Monday, October 31, 2005

i LOVE the time change

this morning's 7:00 call wasn't nearly as bad as it has been in the past.

it took me a while to figure out what made it so easy to get up in the 5's this morning...but then i realized it was 'cause my brain felt like it was in the 6's. getting up in the 5's just ain't right, so i'm glad my body got a little break.

otherwise, yesterday just took FOREVER to get through. which, actually, was quite convenient as our Halloween party was a BLAST on saturday night.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

pumpkin carving

pumpkin.jpg
i admit i wasn't the artist, but i took part. and i baked the seeds. not bad, eh?
Happy almost Halloween!

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

i have arrived…again

while out on my run this morning, i ran by someone i knew. you know you're a local when you run into someone you know while out " about.

she was biking while her husband ran. i gave her a hard time for it.

Monday, October 24, 2005

precedent

i may have set my scholarly precedent a bit too high, but i got an A on my first midterm! ya-hoo!
i had to hold back my little dance when i pulled my test out of the pile " saw a big fat A written on it. 1 of 6 out of 31 in the class to get an A.
it's good to be smart. (my head may explode soon)
unfortunately, this does mean the expectations of myself are fairly high now. if i woulda just got a B, there woulda been less pressure for the next 3-4 years.

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Vikes/Pack

though the vikes let me down with their stupidity on a boat a couple weeks ago, they came through for me while i was sitting between two packers' fans today. i won't rub it in too much...just enough to make it sting a little.

giving up a 17-0 lead is tough, though, eh?
at least the brats were quality...the day wasn't a total loss for some packers' fans.

red couch!

redcouch1forweb.jpg
about a year ago i went couch shopping with a friend and began to dream of furnishing a den or living room with a red couch. dreams can come true!

while cruising the street with steve yesterday, we passed a church bazaar and i noticed a red couch in the middle of the parking lot. steve, being the very patient man he is, listened to my waffling about whether we should go look at it " turned around to go look...then he listened to my waffling about whether i should take it, or not...and ended up loading it in his durango to bring home for me. what a guy. you see, when we walked up to it, the nice man said, "want the couch? it's free. either you or goodwill gets it." how can i pass that up?!? it was pretty dirty, and the base is broken, but the covers came off for the washing machine " the base was repairable. at least, with handy people around, it was repairable. i'm so happy when i walk into our living room " see my red couch. life is good for me.

Friday, October 21, 2005

typing test

This is one of my new fun things to do when really, really bored.

104 wpm was my first result.

bittersweet

sweet - i hit a home run last night in softball, and a 3b that shoulda been. i caught a couple flies while out in left field.
bitter - i let a few go by me when i was at 3b, and a couple went over my head in left field.
sweet - i scored the winning run, too...with a slide at home. we won by 1 in the bottom of the 7th. exciting game.

bitter - just before i left my house for softball, i got a call from roommate ashley. ashley has MS, and hasn't lived with us for about 6 months. her MS kicked in a while back and because she can't move so well, she's been staying at her dad's in san jose. it's been very frustrating " trying for all of us, as we want her back in our house and she wants to be home. but her Faith is amazing, and she's kept a positive attitude through almost the whole thing. however, yesterday afternoon her counselor had a chat with her. ashley was hoping to make the modifications to our house so she could live there...but her counselor said it probably wasn't a great idea. on her good days, she'd be totally fine. but on her bad days, it'd be a struggle. she needs to be somewhere that can accomodate all days. ugh. tough news to take.

so she called our landlord and explained the situation. and gave her notice.

then she called me. she was tough, and didn't crack until i said, "are you ok?" of course, i had tears in my eyes, too. she's struggling...moving home was her dream " what she held on to for hope. she gave that up. of course, time will heal this, and she'll find hope, but it sucks for now.

as we hung up, she said, "hit a home run!" i said, "just for you, babe."

sweet - look what i did. i call that God-action. i mean, i don't normally hit like that. and, in that, i find hope for Ashley. God's got this wicked cool plan laid out for her, and she's on her way to finding it.

here ends my preaching for today.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

more thoughts after a run…

i noticed on my run this morning that there are very, very few two-story houses. i bet the reason is earthquakes, but i'm just not sure. maybe it just gets too hot upstairs if you have more than one floor.

i do live in a very cool neighborhood with a variety of super old houses " some new. 'tis fun.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

powerball

the powerball made the news in CA, and we can't even buy tickets here. however, they said ticket sales are extremely high on our borders with...sheesh, i'm not sure which states border me. arizona? nevada? i'll go with that for now " check it after posting.

anyway, i'm thankful for my peeps in MN who include me on the ticket buying. my fingers are crossed.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

celebrity status

i'm gonna be a celebrity!
we went for indian buffet today, and Bay Area Backroads came in to take some pictures for a feature they're doing on the indian community in the Bay Area. i can't wait to start signing autographs!!!

wardrobe

last year at this time i was still wearing flipflops " summer dresses 'cause it's 75 " sunny. i was still minnesotan.
this year i've busted out the sweaters " cords 'cause it's 75 " sunny. but i still ain't californian.
i'm excited to wear my sweaters for more than two months this year...as a minnesotan, i had a fair share.

Monday, October 17, 2005

lingo

no one will ever guess where i'm from based on my lingo. i say "wicked," "ya'll," "pop," "righteous," etc. ok, maybe not "righteous," but i'll work on incorporating it in my vocab.

anyway, i just went to get a pop " said, "i'm going to get a coke." i came back with a diet pepsi.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

rewarding myself

i tend to reward myself for doing things i should be doing, but that take a little extra effort. generally, it's things that make me feel like a responsible adult. paying my bills, cleaning my house, doing my job well...and now, studying. today i have eaten whatever i wanted " had two starbucks because i crammed all day. you see, i have a midterm tomorrow. oy.

normal things just seem more exciting if you reward yourself. as roommate anne just said, "it's great to hear you're doing these grown-up things, yet still getting really excited about them in your kristie-way." yay for the little things in life, i say.

feet

isn't it kinda interesting that feet rarely are actually washed while taking a shower? i understand that all the water runs down " around them, anyway, but feet generally get pretty stinky throughout the day. why wouldn't we put a little soap on them?

i thought maybe i was just never taught to wash my feet in the shower, but asked a couple people " they don't do it, either.

thought for the weekend.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

fun from another blog

5 things I plan to do before I die:
1. backpack Europe for a couple weeks
2. coach an experienced volleyball team – HS varsity…maybe college
3. live on the East Coast for a couple years, then decide where it’s best to live
4. run at least a half-marathon, maybe a full
5. let my hair grow out to its natural color

5 things I can do:
1. talk to just about anybody
2. play volleyball
3. run at least 6 miles
4. laugh at myself
5. eat a wide variety of foods

5 things I cannot do:
1. play an instrument
2. clean gross things without gagging
3. say "bag," "gag," "aggrevate," "dragon" like non-Ely people
4. stay mad at someone, or even get all that mad
5. sit still for longer than one movie length

5 things I say most often:
1. that's awesome
2. sweeeet
3. grrrrrrrrrrr
4. ain't
5. i hate stupid people

5 Celebrity crushes:
1. Matthew McConaughey
2. Joshie Hartnett (who i was very close to at a movie premiere)
3. Doug Mientkiewicz
4. Ashton Kutcher
5. I'll say Brad Pitt 'cause of Oceans 11 " 12

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

caffeine

for the gazillionth time, i have overcome my slight caffeine addiction. the cycle cracks me up, to be honest. i'll give it up for a couple weeks...slowly get hooked again...get nervous 'cause i depend on something...go cold turkey " be miserable for a couple days...stay off it for a couple weeks...and the cycle continues.

this time, however, i had a worse headache than ever before, AND i found it VERY difficult to focus in class on Monday night. but i do miss my morning coffee breathe.

Monday, October 10, 2005

cooking

i'm still venturing into the world of cooking. it's a VERY SLOW process, but i figure i should start makin' headway. and my budget thanks me.

tonight i'm having a couple people over " said i'd make tacos for dinner. i'm thinkin' the basics - shells, meat, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese and maybe some salsa. suddenly, i get requests for refried beans, olives, sour cream, guacamole and anything else i can think of. who knew it could be this complicated?

now i'm gonna have to get bowls to put all this crap in. sheesh.

Fleet Week

blueangels.jpg
we got to see the Blue Angels at Fleet Week in SanFran on Saturday. very cool " it was a perfect day in the City.

height

i forgot to mention that even without heels, i was still one of the tallest people in the club friday night. people are just short in these here parts of the country.

Saturday, October 8, 2005

clubbin’

clubbin' in san jo' is not like any other clubbin'. unless it's just 'cause i've been out of the scene for so long....but i don't think so.

last night i went out with a couple girlfriends to the new, trendy, hip club Studio 8. we got there early, 'cause we're kinda old, so we watched everyone come in. it was like one of our parties in Minnesota, as for every 1 girl, there were at least 4 guys. i kinda feel bad for the guys, but it's damn fun to get a whole lotta attention. unfortunately (?), i wasn't very friendly, so i walked away with no digits. even still, it was a great night - good music, good drinks, fun friends - what more could i ask for?

ladies, if you're single " ain't opposed to computer geeks, move to silicon valley.

Thursday, October 6, 2005

weather

weather has always been one of those topics anyone can talk about...so i feel it's overused...and feel a little guilty for talking about it so much on my blog...but i've always got something to say about it!

today is the first day i'm wearing close-toed shoes, long sleeves " pants. i hate it. i want my summer back.

i say this knowing it only gets down to 50 degrees at night, and the highs are still near 80. so silly. especially after just being told it's 37 in minneapolis. i'm spoiled.

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

take note

that's two entries in a row that make it sound like i'm growing up.
1. i like school
2. i went grocery shopping

groceries

a while back i made a goal to have a clerk at the grocery store recognize me. this would mean i've been to the grocery store enough for that to happen. unfortunately, i've failed miserably. tonight was the first time i actually went grocery shopping in months. good news - it felt great! hopefully i got some food that i'll eat...at home...saving money...

i tried to get lunch food, but that's tough. i'm not really a sammich person. i got some soups, lunchables, and snacks...any other suggestions on easy things to cook up for lunch?

school

i walked out of class last night in a super good mood. i finally enjoy being back in school. it took me a few weeks, but i now understand how my professor teaches " find it easier to listen. pickin' up on some legal lingo has helped, of course. i've also met a few cool people. heck, i even like reading my textbook. learning ain't so bad, afterall.

i'm even thinking about taking more than one class a semester. talk about bein' a schoolie.

Monday, October 3, 2005

gym

i joined the gym a couple weeks ago through work ('cause it's free " i got bored with running around my neighborhood), and finally made it there yesterday. it's at the super yuppy shopping area where all the beautiful people hang out. and it's a chichi/foofoo gym. i like hangin' with the beautiful people of the world...and am entertained people-watching.

the coolest thing about the gym is that each treadmill has its own tv screen. it made time fly.

now if i could only keep up this working out at the gym thing. running's been pretty easy to maintain...'cause i enjoy it...but going to the gym is a different story.