KKITM

whew

Let's recap- Part One

We're going to have to move pretty quickly here.

Made it through finals and stupid projects that last week of school and somehow managed to get a 4.0 this last semseter.  After I finished my finals on Tuesday, I sat on the couch and watched Newlyweds.  All three seasons.  Thanks, Kaci!  The mind-numbingness of Jessica is so entertaining (and also at moments, a little "yeah, I would have done that, too).  Saturday: Graduation was good.  Mom planned a fabulous celebratory lunch after the ceremony in the morning and John's family was there and my family was there (even Mimi and Pop) and Shelly was there so most of my favorite people came and ate and hung out at a park near my apartment and a good time was had by all.  Except my feet hurt by the end. 

Moved up to Greenville for Christmas and New Year's...  forcing all my stuff from College Station to be crammed into my room with my other stuff- the stuff that didn't make the cut for 3 1/2 years of college so it doesn't even really seem like it belongs to me anymore, but I still have some sort of emotional attachment to.*

The week before Christmas was a whirlwind.  I don't even really know what all I was doing, but I think it had to do with wedding planning.  And bridesmaid dress shopping (that was a fun day!) And Christmasy things. 

I made my first solo trip to DFW airport and navigated it sufficiently to pick up John...  he flew up for Christmas and Narramore family Christmas traditions (caroling, the Live Nativity, looking at Christmas lights).  Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, family time at the grandparents' and with cousins who all seem a lot older than we used to.  Get this: we got to eat in the kitchen this year at Christmas lunch.  At the big table where the parents have eaten for time immemorial.  The cousins had grown too big from, in succession, a fold-up card table and barstools, to the living room with one dining table, to a dining table and card table in the living room.  We now outnumbered the adults (with significant others thrown in) so we got to sit closer to the food.  Small victories. 

On the day after Christmas John and I drove down to Houston to spend time with his mom and dad.  My memory is kind of blurry as to what all we did, but it was a lot.  Seeing his Mimi and having delicious Italian pizza, watching Friends on DVD (I got three seasons as presents), going to his sister's house for "Christmas morning" with his dad and step-mom, hanging out with his mom.  I'm so glad I'm going to have all these people as part of my family soon. 

For New Year's John got together some of his friends and assorted people from his college group in Galveston and we had a bonfire in Seabrook.  I missed seeing the ball drop but I had a lot of fun all bundled up in my lawn chair sitting by the fire. 

Moved itnto my apartment in north Fort Worth and started work January 8.  It wasn't quite as scary this time around because I had worked at AmeriCredit as an intern for three months this summer.  The only scary thing about beginning a real job is that there is no set "end date".  I could be an internal auditor at AmeriCredit for the rest of my life if I wanted to.  That could be good (hey, job security!) or depressing (the rest of my life?).  Oh, and the other scary thing is having to figure out how to pay for everything (and save for retirement?!) and still have money to do fun things with.  I'm not sure if I've figured that out yet. 

John hooked me on The Office.  If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it.  Thursday nights at 7:30 on ABC, I think.  Soooo funny.  And I'm still keeping up with CSI as well, thanks to my cousin Amanda.  :) 

* Experienced while cleaning out my desk and closet...  all kinds of crap that I keep and I don't need at all.  I threw most of it away this time (but while Mom was gone at school.  She is the one who'll say, "You should save that.  You never know when you might need [some random object that has not been used in the past four years]."  Okay, Mom.  You store it in your house for me. 

Let's recap- Part Two

Last week I went to New York for my first business trip.  The airport and airplanes and traveling are pretty much my favorite things ever (seriously), but since 9/11 I always get kind of scared thinking about flying.  I start to feel better as I go through all the security but I hope they catch everything.  As I'm waiting in the terminal I look around at all the people flying with me and wonder if they are terrorists or Air Marshals.  And when I get on the plane I can't really relax until I know that we're safely off the ground and didn't explode on take-off (or vice versa).  After that, though, I love it.  I love watching the land and buildings and cars and people fade away and look tiny and going through the clouds and the nice sound the plane makes (unless you're sitting too far back, and then it's just loud, which happened flying back on Wednesday.)  And I had never seen this before: there were headphone jacks in each armrest so we could listen to 12 channels of music or the movie/TV shows they were showing.  On the way to LaGuardia I listened to some classical music for awhile and then watched the New Adventures of Old Christine (it has Elaine from Seinfeld in it).  And listened to Moby and Red Hot Chili Peppers on John's iPod (he is trying to educate me musically).  My flight the way there had about thirty people on it.  I had the whole row to myself (all six seats, essentially).  On the way back it was a little more crowded and during rush hour.  We flew standby and caught an earlier flight.  It was all good until I got settled on the plane.  Then I heard something (and Shelley, another woman who went, heard it too, and we exchanged glances).  The stewardess (yes, she is a woman.  She has "-ess") announced to turn off all electronic devices and that cell phones should be off for the whole flight.  Okay, great.  So as we're taxi-ing down the runway, what is it that I hear?  Some loud New York woman talking on her cell phone in the seat behind me.  We're at the point where EVERYONE else is silent and sharing the same thought- "didn't she just hear the announcement?  should someone tell her to get off?  I don't want to get beat up!"  So this lady is talking about all this stuff that is not even important for about ten minutes after she was not supposed to.  Awkward.  Heh.  And then after take-off, I started smelling something funky.  There were two large businessmen in the seats in front of us.  They looked a lot alike: at the point where they have to decide to comb over their hair or go bald and they unfortunately chose the comb-over.  Stomachs hanging over their pants.  Vertical-stripe dress shirt and diagonal-stripe tie in the same colors, but reversed.  Sick.  So I am thinking, "Whoa.  The guy in front of me is gutsy to let one rip on the plane like that.  And it sure is lingering awhile.  This could be a long flight."  My head was beginning to hurt from the stench, and I am not even exaggerating.  But Shelley reached over and nudged me and pointed to the seat behind me- to Cell Phone Lady.  Apparently she was munching on a sandwich.  A sandwich!  That smelled like a fart!  She pulled it out and ate on it for awhile and then put it up.  And took it out again later and finished it up.  I have no idea what in the world could have been in that sandwich.  Stinky cheese?  But it seriously filled the plane.  I wanted to hold my nose, but successful businesswomen don't do that. 

In New York: Andrea and John and the triplets picked me up at the airport.  Let's describe: Wild.  Loud. Climbing in the baggae conveyor belt thing.  Chasing pigeons in the parking garage.  Yelling "pigeon!" really loudly.  Wanting to wear white sandals with blue socks (keep in mind, it's about twenty degrees outside) and a pink short-sleeved dress with a butter stain to church (Laura, who has no sense of fashion, or even of what matches).   Looking up "butt" and "bathroom" in the Spanish/English dictionary on Andrea's Palm Pilot and laughing hysterically even saying the word "butt" (JT and David on the way home from the airport).  Calling out large random numbers and multiplying them on the Palm Pilot (JT).  Getting into an argument because he had the Palm Pilot "all the way to the airport and all the way baaaack" (David, about JT).  Seeing their house, which, to put it nicely, is not organized how I would organize my own.  Teaching the kids how to play Oregon Trail on the computer.  Playing Texas Canasta and them using those plastic card holder things because their hands were too small to hold an entire hand (and fighting and pouting if they didn't get the color holder they wanted - David).  Running around in the CHURCH SANCTUARY and playing TAG on SUNDAY MORNING as the Praise Team was about to start.  Crawling underneath the pews during the "say hello to someone" part (and pouting when he got in trouble for it- JT).  Taking the leftover Communion bread home (after the whole service had pulled pieces off of it!) and eating it like there was no tomorrow (Laura and David).  Seeing New York City with the kids for their first time- the Statue of Liberty (can you imagine driving past her on your daily commute?  My uncle John does), the Empire State Building, Manhattan, crazy cab drivers.  Stomp was awesome.  The Orpheum Theater was only fourteen seats wide (seven each side with an aisle in the middle) and maybe forty rows deep?  So pretty much every seat was a good one.  The troupe was really entertaining.  I loved how they could tell jokes and be hilarious without ever saying a word at all- they used their music, facial expressions, and timing to get humor across.  Eating pizza with the relatives and realizing that they charge you per glass of Diet Coke ($1.75 each- luckily I found out about this before I got refills).  Out the window behind our booth I saw an apartment with a window out onto a fire escape.  The tenants had placed all their 12-packs of Coke and 2-liters outside to keep cold because it was cold enough to. 

Expense account.  I stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel (Madison Ave. and 45th Street).  New York hotels have small rooms.  It was pretty nice.  The conference was downstairs on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  I'll be honest, I think I already knew everything that we talked about, but the lady who presented it was cool even though she was a Democrat.  I could talk some more about the entertaining/annoying people in the class, but I think that would take too much time.  Food was expensive.  We went to Sardi's on Tuesday night in Times Square (the first time I'd seen Times Square lit up- the other trips to NY had been sightseeing during the day).  That's the restaurant with drawings of all the famous people lining the walls.  Red booths and chairs.  Lucy and Ethel spied on Bill Holden there in an episode of I Love Lucy, so I had always wanted to see it.  Our bill ended up being $150 for three people for dinner and dessert.  Thanks, AmeriCredit!  :)  Across the street from the restaurant Spam-A-Lot (Broadway version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail) was showing.  But alas, I did not have tickets.  Maybe next time.

Back home Wednesday night.  Work.  About to start studying for my first part of the CPA exam.  Fun.  Three and a half months til the wedding and we're excited.

Whew.  That is all.

Currently Reading Breaking Free: Making Liberty in Christ a Reality in Life By Beth Moore see related

trying

After writing yesterday I realized how much I have missed the benefits I get from this journal...  being from my point of view a not-altogether-talkative person, I do however like to write and being able to fill up a blank space with random thoughts is a good exercise. 

My dead week has not been the greatest.  Senioritis has hit with full force and there are many other things that I would rather be doing besides studying.  And I think that I have found time to do some of them...  which is probably not good, either.  I'm at the point where I've realized that studying is futile...  I am going to pass my classes regardless of what I make on my exams.  It is only my own stupid standards that are keeping me hunched over my audit and tax textbooks at the kitchen table for hours on end.

I found my wedding dress on Wednesday!  It is beautiful and I am excited, but I have gone through mental anguish to get to this point.  Oh, the fear of being a fat bride with flabby arms (one that people pity as she walks down the aisle).  And the fear of trying on dress after dress in increasingly larger sizes (they do run small, you know) and having to stand in front of giant mirrors in stores where other crazed brides/envious women gawk.  I can safely say that these fears weren't manifested on Wednesday, but the former still looms in the depths of my head. 

It's finally cold here.  The heat works in my room and the living/dining, but not Kelly and Kaci's.  Weird.  The outlet near our breakfast room window only works in the bottom socket.  If you try to plug the Christmas tree into the top socket, the tree lights flicker and then go out. 

I need to watch some good Christmas movies.  Amanda Brundrett and I watched "Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold" on Thursday night, but that was more a waste of time than a Christmas movie.  After Tuesday afternoon, it will definitely be time for White Christmas (probably the DVD version with commentary) and then A Christmas Story with Mom and Dad later on.  And Holiday Inn.  And Christmas Vacation. 

Okay, that is all.