Friday, August 28, 2009

Treasures

I used to have a whole bunch of boxes of stuff at my parents' house. I didn't think there was actually that much stuff until I started going through it all. And then I remembered that I'm not so much a packrat as I am a packracoon (or whatever the HIGHER AMOUNT word for 'packrat' is).

Three days, two Annie viewings, and many stumbling around tripping over crap shin-bruises later, I have three well organized and stowed away plastic bins at my parents' house (two containing my little glass figurine collection and one containing Madame Alexander dolls), one doll trunk of doll clothes, and one Madame Alexander doll stored in her Madame Alexander box... plus some pajamas and bathing suits (because I figure those are things that people are likely to both need and forget to bring). Okay, and a bunch of books and now this list is getting too long because the POINT is that there is LESS stuff than there WAS but I feel like that is not coming across so much anymore.

I also have a packed-to-the-gills car full of boxes. And this would stress me out, except that I actually cleaned my apartment awhile back and I haven't really been back long enough to mess it up yet so I'm choosing to see it as though I would be starting a whole new organizing project by unpacking the boxes and won't that be interesting and fun? So every time I go somewhere, I bring up a box or two from the car. No pressure on myself to unload the WHOLE CAR RIGHT NOW, just bring up a box or two if I have the time and energy.

The exception to this is that the moment I got home, before I even settled my cat back into his environment or put away food or set up my computer or hopped in the shower for the first time in four days, I HAD to bring up two specific little plastic boxes. They contained my precious, precious treasures that couldn't spend a moment longer in the car because what if the car got broken into? What if someone injured or STOLE them? I just found these items again, I would be devastated if I lost them. I would be crushed. It's too horrible to even think about.

I am speaking, of course, about my dollhouse furniture.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

We already knew that I'm a packrat

Things I realized whilst cleaning out the stuff I had stored at my parents' house:
  1. I am the biggest dork on the face of the planet.
  2. I still love my dolls and tiny animal figurine collection.
  3. My hot pink caboodle was a great purchase.
  4. Jenny and I used to have ridiculously awesome snail mail correspondence.
  5. Repeating "Keep the memory, not the thing" helped me be more heavy handed than I usually am.
  6. I was a good story writer when I was a little kid.
  7. Also, I didn't understand the big age gap between my siblings and me. I wrote a lot of things like "My sisters are far away and I am sad."
  8. The movie Annie makes me happy (I watched it while I sorted through boxes).
  9. I'm glad I went to my senior prom.
  10. I don't think I'm ever going to find that box of broken doll house pieces and doll house furniture that I was saving after my doll house fell apart. I kept opening promising boxes thinking "please be my doll house furniture, PLEASE be my doll house furniture," but no. Where is it?
  11. My mom used to write letters to me at camp on a typewriter.
  12. I can't believe I thought I needed an entire filing cabinet in high school. Some of the files were for stuff from my classes. But SOME were apparently for "X Files," "Elementary School Drawings," and "Internet Conversations." Please see item 1.
  13. I have all four of my high school ID cards.
  14. I have my first and fifth grade yearbooks but can't seem to lay my hands on my senior year college yearbook.
  15. For all the hundreds of letters I wish I had tossed out years ago, I am so happy I kept these postcards and this pegasus birthday card from my grandmother.
  16. I had a lava lamp?
  17. I had a fondue pot?
  18. Advertising something as "collectible" definitely works on some people.
  19. Thank GOD for the Goodwill.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Education versus Intelligence

I don't believe that education equals intelligence. I know people who are not highly educated but who are very intelligent. There are many individuals who may not have had a lot of classroom time but who are able to carry on well thought out, in-depth conversations and make intelligent decisions and so on. Yes, there are stupid people who are uneducated, but there are also uneducated people who may not have very high paying jobs or conventional lifestyles, but they are smart people with goals and accomplishments and values.

On the other hand, I have also been in contact with numerous people who possess degrees from respectable institutions but who are complete and utter morons. People who are mind-numbingly stupid and frustratingly bad at making decisions and interacting with others.

Even the most educated, book-smart people do astonishingly stupid things and piss away their opportunities. Just look at the ladies in any Girls Gone Wild college edition video. Educated? Check. Making poor choices? DOUBLE CHECK.

And this guy I dated for awhile. He was an engineer, an unquestionably smart individual. And he couldn't make toast. Nor could he withdraw money from an ATM.

So if you are educated, I am not going to automatically assume that you are smart. And if you are not educated, I'm not going to automatically assume that you are a moron. I will base my opinion of you on your sense of humor or your ability to tell a story or whether or not you ask me if my full name is "Julia Gulia." I think that's fair.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Girl Talk: Powder Room Policies




In high school I just thought I had thick and somewhat frizzy, difficult hair. I have come to realize that I have thick and somewhat frizzy, difficult hair that CAN be managed. My hair tends to get prettier and smoother the longer I go without a shower, but on the other hand I also to get more compulsively scratchy the longer I go without a shower. As in, I will scratch my head even though it doesn't itch and I swear I don't have dandruff but it feels like I should be itchy so I scratch. Okay, is that gross? TMI? Moving on.

I shower every other day or so depending on how dirty I feel or smell or if I've been swimming or exercising.

If I want to look especially nice for something, then the night before I will take a shower, air dry my hair till it is about half dry, and blow dry it while brushing and using this.... hold on for just a moment let me go check what it is called..... Paul Mitchell Smoothing Super Skinny Serum. Then, the next day I will style my hair, utilizing my straightening iron and more Paul Mitchell Serum. That, in my opinion, leaves my hair at its best and loveliest. Depending on time/effort constraints, I will cut out one or more of the aforementioned steps.

Since I apparently only get my hair cut/styled/colored once every year and a half, I decided that I should invest in higher quality (than Suave) hair products and thus I tend to use Pantene or Herbal Essences. Bonus, they smell yumsy.

I don't use any soap at all on my face because I have such sensitive skin, so I rinse it with water in the shower. I use whatever soap is around (body wash, boy body wash, soap I made, etc) on the rest of my body.

I used to take long, luxurious, HOT HOT bubble baths. I don't use any bubble bath anymore because of the skin sensitivity issue again but I still frequently partake in long, luxurious, HOT HOT baths.

I will often light a scented candle or some incense in the bathroom while I'm bathing or showering. Even if I'm just hurriedly taking a shower after I work out. It makes it more like a "relaxation ritual" than a chore.

Also, I tend to do some of my best thinking/problem solving/relaxing in the shower... probably because I can't easily be interrupted by the phone or the internet or my own short attention span.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Flip for it!

A few months ago, I got some reusable shopping bags. As is my usual way, I hemmed and hawwed over the decision and spent way too much time doing online research. And I finally picked out the ones from Flip & Tumble. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. (Which goes to show that sometimes my persnickety ways do pay off...).

These bags have transformed my good intentions (oh-sure-I-have-reusable-bags-I-just-don't-always-remember-to-use-them) to actual "I don't need a bag" action.

I take several of them to the store if I know I'll be buying a bunch of stuff. I also carry a couple of them in my purse with me at all times in case I need them and I have found that I do quite often need them. They are perfect for shopping and for those random times when I just need an extra bag.

I love the long strap that I can wear over my shoulder. I love that they are lightweight and compact enough to carry with me. I love that they are bright and fun colored and pop open all cutely. I LOVE THEM. Two thumbs up.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Help Wanted?

This is such an odd experience for me. I haven't had a whole ton of jobs in my life, but the ones I have had have been pretty easily gotten. My last job at the ADHC was practically thrown at me. I showed up in jeans and a tee shirt for my interview (not realizing it was supposed to be like a "real" interview) and they still told me they would love to have me and please could I start on Monday?

And now that I've spent quite a fair amount of time, energy, and $$ to become a nurse-- it's been surprisingly difficult to find a job. It doesn't help that I was initially looking for something Perfect and Part Time. Now I'm sort of looking for Anything, Anywhere.

I had this one interview that I thought went great and they said they would let me know on Friday. And then Friday came and went, so I called the next week just, you know, to thank them for the interview and to let them know I was still interested and ask if they needed any more information about me and bullshit bullshit why haven't you called me or emailed me about the job? And the woman let me know that they had emailed me last week to let me know that they had gone another direction. So I said "okay, thank you, goodbye." And then I checked my email and while we were on the phone she had send the email. So I got rejected. Twice. In five minutes.

And then I had this other interview, which was actually a phone conversation plus TWO in-person interviews, one involving an hour drive out of the city to the other office because the doctor was at that office on that particular day. But then they went with someone who had more experience. Someone who was not me.

So, I'm still looking. It is a bit frustrating to be an unemployed RN because all you ever hear about nursing is how there aren't enough nurses anywhere and hospitals are suffering and blah blah. Well, I'M RIGHT HERE! HIRE ME!!

p.s. I returned the Crapberry and got the EnV. And I like it! So thanks everybody for the advice and the commiserating "uh... I have no idea"s.