supercheesegirl

Today I was supposed to go to Quizzo night, but I had to bail on my team. Instead I went to the dentist. Results: it's hard to tell. It's probably not a root canal type of problem, because that would involve lots of horrible shooting pain and discomfort when the tooth is just sitting there. I have more of a dull ache, with serious discomfort brought on only when my dentist seriously stabs at the tooth--which would probably happen no matter which tooth she stabbed, considering how sensitive my teeth are. She says it could be that my sinuses are inflamed and are pressing on the tooth root--she showed me the x-ray and seriously, my sinuses are right down there in my tooth roots, all mixed together, so that's a definite possibility. The z-pack I took is also clouding the issue. I am to put nice warm compresses on my face for the next few days, and rinse my mouth with warm salt water, and if it's not better by Friday morning, I am to call and let her know and then go get some pennicilin. She gave me a prescription just in case. In the meantime, the warm compresses and salt water rinses will help regardless of what it is I've got.

Because I knew I was going to the dentist, I also skipped Scrabble to take a short lunch break. Jean, Christine, and Kari played without me. I stopped in for the second half of the game while I ate my lunch, and I learned that SPATHOSE is a valid word. You learn something new every day. (Kari won.)

Now my achy tooth and I are going to Mom's house to watch American Idol.

Oh, and I got a box of checks in the mail today. They have my correct address on them! For the first time since I moved to this apartment over a year ago! (I couldn't see the sense in buying more checks when I still had a whole box of the old ones.) But now, correct address! They also have pretty unicorns on them. Fucking score. They're awesome. Now I can pay some bills. I was seriously out of checks.

Also, my mom is RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT participating in a market research study that requires her to EAT CHEESE for two hours and GET PAID $75. THAT IS MY GODDAMN DREAM JOB.

I'm unreasonably excited about the unicorns.

::edit:: OK, sorry, it was actually only 45 minutes. But still!

Random discoveries of today:

- At some point this summer, the maintenance man came into my apartment and replaced my thermostat. I noticed this in the middle of my yoga routine. How odd! The new one is really nice.
- On my walk this afternoon, I saw two little boys walking with their dad. The boys were skipping along and singing a happy little song that went "We're going to the bank!! We're going to the bank!!" The dad was looking vaguely embarrassed. He shouldn't have been, it was totally cute. I'm never that excited when *I* go to the bank. I hope Dad had a big ol' deposit to make!
- Three words: Green Apple Gelato. OMFG.
- If my mom ever comes up missing, tell the police to check the basement freezer.
- Coupons really do make a difference in grocery shopping expenses. And cereal really is cheaper at Walmart. And my mom really will insist on buying my cereal for me. I think she feels better knowing I have food in my apartment. I also now have chicken patties, baking soda, and dish detergent courtesy of my mom.
- There's a claw game machine at the Walmart near my parents' house--you know, where you try to grab a stuffed animal. The last time I was there, there were stuffed Presidents in the machine--I tried to grab Andrew Jackson. (If it had been Grover Cleveland, I would have gone back in for more quarters.) Anyway, tonight there weren't any Presidents in the machine, but there were incredibly adorable Gremlins plushies. Unfortunately, the machine was out of order.
- Yoga/workout pants that fit me! From Walmart! For $10!

We had Missi's bachelorette this weekend in Atlantic City. Parts of the evening were not as cool, like doing so much walking that none of us got really drunk. But some things were really fun, like dancing until 2:30 in the morning, and bonding with every other bachelorette and bachelor party in the vicinity. There were lots. I was glad I had thought to get Missi some bachelorette gear: I got her a tiara with an attached veil, and bright pink beads for all of us to wear, and we found the flashing "Bride-to-Be" button I'd gotten for her shower. Missi's mom got her a Miss America-style bachelorette sash that also flashed, so Missi was well outfitted and everyone we met knew she was a bride, which only added to the fun. Donna also got a packet of bachelorette party buttons for everyone--they said things like Party Girl, Wild One, Tease, etc. I wore Drunk and Slut all night. Colleen had Bitch and Tease, Missi wore Dated The Groom, because no one else had, and Lauren got Single and Always A Bride's Maid. Just goofy fun.

( More fun stories from the party )

There were lots of other great moments, too. Lots of fun and excitement. I think Missi had a good time. I did learn, however, the the night before your best friend's bachelorette party is NOT the time to resolve to be more careful about spending. That resolution went completely out the window--between dinner and drinks and drinks and more drinks, I think I dropped $100. It could've been worse. No shopping for me until at least July--I'm allowed to buy food and gas and that's IT, seriously. Well, and plane tickets. Argh.

In other news, I caught the 7:38 train this morning with no problem and totally made it to work on time. Day 1 of summer hours is a success.

I got so much done tonight. Two loads of laundry. Unpacked two large and two small boxes of desk drawer-related stuff. Unpacked multiple boxes of clothes. Clothes are done now (or at least as done as they're going to get, honestly). Put together yet another pile of clothes for Goodwill. Put all the shoeboxes away in the closet space previously occupied by boxes of clothes. Suddenly I have a bedroom floor. Further, I have a floor in one of my bedroom closets! Broke down lots of cardboard boxes, folded them neatly, and put them in my storage. Put more things (like my old shower curtain) in the miscellaneous box of stuff that will be going into the storage once it's full. Ate a frozen pizza. Found, dusted off, and plugged in my lava lamp (I've missed it!). Measured windows, pictures that need frames, and various random empty spaces in the apartment that *could* hold a small bookshelf or cd rack and noted the measurements for shopping this weekend. Found (hooray!) my marble reading monk bookends (they were packed among my pajamas) and put them where they belong. Assembled my new drying rack and hung wet clothes on it. Folded dry clothes and put them away. Marveled at cleanliness of my room and how nice my rug looks. Balanced checkbook. Opened and paid a slew of bills. Located all my W-2s and 1099s and put them all in a binder. Considered logging in to TurboTax to get the taxes done tonight but thought better of it.

Overall, I'm really pleased with what I got done. I'm still a little concerned about my finances, because even though I paid a bunch of bills I'm expecting some others to arrive soon that I know will punch me in the gut--I opened new credit accounts at Jennifer Convertibles for the sofabed and Target for the 10 percent off shopping day when I bought my DVD player, and I know both of those bills are going to be high, plus rent's coming up and I haven't gotten bills from Verizon or PECO yet. My visa bill was just the highest it's been in months (I paid a big chunk of it, at least). But moving is expensive, I know that, and I'll get everything paid off soon. This apartment is completely worth it.

I'm still looking for my tapestry with the peacocks on it. I'd like to hang it behind my desk. I have the worst freakin' luck with this tapestry--I lent it to Susanna when she had a party because she didn't have anything on her walls yet, and she promptly lost it and thought she'd given it back to me and didn't find it again until two years later. I know she returned it, finally, but I have no clue where I might've packed it. I really thought it would be with the linens, but I haven't seen it. I'm actually starting to run out of boxes.

I didn't make it to yoga class on Thursday because I forgot to grab my gym clothes before I left in the morning. Darn. Yesterday I made it to the gym, but I dragged my butt out of bed too late for the 10AM yoga class. Instead I did 32 minutes on the elliptical (I swear some of those machines exert more pressure under the same settings than others) then went down to the empty yoga classroom to do my own routine. About halfway through, I got invaded by a private tango lesson, but hey, it's a big room, so I stayed and finished. I did my squats and pushups and tabletops and navasanas and bridges, too, all the stuff I need to do along with the regular stretching. I am proud that I stuck it out, though unhappy that a tango-tempoed version of "That's All I Ask Of You" from Phantom has been stuck in my head ever since.

Yesterday afternoon, the Eagles won against the Giants. It was tied for the last five minutes, but with four seconds on the clock, David Akers kicked a field goal that won the game for the Eagles. I have a lot of respect for David Akers--his only job is to kick a ball, and by god, he does it well. That man earns however much he's making. Next week the Eagles play New Orleans, so my mom gets to suffer and worry about them for another week, and Mindy gets to stay in her cheerleading outfit instead of switching to her snowman sweater.

We did play our regular Scrabble game on Thursday, as usual, but I didn't do anything notable so I didn't post it. My first and best move was 47 points on QUITE, but I had some really low-scoring words after that. I think my long-term Scrabble goal is just to become a more consistent player. Final score: 147. Barb, the new lady, beat me.

I am working on a super-secret project. I have purchased some items on ebay for it. Mwahahaha.

I decided to take apartment #4, in Chestnut Hill. I'm mailing the application and the security deposit tomorrow, and she'll mail me the lease, and barring any unforeseen complications I'll move in on February 1. What's nice is that apparently the first and last month's rent aren't due until the first and last month, and all I have to pay right now is the security deposit. For the past few months I've been putting a rent-sized amount into my savings, and I haven't paid January's bills yet, so the deposit will be totally easy, just sending that rent-sized amount for the deposit instead of to my savings. I am experiencing no financial hardships! Hooray!

I've been talking to Fritz about the possibility of he and I and Xina and JT sharing a room at AWP. This would be fabulous. I could get to Atlanta for $220ish (last time I checked) and then would only have to pay $130 or so for four nights of hotel, plus food and liquor (and liquor there shall be, if Jim and Stuart and Terry are all going), and anything I spend on books. This could really happen and be financially do-able, and may even be my cheapest AWP yet. And there are lots of sessions I want to go to, of course, but I'm thinking I'll avoid the poetry ones (except for the GR reading) and hit the creative nonfiction ones, since that's where I think I want to refocus. And I haven't seen Fritz in two years! And this would be twice in a year that I'd be seeing Xina and JT! Awesome. I really hope this happens.

Still need to call Sarah B to plan Denver, and Chelsea to plan this weekend and get directions to their new house. And still need to get the bridal shower guest list from Missi, but I don't think she's been home all week. Hopefully that will arrive soon, as I will continue to bug her until she provides it. Then I need to get talking to Missi's mom about when and where to throw this thing. All in good time. Things are getting done.

The good news: I just wrote out 25 holiday cards.
The bad news: I still need stamps and I left my return address stickers at home. Also, this effort has barely made a dent in my card list.

Oh well. I have begun. That's good. And lots of people have responded to my address polls and emails, so I actually know how to get ahold of people. But... why do I know so many people? How did that even happen? The cards I did just now are (most of) the cards I consider obligatory--to old profs, old bosses, my friends' parents, etc. I've hardly started on the cards to my actual friends.

Note to self: Hey, dummy, write back to Xina! She emailed you last week, you putz! And call Sarah.

Tonight: classes. By next week I have to write a 1-2 paragraph prospectus for my Maya research paper. I still haven't really begun thinking about that. I'm going to have to think about it a lot more. Right now I have some sketchy ideas that I don't even know will be enough to fill 15 pages, and if my prof doesn't think it'll be enough to write on then I have no idea what to do. And there are a lot of things I would rather be doing this week and weekend, let me tell you. At least I'm almost through with my editing class--we get the final assignment I think next week, and we'll have almost a month to work on it, plus hey, I actually know what I'm doing in that class. Sigh. Not having class last week really threw me off, I think; I'm just not as excited about these classes now. Also, the prospect of doing actual significant Work could be turning me off. Heh.

I can't stop listening to this song. So fucking beautiful. All of you should go out and download or even buy this ep, right now.

I'm really excited to go home for Christmas. Well, I shouldn't say that, because I'll be just as excited to come back home after Christmas; I'm excited to go see my family and Jorn's family for Christmas. It's going to be so nice. I miss my mom.

I paid my student loan bill online. Today I got two emails: one saying they processed my payment, and the other saying that the payment didn't go through because of a routing number error. Um, which is it, people? I'll send you a check if I have to, but it would be good to know if that money is already out of my account or not.

So where to start. I'm kind of bumming tonight. My roomies and I just had a "discussion" about money and paying bills and how to split up paying for the groceries, so that was fun. I hate money discussions. The money discussion was sparked by the fact of our heat not currently working, and what I think the temperature should be versus what others think it should be. Right now I'm sitting in my room wearing fleece-lined wind pants, a thermal shirt, a sweatshirt, and wrapped in a big blanket, and I'm still freezing. Also, I received my student loan coupon book in the mail today and discovered that I need to make a payment of $189 in less than two weeks. This is money that I don't have. When I tried to call them to try to negotiate a lower payment, I got stuck on hold for twenty minutes on my cell phone before I got cut off (I think my phone hung up on me?). Dylan thinks he might not have a job next month. And I am SO SICK of going on interviews. Here's how my week's been so far. ( click here to read a bunch of stuff about interviews I went on )

The job thing is so just exhausting. I got a temp job for tomorrow, answering phones at BU, that should last me till christmas. I'm sick of this stuff, though. I either want to have a job, a real job, or not have one at all. My hands are so cold. I'm going to go watch star trek.

so here's the annoyance of the day. i *was* logging on to my work computer with a temp ID, but that was just good for the workstation, so i couldn't access any of the files on the network, which i needed to be able to access. also, we didn't think i was set up to print to the office printer. so shelley my boss put in a work order for me to get my own ID and to get set up with the printer. so two days ago i think it was, she got a notice saying that i had a network ID set up for me, and so we try it and hey, it works, except it's logging me on to the network and not to the workstation. fine, i say, and use the temp ID and password to log on to the workstation. this works just fine--i can access the folders on the network now. now all i need is printer access. so a guy from IT comes by to set me up to print, and he realizes that this computer was set up all along to print. great, i say, no problems then. but then he finds out that the computer people didn't send someone over to "set me up" with my network ID, that i'm still logging on to the workstation under the temp ID. so he fixes it. now rhalpine is the only user who can log on to the network at this workstation. before he left i said, hey, am i going to be able to access the files i had saved on this computer under the temp ID? and he says, sure, let me move that folder over for you. he moves the folder, reboots the computer so i can log on fresh, and leaves. and i sit down, log on, and click on my folder, and i get an error message saying that access is denied to that folder. everything i had that i was working on is in that folder (as well as a few really awesome icons i found yesterday, but that's beside the point). i wasn't finished working on several of the pagemaker layouts, so i hadn't put them on a disk and given them to shelley yet. so shelley just has the old copies, and all my updated files are in the folder that i can't open. as soon as i realize this, i leap from my seat (bill from IT had seriously just walked out the door) but i couldn't catch him. i called IT, explained the problem, and told them to get bill back here so he can fix this. and it's around 4:20 by now, and i can't do any work anyway, so i left. i wrote out a long note to bill in the hope that perchance he might make his way back here to fix my computer before the end of the day, but when i got in this morning, the note was still there and the folder still inaccessible. this is flippin' great. i don't think shelley's here yet, so i can't even tell her and hope she's got something else for me to work on. actually, she should, because there were a few files yesterday afternoon that she meant to put on a disk for me and never did, so hopefully she can do that and i'll have something to do today. of course, hopefully bill will come back and fix his mess. teh, bill, teh. and i had been having such a good day yesterday, too.

anyway, even though i'm grumpy about work (they do casual fridays here, i just discovered, as all my co-workers walk past me in jeans while i'm sitting here in a short skirt and tall sexy boots--i totally could've just worn jeans and my hiking boots, which is what i was really feeling like wearing this morning. but i digress), i still had a really good night last night. i got an email from dr. langenfeld saying i can take my time on the proofs and send them next week, so i played some celebratory majora's mask and also got to watch dann play some nintendo too. i called my old landlord about my security deposit, and apparently someone had been holding on to a form or something instead of giving it to the secretary, but she promised me they'd have it in the mail tomorrow. i better have the thing by next week--i need that money. or, rather, my current landlord needs that money. (fucking piano). anyway, i didn't do any of my proofreading last night, and i applied to a bunch more jobs online, and i managed to get my office cleaned up some more. i stopped at the hardware store and got more of those little round pads with sticky stuff on one side, so that i could not scratch my hardwood floors. now my desk chair and my other green trunk are no long scratchy.

also, i took my Spike stand-up out of the box and stood him up in the corner, and he's lurking there now, looking all cool. that inspired me to get out all my buffy action figures (on a side note, moore action announced that they're going to make more action figures after all, but why are they not doing preorders on the website then? i want a willow! and a tara! and, i guess, an anya!). but my collection's getting a little large now. i have the stand-up Spike, and then i have buffy barbie still in the box, and then all my action figures: buffy, giles, oz, drusilla, vampire drusilla, and spike. i even took some of their stuff out of the boxes now (i was keeping it all in pristine condition) so i could coughplaywithcough oh excuse me display them better--i took out the bases for vampire dru and oz and giles, and i took out oz's guitar and i have him playing it, and i took out all of giles's stuff except one of the stakes (because those could get lost so easily). but giles comes with a handy black bag to put stuff in, so that's useful. i didn't take out any of little buffy's stuff, because she's probably the most valuable one i have, but i did give her one of giles's stakes to hold. i also left regular dru's and spike's stuff in the package, and i set the two of them up so they're dancing. it's really cute. i love my action figure collection. but i don't want to look like i'm a big obsessive freak, you know? but i do need a willow. at least a regular one, if not also the vampiric and evil witch versions. i wish i had a xander, but he's pretty expensive now, and i wish i had werewolf oz. and angel, and faith especially, too. i also really wish i had prophecy girl buffy, wearing the prom dress from the end of season one, but that's just a bit too expensive for me. anyway, i was excited to take them all out and set them up.

not much else for now. i'm going to post this and then go see if shelley's here yet. maybe if she calls the IT people and bitches then bill will get himself back over here.

yo. it's been a while since i've written anything. well, i was on vacation for a while. i don't really feel like saying much about it right now--it was orlando, it was fun, no we didn't go to disney world. dolphins are cool. that about sums up the trip.

oh, and while hanging out with my parents, the line "i am the great cornholio" came up, and my dad says, "what was the name of that show? Bunghole and Face?" well, that cracked me right up.

on saturday, rhett picked me up from the airport, and that afternoon i proceeded to play a lot of mario64. it was fun. i have around 79 stars now, but haven't been able to get through the final bowser level to the very end yet. yesterday for my BIRTHDAY, jorn gave me good presents, and then we went over to rhett's to watch some buffy season 4. oh my GOD, the end of disc 4 totally left us hanging. i was worrying about poor buffy all night (alternating with worrying about money; i woke myself up ten minutes before the alarm thinking about money without even realizing i was doing it).

one of my birthday presents was a life-size cutout of spike. dood, you guys are so cool.

tomorrow i get to mail all my money except for this month's rent plus all of jorn's money to boston, and it still won't be enough to cover how much we owe. this is a little scary. thanks, guys in boston, for covering us till we can get you the dough. and it better be the bestest apartment ever and just as fun as we've all been hoping.

things to do:
-call mom to say happy birthday
-pick up proofs at 4pm from the ELT office
-read the proofs and return them
-pay august rent; write letter giving one month's notice that we're moving out
-fill out rental application and fax back to dylan
-make deposits tomorrow, write checks and send to dylan
-package up elan's stuff and mail it to her
-make appointment for massage and facial at chakras spa
-get wedding gift for amy and josh
-do more laundry
-go to aqua aerobics
-look up shipping info for locks of love and send my hair

got a call from the folks at TRC staffing today--a possible data entry and etc job, maybe starting when i actually want to start, and lasting for a month or maybe more. only $9/hour though. still, at $9/hour for 40 hours a week, i'd more than double my current monthly income. (speaking of which, i don't know how uncg gets away with paying us so poorly. assholes.) doubling my monthly income would be incredibly nice, since i currently have maybe $60 total to my name, if i add up what's in both checking accounts. today i told stuart i was going to the bar, and he said to have a drink for him; i had to say i wasn't drinking today because i want to drink tomorrow. he said it's awfully sad to be that broke. you bet, stuart.

anyway, though, i'd rather earn a bit more than $9/hour, since i do have mad skillz (as told to me by the lady at United Staffing, though not in those words), and i am saving for the big boston move (although that might not happen till september now... DB, any news on that?). i was thinking about telling the TRC people i didn't want the job and holding out for a better-paying one from the United people, but the TRC job requires a background check anyway, so we'll see. maybe something will come up from the United people in the meantime. i can't afford to be too picky right now, so i won't lightly turn down the offer of a month of work (and dear god, the opportunity to have Actual Money! just think--i could buy books and liquor and make deposits into my savings account and start really paying my credit card bill!).

in other news, here's some things i need to do:
--make the suggested formatting changes to my thesis, and change the like two things stuart thought i should change.
--get two good copies of the thesis printed out on the good paper. the graduate school requires two copies (so that they can be bound--one goes to the library, one to the MFA office). however, the graduate school will let you print out *one* copy for free on campus. that makes me feel kind of like, well why bother, if i have to go somewhere else and pay money for the other copy anyway, you assholes? it just means i have to make two trips to get the thing printed instead of just one, because i won't waste money on that second copy when i *could* get it for free. fuck you yet again, uncg. anyway, so i need to go to research services, and also to kinko's, and then drop the bitch off at the graduate school and be done with it for finally and for good.
--i have to complete my comprehensive exam. the graduate school requires that every student graduating with a postgraduate degree must complete a comprehensive exam in their field. the MFA program nicely gets around this by requiring a two-page essay on what has influenced my writing (unlike other schools that require grueling day-long torture events). woot.
--i have to read last week's paper, and the two magazines i bought (feature articles about getting bikini-ready for the summer! i feel awful just looking at these, let alone having bought them, but now that they're bought i'm reading them, dammit), and i have to open my bills and look at them. i've been putting that off.
--i need to put sheets on my bed. i keep sleeping at jorn's to avoid it. i meant to get it done today, but now it's 9:17 and i'm going over there to watch voyager anyway...
--i need to look into getting a bank of america account. wachovia doesn't have locations in boston--does bank of a? it might make life easier to not have to worry about my checking account in the midst of moving.

and by the way, elan is great.