Tuesday, June 24, 2014

It's Sunny Hodgepodge

It's time for Hodgepodge again. Check out Joyce's blog to see everyone else's answers.
 
1. What summer activity most takes you back to your own childhood? Miniature golf. There are no places around here to play, but up in Okoboji, IA (where we have a timeshare), there's quite a few. Everytime we make it up there, that is one of the must do's on our list, whether it's the one we always went to when we were children, and were rewarded with an ice cream cone at the end, or a newer one with pirates right next to the amusement park. Last time we were up there, my brother's plans got changed so he didn't get there when my parents and I were there, so my mother humored me and played with me. That's something I've never seen her do
2. What's your favorite summer smell? This:

The lake at Okoboji, our condo looks right out onto it. It's also one of the best views.
3. It's beach season in the US of A...so how do you feel about sand? I like sand, because with sand comes water, and I love being in the water. I don't like how sand sticks all over you, but it's a small price to pay for being in water.
4. Sun tea, SunChips, sunflower seeds, Capri Sun, Sunny Delight, Sun-Maid raisins, sun-dried tomatoes...your favorite food or beverage with sun in its name? I don't really consume a lot of food with sun in the name, but if I have to pick from the above list, I'd go with Capri Sun, that stuff's good.
5. What's your favorite way to cool off on a hot summer day? A cold shower. No one ever complains if you use too much cold water. If I can't get one of those, an ice cube run over the back of my head cools me off really quick too.
6. Share a favorite song with the word sun or sunshine in it's title. Sunshine of your Love by Cream. I'm not exactly sure what the words are, but I like the flow and sound of it.
7. Tell us about a time you had an exceedingly good or truly awful customer service experience. If it was awful, did you report it? Ever go back there again? Sadly, I don't really remember those. I know at the time, it will bug me, or make me so happy but after talking about it for awhile, I tend to forget. Plus, I'm also trying not to dwell on the past too much.
8. Insert your own random thought here.  It's my birthday in a week. Next Wednesday, I will turn 31.
If you'd like to help me in a card shower, where everyone sends me a bunch of cards, please leave a comment.
And as of last night, my plans were cancelled, so I have nothing to do for my birthday.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

It's back!!!

It's Hodgepodge time! Head on over to Joyce's blog to see other people's answers.


1. Since you weren't Hodgepodging last Wednesday, how did you pass the time? I was getting ready for a garage sale, I also had a cold. Two things that one should not have together.

2. What's the first word that comes to mind when I say marriage? Yes, one word.  Honestly, I don't think of a single word. I think of certain couples and how I don't want mine to turn out like theirs. And then I wish I had a prospective guy that I would think of marrying in the future.

3. Summer officially arrives in the Northern hemishpere later this week. Does it feel like summer where you live? Describe your idea of the perfect summer day. Our weather definitely feels like summer. Yesterday, the humidity was at 74%, that's melting weather. Plus, we had high winds, that's tornado weather, we were in a tornado watch from early afternoon until midnight. That's what summer is in the Midwest. Though my perfect summer day, is temperatures in the 80's and a nice rain.

4. "Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability."(Sam Keen) Is laziness ever respectable? Do you have a lazy summer planned, or something semi-ambitious? Sometimes it is nice to just relax and do nothing. Since the house has sold, we've been enjoying the porch a lot more. For Father's Day, we had lunch on the porch and just continued to sit there and enjoy the weather for awhile afterwards.

5. Past or present, who's your favorite television dad? Why is he a favorite? Is he anything like your own dad? I like Bill Cosby, mostly because I laugh everytime I think of him. He is not like my own dad.

6. June 18th is International Picnic Day...share a favorite picnic memory. I like picnics in parks. Last year, my friend, her mother and I all went to The Ledges park here in Iowa, had a nice lunch and wandered through the creek. That was fun. Anything with food, friends or family, and nice outdoors works for me.

7. The travel site Trip Advisor lists the top five islands in the world for 2014 as- Ambergris Caye in Belize CayesProvidenciales in Turks and CaicosBora Bora in French Polynesia, Marco Island Florida, and Lewis and Harris in The Outer Hebrides (Scotland). Have you been to any of these? Of those listed (and if price were not a factor) which would you most like to book for a holiday? They all sound pretty good to me. I'm a cancer, so anything to do with water and I'm happy. I haven't been swimming in years, so to be able to relax and swim in the ocean would be great. I really love hunting for shells and beach glass when I go to the beach, they look like great places to do it.
The last island I recall going to was in Florida quite a few years ago, my dad attended a conference and I went along to help him with things. The resort had their own private island, so I took a boat out there and gathered lots of seashells. I also go to save a sea cucumber and push it back out to sea, it was pretty cool to see.

 8.  Insert your own random thought here. It's almost my birthday. It will be two weeks from tomorrow, though I know I'll be disappointed. I always get myself psyched up for things and then they don't meet my expectations and I'm let down. Last year, I turned 30 and had a dinner party with friends, which was pretty fun, I guess I expected more glam. And a couple of my friends gave me wine, I'm not a big wine drinker, I've never really found one I liked, so to get 2 bottles of wine when I gave them plenty ideas well ahead of time, was a little disappointing.
My mother and I have been going on this antiquing thing around central Iowa the last few years, it falls on the weekend before our birthdays (mine is on July 2nd, my mother's the 3rd), and it's always fun to check out new antique places and spend a little money. My mother said she might be too busy this year and that I should see if anyone else wants to go with me. Most of my friends are not into antiques and garage saleing and all that, so I don't have anyone to go with, I'm rather bummed.
I will mention again, that I'd love to have a card shower for my birthday. Basically, that means, you send cards to someone, so they're "showered" with cards. If you'd like to help me out, leave a comment, make sure I can reply to it, and I'll send you my address.

Monday, June 09, 2014

I'm so ready for a little sanity

It's been a long weekend, and it will be a long week.
As you all know, my parents are moving, the house has sold, they will be living somewhere else for 3 months while their condo is being finished. Last year, they decided we should have a family vacation in Charleston, SC around Christmas. I tried to tell them, that I'd prefer not to travel around the holidays, but when do they ever listen to me? In March, my mom suggested I do work for them to earn this trip (she had actually suggested I do work for them to earn money, which I agreed to, and then she changed it to earning the trip), and even though I tried to convince them I didn't want to go, they didn't listen to me, and we have a house we're renting down there, and we ordered plane tickets last week.
Anyways, back to the work thing, basically it was work to help get the house and them ready to move. Lately it's been getting ready for a garage sale. So, this Saturday and Sunday, we sorted and moved stuff. I'm pretty sure this sore throat I have is from inhaling dirt and dust from the garage and basement. Yesterday, we hauled all the stuff up out of the basement. Today, I felt like I could curl up and take a nap all day. I was soo tired at work this morning, it took me twice as long to do things as it normally would. When I got home, I decided to move all my stuff to the garage. Bad idea, my knees hate me lately and are very painful when I bend or squat down, they were really not happy with all the stairs yesterday, and I bruised my kneecap on Saturday kneeling on concrete (it's such interesting colors right now). And then tonight, I decided I was bored with the arrangement of my apartment, so I moved my bed, a chest, and a recliner around. I am sooo tired. Crawling on my knees on my bed hurt. I'm ready for a deep sleep.
I don't have a day off until Sunday, I'm totally counting the days at the garage sale. I figure we'll take pictures for the craigslist ad, so I'll totally put them on here. Anyone close to central Iowa wanna come to a fairly large garage sale?
I think I should stop planning things with my friends, things keep coming up and they have to keep cancelling, it's really starting to wear me thin. I understand life gets in the way sometimes, I just want to get away and do something fun for a little while, is that too much to ask?
Plus, I don't have anything fun planned for my birthday. There's this thing called Junkin in June, that's held the last weekend in June, that my mom have been doing for a few years as a little fun birthday trip for us (my birthday's on July 2nd, my mother's is on the 3rd), she told me, she thinks she'll have too much to do, and I don't really have any friends that would go on it with me, and it's no fun by myself.

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Hodgepodge

It's time for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Check out Joyce's blog to see what other people answered.

 
1. I've read several posts and status updates recently describing end of year school field trips. Do you remember taking school field trips as a kid? Where did you go and do you recall a favorite? For any parents responding today, have you ever chaperoned a school field trip, and if so where?  I don't recall very many field trips. I do remember one where we did team exercises, but nothing near as fun as I hear kids doing nowadays. I would love to go to the zoo for a field trip;

2. What's something you're tired of seeing online? I don't know what I'm tired of seeing, there's not a lot of things I see across blogs and facebook, which is where I spend most of my time. I tell you I'm tired of looking for an apartment and job websites. Unfortunately, I'll be looking at them for awhile.

3. June is the month for roses. Which of the following expressions would you say has most recently applied to your life-'everything's coming up roses', 'there's no rose without a thorn', 'came out smelling like a rose', or 'wearing rose-colored glasses'?  Honestly, I'm not really sure, I'm not in the best of moods lately. I was last week and then I was let down on Saturday and that put me back quite a few steps, and now I have no idea what I'm going to do. I wish I could wear rose-colored glasses and see all the good in things right now, but I'm having a hard time.

4. When grilling outdoors do you prefer gas or charcoal? Who does the grilling at your house? What's the last thing you ate that was cooked on a grill? We don't grill. The only time I get grilled food is when we go to my aunt and uncle's for the 4th of July, it's usually hot dogs and hamburgers.

5. Are you afraid of the dark? I love the dark, unless I just watched a creepy movie about haunted old houses. I live in an old house and even though I know there's nothing happening, after watching one of those movies (you'd think I'd learn), I usually lie awake staring into the darkness wishing it were morning.

6. Share a favorite song with a number in it's title. Four Women by Nina Simone. I heard it at the end of the movie For Colored Girls, and it just hit something. It's about four different black women and their lives. I don't know how to embed videos, but here's a link to a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRmzQ39sXTQ It's not a great video, it just has the lyrics scrolling across the screen, but I couldn't really find one I wanted.

7. "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."(C.G. Jung). Do you agree? Why or why not? I can see that. I think things that other people do/are that irritate us is either something we don't have, or something we don't like about ourselves and instead of looking in at ourselves, we place the blame on someone else.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
 That's my random thought. The house was put on the market on May 23rd and the offer was accepted on the 29th.

I've known for awhile that I'd need to find a new place to live and I've been looking, I've also known I'll need another job to afford one. I don't have either, I'm still looking. A co-worker said she'd be my roommate and then decided she didn't have enough money to do that. I was so excited when she told me she'd be my roommate, we looked at a few apartments last week and then she gets her paycheck and decides she doesn't have the money. That was a huge let-down. I have about 2 months, I think I'll be on the street.
I have other co-workers who have to move and I ask if we could be roommates and they say, they don't want to live with other people. I just feel like no one cares.

If you're interested in a piece of artwork from me, go here.
Another random thought. My birthday is in less than a month and I'd love to have a card shower. Anyone wanna help me out?

Monday, June 02, 2014

Still Looking

I'm hating my life right now. Last week, a co-worker said she'd be my roommate, we looked at a couple places, found one that was promising, she said she had to wait until the end of the month before she could lay down any money for a deposit. End of the month comes, and she says she can't afford her half, now I'm back to square one.
I've decided I'm not spending any money on things I don't need. That means I won't be buying pop, I won't be buying any sweets, I won't be going to garage sales, I won't be buying clothes, I won't be eating out at all, I won't be able to do anything fun, and I probably still won't be able to afford an apartment by myself.
The house is Sale Pending. It went on the market on May 23rd, the second showing was the Tuesday after, and they took those people's offer.
It just feels like I get a little ahead, and then something sets me back. I was so excited about one of the apartments last week, and once my friend got paid, we could go apply and give them the deposit, and then she says she can't do it.
Some of my friends are also moving this year, so I asked them if we could be roommates, but they don't want to live with someone else, even if it means saving money for both of us.
I'm so tired of trying to do things/doing things and then getting nowhere.
Is it against the rules if I ask people to pray I find an apartment soon? Or at least ask for good thoughts?