My Love Must Be a Kind of Blind Love

Well, hello. It's been a while, hasn't it? Damn.

Let's see... I think the most important life update here is that I got a new job recently. It's exciting. I am working as an Historic Structures Field Technician for a consulting firm. Right now, I am in my first week of work: hanging out in rural West Virginia, looking for historic structures in Clay County. I am working in a team with a guy (J) who also recently received a Master's degree. We seem to work well together.

Fun things to report from this trip:

-Clay County is the home of the Golden Delicious apple. Random, yes.
-According to an old man living in a house covered in sheet metal, this area is "a great place to raise a dog."
-We ran across a house that used to be a roadhouse for a prison camp in the late 1920s before it became a home for the family of the current owner in 1933.

Anyway, I am liking it well enough. We can only work until we lose light, so that usually has us wrapping up by 6pm. I am usually exhausted when I get back to the hotel, and then we go get dinner somewhere (we don't have too many options, though...). I've been trying to be in bed early because I am just so physically tired. It's weird that driving around in a car all day would make you so tired, but whatevs.

I can't believe that next week is Thanksgiving! And Bananne and Snickers' wedding!! CRAAAAAZY! CLRG and I will drive to Michigan early next week, and see the g-rents for the holiday before the wedding stuff begins. It will be a good time. I already miss my own bed though. My blip at home over the weekend may not be enough. Haha.

Walk With Me, Susie Lee

Okay, so I just watched this video, which made me very happy because I:

a) love flash mobs
b) totally love The Sound of Music.

Watch and enjoy.

CLRG and I went to the thrift store today, after eating lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. I got some great things. I am very pleased. We also found a few sweet shirts for me (even though we were looking for stuff for him), also. On our way home, we walked down a street so I could see if a Catholic church I thought I saw a sign for was there. It was! I went inside for a minute and it is very nice and pretty. I was glad to find one even closer to my house than the one I had thought was closest, if that makes any sense.

OH! The new room is so close to be done, I can pretty much taste it. Not really, but you know what I mean. It has been primed and they put some plywood down to level the floor and I think they are painting right now. AND! The carpet is totally in the house. Things are progressing quickly now, and I am very happy.

Aunt Jane's Letters

Oh my word. Lately, things have been very whirlwindy. Is that a word? Anyway, here has what's been up:

Two weekends ago, I:
-drove to Michigan
-met Pookie and Al's pup
-went to LT's wedding
-hung with some family

This past weekend, I:
-flew to Michigan
-went to Bananne's bachelorette party
-went to homecoming at Albion
-hung out with some of my favorite people

I came home this weekend with a cold. I think I caught it from Pookie when I saw her. Oh well. It seems to be going away now. I am not going anywhere this weekend, which is nice. I have to work all weekend, but these are the dues I must pay for requesting multiple weekends off in a row. Oh well.

Oldface and Wifers loaned me two dvds when I left. One, a BBC version of Sense & Sensibility, I watched the other day. AMAZING. It was so great. The other, a Masterpiece Theatre presentation of Jane Eyre, I have not yet watched, but I am looking forward to it.

This Wait For Destiny Won't Do

I am very sleepy right now. It's not that late, so I maybe shouldn't be, but I just am. I do believe I will get ready for bed soon. I'm okay with this, because I have to work at seven tomorrow morning and I like sleeping.

I had a job interview today. It went really well, and they called only hours later to offer the job, but I declined because it was part time (the hours were fewer than my current job) and paid only minimum wage. I felt really bad about it. I was honest when they called, though, and they appreciated that. I just can't backpedal like that, you know? I barely survive as it is. I need to be increasing my earnings. You know.

I finished reading a book that contained a collection of stories by Flannery O'Connor today. It was loaned to me by an old lady customer. Did I already write about that? I can't remember. Anywayyyy... I was glad to be done with it. Not because it was bad (it was actually very good), but because I was spending weeks getting through it and I was feeling bad about keeping it for so long. Now I am getting into a book that I picked up last week while at Target (it's a dangerous place, I tell you). I really like it so far, and it is going by pretty quickly.

Tomorrow is the first day of Italian! I am excited. I need to get a new notebook.

Okay... perhaps it is sleep time?

So We Lie Here In The Dark

The weather is very tricky lately. Last week, it suddenly became more fall-like than ever and now leaves are falling (CLRG says that that's to do with the huge amounts of snowfall we had in the winter) and temperatures are lower. I am looking forward to autumn, but I will miss the warmth when it's 35 degrees out in a few months. Blah.

The weekend was a good one. CLRG and I went to a delicious pizza place nearby, watched college football at a bar down the street, and napped on Saturday. On Sunday, I worked and then watched the Steelers game. In the evening, Howie (if that is a nickname already, I probably don't have to give him another on the blog, right?) came over and I made spaghetti and then he, CLRG and I walked up to the Regent Square Theatre to see Repo Man. It was crazy and awesome. You should see it sometime.

Tonight, I am meeting K for dinner. Tomorrow, I am going to a movie with A. I'm excited for both things.

Oh! Last night I was telling CLRG about my plans to go to the Italian for Beginners class at the library and he indicated that he would like to go also. I registered us for the class today. It starts next week, I think. I'm very excited. I miss being in a classroom, even though I haven't studied a language in years. Oops.

Whatever Happened To That Silly Dream You Had

When did it get to be September? I mean, wow. 2010 is flying by and I can't keep track of it! Also, today slayed me because it is 90210. Get it? Haha. If I were a little older, it might be more relevant to me. I was too young to really watch or care about that show when it was on.

I had a job interview today. I think it went well, but we shall see.

I just finished reading Oliver Twist. It's funny that I have not ever read it before. I really liked it. I was held in suspense throughout the whole book. It's kind of nice to be able to read something so classic and beloved and still have no idea what happens. All I really knew about it was related to Oliver asking for more gruel or whatever and that happened so early on that it didn't really matter that much when it came to be the end.

Waste No Time

My, what a nice Saturday I had this weekend! Really and truly.

Since I ended up not having to work, CLRG and I made a plan to get up at a reasonable time and try to avoid sleeping in by doing something out and about. We got up probably close to ten, and soon walked up to the Swissvale business district type place. We stopped at the library, where I checked two wonderful books. I was excited to visit the library because it is an old Carnegie Library (as so many in Pittsburgh are- go figure) and it was vine-covered and beautiful. There were some war memorials in front of it, which I enjoyed admiring. Anyway, after we visited the library, we headed up toward a little shopping plaza because I needed to mail a book at the post office. Before stopping there, though, we stopped at a thrift store and discovered that the books were on sale! A whole brown grocery bag full for only $3!!!! I think we came home with something like 20 books. Hooray! CLRG always knows the things I would like to see and do. He patiently waited while I took some pictures during our stroll.

After doing book related things, we went to a little sub place for lunch. We walked toward the house after that, stopping at a little cafe that used to be a bakery until a few months ago. CLRG and I had some rice pudding and some chocolate ice cream, respectively, and he bought me a little knit clutch thing that they had for sale, made by a local woman. When we got home, we hung out in the living room, reading, until I had to drive him to a bachelor party. Then, I spent the rest of my time reading my library books. Grand times, friends. Grand times.

Oh, did I tell you about the lady that I made friends with at work? I suppose maybe not. She comes in several days a week, always ordering the same thing, and always staying to read for a while. One Sunday a few weekends ago, I asked her what she was reading/what she read normally, since it is always something different. We talked a bit about our love of the written word, and the next time I saw her, she brought a book for me to borrow. It isn't something that I would normally read, but I looked through it, skimmed some parts, and think it is a nice book. I am going to see if she comes in tomorrow, so I may return it.

Anywayyyy... the weekend was good! I got to spend cute times with CLRG (whom I just love, love, love, as you know), I read a lot, and generally hung out. I'm pleased.