Where to Begin?
January 27th, 2008
And right off the bat, the photo above is yet another photo of Mt Hood. And no, it’s not blurry. That’s the snow blowing off the top of the mountain. It was a rather blustery day. But it was sunny, and so we took advantage of that.
But I suppose I should start back with the flight across the country. So last Thursday morning I started my never-ending trek across this entirely too large continent. I left home at 6:30 in the morning and arrived at my parents’ house about 2:30 the following morning. And it was cold. And snowing. How’s that for fun?
I wanted to sleep until noon (which would only have been nine my time), but I couldn’t. Friday was errand day, visiting with family, the Olive Garden (ugh!) and hanging out with the two friends I still have left in Milford. We started with a nicer place for drinks but they wanted me to experience the magic that is a red-neck bar. And so I drank cheap beer and played pool in a dive of a bar. Now I can check that off my list of things I have done that were never originally on any list.
Saturday I did sleep until noon [nine my time!], had a late lunch and spent the rest of the day packing, laundry, collecting whatever was left of my old room, boxing things up and what not. There were tentative plans to meet with John & My, but it really didn’t work out on either side. Of course it didn’t help that cell phone reception in Milford is hit or miss, and so I didn’t get John’s message until I was in Detroit.
Sunday morning three am, what a time to be awake. But my flight flew out at six. Newburg to Detroit, to Minneapolis (where it was bloody thirteen below zero!), and finally back home. I was so exhausted, felt grotty and had a bit of a headache. So naturally I decided to stop at IKEA on the way home. It’s by the airport, and since I’m really never out that way, and since my Kimmet [I call her by her last name. Her first name is Jessica] was nice enough to pick me up, we went for it. I bought my couch. I likes it. Likes it lots. Only problem is that I didn’t measure exactly when I was planning and it doesn’t quite fit under my loft. Instead of being against the back wall, it’s along the side underneath jutting out into the room. Oh well. Pictures of that may come eventually, but at the moment I just don’t feel like it.
But to appease you photo-hungry blogites, I do have other photos. Photos of the Japanese Gardens! Monday was MLK day and I had off from work. I think I would have died if I didn’t give myself a recovery day. It was beautiful out, albeit a bit chilly, and so Julia and I decided to take Max (remember Max?) up to Washington Park and walk to the Japanese Gardens. We got a lot of nice photos of the place, but because it was cold and windy, our exposed fingers quickly became numb and a handful of times we didn’t realise our fingers actually weren’t pushing the buttons. But it was oh so worth it. You’ll find those photos in the photo album on this page (click up top).
Tuesday was my first day back in about a week and I had a lot to catch up on, which kept me plenty busy. Oh. And they decided to hire me for the job I had mentioned earlier. So not only am I not temporary anymore, I also get paid significantly more. Like 54% more. It’ll mean I’ll be crazy busy, but that’s fine. So not only do I have top-secret ninja access and a cell phone, but now I’ve also been given a pager. Yeah, they want to know where I am. I officially start this Monday. And irony of ironies, my health insurance card from the temp agency arrived yesterday after work… my last day of being a temp. So now I have to wait two more months.
Tuesday night I went to bed at one in the morning. Why? you might ask, would I do such a thing. I had a very good reason. Probably the only reason I would forego my nine-thirty bedtime. Along with Julia, Kimmet and her boyfriend, Brian, I went to a Decemberists concert. Those of you who know who the Decemberists are, you may be jealous now. Those of you who don’t, my deepest condolences. Not only did I get to see them in their hometown, I got to see them in the Crystal Ballroom. It was so worth the lack of sleep.
Other than coming down with a cold, though not a bad one, just an annoying one, nothing else really happened since Tuesday. Last night I did see Guillermo del Toro’s new move The Orphanage. I didn’t quite know what to expect, and while it had nothing new, it was actually pretty good. My friend told me it was a horror movie, but that’s not exactly true. It’s more in the thriller genre, and felt like a cross between Sixth Sense and The Others.
So there that is. I don’t have much of anything planned for today or tomorrow. I’m just going to relax on my couch (did I tell you I like my couch?), read, fill out the myriad forms for my new job and drink a lot of tea. Oh, and so you know, you can also comment on the photos in the albums. Just sayin’ 