equilibrium-girl.com

Adventures in Transportation

I had the pleasure of being on one of the trains that the Singing Korean blessed with his hymnals this morning. It may be my last ever encounter with him, and I'm just a tad sad about it. He does have a beautiful voice, yet for all of the years he's been hopping in and out of Metro cars, he could use a little help with the lyrics. The funniest thing about the Singing Korean is not what he does, but the reaction that he elicits from those around him. A visitor from NYC wouldn't bat an eye because subway events are commonplace there, but people in D.C. seemingly don't know how to cope with small distractions to their morning routine.

Some mornings, people don't bat an eye. They smile, enjoying the hymnal and take it for what it is: a guy just wanting to spread some good news. Others become irate, accusing him of prostelytizing. Some giggle and hide their faces, not knowing what to do. Yet most of us remain stone faced, afraid to show any emotion because we worry that he would, god forbid, actually say something to us. And wouldn't that be the worst? It would rival that delirious gentleman who asked everyone what time it was and proceeded to tell me that he was just released from prison. Yeah, fun times on the Metro system. They'll be missed.

all out of sorts

i brought on the bitchy this weekend, boy did i. it was either fussing about the fact that Conan asks for directions after he turns the key in the ignition and starts driving (so that we have to back track 2 blocks to see the damn White House Christmas tree), or making him come back to the table after he uses the excuse of Tivoing Desperate Housewives to take his dinner downstairs just so that he can watch football. um, sorry, there are 2 hours before the show starts, you just sat down at the table and for all of the lecturing that you do to The Governor about not spilling/talking nicely at the table you better have a bulletproof excuse or you can sit your ass down and eat, mister.

i told Conan that i'm like the federal administrative process: give me adequate notice and opportunity for a hearing and everything should go smoothly. but alas, Conan never took administrative law. he is also a) male, and b) the youngest of three children, and c) male, so ex ante communication is not his forte. i'm going to have to consult Dr. J0hn Gray on this just to learn how to cope. i know it's hokey, but it's something to hold on to.

i've turned into the hoarder from hell lately, feeling guilty about every single Christmas-related financial outlay. the solution this year is to give handmade photo albums from kits to extended family member groupings, and we have about 6 of these types of gifts to give. they fulfill my desire to give something handmade and heartfelt, but the total outlay for these is about $90. it's okay to spend $90 for a total of 12 people right? somebody tell me this is okay. please?

living where you work

rufus recently opined on the subject of living where you work. the saying goes "you don't shit where you eat," but i think this may be the exception to the rule. come next Monday, my commute will be a mere 10 minutes and will only be unimodal (car) as opposed to quattromodal (car, bus, subway, walk). i hope this helps my job satisfaction level.

activities

i read on the Paper Source website that they just opened up a Georgetown location, and now i have an activity for one of my days off. i finished the two monthly planners from kits in lightning speed, and so my next project will probably be a handmade photo album for a friend that got married on the weekend of the Cherry Blossom festival--seeing as Paper Source happens to have cherry blossom-printed paper. nice how that works out, n'est pas?

im my profession, when you leave to go to a current or potential client, your current employer usually sends a magnanimous "join me in congratulating so-and-so, who will be joining the Rinky Dink Client"--but so far i haven't gotten anything of the sort and it makes me a little sad--but a friend pointed out to me that it confirms everything i know about the place and all of the reasons i will be glad to leave. either they don't care, or they don't want to feel happy for me--and i can name two people who are the latter.

FYI

for your reference, never try to play "this or that" on an online forum with a quick reply function and almost 50,000 registered users. you end up with a a 21-page thread in less than 1 1/2 hours.

Small PITA Out of Proportion

i had this bathroom to myself for two nights about three weeks ago. it was pure bliss.

i need a soak in a bathtub of generous proportions, like the one that is off to the right of that particular picture. i'm have an annoying time just getting everything set up for my new job.

it's mostly the background check. for some reason, they can't verify my semester-long internship with a government agency during my third year of grad school. i may not have needed to put it down, depending on your definition of "employment," but i did, just to be safe. however, the company doing the background check couldn't find a listing, and apparently they are not getting in contact with anyone who can verify it. apparently, i'm going to have to intervene and get this straightened out. it mystifies me because if you were to G00gle the agency in question and do a search on the site, you would be able to find a phone number for the HR department. i know because i did it last night. it makes me angry because my to-be employer is paying these people to get the job done correctly and either they aren't or they can't find ways to get it taken care of. i get constantly asked to "be creative" and "find solutions" but other people aren't held to same standards. but then again, other people--most of them--don't get to do what i do for a living. i guess i should be a little more understanding, n'est pas?

A little sadness

a mama who gave birth around the same time that i did just lost her husband in a skydiving accident yesterday. my heart is so very heavy, thinking about her and her son. my thoughts go out to her family.

I try very hard to not think about anything happening to Conan, or The Governor for that matter. my life has been indelibly etched with their presences that the prospect of losing either one of them has become unimaginable for me. but at the same time, i worry about it all the time--it's always at the back of my mind, because you just never know what's going to happen. You just don't. I worry when Conan goes to the track, he even had his break fluid boil at one session. Not a huge deal and he was able to control the car, but still a little worrisome.

It's not something that you think about, but at the same time, perhaps it serves as a reminder that you can never take your friends and family for granted. When I was 19, I had to help my sister swim back to a boat because she froze up one time while we were snorkeling off the coast of the Cayman Islands and she just couldn't compose herself enough to swim back. So I floated with her and helped talk her through it, and then we were fine. But while we were floating there in the cobalt blue water, I thought, "I don't want to lose my sister." And from that point on, my family became very close. I think because of this, I am fundamentally OK with the fact that my parents are getting up there in age--I will be very sad when that happens, but I think that I would be happy because I was pretty lucky to have them.

bookbinding

i've always been jealous of you lucky folks that have learned to bookbind, and now that i will have some more time on my hands, i've decided to join in the madness. i figure i could do the whole two birds/one stone bit and take care of learning this skill and taking care of one holiday present by buying a date book kit from Paper Source. and um, oh yeah: buying a little something to reward myself at the same time too. lucky me. we'll see how this experiment goes.

She has an idea

as if you needed another reason to go to the candy store: instead of making a batch of simple syrup for drinks such as mojitos and lemon drops and letting it go bad if you dont use it that often, i found out while staying here that you can serve the drink with a rock candy swizzle stick and the drinker merely stirs the drink with it, sweetening it to taste. oh, and it looks fancy-schmancy at the same time too. i *heart* me a little of that fancy stuff every now and then.

mmmm....meatloaf

what's this? Conan is downstairs, making meatloaf. he has never made meatloaf in his life. it's probably because i've put him to shame, what with my doing five loads of laundry (and folding all of them), making homemade chicken and dumplings, very badly sewing a handmade wallet, and running after The Governor.

do not bring a 3 year old child to go see The Polar Express. we thought The Governor would like it, with the train-and-Xmas theme. but it is one intense movie and the special effects are a little to much to take for a wee one. and it borders on the slightly scary, so it's just not a good choice for a first in-theater experience.

on beginning to move on

when you have been searching for a new job for 10 months and finally find one, instead of bursting with elation, sometimes you feel a quiet confidence instead. to be sure, i let out a big whoop when i found out on Friday, and i have been waking up at 6 a.m. thinking about it and being happy, but mostly i've just been grinning a quiet grin.

Crafty Karma: Doing My Part

Sometimes I feel as if I should keep all of my delightful crafty secrets to myself if I'm going to someday launch a little online store, but then again it's not fair because I draw inspiration from so many sites out there. So in the interest of crafty karma, I'm going to recommend this lovely fabric as an excellent one for purse-making. I think that some people would really like it. The small scanned swatch on the Repro Depot site doesn't do justice to the prettiness of the fabric.

Day in the Life

This is my day (it's copied from a post in a lovely, lovely forum but I wrote so much that I had to share):

6:40 a.m.: finally wake up after alarm has been buzzed and snoozed about 4 times. Conan has lightning quick snooze button slapping reflexes, and the alarm's on his side of the bed.

6:50 a.m.: hop in shower, wash hair. wait for the magic of aromatherapy gel to work. it doesn't. wonder why i spent $10 for this crap.

7:00 a.m.: hop out of shower, scramble downstairs totally naked to dryer that houses clean clothes that have been sitting in their for a week. rustle around for clean panties and bra. scramble back upstairs.

7:05 a.m.: stand in front of closet looking for something that doesn't have stains from yesterday's lunch on it. ultimately pick something in black (surprise, surprise).

7:15 a.m.: stealthily go downstairs, make coffee and breakfast, await the morning Shakespearean comedy of getting The Governor ready for school.

7:20 a.m.: The Governor has woken up and is now downstairs wanting oatmeal BEFORE i have gotten the chance to take a single sip of coffee. crap.

7:25 a.m. scramble around kitchen looking for clean spoon, bowl, oatmeal, milk. let His Honor pour oatmeal from packet into bowl as requested by Montessori teaching principle to "let kids assist with daily tasks." wonder if Montessori principles would be absconded if just tap the oatmeal packet ever so slightly so that pouring happens more quickly. let El Capitan pour milk and stir.

7:30 a.m.: remove oatmeal from microwave. soothe crying child who has burst into tears because i stirred the oatmeal and messed up the "pattern." bustle around eating breakfast and drinking coffee and soothing once-again crying child who is simply horrified with the presence of a single fly visiting our kitchen.

7:45 a.m.: scramble to get The Gov. upstairs and dressed.

7:55 a.m. attempt to control ticklish playing child without using restraint techniques in order to get single sock on.

8:00 a.m.: confirm with Conan who is bringing ticklish playing child to preschool. hastily put on makeup and notice growing presence of undereye circles.

8:15 a.m.: flurry of kisses goodbye, drive to bus stop.

8:25 a.m.: board bus to metro stop.

8:45 a.m.: unboard bus, enter metro system. wait for train. ride train that stops and starts and is delayed due to mechanical difficulties/sick passenger/unexplained reason

9:15 a.m.: arrive at work. put out fires. research. answer stupid e-mails. flirt via e-mail with a)law school crush, b) friend from previous job, c) cute husband, or d) all of the above. feel guilty.

12:00 noon: get lunch, go online, car forum, various sites. send Conan funny links, including Triumph the Comic Insult Dog's post-debate spin doctors interview: this one

1:15 pm: work some more. blech.

5:40 pm: leave by slipping out side door. feel guilty even though i have finished everything.

6:45 p.m.: come home just after the boys have finished dinner. inhale dinner while standing. ask His Honor what he did today to which he replies, "just nothing."

7:00 p.m.: play with The Governor or watch Clifford with him while snuggling.

8:00 p.m.: move party upstairs for ritual bedtime struggles. try and convince ticklish playing child to pee in potty, change into dog jammies, brush teeth.

8:15 p.m.: be eternally grateful that Conan is putting the little guy to bed. hear laughter through walls. resist guilty feeling for not "engaging in peaceful and quiet bedtime activities."

9:00 p.m.: try and scoot sleepy child back into bed after he has gotten out wanting a drink of water. watch TV or get on computer.

10:00 p.m.: attempt to go to bed but end up reading.

11:00 p.m.: attempt to go to bed but because Conan has crawled into bed end up laughing like a hyena because he said something funny. kiss Conan and pass out.

A house unto itself

here's a pic of The Governor, myself, and Conan. Note the age appropriate reading material spread out before us.

Also observe the martini in the foreground. "Another Timmy the Raccoon story? Gawd, I need a strong drink."

seasons of equilibrium

is it really november? the year has flown by so fast that i can hardly keep track of what month it is. however, i only have to look at the bright fiery leaves to remind myself that it truly is autumn.

the fall is my mother's favorite time of year, and it only occurred to me as we began putting together the celebratory Halloween pieces that it's become my favorite season too. when Conan, The Governor, and I were heading home from a pumpkin-carving party, i remarked that i couldn't decide on which season i liked the best: spring or fall. Conan stated that spring appeals to people because they are so very tired of fall that they latch on to the signs of spring...and just hope.

hope for what? the warmth of the sun across your face. any color besides grey. cute shoes for a change. handbags in bright fabrics and ribbon trim.

but fall, dear fall. i love the crunch of fall. the leaves that skip across the driveway and shower my son in color as he plays in his waterlogged sandbox. i love apples and hayrides and babies disguised as superman and peas in a pod. i love hayrides and orange and red. i love that slight hint of cold on the tip of your nose and the hurried step of commuters as they rush to escape the chill.