then choose from below!  The books are in the order of how much I want them.  Well, at least for the first 10 or so.  Then it's just a giant list.

Auntie M's Book List

Heinlein’s Friday; Starship Troopers

Max Brooks, World War Z

Mark Acres, RuneSword: Dark Divide Volume Five

Alfred Bester, The Stars are My Destiny

Marion Zimmer Bradley books

Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Asimov, The Foundation Trilogy;  The Caves of Steel

Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; Journey to the Center of the Earth

Usula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness; The Dispossessed

C.S. Lewis, The Space Trilogy

Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife

Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes; The Illustrated Man

Gregory Maguire, Wicked

Tolkien, The Silmarillion,

Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere,

Arthur C. Clark’s Rednezvous with Rama

Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony

Aimee Bender’s The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time (series)

Alan Moore, Watchmen

China Melville, Perdido Street Station

Stephen King, The Dark Tower (series)

Stephen King, The Stand

Walter Miller, A Canticle of Leibowitz

Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms

David Eddings, The Belgariad

Brandon Sanderson, The Mistborn (series)

Larry Niven, Ringworld

Dan Simmons, The Hyperion Cantos

Tupelo Hassman’s Girlchild

Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon

Ben Sherwood’s The Survivor’s Club

Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

Joe Halderman, The Forever War

Terry Pratchett, Small Gods; Going Postal

Stephen R. Donaldson, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever

Lois McMaster Bujold, The Vorkosigan Saga

Niven & Pournelle, The Mote in God’s Eye; Lucifer’s Hammer

Terry Goodkind, The Sword of Truth

Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Susanna Clarke, Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell

Raymond E. Feist, The Riftwar Saga

Terry Brooks, The Shannara Trilogy

Robin Hobb, The Farseer Trilogy

R. A. Salvatore, the Legend of Drizzt (series)

Jacqueline Carey, The Kushiel’s Legacy (series)

Steven Erikson, The Malzan book of the Fallen (series)

Jasper Fforde, The Eyre Affair

Iain M. Banks, The Culture Series

Neal Stephenson, Anathem

Jim Butcher, The Codex Alera (series)

Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun

Timothy Zahn, The Thrawn Triology

Michael Moorcock, The Elric Saga

Robert McKinley, Sunshine

Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep

Kim Stanley Robinson, The Mars Trilogy

John Scalzi, Old Man’s Ware

Neil Stephenson, The Diamond Age

Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings

Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions

Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game

Patrick Rothfuss, The Kingkiller Chronicles

Piers Anthony, The Xanth Series

Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash

Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle

Richar Adams, Watership Down

Lynn Abbey, Rifkind’s Challenge

Connie Willis, Doomsday Book

What the Best College Teachers Do, Ken Bain

Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants

Barbara Hambly, the Ladies of Mandrigyn (series)

Howell & Willis’s Societies at Peace

Marjorie M. Liu, Darkness Calls

Jenson, The Heart of Whiteness

Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad/Poor Dad

Jay Lake's Green

Tanith Lee’s The Birthgrave (series)

Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby, and The Boys from Brazil

James McBride, Color of Water

Amil Menon, Archipelago

Rev. Morrison-Reed, Black Pioneers in White Denominations; In Between

Walter Mosley’s 47

Gail Nyoka, Mella and the N'anga: An African Tale

Nnedimma Okorafor-Mbachu, Zahrah the Windseeker

Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma

Jennifer Roberson, The Novels of Tiger & Del

Alan Roger’s Bone Dance

Joanna Russ, The Adventures of Alyx; Picnic on Paradise; And Chaos Died; We Who are About To; The Two of Them; To Write Like a Woman; What are we fighting for?

Josepha Sherman, The Secret of the Unicorn Queen (series)

Judith Stone, When She Was White

Sheri Tepper, The Gate to Women’s Country

Shelly Tochluck, Witness Whiteness: First Steps toward an antiracist practice and culture

Susan Vaught, Stormwitch

H. G. Wells’ Things to Come

Gregory Howard Williams’s Life on the Color Line

Zamyatin & Randall, “We”

Other books: 

Book of hiking trails in Clark County or PNW.

welcomewhitefolks.blogspot.com

Anything by:

Elizabeth Bear

Judith Berman

Lois McMaster Bujold

Samuel Delaney

Jewel Gomez (except Gilda)

Nalo Hopkinson

Juliet Marillier (except Sevenwaters series)

Anne McAffrey

Brandon Massey

Fiona Patton

Geoff Ryman

Jessica Salmonson

Crystal Singers

Sherry Thomas

Nisa Shawl

Worst Excuse Ever Not to Jog?

I have very few excuses that will actually get me out of jogging. Having a cold or other respiratory issue is one of them. Being nauseous. Most often, having something fun to do and expecting to fit in a run later in the week is the reason that I skip a jog. I expect, with my new job as a full-time professor, that I'll have to skip a run sometimes to prepare for class.

But this morning's excuse is much less... substantial. I basically skipped my jog because of a blister.

See, I went hiking on Sunday. The description said it was "cross country" hiking. I wasn't sure what that was, but I went anyway. In my new running shoes. For this particular hike leader, "cross country" hiking means off-trail hiking. Basically, we walked through a forest straight up to a peak instead of using the windy trail. Running shoes in the forest aren't that useful. I ended up getting a blister on my big toe because my foot kept sliding sideways.

This morning, I jogged in place a couple times and realized that going for a run would put a lot of pressure on that blister. So I skipped it. May be I should've jogged and made the blister worse, but I'm choosing to try to let it heal for a few days. The only problem with this decision is that I put on a pair of pants from my "too big" box and they fit. :( Oy vay, I've gotta get active again!

Back on the Health Path

After moving, I got a terrible cold with allergies on top of that. With unpacking and getting settled, it was a rough time for exercise.

But my new apartment is set up, my new office is set up, and I've started my new job, so things are settling down. That left me room to focus on being healthy! Yesterday, I joined a gym in my new city, and today I went for a run! I found a circular road around my house that is 2.9 miles, almost a 5k. How convenient!

It was my first run in a few weeks, but it went well. My allergies weren't TOO bad, it only got really hot (90 degrees+) towards the end of the run, and I wasn't too slow. I only used 2 tissues, and didn't start coughing until I was almost done. It was no personal record or anything, but surprisingly good for having taken such a long time off, then dealing with the heat and poor air quality. In fact, I probably shouldn't be running outside at all with the air here, but I enjoy it so much!

My eating has improved, as well. I'm getting back in to a healthy lifestyle after weeks of travel and transition. It's quite a relief, actually.

Memorial Church Service

Today, I went to my new church for the first time since I moved.  When I got there, the greeter asked if I knew what was going on today.  I didn't.  She said that we were holding a memorial service for a long-term member.  I said, "But I didn't know her."  The greeter said that it was okay, that she'd been away for awhile (likely due to being in her 90s!).  So I sat down. 

The crowd was much less joyful than it usually is in a UU congregation.  There were funeral flower arrangements near the pulpit. 

The first speaker talked about all of the service that this woman had done for the fellowship, starting in 1967.  Then members and her family came up to speak about her.  She seemed to be quite a spirited woman.  Several of her grandkids spoke.  They were in their 30s, like me.  They talked about how involved she had been in their lives.  Everyone spoke about how she taught them to live their life through love. 

During these, I kept thinking of my Gram.  I thought about how nice it would have been to have had a service for her, to hear all of these wonderful stories.  To be reminded how amazing she'd been.  To see how her loved changed so many people. 

As I've been unpacking this past week, I've found a lot of pictures of Gram and items that she'd given me.  I've put most of them in my superhero-themed room.  She is a hero to me.  It was a good time for me to reflect on who she was and what I lost.  And to remind myself that she'll live on through how she changed each of us, and how we who she helped us become is raising the next generation through love. 

I love you, Gram. 

What I've Learned from Superheroes

Buffy

• You are most powerful when you have support.
• Sex is dangerous. 
• High school is Hell.

Xena

• Love is the most powerful thing that exists.  Even more powerful than Courage.
• War lords wear dreadlocks.

Spiderman

• With great power comes great responsibility. 
• Being special hurts your loved ones.

Wonder Woman

• You have to hide yourself and be subservient for a man to love you. 
• You can run if you have enough support in your corset.  But your boots should not have heels.

Captain America

• Be willing to sacrifice yourself if it will save many others.
• Be polite and courteous.

Doctor Who

• Life is not worth living without people to share it with.
• Traveling is fun.
• Helping is fun.

Captain Jack Harkness

• Aliens are hot. Humans are hot.
• Being an intergalactic lover is lonely.

Taggert 

• Never give up, never surround.
  

Kirk

• There is no unwinnable situation.
• Alien women are hot.

Spock

•  The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.  Or the one.

Yoda

• Do, or do not.  There is no try.

Mal Reynolds

• You may be on the losing side, but that doesn't mean that it's the wrong side.
• Take care of, and fight for, your crew (chosen family).  Even if you don't like them.

One Hour Choir

Yesterday was my last Sunday at my current congregation.  Although I stayed up too late watching their production of "8", I really wanted to go to the Sunday service.  Additionally, this past Sunday was the one-hour choir!  That means that interested congregants show up an hour and a half before the service, learn a couple of songs, then sing them at the service.  I love this concept.  It's a good way for me to be able to participate in the choir without having to commit to one evening a week for years. 

Although, it was difficult to get up that morning.  Even for the One Hour Choir.

But, I did.  I was a little nervous.  I took that singing class, but have never been in a choir.  The music director taught us a song, then realized that she had more people in the choir than solo parts.  She asked who would not want to solo.  I thought that I heard her wrong because no one raised their hand.  Heck no, I don't want to solo!  So I raised my hand.  Phew, got out of that one! 

On the next song, she had me singing with two other women.  After we sang our part, she asked if I could go higher.  Like an octave higher.  Okay, may be it wasn't that high.  But still.  I looked at her with giant, amazed eyes.  I think that she understood: No, I can not sing that higher.  So she switched the trios around a bit to get me a lower part.  Phew, another save!

In the end, it was really fun, and we sounded good.  A nice experience. My next congregation will be TINY, so I'm glad that I did this while I could.

Although it's strange to think that I sang in a church choir.  May be I should find the songs that we sang so that you would know how not Christian-right-y we are...

Late and Early Stress

After a late night introducing a new friend to Firefly, I realized that I my wallet wasn't in my purse.  ACK!!!  I text my friend to see if it's there, and go look through my car.  Being that it was midnight, it was a bit dark, though. 

I thought back to when I had last had my wallet.  It was in the Downtown Disney parking lot, but I was pretty sure that I threw it in my car.  The next place that I went was the gym.  My purse (and gym bag) had gotten all turned around in the tiny lockers at that location.  I learned that the gym opened at 5am the next morning. 
So I go to sleep around 1am, knowing that I'll be getting up at 5am to call them.

Around 5am, I do indeed call the gym.  No one's turned it in.  I don't think that the lockers are used that much at that location, so I ask if someone could check the locker that I used (I remembered that it was #13).  The gym receptionist told me that he was the only employee there, so he couldn't look. 

I try to convince myself that I can drop by the gym on the way to work, but deep down I know that I'm going to have to get up at 5am and drive to the gym to look for my wallet.  I get up, brush my teeth, try to control my hair, and go to the car.  I figure I'll look through it again now that it's lighter.  Not really that much lighter, it wasn't even 6am yet!  This time, instead of just the passenger seat and back seats, I also looked around the driver's seat.  And there it was!!!!  Relief.

And, back to bed.

At 6:45am, my alarm goes off.  Instead of the lovely and relaxing sounds of classical music, DJ'd by Dennis Bartell, it's beeping.  I try to switch to music, but instead turn it off.  I convince myself that I'll rest of 5-10 minutes, and get up.

At 7:30am, I wake up thinking "Crap, I gotta go to work!"  Since my teeth were brushed and I had showered the night before, I actually was able to leave for work by my normal time of 8am.  That's including changing sweaters and nylons after I decided that the first set didn't look right.  I stopped for coffee and a smoothie on the way, and got to work fine!  But, geez, my 1am and 5am and 7:30am was pretty stressful today!

4th of July, 2012

I write a similar letter most every 4th of July.  It's my little "celebration."

How will you celebrate the 4^th?  The American Way to celebrate our independence seems to be drinking beer and blowing things up with imported fireworks; how patriotic. I love this country.  I love that I can publish the following and not be “disappeared.”  I love that I can read, work, vote, and own property.  I love that there are millions of gay citizens who are happy and proud, eating Oreos.  I LOVE THAT OUR FIRST FAMILY IS BLACK. 

But. 

I wonder how many women will be beaten in their homes while you celebrate your freedom.  I wonder how many people of color, of all nations, will be killed in the Middle East while you celebrate your freedom.  I wonder how many gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people want to kill themselves while you celebrate your freedom.  I cannot celebrate the independence of the United States until all of its citizens are actually free.  When childcare is universal and women have control of their uterus and birth control options, when people of color have all the opportunities as the White elite, when GLBT people can celebrate their love, when our country is free from our dependence on oil, and when we help other nations rather than attack them, then, and only then, will I celebrate this country.  

Waiting to celebrate,

Dr. Auntie M

President of the College

The president of the college where I work recently retired.  Although his replacement was already chosen, there were a few days in which the new president had not officially been approved by the Board of Trustees (school board) but the new president was officially retired. 

So I took over.

There I am, in the president's office.  Notice the picture of the kids and my brother-in-law?  My "Coffee is like a sauna in a cup" mug?  My water bottle?  And, of course, I'm noshing on a granola bar.  The paparazzi clearly interrupted my work, too. 

And what was my work?  Well, I was considering what changes and mandates that I should make.  Here are some of my ideas:

• Share professor pass rates amongst the department (to shame, I mean "motivate" bad professors).
• Merge the small programs for at-risk students into a larger, pod-based system.
• Mandate that coffee, with creamer, be served at all meetings.
• Provide training to all employees on their bargaining contract (or the contracts of their underlings).
• Provide training to all faculty on cultural competency.
• Require cheese trays at all social events sponsored by the college.

That's as far as I got.  Then I was kicked out of the office so that the next person could sit in the chair and pretend to be in charge.  Someday, I might really be a college president (if I don't stick with teaching), and we'll see if my Cheese Mandate makes it through those long years of administration.  I think that there's a good chance, don't you?

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?!  

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."

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!

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.

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?!

Blind Date

I dreamt last night that I was dating a blind guy. It was interesting, because I started to think about all sorts of ways to be attractive for him, and what he wouldn't notice.

First off, my hair would definitely change. Now, when it looks good, it feels crunchy. But a blind guy would want soft hair! So I'd probably get a much shorter cut. I also thought about smell. He'd probably be more sensitive to smells, so I'd have to shower more often, pay attention to the lotions, hair products, deodorant, colognes that I wear, and watch my farting.

He wouldn't notice make-up, except may be the taste of lip gloss, so I could skip out on that a lot more!

I don't think dating a blind guy would affect how my partner would feel about my weight. Either way, he'd be touching me, so it's still a personal choice how firm or round (s)he prefers. Similar for breast size, although there'd be less focus on the look of them and more on the feel and grab-ability. :)

Vera's Hurt!

Yesterday, as I was leaving the school parking lot, someone hit Vera!

I was driving through the parking lot, when I noticed this SUV backing up.  My first instinct was to slam on the brakes (which I did), and I knew that I needed her to notice me.  So I yelled, "Ah!"  She didn't notice me until she heard my side mirror crunching in to my door.  :(  May be the horn would've been a better choice?

When she first got out of her SUV, she was still talking on the phone!  And not in an, "OMG, I just hit someone, I gotta go!" way, but in a "Yeah, yeah.  I should get off the phone..." way.  It was a speaker phone, but still.


Luckily, a campus security officer was in the same parking lot, so he came over to helped.  Unfortunately, he didn't see anything.  He helped us remember all of the information that we should exchange, and reminded me that the college's auto shop was still open.  The other person took FOREVER to get her insurance information, saying that it was her father's car.  Poor, broken Vera was blocking her SUV from leaving, and I wasn't about to leave until I had her insurance information!  Eventually, after talking on the phone several more times, she gets me her father's insurance information.  While I'm getting all of her information, she asks whose fault it was.  I just stare at her.  Then say, "Yours."  My Prius is quiet, but it's not invisible!

Since my side mirror was now dangling limply on the door, I went to the auto shop to get it removed.  I knew the instructor, Larry, so he was really nice.  He even asked me how I was doing!!  So sweet.  The students took off the mirror while I graded papers.  Larry looked up the part, and found that it cost over $250.  Who knew that Vera had heated mirrors?  Looking at the door damage, he said that the whole repair would probably cost over $1k.  The other driver had asked me not to call insurance because her father is a mechanic.  But for a thousand dollars of body work?  Heck yeah I'm calling my insurance! 

On my drive home, I sorely missed my mirror.  You don't know how often you use it until it's not there!  


The next day, I left Vera with the body shop that Allstate suggested, and got a very red Versa.  This is the second time that I've had a rental Versa, and they don't hold a candle to my Vera!  I mean, where's the back-up cam?  Why doesn't the radio show me what songs are playing?  Why can't I change the radio or the temperature from the steering wheel?  You really expect me to do math to figure out my average gas mileage?  Why do I have to click the fob to unlock the door?  Why do I have to put the keys into the ignition?  It's all so arcane.

After almost a week in the shop, I finally have Vera back.  Yay!!  I do miss some features of the Versa, though.  I like how you could choose how much face versus foot fan you wanted.
The insurance company called, too.  Although I paid my deductible at the auto shop, I'll be getting it all back because they've agreed that I'm not at fault. And Larry was right, it did cost about $1000!

All's well that ends well, I guess.