Wednesday, December 29, 2010

You saw this coming.

*General Randomness*
What's your mood like at the moment? Happy to be home, relaxing. Excited to see if my mini meatloaves turn out. Depressed that I have to work tomorrow.
Did you wake up before 10am today? Yes.
Is it raining? A little bit.
Who was the last person you hugged? Jordan.
Where were you last night at 11pm? Home.
Do you pick up pennies for good luck? Nope.
Do you know the lyrics of the last song you listened to by heart? Yes.
Who was the artist and what was the title of that song? November by Azure Ray.
Who was your last call from? Faye from work.
Who was your last call to? Jordan.
Who was your last missed call? I dunno. My phone is in the bedroom and I don't feel like going to get it.
Have you ever donated blood? Yes.
Do you know your bloodtype? I believe it is A+
What was your most unsual Halloween costume growing up? I never really had any unusual costumes. I remember being a pumpkin and Pocahontas several times...and Minnie Mouse when I was really little.
Where did you go on your last vacation? Florida.
Where is your next vacation going to be to? Chicago, most likely.
What does your mom do for a living? She's a secretary at a church.
What color is your car? Green.
Were you born in the 1990's? No.
Are you over 18? Yes.
Have you kissed anyone in the past 24 hours? Yes.
When was the last time someone cooked for you? Christmas.
What is the nearest holiday? New Years.
Is your birthday within the next 6 months? No.
How are things with you and your most recent ex? Oh, you know. I see him occasionally when I visit my parents but we haven't spoken in two years. We're friends on facebook, though...
How old will you be in 2037? 50. Yikes.
Are you an aunt or uncle? Yes, by marriage.
Do you know anyone who goes by their middle name rather than their first? Nope.
How often do people mispell/mispronounce your last name? Pretty often. People tend to leave off the E when spelling it. Or pronounce it as "Lockey"
Pick up the nearest book, turn to page 8 and type the first sentence: "That is incorrect."
What's the title of that book? The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Was the last person you shared a bed with male or female? Male.
Do you have any embarrassing nicknames? My parents call me Sissy, which is mildly embarrassing.
Who was the last person to tell you 'I love you'? Jordan.
Do you think they meant it? Yes.
*True or False*
Your fingernails are painted: False.
You have your nose pierced: False.
You have a tattoo on your foot: False.
You graduated high school within the last 3 years: False.
You drive a car newer than a 2006: False.
You have littered in the past 24 hours: False.
You live on your own: False.
You have attended a private school: False.
You have had an x-ray in the last year: False.
You have run into someone while buying a 'personal' item: True.
You sleep with the door closed: False.
You have smoked a pack of cigarettes in a day: False.
You believe everyone deserves a second chance: Trueish.
You write in cursive on a regular basis: False.
You were single 2 months ago: False.
You have been in a relationship that lasted longer than a year: True.
You have been to Europe: False.
You have been to the Grand Canyon: False.
You have been to Yellowstone National Park: False.
You have been to one of the Great Lakes: True.
You have been to the Smokey Mountains: False.
You have freckles: False.
You have hazel eyes: False.
You have blonde hair: False.
You watch The Office: True.
You watch Gossip Girl: False.
You watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians: False.
You were born in April, August, or September: False.
You are a Saggitarius: True.
You are a vegetarian: False.
You have kissed someone whose name began with 'Z': False.
'N': False.
'K': False.
'D': False.
You have worked in a fast food restaurant: False.
Your best friend is of the opposite sex: False.
You live within 20 minutes of a Walmart: True.
You have liked someone and never told them: True.
You are in love with your ex: False.
You are wearing something pink: True.
You would go out looking like you do right now: False.
You are more productive under pressure: Mmm...sometimes.
You have had a near death experience: True.
You don't really know what you want out of life yet: False.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

I had a GREAT Christmas. I'm so sad that it's over! I feel like I don't have much to look forward to now. The coming months are full of cold, horrible winter and the monotony of work. Blah. I can't wait for warm weather to return. Jordan and I are talking about taking a mini vacation to Six Flags this summer, which would be amazing...but that seems sooo far away. :(

But back to Christmas. Even though Jordan wasn't able to come to Burlington with me, and even though I was stuck in a ditch outside of Mount Pleasant for an hour because of the snow storm (it took me a full four hours to make it from Coralville to Burlington), it was still a fabulous weekend. I love my family. As usual, I came home with a mountain of gifts. Among my favorites were an end table (yay, furniture! No more using our stools as tables in the living room), the DVD of Pride and Prejudice (one of my favorites...it's kind of shocking that I didn't already own it, really), and some Clinique Happy perfume. I also got a cute donut hole maker from Grant and Nikcole...tried it out today, and it works surprisingly well.

I am feeling seriously burnt out on work lately. And I haven't even been working that much! I've had a ton of days off this past month. It seems that the more time I get to spend away from work, the less I want to go back. It's strange, because as I've said in the past, I don't dislike my job. Once I get there, I'm okay with it. I just dread going. I don't know if it's that I want to be doing something else or that I don't want to be doing anything. I would be so happy to stay home, writing and doing housework all day. But that's not at all feasible, obviously. Even switching jobs would be stupid at this point, since there are so few options out there and I have a raise coming in four months. So I guess I better stop complaining and start getting ready for work.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Highlander Grogg

Relaxing before work, as usual. (And not in the mood to go to work...as usual.) So, for whatever reason, Food Avenue is no longer closing next Monday. They're waiting til January to close it for the remodel. I haven't heard the exact new date yet. Somewhat of a letdown. I really like working at Food Ave, but I'm ready to learn something new. And as soon as the remodel starts, I'm supposed to be trained to work on the sales floor. It's kind of nice that I'll get to go back to Food Avenue (well, Target Cafe, as it's supposed to be called) when it reopens, in case I happen to really hate sales floor.

I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday! I am so ready for Christmas with my family...hope they all like their gifts. My grandma decided that she's not up to making her usual pumpkin pie this year, so I said I would make dessert. One of my cookbooks has a recipe for maple pumpkin cheesecake [YUM], so I'm going to attempt that. I'm a bit apprehensive, having never made cheesecake before...hopefully it turns out! I'm pretty bummed that Jordan can't come to Burlington with me because of work...this happened last year, too. Stupid hotel. It's so sad having to take his pile of presents from my family back here for him to open them.

I got some new coffee last night. SUPER tasty. The brand is Berres Brothers. I saw them featured on the Food Network several months ago, so when I saw their coffee at Hy-Vee, I got excited. I bought a bag of their Highlander Grogg flavored beans. Great name, right? It's their best seller, apparently, and is "an explosion of caramel, butterscotch and hazelnut." It's really good, and not bitter at all. Try it! It's not cheap, but not any more expensive than a bag of Dunkin Donuts or Caribou Coffee beans.

Well, Crosby is harassing me so I guess I better walk him.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Ugh.

Okay...so having five days off work was wonderful. Now that I have to go back and work the next four days in a row (including a cashier shift, yuck), I'm in crappy mood. It's not like I dislike my job...I do like it. I'm really good at it, so that helps, and I work with a lot of very nice people. I like it approximately fifty times better than when I worked at Applebees. Honestly, I would just rather not work. I want to stay home and be a housewife and write. Not at all realistic, obviously. At least not at this point in our lives.

Well, whatever. Once I get back into the swing of things at work, I'll be fine. Though January is going to suck, with Food Ave. being remodeled. Unless they plan on training me to work on the sales floor or at guest service, I assume I'll be cashiering the whole time.

I have almost all my Christmas shopping done! I just need a couple more things. All the finished presents are under our tree now...I hand-wrapped everything this year (rather than just throwing them into bags)-looks so cute!

OKAY, my "meh" mood about going to work has escalated to a really bad mood suddenly. I just checked our bank statement online...glad to see that TWO student loan payments went through instead of one. Apparently, I set up my account to take money out of our bank account automatically...though I certainly don't recall doing that. So after I paid the bill online, we paid the bill again. Cool. We can totally afford to pay two months of student loan bills at a time. >:(

And now I have to get ready for work. Earlier than usual because Jordan took the Mercury to work...and I have to de-snow and de-ice our Sable that hasn't been driven for a week.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

GUESS WHAT??!

The ridiculous caps locks in my title should tell you how excited I am about this...

One of my stories is being published!!! YAY!

My story "Unlost" will be in issue 417 of bewilderingstories.com. If you're reading this, Miss Katie, thank you for showing me to duotrope.com because that's how I stumbled upon bewilderingstories.com! Now, a word about the website--they specialize in "speculative writing"...so lots of sci-fi and fantasy, but pretty much anything that's unconventional (hence the "bewildering"). They've been around since 2002, which tells me that they're pretty reputable. They've published plenty of work by well-known and successful authors...and plenty of work by completely obscure and never-before-published authors, such as myself. :) So there you have it. Yep, my week has been made.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Yay, "vacation"

Ah, first day of my "vacation." Can I call it a vacation when I have no intention of leaving my apartment until next Wednesday? (Except maybe to do some Christmas shopping and some holiday baking at Carissa's.) Right now, I'm taking a mini break from Christmas music (because it feels like spring outside...*shakes fist at Iowa weather*) to rediscover my love of Relient K. I haven't listened to them much since high school/SCC days...but I still adore them.

Not much to say, really, nothing interesting, at least...so, survey!

If your last words had to be a line from a song, what would they be? I'm not sure. It's kinda boring, but probably just "I love you"...which is in a multitude of songs.
Do you listen to Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana? No. But I know her song It's the Climb from the radio, and I kinda like it. I just wish someone with a less nasal, abrasive voice were singing it.
What do you think is the most difficult language to learn? I would have to be somewhat acquainted with all languages to answer this question...and obviously, I'm not. Any language that doesn't use Latin alphabet characters would be hard for me.
Smarties or Skittles? Skittles.
Is your DP a pic of you? DP=default pic? Yes.
When you walk into Walmart, what is your first thought? Usually "I hate this store."
Does food taste better when its made with love? Sure.
Do you go to church? Sometimes.
What song brings back bad memories for you? Some of our songs from high school choir. I can't think of one at the moment...but sometimes I'll hear one randomly on the radio and it makes me cringe.
Have you ever faked an injury? I've faked sick...but don't think I've ever faked an injury.
What would you want if you could have any super power? Super healing powers would be awesome.
Did you take drivers ed, or just have someone you know teach you? I took drivers ed.
Do you get mad when people double dip? No.
The last person you punched? Jordan.
Whats the most inappropriate gift you've ever received? and from whom? A vibrator from Katie? lol! But even that wasn't really inappropriate for the situation, given that it was my bachelorette party.
Does it bother you when people have bad grammar? Yeah.
Who is your favorite person on SNL? I don't watch it enough to have a favorite.
Do hugs ever make you uncomfortable? Depends on whose hugging me.
What doesn't come in a bottle, but really should? I can't think of anything...a lot of things come in bottles.
Do you think the world will end in 2012? No.
What are you doing for the rest of the day? Cleaning the kitchen, blah. Then watching movies with Crosby. Possibly going shopping for Christmas presents.
What kind of flowers do you want at your funeral? I don't have much of a preference...how about white daisies, since they're my favorite.
Whats the worst natural disaster you've been through? I guess the flood of 2008.
If you were a baked potato what toppings would you like on you? Well, I really wouldn't want to be a baked potato. But my favorite toppings are butter, sour cream and bacon bits. And cheddar cheese.
If you could speak 3 languages, what would they be? Including the language I already know or not? If it is, Spanish, French, and English. If not, Spanish, French, and German.
Have you ever known anyone that got struck by lightning? No.
Why did you go to the hospital for the first time? Aside from being born...I think it was when I cracked my head open in first grade.
Whats your favorite oxymoron? I dunno...non-dairy creamer.
Do you think you will ever want to stop celebrating your birthday? Probably not.
Do you miss the old Nickelodeon? Yeah.
Speaking of that. Do you remember Face? Hello, Face here. Yeah, lol.
Oprah or Tyra? Neither. Not a fan of talk shows.
Do you like your name? It's okay.
What is your favorite juice? White grape.
Describe your mother in one word. Um...sweet.
How do you feel about leashes for kids? Kind of ridiculous.
If you could wear only one, would you wear socks or underwear? Depends on if it's hot or cold.
Who would you want/not want to be stuck in an elevator with? I'd be happy to be stuck in an elevator with Jordan or any of my friends/family. I would not want to be stuck in an elevator with a strange man.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Look, a real blog post.

I complain a lot about the coldness and the crappy weather of winter...but part of me kinda loves it. (My inner child--that part.) The small amount of snow we've had this week has me feeling all chipper. As a kid, snow was exciting because it meant a potential snow day and sledding and getting my parents to make me hot chocolate. Now that I'm "grown up," it means I have to leave for work early in case the roads are bad--that's about it. And yet that feeling of excitement has stuck with me. I'm a little disappointed that, after today, there's nothing but cold, sunny days in the forecast. Jordan doesn't share my enthusiasm for snow. He truly hates winter weather. And I'm sure that when February rolls around, I'll be hating it too, but this is the first snow of the season. I'm allowed to be a little enchanted, right?

It feels strange to be relaxing at home on a Saturday. Target must have felt bad for scheduling so much in the past month...because not only do I have today off, but I have Monday and Tuesday off as well. Then I have Friday-Tuesday off...yes, a five day weekend. Craziness! I'm pretty excited, though--lots of time to catch up on reading and writing. I really could have used a five day weekend in November, when I was trying to spew out a 50,000 word novel. (For the record, I failed miserably and only got to 10,500 words. Better luck next year?)

Speaking of reading, I bought a new book. Tinkers, by Paul Harding. I picked it because of the blurb on the back and the amazing reviews (and the sticker on the front proclaiming that it had won a Pulitzer prize). I've been rereading a lot of books lately, and before that, I was working my way through all of Jane Austen's novels...so I was due for a good contemporary book. It wasn't until after I bought the book that I read Harding's bio, which told me he's a graduate of the U of I Writer's Workshop and he recently taught there as a visiting faculty member (I vaguely recall some of my writing TAs talking about him during the spring semester, but I think I was a bit too focused on the whole passing my classes and graduating deal). He's taught at Harvard, too...no big deal. I'm only forty pages into the book, but it's really fantastic. While reading about Harding, I saw that more than 25 Pulitzer prizes have been awarded to writers associated with the Writer's Workshop. Yep. That's not at all daunting.

Well, I think it's time to break out the Christmas tree. :)

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

December!

It's not technically winter yet, but it is December. And we did have snow yesterday and today. Sooo, winter survey!

Whats 3 things you like to do during winter?
1- Enjoy my parents' fireplace
2- Watch Christmas movies...that reminds me, I need to Netflix Love Actually!
3- Bake.
Do you like snow? Yes, when I don't have to drive in it.
Does it even snow where you live? Yep.
Whats the best part about winter time? Spending time with my family for Christmas.
Is winter your favorite season? No.
Does your family celebrate Christmas? Yes.
Do you get a lot of presents? Not a ton, since I'm an adult now. Probably about a dozen from my parents, a couple from the in-laws, one from Jordan.
Do you help put up and decorate the christmas tree? Help...ha. I do it all myself. Jordan isn't big on Christmas decorations.
Do you have a stocking? Yes.
Is your christmas tree a real tree or a fake tree? Fake.
Do you like the cold winter weather? No.
Do you go sledding? It's been several years since I have.
Do you build snow men? Again, it's been several years.
Would you rather:
Wear gloves with no hat or a hat with no gloves? A hat with no gloves. My ears don't do well in cold wind.
Go sledding or ice skating? Well, I'm awful at ice skating and sledding doesn't really require any skill...so I guess sledding.
Your toes go numb or your fingers? Toes.
Drink hot chocolate or apple cider? Ooh, both sound so good right now! Apple cider, if it's my mom's homemade kind.
Get tons of inexpensive gifts or one expensive gift? I guess tons of inexpensive gifts, unless the expensive one was something I really needed.
Back to the questions...
Do you hate driving on the snowy roads? YES.
Whats your favorite christmas song? Oh man, no way I can narrow it down to one.
Whats your favorite christmas movie? It's a tie between National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and The Muppet Christmas Carol.
How early do you wake up on christmas to open gifts? Depends on what family we're with. With Jordan's family, we get up in the late morning--9 or 10. My family generally opens presents on Christmas evening, not in the morning.
Do you put christmas decorations up in/outside your house? Yes. We don't really have an "outside," but I did hang a wreath on our door.
Does your family stay home or go to a relatives for christmas? My parents usually host the Christmas dinner at their house.
Do you have a big christmas dinner? Yes. It's pretty much identical to our Thanksgiving dinner. Love it.
How many blankets do you sleep with in the winter? Two, plus an extra one at the end of the bed.
What are some ways you keep really warm? Turn up the heat, drink coffee, wear my robe around the house.
Do you wear alot of layers when you go outside in the snow/cold? Yes.
Is your car good on ice/snow? It's okay, though it doesn't like to start on really cold mornings.
Have you ever gotten into a car accident due to the icy/snowy roads? Yep. My only accident happened because of ice on the road...it sucked.
Does your school have alot of snow days where you live? I'm not in school, but my high school was well known for not canceling when all the other schools in town did. And snow days were very rare at the U of I, too.
Do you shovel the snow on your sidewalk/driveway? No--the Valley Forge management will handle that, I assume.
Do you ever have to use the ice scraper on your car windshield? Of course...unless I have half an hour to wait around for the defroster to melt the ice.
Do you stay indoors or go outside more in the winter? Now that I'm out of school (and not walking to class every day), I'll be indoors for most of the season.
Do you go all out and wear a scarf,gloves,coat, etc? Yes. Definitely a coat, gloves, and a hat. I don't always wear a scarf, though...a wear a lot of turtlenecks instead.
Do you own a pair of snow boots? Yeah.