I'm a fan of...

My roommate from senior year (I can't bring myself to call her my "ex-roommate". It's so much more.) and current facebook wife is a high school Spanish teacher. Naturally, she has some good stories filled with drama and angst an oh boy I don't miss high school.

For Spirit Week, the week leading up to Homecoming, one of the dress up days was "I'm a fan of....". Pretty much, you dress up in/as whatever you like best. My dearest roomie dressed as a fan of leopard print. Black dress, leopard belt, leopard shoes, leopard hairclip, leopard bangle, I don't even remember what all. For she is, afterall, a big fan of leopard print. (aren't we all?) And one of her students that morning, in all sincerity, goes, "Seniorita-- What are YOU a fan of?"

But seriously. Every morning since I heard that one, I look in my closet and dearly wish that we had "I'm a fan of..." day at work. Because I could really rock an all-argyle, all the time look.

City Living...

I realized to day, as I drove to work, how many stupid little electronic things run my life.

I have a little gray key fob that lets me in to our building.

I have my work ID that has a chip that gets me in the door and into my suite.

Then there's the garage door opener for the garage under our condo building. And the "puck," an unnecessairly large black plastic thing that lets me in and out of the garage I park in by the train station. And let's not forget the plastic card I have to swipe to get in and out of the garage at school.

That's in addition to the four, count them, FOUR decals/hangtags I have to have to park all these places. (Who needs bumper stickers anymore?)

And those are all beyond my cell phone/iPod/debit card/keys combo, which is on my person at pretty much all times. And my train ticket. and SmarTrip (just in case).

I guess I'm thankful I'm not a guy. No way would all that fit in my pants pocket.

Now is the autumn of our discontent...

I'm particularly listless today.

I think it is some combination of daylight savings (it is dark ALL the time now. how did this happen?) and a very nasty group project situation for my Thursday class stressing me out.

Plus, my friends all live too far away.

And my boyfriend lives too far away.

And I'm tethered to my desk on phone duty for another hour. My favorite coworker is out today, so I can't even bug him.

Woe is me.

And I can't help feeling like everything would be better if I had a horse. I know, right? What am I, six years old? But there is something so comforting about the solidness of a horse and its so absorbing to go to the barn and groom and tack and ride. It consumes my attention, looking out for my safety and the horse's, setting goals for us to work towards that day. And I haven't been riding since graduating, I think, so... about 10 months now. Which feels like forever.

I'm very excited to go down to Williamsburg this weekend to watch the W&M Equestrian Team's home show and see old friends. But I know I am going to be raging with jealousy the whole time.

oof.

Work Revelations...

So, I interviewed with NUMEROUS supervisors at my current place of employment and ultimately was offered seven positions. Some of the people I connected with better than others, but I took the job I did because I thought the material was the most interesting and would give me the most applicable skills for possible future jobs.

One gentleman in particular was very nice and I really felt bad turning down his offer. I was horrified when I showed up the first day and discovered that he and his branch were in the SAME SUITE as my new branch. Ever since, I've been passing him sheepishly in the hallways, saying a timid "hello" when trapped in an elevator with him, etc etc. He never really returns the greeting, which I tend to interpret as "Stupid girl. shut up. its your fault I am still interviewing people."

Today someone introduced me to the man. Turns out, he is not the guy I interviewed with at all. That man is in an office on the opposite side of the building. And I've been awkwardly avoiding this man for no reason for the last four months. And yet, that is a *huge* relief.

Kids these days...

I have a love/hate relationship with my sattelite radio. Just as I think "meh, I'm just not in the car as much any more, and they really overplay some songs... it's not worth it," they go and introduce some really great new song or have a really funny morning broadcast, or some other thing that makes me feel like I'll be missing out if I cancel my subscription.

The most irritating phenomenon, though, is when a song is playing on more than one station at the same time. I'll maybe not think too much of it if it's "Hits 1" (the Top 40 type station) and The Pulse (the 90s-today type station), but when it is simultaneously on AltNation (my #1 preset, alternitve rock and snarky DJs) and RadioDisney? There's just something wrong with that.


(For the record, I've heard the song, "Fireflies" by Owl City, on all four channels. And first heard it on a friend's Pandora station. It's excellent.)

A few things...

- The other day at lunch, the gentlemen at my table were discussing laundry (and how they don't really know how to do it). This seuged into the mystery of "where do socks go, anyway?" (Fascinating, aren't we? Give me a break, it's a table of economists.) Then the difficulties of matching socks. D then confessed that his socks we're even matched that day, they were the same color, but "one's Polo... one's Costco."

- I am completely in love with VRE and I am never never going back to Metro if I can help it.

- I think Pandora just cried a little when I made a "Jonas Brothers" station. But hey, it's Friday.

- I also just hit the pause button on my iPod, and wondered why Pandora didn't pause.

Can't put longer sentences together until I go get coffee.

I hate discovering paper cuts by putting Purell on my hands.
I hope it isn't that kind of week.

Our state and region people are coming in for training this week. It's weird because everyone is A) at work on time and B) looking respectable.

Surprise!

So, I went to mail back some shoes (OK, Crocs. not quite "shoes," per se...) that I bought a while ago and had been fiercely procrastinating mailing back, because it meant I would have to find packing tape. (Finding anything is hard in the tiny new condo, let alone packing tape, our supply of which I think we exhausted completely in the move.)
Anyway, the address it said to mail them to was in Ontario, CA. It went a little something like this:

ME: "Annnnd this one is going to Canada!"
Post Office Lady: "Canada? or California?"
Me: "Ohhhhhhhhh."

WHO DOES THAT? Names a place outside of Canada "ONTARIO"??

Made postage a lot cheaper though.

Rah Rah

I'll preface this by saying that I really like looking at statistics (nerd alert!). One of the "Tables of Interest" on the homepage for the Census' Statistical Abstract is 1209- Participation in Selected Sports Activities: 2006. You can see it for yourself here: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s1209.pdf

While there are many amusing things about table 1209 (muzzleloading is a sport?), my favorite line has data for cheerleading. I graphed it for you (which sort of makes it less dramatic):

Let’s here it for the 45,000 grannies out there shaking their pom-poms!

You've lost that lovin' feelin'...

I've been here just under three months, and I think it is already official:



I hate my job.



Most of the people I work with are great. The commute isn't all-consuming. The pay is OK. The problem is that I have nothing to do all day. The first few weeks there were reading and exercises and training things to keep me busy. Now I just feel like I'm being ignored by my boss. Every once and a while I'll be assigned some menial task (these have ranged from making graphs of another program's data to re-wording a sentence three different ways) but none last very long and it's back to inventing my own ways to pass the 8.5 hours.



I think I am particularly bitter right now, because I'm on phone duty and can't leave to get a Pumpkin Spice Latte (which I hear are finally back in season at my old employer's). On the plus side, it is serving as a wonderful motivator to not wuss out on grad school. Classes start tonight!

From the weekend...

• A plus one to my list of "people I know who I've seen on Metro" -- my boyfriend's fraternity big brother, spotted Friday in the Chinatown station.
• Went down to Williamsburg to ride Big Bad Wolf for hte last time, since it's being closed on the 7th. It's rarely one we ride, because the lines are always tragically long (my theory on why it's being closed, in addition to the cars requiring Cirque de Solei-esque maneuvers to get into and out of) but it is a really coaster and I'm sad it's going away.
• Sat in the pouring rain to see Carbon Leaf (for free! Thanks, W&M). They played my two favorite songs 3rd and 4th in the set, so we happily left very early on in search of some towels.
• I learned just how quickly the phrase "I'm an economist!" shuts down a conversation.
• Did a whole lot of nothing Saturday night/all day Sunday with my old roommate. Sometimes, that is the very best way to spend a weekend!

For-ev-ev-ever

Chris Brown sentenced to 6 months community service in VA? He should fufill some of it by preforming gratis at high school proms.

( I mean, how sweet would that be? and what other skills does the "country boy from Tappahannock" have?)

New Age Grafitti?

In most (all?) Starbucks stores, there are now these magnetic boards. Presumably, the store or patrons (with permission) could post information on them, but the majority I've seen are blank, except for the "We Heard You" memo held up by a single magnet (see below). Then, in the store closest to my job, this appered:



"NSDC Voyagers '09 was here!" written on the back of a receipt. Cute and innocuous, as far as these things go. I figured store staff would take it down when they noticed, but no... it remained for a few days, and then this:

"Thank a vetran today!"-- a nice sentiment, but they did cover the "voyagers" message. Two was too many, however, and both notes were gone the next day.

Wish you were here...

My older sister's husband is leaving today for "Mancation," where he and his high school buddies will go off hiking in the wilderness and endangering their lives in various ways for a week. In response, she and I are having Stay(and work)cation! While we will still have to go to our jobs (laaaame), we are planning on behaving as if we are on vacation at all other times. So far, this mostly entails eating whatever we want. We will be visiting our most favorite restaurants in the area (Mike's American, anyone?) and hopefully venturing to some new places (restaurant week for Baltimore has been extended through the 23rd!) .

I've been really wanting to visit a Sheetz lately (something about the huge variety of options and the intense colors really speaks to my 3rd-grade sensabilities). Maybe we'll roadtrip to one, since they are sadly few and far between in Northen VA!

Points for Politeness

Sunday morning, I was attempting to get back to my car in the parking lot of Target (always a challenge, since my Target is busy at all hours of the day and night, even when it's closed). Per usual, I had to cross in front of several cars and gave them my usual, timid "thanks" wave.

One gentlemen waited for me to pass, made his left turn and as he passed me, yelled "I wouldn't hit you; you're easy on the eyes, ma'am!"

I guess he didn't see where I'd spilled half my smoothie on my shirt. Or he likes his women unkempt.

Idle curiosity....

Over the weekend, my family discovered Comcast's "On Demand".

Expect a post in a few months wondering how we all now weigh three hundred pounds.

Contraband

On the speakers of a Yellow Line train, headed into VA...

"This is a friendly reminder to passengers that eating, drinking, and smoking are prohibited
on Metro. If you are caught, you will be fined."

...a few moments later...

"You know who you are..."

...and then...

"C'mon man! I'm right behind you!!"

Playing along...

Oh, Mishka invited her readers to take two photos of things in the room they are in and post them. I'm trapped in my cube and have only a camera phone, but it's a cute idea nonetheless.

These are my desk plants. Audrey III is the one on the left and the one on the right is too new to name. Both had to be transported in to work via the metro, which garners some strange looks, for sure.

This is my awesome new bag. It is the large Erica bag from Dooney and Bourke. I've never owned a D&B bag before, but this one has so many pockets inside, I couldn't resist. It holds everything (This mornings cargo: ballet flats, pencil case, book, planner, iPod, makeup bag, pens, gum, keys, phone, wallet, sunglasses. no joke.) in a Mary Poppins-esque way-- the bag itself is a very comfortable size. Plus, it comes in a billion colors and has a fantastic hot pink lining, which makes the stuff inside easy to find (a plus when you have a tendency to buy everything in black). I wanted something a little more grown-up looking than my messenger bag, but jsut as functional and this fits the bill perfectly.

Honest you do, honest you do, honest you do...

I just had my morning transformed in ten minutes.

I was all grumples, not looking forward to what promises to be a frustrating and idle day at work. I wandered over to Union Station to get some coffee (Alright Starbucks, you've made instant coffee. Now, when are you going to make a patch??), and the good forture began.

Adoreable yellow lab working as a police dog (yes, yes, I know better than to pet them or fuss over them. I just admire such well trained animals). No line whatsoever at the Starbucks. Lovely lady who told me about hearing her mother's favorite song, "You Send Me" by Sam Cooke, on the record player when she was little (it was playing in the store) and then thanked me for "sharing the moment" (truly, the pleasure was mine). Another friendly stranger who joked with me about Washington weather at the condiment bar. And then a second police dog, this time a black lab.

And suddenly, I was smiling.

Where (not quite) everybody knows your name...

Since beginnng my career as a federal employee and, subsequently, spending five days a week in DC, I've run into five familiar faces on four seperate occasions. Now, this doesn't count co-workers I see on Metro or out an about at lunch, who it would make sense to see around town. Check it:

1. At the Smithsonian Folklife Festival-- two friends from college. (This was also the run-in that involved the most girly squealing.)
2. The student center at GW-- an aquaintence from high school who is now a student there. This was the day right after the Folklife Festival.
3. Red line platform at the Chinatown stop-- a friend from my internship at the National Zoo was getting off of the car I was getting on
4. Red line, Chinatown, again-- an aquaintence from college (who I didn't stop- she looked in the zone and I'm not sure she'd remember me)

What are the chances????

Tax Free Weekend + Pay Day = Not looking like a bum at work for once

I made it a whole 2 hours and 32 minutes before spilling something on my brand new white shirt.

Unfortunately, most of that time was when I was at home or on the train, so I will spend the vast majority of my work day walking around with coffee drips down my left boob.

Also, proof that I am getting old (despite my inability to keep light colored clothes clean): I walk past American Eagle and think "meh." I walk into Ann Taylor and think "ooooh! cute!"

steamy summer nights

We currently have no A/C at home.

I wish could say that this was some sort of green living experiment, but it's not. The condenser is broken. Fortunately, one of the (few) things I learned while "studying" abroad was how to sleep in tropical conditions (answer: snuggle with ice packs).

Still, Sicily's got nothing on DC humidity. yuck.

Productive member of society.

Actual phone call from 3 PM, two Mondays ago:

Me: Hello?

KC: OH! Gosh! Sorry, did I wake you up?

Me: No... I'm at work...