Thursday, February 18th, 2010
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7:13 pm
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Yes, we are fine here in Austin. My house is just a few miles from the building though. I had a panic moment when I realized that J was supposed to be in that area shopping but I called and he was still in bed asleep. I'm getting some interesting pictures and stories from a couple of friends who live near there and one girl who works in the next building! Everyone seems to be checking in fine.
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Friday, February 5th, 2010
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11:25 pm
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I keep staying up late doing nothing despite the fact that I'm exhausted. Any sane person who cant keep their eyes open would go to bed. I'm trying to convince myself to play a quick game of Civilization. It will only take 3 hours. You're not that tired right?
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Friday, January 1st, 2010
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8:52 pm
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And now for the 3rd? 4th? I think its 3rd year in a row, here are all the books I finished this year!
( The 120 books of 2009 )
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Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
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10:48 pm
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I have been shaking for over an hour. In a matter of minutes I have lost over 40 French books to mold. My entire collection, except 2 books on different shelves and one I lent to my sister a while back. Gone. Many old and out of print. Gone.
I was cleaning up for Thanksgiving and I noticed a book that I had stashed in between bookshelves had a lot of black fuzz. Damn thats a lot of dust I think. I pull it out and its covered in black and green fuzz. For a moment I hope its just that one...and I start cleaning it up. And then I notice the bottom of the bookshelf looks like I dribbled the dirty vinegar water onto it. I try to mop it up...and its not dirty water. Its mold. My entire bottom shelf, all my French collection I've been working on for years and years. Gone.
It may have spread to the bookshelf next to it where J keeps his D&D books. None of his books are harmed, nor are any of my books on the next shelf. I cant do anything about it tonight. Cant tear apart the living room if 13 people are coming over tomorrow. But Friday I have to clean it all up, pack the survivors away because we've got to call the apartment complex. And likely they will tear up the carpet and perhaps part of the wall to remove any damage. At least I dont have to pay for that. But I have to deal with it. And then I have to buy a new bookshelf. I dont even want to think about the cost of replacing the books. Or about tracking them down in the first place.
I feel sick. Part of it IS the mold- I got a sore throat after being down there for 5 minutes assessing damage. The rest is the thought of 40 books gone. It could be worse, we could have lost more. But 40 books. Gone.
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Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
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11:40 am
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J is smarter than me.
I've been dragging my feet to get the last few thank yous out because 2 of them require more photos that I do not have. Its just a hassle to find the SD card with the photos, go down to store, order photos and hang around for a while until they're ready. I was whining about it to J and he said "you know, I bet you can order them online." Lo and behold, Walgreens.com has an online uploader & order form and is on my way home from church today. So I have ordered the last 6 (seriously, I was being held up by 6 photos) online and will pick them up later. And tonight I will finish the goddamn thank you cards. 2 months after the wedding.
This also helps my dread of printing out hundreds of photos for my wedding albums. I was not looking forward to standing there in the store selecting that many pictures. Mmmm the internet is awesome.
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Saturday, November 21st, 2009
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10:52 am
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J doesn't have a normal work schedule and he never will. Its something I hated at first but have grown used to now and even see the good points most of the time. He usually has days off during the week, so he can go run errands that take longer on Saturdays, like basic car maintenance. Usually I have time to myself on my days off to watch movies I know he wont like and vice versa, since my days off are Saturday & Sunday and he usually has random days off during the week. This also means that when we're home together, we've gotten the "solo" stuff out of the way and can enjoy being a couple. So its kind of cool sometimes. But it also leaves us open for unusual problems.
This morning J's alarm went off at 4am, like it does several times a week. I woke him up and went back to the alarms to set mine so I could get up for work in the morning, like you do. I was rolling over and right before I got comfy enough to fall asleep I jolted awake. Because its Saturday bitches! I'm glad I caught that because otherwise I'd have been up early, getting dressed and hopping into my car to go to work. I'd notice as soon as I turned on NPR and it wasn't the normal morning shows...but still. No differentiation in J's schedule for Saturdays means sometimes I have to be on my toes at 4 am. You try it and see how often you do stupid things.
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Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
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6:55 pm
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Just a quick note to let everyone know that my husband is made of awesome and badass. He got into manager training school!!!! Yay!!!
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Saturday, November 14th, 2009
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10:40 am
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J & I watched Doubt last night, because we wait for almost everything to come out on DVD. If you haven't seen it, and you like really well-written movies, you should go rent it. Its a little slow going for a movie at times- you can tell its adapted from a play in parts. But the characters are so finely crafted and the dialogue carefully constructed. Not only do the characters have doubts, but we as the audience have doubts. Wait, are they talking about what I think they're talking about here? Did this actually happen or do the characters just think it happened? Who is actually the good guy and who is the bad guy? You're not going to be "entertained" but it will play with your mind a little bit.
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Thursday, November 12th, 2009
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9:54 pm
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Seedlings of ideas tonight. You'll have to forgive me if I ramble.
I had coffee with a good friend of mine tonight and as things normally do with me, the conversation turned to religion for a time. Between that conversation and another one on Sunday I'm starting to form something. I like group worship. I feel uncomfortable worshipping by myself. Its nice, but its just not enough for me. The thing I miss the most about organized religion is that group worship, that energy, that community. I've looked around at covens but to be honest I'm not really interested in magic or ritual work. Its not my thing. I respect it, but I think you have to accept a lot of responsibility when you do those things...and I just dont want that responsibility. My ideal would be to have something like a church for pagans. I want to stand with others, hands raised in the air as we sing praises to sunlight and rain. I am a charismatic pagan. I want to worship the divine with you, I want to worship the divine in you, I want to worship the divine in me. And I cant do that by myself. Not nearly as well as I can do it with you. I just dont want to organize it. So I sit and wait for somebody else to do it. And its taking forever. So I tell myself well it will be better when the kids come. I'll have my family, and I can worship with them. At least for a while until the kids get older and go ohhh mom do we haaave to? Thats something I look forward to so much in having a family. But what about my family now? I have a tribe of brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles. And I wonder if anybody else wants to worship too. But I dont really want to organize a church. Again, I dont want the responsibility. But I wonder if I held home worship on certain holidays, if anyone else would come over and sing with me and tell stories with me and drum with me. I wonder if I could come out and say "Hey, lets do a Full Moon at my place" and not have people come over for a party, but have people come over to sing and tell stories and praise. And have it mean something. Because nobody else seems to be out there doing what I need. And it will be a few years before the kids are just that right age, between being too young and being apathetic. I'm patient, I can wait. But I'd really rather not.
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Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
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8:47 pm
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Today's Adventure in the Magical Life of Katya:
I came back from doing laundry and threw the laundry basket with the bottle of laundry soap on the couch. I came downstairs to find the laundry soap bottle on its side with the lid off and half its contents in the laundry basket. That shit's expensive, so I took it upstairs to the bathtub to try to pour some of it back in the bottle. Half got back in the bottle and due to an error in judgment (and physics!) the other half got on the bathroom floor, not in the bathtub. So then I used half a roll of paper towels mopping up the bathroom floor + the rug. The bathtub is still full of bubbles an hour later as I keep trying to get all the soap to drain. The good news is that the laundry basket is super clean. Oh and I dropped my phone on the floor and had to put it back together again while I was trying to clean all of this up. And I have cramps.
J has written me a mental prescription for cuddles and Venture Bros when he gets home. I'll tide myself over with Snickers and books on Mormon polygamy until then.
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Monday, November 9th, 2009
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9:30 pm
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Last month I posted that we're having an orphan Thanksgiving. We finally settled on our theme.
J & Katya present
Turkey with John Hughes
Thursday November 26th (Thats Thanksgiving day folks)
2pm-when you can finally get up off the couch after eating J's turkey
Featuring Weird Science, Planes Trains & Automobiles and Ferris Beuller's Day Off
And J would like me to remind everyone that he is making everything from scratch. Because he's a showoff.
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Saturday, November 7th, 2009
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9:13 am
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Today my mom is driving across the desert to be with Grandma P, who is undergoing routine pacemaker stuff at age 83. So we're not terribly concerned, but she'll need a little extra help for a few days. I am actually really jealous of my mom. Some of my best childhood memories are the road trips we would take across the desert, the 7 agonizing hours filled with music and bonding and oh crap we have to pee how many miles away is the nearest rest stop. If I had the time off I would fly into El Paso just to drive with her to Arizona.
I miss my Arizona family. I haven't seen most of them in 3 years, with the exception of my other Grandma B who came out to the wedding. Some of my cousins and aunts and uncles I didnt even get to see last time I visited. Some I haven't seen in 7 or 10 years. Next year my Dad decided that as many of us as possible are going to Vegas for my sister's 21st birthday. I'm going to take some extra time to go to AZ and see everybody. My grandparents are getting old and my cousins have children I've never met. Its getting about time to go home again.
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Saturday, October 31st, 2009
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11:13 am
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This morning I stayed in bed for an extra 30 minutes and remembered all the things I could about my beloved dead. To great-grandma Lu who thought everything was "great" and always had candy in the fridge waiting for me. She came over from Germany when she was 7. To her parents and brother who I never met who realized that Germany was heading for trouble at the beginning of the century and decided to get the hell out. To my great-grandpa Cecil who polished rocks into beautiful shapes and picked up cans by the side of the road to recycle them. To my great-grandma Charlcia who didnt leave her home much but had vanilla ice cream on demand. To my great-aunt Wilma who wasn't around much, but whose home was another stop on my walks with grandpa Cecil. To great-grandma Grace who kept chocolate chip cookies in the freezer. (Can you tell I was little when many of these people died? Most of my memories involve treats!) To grandpa Woody who despite his flaws loved me. To uncle Bobby who I never met, who died when my dad was 10 because he just couldn't take it anymore. I remember you, you live through me.
Then I got up and turned on the heater. Fuck its cold.
Today I run errands, go to the gym and then head out to a number of Halloween parties dressed as Lois Lane to J's Clark Kent/Superman. I get a Daily Planet reporter badge and a notepad. And I shall proceed to interview people all night. "So you're Fidel Castro...whats that like?"
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Thursday, October 29th, 2009
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8:30 pm
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It worked! One of my wedding planning books mentioned that if you send a wedding invitation to the White House, you receive a letter of congratulations from the President. Since we had extra, and since we actually like the current President, we did so. Today I got in the mail a little pre-printed card from the Obamas wishing us a happy marriage. Something cool to put in our wedding memories book :)
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Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
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9:02 pm
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Its gonna be a good weekend!
Today J had rounds 1 & 2 (out of 3) of the interviewing process to get into manager training school. He passed a group interview, so he immediately went on to round 2 which was a test. Now we get to wait for round 2 results and then when he passes he gets an individual interview...and then off to training school! And since J says I can have a baby when he becomes a manager, I'm excited for more reasons than just my husband's emotional well-being and ambition. We're still on track for getting knocked up next winter!
I have tomorrow off too! I'm going to go by the DMV and get my drivers license changed (this name change is a giant pain in the ass but its almost done) then off to a wonderful weekend of camping with some of our favorite people. No work, no stress, just lying around all day half naked drinking. Yes, thats what I need.
The only thing that I'm a little worried about is a tiny toothache. I have a permanent metal retainer in my lower jaw which not only serves to keep my teeth from moving, but also prevents me from cleaning 4 or 5 teeth thoroughly! I've been meaning to get the damn thing removed but I havent been to a dentist in a couple years so you know, its been difficult. And last time I went I pointed out some discoloration in between those teeth and they said dont worry about it, its just discoloration and you have it on lots of other teeth and you've had it before too. Which I have. For years. But now one of those discolored areas hurts a bit. Not much, and if I dont think about it I forget about it, but its there. Hopefully it will be good until next week when I can get to a dentist. J needs some work done too. We can make it a date. Awww. Yuck.
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Monday, October 19th, 2009
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9:23 pm
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Its one of those days where I want to run into a room, beat the crap out of something and run back out screaming "aaaaaaaarrrrrrghhhhhh!"
*Really awful last call of the day
*Went to 3 different stores trying to find acceptable workout headphones (I am picky)
*Ordered large wedding photos to send to my mom only to find I need to fix the resolution cuz they're all pixellated. Wasted money doing so.
*Walked into Popeyes to find a guy yelling about how he'd been waiting 20 minutes for his chicken and wanted his money back. Turned right around and drove to Church's, which is not nearly as tasty, but less stupid.
Now its time for cherry cream soda and reading on the couch.
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Sunday, October 18th, 2009
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2:28 pm
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I realized I haven't posted on LJ in a week. And you know why? Because I'm not doing anything! And its great! Hooray simple boring life!
Except now I have to write like a hundred thank you cards and work on our wedding memories book and get a Halloween costume and prep for next week's camping trip. My month of doing jack shit is now over. *sigh* It was so beautiful while it lasted.
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Sunday, October 11th, 2009
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9:44 pm
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Wedding pictures are up on Facebook! I'm too lazy right now to put them anywhere else, but you can see my album of favorites here. If you venture on to J's, you can see all the pics, not just my selected few.
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Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
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11:11 pm
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Since the big wedding, I've been consumed with this overwhelming feeling of contentment whenever I'm with J. I am enjoying his company to the fullest extent. I sit on the couch reading a book, him on the couch next to me reading his book and I think- these are the days I will look back on when I'm old and grey with that fond nostalgia and these are the times I will tell my grandchildren about when I was young and in love and they will roll their eyes and say "oh grandma you're so boring" and go off and do whatever it is children do in the future.
I lie when I tell people that being married doesn't feel any different. For the most part, it feels the same. But there is that little spark inside of me that says THIS is your role in life. This is your path- to be a wife and mother. And my 15 year old angry feminist self looks on in disgust. But she doesn't know how awesome it feels to be little wifey all curled up on the couch draped in domesticity.
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Sunday, October 4th, 2009
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10:03 pm
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So originally the only things I had on my calendar for the weekend were PCN & grocery shopping. It was an exquisite weekend for someone who has spent the past year making a wedding happen. But all that changed when J called yesterday afternoon and said we were getting 2 free couches within the hour. So we spent 3 hours yesterday and 3 hours today rearranging the entire living room to fit our new furniture. Hardly anything is in the same place as it was, except one bookshelf which was moved several times before being put back where it was all along. We had to throw out the disk chair and J's computer desk to make it all fit. (PS if anyone wants a free desk or a disk chair, they're out by the dumpster). The disk chair was old and J's computer hasn't been fully functional for a few months anyway. We'll buy him a laptop later on this week. The best thing about the new layout is now we have couch seating for 9 people at least (more if they really really like each other) and floor seating for a few more. Weekly Babylon 5 night averages 10 people. The bad things are that the house is still a mess after 2 days and now I have to buy J a laptop. But the best thing about the laptop is now we can both be on the internet at the same time and I dont have to try to wait patiently for him to check his email so I can feed my addiction. So overall I'm happy with the new situation, I just wish it was done.
Also we joined a gym today. Gotta lose weight over the next year as part of my pre-pregnancy plan.
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