Clearance chocolate

I like alliteration :).

I just totally cancelled out whatever calories I burned in cardio dance class. I ate peanut M&M's (my favorite!) and chocolate-covered raisins (which are gross-looking and feeling when slightly melted). They were cheap. Candy bar prices have really gone up, so I won't be buying them anymore (not that I really was). I somehow manage to pack on the pounds nonetheless, ha.

Speaking of eating, I went to Baker's Crust in Williamsburg today (had just gone saturday in Richmond with R-M friends). I got a shrimp and avocado salad and Manhattan pastrami panini combo. It was so-so. I told one coworker who also got the same salad that it would be better named "avocado and bacon salad." (only came with 2 shrimp)

I hope I like the class on Quick Books tomorrow. Visit to Gramma's afterward.

Annoyances with inconsiderate people

I'm not going to go into detail but when people don't communicate, it's more of an afterthought, it aggravates me. Especially when they're closer people in your life. I think "little" things like this bug me recently because I have more time to think about them, not being employed. I want to be like a duck, as my mom's told, and let it roll off my back :).

Catsitting Take 2

Take 2 because this is the 2nd time I'm watching these cats, although last time I would just visit briefly to feed and give them some loving. Just now, as I walked up the steps to desktop on the 2nd floor, I saw little blood spots on the wood stairs. I got a wet paper towel and cleaned the little spots, assuming it came from the smaller, slightly younger cat. Sure enough, shortly after cleaning, I saw him on the stairs licking his front paw. I tried to clean it with wet paper towel but he wanted none of that.
Today is Father's Day. I only had a bag of Bagel chips to give him, knowing that wasn't sufficient, but lucked out yday in going to a consignment store near the park where the vegetarian festival was held. I called my best friend's bro about something, and he asked for moving assistance for a table he was consigning. While I waited on him briefly, I perused the shop and to my delight, found a nice hardcover book on Norway for $4. It's a great gift for him because

1) he loves books
2) he loves used books because he's cheap
3) he loves genealogy, studying his Norwegian roots

random

What a funny last name- Wingle! ha

Real estate sale

The various tasks I did working at the estate sale (2nd time) today:

- as soon as I walked in the door, was asked to go to Staples and get sales books

-swept

- took the dog for a walk (and stepped in her poop and had to clean it off my shoe, boo)

-dissembled a Christmas tree and carried it to the car with the help of a random man

-made sure the dog got food and water (she was thirsty!)

Felt I wasn't doing much, sitting in my rocking chair, but I was available on the 2nd floor to help and answer ?s, write tickets.

Old man "hitting" on me..

Everybody thinks I'm in college! "No, I graduated 4 years ago."

-let a woman use my phone

Frustrations with dogsitting

I hate this dog right now. It's ironic that I saw my sunglasses outside on the table and thought to bring them in but thought, "Nah, it can wait." Next thing I know, he has them in his mouth, one lense already chewed up. It's a good thing I don't have expensive stuff. I can't believe how bad this dog is.

Great (sarcasm)

The dog just chewed up my expensive makeup cream. It was near the end of it but still, that was at least $5 there he just demolished. (mad) I started cooking breakfast and saw he had a black tube in his mouth, which I realized was my blush. Then I let him outside and saw chewed plastic on the floor (the cream). I'm not in the habit of closing doors in the house every time but it's necessary with him. I may as well go to Costco and get a huge pack of rawhides!

I don't like loud dog barking. I know our Schnauzer's bark was annoying at times, yippy but I'd rather have that than be scared. Geez!

Housesitting

Maybe partly because I'm house/dog sitting "alone," I feel compelled to write in a more public place. (that, and I get tired of writing vs typing)

So it baffles me that....

- People don't have multiple pens readily accessible in drawers in their home. I needed a pen yday after having arrived at this house and couldn't find one to save my life. I had to get 1 from my car. In my household, granted, my dad does go to extremes a bit, we have pens everywhere. The only time there is a shortage in one area is because recently we've been "giving" them to our cockatiel Joey, who regards them as his playmates- it's like his pacifier, lol.

- People don't value privacy. I'm sitting at their kitchen table, and because of the lack of curtains or blinds, the neighbors not too far away (I can't guess measurements) can surely see me. Like last night eating dinner, I thought, "They'll be able to see what I'm eating each meal!"

It was nice to be able to walk to a grocery store, and I was pleased with myself because I got some jumbo breaded scallops (one of my favorite foods) for half-price. AND they have my fave Vitamin water, which I discovered in DC in March, on sale for $1.19. I only got 2 last night but plan to stock up today, maybe on my way back.

Back from France

haven't written here in a while!
Just wanted to vent that my Accounting class did not have good time with events in my schedule-- like Test 2 before I left for France (therefore, I had little motivation to study and did poorly but I'm ok with the grade) and final test after my bday. Oh well.

Feb 1

I wish I could help my sister, who I could tell was unhappy (and shares it with the "world" on Fbook). She doesn't want to talk when she's like that. I wish I could share with her my advice from personal experience to not dwell on it and do something to keep busy and distracted from whatever's troubling you. She doesn't like to listen to her big sis. And I'm pretty vulnerable in my unemployment, I felt unhappy myself back home despite exercising and listening to music and having plans.

Monday

Why is communication such a difficult issue for me, in many aspects, right now?
Best friend called, partly to get some info, and feeling I could talk to her, I went on for a few min. I felt at 1 point she wasn't listening because something else was going on there then I'm told she needs to go. I don't like feeling people don't have time for me. I feel worse after she calls.

2011

I'm glad I started off the new year with zumba, which included some new catchy songs. I took a nice, long bath. Kinda bored now because I've been home all day, mainly on the computer except for meal with family and brief reading and nap. I think research for my trip to France is gonna be my prime procrastination culprit for the next 3 months.

Wish these pimples on my face would go away. My face broke out like whoah (1 more still coming on my chin), and I hoped they'd be more gone by the time bf got well. Oh well. I need to learn to manage stress better, c'est sur.

Last day of 2010

Looking back on this year, it was a difficult one but also a joyful one. Difficult because I struggled with unhappiness and stress due to working an unfulfilling call center job evening shift. Joyful because I was allowed to work normal business hours starting late April and in turn, had a better social life and in turn, met my boyfriend, who, right now at least, I feel could be the love of my life. And let's not forget a reason for joy was being laid off, yep, from the job I hated. Since then, it was been a bit difficult keeping busy without a regular schedule but I'm managing. It would be so much harder without the love and support of my boyfriend.

House to myself

Within an hour, I didn't like the quiet and felt lonely :(. Not sure why I thought it was a good idea, ha. It's ok. Must have noise, like international radio on iTunes. Now it's Craig Ferguson online, who I haven't watched since my work hours changed to 8am. I don't like to stay up that late and rarely watch tv.

Snowy day

It keeps snowing. I think snow is pretty but I dislike how it shuts one in. Good thing I'm in a cleaning mood.

I've been waking up ~3am every night briefly. Usually I sleep uninterrupted.

Today is Vicente's bday.

We almost could have lost another bird due to my sister's foolishness just now. She let our neighbors' labs into the house, and the puppy almost got Joey. Man oh man. This blog is like therapy for me, for real.

Hopeful trip to France

Yes, May (or June) would be a lot more ideal, warmer, sunnier weather but if my chief aim is to speak French, one can do that year-round :).
Gosh, I'm gonna have to buy a nice camera. An SLR like my sis' would be nice.

I'll be there before Easter :) (April 24). Bakeries and shops should have nice window displays.

Is it worth $150 in train fare to make it to Italy briefly to savor some good pasta, bread, gelato, and hopefully, ambiance? Genoa is the closest big city to my friend. I just know it's known for salami.

Oh, wonder if I should buy one of those small video cameras. We have a video cam but it's cheapo. If I'm gonna go, I want quality images. Because who knows the next time I'll be back.

Ok, nix that

I'm not used to writing much by hand anymore; my hand gets tired when I write in my journal. I like typing.

So... I think a trip to France is meant to be. I'm getting signs. Like today a Canadian teacher from my time in China uploaded pics of her time in France. I don't know what she's doing there currently with her Scandinavian boyfriend but she rarely uses Facebook. I also received the Junior Year in France alumnae bulletin today. And then Donna emailed me low fares on Iberia Airlines (cheaper than Air France!). These are from NYC, though, which is inconvenient. I will check how much from RIC but probably at least $100 more.

I am full. 2 nights in a row I went out to dinner with friends and had eyes bigger than my stomach. Why do I torture myself?

I may close this blog

and just use my hand-written journal instead. First, I need to save and print my entries.

Verbose dad is annoying! He's extremes, it seems: either little to say or neverending! He just told me to fake enthusiasm at job interviews in the future. Kind-of a bummer that I wasn't offered the job I "interviewed" for yday but I wasn't planning on taking it anyway because I found it too administrative, boring in nature. Ironic that I was posting a LinkedIn status that I decided not to take it and then get the call from the temp agency. The agent asked me some ?s about my experience for her own info and said the way the job was originally presented is different. I doubt she'll have many more offers anytime soon but it's good we "reconnected," in a way.

Cloud Nine

Yday I looked up the definition of "cloud nine" to make sure I was using it correctly. (I wanted to use it to explain my state since dating and to offer an explanation why I'm not on top of event dates). I ended up using "head in the clouds" instead, which is probably more correct. Just now I saw on NY Times that it was used at the end of an article that caught my eye, about a huge mass wedding in Taiwan because of the auspicious date, the number 9 meaning "longevity."

My Swiss friend is here!

She arrived by Greyhound from Philly. Even though we saw each other twice last year in NYC, it's a whole different feeling to be driving her in my hometown. It's really neat! I feel fortunate that I have wealthy friends who are able to come visit me :). After Richmond, she will go to Washington. I wish I could go with her. Maybe I could somehow take Tuesday off.. could take a sick day if I have any left. I was tempted to take a sick day yesterday because I had gotten home at 1am and knew cleaning was still necessary before she came but remembered I did that before New Year's day last year, jeopardizing the double pay status of working on a holiday. Actually, it may be both the day before and after one must work; must check.

We went home, where my dad greeted her in French, forgetting she's Swiss German. She gave us some Swiss chocolate (Lindt), and I wondered if she had actually brought it from Switzerland (b/c it's what we can get here). She later said she bought it here. Makes sense.. it's summer.

Then we went to the Indian restaurant near work. There is one near my house and another near my high school, but I figured the ambiance would be best there. There was a private function going on in a room when we got there. Also, a cute, chubby 1.5 yr old Indian boy in his mom's lap kept me entertained. The food took a while to come out, I guess partly b/c we ordered Tandoori. The veg masala dish was frozen mixed vegetables, which made me think I could make it at home. So, not that impressed for the price I paid but Viviane liked it, and we both left full (at 10:00pm!)

I thought of walking in Carytown and Maymont today. Yesterday I got a text that a friend of a friend is inviting people to her lakehouse on Sunday-- that'd be awesome!