stinkin' puzzles

i survived the first week. friday was actually quite a bit worse than thursday, garage door-wise. but it didn't keep me awake. i slept like a log. saturday was much better. everyone was used to hoisting the door & precariously lowering it, which was helpful. the repair man came & should be back to fix it tuesday evening. i volunteered to stay late while he's fixing it because i feel responsible for the whole thing - even though i didn't cause the problems. but i could've pulled the plug on the volunteer "repair" crew before things got worse. anyway, dan & i had dinner plans w/ my old boss & his wife tuesday night but i guess we'll have to reschedule.

had an enjoyable day off. dan & i went to the farmers market & i ran a bunch of errands. trying to track down decent work clothes. they need to be durable & i have to feel ok about getting them dirty, which means i don't want to spend a lot of money on new things just to ruin them. i generally hit thrift stores for messy work clothes, which works well. but with this job, i spent half my time in the office & i can't look like a complete pig... so thrift may be out. hm.... haven't figured that out yet.

we went to bed last night at 9:30. kinda sad, kinda nice. what was really sad was me waking up at 5:30am, completely awake. maybe i do better with the early to bed, early to rise thing. guess we'll find out.

we've decided not to repair/replace the tv. looks like it's time to get rid of it, along with the dvd player & vcr. i feel ok about it but i don't know who'd want a broken tv. may end up looking into getting it repaired if no one will take it. david, my old boss's dad, said it was an easy repair & i'd hate to throw it in a landfill if it's useable. so now dan's trying to convince me that we should start buying puzzles (& spend our time putting them together). i gave in, even though i'm not a huge puzzle fan. guess we have to figure out how to keep ourselves occupied this winter without the tv. (although as soon as LOST starts up, dan'll probably be sad about the tv. he can watch on the internet though...)

well, that's all i've got for now. running a few errands for work tomorrow & hoping to hit a yoga class at 9 with katie.

mmmm....insomnia

well, i rarely get up during the night to do something when i'm in the throes of insomnia but i couldn't imagine laying in bed for another 4 hours thinking about stuff & feeling hungry. so here i am @ quarter to 2 on this friday morning, eating cheerios in the kitchen. good times.

so what's keeping me awake?? (prepare yourself, this is gonna be boring.) well, the big thing at the moment is the garage door at work. the offices & warehouse are located in an OLD car dealership. it's kinda run down & from what i hear, the landlord's not terribly attentive with building upkeep & maintenance issues. anyway, we had 2 volunteers in yesterday working on the garage door - the garage door had been hit a few times with work vans & a few of the wood panels needed replacing. the volunteers who worked on it are these 2 old guys who come in every tuesday & thursday to repair broken tools, build shelving & keep up the woodshop. one of them was a cabinet maker back in the day. anyhow, they dismantled the bottom section of the door to replace the damaged pieces & did a wonderful job. the trouble was in the reattaching...

long story short, the garage door had to be back together at the end of the day to secure the building. they had a bit of trouble reattaching the bottom portion - things weren't lining up correctly, issues adjusting the tension on the spring... (technical crap that i don't really understand). we ended up propping the door open with some 8' studs in order to get the work trucks back in the garage, figuring we'd just remove the props & close the door. after scavenging a few more bodies to help us lower the door by hand so it didn't slam into the ground, the door jammed - the left side dropped lower than the right & the right side fell out of the track. pretty great. (the workday for construction staff ends @ 4, mind you.) so there was lots of fidgeting & eventually we got a neighbor (mechanic renting shop space from the same landlord w/ a similar garage door) to come help out. he unbolted some big thing that attached it to the motor & then removed the cables from the door, allowing the sheer weight of the door to force it closed.

why the hell am i worrying about this at 2 in the morning? well, i don't know how we're going to get it back in working condition & it's not really anyone's deal to fix it. the landlord's out of town. basically, the work trucks have to get out in order for the staff to get to their respective sites with whatever volunteers they have & get done what needs to be done today so they can do what's on the schedule tomorrow. (saturday is a big volunteer day & it's important to be on top of everything.) i don't see how we're going to get the cables reattached to the door. we have to raise it about a foot off the ground in order to attach the cables but i think the door's way too heavy to lift. we propped it open w/ a 5 gallon paint bucket while disassembling the cables & the weight of the door began crushing the bucket. basically, i think we're kind of screwed. there must be a way but my brain is spinning & spinning & not getting anywhere. it was only my 3rd day & i'll be the 1st to admit i know NOTHING about garage doors.

maybe this isn't a big deal at all. dunno. i don't know who will be able to fix it or how soon - we have a full staff meeting this morning until 9 & i have meetings with managers after that.... so, that's that.

i was also laying in bed thinking about fleet maintenance - another part of my job. don't know what i was thinkinb about specifically... finding a shop where we can open an account (& receive a discounted rate) for all the routine vehicle maintenance.

in general, i think the job's going ok so far. tuesday i was feeling a bit crappy about it. i'm not enthusiastic about the renovations - the space planning is so poor sometimes, it's impossible for a homeowner to actually use a room (ex. a small living room, 8x8, that has so many doorways & travel paths it ends up a large foyer...) & i don't agree with their use of materials. in the past year or so, i've become a little nuts about using materials that aren't exactly healthy because of their manufacturing method or the actual chemicals in the finished product & the off-gassing. when i walk into a finished house & am overwhelmed by chemical fumes, i cringe. all those nasty smells are chemicals being released (think paint, sheet vinyl, carpet, particle board cabinets, laminate flooring). they can actually make people very sick & yet it's acceptable to use them because it's just what we do. so, there's that. & i knew going into it that the design & materials used would really bother me. i'm trying not to get too obsessed with those things at this point. maybe i can bring about change at some point in the future... after i'm a bit more settled.

also, i need to figure out how to get the construction staff to trust me. at this point, i don't think they know what my job is (even though i'm replacing someone else) & i'm sure they know nothing of my background. i feel like i need to prove myself knowledgable w/ construction by working on site with them, otherwise they'll never come to me with problems - the kind of problems i'm supposed to eventually deal with. that seems easy enough except for this silly shoulder injury that's holding me back. went to the doctor on monday evening to get it looked at since it doesn't seem much improved after 2 weeks rest. (my regular doc was out, so i had this wierdo - but that's another boring story.) anyway, he said it was bicep tendonitis & i'm not supposed to use it until it's better & i should do lots of exercises & icing. hoping to get my new insurance & just go to a physical therapist. i'm not goofing around w/ any of that.

other than these things, ,the job seems ok so far. the people are really nice. there's a lot of variety in the work. i don't know how the days are passing so quickly but they are. it seems like i've only been there about 3 hours by the time the end of the day rolls around. so i guess that's a good thing. i just don't feel necessarily accomplished at the end of the day yet. but again, it's only been 3 days. i'll have to give it time. my supervisor will be out of town in 2 weeks & i'm feeling a bit nervous about how that will work out. i'll just have to be patient. i have to say, all the drama w/ the garage door made for a pretty good day. it was a bonding experience w/ one of the AmeriCorps, for me anyway. a'ight. time to try some sleeping again. if anyone really reads this, i'm sorry it's so boring. don't know what else to do when i can't sleep.

new job - day 1

well, it was a short day. one hour long to be exact. my supervisor thought i was starting tomorrow as he doesn't work on mondays... even though i confirmed my start date. that's cool though. good to have a dry run & an unexpected day off. i was out the door on time & i arrived a few minutes early. i met some nice folks & gave myself a warehouse & tool tour before heading home.

made plans w/ katie to spend some time in the garden this morning. should be fun. i wanted to plant a few more seeds yesterday but was too exhausted when the o'briens left. i much prefer interacting with them on our turf instead of theirs. somehow it's a little easier. maybe it has to do with their being on vacation. whatever rules exist might be relaxed & there aren't too many expectations. the only thing i struggled with was food choices. it's actually pretty difficult to get a good (balanced) vegetarian meal just anywhere. i'm not really down for eating salad for every meal. boring. boring. boring. thank god i still eat bacon. i had several BLTs during their visit. lots of sandwiches & white bread & french fries & grease... but i survived. i think it'll become easier over time.

so that's what i know at the moment. & i actually slept last night, which is unusual when i'm anticipating something the next day.

Weer goon downy oshun!

actually, we already went & returned late this afternoon. (that was baltimoreese for "We're going down to the ocean." the visit with dan's parents is going well. here are a few pics from our time together thus far. we're off to mass at the old cathedral tomorrow morning followed by a trip to le farmers market. dan was right - the more time i spend with them, the more comfortable i become.

a morning visit to the beach

me & my special man-friend, dan
mr & mrs. o'brien
sunset from our hotel room on the bay side of chincoteague island

still crazy after all these years

yesterday i was feeling a bit sad about leaving my job & very nervous about the new gig. & nervous about the in-law visit later this weekend. & some other stuff. i like to think i've gotten a lot better about dealing with stress & maybe i have. but yesterday, i realized i haven't made much improvement in dealing with the stress i create in my own head. but honestly, i don't have a freakin' clue what else i can do to help myself. & i hadn't felt that horrible since i lived in st. louis & worked for the devil. it's impossible to turn my brain off once i get worried about stuff. my guts start eating themselves & i can't breathe. man, it sucks. thank god for sleep, even though it tends to visit me infrequently. i woke up today feeling like myself again.

i've been wrapping things up w/ my job & trying to equip my boss w/ everything he needs to stay on top of things. in general, typing up notes has been pretty mind numbing. the computer screen burns my eyes out. we accomplished a lot today though & that was nice. i love feeling a sense of accomplishment.

today i also discovered that i am able to put my legs behind my head... at work. (i mean, i am able to do it anywhere but i made the discovery at work.) we were having a conversation about yoga... (my boss, his wife & his dad take classes w/ one of my yoga teachers, so it really wasn't thaaat wierd.) i hadn't tried this since early college. it was a procrastination technique i shared w/ a friend. we were never able to do it though. who knew it required actual physical work to increase flexibility rather than just trying to jam your leg behind your head?? not me.

on monday, i realized how convenient it is to blame bad smells on a baby who has a history of poopie smelling diapers. well, i hope he was blamed...

so that's been the week thus far. dan's parents arrive tomorrow afternoon & we'll be heading to Chincoteague Island friday morning. looks like the weather should be sunny & warm, barring an unexpected hurricaine. never can tell this time of year. i do know they have a decoy museum & i hope we have no reason to visit this time around.

tomorrow starts my last week at this job. wierd...

well, it was a pretty good weekend. i joined katie & anna for a tasty dinner of lentils & kale salad & some wine. i really enjoyed myself. i was feeling pretty down on my way over to their place, thinking about how much i miss all my far away family & friends & thinking about katie's future departure. apparently they were both feeling a little blah as well. somehow we managed to cheer each other up & we talked & laughed the evening away. there was even some singing/rapping going on. why is it hanging with girls is so fun? dunno but i'm very thankful for all my girl friends.

yesterday dan went to the market with me. it was a gorgeous day. it's nice that the saturday market is so close to our house but it's way too crowded & cramped & i generally don't look forward to the market experience. the layout needs some help. i digress.

my boss' dad, david, & i went to the Book Thing - this free book store/warehouse in our neighborhood - for a little while in the afternoon. then we sat on his porch & he told me how to cook chicken livers & calves liver. kinda funny.

i also checked out this really old seed shop downtown & picked up some seeds for our fall vegetable garden. we're about a month late planting, give or take a week, but i hope it's not too cold for things to root. katie & i spent a good part of the late afternoon & evening tearing out the tomato plants. we added some manure & planted a small area. we're trying to stagger the planting so the veges aren't all ripe at the same time. we planted collards, kale, spinach, beets & carrots so far. i also bought brussel sprouts but i think they needed to be planted in the spring... maybe next year. we pulled all of our basil plants, which were actually like basil trees, in hopes of making & freezing a bunch of pesto sometime this week.

today was cleaning for the inlaw visit later in the week. i got the kitchen straightened up & my drafting table. i also picked up some manure & leaf mulch from the garden & attempted to amend the soil in the planters i've got on the roof. planning to try growing beets & spinach on the roof. they're full of potting soil & it's pretty crappy, so we'll see how it goes.

dan & i went for a walk at robert e. lee after he got home from work. we checked out the forts. it was pretty durn chilly but i dressed for it. unfortunately i had to pee shortly after we got there - even though i went to the bathroom right before we left. so we had to find a good spot because the place was pretty packed. we found a spot that seemed ok, so i dropped trou & attempted to pee but i heard a noise behind me & then dan started laughing because he peeked. had to give up on that spot. we walked on to the first fort, looked around & headed to the second fort. i decided that was my best bet for some privacy. sorry, fort-builder. when you gotta go, you gotta go.

(the first of 2 forts, this past spring. why the forts are interesting to me: katie & i were walking around in rbt. e lee last winter. we were walking through this area that had flooded the previous summer & was covered in downed trees, branches & brush. it looked like a tree graveyard. we both decided it was the perfect spot to build a fort... less than a minute later, we stumbled upon this fort. it was really bizarre. how many parks have random forts in them?)

had a tasty stir fry for dinner & now it's time to read & relax. i'm going to attempt some early rising this week to prepare for the new job next week. i slept amazingly well last night. it was fantastic. hope it visits me again tonight.

Oh, Bacon...

...you came & you gave without takin'.

I was singing that a little earlier about our breakfast for dinner, cuz I loves me some bacon. (It's to the tune of the Barry Manilow song "Oh, Mandy".) But I must've over done it. Who knew 4 pieces of bacon could make a girl feel ill? Am i phasing meat out all together?? Yikes!

The Danners & I just got back from a nice evening walk around the hood. We decided to walk to my new job, just to see how much time I'd need since I'm slow in the morning. It should take me about 15 minutes to get there. Pretty great. Hope I can get myself out the door in time.

Had an interesting day at work... we played hookie this afternoon for a few hours. Went to see the Bourne Ultimatum & grabbed some lunch. Can't complain. A few years ago, my boss used to treat everyone to lunch on Fridays, even though he didn't have much money. Eventually he had to give that up because he realized just how much money he didn't have... Really, it's been a good job overall. I just don't feel passionate or invested in it. I'm very excited for the coming changes.

When I started this blog, I had intended to talk about different ways Dan & I are trying to be less wasteful... but I never seem to get around to it. And, truthfully, I don't know that many facts so I wouldn't be able to argue points with anyone. But I do think working on different ways to reduce our consumption & waste makes life seem more exciting & purposeful. Anyway, I'm often inspired by No Impact Man's blog & I enjoyed today's post & it's comments... food for thought.

& a random cute picture of my niece, Layla, & my Dad from a visit home this past spring.

movin' on up

hm... not too much going on these days. the end of last week was filled with work & lots of phone interview conversations where i asked lots & lots of questions. it probably annoyed the interviewer but it was very helpful. i was able to talk to the woman who recently left the job & ask her questions about the job & her experiences. at the end of the week, i felt pretty good about the whole thing. seems like a good challenge & i think i'm up for it. hope so cuz i accepted the job friday evening. funny how things work sometimes. had no idea a few weeks ago that i might have a different job. turns out there is a light at the end of the tunnel. i talked with my current boss about the situation a bit ahead of time so he knew what was going on. he was upset at first but i think he'll be fine. they can't be so dependent on me - that's all part of the problem. if i'm not there to take care of paperwork, bills, payday, etc., everything goes to hell.

so the new gig starts in about 2 weeks. i'll still be able to walk to work, which is great. hopefully i'm able to get myself together early enough to walk. that's my plan, anyway. the possibility of the new job made the past few days at work much more enjoyable, which is nice. being there isn't so horrible now. yeah. (side note: congrats to my marmy who gave notice at her current job & accepted a new job on friday s well!)

on a sad note, my pal, katie (my walking, gardening, talking & general hanging out buddy), is looking to spend the winter WOOFing in south america & then heading off to toronto for a gardening internship until next november. YIKES! it's funny how transitional baltimore is... seems rare for people to stay & as a result, most of the friends i've made since moving here have moved elsewhere. my last close friend here is young katie. looks like i have to get off my butt & actively meet people. pooh. there should be lots of interesting folks at the new job, so maybe that will help ease the pain of the impending friendless winter. eek.

should've skipped yoga this weekend but i didn't. as a result, i've developed horrible pain in my right shoulder. it's been building for a while & i just pushed it too much. as of yesterday afternoon, i've been limited in movement & it's a bit swollen. might have to make a doctor's appointment. hope it goes down by the time i start the new job. nothing like hiring a gimp.

the danners parents are coming out for a visit in a few weeks, so we've been looking into fun things to do. they'd like to go stay at the beach so we're thinking a night or to at Chincoteague Island, VA could be enjoyable. i've always wanted to visit & looks like i might get the chance. we camped a few times at Assateague Island a few years ago & this should be similarly fun minus the tent.

dan joined me for my walk downtown this morning. it was nice to have company. we wandered around a bit on our way home, which was nice. off to pick out some paint chips for the bathroom. if we're going to stay for another 2 years, our bathroom better look better.

keeping busy

don't wanna jinx myself, but it's been a pretty good weekend so far - today is day 5 (my boss is out of town). after my usual saturday morning farmers market trip & yoga, we went to Patapsco Valley State Park and went for a hike. it was a beautiful park w/ lots of deer & a suspension bridge. we enjoyed a picnic dinner on the roof, followed by some reading for me & game playing on the cell phone for dan. we ended the day at a bar in fells point with a friend of dan's visiting from chicago. it was a full day.

i decided to skip my usual sunday morning yoga to walk downtown to the farmers market. not that i needed any fresh veges but it was such a gorgeous day & i really enjoy walking downtown on sunday - people around in the morning going to church & such. this time i decided to do a little alley walking just to get a different view. i forget how big Baltimore is sometimes because i tend to stay in & around our neighborhood. (there's a central north-south stretch of the city, a gentrified portion, where i feel safe most of the time. too far to the east or west & it definitely doesn't feel safe.) i've been feeling a bit bummed out about Baltimore for a while. after our trip to St. Louis earlier this summer, i've really been missing grass & trees, front yards, gardens... & i'm so tired of rats. & crime. i want to feel safe walking by myself. when you're walking & you have to be aware of your surroundings all the time, it takes the fun out of it. anyway, my sunday morning walks are nice & relaxing. i just kind of wander in the general direction of the market & take pictures of things i like. it's a time for me to enjoy something i've always enjoyed about Baltimore - the buildings, the architecture, the general fabric & texture of the city. i love to look around - especially in the alleys (during the day) or at night when it's possible to see in people's windows as you pass by. (but i'm not a peeping tom.) so i had a nice walk to the market & then my pal, katie, walked back with me after the market closed. it was another gorgeous day.

yesterday i busied myself helping my boss's sister pack up her moving truck. she worked with us for several months this spring & summer while we gutted & renovated her & her husband's new home in Baltimore County (where it's quieter & they have lush green lawns & chipmunks, not rats). but a few weeks after the job was completed, they decided to get a divorce, which seemed odd at the time because we'd all just broken our backs to finish this house for them. anyway, her dad & i rode up yesterday morning to move furniture & pack up the truck. it wasn't a bad way to spend most of the day. on the drive home, i was able to show my boss's dad where Trader Joe's & Target are & he picked up a yoga mat at the Barnes & Noble while i paid a visit to the danners. i enjoy spending time with david (my boss's dad) when we're not at work. he's fun to talk to & he has a good sense of humor. but he can be absolutely maddening to work with... very very slow, almost to the point of seeming completely incompetent. it's nice to spend time with him & feel like he is competent.

so that brings us to today. what's in store? dunno. we talked about a possible day trip to D.C. although it doesn't seem that there are too many interesting exhibits at the museums & i don't know my way around except for the national mall. but maybe we'll be adventurous... (side note: dan met dorothy hammil at work yesterday. apparently she lives here... along w/ nikolai volkov.)