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This week I’ve been knee high in apartment hunting, but I’ve had a few blog worthy things to mention, so here it goes.
As most of you know, I really enjoy the nitrous I get from the dentist’s office. However, after visiting my girl doctor this week, I’ve realized that’s the place you really need laughing gas. There’s nothing too comforting or relaxing about that place, even the soft rock and hand croqueted stir-up coverings don’t do the trick. It’s probably the most uncomfortable 15 minutes of my year, when I’m sitting on the table, half dressed in a gown that barely ties in the front, under a piece of paper, waiting my most awkward doctor’s knock on the door. And when the knock comes, there’s uncomfortable conversation while the doctor does his thing. Last year, we discussed people he knew that went to Austin High, this year we discussed the free Blue Bell samples I could get when I go to Brenham for Caroline’s wedding. Even being a month into my no-sweets-Lent, this discussion didn’t even cause me to have a craving for Cookies ‘n Cream.
Next stop, my iPhone. As if I didn’t enjoy talking on the phone before, I really do not enjoy it now. For some reason, the only way I can hear people/talk to them is by having my phone on speaker. Which I hate being on speakerphone anyways. I’ve made an appointment with the Apple store to get it looked at on Friday. So… until then, text or email is my preferred method of communication. If I don’t answer, it’s not because I don’t want to talk to you (most likely), it’s because I don’t want the world listening to our conversation.
Last thought, and it’s a random one. Do you ever have a phrase that you say to yourself all the time? Like when you get really excited or really annoyed about something? It’s sorta like the concept of having one default song you get stuck in your head when you don’t have another one stuck in your head? Mine always used to be the William Tell Overture (classy, right?), but now I don’t really have one. However, I do have a phrase. And it’s an interesting one at that.
Blow me where the Pamper’s is.
You may be wondering why I say this and where does it come from? It’s a line in the movie “PCU”. The character is walking around campus stoned as a rock and an elderly lady comes up to him and he thinks she is saying this, when she’s really not…
Old Woman: Excuse me, but can you blow me where the pampers is?
Gutter: What?
Old Woman: Can you blow me where the pampers is?
Gutter: What?
Old Woman: Can you *show* me where the *campus* is?
It’s sad, but true… this is my default phrase when I’m annoyed.
One weekend highlight I forgot to mention, was the viewing of Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. I think it’s safe to say this was my favorite movie as a child. It’s too bad I am 27 and just now got the inside joke in this dialogue…
[after Pee Wee passes out at the rodeo]
Texan: What’s your name?
Pee-wee: I don’t remember.
Texan: Where are you from?
Pee-wee: I don’t remember.
Texan: Do you remember anything?
Pee-wee: I remember… the Alamo.
[Texans cheer]
Gotta love Texas and Pee Wee Herman.
As most of you know, I’ve been toying a lot lately with the idea of jumping ship from Accounting. I’ve been researching different ideas from teaching to physical therapy and I feel like my head is in a constant tailspin of information, deadlines and timelines.
Luckily, I went to an info session on physical therapy this week and have safely crossed that idea off the list. From the million science prerequisites I’d have to take, to the bandaging of wounds, to the 40 in 400 applications that get accepted to the program… I’ve decided it’s not worth the chance and it’s probably not for me. Which sent me back to the drawing board.
But, today, TODAY, I had an epiphany. I’m a believer in thinking that I was put on this Earth to do something in the health and fitness field. But, I also do enjoy “business” and think I want to continue to do something related to that. I’ve looked at graduate programs all over lately, all involving health and a lot of science. Except, there’s one program at UT that isn’t straight science. Sports Management. The best of both worlds. What do you do with that kind of degree? Who knows. But, the opportunities are limitless. And what a great school to get that kind of education! UT has a fantastic athletic department.
I could still apply for Fall by sending in all my stuff by May 1. And this may sound crazy, but I am think I am gonna go through the application motions full throttle. I need to take the GRE. I need to get 3 letters of recommendation. I need to fill out my application. And I need to write one heckuva personal statement.
All of which I think I can do relatively quickly and relatively well.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about what kind of job I would not only be good at but one I would enjoy as well. The truth is I have no idea. I wish I were one of those people who woke up one morning and said to themselves, “Hey! You’d make a great dentist. You should be a dentist!”. I’ve yet to have that kind of epiphany in my 27 years.
My parents would probably like to take this opportunity to remind me that I have a degree. And that its in Accounting. What an accomplishment! So much money went into it! We are so proud! You are set for life with a career! While this may be true, I don’t really feel that accomplished in the world of Accounting. It’s true that I know more than the average bear when it comes to counting beans, but compared other bean counters, I feel like I don’t know a thing. I’m great at plugging away, doing what I’m told, but when it comes to conceptually understanding what is going on when I do these things… I feel like I’m wandering around in space, trying to find my yellow brick road.
So, when my assistant controller comes up to me and says “we need to reclass the PJ investment dividend return of capital from dividend income to realized gain/loss which will effect out net investment income ratio”, I feel like a lost sheep. I smile, nod my head up and down, throw in an “okay” and a “uh-huh” to make it believable that I know whats going on, but as soon as he walks away I scramble to write down the key words he just threw out at me. Reclass, dividend, dividend income, realized, NII. I then set out to sort my way through 50 bazillion files to see if I can figure out how to crack the code. Believe me when I say its not as much fun as it sounds.
I have one more problem which I should mention. In addition to not being that good at what I do and not enjoying it, I really don’t give a flip. Can’t we throw all the numbers in one account and call it a day? Someone alert FASB… we have a delinquent accountant on our hands! It’s probably also a bad sign that I enjoyed my 45 minute phone call this morning with IT as they tried to figure out why my computer is jacked up. It gave me a nice mid morning break to a) not work and b) play Solitaire on my iPhone.
Now, if only it were easy to figure out what I was destined to do. I’ve decided to make a list of things I’m good at and things I enjoy. If anyone has any ideas or job suggestions please send them my way. OK, here we go… things I’m good at:
*Making “mixed tapes”
*Endlessly researching anything related to health, fitness and food on the Internet
*Talking endlessly about anything health, fitness or food related
*People watching and making humorous observations
*Writing in general… blogging, texting, emailing
*Dressing up in character
*Organizing anything
*Cooking
*Going on vacation… I’m really good at that
*Making cool crafts (not gay ones like crocheting doilies)
*Watching reruns of 90210 and Sex and the City
*Selling anything and everything on eBay
*Also “winning” anything and everything on Bay
*Designing sweet t-shirts (i.e. the marathon shirt everyone still wears)
*Posing for pictures (get your mind out of the gutter)
*Making home movies and music videos
I’m secretly hoping word of my blog continues to spread and someday there is someone who, for whatever reason, wants to pay me to sit in a coffee shop and write all day long. That would be ideal.
I think I could also just work in a coffee shop period. There’s something about the aroma of coffee beans, the sounds of Jazz music and the absence of keyboards, printers and 10 key’s that is so alluring. I could be the person who makes your triple espresso mocha frappachino every morning. I’d greet you when you walked in the door and say, “Good morning Jim, are we having the regular today?”. I would take such pleasure in knowing I was probably the highlight of that person’s morning. But, even though I’d save $600 a year from getting free coffee, it would be hard to get by on a coffee-maker’s income… being a single mother and all.
So I go back to the drawing board. Speaking of drawing, I’m really good at drawing pictures on dry erase boards as well as drawing things on cakes. Maybe I could be a cake decorator. Or maybe tomorrow I’ll just wake up with that epiphany I’ve been waiting on…
EDITED: I’ve received some good advice from my Dad… “If you don’t like accounting, make a plan to bug out of the dug out!”.
Yesterday was my first NASCAR experience and I knew going into it I’d be in for an interesting day. I’ve never been a big fan of the sport for two reasons. One being I didn’t understand how driving around a track hundreds of times could be that exciting to watch. Its not like a football or basketball game where no game is ever the same. The second reason I have never developed a taste for racing is because of the paraphernalia. I’m a fan of simple. I like simple t-shirts. Maybe a small graphic on the front using just a handful of colors. Anything more than that is excess. In the world of NASCAR, its impossible to find anything resembling simple. I am convinced there are two rules that govern any clothes produced with the NASCAR trademark on them:
1. A minimum of 27 different colors must be used, and
2. Pictures and graphics must account for 90% of the item.
When looking at someones shirt, it takes me an average of 2.7 minutes to decipher who the racer is that they are supporting. Perhaps this is because I don’t have everyone’s number memorized. But now… I know that when I see an “88″ that person is going for ”Junior” (aka Dale Earnhardt, Jr.). After we reached the 100th lap yesterday (the race was 344 laps) I had an “ah ha” moment. The reason NASCAR paraphernalia is so schizophrenic is to make up for the lack of excitement in watching cars go round and round HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of times. That has to be why. I mean, everyone that has season tickets to the races has tasteful class, right?
Wrong. I’m sure there are a few that are the exception (like myself yesterday). But overall I’d say no. Here are some of examples from yesterday to prove my point…
Exhibit A: There was a large truck that we were tailgating next to that was blaring rap music the whole time. That is until they had drained the battery. A Volkswagen Golf soon pulled up to help them get a charge through jumper cables. That was a sight to see. As a thank you to the VW people, the owner of the truck shouted “thank you… you’ve got nice t*tties”. Ick.
Exhibit B: On the other side of us was another truck (shocker) who had set up a portable restroom. This was made of a tall skinny tent surrounding a bucket. As if I had port-o-potty issues before, this surely didn’t clear them up.
Exhibit C: Sitting in front of us during the race was a man and his two sons, who were probably 5 and 7. All were decked out in NASCAR gear. T-shirts, hats, headphones, everything. Not only did the dad blow cigarette smoke into the kids faces the whole time, but he also had them retrieve beers for him out of the cooler. Really? The youngest son, again somewhere around age 5, also had highlights in his hair. Assuming this boy isn’t playing for the other team, do you really think he asked his parents to highlight his hair? This is sorta like getting a 3 month old girl’s ears pierced. No offense to anyone whose parents had that done for them.
The whole experience was fun, based on the fact that we had no traffic and left early. Otherwise I’d probably have been a little bitter about my Sunday. It’s not something I ever have to do again, but I would as long as there was tailgating involved. My thoughts on the whole sport are still the same… the clothing is atrocious and the sport is boring. I think my face probably looked like this the whole day…
However, the atmosphere definitely made me feel like I was in the 70′s a bit. And made me wanna watch Urban Cowboy reeeaaaaal bad.
One more thing… REO Speedwagon was the “opening act”, so now I can say I’ve seen them. Two birds, one stone.
I was reading Mary’s blog this morning and saw her latest post listing her top 10 vices, quirks and addictions. And although she didn’t “tag” me to post mine, I thought I would because it sounded like a nice break from work. Which, by the way, is slightly depressing today. So, let me talk about my addictions… much more uplifting!
1. I can’t stand the sound of people chewing their food when there is complete silence. The yacking/chomping noise makes me tense up and I can’t enjoy my food.
2. While we are on the topic of food, I get completely ADD sitting at the dinner table when the meal is finished. In my opinion, unless dessert is on the way or there’s still wine on the table, its time to get up and do something else. Long talks over an empty table really drive me crazy. I usually start daydreaming in order to keep my mind off my ADD rage.
3. I can eat the same thing everyday and be happy as a clam. When I worked on Nortel, I’d go to ABC and get the exact same salad everyday at lunch. And I’d sorta freak out when we had to go to a team lunch and I couldn’t eat my salad. I’m a creature of habit. I can also eat breakfast for everymeal. Once last year I had it 5 meals in a row. It was awesome.
4. Hi, my name is Emily and I’m a gumaholic. I chew a lot of gum. All sorts of flavors, too. At any moment you can catch me with 4-5 different packs in my purse. I also have an order for how I chew gum. Cinnamon, Spearmint, Sweet Mint, Tropical Twist. Same order. Everyday. Once in the AM. Once in the PM.
5. Talking on the phone is not my thing. I’d so much rather communicate over email or text message. I feel constricted on the phone because I have to focus on the conversation and can’t do anything else. I also don’t like my phone voice, so talking on speaker phone always irritates me a little (sorry Mom and Dan!)
6. I think its safe to say I’m addicted to coffee. Just a cup in the morning though. But, it has to be good. Like Starbucks, La Madeleine, Einstein’s… pretty much any non-office coffee will do.
7. When I go running I have to run for a certain number of minutes or cover a certain number of miles. I never go running for as long as I feel like it. Its gotta be 3, 4, 5, or 6 miles or 30, 45 or 60 minutes.
8. When I adjust the volume on the TV, it has to remain on an even number. It can be level 14, 16 or 18, but never 15 or 17. Even when level 15 is exactly how I want it, I still can’t leave it there.
9. I have the hardest time deciding what to eat for each meal. I can literally flip flop between 5 different things for breakfast (oatmeal, eggs, toast, cereal, yogurt) and when I finally decide on one, I have “buyers remorse”. Like, yesterday, I spent 30 minutes debating between Baja Fresh, Baker Bros, Jason’s and Pei Wei. I eventually picked Baker Bros, but regretted it when I got back and saw they had buttered the bread on my sandwich. And today, I’m having a tough time making the decision once again.
10. I am also addicted to Ketchup. I can eat it on anything. Meats, potatoes, eggs, certain veggies… I’d even put it on a salad if I didn’t have dressing. Its like seriously the best stuff ever.
A tropical heat wave!
It isn’t surprising,
The temperature’s rising!
She certainly can can-can.
A little shout out to 2622 and anyone who has seen Grumpy Old Men. The cold front today literally blew in during the 20 minutes I was out picking up lunch. I nearly got blown over walking back into the office with cold air. I loved it.
This weather makes me want a hot dog reaaal baaad. Actually, not really. I just wanted to say that. But, soups and chili and warm food are things I crave this time of year. I’m spending my non-smoker smoke breaks this afternoon looking up a delightful dish to cook up this evening. Something that says Fall and cold weather and perhaps gets eaten out of a bowl. I’ll let you know what I decide on.
I’ll also note that Joni Mitchell’s album “Blue” is perfect to listen to today.
Its October! My favorite month!
I could not be more excited that it is October. If you couldn’t tell. Its going to be a busy month and I am worried that it will fly by. Here are all the wonderful things happening this month:
My birthday dinner at Cafe Madrid
Dad and ESM are visiting overnight
My birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sarah and Branden’s wedding in San Antonio
Erin and Daniel’s couples shower
NKOTB (are you tough enough?)
Homecoming (assume we are going to this)
Halloween (aka candy and costumes)
And if that isn’t enough, the weather is absolutely perfect. I am tempted to take a non-smoker’s smoke break this afternoon and go for a walk. Going to lunch I cruised with my windows down and it was such a mood lifter. It’s unfortunate that a) I work indoors and b) our office windows don’t roll down like the ones in a car do.
More reasons to love this month: college football, the start of fall foliage, TV shows are in full swing, and when the month is over its not depressing. Because Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. So is a trip to NYC for this one.
One of my favorite songs just came on a few minutes ago, which inspired me to take a break and blog. Because I love this song, especially in the Fall. Its called “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. If you have any music taste you should check it out. Its a bit old school.
Feliz Octubre!
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