Overheard in the kitchen

Maybe our Saturday mail service was discontinued because we voted Republican.

smarties

When I was a child, I sorted smarties by color and stacked them. Then, I ate from the tallest stacks until all of the stacks had an equal number of smarties.

Sometimes, I still do.

I love smarties.

Quote of the Day:

Guy sitting at light in DC to me (in Steelers hat):
"You're too pretty to be a Steelers fan!"

Attacked?

Maybe I'm just being oversensitive. Maybe I'm hug-deprived. Maybe it's an emotional re-allocation because I'm not dealing with my breakup. Maybe I'm just hyper-sensitive because it's election time in DC and of all the times I hate, I hate election time the most. Whatever the cause, I'm feeling attacked today. Maybe I'm just taking purely benign statements personally. Or, maybe people are just being borderline mean to me. And, it's about really stupid stuff, too. I mean, who cares if someone else mislabels a neighborhood low-income? Who cares? Who cares if someone thinks I'm fat? It shouldn't matter. But, it does. And, so, I will just stay in my little shell (aka office) and wait for it to be 5. It can't be 5 soon enough.

Ghost or Witch?

Well, Halloween is creeeping up on us so the inevitable question will be raised. What will you be for Halloween? This year, my lovely mother is coming to visit me for Halloweekend so I get out of deciding which parties to go to and can just hang out with her instead. However, this brings to mind my experience of Halloween as a child.
My mother was not ever very big on Halloween in general. We didn't do much in the way of trick-or-treating since our neighbors were all about a quarter-mile apart and necessitated driving to each house. Not really the traditional Halloween method. Regardless, as a kid in a public school, it's a requirement to dress up. And, so, each year, a week or so before Halloween, my mom would ask me, "So, whaddya wanna be this year? A ghost or a witch?" The answer to this question was highly dependent on what last year's answer was. I mean, I wouldn't want to be a ghost two years in a row! We would march up to the attic and retrieve the white pillowcase already outfitted with eyes and a mouth or the witch hat and any of several witch hair options and that would be that. And, so that's how it came to be that Hyla always dressed as a ghost or a witch or a witch or a ghost.
What will YOU be for Halloween?
(Warning: The preceding story could possibly have flourished and developed over the years.)

Oh Rachie (pronounced Rocky), how I love thee

(Rachie as in Rachmaninoff, of course)
Last night, I took an orchestra virgin to the NSO (and for some Rach nonetheless!). It was awesome. I mean the concert was fair enough and everything, but the experience of introducing someone to live classical music for the first time... that's awesome. My friend is fairly stoic so she didn't say too much, but I could just see her brain taking in all the new sights and sounds and strange procedures. I don't know that much about her upbringing other than that she grew up mostly in Nigeria, but everything seemed really new to her. I even identified a bunch of the instruments for her and everything. Anyways, it was cool. That's me. Wiping out orchestra virginity one person at a time.

The "S" word

Last night, I watched Baby Mama with Amy (yup, Washington Amy -- in Washington!) and one little snippet of dialog really caught my attention.
"Being single is NOT an alternative lifestyle"
"It is when you're 37!"
Of course, this was in the midst of lots of humorously biting dialog about the main character being career-driven at the expense of her personal life, yada, yada. But, I just couldn't get this line out of my head. It resonates with me... maybe with a dull ringing in the pit of my stomach.
There was a time, not so long ago, that I was really happy to be single. But, as I looked down that path of being single, it didn't look very worn. It looks indefinite and a little lonely. It looks like a place of great reward if the pioneering is successful, but if it's not, then it looks a little scary.
And, I realized recently that one of the reasons it looks so scary is because in my world, being single is not the norm nor the goal. And, if I was to be single, then I think my path may look a little different from others. It affords me the time to pour myself into my career and overcommitment at church and excessive education, yes. But, what about other things in my life? I've wanted to adopt for a long time. I originally thought that meant falling in love with a man who also wants to adopt and then naturally going through that process. But, what if I'm single? Well, guess what? I still want to adopt! I still want someone to pour my life into. I still want someone to be responsible for and to teach and inspire. I want to experience family as an adult. I wonder, though, what people would think. Would people smile to my face, but say disparaging things behind my back or feel sorry for me?
Oh, I don't know... I think I got way off on a rabbit trail. The point is that it upsets me that in my little corner of the world, I think being single really is viewed as an alternative lifestyle. And, not alternative as in A vs. B, but as in good versus subpar. As a girl in the "B" world or "subpar" world or (gasp!) single world, I wonder how it seems so easy for some people. A lot of people seem to date one or two people, fall in love and everything lines up. Before you know it, they're in love, engaged, and married with a puppy and a spare bedroom. I don't know that world. I know a world where there have been more men in my life than I care to count. I live in a world where I fell madly and deeply in love with a man and for some reason couldn't seem to make it work. I live in a world where I don't understand how something that seems so natural is so very very difficult for me. I just don't understand.

30.5 and other sundry thoughts from a Friday

Today, I am 30.5 years old. Yep! It's my half birthday! I know I'm way too old to celebrate half birthdays, but I do anyways so whatever. Here's me at 30.5 years of age. Also, I had a raging nightmare last night that one of my good friends died. I was crying out loud, sobbing actually. I could hear myself crying, but I couldn't wake up enough to make myself stop. My eyes were all pasty and gross when I finally woke up.

In almost exactly 24 hours, I will be claiming a hug from Amy! Yay! This makes me thankful for airplanes, aeroscience, good friends, zipcars (to get me to the airport), and muffins (that's a hint, Amy).

appley goodness

So, we went apple picking this weekend. It was a good time. Mostly. I mean, I loved hanging out with my friends and everything. I just can't get over my general displeasure for picking fruits and vegetables, though. I mean, I don't mind going out and gathering a few things for dinner from the garden. Or, digging potatoes. I really like digging potatoes! That's so fun because they're totally hidden so it's like going potato hunting. Anyways, I digress. The point is that I had fun with some apple-picking cronies this weekend. (Meredith posted some pics here.)
And, so last night, I had some apples to use. So, what else? The apple-themed dinner. I had baked chicken and apples with cranberry chutney, stuffing with apples and apple crisp. Once again, my cooking skills outshine my baking skills. Seriously, apple crisp is supposed to be the easiest dessert on the planet, but I wasn't 100% happy with it. It tastes really good, but I don't like the way it looks. Oh well. I should really just stick to cooking. Really.
Anyways, that's all. Just a little apple tale.

Surplus!

I've been slowly trying to clean up my space and make it my own here in the office. That meant getting rid of one file cabinet and a gargantuan bookcase. However, now I have need for a smaller bookcase and a bulletin board. So, I decided to take a fieldtrip... to surplus! Surplus, the fabled land where computers and office furniture goes to die, but gets one last chance to be claimed by employees like me looking to repurpose it. I had decided in my brain that surplus was going to be beyond my wildest dreams, filled with awesome furniture, random campus extras and things that would generally make me happy. Well, guess what. It's not. It's not filled with fun things. It's just a bunch of dead desks and filing cabinets and a giant computer graveyard. It's a very sad place, actually, filled with the smell of office carnage and an aura of "all washed up". The feeling of glory days gone by and a longing for former usefulness was almost palpable. I wanted to save them all. I wanted to tell every computer that it had done a good job, that it did the best it could with the limited ram and memory it was given, that we were proud of it, but I knew that the next truck to the state auction was really the best place for it. And, so, I came away empty handed, leaving behind the computers, the chairs, the televisions to go on to their next life.

I'm going to try NOT to worship google

They did it! They finally did it!
I've been complaining for years about how someone needs to develop a function to prevent forgotten attachments on emails. You know what I mean. You carefully craft an email to a new contact with some sort of business idea, detail the contents of the attached proposal and then promptly hit send. Two seconds later, you realize that you've forgotten to include the attachment and about 4 seconds after that are fully convinced that that business deal will never go through. So, I've been saying seemingly forever that Google (gmail) or Outlook should develop a little pop-up reminder function if it detects the word attach in any of its forms in the email to say, "Well, pardon me, super-fast-email-writer, but I believe you may have forgotten an attachment." And, by gum, Google did it! Unfortunately, I won't be gaining any financial stature for my idea, but I'm just happy to get to use the feature. It's apparently still in its testing phase, but if this provides you with even a fraction of the excitement it provides me, you should hop right over to your gmail settings, go to the labs tab and enable it (and maybe a few other fun new features, too!).
Attach without fear, my friends. Attach without fear!

Reconnecting

Wow. It's been a while. I can't believe it's already October. And, yet a part of me is so glad that it is. I do love the fall and want to embrace this month for all that it is. Anyways, I've been very irregular in my posting lately. I feel like my life is evolving very quickly and it's been all I can do to keep up with it. I have so many thoughts in my head and I'm not sure which ones are most important to share right now. So, I will resort to bullets (god, my coworkers must hate me).

• I am taking this fall to recharge and recalibrate. I was feeling a little worn out after finding a new place to live, a new job and working on several volunteer efforts this summer. Not to mention trying to steer myself through the most serious relationship I've ever attempted. I'm less social than usual in an effort to make sure my focus is in the right place. I say that God is the most important thing in my life, but I was living my life as though other people were. And, that's not a bad thing to focus on, but I wasn't being true to myself or my God. So, I'm taking this fall to read a lot of scripture, memorize some scripture, write, meditate, pray and generally recalibrate.
• On a smaller scale, I decided to fast this week in order to try to get my head wrapped around some things in my life. I will stay cryptic on this one, but I'm sure there will be more to follow in coming days. The current update, though, is that I am not good at fasting. I like eating. :)
• I've suddenly gotten the home-ownership bug. Ok, more accurately, I've gotten the "want to live in a place that feels like home and I can make exactly the way I want it to be" bug. There are a few obstacles in my way, though. So, I've started climbing over and around them. One is my credit card debt, which I just transferred to a 0%apr card so I can knock that out in the next year. (Thanks for the kick in the pants on that one from Colleen.) Another is the whole down-payment issue. I will have to apply for lots of homebuyers' assistance, but in DC, there is a fair amount available (hopefully, that remains the case for a year or so until I am ready to buy).
  
• Also, the Steelers have a severe running-back shortage. Well, had. They just signed Russell and Davenport back on. I really liked Davenport so I'm glad to have "Naj" back. The boys are really injury-plagued this year... running backs, Hampton, Kiesel. In spite of it, I'm kind of excited to see what the game will be like this week with a short week and different personnel.

K - enough rambling. I'll try to stay more connected!

Overheard in the Office:

'Maybe I should institute a rule of "no shelf punching"'

Mayyybeee.

I have a drill

and I know how to use it!
I reminded myself that this is actually true today. The fruit of my labors? A laundry shelf holding up all of our detergents, just high enough to avoid major head injuries, but low enough that Heather can reach them. Excellent! My home-improvement project of the week, I guess.
A good week to all.

Weekend of recovery

This is the first of what I hope is many weekends to detox and refocus. I just need to take some serious time to focus on the very most important things in life. And, so, this weekend, I didn't venture too far from home. I did manage to log in a few fun moments:

• Friday night, Chris and I spent two hours walking around the National Cathedral. It was beautiful and a moment of reflecting and in a way, an exercise of refocusing. (Warning: don't go to the cathedral with Chris unless you want a quiz about the characters and stories portrayed on the frescos and iron gates. If you are me, you think that was all pretty cool and love having someone like Chris to share it with.)
• Yesterday, I just got my space cleaned up. I feel so much better when my space is in order.
  
• Today, the lawn got a haircut. I did Phase 1 (of 309?) of yard work to try to get this lawn looking better.
  
• Then, a yummy brunch at Domku with two of my favoritest people.
• My nose got readorned!
• A piercing pain withstanding reward of frozen yogurt followed by a Steelers game!

A great weekend, all around. I'm feeling good and ready to head back to work for the week.

Holding hands with a strange man

Ok, so it wasn't so much a strange man as a stranger man. Allow me to explain.
I had a somewhat traumatic experience on the way to work this morning. I was reading and deep in thought on the metro. Generally, I look up at each metro stop to see where we are, monitor our progress, yada yada. So, I was doing that and apparently, I missed a stop or two because when I looked up, it was Vienna (my stop). I leapt out of my seat to try to sneak out the door before it closed, but I was too late. Now, generally, missing your metro stop isn't the worst thing in the world. You just get off at the next stop and come back. However! My stop is the last stop on the line. Usually, the train sits there for a few minutes and then turns around and heads back into the city. But, not this morning. Oh no! It pulled away toward the train yard. I started getting a little scared so I hit the red button on the emergency box. I said, "I'm still on here! I forgot to get off!" I could hear him, but I don't think he could hear me because he just kept saying, "Hello? Hello?" With visions of me hungry and hot and tired, waiting for hours to be rescued from a metro train car, I starting freaking out a little more and dialed 411 in an attempt to reach WMATA and inform them of my predicament. Fortunately, before I got through that nightmare of a phone conversation, the conductor came back through the train.
"Whatcha doin?" he called down to me.
In an attempt to sound more relaxed than my actual frantic state, I mustered a smile and said, "I forgot to get off the train! I just wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry. What do we need to do?"
He said, "Well, I'm supposed to call my supervisor, but that will take forever. Here. Follow me."
We went through two train cars to the end and he opened the door to the outside world and climbed down onto the tracks. He looked up at me and said, "Do you think you can climb down like I just did?"
"Yeah, I can."
"You a city girl or a country girl?"
"Definitely a country girl," I said as I climbed down in an awkward, long-legged fashion.
Once I got down to the tracks, I looked up at him. He took off his glove, grabbed my hand and said, "Come on. I'll be your protector. Just walk on the ties."
He led me up to the platform and told me to have a good day.
Oh goodness! How embarrassing! At least I didn't get stuck on the train, I guess!

Load up the Hope

So, I've been working as a volunteer on a project for the last few months called Convoy of Hope. (I think the name is funny... like we're rollin' through the city with tankers ready to attack with hope) Anyways, it's finally happening this weekend. It should be good stuff (barring torrential downpours!). We'll be giving away meals, groceries, health services, haircuts, resume services, prayers plus providing kids and adults entertainment and probably more stuff that I forgot! We're expecting 10,000 people and we're pretty excited about it. You can read more about it here. If it strikes your fancy, let me know cuz we could still use volunteers Thursday, Friday and definitely Saturday.
So, that's what's been swallowing me up lately. Bring on the hope!

30-year olds go to the beach

Yup, that's us. We're thirty and we were rockin' the beach. Well, we rocked it for the first two sunny days and then we rocked the beach house. We did, however, check out some go-karts, world's smallest skee-ball lanes and the sand dunes. Most activities ended in rain, but alas, we had fun anyways. Lots of pictures are up on my flickr. (My personal favorite was the mongolian wrestling match. Colleen arose victorious again.) Yay for beachy fun!
Now, I'm in PA rockin' the family time. More news and pics soon.

For cuteness sakes...

Three eons ago, I promised to upload some pictures from a weekend home. I finally got a chance to look at them and really only two of them are blog-worthy. So, here they are.
The incredible cuteness of Jan's son, Braden followed by the tree fashioned after a 5-year-old's artwork.

Today I kind of want to:

cry, but the tears don't want to come

clean, but I don't have the energy

either kiss my boyfriend or break up with him, but I can't reach him and breaking up would just be silly

run away, but it is too hot to run anywhere tonight

be alone, but it is so lonely alone