Today: A Pictorial in Hipstamatic

i guess i didn't enunciate...

we never got sporks with our school lunches!

umbrella-and-wellies weather

see?

invitation for my pseudo-nephew's birthday party - wish i could be there!

extra $5 i didn't know i owned = menchie's for dinner

a little light reading...

 

variations: rain on the windshield

home pedicure

more reading...

fortune cookie fortune

a little upload-and-connect time

Cherry Blossoms, Beavers, Frozen Yogurt, and Wax Figures

rob and i ventured into d.c. friday and saturday to wander about and take part in the cherry blossom festivities. as previously discussed, i sucked at life friday, but i was a bit better on saturday and much fun was had. high points of the weekend included, but were not limited to:

• discovering fro-zen-yo downtown; self-serve frozen yogurt and toppings for a very low price. and YUMMY!!
• fun photos at madame tussaud's
• a boat tour organizational mishap that led to an entertaining cruise around the potomac and anacostia rivers
• walking around the basin and taking pictures of the breathtaking sight that is the circle of cherry blossom trees in full bloom
• discovering ella's wood fire pizza and the deliciousness that was the "verdura" pizza
• meeting paddles the beaver (who reminds us all not to pick the cherry blossoms)
• 

Apparently My Fortune Cookie Wants Me To Be a Vegas Showgirl

fortune cookie say: "do not lose sight of your childhood dreams."

(true story: my mother's reaction to learning that her 5-year-old wanted to be a vegas showgirl went like this... mom: why is that? me: because i'd get to dance all day and wear sparkly costumes. mom: um, ok... i really can't argue with that. one of the many reasons why my mother rocks...)

Grandma G's Homemade Applesauce

seriously, it’s one of the best. things. ever. she had just made a batch of it when i came in on saturday, and i sit here now, on the plane ride back, tupperware container full of tart apple-y goodness in one hand, the other hand alternatively typing and shoveling spoonfuls of it into my mouth. completely worth the entire trip home, as far as i’m concerned...

The Laws of the Universe

i swear, in some cosmic rule book somewhere, there is a footnote at the bottom of a clause in the back of an index (in italics) stating that karen rose gibson, born september 20, 1976 in indianapolis, indiana, currently residing in orlando, florida (clearly, the cosmic rule book updates every few weeks to keep on top of things) may not successfully plan any events in conjunction with her birthday. i'm not sure why this is, it just... is. my mother tried arguing with me, but i proved myself right at every turn. sweet 16? spent the 4 or 5 days leading up to it in and out of the hospital with my first ever blinding and uncommonly severe migraine. didn't know if i would even be able to have my party, and half my friends didn't show because they didn't think it was still on. turning 21? that was dress/tech for arkansas bear; i was in the theatre from 8 in the morning to almost 10 at night. when we went out for drinks afterward, everyone drank faster than i did, causing me to slow down (and then stop) because my d.d.'s were all hammered and we had to get home somehow. 23? in overnight rehearsals plus working my normal shifts. for two weeks straight. 27? everybody that mattered had to work late (like till 2 in the morning) all weekend - except demasi, who took me out to dinner, but since we both worked early the next morning, we were in bed by like 10. 30? i had been planning (for close to a year and a half) to go to vegas for that birthday, but in the end, no one could work out the money or the days off, and i certainly wasn't going to someplace like vegas for the first time by myself. last year? oooh, that's a two-parter, and possibly the worst yet: a) john, dale, and i had planned to go see the cure in early september, but the band cancelled the fall tour due to illness and injuries, and didn't resume until may of this year, and 2) i woke up in the wee hours of the 20th to being violently ill, the very beginning of a sickness seems to be permanent.

now, i'm not writing this as a "poor me" blog, and i swear i'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty - this just happens every single year, no matter how much i try to thwart it. and this year, especially, i felt as though - since i had somehow survived the shittiest year ever - i deserved a weekend of birthday fun, with lots of people and activities. i really should have known better. but instead of focusing on what didn't happen, i'm going to list the good things about this weekend. (the first paragraph was just to fill you in so you know why i'm listing. background information, or exposition, if you will.)

1. rob and i discovered an amazing artist at tu tu tango's. you can look at her artwork here.

2. tu tu's makes creme brulee the way it was meant to be made - it was amazing.

3. i found not only birthday shoes, but a birthday hat as well.

4. the planet smoothie near work has a cafe; i tried it on saturday, and the chicken caesar wrap - made with chunks of fresh grilled chicken and real pita bread (like the kind gyros come in) was awesome.

5. i got a birthday massage from my massage therapist, and as such, it was a gift.

6. said massage therapist is selling some of my jewelry (more on this later).

7. as mom and i left after our massages, there was an amazingly beautiful double rainbow to greet us. it was so vivid, you could even see both bands of violet, which you can rarely see clearly.

8. me, my parents, rob's parents, and the robs had a cook-out and enjoyed a lovely evening of food and conversation and playing dominoes and deserts. there were lots of yummy desserts. (hmmm... there's a lot of food on this list...)

9. rob's dad make one of his famous cheese balls for the occasion. (ok, apparently much of what's good in my world consists of tasty treats...)

so, good stuff there... as i've learned in the past year, it's all about perspective, and i need to find the most positive one and stick with it. it's the best way to survive.

Because Grover Asked...

i like white grape juice. i'd go so far to say that it's one of my favorite juices. it is, however, only about 30% of the reason why i bought mini-juice-boxes of apple & eve's white grape juice. the overwhelming majority of reason is the fact that grover is the spokesmodel (spokesmonster?) on the boxes. on the back panel, he encourages us to get up and get moving by creating a silly dance move and practicing it with our family and friends. (hey, that's waaaaay more my speed than running around or going to the gym.) as i drank down my 4.23 oz (125 ml) of juicy goodness, i noticed a posting on the side of the box. it reads as follows:

"I, your cute and loveable (sic) pal Grover, travel all over the world to learn new and amazing things from my friends. What did you learn from your friends today?"

well, grover, since you asked so nicely, i will overlook your spelling errors and think about what i learned today.

1. i learned that i can identify shaunathan from across the room, no matter what he might be wearing or (is supposed to be) acting like.

2. if you are holding a sleeping baby, people invariably smile at you and are more pleasant than if you are not doing so.

3. jen and i are big fat dorks when we're together - and i love it because we have so much fun.

4. rob and i both used the word "oubliette" today, completely separately. i used it while tutoring, and he then used it whist on the phone with me. how often does that happen with a word like oubliette? (and we weren't making labyrinth references at the time, either.)

5. i'm not the only one glad that one of our students is almost done with his hours...

6. my friends are awesome and endlessly supportive and i appreciate them very much.

thanks for the soul-searching idea, grover! it's a good thing i bought those juice boxes... i might have missed the great opportunity. and that, my friend, would have been not so cute and "loveable".

Things I Learned While Subbing For an Eighth Grade History Teacher

1. 8th graders make me alternatively giggle and want to throw things at their heads.

2. in primitive west africa, yams were so important to their livelihood that committing adultery in a yam field was considered a criminal offense to traditional Ibo law. Here's where i get slightly confused - notice the "was" in the previous sentence. from that, i assumed that we were still dealing with primitive west africa. however, the next sentence after that was, "adultery occurring elsewhere is a civil offense." does this mean these laws are still in effect? stay away from those yam fields on dates, people...

3. you know those those stuffed animal things that are made to look like a sleeping dog or whatever, and they have a motor in them so that their stomaches rise and fall like they're breathing? this teacher had one on her front podium. they are creepy; the end.

4. apparently the new fad amongst middle school boys is to buy glue sticks - preferably the purple kind - and pull off chunks and throw them at each other. really? chucking glue chunks at each other? how do they come up with these things? and how do they convince others that this is a good idea?

5. "sleep tight" came from using ropes pulled across a bedframe to support the mattress. you had to pull those ropes taut every couple of days or the bed would sag and you'd end up on the floor

6. the quote of the day came when four students (all boys, of course) had to borrow paper to do the assignment because they had none. when i asked how they expected to get through school without paper, one of the students claimed he was too poor for that. before i could reply, a girl on the other side of the room said, "you're too poor for paper, but you got fresh kicks every day? shoot. you're a liar, boy." well said, my friend, well said.

I Heart Whole Foods; Let Me Count The Ways...

there are lots and lots of reasons why i am extremely happy a whole foods market opened up a mile down the road from me. but really there's one that is far and away the best. thing. ever.

six - yes, count them SIX - frozen food cases of non-dairy ice cream.

what? it was like christmas. i seriously stood there for at least 10 minutes - probably longer - trying to choose. it boggled my mind; at walmart or publix, the best i can hope for is one shelf in the ice cream section to choose from. I HAD SIX WHOLE SECTIONS. and yes, i know it sounds pathetic, but that moment - that one blessed moment when i had a bazillion choices of ice cream that i could actually eat - may qualify as one of my top 5 most blissful moments ever.

o frabjous day! callooh! callay!

Things I Have Learned This Weekend:

1. in mandarin, the phonetic sound 'ma' means mother. however, if you drag it out an extra sylable and raise the pitch of your voice at the end, it means 'horse'. use and abuse with family members accordingly.

2. teachers take their beer pong seriously. it can become particularly vicious if you pit two super troopers against beth the bounty hunter and the devil. sitting several feet away is advised.

3. this virus is no joke. yesterday i had to carry in four - count 'em, four - bags of groceries, only one of which was even remotely weighty with canned goods. i quite literally had to sit down for almost ten minutes to recover enough to go out and get the 24-pack of water. after which i had to sit down next to the fridge in order to take them out of the plastic and refridgerate them. i didn't even have the energy to stand there and do it. ridiculous.

4. i like port wines. actually, i really really like port wines. particularly tawny ports. specifically aged tawny ports. i'm not a big wine drinker, and i'm really not a fan of red wines, so i wasn't thinking port would be something i'd like, but it turns out that if you throw in some brandy, it makes everything a little better. no, it makes everything a lot better.

5. also, port wines have to come from porto, portugal to officially be port; otherwise it's just a blended wine. just like real champagne has to come from the champagne region of france, or it's just a sparkling wine.

6. besides having no appetite to alert me when i'm hungry, i also seem to currently be without the ability to tell if i'm full. this means that if i sit down to eat, i don't know how much my body needs. i will eat whatever's in front of me until my stomach feels as though it's stretching like a balloon filled with lead. this (by the way) is not a comfortable feeling. i'm going to have to start weighing and measuring my food like a beauty pagent queen from here on out...

it's been a very educational weekend.