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Sunday, November 26th, 2006
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10:41 pm - Kitty!
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So I know its been a little while, well, more like quite a while since I posted. But I finally have excitingness worth posting about. Last week I bought myself a birthday present. Her name is Kisa (it means kitty in Russian), and she's a five month old kitten/ young cat. She's such a sweetie and very very playful. I was hoping to post some pictures of her, but the camera broke. But, I was able to snap this one shot of her when we first brought her home - I had just opened up her carrier when we got back from the shelter - you can see it here:
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| Friday, June 9th, 2006
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9:52 pm - Buffalo, Dinosaurs, and Other Big Things
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| Wednesday, May 31st, 2006
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11:13 am - Where are the buffalo?
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I suppose it's been quite a while. And one would think that without a job and not taking classes, I would have plenty of time to update my blog. But, it seems that the less I have on my schedule, the lazier I get. I could write a really long entry about everything I've done up until now, but I will spare you the boring details.
I did have a break from Ames this past weekend. Joe and I took a trip west to celebrate the three day weekend (really it was a three day weekend for him - I pretty much have seven day weekends now). I went to two states I had never been to before: South Dakota and Wyoming. We started out going to South Dakota (logically since it comes first) to head up to Hill City where we were staying, which is really close to Mount Rushmore. Despite my initial reaction to South Dakota, the entire state definitely does not look like Iowa. We left Ames Friday morning and were able to make it to see Mount Rushmore by that night. Saturday took us to Sundance Wyoming where we saw Devil's Tower which we took a four mile hike around. This was probably my favorite part of the trip, despite the fact that I was hot and tired and got stung by a bee. But the scenery was gorgeous. On our way back to South Dakota, we stopped in Deadwood, where I defied my bad luck and won a whopping seven dollars gambling. And I got to visit the Corn Palace of South Dakota on our way back to Iowa. I think most states would be ashamed to have a palace made out of corn, but not South Dakota. Overall, it was a nice trip, although I have yet to see a live buffalo. I really wanted to see a buffalo, so I may have to take another trip there to look for one. I guess I thought they'd be grazing off the side of the interstate like cows. If I feel extra motivated in the next few days, I may post some pictures of our adventure.
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| Tuesday, April 25th, 2006
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9:26 am - Things that are yellow (fire and school busses)
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This morning I lit my toaster oven on fire (not on purpose of course). I was trying to toast a bagel, and the inside just went up in flames which is probably due to the fact that it needs a good cleaning. After gawking at it for a few seconds, I decided I should probably do something, and took a few more seconds, as the flames grew higher, trying to decide if water is supposed to put out or prolong fires (I tend to forget things under when under pressure). Luckily, I decided that water is indeed a good thing and tossed in a cup of water which did put out the flames and provided me with one soggy bagel.
Also, has anyone else had to ride a school bus to class? While I as waiting at the cyride stop yesterday morning, instead of the usual Cyride bus, a big yellow school bus picked me up. I felt like I was five. I know Cyride is hurting for money, but I found this just a little odd.
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| Wednesday, April 5th, 2006
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4:31 pm - Its about time...
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I experienced something very strange today....I walked outside, and I wasn't cold! This is something I haven't experienced in a while, but I'm pretty sure I can get used to it.
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| Sunday, February 26th, 2006
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11:34 pm - Beary good tv
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I've been watching "Grizzly Man" on the Discovery Chanel which is a documentary about a crazy animal activist who decides to live with wild bears and gets killed by one in the end. Now, I am a big fan of animals, as anybody who knows me well would say, but this guy is just plain nuts. He not only lives with the bears, but talks to them much like people talk to their dogs. Except they aren't dogs, they're bears. Frankly, I think the bears must have known he was crazy. And now bears probably think that all humans are like him, and I don't think he is a good representative for our species.
So he lives with these bears for thirteen summers, supposedly being their friend and trying to protect them from the rest of the evil humans (even though the bears were in a protected wild life refuge). And, in the end, one of the bears eats him. And his girlfriend. And the most ironic part of all is that the bear that killed him got shot. After all his work to protect the bears, one died because of him.
Personally, the most shocking part of it for me, is that he had a girlfriend (who surprisingly wasn't a bear). Perhaps I should be more sympathetic and respectful since he's dead and all, but then again ,I don't think people should live with bears. They are big and teethy. Anyway, if you're bored and are a fan of watching bears (or crazy guys), then this is the show for you.
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| Thursday, January 26th, 2006
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10:17 pm - sunny days and beatle songs
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Its been a while. But then again, the weather has been about the same for the past month, so there wasn't much new for me to complain about. But today was absolutely gorgeous. I think it even reached 50 something - which is some type of miracle for January in Iowa. I took advantage of the spring like weather by walking home from class - something I haven't been able to do for months. It might not sound like much, but it made me very very happy.
And even though the night has cooled off a bit, I am still very happy - because Cafe Diem (where I am currently sitting) is having some sort of Beatles marathon. Which makes me very happy. Because the Beatles rock. I cannot be in a bad mood listening to the Beatles, even if I'm grading papers.
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| Monday, December 5th, 2005
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9:44 am - Brrrrrrr......
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For those of you urging me to update more often, you will probably regret it since I will most likely just complain about the weather. And I'm sure you will already have heard my complaints in person.
With that said, weather.com says its -9 degrees today, but with windchill, it feels like -24. When I lived in Georgia, I seriously never thought that it even got that cold - except maybe in the North Pole. Its on days like these that I realize why Iowa is so sparsely populated.
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| Monday, November 21st, 2005
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9:06 am
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I am very anxiously awaiting the arrival of my laptop. It just can't seem to get here soon enough. I've set aside all day today to just sit and wait for UPS to deliver it, except for some long overdue laundry time. I'm determined to actually be here when the laptop comes - I've waited way too long to have to go and pick it up somewhere. Of course, with my luck, it'll come the few minutes I'm across the street at the laundry mat. In this case, I've already decided that I'm fully prepared to run down the UPS truck if I happen to just miss them coming to my door.
In other news, I am now 24. It really doesn't feel any different than being 23, except for the fact that being in the "mid-twenties" age range is a bit frightening. I guess this means I'm an adult now, or something. My birthday was fabulous - the best I've had in a long time. And just as great is the fact that I'm on break and have absolutely no school related work to worry about. Ok, so maybe that's wishful thinking, but it does feel nice to not have class for a while. And, it gives me opportunities like this to sit around all day and wait for UPS...
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| Wednesday, November 16th, 2005
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9:54 am - cold
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Weather.com says it currently feels like 1 degree outside...and I completely agree. I don't think I should be feeling this cold only a few days after a tornado comes to visit, but then again, I'm learning not to be surprised by anything since this is Iowa. I'm sure glad I have a winter coat this year before the winter is half over.
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(comment on this)
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| Saturday, November 12th, 2005
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10:00 am
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How come sickness always seems to creep up when you have a ton of stuff to do?
I am currently trying to cure myself with lots of sleep and lots of green tea.
current mood:  sick
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, November 9th, 2005
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8:47 pm - Back by popular demand
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Since I have been persistently pestered by some particular people, I've finally made the effort for a long-awaited update. Although, I noticed that I tend to get more comments when I ~don't~ update, but whatever - I need a break from paper writing anyway.
I should be writing this from my fabulous new laptop sitting somewhere fun like a coffee shop, but sadly, I am stuck on my sucky computer in my very messy apartment which really makes me want to be anti-productive. I was very very excited about purchasing a new laptop, but its gonna take a couple weeks to for it to actually get to me. But it'll be worth the wait and not too much longer left to go. I splurged a little and got me a pretty one - the XPS M140. Dell describes it as "small and potent". I've decided to call him George. I would post a picture, but I'm not allowing myself to visit the Dell site anymore - since I don't actually have it yet, I've become addicted to looking at a picture of it everyday.
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| Sunday, September 25th, 2005
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10:31 am
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I absolutely love the pitter patter of a rainy Sunday morning. Even though I'm supposed to be doing laundry - and I have to walk across the street to do it. Perhaps laundry will have to be put off yet another day. But at least the rain makes grading papers a little more bearable.
I looked out my window this morning and ~almost~ thought I saw mountains. Normally the background I see is a thick cluster of trees on the horizon, but through the hazy fog, the details on the trees were blurred, and they looked like mountains instead. And not just rolling hills, but really mountainy mountains. Iowa would look pretty nice with mountains. Perhaps it should grow some.
Time for another round of student papers.
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| Wednesday, September 21st, 2005
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11:26 pm - Just a note
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Trying to make chocolate milk by melting Hershey kisses and mixing it with milk does not work. It just leaves a milky/chocolaty clumpy mess. And I'm still craving chocolate milk.
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(comment on this)
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| Monday, September 19th, 2005
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5:06 pm - Arrrrrrr
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I can't believe I almost went all day without realizing that it's 'Talk Like a Pirate Day'. Good thing I found out - I would have been very ashamed had I missed it completely. To make up for my ignorance earlier in the day, I will pay tribute to the best (and hottest) pirate of them all. Savvy?
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| Friday, September 16th, 2005
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5:59 pm
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I realized I haven't written for a while. But then again, maybe that's because I've been busy and boring. Today is really no different. My excitement for the day consisted of seeing a bird in the grocery store. It was hopping around on the lettuce. And it was tweeting. I looked at it for a while thinking "how cute", but then I realized that it made me not want to buy lettuce anymore. No salads for me for a while.
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, September 6th, 2005
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11:39 pm - Musicless
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I think my cd player just died. I'm not exactly suprised since its always been a bit freakish - like the phase it went through when it would suddenly turn on when I would walk by it (and that started right after I saw The Ring. Yeah, that freaked me out a little). But now it has eaten one of my cds and won't give it up. And its a Coldplay cd. Grrrrrrrr.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, August 28th, 2005
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9:14 pm
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Iowa has the weirdest animals. I've already gotten use to the freakishly tame rabbits that roam Ames, but the squirrels have always seemed relatively normal, as far as squirrels go. Until today. I dunno, maybe I had been out in the sun too long, but I swear a squirrel was playing peak-a-boo with me. I was studying at a park and first saw him 'bout five feet away from me in the grass. Of course, I thought how cute he was and he got even cuter when he started starring at me. The cuteness turned to weirdness when he began inching closer and closer to me. Every other squirrel I've seen freaks out when they see people and run up a tree. But not this squirrel. He just continued to creep closer. I got a little scared. All I could think of was, do squirrels have sharp teeth? He got like a foot away from me when he darted back the other way and hid behind a tree. I saw him peak his head out from one side of the tree, then he would disappear behind the tree again until he poked his head around the other side. He did this a couple of times, until he ran behind another tree closer to me and did the same head peaking thing around both sides of the tree. Still starring me down, he ran out from behind the second tree straight towards me (I started getting scared again), but midway he stops, makes a 90 degree turn and heads the other direction into a patch of really tall grass. I saw him peak his head up from the grass a few times, but lost sight of him after a while. Kinda weird.
And in keeping with the animal theme this post seems to have, I met my very first chinchilla this weekend, and I must say, they are the cutest animal ever. I've seen them in pictures, but never in real life. And they are definitely cuter in person. Its like having a rabbit, hamster, guinea pig, and squirrel (but not a crazy squirrel) all in one animal. And they are sooo soft. I really really want one. Too bad they're also sooo expensive. They're around 200 bucks. For a rodent! But I guess its like you're getting four animals in one, so maybe its not such a bad deal.
In case any of you have never been lucky enough to see a chinchilla, this is what they look like. The one I saw was even cuter. I might have accidentally made him a little fatter when putting in the picture, but they're pretty poofy anyway.
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| Friday, August 12th, 2005
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11:43 am - Why I would make a bad boss
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So today is supposedly my last day of working at the UV office - except for the fact that for some reason, I agreed to work a few hours during the school year. But for motivational purposes, I'm thinking of it as my last day, because it makes me happy. And my boss is out today, which means that I'm pretty much in charge, which is a very scary thought. Especially considering its the busiest day of the year. We have a whopping 26 move-ins scheduled. Not to mention all the other people that have been showing up who were supposed to move in last week. And today also seems like the day that everyone's roofs and basements decided to leak. Great timing.
I got a little freaked out when my co-worker was an hour late this morning and I was all alone with all the move-ins. But I couldn't stay mad at her because she brought me a brownie. I can easily be won over by chocolate. And it must be no secret either because another co-worker stopped by to give me a five pound box of brownie mix. That's five pounds of chocolaty goodness! I didn't even know that brownie mixes came in such large amounts. I can't even do the math to figure out how many brownies that'll make. Turns out that this same generous co-worker called later to let me know that she wouldn't be coming in for her afternoon shift. But once again, how chould I be mad when I have five pounds of chocolate sitting next to me?
So, if I'm ever in a boss-type position, I'll probably be not be so good at it. People would be doing whatever they want. It would be total chaos. And I would be very fat. From all the chocolate.
Let me know if you want a brownie.
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| Wednesday, August 10th, 2005
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11:23 pm - Soggy Clothes and Schedule Change Horrors
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I really must remember to check the weather forecast before doing laundry. I don't mind being out in the rain, but having to run across the street from the laundry room with a laundry basket getting soaked takes the fun out of it. And I don't why I bothered to spend money drying my clothes.
And to add to the complaints - my teaching scheduled got changed. Instead of teaching 104, I will now be teaching 105. This wouldn't be too big of a deal, except for the fact that I've spent a lot of time this summer preparing for my 104 class. Which makes me really mad, because I could have used that time doing other non-teacherly stuff. For once in my life I was actually diligent and planned ahead. And now I get to plan for my class in a week. I haven't even put in book orders yet. I'm hoping that by some miracle, I can switch back to 104. But since I haven't had any of my emails or phone calls returned, I'm thinking not likely. And to top it all off, I ~still~ have an hour break between the classes. Last semester, instead of having back to back classes like everyone else, I had an hour in between. Somehow, I had managed to get stuck with a break between classes when they scheduled my 104 classes I was supposed to teach this semester. So when I found out that my classes got switched to 105 and the times were switched as well, my only consoling thought was that at least they should be back to back. But no. I still have an hour in between. Bleh.
So, moral of the story is: Always procrastinate - don't plan ahead. And, that I'm pre-destined to never have classes back to back. Rarg. I guess there's not much I can do about it at this point - except complain. Which I have been doing an excellent job of.
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