Life of a Disentagled Student, oh yeah and books

I just realized I don't have any of my pictures on this laptop. I'll have to grab my external hard drives or grab some on a flash drive from my bf's computer one of these days. I figured I hadn't written a new post in some time...so here I am!

School is kicking my ass! I'm exhausted. I have a lot of papers and reading. But I have to admit it's pretty damn awesome! I mean who needs a life when they are obtaining a Masters degree anyways, right? Ha-ha. I hope I can see it that way soon enough. Sleep...I need it.

I finished "Goodnight Irene" by Jan Burke. It was ok. It was a fun murder mystery, but nothing much more to it. If you like murder mysteries, she's not a bad writer. People kept telling me I must not have been enjoying it, because it's relatively thin and it took me a long time to read. I was just...busy! Well, that and it wasn't necessarily my cup of tea. But I didn't hate it. And then I read Nicholas Sparks' new book, "Safe Haven". What can I say? I LOVE working at a library in that I get to see all the new books coming out. It was a wonderful story, but when aren't his stories (Ok, except for Message in A Bottle and maybe one or two others that just ended horribly). He writes very, very well though. I mean I wish I could write like that. One day....maybe. I'm reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockard now. Or trying to read it in between all my schoolwork and readings for school. It's great, by the way. A lot of people have recommended it to me, so I kinda had to.

So my BF and I walked in on an armed robbery. Yep, I can't make this up, even if I tried. It was surreal. Ski masks, people on the ground, guns and all. I almost walked right into it, because I couldn't comprehend what was happening. Thankfully my BF is a much better thinker than I am. The gunman (in a ski mask standing over an individual on the ground, mind you) tried to wave us in, saying (very cordially) "Come on in". I said "What?" and almost walked in. My BF said "No, no." and ever so slightly turned me around and instructed me to keep my head down and walk out. I did. And we got out. More panic though when I heard footsteps running behind me. I started to run until my BF told me to walk and not run and don't turn around (cuz I started to). Thankfully we weren't parked near the getaway car, so the footsteps behind me didn't last long as they were going in a different direction. My BF asked for my cell and even tried to run after the getaway car, while calling 911, to get the license number. He didn't get it. And I locked myself in the car. It was crazy. we were there for another hour talking to the people who were inside and the cops and detectives. And all we wanted was coffee and coca-cola. Yup, and it was only 8:30 on a Saturday evening.

That's my excitement. Gotta go eat dinner and maybe study more. Blech. I have to finish yet another paper for Wednesday night and even work a full day tomorrow. If you had told me a year ago this is what I'd be doing and all that happened, I would've laughed in your face.

I'll post a picture soon...sorry about that.

A lull in blogging

That's Oysterville Washington. I went to a wedding there about a month ago. Pretty, isn't it?

As usual, I've finished a few books since my last blog. I have to say I really enjoyed the sequel to Eat, Pray, Love. It's all about what marriage is really about. She did a great job researching the history of marriage and putting it all in terms of her skepticism, which I have to admit that I readily agree with. I also read Lisa See's latest "Shanghai Girls" which I loved but ended a little too soon for me. She should have kept it going. Sequel maybe? Then I read Jeffrey Archer's "Sons of Fortune". It was good. I'm now braving "Goodnight Irene" by Jan Burke. It's the book that the Burbank Public Library is getting the community to read together. It's ok so far. A nice mystery.

I braved through my Intensive Technology Workshop at UCLA last week. It was intense. Long days and of course I got pink eye the night before I started it. Yep, that's right. Who get's pink eye before they start an important course for their newfound Masters degree at UCLA? Me! Yeah, it was quite a mess. Oh yeah and my doctor went into labor on the same day. Nope, didn't know she was pregnant. Thankfully my doctor (even in labor) and her office is quite awesome and was very understanding in just calling in a prescription for me. The pink eye is gone and I could swear that everyone in my class was staring at my bloodshot right eye for the first 2 days of class. But I survived. I'm thinking I should get the flu shot sooner rather than later too, just to make sure I'm semi-healthy. I have Orientation all day on Wednesday and my first class is Thursday night. Eeek!

I started reading some of my articles for only one class. Firstly, I love my Nano. Secondly, wow! I have a lot of reading ahead of me. And I got my syllabus for one of my other classes. It's a novel in itself. I am surely going to have to drop a class, 4 is way too many for my first quarter.

I created my website for UCLA. It's simple, but I like it. Just has my resume on it and a picture or two. Nothing more really. By the way my new laptop kicks ass. So awesome. And my niece was so much fun when I went to San Diego to visit with my brother & niece to get this thing. She was having so much fun with her newfound playmate (me) that she totally got upset when I was leaving and wouldn't go to my brother, but clung to me. So cute.

I survived my first Yom Kippur at my own apartment without my Mom! She went on a vacation a few days before Yom Kippur, unaware that the vacation was during the holiday. We still got to have Rosh Hashana together, which was nice. Although I usually sleep over at her house for Yom Kippur and we go to temple and fast together. I went to temple by myself and then my boyfriend and I went out to dinner for me to break the fast. Turned out rather well, actually. I still wouldn't have minded knowing someone(s) at temple, but it wasn't horrible for me to go by myself at all.

Ok, I want to go to spin/sculpt tonight, so I'd better continue what I intended to do on my laptop (study a little and read some stuff before I start school). I'm on my way to obtaining my Masters! Wow! (And getting in some quite serious debt, of course, but I suppose it's all worth it). Excitement, excitement! Bad pink eye!

Vent Session...read at your own risk...

Just thought this picture is pretty. Those clouds look nice. Ahhh, relaxing.

I know it's been awhile. I finished "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski which was great. The ending was a little lacking and I'm still a bit unsure what happened, but it was wonderfully written and I enjoyed it. I also just finished "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt. It's a very short book, but took me sooo long to read. It was a book that I couldn't read much at one time. I constantly needed a break. I guess because it was kinda depressing. It was great and I have an interest in reading the sequel Memoir, but not sure when that will be. My Mom and I finally started "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert and I'm already over halfway through. I'm really loving it! It's absolutely wonderful. And it doesn't hurt that she goes by Liz too, so every time she's talking to herself, it's like she's talking directly to me. It's really speaking to me.

So the real reason I'm typing here today is because I hate people. I know I've said this before, but it's really true. I mean from the Census to now working for the Burbank Public Library. Why are people so rude and unwilling to understand that you are just doing your job? I'm not mean, I'm not hurtful and don't ever say anything to offend (or try not to). I'm the first to admit when I'm being a dumbass and do something completely incorrect. I always try to apologize and do the whole..."the customer is always right" thing. I've never worked as a waitress and this is why! I'd spit in everyone's food! I'll tell you part of the reason I loved being an assistant...when you answer the phone and someone is rude to you...put them on Hold...for as long as you can! I'm telling you, it makes you feel so much better and it's the power you have of being the gatekeeper.

With the Census, some people were so mean to my crew and then in turn mean to my assistants and then to me. People would complain about giving their last name and their birthdate. Really? You give that information out willingly every time you sign up for another discount card at the grocery store or for any stupid reason. What do you think I'm going to do with that info?? We all took an oath and with the 1,600 cases I had, do you really think I'm going to remember where YOU live, your name and your birthdate?? And even if I did, what would I do with that info??? I don't have your Social Security number nor your credit card info, nor your income info nor anything else! Do you think I'm going to run down your street, screaming your name and address and saying "Jane Doe lives at 5555 Streetname Blvd Apt 99 and her birthday is January 1st 1950!"?? And then what? And if you hate that I'm coming to your door and getting this information, why didn't you just fill out your Census form yourself and send it in on time?! Now you're just wasting your time, not mine as I'm getting paid for this. And it's my Job! How hard is that to understand. I need money and at least am finding decent work. I could be in front of Rite Aid begging for money and harassing you or robbing a bank, but I want to work and earn a living and be a productive person in society. Sucks that this is all I can get, but hey have you heard about the economy and the lay-offs? Surprise! I was one of those people!

So now I work at the Burbank Public Library as a clerk. No, I don't paid much. Yes, I'm part-time. No, I don't get many hours. Yes, it's in the industry I want to be in. No, I still don't want to work in a Public Library when I get my Masters. Yes, it's your fault. This is why I want to be an Archivist or a Conservationist. I still think Public Libraries are wonderful and think our tax dollars should be helping them. They are great on so many different levels and usually have the nicest people working there. It's the people that come in that give it a bad wrap. I'll admit that 95% of the patrons are very nice and great. It's those 5% of you who should not be allowed in. At all. You get me all frustrated and upset! Why?! Really? If the item you borrowed is late...YES there is a fine! And if it's really late, yes the fine may be extensive. Has common sense been lost? I think so. And YES we need your information! How do we know from just looking at you that you are not one of those people who will wrack up hundreds of dollars in fines and lose our items? So your phone number and address are important. No, we don't sell your information! We're a PUBLIC Library. Talk about scandal if that ever happened. Seriously, people. If you put something on hold and we call you to let you know it's in...how can we call you if we don't have your info? Or if you lose your purse and the person who finds it only finds your library card, wouldn't it be great if that person called the library and gave their info so that we could call you and let you know how to get your purse back?? Yes, that has happened in the short time I've been there.

So today this patron comes in to borrow some books. And when I scan her card, the computer prompts me to verify her information. This happens all the time, it's just to make sure we have the most updated information on our file. So I let her know "I need to verify your address & phone number are correct." I say, "Are you still living at Somestreet Blvd?" She gets all flustered, starts to take out her ID and I say, "Your ID won't have your phone number." So she goes to grab a paper to write down her info. (Meanwhile, there's a line out the door and this should only take me about 10 seconds, but it's taking much longer because...she's CRAZY). So she starts saying how she doesn't want me to say her information out loud. Ok, sure. So I accommodate by asking if it's okay if I just read the last 4 digits to her phone number and she can let me know if that's correct. She agrees. So we do. I check her books out to her and even wish her a nice weekend. I never said her address, just the street name and only the last 4 digits of her phone number. I feel I was ever so polite and accommodating to the crazy lady. So I was a little miffed. Fine. Whatever. I've encountered stranger there. But then 20 minutes later, she seeks me out at the desk and starts saying how I should never say people's information out loud, it's private, and how do I know that the people behind her in line weren't following her, etc. As nicely as I can I apologize and remind her that I didn't say her complete address or phone number and that it's part of my job. She goes on some more about how there should be a better way, blah, blah. I say the most appeasing things I can think of and apologize again. She rolls her eyes at me and says, "So you're going to keep doing that aren't you?". I just smiled nicely and watched her leave.

I just don't understand people. Blech. Venting helps though, thanks!

I know I'm going to encounter many, many more. I'm just wondering if it'll ever stop ruffling my feathers so much?

"I hate people, but I love gatherings. Isn't it ironic?"

A girl and her book: united for life

I finished "The Great Train Robbery" by Michael Crichton a few weeks ago and am now almost done with "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski. The Great Train Robbery was a great book and I really enjoyed it. It was a great mixture of fact and fiction. I love that Crichton was able to use the transcripts from the case to piece together what happened. It was a pretty amazing read. As for Edgar Sawtelle, well I put off this book for over a year. The story didn't sound interesting to me at all. But, wow, am I ever amazed. I'm a huge fan of this book. I have less than a hundred pages left and am reeling at how wonderfully written this book is. It's got the right amount of everything. The story sounds like it's just going to be ok and I was willing to read ok since so many people have recommended it to me, but this book is a lot better than ok. I can't wait to see how it ends, yet I'm already sad that I'm about to see it end. I've gotten so attached to the characters. Weird when that happens, isn't it? It's like those huge Ken Follett books that are so great to read and you get so wrapped up in the characters that they seem almost real. I love books like that, truly. My Mom and I are going to finally read "Eat, Pray, Love" together. I heard you should read it with someone you love, so we ordered 2 copies and I'm excited to read it with her. Although, I'll confess, I'm trying really hard not to finish my book right now, so that I don't race ahead of my Mom, but part of me really wants to read this book that I'm afraid I may! Eek, that would totally ruin the idea of us reading it together wouldn't it. Patience. I'm trying it out.

I had Jury Duty a few weeks ago. It was strangely odd. I kinda wanted to be put on a case until I found out that the one I got picked to maybe be on was going to last at least 27 days. Really? So when the Judge asked for people to state reasons why they couldn't be on a trial that long, I stood up and had to let her know that I'd been laid off in November and had a new job starting soon. Since that was the truth and the Judge was pretty nice, I got to return back to the jury holding cell. Well, it was a room I had to return to, in case they tried to pick me for another case. The good news is, my name didn't get called again and I got to go home at about 4pm (after being there since 7am) without having to go back again. And I'm done for a year. I did read a lot of Edgar Sawtelle there, which is why I'm so far into it in a fairly short amount of time. I read well over 100 pages that day, including finishing The Great Train Robbery.

Now I'm working part-time at the Burbank Public Library. Looks like I'll be working 20 hours per week, which isn't much and doesn't pay too well, but it's definitely something and actually in the industry I'm about to enter my Master's Degree Program in, so it's definitely a win. Last week was my first week. It only took about 4 weeks to jump through a bunch of hoops and do paperwork to finally be able to start. Thankfully I didn't have to go in for an interview or two, as that would've taken even longer. I know someone there who knows I got laid off and will be entering Library school soon. So, here's what I had to do to actually work...I filled out the application, scanned it and emailed it back. Then I received an email saying they needed the hard copy of the application. I took it in to the Admin building in Burbank. Got a call a week later to go fill out more paperwork and get fingerprinted. Found out I also had to bring in a Typing Certificate. Really? Um, ok. I had to ask where to get one of those. It's $5 and doesn't take long, so that was ok. I then go in to do the paperwork and fingerprinting. Had to wait another week and then had to go in for my "medical". That's what they call the drug-test part. I've never had to get fingerprinted before, not only did I have to for the Census, but I even learned how to do it and then have to get more for a part-time temp job. Never had to get a Typing Certificate, nor a drug test. Since I'm a part time temp, it really makes me wonder what they do for full time employees. I heard that there's a test you have to take. Like the GRE or what? I'm a Library Clerk, what kind of test would you have to take for that? I don't understand.

Looks like I'll be the friendly face you see when you are checking out books, getting a library card, checking in books or just walking into the library. So far the only part I can tell that really sucks is that I have to stand for hours at a time. I wonder what they have against chairs. Do they know they make tall chairs? Hmmm. You know I love my crocs, but know they are really, really ugly and am actually considering wearing them there. I doubt they would take too kindly to that, but I need my feet for the rest of my life. So I'm trying to figure out a happy medium on the whole shoe issue. I have some not-so-ugly crocs and am thinking since I see people in flip-flops who work there, I may get away with it. I'll let you know how that goes.

So working at a Public Library is like any office job. There's a lot of different people who work there. I started a day before this other temp started with me. Turns out she's 20 and staying at her parents' for the summer until she goes back to Chico State. Ok, so I went to a State school and really have nothing against them at all. But this girl is odd. She's young and odd. She found out I'm getting my Masters in Library School and was a film major for my undergrad, so she's giving me advice. Uh-huh, she was. I nodded & smiled in between flashes of ripping her face off in my mind's eye. She was saying that she worked for some crazy mean boss (really, she said this boss was awful and was recommending me to work there) who archived movie costumes. She went on & on about how you get to handle the "real" costumes. Good thing she doesn't know me and realize that the look I was giving her was pure incredulousness for even suggesting such a thing to me. I think she thought I'd run over get my pad of paper and pen & write all this down. Thankfully I think a patron came and I was more than happy to try my new skills of checking out books, DVDs and CDs to them. So, this is my life now. From being a Senior Account Executive and working for 7.5 years at a company (with my 4 month sabbatical of working for Satan that is) to being a Crew Leader for the Census and overseeing 1200 cases with about 15 people working for me to being a temp Library Clerk with a 20 year old who's telling me what jobs I want. Yeah.

I suppose it could be worse. I've definitely worked for and with worse. She's a nice kid and means well. I just want to throw something at her. But that's what my working out is for right? Get the aggression out so I don't throw things at poor, younger, co-workers. Or yell. Yelling would be bad in that situation too, I think. I'm sticking to nodding & smiling and wondering why my feet hurt so badly.

My thought for the day...Humidity sucks and my cat's definitely cuter than yours (well, she has a bigger belly).

:)

Census Drama

That's Frank (yes, I named the squirrel that I see run across the wires from my balcony) on his perch. He also likes to drink the water out of the pool sometimes.

Who knew that a temp job with the Census would be so stressful & crazy?! I didn't. It's engulfed my life and making me crazy. Supposedly we are almost done though. They say there's another project that they may call us to work on. I guess it really depends on what it is because I'm not so sure I want to do anymore. A steady paycheck has been nice, but it's taken a toll on me for sure. I haven't had a day off since we kicked off on May 1st. I finally will get this Saturday off, which I'm super excited for. I haven't done anything that I need to do, like clean or take the recyclables let alone applied to any scholarships or trying to find out about school. I start in September and am totally freaked out about the money and going back to school. It's just so weird. At least the Census job has made me forget all my worries, just masking them with all the worries I have with this Census job. Although I will come out of this with some awesome stories, that I'll share when I have more time.

I finished Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I really enjoyed this book. The way she set it all up is very different than any book I've read. I thought it was a great read with so many twists and turns. She interweaves the story of Olive with other chapters about random people in the town who may or may not be linked to Olive. Sometimes there is just one sentence about Olive in them. It was really interesting to read about so many different characters with their common link being living in the same town and in some way or another knowing Olive, even if it is just brief.

I've started "The Great Train Robbery" by Michael Crichton, which apparently he pieced together from all historical things. I'm pretty excited to learn about it all. It's pretty interesting so far and I just started it.

Statistics is going well. I only have 2 weeks left! Eek! My final is on June 1st, which means only one more class before the final. I hope I'm ready. I just have to read these last 2 chapters to make sure I know what's going on. I'm a little worried about the final. I think it's going to be difficult. We shall see! I turned in my last homework assignment last night and I made a miscalculation on one of the things, so I'm not so sure how I'll be graded. The good news is that I kept the miscalculation through the whole problem, so I may get a good score, since our professor has told us he won't penalize us too much for a minor miscalculation as long as you show your work and keep it throughout the whole problem, which I did. So I'll find out next week.

Grr is looking cute right now, because she thinks I've been ignoring her, as I have to do a lot of my Census work from home. And I suppose I do ignore her while I'm working. It's more that I don't notice her, as I'm trying to get everything done. I can't wait to get rid of the 10+ boxes surrounding my work area in the living room!

Well, I should go rub the Grr belly and get some dinner.
Hope life is going well for you. And those of you that didn't fill out your Census forms and are being mean to my Enumerators...know that you'll be seeing me on your doorstep sometime soon! Please be nice to me, I'm just trying to get an honest days work and get my job done. And YES it's in the constitution. And NO this information doesn't go anywhere else & is useful for our community, so just cooperate! It only takes a few minutes, so stop wasting my time & yours by arguing with me. We could've been done already. Argh. That's my rant for the night.

Temp Job Fun!

Ok, so I'm working for the US Census right now. It's pretty crazy. Yesterday, May 1 was the kick-off for our project. I got to shadow some of my crew yesterday and see what they are dealing with. It's all pretty crazy stuff. There are some really nice people out there and some really delusional people out there. This one guy started yelling at us that he looked it up and didn't see anything in the Constitution for the Census and that the government is just trying to get his info, etc. I tried to explain that it IS in the Constitution...Title 13 to be exact and that this is completely confidential and its only for statistical purposes and for funding for our community. He would have none of it. I did manage to hand him an Information paper though. I'm hoping he looks it over, as it tells him all about the Confidentiality and where to find the Census in the Constitution and such. I have to reassign the case to one of my assistants, so I even told him someone else will come back to try again. Sigh.

I trained my crew last week. They are all pretty good. I'm only worried about 2 of them. I'm hoping that they shape up and it all goes well. This stuff isn't rocket science, but for some people it seems to be! Even with all the craziness though I think I'm enjoying myself. It's nice to be working again, but I feel that I don't have much time for Grr & my boyfriend. My boyfriend is being very supportive, but he's seen how crazy I can get. Like in my last job when I wasn't having any fun at all. Plus this will be over in only about 4 more weeks. And if nothing else, I'm making friends! I like having new friends, especially those who live close to me.

I'm still freaking out about school, but it's lessened now that I'm so focused on this job. But in about 4 weeks, it'll ALL come wooshing back to me! Eek.

The book is good, more on that when I finally finish it. My statistics textbook is still boring, but I'm getting through it. I got an A on last week's quiz. Yay. I'm very consistent and have been getting the same number of wrong answers on every quiz so far. Just one more homework assignment and then the final exam on June 1st.

Ok, I think I should go figure out dinner now.
Over & Out!

Picture Fun

A rainbow on the drive home from Tahoe.

This is from the hike we went on. Pretty, isn't it?

Lots and lots of snow.
Saw a coyote in Tahoe.

There's the giant snowman we built. See how tall it is! Yes, I'm short as well, but we did build a pretty tall snowman.

As you can seen, I finally uploaded my pictures. Thought we could enjoy a few together.

I also just watched a really cute movie and there was a line in it that made me laugh out loud: "I have this towel that I can't throw out because I think it has feelings."

A little Perspective goes a Long Way

So I've been slacking on writing in here for a few reasons. One is that I wanted to upload pictures from my camera and have just been lazy. And the other reason is then I became swamped with working full-time for the Census. We went to Tahoe a few weeks ago. It was absolutely amazing. We invited some friends to come up with us, but the first couple had to work and then my friends in San Francisco couldn't make it either. So it ended up being just the two of us, which was really nice. Made a 7-foot snowman and went sledding everyday. What a life! We even went on a crazy 3 hour hike in the snow. Thankfully we had wonderful weather. Lots and lots of snow on the ground, but sunny and in the 60s-70s temperature-wise. And we were told that if we went up the week before we wouldn't have seen any snow. Thankfully we went the week we did! I tried out my new snow jacket and new snow boots that I got at the Outlet mall in Camarillo back in December. Can I just tell you how great my new snow jacket & snow boots are?! So awesome.

I finished "The Eleventh Commandment" by Jeffrey Archer up there. So good! A great thriller about assassins and the CIA. Then I just finished "The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink. It was a great book. I saw the movie when it was out in theatres and loved it, but the book adds so much more. It was great. I'm now reading "Olive Kitteridge" by Elizabeth Strout. I'll have to let you know how it is, as I just started it and don't even think I'm 10 pages into it yet.

I'm taking this Statistics class on Tuesday nights because it's a prerequisite for my Masters program to have the class at a college in the past 5 years. It's an interesting class, but I'm having a little trouble in that I had all this time to study and do my homework when I wasn't working. Now with the Census, I haven't even started my homework assignment that is due on Tuesday or started studying for my quiz on Tuesday. I kinda hate it. Also, my unemployment check for the week before I started the Census hasn't come yet & it's starting to worry me. Ugh. I think I'm just getting a bit overwhelmed.

A little about my Census position...I'm a Crew Leader. 2 weeks ago I was in training all week and then this past week I've been working at the office to help with the Enumerator Admin days. I've been fingerprinting people, which was really rough at first, but I have to admit that I've really come to enjoy fingerprinting and am going to miss it. I actually got pretty good at it. Weird, isn't it? And starting this Monday I have to train my crew of Enumerators. I've had to call them this week and study my training guide and go to my training site and set up the parking situation and fill out all my forms, and, and, and, etc. Wow, it's been so intense. I'm worried about setting up and training people on Monday. My supervisor is going to come out on Tuesday to evaluate me. Eek! Needless to say I'm getting a little overwhelmed with all this.

It all ends the end of May. But what's even better is my Statistics final is on June 1st. Really?! Does it all have to coincide so perfectly? Blech. And I'm still freaking about going back to school. I don't know when I'm supposed to register for classes. I don't know what classes to register for. I don't know when I start or when the Computer Programming prerequisite starts. I don't know how much in loans or work-study I'm receiving. I'm totally freaked out. I'm trying to relax and just take everything a day at a time, but it's getting more & more difficult for me.

I'm going to try to end this on a good note and be done with my venting session....I have a good temp job which pays more than unemployment, we just got a brand new dishwasher (after much craziness with our apartment), I'm healthy, my car passed it's smog test, and I'm making new friends. Not all too bad, right? I guess we could all use some more time & money. And I'm sure everyone is scared and trying to figure things out in their lives...good & bad. I should just be happy that the things I'm freaking out about are actually really good things. Sometimes I just need to put it all in perspective. And there's always Tahoe there, waiting for me to go back and unwind, which I'm thinking will need to happen in a few months before I start school!

Some Tahoe Snow to get You Through the Day

I finished "Waiting" by Ha Jin. It was good. I enjoyed it. I like the open-ended endings the best. That way I can make up my own ending of how I think everything should turn out. I'm now enjoying "The Eleventh Commandment" by Jeffrey Archer. It's a thriller and starts out with an assassination. Pretty cool so far! I've got quite a few books in line for me to read. I think I'm going to read "The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink next. I saw the movie when it was in theatres and loved it. I hear the book is amazing.

This past weekend was a family weekend for me. On Sunday I went to my niece's first birthday party. Then that evening I went to my boyfriend's sister's birthday dinner, then Monday night was first night Passover Seder at my Aunt's house. It was all fun. I can't believe my niece is already a year old. She's getting more and more cute. And my cousin's baby was at the Seder, she's almost 2 years old. She's super cute and funny. She's now talking up a storm and is a little parrot repeating everything. But she's so much fun. We played for half an hour with these bead necklaces that she loves. She was having the greatest time taking them down, putting them on, then showing everyone, then taking them off and putting them away. Over and over again. It was fun for me watching her. She's such a little doll.

It's nice to have babies in the family that I can play with and be the fun Aunt or cousin. Maybe one day I'll have one of my own. But for now I'm enjoying playing with the ones I have around. I'm not ready yet and want to finish school and get myself a little more stable before I can be a Mom.

So, of course I'm still enjoying my Nano. Still the coolest thing around. I also bought an outlet charger so I don't have to keep plugging it into the computer just to charge. It's awesome. I went to volunteer yesterday at the library and was so loving having my Nano while cataloguing. It's the best. Some of my great finds yesterday was this cool kid's book in Swahili that was published around 1920s and some pamphlets published around the 1860s. So awesome. I love that I get to go back and work with them more too. How cool is that! Well it's all pretty amazing to me. It makes me so happy that Mayme collected all this stuff, so that years later I got to come in contact with it all. Wonderful. I'm thinking one day I'll do some sort of collecting myself. Maybe old dictionaries or something that interests me. We shall see where that one takes me.

I went to spin/yoga yesterday morning to a class by myself, which is awesome to have my own personal trainer and get my form exact. But it also really sucks in the respect that I had to work really, really hard since all eyes were on me. It's nice to be made aware of certain things you do that are not great for your form. So I can make a conscious effort to correct them and make sure I don't hurt myself. And I signed up for Sunday's spin/yoga at 9:30, but because it's Easter Sunday they are doing a special and asked if I'd like to go to an 8-9:30 class instead. It's going to suck so early, but I haven't tried their holiday hour and a half special classes yet (they are usually an hour) and they do a tag team with 2 instructors that switch with each song. Should be interesting and hard. I think I'll be dead by 9:30. Then I have Easter Sunday brunch to go to. I might need a nap on Sunday.

I have a quiz and homework due on Tuesday night in Statistics and am having a little trouble with these chapters. I think I need to reread the chapters again as I'm a little hazey on these z-scores and how they are used with the bell curve. Ugh, I'm not even in grad school yet and am already having complications with classes! Well, I guess the good news is that this prerequisite is getting me ready for all that in a way. And I have my Nano to keep me company while I figure it all out.

Grr has been sick off and on for the past 6 months or so. I think we are finally at the end of all the sickness with just an ear infection in one ear. We're on ear drops again. Monday we go back to the vet, hopefully for a clean bill of health since I'll be starting my Census position soon and she & I are both sick of trekking to the vet every week or every other week. It's a bit of a pain.

That's all I got for now. Over and out.

Grr & Hippo take a look

I'm preparing for grad school and have already done a little bit of shopping. I decided to get a new backpack and replace the one I've had since I was in Jr. High. I used it all through high school and college and figure that getting into UCLA means that I should start a new leaf and treat myself to a few things. I think my buys are more of an investment than anything else. I also splurged and got an ipod nano. Ok, so I've never had an ipod of any sort and am a little behind on this technology train. I'm definitely not a fore-runner. I like to sit and watch the prices get a little lower, the technology to get a little better and for me to actually have use for it. I have to say that I am so in love with my nano already. I'm listening to it right now. I've loaded in about 250 songs from my CD collection and am not even close to having half of my collection in it yet. This is why I bought the one with more memory. I love music. And my CDs and music are pretty priceless to me. I remember going & studying in coffee shops with my walkman. I miss that. I am able to study much better when I have good music on in the background. I kinda forgot that. It's also another way to block out the world and my thoughts. Helps me focus on whatever I'm studying while having the music to focus on in the background. I read my next chapter in my statistics book today while listening to what I've already loaded in on shuffle. All I can say is that my walkman couldn't do this. And I am so utterly amazed. It even has a video camera. Really?! And it has games! Remember when cell phones were first popular and they actually had games on them? Nothing big, but they had "Snake" and "Mancala" and some sort of "Space Invaders". What happened to that?! Now if I want a game on my cellphone I not only have to pay to get it on my phone, but have to pay for the time that I play it. Why?! It's so mean. But my new, favorite toy has music AND games and it's tiny and I love it!

Ah, my nano and I will go places together. Now we can study together, ride the bus together, and just have a nice time. Who knew that less than $200 could give me such happiness? I would've bought this much sooner if I knew how happy it would make me. So, my next big investment is going to be a laptop. I've never had one. And because I have this nifty nano, I'm thinking a Mac will suit me best. It's going to be expensive even with a student discount (which I hear is pennies anyways). But I think that it'll be very useful. One of my friends had some great advice about the subject, so I'm definitely going to look into it and ask her some more questions to make sure I get something really worth while. My boyfriend and I share his computer, but I think it's time I got my own.

Grad school, new backpack, Nano, laptop,...oh my, I'm definitely growing up!

I'm reading "Waiting" by Ha Jin right now. I'm about halfway through it. It's a pretty good story. I'm not completely in love with it, but am enjoying it. It's about a man living in Communist China as a doctor in the military, so he's far from home. But he never loved his wife as she was picked by his parents. He wants to divorce her to marry one of the nurses, but he keeps getting denied by the courts for a divorce. Although after 18 years of marriage he will be eligible for the divorce. It's a strange love story. The man and the nurse are only best friends and cannot have an affair because they would get shamed and thrown out of the military. It's tame, but still tugs on your heart strings a bit. You feel so badly for all involved, but there is no clean solution; someone is going to be hurt by what might happen.

So I start UCLA this fall. I have to admit I'm a little overwhelmed by it all. Like the fact that it's quarters and not semesters. I'm not a fan of writing papers & to have to do them twice as quickly. I have to take a boot-camp Computer Programming session and am really hoping I get into that class. It's like a week long class 8 hours per day. It's going to suck, but at least I'll be with the people starting in the same program with me. I can start to make some friends. That's exciting. I'm going to take the bus there & back, so I need to do a test run sometime soon. I have to find a part-time job; hopefully something on campus. I'm hoping I get work study and some kind of loan. This is going to be so expensive. Eeek, I'm going to be in so much debt in 2 years.
I am very excited I will get a Masters and even more excited that UCLA accepted me! It's been 2 years in the making. I still don't believe it sometimes. I graduated from undergrad a little over 8 years ago. Wow.

Here's what my nano is playing for me right now...a little of... Minus the Bear, Snow Patrol, Doves, Save Ferris, Elliott Smith, Sarge, Creeper Lagoon, Pinback, Tegan & Sara, Trainspotting soundtrack, Candlebox (you know you love them & are very, very jealous that I have all their CDs!), and many, many more with much more to be put onto the computer and then put on my nano. Aw. Love. This is true love. I knew I'd find it one day. It's on the list of technology I can't live without (caller ID & call-waiting caller ID, DVR, microwave, toaster-ovens...ipod).

Still without a job, but I did get into grad school, so I'm not so worried about finding a job anymore. Too many other things to worry about now. Way too many. Although, before I knew I got into UCLA (let's see how many times I can mention I got accepted into grad school in this blog entry...yes, I am so happy!) I applied to work for the US Census. I took this really easy and fun test about a month ago. I wish the GRE was like that, but then again I did get accepted into UCLA so I don't have to worry about that anymore! I finally received a phone call yesterday from the Census and called them back today. I have a paperwork interview in another month and then the following week is training. I think the job is for only about 6 weeks, but it beats unemployment checks and truthfully I think it'll be fun to tell people I worked on the 2010 Census. (Remember I'm going to Library school, so things I find "fun" is not the same for others) I don't think it's completely full-time, but truthfully I'm really, really liking being unemployed and should enjoy this before I start at UCLA and get really crazy. Talking to the Census today was pretty funny because this woman who was talking to me is reading this script to me to ask me questions about what hours I can work and tell me a little bit about being an enumerator and such. I must've been one of the first she read it to, because at some point she says, "Um, ok...oops I already said that...um, so...wait. I don't understand this part, let me put you on hold. " Ha-ha. And she asked me the same question a few times (for some reason, it's listed a few times in different ways) and I'm answering the same way and she says "Huh? It kinda repeats, doesn't it?". Anyways after she told me all the information I need to know, what to bring, what to wear, that they will fingerprint me and where I am to attend in a month the phone call is finally over. It was a tad amusing.

That's the gist of my life right now. Lot's of new things.

A long time ago...

in a land far away...when Grr played with her blanket...ok, ok so the picture isn't too old. Maybe a year or two. And she still looks that cute.

It's been almost a year since I last posted. Things have been crazy and 2009 was not the greatest year for me, by far. I'm now 31, unemployed and starting graduate school in the Fall. I got laid off from my job on Thursday November 19 2009, a week before Thanksgiving. And I got an acceptance letter from UCLA on Monday March 8 2010 for the Masters in Library and Information Sciences program. I quit Martial Arts and have been taking spinning and spin/yoga and went to my first pilates class last Friday. Martial Arts just got bad for me. It got to the point where I had to push myself to go and was miserable after it. Basically it was me and 4 teenage boys. So it sucked. But I am loving spin/yoga and pilates. I feel like a grown-up and actually get a pretty good workout.

I'm looking for a job for at least the next few months, but it's not easy. I've barely gotten interviews and it's very disheartening. And unemployment is less than a third of what I used to make. So it hasn't been easy. And Grr has been sick. The good news is I've had time to take her to the vet, the bad news is that she is costing me a lot of money. But I love her and cannot even imagine letting her get too sick. She's a good, fat kitty. She's on a diet and has lost some weight, but we still have a few pounds more to lose.

In other news. I'm reading up a storm. I read pretty much every Nicholas Sparks book. He's amazing! I never knew an author to write people so well. I am still blown away by his novels. Sometimes I wish I still had some more of his to read. Then I also got turned onto and read Mitch Albom's books. He's another amazing one. His non-fiction is fabulous. And I read his first fiction which was wonderful. I just finished Bridges of Madison County. What a great love story. I'm reading an in-between book right now while I wait to visit my Mom on Sunday and borrow some books from her that sound great. I read the newest Dan Brown book, it's so much fun. The only problem I had was the ending. It was lame. But everything leading up to it was just really amazing and a lot of fun.

That's all I got for now. I'm going to try to start posting again. I think it might be fun.