Dec 9

End of internship, beginning of being jobless again

So, I will have more time on my hands for a bit! My internship ended on Friday and it was really sad leaving the office! It was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot. Thinking back on it is funny because when I first started, I felt totally out of my element. I had never worked in a newsroom before and it felt like a foreign country. I was scared to talk to anyone and always nervous, but then after a few weeks I started to get more involved and meet new people and by my first month there, it felt like home! I grew to really love the people and I'm going to miss them a lot. On Thursday, the editorial staff took me to lunch which was really nice. The internship was an excellent introduction to the journalism field and I met so many people -- not just within the newsroom, but many people within the field here in DC as well as many people in government and think tanks. It was definitely a wonderful 3 months and I'm sad that it is over.

My good friend Sarah flew back to Hawaii today and our building already feels emptier without her. Its funny that we have only known each other for 3 months but feels like our whole lives! The end of anything makes me sad and nostalgic, but as our friend J pointed out, it is also the beginning of the next step.

I am back job hunting again, which is not fun. It was nice to have a break from job searching. I need to find something (ANYTHING... well not anything, but you know what I mean) stat because my bank account is low-low. On a lighter note, I plan to use some of my free time to enjoy the Smithsonian, monuments and other sites DC has to offer (for free).

Well, back to writing my annotated bibliography for Government and Politics!

Everyone looks better tan

For a long time I have obviously known that tanning is bad for you, but I went tanning anyways. The truth of the matter is, I love being tan. In fact, I thrive on being tan. Not only do I like BEING tan, I like the process of getting tan. I love visiting tanning salons --- they are like your own personal tropics in the middle of winter. I love being warmed by the lamps and I certainly enjoy laying out in the real sun in summer, slathered in oil.

However, it is very very bad for you and I know this, so I decided to stop tanning. I haven't been tanning in over a year and I didn't even lay out in the sun much this summer. Sometimes I almost give in and go to tanning beds but then I read things like this. Or this. I've tried nearly every sunless tanner that is within my budget and it is usually a fail. Even if they look ok, they make my skin smell horrible. Tonight I am going to use some just because I can't stand it anymore.

The truth of the matter is, everyone looks better when they are tan. Here are some prime examples:

MOUTH NOISES WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME

OK THAT’S IT!!!!! I have had it!

MOUTH NOISES ARE TOO MUCH. Lip smacking, slurping, sloshing food in mouth, eating with your mouth open, smacking gum, drink swishing, chomping on hard candy, its ENOUGH. STOP. EAT LIKE A NORMAL PERSON.

NOTE TO THE WORLD: NO ONE needs to sound like a lion tearing apart a gazelle when eating. (except for lions.. they are in the clear here)

How can people make it to adulthood without learning to eat in a civilized quiet manner? My grandfather once had to fire someone because they couldn’t learn to shut their mouth when they ate. It is that repulsive.

I honestly don’t understand how people can make such loud noises while eating. It’s sickening. Revolting. FOUL. Uncooth. Unrefined. Ill-mannered. Rude. And actually it can even be considered harmful to my health because sometimes I get so annoyed by it that my heart starts pounding and I’m in danger of a heart attack or coronary.

CLOSE YOUR MOUTH!!!!!!!!!

And then, if you are one of those people who chew like a rabid animal even when your mouth is shut, perhaps you should consider eating in solitude.

GOALS

BIGGEST goal is obvi to find a job.

Other more daily/weekly goals:

*Spend as close to $0 each day as possible
*Do some sort of exercise each day
*Take vitamin every day
*Drink less -- I actually want to try not drinking at all until Thanksgiving, but we'll see if that works out!
*Eat healthier
*Try to drink only water
*Be on time for everything
*Do all hw ahead of time
*Keep photoblog updated
*Do more social things -- I have been hibernating with Bill lately!
*Take more photos
*Do more touristy things

For the time being, I am just going to update my photoblog, but I put little entries about each pic in there, so go here and subscribe!

http://amandasuzanne365.blogspot.com/

Ahh this is quickly turning into the world's most boring blog. I have been so busy I don't really have time to write and then when I do have time like right now on this relaxing Saturday, I don't feel like writing! My tired self would rather just chill. But nevertheless here is a little update:

Things have been going swimmingly as they say(I really just wanted to say swimmingly bc it is so queer). Internship is going well. I can't really write anything about it soooo thats probably all I will ever say about that.

Social life is booming haha. So many people do see, so much to do! Seriously sooo many things! I have had something to do almost every night which is really great but also a little hard to manage! Plus I have outside work for work, homework for my program and soon I'll have real homework. Yikes!

I WON SOME JEANS from Maxie over at http://www.ihatesomuch.com/ so you should check her site out because she is awesome.

Ummmmm what elllllse. Still haven't got to see the monuments yet. I want to, but it's just so hot and they take so long to walk to. I want the SUN to come out so I can go over to Em's pool. Anddd I'm going to go dedicate my time to my photoblog ! I have about 3 weeks of updates to do and all of the photos are from my phone which sucks but is better than nothing!

Hello everyone!

I arrived safely in DC on Tuesday and since then I have been enjoying the beautiful city! On Wednesday I went to the Archives and to the Museum of Natural History because I love to look at all of the different gemstones and rocks. I have met some new friends at my dorm, so that is good. On Thursday I went to the library, the bookstore and Target and then I stopped by Union Pub with Jess. Yesterday, I hung out with Joe by his pool and then went on a dinner date which was nice. Today I need to actually work on unpacking and organizing. My internship starts Monday and I definitely have to have this room under control by then! Ok sorry this was super boring but I just wanted to update!

There are free jeans to be won!

Does anyone remember the great jeans-splitting incident of 2008 when I was dancing at a house on Frericks and dropped to the flo' and my jeans just... ripped down the middle of my ass? Well I do! Or perhaps my recent blog entry about my bottoms not fitting? I haven't been able to afford jeans on my babysitting salary and guess what I discovered today? A wonderful soul I found on 20somethingbloggers is giving away 2 vouchers for free Gap jeans! To enter the contest, you get 3 chances: comment on her post saying why you want the jeans, tweet about it and write a blog entry about it. It ends August 17th so hurry over!!

Here's the link to her contest: http://ashleyasaurora.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/gap-jeans-party-and-a-giveaway/

EW OMG EW

Something just happened that I cannot even believe. There I was, checking out at Kroger and I glanced over at the aisle next to me and observed in utter horror that the girl who was bagging the groceries was PICKING AT HER LIP RING. She would move it in and out with her fingers and then lick it with her tongue and then pick at the skin around it with her fingers and then BAG MORE GROCERIES. She was a nice and clean looking girl, but still it was revolting. I went and found a store manager and reported the incident to him because I was so digusted I could barely think straight! Lip rings are fine if that's your thing, but don't touch it at work especially when you will be handling somebody's FOOD. Take it out, put a bandaid over it, but for the love of god don't PLAY with it!

update

I haven't had much to blog about lately! I ended up having to take the entire week off last week due to my damn wisdom teeth. This is gross but I ended up getting dry sockets which hurt like a mother trucker. On Thursday night I seriously felt like I was dying. My whole face was throbbing and I couldn't sleep. Vicodin didn't even help! So Friday I had to go back to the oral surgeon and he put some clove oil stuff in my mouth and it felt better instantly so that was good. The left side of my face is still a little swollen but I looked like a chipmunk for a long time. My mouth has started to hurt a little bit again but not bad. I hate eating because it hurts. Dad took us to Fricker's on Friday night and I couldn't even eat the food I ordered :(. I just can't wait until a month from now when those disgusting... (holes)... will be GONE. (FYI I am disgusted by holes. Holes in a sewing thimble, worm holes, holes in Swiss cheese, pores... absolutely revolting to make. They make me feel funny and ill)

On Saturday, I went to Columbus to visit my grandma in the hospital with my dad and sister. She has been very sick for a long time and yesterday they put in a feeding tube, so hopefully she will be able to regain some strength. They can't figure out what is wrong with her but she just can't eat. Her stomach hurts all of the time and every time she eats, she gets sick and she spends most of the day gagging. She has withered away to nothing and is basically skin and bones. It is very sad to see her that way and I really pray that this feeding tube will help. She is one of my favorite people in the entire world. We ate at Olive Garden that night (much to my delight, I discovered that I could eat eggplant parmesan). My grandpa said some very touching things about my grandma, and I hope that someday I will find myself in a relationship like theirs. They are going on 60 years of marriage and they are still as much in love as ever. <3

Today I am finally back at work. I think Brady missed me! I only have 2 more days here and I know I will miss him for sure! Who knew you could grow so attached to a baby that you aren't even related to?

alive!

So I survived my wisdom tooth surgery this morning, and the actual procedure wasn't bad at all, and getting put under was not scary -- in fact, it was kind of enjoyable! He told me I would feel lightheaded and I did, and then the next thing I knew I was in a room with my mom, covered in a nice and warm blanket. I'll spare you the details of my recovery this morning, but it wasn't very pleasant and now I am just laying around. It hurts, but it's not horrible. It's much better than I expected. Here's to hoping that the rest of it goes smoothly!

P.S.: OMG EW the oral surgeon GAVE me my teeth to take home and I said I did not want them but my mom snatched them and my brother is LOOKING AT THEM in the kitchen. Oh that is so disgusting I can't believe it is even happening.

Miserable Dentist Appointment

I have to get my wisdom teeth out next Tuesday and I am REALLY not looking forward to it. First of all, I hate the dentist (REALLY hate the dentist... its like irrational phobia except not bc it is rational to not like DRILLS going into your teeth), and second of all I am terrified of getting put under! I had to meet with the oral surgeon 2 days ago for a consultation and it was disastrous. This is how the experience went:

I arrived at the office with my mom (she insisted on coming with me) and the words "ORAL AND MAXILLARY SURGEON" on the front door almost made me pass out, but I decided to muster the courage and walk inside. I had to fill out some papers but I was so nervous that I couldn't remember anything so mom had to take control. There I sat for the next HALF AN HOUR waiting in misery when a nurse finally came in and took me into a room. She told me to sit in this giant leather chair and she started messing around with the computer directly in front of me. Confused, I was wondering if the doctor was going to talk to me through a webcam or something. Finally, she told me I had to watch an informational video about what the surgery entails and then said the dentist/surgeon would be in when I was finished watching. Being a good sport about this, I began to watch the video. The video was full of bad actors and seriously ugly people talking about how great it was to get their teeth out. THEN a dentist started talking about the actual surgery and demonstrated cutting the gums, pulling some teeth, cracking the teeth, extracting more teeth.. you get the idea. I almost threw up. Then they started talking about side effects which are too disgusting to write here. Finally, they talked about the anesthesia and its side effects which include DEATH. I started to feel queasy and shaky and it felt like the room was closing in on me. I couldn't look at the computer anymore so I turned my head away and was shielding my eyes when the dentist came in. It was very embarrassing... The only bright side was that he looks just like Mr. Rogers which makes me warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

This is how the rest of the scenario went:

Dentist: So, you wanna get your wisdom teeth out!
Me: That would be a false statement. I was forced here against my will! But I hear you are a great surgeon!
Dentist: Oh I'm not great, I just charge a lot.
Me: Jokes about dentistry aren't funny.
Dentist (putting x-rays of my actual teeth on a white illuminated screen. Might I note here that seeing x-rays, particularly of teeth, evoke a sense of nausea and fear in me): Well then, if you look here, your teeth will be easy to get out, especially the top ones!
Me (trying not to cry or puke): Wow how great...
Dentist: See here is what we'll have to do on the bottom, we'll cut into the gum and then cut your teeth into 4 pieces (drawing +'s through the teeth on the x-ray") and then we'll ---
Me: I don't want to know what you'll do, just do it
Dentist: Ok then, as for the anesthesia we will insert a needle into your --
Me: NO SERIOUSLY I DON'T WANT TO KNOW
Dentist: Well I need to tell you the side effects. You may get dry socke---
Me: I REALLY don't want to know. Can't you just give me a paper so my mother can read it in case anything happens to me?
Dentist: Well, miss, by law I must tell you the side effects
*and so he tells me and I sit cringing and then he starts to tell me that if he accidentally hits my nerve my lip and cheek will go numb... for the REST OF MY LIFE. And then it happened. I tried so hard to be good the whole time but a little tear rolled down my face and then another and I couldn't stop and I said "Well if we are done here, I guess I'll be seeing you next Tuesday!" and I got up, walked out, couldn't find the right direction so I had to go find him and ask how to get out and I was still crying and then I went to find my mom, took the car keys and sat in the car while she took care of the payments. (Thank goodness she's paying for it because I would NEVER get them out if I had to pay for it, because I don't even WANT them out!)

It was mortifying.

The end.

DIET

So, on Saturday morning, I was getting ready to go to the Celtic Festival with my family and I decided to wear my very favorite shorts. They are denim, I think they are called Bermuda shorts (they go almost to my knee) and lo-and-behold, I couldn't get them on my legs! In fact, I couldn't even pull them past the middle of my thigh. I ran into mom's bathroom and said "how dare you DRY my favorite shorts!" and of course she said that she did not dry them. Hmm I thought, this is peculiar. It wasn't a big deal, I decided to wear something else so I pulled out a jeans skirt... same problem! I tried my yellow plaid shorts, my white capris, my khaki shorts, my white shorts... it kept happening over and over again. Finally I didn't know what to do when I remembered this enormous pair of capris laying in a storage bag under my bed. Mom bought them for me years ago and they were about 2 sizes too big so I never wore them. I found them and put them on and the top WOULD BARELY CLOSE (they were however, quite baggy in the legs). So I wore my fatgirl capris. The next day I had to wear a dress that I never wear because I think it looks like a muumuu.

So guess what?! Ladies and gentlemen, I am on a diet! AND I'm working out -- shocking, I know. I bought a jump rope last night and man, is that a workout! So please, don't buy me cookies. Or cake. Or olives. Or cheese. NO JUNK FOOD. I am eating only vegetables and fruit for snacks, Slimfast for breakfast, Slimfast + sandwich for lunch and then Mom's dinner. And only water to drink. And IF I go to a bar, NO BEER.

This is short, but I just thought about this. I spend all day babysitting a baby, and then at night I head over to my great-grandma's to help her get ready for bed. I go from spending time with someone at the very beginning of their life to someone who is at the end. It is just interesting to me and makes me realize how fleeting life is.

old fashioned things

I have always loved history, and as a young girl I was obsessed with all things old-fashioned. Yesterday, while I was babysitting, I came across an episode of The Little House on the Prairie and it reminded me of being a little kid and of all the things I used to like, so I thought I would document some of these things here!




Image from the Piqua Heritage Festival, which is held on Labor Day weekend... easily my favorite weekend of the year as a child!! Going to the festival feels like stepping back in time!




My family has an old desk like this that I used to play old-fashioned schoolhouse. I made my sister sit in that front chair with no desk haha




On most days, you could find me wearing a bonnet like this!













Some of my favorite books about "olden days," as I liked to call them.






I had a boy and girl rabbit dolls like this and I was convinced that they were old fashioned and that Laura and Mary would have had dolls like this!

Books I have read since the start of my 101 list and the dates I finished reading them

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (7/6/09)
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (7/11/09)
3. Window to the World (7/14/09)
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (7/16/09)
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (7/18/09)
6. The Undomestic Goddess (7/19/09)
7. Kiss the Girls (7/20/09) -- serious insomnia last night!!!
8. The Memory Book
9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (7/27)
10. Undiscovered Gyrl by Allison Burnett

WAL*MART

I have a love-hate relationship with Walmart. Actually just hate. But one would think that I love it. Or maybe I do love it. But I hate that I love it. Who knows? It's complicated.

A few years ago, a Walmart was constructed in my hometown. As expected, it caused a lot of local stores and shops to close down, including the filling station where my family has gotten our gas for as long as I can remember. The residents of Piqua used to have to drive to Troy, or maybe Sidney or even Greenville to get to a Walmart, but now there is one just across town. Of course this elated the hillbillies of Piqua (which is sadly a majority of of the population, I have come to think). Conversations heard around town:

"Wow Betty-Lou, that's a super cute shirt, where did you get it?" "Why, Melba, I done bought this at the WALmart! It ain't even cost me much, it was only $3.98!"

"Hey ladies! There's a sale on undies at the Walmart!"


To the hilljacks, Walmart is not only a noun, but a verb and adjective as well. For example: "Hey what are you doing later?" "Oh, you know, goin' Walmartin'" or "This here is a Walmarty bargain, and I didn't even buy it there! I got it at the consignment store!"

As much as I hate Walmart, when it comes down to it, there is nowhere else in this town to buy half of the things I need, and I'm certainly not going to spend the gas money to drive down to Dayton to buy what I want. Plus, where else can you buy makeup, books, socks, swimsuits (not that I would wear a Walmart swimsuit), groceries, gloves, medicine, auto supplies, toys, even fish, all at the same store?

I think that there is some type of Harry Potter-esque magical spell cast around Walmart, because if I am anywhere even near the vicinity, it pulls me in. If I am on that side of town (which, mind you, is only about 5 minutes away from the other side of town), I think to myself "Gee, I should stop by Walmart, I'm sure I need something!" When I do go there for one specific item, I can never just buy one thing. I will inevitably see something else that I want and it will be too new and shiny to resist. It is impossible for me to leave the store without spending at least $10.

The people who work there aren't even nice, so it is definitely not the hospitality that drags me in! One day I thought I would buy my sister a hamster for her birthday, so I asked the woman working in the pet aisle if they had hamsters and she barked at me "NO! This ain't a pet store, lady!" Then last summer, it was late at night and I was looking for something in particular, I can't remember what it was and I asked for assistance and the guy replies "Ma'am I obviously work in the dairy section, so I can't help you." You know, now that I think about it, my friend used to work at the Walmart in her hometown and she told me stories about how the workers all gathered together everyday to sing the happy little Walmart song (w-a-l squiggly m-a-r-t! who's Walmart? OURS!) I have never heard them sing that at MY Walmart...

I suppose the point is that Walmart is evil, and should not have been built in my town, because it is slowly draining me of all my money.

Aunt Lo

This photo is just too much!!! It needed to be documented, so here it is. It is my aunt in high school, and really... it speaks for itself.

closer to DC every day

For the last week, my parents and I have been pulling our hair out trying to figure out how to get all of my things plus the family to DC for the big move. At first I didn't want my family to go because I was thinking I would be too sad when they left me there, plus I wanted to do a big 8 hr drive by myself, but then I started to get really excited about them going with me. We were going to rent 2 cars, or a u-haul thing... or ship my stuff and rent a car for the fam. Anyways tonight Mom said "are you just afraid to fly right now?" and I said no, thinking she'd say I should fly so there is more room in the car or something, but then she said that maybe I should just fly and ship my stuff, and then they will come visit in October when it's not so hot. Then I looked online and found a $39 ticket into Baltimore, and then a $9 ticket into DC and it was too good to pass up. So... I booked it. And now I'll be going alone -- in the long run, it will probably be better because I'll just say goodbye in Ohio and it will be quick instead of a long drawn out one. And I probably won't overpack. And the whole travel time will be about 2-3 hours which is so much better. And then I can set up my room in whatever leisurely time I like. And I'll be able to research hotels for them. And I can set up an itinerary for them. It will be good. I was just looking forward to showing them around town and I miss them already -- I'm still here!!

Anyways... the tickets are booked and earlier today I took care of my student loans. I probably took out too much, but it should cover tuition, books, food and rent. I'm pretty much ready to go except for packing, and now since I'm shipping my things I guess I will be packing less. Alright time for bed... goodnight!