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Showing posts from 2009

Home Is Where the Mold Is

When you work with kids, you have to get used to catching colds. The phrase "virulent carrier monkeys " comes to mind. It's just part of the job. Well I caught a dewsy of a cold a couple weeks ago. It came with a cough that is usually associated with the part of the movie where the beloved character coughs terribly into a kerchief and then collapses their hand flopping to reveal a bloody kerchief. It's the kind of cough that makes people stare with grossed out faces. When I caught the cold, I began my normal treatment of teas and elixirs . After a couple of days I felt a tiny bit better. And for the last two weeks, that's how it is. Each day I think I feel a tiny bit better. What's that formula called, the infinity of halves? The worst part of the whole thing, is that the cough flairs up the most when I laugh. Laughing just happens to be my favorite thing to do in the whole wide world. And now, I have to keep it to a polite chuckle. Yesterday, Shaughn actuall

If It's Not Getting Better

So I finally found a job and have been settling in. I'm getting closer and closer to a point incorporating more writing into my life. It's weird, some writers seem to be so prolific. Like writing is some sort of itch to scratch...they need to do it no matter what's going on. But I seem to be of the writerly type that needs certain stars in line. This post will likely be a little scattered with themes that will reoccur, but that's ok , right? ________________ It was my birthday recently. When I was little I always wanted a big party. Lots of people and fun activities. But since I was born right in Harvest season, that rarely happened. One time we had a party several months after my birthday. We went to Bonesteel and bowled. It was amazingly fun and I was definitely under the impression that parties for your birthday were the way to go. When I turned 25, we threw a big costume party with the theme of Wigs and Villains. I went as Ursula, the Sea Witch. The next door neig

All By Myself

Remember the scene in The Diary of Bridget Jones where she's drinking vodka and singing All by myself, don't wanna be....all by myself. Oh how I wish they had a song like that for the unemployed. Yes, it's true, I still don't have a job and because I've already cried and watched a chick flick and ate coffee ice cream, it's time to blog again. Although I just got really tired at the thought of describing my working woes--I literally just closed my eyes and had a hard time opening them again. This seemed like such a good idea 5 minutes ago when I was using the porcelain think tank. Anyway, at least I have been interviewing this time. In fact I have had many really great interviews where I seriously feel like I've made lifelong friends. I make them laugh, they make me laugh, I schmooze with the kids...it's great. And then I never hear back. Besides feeling demoralized, I'm starting to feel a little dirty. How many times can you tell someone they have t

One For the Road

Tuesday, Shaughn flies into Boston on Virgin Airlines. An airline, he was told, that only had really hot flight attendants . I hope they're all men. I just finished cleaning out my car. It's a task I have never enjoyed partly because it necessitates a certain amount of flexibility that is unpleasant. It's not that I need to feel sexy 100% of the time, but it would be nice to avoid tasks that made me feel like a jackass. Plus, since we've had such a chilly summer, I'm not used to the heat. I kept dripping sweat all over the place making it hard to vacuum up the dirt. Not to mention all those pine needles from the x-mas tree last december are still showing themselves to be a b*** to vacuum. Half of them didn't even budge even when I put the whole opening of the hose on them, making the shopvac sound like it was going explode ( ps the shopvac looks like it came out of the land of oz). That's the last time I put a x-mas tree inside my car. When we were litt

Longing for Geek Status

I really don't consider myself to be that much of a hypochondriac. Much like George W. Bush didn't really consider his accent to be crap. But more and more, I realize I have come to certain conclusions that don't necessarily have strong medical support. Unless you count a google search. I'm not usually very showy with my illnesses and rarely very creative. One time after reading a book about a young teen who had leukemia , I started noticing how much I, myself, bruise--and I was tired all the time! Sometimes I would wake up at night and be really really thirsty. I'd go into the bathroom and drink water out of my hands as if I was being timed. Drink-as-much-as-you-can, GO! Great, I'd think, diabetes . At any point in the day, you could count on me to ask if I felt warm like I had a fever. I don't think I have much time left, I'd say. My death-by-tragic-illness scares are usually sparked by books and tv shows. When mom was diagnosed, I figured I probably

The Recipe

Martha's Meatloaf recipe--good idea Jacqui! Mix: 2 eggs 2/3 c milk 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp onion salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1 1/2 c oats Add: 2/3 c chopped onion 2/3 c shredded carrots 1 1/2 c cheese 2 lbs of hamburger Mix well (I just put it all in one bowl in no particular order, I mean come on). Bake 350 for 1 hr In small bowl mix 1/4 brown sugar, 1/4 ketchup, 1-2 T mustard. Spread topping on meatloaf after it has cooked for an hr and then cook 15 min more. Yum! _____________________ So the job hunting has begun again. Aren't you all excited for more stories about the financial jungle drums and interviews that look more like an escape from alcatraz than a possible job position? I know I am! I've been wanting to nanny again. It's been a little rough out there so far. But I'm going to use the nanny agency I used before and hopefully that will bring me some luck. I really want to work with infants. I need a baby fix. Right now I feel like Tina Fey on Baby Mama when she looks at

Martha's Meatloaf

I was going through Mom's recipes the other day when I came across Martha's Marvelous Meatloaf. Oh the memories. Martha was my boyfriend, Chuck's Mom. She was a pleasant roundish woman with unruly hair characteristic of so many 40-something Moms. (Ouch, am I going to get in trouble for that?) I started dating Chuck shortly after 4-H camp the summer after 8th grade. This was the summer after being in the Young Miss Nebraska pageant but before the summer I got ringworm from my cat Kellico (formerly John Wayne when its parts were a sweet mystery). If you have ever been in camp as a young person you will remember the hushed flutter of romance that is also known as a "Camp Relationship". We used air quotes when talking about these relationships to make sure others knew we knew they weren't necessarily the real thing. They were more like sunglasses you got to try on for awhile. They make you look cute and feel genuinely sophisticated. But like any good pair of sung

Awh Nuts!

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I am one sibling away from a family reunion--and he gets here Monday. I've been cooking and cleaning and doing all those things people do when expecting a full house. Hence, my blog absence. I was going to write a blog about a little tiny field mouse coming into my room and scaring the holy bejeezus out of me, but I decided against it. I mean who needs to relive that ? Talking to my friend Basil, he very nicely asked me what it felt like to be afraid of mice--what was it that I was actually afraid they might do. "I don't know, Basil, but something really really bad...like crawl on me or something." We've been playing kickball every evening after dinner since Jen, Paul and their girls got here. It's been so much fun. When I explained to the girls how to play I told them that if they ever get out they should shake their fist in a "J" and say, " Awh nuts!" Fiona caught on right away, but Sinead was a little hesitant about it. I think, becau

Jennifer and her Horse

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My beans are growing! I feel just so proud of them. Just for waking up and growing! It reminds me of this conversation I had with Nate awhile back where he and I were commenting on how little it took for Dad to say he was proud of us. "I'm so proud of you, Nate, you got up this morning and...I'm just so proud." Or sometimes it would be in the middle of a conversation and though it was always nice to hear, inside I was always wondering "Could you be a little more specific? But now, I'm seeing how proud a person can be just for having something that's still around. My beans haven't given me anything to eat, yet, but I love them just the same. They are leaning to the right because there's not enough light, but i just moved them closer to the window so hopefully they will straighten up. Not that I'm judging--they can choose to go in any direction they want. My Grandpa Lindgren commented on my 6 year old niece, Fiona's chance of being a tree-

Thoughts about the New Job

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Sometimes I sleep on one of my hands and when I wake up it is still asleep. Yesterday morning was such a morning and when I tried to turn my bedside light off--yes, I'm afraid of the dark--my hand was so asleep I couldn't tell what I was doing. I might as well have been using a cheese grater to turn the thing off. It's feeling a little better now, but not completely awake--kind of like my parents after 8pm. But the reason I got up so early yesterday because I WAS GOING TO WORK! WOOT! Friday after my body had gotten up, my brain felt like it had maybe decided to go jump in the toilet and push the flush lever a few times. I got my coffee and went and sat by mom who told me she had found me a job if i wanted it and that we could go right now. All I could think was that I should probably go fish my brain out of the toilet for this conversation. When it was put back in it's proper place (a place it seems to be constantly trying to make a break from), it finally sunk in that

A Letter from Satire

Dear University of Washington in Seattle, I just wanted to thank you for opening the world up for me in new and enlightening ways. Some of your requirements like 3 levels of foreign language was tough, but I'm more enriched because of it. I can understand "We're not hiring" in two languages! But now that I am out of that frolicking pretend world, I am excited and optimistic as I look the Real World in the eye. Finding a job, I'm sure, will be a breeze with the education you have provided. Except, and I hate to whine here, I have been having troubles finding a job. Even the grocery store used my application for confetti for their next party. What gives? I guess I wouldn't be so apprehensive if I hadn't taken that statistics class. Before I would have just called it "the pits" or "a dirty dog of a deal" but now I know exactly how deplorable my success rate has been! Maybe my Modern Novel professor was right, we are all just a bunch of a

Not Even Bacon

Today started out fine, mostly good even. I did my routine search for jobs, applied where I could and then exercised. I was feeling optimistic and even a little fantastic. According to my latest accounting I have 10 days before I have to melt down. It was like one of those movie moments where the detective feels so good at closing the case. But then they look around and their eye focuses on something, a piece of paper maybe or there's a meaningful flashback...and then *BAM they got it! They were wrong! And they have to hurry before their partner/love interest is murdered by the real criminal (or even worse, their partner/love interest IS the murderer!!)! They rush from their desk and save the next victim just in time. Well my life is something like that. At least the part where I looked down at my phone and I realized my latest accounting hadn't included my phone bill--yes, that is how close we are to melt down that my phone bill could push the whole thing over the edge. So I r

Position: Stay At Home Lady

I went in for my interview for home with 4 disabled women. The supervisor talked non-stop the whole time. She showed me the house, everyone's room, and just talked about this woman's medical problem, and the licenser -this and the licenser -that. And the woman who was manic paced around the house and bit her fist and then spontaneously yelled. She walked by me several times not noticing me at all. But one of the times she passed me she got a little closer and I knew she was up to something. The next time she passed me she started to reach for me arms outstretched just like a zombie. I didn't yell, " Aghhhhh !" like I wanted but I did say "Oh!" and the supervisor just steered her away from me. And the next time she passed by she went for me and I moved behind the supervisor like I used to hide behind mom when Nate was chasing me. By the end of the interview, I think the supervisor and I both knew that it wasn't going to work out. But she nicely aske

Guard Your Garden

The goal for this week has been to get a job. On days off I can look something akin to a koala bear. Some people can look at me from one hour to the next and the question constantly burning in their brains is, "Man she's so cute--has she moved? At all?" The two main ports in my storm are usually the bathroom and the fridge. So it is often a surprise to some--least of all me--how motivated I can be when it comes to finding a job. Yesterday I wrote so many cover letters that I was starting to feel like I was talking about someone else. Like I was my own secretary or something. It was weird. Today, Mom and I ran around Lyndonville and St. Johnsbury to drop of more resumes and apply for more jobs. It was pretty fun. I have one interview for Thursday at an adult care facility. There are 4 disabled women who need a lot of personal care. I'm not sure it's for me but I'm really excited for the interview anyway. I mean maybe once i get there and talk to the superviso

The Naming of Things

Isn't there a Caedmon's (sp?) Call song about the naming of things? Now that I'm with Mom and Dad for the summer, things like this come to mind. I went for the singing part of church today which is called Worship in most evangelical churches. I was surprised how many songs I still knew. Although, I had this really loud guy behind me who sang so loud that I'm not sure if I was singing along with the tune or not. He had such a dramatic virbrato that I almost wondered if there was someone shaking him. I decided to start a new blog for several reasons, the main one being the old one felt a little lonely over there in livejournal where no one goes anymore. I sort of felt like the last one to lunch or something. But when I went to name this one, I just couldn't really let go of my old blog name. It's from a Anne Lamott story where she is being so mean to someone it would have made Jesus drink gin straight from the cat dish. Growing up in a conservative family in a wat