Blue Crush

So. First of all, I am fine. You may have heard that there is a tsunami warning for Hawaii, which ironically, is exactly where I am.

At 5:15 AM (Hawaii time) my mom called to wish Boyfriend a happy birthday and to tell me that an earthquake in Chile and now there was a tsunami warning for Hawaii and that uh, she loved me and go back to sleep.

Luckily, we had been planning to get up at 5:30 or 6 anyway to start our Boyfriend Birthday Adventure...so going back to bed was not really option. Simply because that was enough to scare the ever loving crap out of me. So we're up and terrified.

R- "So you live up in the Mountains right?"
Maimees - "Uhhh, I live eight blocks from the beach."

Maimees's roommates are up and there is massive confusion for about an hour. What to do? Boyfriend and I had already pretty much decided that the only option was to get the eff out of the 8-block from the beach house and up into the mountains.

After what seemed like a lot of dilly-dallying we peaced out with our stuff (holla back for packing light) half of Maimee's pantry a few bottles of water, some doughnuts and two half-full bottles of wine (we like to be prepared).

And then we got the eff out of there. We are in the cushiest evacation situation ever. At a very nice private school with wireless internet, running water, clean toilets. And so we've just been waiting for nearly 4 hours now. Which is pretty weird. We know that something is about to happen but we don't know how big or how bad. And we don't know how long it is going to affect us but it is pretty exciting. And terrifying.

Happy Birthday Boyfriend. Its a once-in-a-lifetime one.

Mahalo

So it seems super dumb to blog from Hawaii, but I made a promise.

I love it here. Mostly because its Sunny. And hot. And there is an ocean!

I've done fun things like shop and eat and go in the ocean. For the next little bit we're watching Lost and losing some of the sand before dinner. Then it is early to bed for us because we have a day of crazy things to do.

Aloha

After 14 hours (without time change bull honkey) I am in Hawaii. It is wonderful. I have a teri(yaki) beef sandwich and onion rings and I am watching Lost.

Good Night.

Travel Bugs

As you probably know if you've talked to me in the past three months - I am going to Hawaii tomorrow. My excitement is really beyond comprehension right now. I'm so excited that I've looped back around to sedated and calm.

I have a lot of work to get done before I leave, but of course, I'm too excited to work! So instead I'm playing on the internet. Typical.

I'm excited to go to Hawaii, because I get to cross another Ocean off my list. So far I've hit the Atlantic and the Indian. After this I might have to go to Nova Scotia or wherever the Arctic Ocean hangs out.

Also I get to go west! We have a 5 hour layover in Seattle. I have not decided if this is long enough to get to leave the airport. Probably not, but I'll get to wave at it. While catching up on as much LOST as possible on my computer.

I realized today that we're really only going to be in Hawaii for 4 days. Which does not seem like enough time. I did London in 4 days though and I feel like I got a very British experience. And I have to keep reminding myself that there is no goal to this vacation except to get as tan as possible in 4 days. And no matter how long we were there, its not going to seem like long enough.

Mostly, I'm excited for February Flip Flops.

Fo' Real this time...

This blog post is NOT about Moving...or packing or painting or complaining. I promise. I don't know what its about yet. But for sure not any of those things.

This is about my jobS.

At the age of 25 I do not know what I "thought" I'd be doing...I mean, I guess as a kid, I was pretty sure I would be rich and famous by this point but The Powers That Be I guess decided that they like Rachel McAdams more. C'est La Vie.

Anyfart, now I'm 25 and I still don't have anyone paying for my health insurance, which is a major bummer and I think I've decided that it is the barometer for the rest of my life. My goal is to have someone else paying for at least some of my health insurance by the end of the year. I am completely terrified that this is going to mean I have to get married on Dec 31st so I see this through, but fingers crossed it won't come to that.

The funny thing is, I have two fairly good jobs. Their epic flaw is their lack of full-time-y-ness. I kind of fell into both of them in a swirly slide kind of way, and I think that lack of a "real" application-interview-hiring process is what tripped me up.

And they both are kind of awesome. Weird, for sure, but kind of awesome and very interesting. It's pretty great to walk into a room full of strangers and know that the whole awkward, "so, what do you do for a living?" opener will probably actually facilitate some sort of interesting conversation.

As you read this blog, keep in mind I am not going to post what either of my jobs are (as I want to keep some semblance of privacy on the interwebs, but if you are sluthy enough you can probably figure it out).

The most awesome thing about my jobs is the lack of attendance responsibility. For the three-day a week number I really do not have to ever show up at all if I don't want. I can almost permanently work from home. I would never do that, because I wouldn't actually get anything done but I can come and go as I please.

The two day a week jobber requires just that, two days a week (most weeks). Since job 1 is so flexible it makes the rigidity of job 2 a little bit easier. Most weeks my two days are Wednesday and Thursday but if something comes up, I can do a little switcheroo and most people don't even remember, much less care.

What does this REALLY mean? It means I have no qualms about going on a shitton of vacations. Since I started this duo-career business (in I would say April of last year) I have taken no less than 15 vacation days. This year I will have easily racked up 40 by August.

You have to admit, you are kind of jealous of this. Do you get 40 vacation days? Unless your business cards say "Hobo" I'm going to guess not. Okay now, run back into the arms of your 401(k) and Dental and snuggle in their warmth and security.

There are other nice things about them - mostly how different they are. At one, it is me and one other gal (as Granny would say) and we sit in our office and work straight through the day. This is the job where when I am at work, I work, and I get things done. This is the job with a good title and a lot on my plate and being able to consistently see that I am having an impact on the organization at large. Also, there is a trampoline. And on Fridays I get to jump on it. Do not discount how important this is to a healthy work enviroment.

The other job is in a HUGE building and it is full of people that are nice and fun and tend to stop by my desk to say hi and find out how its going. This is a job where we have mandated scavenger hunts and relay races some mornings. Where I learn new things every day. Not new abstract things like. "how to deal with difficult people" (although that comes up) but new facts. Like why you should reverse the direction of your ceiling fan in the winter (helps keep the hot air from rising and escaping. Fun Fact!) At this job I have tasks that need to get done, but they are managable. The list is always finite, and if I really buckle down I can get most of my work done in about 2 hours. Of course a lot of my work requires the imput of others and when you involve those variables that's what takes up all of my time. But I get to write blogs and read the internet and wander around and do cool things like eat ice cream made with liquid nitrogen.

It is hard to have two jobs that should be full time and yet...are not. I spend a lot of time working on one job while at the other and having to play catch up. Also, sometimes I have no idea where I am supposed to be on any given day (okay, this is not entirely true, but I have woken up some mornings in a panic thinking that I have overslept, when really I'm just working somewhere else).

Eventually there will come a day where I will have one job. I am leaning towards one now more than the other due to the vacationbonanza I mentioned above. And even though it will be nice to be singularly employeed. I will kind of miss my dual life.

Believe it or not, this post is about moving.

There are some bright sides to this whole disaster. Mostly the fact that I find it perfect acceptable to eat whatever I want until we're completely done with this whole shebang. Completely - like every box unpacked, every new storage container purchased...

Seriously, since we really started moving which I will considered Thursday - the "healthiest" thing I've eaten is a southwest blackened chicken wrap...and a chipotle burrito bol. I say these things are healthy because the ratio of vegetable to cheese is higher than anything else I've consumed.

Currently we are eating a Whole Foods Toffee Chunk cookie and drinking a Blue Moon as we finish the last of the painting.

In non-Moving news, today I was in meetings pretty much back to back all day until 4 PM. For some reason saying that makes me feel like I have a job that matters. In some respects I do, but mostly I am totally in denial about the fact that I now have responsibility and a mid-level job. But I also lost a car key in the snow. So don't worry, I'm still a jerk.

moving shmupdate

-Clothing is now out of trash bags that were stored in the bathtub and into the closet. I consider this a success. I own a lot of clothes, but not enough to fill up this closet. I consider this a challenge. Also I need hangers for all my skirts.

-Kitchen is organized. Told boyfriend that Cuisinart takes counter-space-presidence over quesidilla maker. He is not happy.

-Missing particle board is found. I should have bookshelves by the end of the day.

-Living room is a disaster and we still have no idea how we are going to organize it.

-Kitten is adjusting well, or at least better than last time when she peed all over everything I've ever owned.

-Am attempting social life for a few hours. Have no moisterizer or make up. This should be awesome.

blog your mom

I do not have the time or the energy for this right now. Currently I am (ironically?) sitting in my home office chair, a place I rarely sit when I am on my computer. I am sitting here because its one of the only places in this apartment not totally covered in crap.

The painting is done, the moving is done and now comes the real ridiculous part. I am trying to unpack. It actually feels like trying to put a square peg in a round hole (or whatever) as nothing quite lines up with my old apartment. The kitchen cabinets are wider but not as deep, and there aren't as many. The closet in the mast bedroom is not evenly divided (like last apartment) so we're going to have to figure out some other way to divide it. Although, that is a challenge for another day...right now there is some particle board somewhere that we need. Otherwise I don't get bookshelves and really to me, the most important thing is getting books up in shelves. Everything else can wait.

I am also still shameless stealing internet from neighbors (and will be until we get back from HI) so I do not even know if this is going to be posted tonight. Fingers crossed. So long suckers.

Scrambling...

So for the first time in my whole life, I have a job where when I am at work, I do work pretty much all day. I will take the occasional cnn/facebook/gofugyourself break but for the most part I am busy all day.

While this does have its merits (like feeling productive) it also has its downfalls (like being tired and stressed out).

Also it means that blogging is going to be hard on the days that I am here (at this very moment, this job is only part time). So I am blogging right now mid-email, so I don't forget.

My apartment is not even close to being done. We needed 2 coats of primer in the nook and we didn't notice until like 10 PM last night that our bedroom ceiling is like 13 feet high. Sweet, except for painting. But we are optomistic, particulary because this is a great excuse to eat crappy delivery food and not feel bad about it. So tonight we are going to roll our faces off (not in the cool way, in the painting way).

In other Friday morning news, I suggested we use "Daydreaming" by Lupe Fiasco in our Spring childrens show and my co-worker laughed. Then he made me go look up the lyrics. Damn you, Lupe, you are a filthy fast-talking bastard. Its still a real good song, despite the line about making cocaine cool. Cocaine is not cool, kids. Unless you have a trust fund. Even then its really kind of a cliche.

More blogging later? Maybe... Except probably not, so I'm going to leave you with this:



nataliedee.com

Paint the town

No Seriously...

Sometime before February 25, I will have moved my entire life into a brand new apartment. But before I move, I have to paint. Yes. HAVE.

Back when I was young, I did not find value in chosing the colors of my walls. My bedroom in my Mom's house was this pinkish-purple color with an unfortunate accent wall of stripped wallpaper. It was fine while I was growing up until my penchance for posters and other crap on my walls totally destroyed it. Now there are these giant sploches of exposed plaster everywhere. Luckily, its my baby-sister's problem now.

Anyway, occasionally I would want to paint it, but my Mom always said that I didn't keep it clean enough. So I wasn't allowed. Touche, Mom.

So in every apartment and living situation I've always just accepteded the colors and moved on. I've lived in rooms that were coral, orange, green, and various shades of dirty-white.

This was fine until I moved in with the Boyfriend. In our first apartment (a year ago) - the master bedroom was this atrocious shade of mustard yellow. I still, to this day, cannot figure out why anyone who wasn't cracked out on European Interior Design magazines would think that was an acceptable color to paint ANYTHING.

At this point we were still in the woo-ing stage in our relationship and I told Boyfriend that I would never live in a bedroom this color. So we picked out paint and painted it (and the attached bathroom which was the SAME color. Horrifying.) - and it turned out really pretty.

So now we're moving and in our new apartment there is only one room (techinically its a nook) that is painted an unfortuntate color. The bathroom and the bedroom are both white, not great, but not terrible.

I figured since we are two very busy people with careers and theater engagements, we would just leave them the sad droopy white and go about our lives.

Inc ase you haven't figured out by now - I was gravely mistaken.

So we're painting. But of course, we don't have "days off" and we only gave ourselves 10 days to get everything done - so we're painting at night. I got home from seeing the Joffrey's Cinderella at 10:30 last night, only to spend the next three hours covering the bathroom with blue tape.

Tonight I will spend a cool 6 or 7 hours (after work) painting the nook (which was orange, and so really needed the paint job), bathroom and bedroom. One can only hope we'll get it all done, but I am not holding my breath.

This is, naturally, before any actual moving happens.

Last night around 12:30 the Boyfriend (who, bless his little go-getter heart had been working since 6 or 7 PM) turned to me and said, "are there people we can to do this for us, like Power Movers but with paint?"

"Yes. They're called painters."

"When are we going to figure out that its worth our time to pay people to do this for us."

"Um...soon?"

"Good."

Challenge Extended

So yesterday was Mardi Gras - and so in celebration I saw 101 Dalmations on "Broadway" (or what passes for Broadway out here in the Windy City - so Randolph St...not quite the same ring). It was...disappointing except for the puppies. And the idea was kind of cool, but didn't work... don't see it. Let me describe it to you in detail and you'll enjoy it more, especially if you give me a puppy to play with.

And I also decided that for Lent this year I will be giving up Facebook. Which is a very intense decision for me. I spend a really absurd amount of time stalking friends, and old classmates, and occasionally strangers. This is probably unhealthy (and yet, totally accepted). So I decided that I was going to give it up. Its only 40 days right? And I used to give up TV. I am hardcore during this Lentent (?) period.

Of course I am immediatly sad because I won't be able to post pictures of my upcoming trip, new apartment or even of dumb every day things like my just in time cakes yesterday night (I had forgotten to eat pancakes - thankfully I live in a house where we freeze leftover pancakes).

And then today AnnieBelle demands I become lifepartners with her blog and I oblige (its easier if you just say yes). And in doing that we made a wager...if you will...we are each going to post in our blogs EVERY DAY for the next month. This will keep me occupied until March 17...which is St. Patty's Day! So at the end we get to drink! Horray! Perfect! Stupendous!

My other goal is to take at least one or two pictures a day. I don't take enough. So, I'll post pictures from the day before...maybe it will inspire me to write?

Yesterday's Just in time cakes:


Challenge Accepted.

Super bummer...

I've only been on the losing end of a Super Bowl once. It was 2007 and I had only been a Bears fan for about eight minutes when suddenly there they were in the Super Bowl. I really was so brand new to this that I was just kind of cruising along for the ride.

By the time Super Bowl Sunday came around I had been on a three day bender and while the D. Hester kick off return for a TD was flippin' sweet, once the Bears started to lose it was a nice excuse to stop drinking as I was sweating Miller Lite by this point.

And then of course, the Bears became terrible and I became accustomed to a life of wanting to make the playoffs and not so much making the playoffs and understanding that that was the life of a Bears fan. Sucky, but, when a few years down the road, and things got better, I would have earned the right to cheer for some Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears.

Which is why I find it so absurd that people are all of a sudden Saints fan...and if you just don't give a shit, or are rooting for the underdog, Fine. I can get behind that... but if you decided that you are a "Saints Fan" this year because they crapped out a good season then I am calling Shenanigans.

Because while being on the losing end of the Super Bowl was sucky in '07, it wasn't nearly as bad as watching someone you love be disappointed in the outcome of the game. And it was just being a fan, it was a lifelong commitment to the Colts, a childhood of being hopeful and disappointed time after time.

I know the Colts ruined everything good and nice about Baltimore, but really, if the Colts are all you have and you're left with a cesspool of syphilis and underwhelming bars, than I don't think a football team is really to blame.

And so I had to watch as the Saints won and the Colts lost. And, it was pretty shitty. Not so much the game, but watching the disappointment on someone's face as he watched all his kid-dreams come tumbling down.

And let me be real, it was a fun Super Bowl. There was cake, and dip and juice boxes of wine. And I really enjoy watching Drew Brees play football. Just like I really watch Peyton Manning play football.

Anyway, this is what the losing side feels like, its not fun, but in a month, it'll just be a statistic.

Football is silly and it makes people crazy. However, I will say that the whole game was much better than pretty much every commercial.