Alexandra

I am back, and much less angry this week! Huzzah! We also have a move-in date! Huzzah! And Karen gave me tons of boxes and packing materials for packing! Huzzah!

Ahem. I got a little carried away there.

But yes, I had a very nice weekend and got to see the Otters (they won!) and go visiting at the JjADz pad, and had a birthday dinner for my mom, and so far this week, my tv watching needs have been met via new episodes of True Blood, Gossip Girl, and House. I also watched "Candy," which had Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish playing heroin addicts, which was sad enough, but was compounded by the sadness of Heath's untimely passing, so watching it was kind of like watching a train wreck: it's awful, but you can't look away. It was very good though. Sad, and definitely not pretty, but it had heart. I was moved.

Anyway, about the move: Apparently Pat's cousin and his wife are moving a little this weekend and the rest next, so hopefully we should be able to move in the 13th, which is a Monday. I think we will move small things during that week, and then move everything else that next weekend, which is the 18th and 19th. That's my plan, anyway. We have until the end of October to officially move out of where we are now, so there's no rush (although we're both dying to get into the new place - I have tripped over one too many legs of furniture and assorted boxes and have the bruises to prove it). I will firm up plans more in the coming weeks - I really appreciate everyone who has offered to help!

Now to start packing. Oh, and to fill out a new rental application because they LOST the one we gave them. Erg. Not that it changes anything - we're still approved and all that jazz, but they want to have it on file. I'm making a copy this time.

Two secretaries are flip-flopping up and down the hall outside my door to do filing and it is driving me insane. A) It's Friday and it's almost time to go home. Go sit at your desk and surf the internet like the rest of us. B) It's almost October for heaven's sake - why are you wearing flip-flops?

...

Oh good, now three attorneys and one of the secretaries are having some sort of ridiculous conversation right outside my door.

...

I swear, I'm not always like this.

I am so cranky today. I think I'm tired. I got enough sleep last night, but maybe the week is just getting to me. I asked Pat to move over on the couch so I could sit down and eat at lunch, and he was like "Oh, you have all that room over there, but you have to sit next to me", just teasing me, and I launched into this tirade about how the other couch has no table on which I can set my lunch, and I can't eat in the kitchen, because there are dirty dishes on the table (mentally thinking "that you didn't bother to clean, even though you've been home for two days playing video games, that must be nice") and he was like "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm yourself!" Lol. I guess it's just one of those days, when you feel all self-important and like no one appreciates you, and you have to deal with paeons all the time, when you really should be being served breakfast in bed with a complimentary fashion magazine and a rose. Oy.

I sneezed, and it was like someone flipped a switch - now my head hurts, my throat hurts, my nose is stuffed up, and my ears are plugged. And my allergy meds are at home. Great!

I have had to trek to the hospital for work twice today, both times with an attorney who walks at a jogging speed, whilst I am wearing heels, and it was like 80 degrees in the hospital, and I have a sweater on, and all in all, it did not make for a pleasant experience.

My feet still hurt.

A bright spot: At lunch Pat took me to the furniture store and bought me the dining room table I've been eyeing since last year, with six chairs! Not just four, six! He rocks. They are going to hold them for us until mid-October (Pat talked to his cousin, who said it will be mid-October and not the beginning of October that we are moving), but then we'll get them and they will be wonderful and glorious and we can have four whole people (or maybe eight small people, if they share) over for dinner. Huzzah!

Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, the leads on True Blood, are dating in real life. *fans self* You don't even know how excited this makes me. I feel like it's "The Notebook" all over again. But with an 11 year age difference, lol.

I am way loving True Blood, even though some of the plot is different from the books. It's still awesome. My relationship with the Southern Vampire novels has cooled... I'm looking at you, Charlaine Harris. *narrows eyes* In case you didn't notice, there is no Sookie/Bill without the Bill part, and that's why I started reading these books.

( Stuff. )

( Survey says )

This has been bothering me for at least four days: Does anyone know if Mike and Karen (and Morgan) are really moving this weekend? I know I should just call Karen, but whenever I remember (like now), I know she is working, and I don't want to bug her at work. I've had the date on my calendar for ages, but have heard nothing since then.

Today has gone pretty well. I saw a job in the paper that I am super interested in, and got my resume out like a bandit. Here's hoping!

( The devil is in the details. )

I can't help it - I've been sucked in (har-de-har, see what I did there? That's good, because I didn't even notice I used "sucked" until today. Way to be observant, Alex). I love True Blood. And the Southern Vampire novels. I'm 98% through the third novel, and already have another trip to the book store planned. It's a good thing they come in paperback.

I need to go grocery shopping tonight, and I have no idea what to get (because OMG, who can think about food when there's vampire novels to read, lol), so we may have an interesting week of dinners. So far I have written "enchiladas."

Also, I've been playing the piano again and God bless the free sheet music peeps on the internet. I downloaded all kinds of music today. :-)

Have a wonderful year, Mademoiselle Catherine!

Erie

The mistake by the lake. The snow capital of the world. Where schools never cancel classes and no one is surprised if the temp changes from 100 degrees to negative 20 in 4 hours. The adults are all either really sheltered or mega whacked out. Kids start drinking, smoking, and f*cking in elementary school. And you can find a bag of pot easier than you can spot a car. You might live in the city but have 3 farms in a mile radius. Nick Scott is a known hated monopolist. If you go to college, you are probably either a science or communications major. If you once went to college, chances are you did drugs or drank every day, all day, for years, and still do. The millcreek mall and the dollar theater were the coolest places to hang growing up, and the penninsula was so awesome with its nasty shit infested water. If you ever want to see the most messed up city in all the world, come here.
Erie, PA received 10 feet of snow today and nothing closed down except the plowing companies.

I don't agree with all of this, but it did make me laugh.

I do not want to call three payroll companies, get prices, wheedle with them for discounts, and fill out eight thousand forms and then send them out today. How do I get out of this? *ponders*

Yesterday I had a hankering for bagels with cream cheese and tomatoes on them at lunch, so I went to Wegman's and ending up buying myself a dozen pink roses:

( Pretty flowers, yay )

Seriously, we're going on eight nine minutes on hold here. I know I'm calling the non-emergency line, but I would like an answer to my question sometime in the not-too-distant future.

*taps foot impatiently*

Page 3: 1
Page 24: 2
Page 27: 3
Page 50: 4
Page 134: 5
Page 144: 5 6
Page 196: 6 7
Page 241: 7 8
Page 257: 8 9

I miscounted!

You know, I always thought people were joking about SMeyer using "chagrin" a lot, but nine times in a 264 page span? That's a lot. :-)

Last night I watched The Ring. (Yes, I am eons behind everyone. Whatevs.) ( Beware creepy children with long hair. Also, do not grab random video tapes from the office at the cabin in the woods you are staying at, because upon watching it, you will die. No one will be able to explain it, either. )

I am so tired today. And my allergies are kicking my *ss.

...

I have nothing further to say.

Oh! Maybe one thing - I rented "One Missed Call," which further solidified my love for Shannyn Sossamon, and did make me look around uneasily at the dark when I was falling asleep, but really was kind of lame. Evil spirits living out a curse via a cell phone? Come on now. :-P

Oh hazelnut coffee;
Your warm aroma reminds me that it is good to be alive;
Your sweet sweet caffeination running through my veins;
I will die a happy woman with my Alaska mug.

(Thank you - I'll be here all week.)

So, ladies and gentlemen, I decided on renting "May" and "The Ruins," and I watched "May" on Monday, and "The Ruins" yesterday.

What can I say about May? It was everything I had hoped it would be and more: happiness, sadness, comedy, and insanity, all rolled up into one pretty package. In essence, May, a lonely, rather off-kilter, sheltered girl, who likes to sew, tries to find love, and in finding that there is no perfect person, only perfect parts, ends up making herself a friend out of pieces of people she knows (and a few she doesn't). Okay, it was kind of awful and tragic (I'm looking at you, scene with the cat), but I still liked it.

The Ruins was a completely different kind of movie, and while it still contained all the elements I thought would have me rolling in laughter, I was not laughing. Holy cows. It was like "Cabin Fever," but where you actually like and feel bad for the characters. I got the unrated version, and I'm not sure the extra parts were the brief glimpse you get of one of the characters naked, or the extra gore (and there was a lot of gore - a lot), but it was pretty good. I thought the ending was kind of lame, but you can't have everything. It did have Joe Anderson in it (playing a German, of all things), and he was my favorite actor in "Across the Universe," so that was cool.

I'm always in the mood for a good horror movie, and since Philip's troubles with peppermint schnapps on Intervention do not intrigue me (Four bottles a day! The man is like a walking candy cane...), I think I should rent something for tonight.

Poll #1248101 Movie night!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which horror movie should I rent?

Molly noted to me that my journal's been quiet, and I guess that is so. I haven't had a whole lot to write about, but here goes:

The status quo:
I'm still a vegetarian. (I fed Pat sausage made out of soy the other day, and I thought he was going to cry/revolt/start World War III. Hehe.)
We are still moving in October. (Yay!)
Pat decided to drill a hole in our air conditioner to let some of the backed-up water out (our air conditioner had become more of an air mister than an air conditioner). Unfortunately, he drilled right at the exact place where there are pressurized pipes. Two months before we are moving to a completely air-conditioned apartment. Oh fate. You trickster.
Pat still likes video games. (Oh so very much. He's now playing "Grand Theft Auto," and he kept pulling me out of the bedroom at important scenes:
Me: Why is everyone talking in a Russian accent?
Pat: I'm in the Russian district. I haven't unlocked the American district yet.
Me (joking): That doesn't mean you should hang around with communists.
Pat: I am a Russian. That's me. *gestures towards the screen*
Me: Way to go, ruski.)
Work still sucks.

The new:
I have developed an affinity for rice milk. (I don't know what they do to the rice to get milk out of it (seems a little shady to me, actually), but it does taste good.)
I have developed a definite mistrust for our firm administrator. (I emailed her to ask her not to point out any dress code violations in our team meeting, but to come to me directly (she pointed out one day that my bra straps were showing, heaven forbid), and she said it was not a major issue. Then everyone in the firm got a memo about it, and she taped an article to the fridge. *cue Alex tearing her hair out* Today she's met with both major attorneys I work for, and I am deeply mistrustful, even though I have basically been wearing turtlenecks since then. I just don't like her.)
My parents have been dogsitting a little yorkshire terrier named Kiwi for awhile now, and he is adorkable. I was resistant, because I miss Xena, but I think he is winning me over. I must take photos.
I am rewatching the Stargate seasons, and they are awesome made of win.

The future:
Mm, not much. Like I said, we're still moving, and I am majorly stoked. Pat said last week "This weekend we are packing up the back room and the basement. That's our plan." "Okay." I said. And then I did the laundry, and he played video games.

...

So the back room and basement are still unpacked. :-P

Anyway, back to hell death in drudgery form the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard, eight hours a day work.