Caramel Macchiato=Happiness in a Cup

Three day weekend! Even though I just had two days off last week, I feel like I need this so badly. Probably because last week's days off were filled with traveling and busyness and fun--all the things that make days practically evaporate. I had a really long week at work...with lots of stupid moments (backroom flooded from a clogged drain, preparing for a visit from our auditors, accidentally throwing away my cafe keys and thinking that a customer had picked them up, etc), so I'm ready to decompress. And probably force myself to do the dishes and laundry at some point, as well.

I have a Kindle now. :) When I first heard about e-readers, I believe I shook my head, scoffed...probably even half-seriously vowed to never own one. I like the feel of a book in my hand, and the look of them on my bookcase...I like turning and dog-earring pages and writing in margins and I adore bookstores. So why would I want to give all that up for...portability?

But Carissa talked me into giving it a try, primarily because it would make it easy for us to read the same books and have a...book club, of sorts. And I have to say, I kind of love it. Maybe this is just leftover baggage from being an English major and taking multiple literary classes each semester, but I really like reading several books at once. I enjoy the option to switch gears, based on what I'm in the mood to read at any given moment. Right now, I'm reading a book of newly crafted fairy tales (My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by forty really fabulous writers), a Victorian novel (Villette by Charlotte Bronte), and a contemporary historical novel (Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen). Being able to have all three books in my purse at the same time is AMAZING. In print, they're a collective 1500 pages. In print, all three in the purse wouldn't really be an option. So, that's the main perk. There's other little things I love about it...the design makes it really easy for me to eat and read at the same time (which I do often, on my lunch break at work). With an actual book, it's always a challenge...trying to keep the pages from flipping on me with my elbow and such. Kindle can read to me, which is awesome. It's just a computery voice, not dramatized of course, but it gets the point across. I know I'll totally be making use of that during a long drive at some point in the future. Oh, and everything on Amazon is cheaper in Kindle version (and ridiculously cheaper than Barnes and Noble's in-store prices).

So, all of the above (plus even more little things that I won't bore you by mentioning) is why I abandoned my initial "e-readers are stupid" stance, and now happily own a Kindle. Besides, I'll still buy actual books, as well as electronic ones--just not as often.

Okay, I think I've devoted enough of my afternoon to blogging/gushing over Kindle. Time to pay attention to my keyboard. <3

You know you needed a day off badly when you're enjoying yourself CLEANING THE APARTMENT. Sounds crazy (for me), but it feels so good to have the time to get our place looking nice. I enjoy being home so much more when there isn't crap everywhere.

Target Cafe is officially reopened, as of today. :) It looks pretty great, and we have some tasty new menu items, including two flat bread sandwiches (chicken spinach artichoke and chicken marinara!! How good do those sound?). It actually looks like somewhere you might want to sit down and eat now...so I imagine we'll be a lot busier than before.

Parents are coming to visit tomorrow! Since they recently put all new furniture in their living room, they're giving us their old coffee table. Can't wait! All we have right now is a tiny end table, which I love, but you can barely fit one plate of food on it. I'm feeding them, for once--making a pot roast with carrots and potatoes. Mmm. Hope it turns out (but really, what can go wrong with pot roast in the slow cooker?). I'll probably do a little shopping with them while they're here, and they also want to check out the pet store. They're thinking of getting a puppy! I know, pet stores are bad and ideally, all new pets would be adopted from animal shelters...but with my mom's allergies, they're really limited in the breeds they can have. My mom wants to have a chance to hold a poodle, or another supposed hypoallergenic dog, to see if she has a reaction or not. So we'll see how that goes.

Okay, oatmeal creme pies are way too delicious. One of my favorite cookies growing up...my brothers and I were so vicious about each getting our third of the box. I hadn't had them in a long time, but tossed a box in the old grocery cart earlier this week on a whim. How did I ever stop eating these?! I think I might like to try making a homemade version sometime...there's a ton of recipes for them on the internet.

A decent day.

I love morning shifts. Yes, it really sucked to wake up at 6:30 after a mere five hours of sleep...but my shift went by super fast. And now I'm home, with a whole afternoon and evening left to enjoy. Good stuff. One week left on the sales floor...

Well, two of my former teachers have agreed to write letters of recommendation for me. Yay! I was really nervous about this, for some reason. But so far, no doors have been slammed in my face. (Two letters is enough for some of the programs I want to apply for...for the Writer's Workshop, I need three. So one more to go.) In response to my saying that I would appreciate any advice, one of these teachers asked me what specific questions I had. Hmm. To be honest, this whole process is so daunting that I don't even know what to ask. Well, no, actually I want to ask "can you tell me to which programs, exactly, I should apply? And what pieces of writing I should use for my writing sample?" But that's asking a little too much.

Heading down to Burlington tomorrow after work. It's going to be a really short trip--I'll get there around 5:00 tomorrow, and I'll be leaving by noon on Tuesday. Matt's home on spring break this week and my parents wanted me to come down so we could have a nice family supper. I wish I could stay for a couple days but I happen to be scheduled for a full forty hours this week. That almost never happens...kinda crappy timing. Oh well. It'll still be a good time--love visiting the family. :)

And now...time to decompress with music and a survey.

If you could be fluent in any language, which would it be? French, for the literature.
What (or who) would you really like to hold right now? Jordan and/or Crosby are the obvious answers, but I can hold them any time I want. So, I'm going to say a bunny.
And what would you like to let go of? The extra pounds that are chilling on my midsection.
Was your first car a hand me down or brand new? A hand me down.
Speaking of cars, how did your first drivers test go? For my permit, I had to take the test twice. For my driver's license, I aced the classroom portion and barely passed the driving portion, lol.
Sunrise or sunset: which did you see last? Sunrise.
What was the first picture of that you ever took on your mobile phone? On my current phone, the first picture was of my living room.
Did you ever collect any type of cards? (Baseball cards, etc.) No.
Do your eyes ever change color? Yes.
How many lamps are currently in this room? Two.
Do you wish that there were more lamps in this room? Nope. Both of these lamps have multiple bulbs--they're very bright.
So, what's the earliest you've woken up this week? 6:30.
And what's the latest you've stayed up? 2:00.
What commercial are you tired of seeing on TV? The stupid new Old Navy commercial with the Kim Kardashian look-alike singing a dumb song about how cute she is.
Would you rather ride a zebra or hug a gorilla? Assuming that I'd be perfectly safe doing either, I think I would rather hug a gorilla.
When you drop food, do you eat it (five second rule!) or leave it? Generally, I wouldn't eat it, but it depends on where I dropped it. And what type of food it is.
Would you consider yourself more optimistic or pessimistic? More optimistic.
Do you have any stickers or anything on your laptop? Just the ones that came with it.
When was the last time you got a haircut? Yesterday.
What is your opinion on minivans? Do you own one? I always liked my parents' minivan. I don't own one. Once we have kids, though, I wouldn't mind having one.
Where did you go to college? Or, where do/did you want to go? I went to SCC and the U of I.
Ehehehe...so umm, Republican or Democrat? Pretty moderate...but I lean more to the right.
Have you learned to love your body yet? Meh. I wouldn't say I love it, but I don't hate it.
CUZ BABY YOU'RE A FIREWORKKK....overplayed, yes? YES, terribly overplayed.
How many of the 'Rocky' movies have you seen? None.
What was the last sport you watched on TV? Basketball was on the TV at work recently, but I wasn't actually watching.
Have you ever showered with a significant other? Yes.
Do you have a friend who takes food out of your fridge and its not rude? I don't think my friends have ever taken food out of my fridge, but if they did, it wouldn't be rude.
Do you know anyone with a name that forms a word? (ex: Shanda Leer) Not that I can think of...
How did your parents meet? They met in college, I think in music classes they were taking together.
Would you rather swim in a pool or relax in a hot tub? Depends on my mood...but generally, I'd rather be in the hot tub.
Do you know your best friend's mom's name? Yes.
Your last significant other: How many family members of theirs did you meet? Almost all of them.
Tight pants on rockstars: yay or nay? Meh. Some people can pull it off, some can't.
When did you last get a sunburn and where was it? I got a little burnt in Florida last April.
Do you know any Japanese words? Nope.
Can people usually tell if you're sad? I guess. Though people do tend to think I'm sad when I'm not. I just have one of those faces--if I'm not smiling, I look upset, even when I'm totally not.
Finish the sentence: I can eat a whole bag of... Andes mints. YUM.

Potato

Somewhat on a whim, I bought a big bag of russet potatoes earlier this week. Best grocery-related decision ever! Such a great, cheap lunch...or dinner side dish...or late night snack. And eating the skin makes it healthy-ish, too. :)

So, sales floor isn't too bad...but I definitely prefer Food Avenue. I would rather be in my own area, doing things my way, than running around the entire store trying to coordinate with everyone else. And I can't say how frustrating it is to get an aisle or a display so neat, and then see a guest come over and make a HUGE mess of it. Honestly, it's a lot of hard work for very little recognition. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually looking forward to the cashiering shifts I have coming up this week. Cashiering may be almost unbearably monotonous, but it is sooo much easier than sales floor. It'll be nice to just stand in one spot and mindlessly check items.

Valentine's Day is the day after tomorrow. As usual, our plans are pretty low key. I'm going to make a nice dinner--fettuccine alfredo with chicken and sun dried tomatoes. YUM, right? I've never made it before, so hopefully it turns out well. We're probably going to see a movie, too.

And now...an exciting survey.

When was the last time you blew out a candle? Yesterday.
Do you own any name brand clothing that starts with the letter "B"? Don't think so.
What does your shirt look like? It's black with gold lettering and says "Writers Gone Public...Nonfiction writing program reading series...The University of Iowa"
When was the last time you vacuumed? I used our hand vac for about five seconds last week, if that counts.
What's a food you like that is an "acquired taste"? Coffee, chili, mustard, grapefruit--hated all of those when I was a kid, love them now.
Do you live with your parents? No.
Do you like Jason Mraz? I only know two of his songs. Based on those two songs, yes.
Have you ever had a colored lightbulb in your room? No.
Do you have any idea how to jumpstart a car? Yes, I have an idea...but I don't know exactly how to do it. However, I know the instructions are in my owner's manual and I do have jumper cables...so I could do it, if needed.
When was the last time you did laundry? Last week.
Have you ever had a Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty? Yeah. Not bad. Tastes like a jamocha shake from Arby's.
Are you currently confused about anything? Not really.
Do you frequently go on YouTube? Not too often.
How many people know your deepest, darkest secret? I'm not sure what my deepest, darkest secret is, honestly. Whatever it is, I'm sure that Carissa and/or Jordan know it.
Do you own any guitar picks? Yeah.
When was the last time your received a package? If you mean by mail, sometime during the summer.
Do you like seafood? I like fish, but not shellfish.
Are you the type of person that likes sulking? No.
Did you do fundraisers in school back in the day? Every now and then.
Have you ever seen your favorite artist play live? I saw Nichole Nordeman when I was in junior high, I've always loved her. That's about it, though.
What version of Windows are you currently using? Stupid vista.
Have you ever been to Boston? No.
Do you watch the Superbowl? No.
Do you need to clean your room? I need to clean my entire apartment. Blah.
What's the most random thing you did today? Didn't really do anything random, to tell you the truth. Pretty normal day.
Can you whistle a tune? Yes.
Who was the last person to disappoint you? Applebees, for failing to send me my W-2! Now I have to call and harass them about it.
What grade will you be going to this upcoming year? I've been out of grades for a while now...
Would you ever get an abortion? Extremely unlikely. I would only resort to that if giving birth would certainly kill me and/or the baby.
Is there anything plugged into the closest electrical socket to you? Yeah, a lamp.
Do you write your dreams down? No.
Have you ever wondered what your purpose in life is? Yes.
Do you post surveys on MySpace? I forgot I even had a myspace until you just mentioned it. Poor myspace.
Do you ever dip your fingers in wet candle wax? I have before. I love the way it feels, but cleaning the dried wax off is annoying.
Who was the last person to call you "baby"? Jordan.
What was the most expensive thing you bought this past week? A hotel room.
When was the last time you had ice cream? Like a month? It's been far too long.
Do you prefer sugary drinks, or water? "Sugary drinks"...that's pretty vague, there. It depends--if I'm just thirsty, I want water. If I want something that tastes good, I would enjoy a "sugary drink."
Do you have any Muslim neighbors? Not that I'm aware of...but I don't know the religious beliefs of any of my neighbors.

Snow day?

So...little scary outside. The drifts in our parking lot are ridiculous! Being able to watch the crazy blizzard from our warm apartment makes it kinda fun. I just wish I didn't have to work tomorrow. But I don't have to go in til 4:00...I'm sure the roads will be drivable by then.

Jordan and I ventured out for a minute or two, to do something slightly evil. We took Crosby out for his usual nightly potty break and tossed him into the snow. It was up to his little chin...he just stood there and stared at us like "you guys are the meanest parents ever." Sooo sad/cute/funny. We rescued him, of course.

Well, I did clean my kitchen earlier today...but I just made cupcakes and frosting, so it's a mess again. Oh well--worth it. I made snickerdoodle cupcakes, with cinnamon buttercream. Yum! The cake seems just a bit dry, but probably because I haven't made a cake from scratch in a long time. I use a lot of box mixes, and they're always a ton moister. Regardless, I'm happy with them.

First day on the sales floor tomorrow. Whoo. We'll see how that goes. Now...time to have another cupcake while watching Cupcake Wars. :)

EDIT--one of my coworkers updated on facebook that she made it home from work safely, but that several people are STAYING THE NIGHT at Target. How much does that suck? Very grateful to be stranded in my own home and not elsewhere.

LONG update.

Well, this past week has been quite nice. I had TWO stories published, which was crazy exciting. The first one, at Bewilderingstories.com, I've been anticipating for many weeks. The second one, at Monkeybicycle.net, was a huge surprise. I wasn't expecting to hear back from them so soon (their responses take up to twelve weeks--I only submitted a month ago) and I really wasn't expecting to be accepted, either (based on the fact that they declined my last submission). Furthermore, I had no idea that they would put my story up a mere twelve hours after telling me they wanted to publish it! So all that was a bit of a whirlwind.

I had to work a lot this past week, but all my shifts went by fast. Everything is winding down at Food Avenue...we're shutting down a week from tomorrow. I'm going to miss it. Last month I was so ready for this...but that's only because holiday shoppers were making every shift miserably busy. Now that things are back to normal, I actually enjoy my job. This probably makes me a bad Target employee, but one of the things I like the most is that I'm not so much a part of "the team." There's no team leader lurking around to watch my every move, I don't have to update everyone with what I'm working on, I don't have to respond to backups for other parts of the store...I'm just doing my own thing. I really enjoy that independence. But it will be nice to be cross-trained for sales floor. Maybe I'll actually learn how the store runs and stays organized. Since I've been in my Food Ave bubble for these seven months, I know a shamefully small amount about the daily operations of the store.

Yesterday, my parents came up to bring me my new phone. It's a Kin One...which apparently failed as a smart phone last year and is now being sold as a feature phone. Fine by me since I had no intention of getting a smart phone, anyway...my parents don't want to pay for the data plan (yep, my parents still pay for my cell phone. But they pay for Grant's, too, and he's 25, so that makes me feel a little better). I really like the phone. It has a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard that slides out and it's small and SQUARE! Pretty much adorable. My Dad bought me a dark pink clip-on case, too, which just adds to the cuteness. The camera is really nice, for a feature phone. All the other ones I looked at had 2.0 megapixels and this one has 5.0. However...I can't send any picture messages. I just get this stupid "try again later" message. I was able to send one last night but every attempt since then has failed. Kind of infuriating. If it's not working by tomorrow, I guess I'll take it to the Verizon place at the mall and see if they can figure out what's wrong.

In addition to bringing me my phone, my parents also bought me a new printer/scanner, since ours broke a couple months ago. They didn't think it was acceptable for a real (aka published) writer to not have a working printer. And to be honest, I've kind of been going crazy without one...so that was pretty great of them. They spoil me a bit, don't they?

On today's agenda, grocery shopping! Whoo. I don't know when I'll get around to that. I'm trying to get over a cold, so I sort of feel like lying around and watching movies all day.


Do you have an alarm clock? What time is it set to wake you up? Yes. Right now it's set to 9:30.
Do you like knock-knock jokes? Meh. Not in particular.
Are you currently more hungry or thirsty? More thirsty.
Are you waiting on anything right now? Not really.
Do you prefer your singing voice or your talking voice more? Singing. My speaking voice is too delicate and girly. I lower my natural pitch a lot to sound less ridiculous.
The last person you met for the first time: What do you think of them? I thought he was shyer and quieter than me...something I don't see too often in a guy.
Have you ever been described as shy? Is it true? ^ Somewhat.
Name the last awkward moment you encountered: Being stuck in the hallway with one of our neighbors, trying to figure out what to do with the random cat that was sitting out there. Apparently, another neighbor accidentally locked it out of her apartment while she was leaving.
If I could make you anything to eat right now, what would you want? I could go for a really good grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of tomato soup.
Do you prefer earphones or the ear-muff style headphones? Meh, I don't really care. Both irritate my ears.
What colour are your pants? I'm not wearing any pants...rocking the bathrobe at the moment.
Name something you're a complete sucker for: Puppies.
Do you type pretty quickly? Yes.
Do you remember when you first went on the internet? AOL on the good ol' Acer 95. I was probably around ten when my parents let me get online by myself for the first time. I was only allowed to use it to email my friends from church.
What do you smell of currently? Coffee, soap.
What was the last gift you received? My printer.
Are you religious? Is this something you were raised with or developed? I don't like that term. And religion is frustrating. I'd rather say that I'm someone looking for spiritual fulfillment. And yes, that's how I was raised.
When was the last time you saw rain? Um...I don't remember. Somewhat recently.
How often do you forget important things? I guess it depends on what you mean by important. I forget to pay bills sometimes, or put gas in the car--stuff like that, I forget kind of often.
What is one way someone could completely put you off on a first date? Rudeness to strangers, like the server if we're at a restaurant.
What about one way someone could make you like them more on a first date? Making me laugh.
What was the last music video you watched? Did you like it? I don't even remember.
Do you ever buy people random gifts? (When it's not their birthday, etc) Sometimes.
Are you more prone to blackheads or spots / pimples? Pimples.
Do you fiddle with the phone cord when you talk on the phone? What phone cord?
Do you refuse to use public toilets? No. Definitely not a fan of them, though.
Do you save your online browsing history? Firefox saves it automatically.
How many books have you read this year? Since we're only three weeks into this year, I've only read one. But in the past twelve months, around 30.
Are you good at guessing things correctly? It depends on what I'm guessing! In general, I imagine I'm not any better or worse than most people.
If you could have any colour as your natural hair, which would you choose? Auburn.
Does your voice change when you talk to certain people? Yeah.
How often does your computer freeze up? Not very often.
What do you do when you're nervous? Fidget, blush, lose my train of thought...sometimes my voice quivers. Embarrassing stuff like that.

Taking the edge off.

Not in the best of moods tonight. In addition to having a sore throat all day (aka the start of a cold), I've had too many "oh, you're a college graduate and you work at Target? " moments this week. So I'm listening to music and filling out a survey (yes, another one...) to take the edge off. And I may or may not have had several spoonfuls of vanilla frosting, straight out of the can...

Choose: The ability to speak every language or play every instrument? Oh, both would be so cool. But I think I would pick the ability to speak every language.
Are you planning to spend a large sum of money any time soon? No.
Do you prefer listening to music through speakers or headphones? Speakers. Headphones are uncomfortable.
The last time you injured yourself: How did it happen? Today. Running into something at work, as usual.
If you met yourself, would you befriend them? That depends--am I myself meeting myself, or am I someone else meeting myself? Wow, what a headache this question is.
In your opinion, what's the best cure for the hiccups? Distract yourself so you forget you have them.
The shoes you wore today: What do they look like? Tan and white...kinda look like tennis shoes, but they're slip on thingers.
If you have a garage, do you tend to just fill it with junk? I don't have a garage.
Would you prefer to live in an apartment, house or other? I like living in an apartment because maintenance issues and yard upkeep and all that are someone else's problems...but ultimately, I would rather live in a house.
The room you're in currently: Does it have carpet, tiles or other? Carpet.
How cold are you currently? Slightly chilly.
Do you ever feel that people don't actually know The Real You? All the time.
What's your current occupation? Would you change it, if you could? I work at Target. I want to and plan on changing it...just not this instant.
Are you wearing perfume today? What does it smell of? Yes. Fruitiness and vanilla.
The last time you cried: Why were you upset? (Or happy, as the case may be) Because Jordan was crying.
What are you planning to have for dinner tonight? (Or what did you have) I already had dinner...shells and cheese.
What's your favourite hot drink? Caramel latte. I could really go for one right now.
When was the last time you sneezed? Today.
If you had the day off tomorrow, what would you do with your time? Sleep in, clean up the apartment, go to the bank, go grocery shopping, write. Wow, kinda wish I did have tomorrow off...I have a lot of stuff to do.
Do you prefer laptops or computers? I like laptops because that's what I'm used to and the portability is nice...but really, either is fine with me.
Does your mobile phone have a touch screen? My NEW phone does. I don't have it yet, though...it was delivered to my parents' house and they're bringing it to me this Saturday.
Name one food item you eat fairly often: Toast.
The last thing you took a photo of: What was it? I think it was my donut-hole maker that I got for Christmas. Or Crosby.
Name one place you'd like to visit as soon as possible: Chicago. Not as soon as possible, but in the near future. Like the next six months.
What's one good thing that happened today? I had a good day at work. It went by fast.
Name the last good movie you watched: I watched Alice in Wonderland on my day off.
Do you prefer plain, coloured or patterned socks? I like all of the above. My favorite socks tend to be argyle.
When it's Winter, do you wish it could just be warm already? Oh, only about seventy times a day.
When you wake, what is it that you think of most? Depends on what I have to do that day...and what's going on in my life.
Are you home alone currently? No.