In the course of just a week, she has chewed up a leash, and my cell phone charger. How she managed to chew up the charger without getting electrocuted, I don't know. I shouldn't have left it so close to her crate. Maybe I can find a new one on eBay or something. Sam and I might be getting iPhones in December, so I don't really want to buy a new one.
As for the leash, well, that one was my fault too. Left her sitting alone in the car too long and she finally had her way with it. Came back to the char and the buckle was still on her color - without the ensuing leash.
Current score: Jade 2, Kristen 0
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
It would be really nice if...
...I had a job lined up! I'm so stressed out over not having a job yet! I know it's only October, but I'm starting to freak out! Not only that, but Sam tells me today he may be getting laid off. AWESOME!!!!! I pray that God will show me the way to employment!
Gaahh!!
I really hate assessment tests! I just finished working on one for a job I interviewed for. I never do well on them, and I don't think they're an accurate assessment of one's personality. I mean who can say that they do one thing or another all the time or never??? So stupid!!!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Useless Beauty
Returned from my 1-day trip to New Mexico today. Actually, if you count the time I arrived there to when I left, I was there less than 24 hours! Talk about a long trip, it took about 7 hours each way from Lubbock to get to Albuquerque. For some reason, I didn't think it would take that long. It's about 400 miles one-way, almost the same distance from Houston to Lubbock. Houston to Lubbock is about 8 hours. My point is, it took awhile, and I'm glad to not be in a car for awhile!
Once we got to Albuquerque (I traveled with my dad) I had a good time. We went to my dad's friends' house to pick up some boxes of my grandfather's stuff that they moved with them when they moved from Massachusetts a few weeks ago. They've lived there their whole lives (both in their 60s now) and I can't imagine what a shock it would be to move to a completely different state at their age! But I admire their gumption and adventurous spirit:) It was great to seem them; I haven't seen them in about 10 years. That's 10 years too long! I used to seem them all the time when I lived in New Hampshire. They're a part of my past, and it was really great to go down memory lane with them.
Albuquerque/Rio Ranch are beautiful cities. Everything is very clean, and well-manicured. The weather is as close to perfect as possible, and the city caters to bike-riders by adding in bike lanes to all the main roads. I thought that was pretty cool. I guess in a city like that you can actually ride your bike because the climate is so dry and it stays pretty cool most of the year. I have pictures, but I left my camera cord at Sam's apartment, so I won't be able to load them until (possibly) next week. Ugh.
On the way back to Lubbock, we went a different route. Instead of driving I-27 from Lubbock to Amarillo, then I-40 from Amarillo to Albuquerque, we took I-25 from Albuquerque to Santa Fe (love it!) and then highway 285 to highway 84 which goes directly to Lubbock. Actually, we weren't supposed to drive that way, but we both missed the exit for I-40, so it ended up being faster to drive to Santa Fe and then back down then to turn around. We also stopped in Fort Sumner to see Billy the Kid's grave. It took all of 5 minutes to see, and it was pretty creepy, but at least I can say that I saw it!
New Mexico truly is a beautiful state, but it is such a barren wasteland. I mean, in some parts there is literally nothing. No homes. No trees. No hills. Nothing. So Ive dubbed it a beautiful wasteland. I go back forth in my head as to whether I could live there or not, but for now, I'm sticking with no. It's beautiful, cheap to live in, and has amazing weather, but it's really isolated from everything. But I dunno, knowing myself, I'll change my mind tomorrow. I do like how outdoors-y it is.
Once we got back to my house, my dad decided he wanted to leave to go back to Cypress. I tried to convince him it wasn't a good idea, but he never listens to me, so he left around 8:00 tonight. Last I heard he was somewhere near Abilene.
Glad to finally see my pup again! I was so worried about her. I know I shouldn't be, but she's still only 10 weeks old, so I didn't want to leave her without me for too long, which is why we didn't stay in New Mexico longer. My roommate was nice enough to watch her for me, and I didn't want to place more of a burden on her!
The only thing I wish I would've done was buy some turquoise jewelry. I've been wanting some for awhile now, and I live so close to New Mexico, it's kind of ridiculous that I haven't gotten some by now. I'm supposed to go to Carlsbad Caverns next month. Hopefully I can buy some them!
Once we got to Albuquerque (I traveled with my dad) I had a good time. We went to my dad's friends' house to pick up some boxes of my grandfather's stuff that they moved with them when they moved from Massachusetts a few weeks ago. They've lived there their whole lives (both in their 60s now) and I can't imagine what a shock it would be to move to a completely different state at their age! But I admire their gumption and adventurous spirit:) It was great to seem them; I haven't seen them in about 10 years. That's 10 years too long! I used to seem them all the time when I lived in New Hampshire. They're a part of my past, and it was really great to go down memory lane with them.
Albuquerque/Rio Ranch are beautiful cities. Everything is very clean, and well-manicured. The weather is as close to perfect as possible, and the city caters to bike-riders by adding in bike lanes to all the main roads. I thought that was pretty cool. I guess in a city like that you can actually ride your bike because the climate is so dry and it stays pretty cool most of the year. I have pictures, but I left my camera cord at Sam's apartment, so I won't be able to load them until (possibly) next week. Ugh.
On the way back to Lubbock, we went a different route. Instead of driving I-27 from Lubbock to Amarillo, then I-40 from Amarillo to Albuquerque, we took I-25 from Albuquerque to Santa Fe (love it!) and then highway 285 to highway 84 which goes directly to Lubbock. Actually, we weren't supposed to drive that way, but we both missed the exit for I-40, so it ended up being faster to drive to Santa Fe and then back down then to turn around. We also stopped in Fort Sumner to see Billy the Kid's grave. It took all of 5 minutes to see, and it was pretty creepy, but at least I can say that I saw it!
New Mexico truly is a beautiful state, but it is such a barren wasteland. I mean, in some parts there is literally nothing. No homes. No trees. No hills. Nothing. So Ive dubbed it a beautiful wasteland. I go back forth in my head as to whether I could live there or not, but for now, I'm sticking with no. It's beautiful, cheap to live in, and has amazing weather, but it's really isolated from everything. But I dunno, knowing myself, I'll change my mind tomorrow. I do like how outdoors-y it is.
Once we got back to my house, my dad decided he wanted to leave to go back to Cypress. I tried to convince him it wasn't a good idea, but he never listens to me, so he left around 8:00 tonight. Last I heard he was somewhere near Abilene.
Glad to finally see my pup again! I was so worried about her. I know I shouldn't be, but she's still only 10 weeks old, so I didn't want to leave her without me for too long, which is why we didn't stay in New Mexico longer. My roommate was nice enough to watch her for me, and I didn't want to place more of a burden on her!
The only thing I wish I would've done was buy some turquoise jewelry. I've been wanting some for awhile now, and I live so close to New Mexico, it's kind of ridiculous that I haven't gotten some by now. I'm supposed to go to Carlsbad Caverns next month. Hopefully I can buy some them!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sooner than later would be nice...
Today proved to be quite a stressful day for me. I went on my first job interview in over a year. I interviewed with Jason's Deli. I think the interview went pretty well, though I'm not sure if there's an actual position available or not. The man I interviewed with said he would be out of town until Friday, and that if I was selected to move on to the next step I would know by early next week.
I'm starting to stress more and more about finding a job. It's disheartening to not even receive a phone call for an interview. I knew it was tough out there, but this is crazy. I'm starting to wonder if having a master's degree is doing more harm then good. I hope something comes around soon.
A lot of my stress can be credited to the fact that I'm going to start my period soon. I always stress out really bad before I start. I hate feeling this way! I'd love nothing more then to crawl into bed and snooze away my sorrows, but I have a Food Systems midterm to work on that is proving to be more time consuming than I originally thought. It would've been nice if my prof had sent it out last week like I thought she was going to. I actually had time to work on it this past weekend. Now, I don't. GRRR!!!
I'm starting to stress more and more about finding a job. It's disheartening to not even receive a phone call for an interview. I knew it was tough out there, but this is crazy. I'm starting to wonder if having a master's degree is doing more harm then good. I hope something comes around soon.
A lot of my stress can be credited to the fact that I'm going to start my period soon. I always stress out really bad before I start. I hate feeling this way! I'd love nothing more then to crawl into bed and snooze away my sorrows, but I have a Food Systems midterm to work on that is proving to be more time consuming than I originally thought. It would've been nice if my prof had sent it out last week like I thought she was going to. I actually had time to work on it this past weekend. Now, I don't. GRRR!!!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Race for the Cure
I ran my first Race for the Cure today. It was held in Lubbock, down by the Convention Center. My roommate and I participated, along with her daughter, and two of our friends. It was a really cool experience to be able to participate in such an emotional experience, not only for me, but for thousands of other people just in one city. I believe the final headcount for the race was 8,300 people, not bad for a town of just over 200,000.
We met at the Convention Center around 8:00, even though the 1 mile race didn't start until 8:45. It was a lot colder than I expected it to be. In my defense, I checked the weather the night before and it was supposed to be around 80 for a high. Definitely wasn't even close to 80, more like 56 degrees when I woke up. I say woke up, but it was more like I bounded out of bed after hearing L knock on our front door and ring our doorbell just before 7:00 this morning. I hope she wasn't standing out there for long!
It made me tear up to see the names of all the people who have died from breast cancer posted below peoples' race numbers. I noticed some people put pictures of their loved ones. Those were the hardest to handle. Some people had multiple names from the same family on their papers. I still get angry when I think about, it just doesn't seem fair for someone to have to go through so much pain, and not be able to do ANYTHING about it. I thought about my mom a lot last night as I was trying to sleep. It's still hard, and I still can't believe she's not here sometimes.
I ran into one of my old neigbors who live down the street from my dad. I used to babysit the little girl, and the mom is friends with my roomie's mom. They actually work together at Hamilton Junior High back home. Small world. The girl isn't so little anymore, in fact, she's taller than I am. She still seems like the same girl she's always been though, as if time hasn't changed her at all. I always was fond of her.
I think next year I'd like to try the 3 mile race. My running skills are improving. I'm able to run faster for steadier periods of time, which makes me happy! I've kind of gotten off track the last week, but hopefully I can get back on track this week before I go out of town to Houston for the weekend.
After the race, I came home and took a much needed nap. Something about cold, cloudy weather always makes me tired. I was tempted to take a second nap today, but wouldn't let myself. Instead, I made myself apply for more jobs. Talk about depressing! I must've applied for at least 10 jobs by now, and I haven't gotten a call back from anyone. I know the market is tough right now, but geez, really? I hope something will come along soon. All in good time, I guess.
Went to the South Plains Fair tonight with my roomie, and a few friends. It was so much fun! Kinda sucked that they don't take cards STILL, even in the year 2009! Ridiculous! So I owe my friend's boyfriend some money since he bought my tickets...but what else is new? I'll pay him back.
At least I won a stuffed flower! There's this booth where you pay a guy to guess something about you. My options were age, weight, or birthmarks. I wasn't about to pick birthmarks, and weight was not something I wanted to think about after eating Arby's Chicken Salad Sandwich and fried mozzerella with ranch for dinner, so I stuck with age. He looked at me for awhile, then wrote a number down on a tiny yellow notepad. He held his thumb over the pad so I couldn't see the number, then asked me what my age was. I said 23 for some reason, though I don't know why 'cuz I'm 24. I'm so stupid sometimes, lol! I guess in my heart I still feel like I'm 23, it just seems like a good age to be, I dunno. I'm actually closer to 25.
Anyway, he put down that I'm 22, which made me laugh because people ALWAYS think I'm either a lot younger or a lot older than I really am. Younger because of my looks, older because of my words. I guess I should be flattered. He was allowed to guess within 2 years of my actual age, so he got to keep the money. But my friend's boyfriend managed to convince him to give me a flower by asking him how he could deny a pretty girl or something like that. He must be sucking up so I'll approve of him again, but that's another story for another day. The guy gave in, picked out a stuffed flower for me, and told me not tell anyone. His secret is safe with me.
We met at the Convention Center around 8:00, even though the 1 mile race didn't start until 8:45. It was a lot colder than I expected it to be. In my defense, I checked the weather the night before and it was supposed to be around 80 for a high. Definitely wasn't even close to 80, more like 56 degrees when I woke up. I say woke up, but it was more like I bounded out of bed after hearing L knock on our front door and ring our doorbell just before 7:00 this morning. I hope she wasn't standing out there for long!
It made me tear up to see the names of all the people who have died from breast cancer posted below peoples' race numbers. I noticed some people put pictures of their loved ones. Those were the hardest to handle. Some people had multiple names from the same family on their papers. I still get angry when I think about, it just doesn't seem fair for someone to have to go through so much pain, and not be able to do ANYTHING about it. I thought about my mom a lot last night as I was trying to sleep. It's still hard, and I still can't believe she's not here sometimes.
I ran into one of my old neigbors who live down the street from my dad. I used to babysit the little girl, and the mom is friends with my roomie's mom. They actually work together at Hamilton Junior High back home. Small world. The girl isn't so little anymore, in fact, she's taller than I am. She still seems like the same girl she's always been though, as if time hasn't changed her at all. I always was fond of her.
I think next year I'd like to try the 3 mile race. My running skills are improving. I'm able to run faster for steadier periods of time, which makes me happy! I've kind of gotten off track the last week, but hopefully I can get back on track this week before I go out of town to Houston for the weekend.
After the race, I came home and took a much needed nap. Something about cold, cloudy weather always makes me tired. I was tempted to take a second nap today, but wouldn't let myself. Instead, I made myself apply for more jobs. Talk about depressing! I must've applied for at least 10 jobs by now, and I haven't gotten a call back from anyone. I know the market is tough right now, but geez, really? I hope something will come along soon. All in good time, I guess.
Went to the South Plains Fair tonight with my roomie, and a few friends. It was so much fun! Kinda sucked that they don't take cards STILL, even in the year 2009! Ridiculous! So I owe my friend's boyfriend some money since he bought my tickets...but what else is new? I'll pay him back.
At least I won a stuffed flower! There's this booth where you pay a guy to guess something about you. My options were age, weight, or birthmarks. I wasn't about to pick birthmarks, and weight was not something I wanted to think about after eating Arby's Chicken Salad Sandwich and fried mozzerella with ranch for dinner, so I stuck with age. He looked at me for awhile, then wrote a number down on a tiny yellow notepad. He held his thumb over the pad so I couldn't see the number, then asked me what my age was. I said 23 for some reason, though I don't know why 'cuz I'm 24. I'm so stupid sometimes, lol! I guess in my heart I still feel like I'm 23, it just seems like a good age to be, I dunno. I'm actually closer to 25.
Anyway, he put down that I'm 22, which made me laugh because people ALWAYS think I'm either a lot younger or a lot older than I really am. Younger because of my looks, older because of my words. I guess I should be flattered. He was allowed to guess within 2 years of my actual age, so he got to keep the money. But my friend's boyfriend managed to convince him to give me a flower by asking him how he could deny a pretty girl or something like that. He must be sucking up so I'll approve of him again, but that's another story for another day. The guy gave in, picked out a stuffed flower for me, and told me not tell anyone. His secret is safe with me.
Friday, October 2, 2009
The Truth. Or something like it.
Went to see Jeanette Walls speak tonight at the Allen Theater. She's the author of The Glass Castle, one of my favorite books of all time! Her speech was very inspirational, as her novel is. The most memorable part was a line she spoke about truth. I can't remember what the exact words were, but she said one time a friend told her that the truth is more liquid than solid; its shape takes many forms, or something along those lines.
I've been thinking about truth a lot lately. I thought those words painted a pretty accurate portrayal of what "the truth" means. It's like the old saying goes, "there's two sides to every story, and then there is the truth." The truth can mean different things to different people, depending on your perceived experience of the event that occured, or words that were spoken. I believe our own backgrounds and experiences can taint the truth.
A good example of this can be proven through a situation that occured at work this past week. My students must not leave the building during lab time, even if they have a break. One of my students happend to leave lab under the premise that the chef told them "you can do whatever you want, as long as you're back at this time and not a minute late." This student perceived this to mean she could leave the building and come back as long as she wasn't late. Chef perceived this to mean that all the students knew they were not allowed to leave the building, but they could do whatever they wanted to during break, as long as it was inside the building. When I approached the student about this later, she told me what the chef had said, and perceived that to be the truth, even though it wasn't. I'm not sure if this making sense, but my point is, that our backgrounds and influences growing up can shape our ideas of what the truth is, and that one person's idea of the truth may not be true afterall.
Anyway, enough of that. I've decided I want to write a novel. Well, I've known this for a long time, but I think I'm serious about it now. I've always loved writing. I would love to take on the challenge of writing and publishing a novel of some sort. If I have some time tomorrow, I'd like to start writing.
I've been thinking about truth a lot lately. I thought those words painted a pretty accurate portrayal of what "the truth" means. It's like the old saying goes, "there's two sides to every story, and then there is the truth." The truth can mean different things to different people, depending on your perceived experience of the event that occured, or words that were spoken. I believe our own backgrounds and experiences can taint the truth.
A good example of this can be proven through a situation that occured at work this past week. My students must not leave the building during lab time, even if they have a break. One of my students happend to leave lab under the premise that the chef told them "you can do whatever you want, as long as you're back at this time and not a minute late." This student perceived this to mean she could leave the building and come back as long as she wasn't late. Chef perceived this to mean that all the students knew they were not allowed to leave the building, but they could do whatever they wanted to during break, as long as it was inside the building. When I approached the student about this later, she told me what the chef had said, and perceived that to be the truth, even though it wasn't. I'm not sure if this making sense, but my point is, that our backgrounds and influences growing up can shape our ideas of what the truth is, and that one person's idea of the truth may not be true afterall.
Anyway, enough of that. I've decided I want to write a novel. Well, I've known this for a long time, but I think I'm serious about it now. I've always loved writing. I would love to take on the challenge of writing and publishing a novel of some sort. If I have some time tomorrow, I'd like to start writing.
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