Awesome news!

The Olympics are officially over, but this picture will be cool forever!

Two words for ya: NEW JOB! I'm so excited! Those of you who are close know I was really excited about the job with Children's Services and then really bummed when they didn't call. Well it turns out that was only because someone was sick! And they finally called last week, I went in and met with them, and I just accepted the job! I'm really excited, mostly because of the work but also because this is the type of job I have always wanted -- able to make a good wage on 25 hours a week, flexibility, and I can work from home occasionally too! Of course my immediate reaction was to run out and buy a laptop.

I will be the Program Coordinator for the Athens County Child Advocacy Center. For those of you who, like me, had no idea what a CAC is (look at me, already using the lingo!), here is a good overview of their purpose. I'm really excited (did I say that already?). It's a new program that is just starting up, so it's not going to be easy, but I think it will be just the amount of challenge I'm looking for right now.

That's really the news for now! Had a great weekend, was just really happy and not stressed, which was great! I need to start stressing now about finals, but I just want to enjoy this for a bit. My thoughts are with my friend LMA whose dad is having surgery as we speak for lung cancer.

Happy Dance!

This morning I had a very very good phone call. Most of you know what I mean, so I won't elaborate until I get more details, but I have a meeting tomorrow morning and then I should know something definite. But things are looking up!

It's been a pretty good week so far....work has been busy enough to make the days fly, but not crazy. School has been good too, but ask me again after tonight, when we have our big muscle test. After that....only 2 big tests left-- FOREVAH!

Hope you all are doing well. I will post later when I know what's going on.

Post-Valentine's Day

So how was everyone's Valentine's Day? Mine was OK -- I had to work and then I had class, so I didn't get to see much of my valentine. But he did come in and see me at work and I gave him the valentine I made out of conversation hearts glued onto paper. The hearts said such pithy things as "URA Star" and "[heart] of Gold". He was foreseeing being embarrassed to be seen with it about town, so he made me put it in an envelope for him - hee!

Speaking of my sweetie, here he and I are at his cousin's wedding in 2001! His cousin's wife recently came across a Christmas card from 2001 that she had meant to send us and never did. She included some pictures of us from that year which I just think are so cute. Look how young we look! Not even 30 yet...... Youth is so wasted on the young!

haha, just kidding. I know, I know, I'm still young.

Anyway, not much else going on here. Just waiting around for a certain call, worrying about finals, etc. Have a study session tomorrow to get ready for the final exam in massage class, and have been studying here and there for the big muscle test in anatomy. Tonight in clinic, I am the receptionist! Which means I get to sit on my ass and don't have to give 3 massages in a row. It will be nice to have a break.

My friend Jane did my astrology chart and then read it for me, which was really interesting. It was right on target about alot of things, kind of eerily so. That kind of stuff is so weird. So I guess my really difficult time is when some planet was in some house (forgive me, I can't remember - I think Pluto or Saturn were involved??), which apparently was the last few years leading up to age 32 and I guess now that I'm past that, I shouldn't have to worry about it until I'm in my 60s. So that's nice.

Here's another photo. Also from 2001, before the bad thing went into the bad house. And before I got glasses.

That's about it from here. Saw Capote this weekend and recommend it. Also finally saw the Wallace and Gromit movie, which rocked! The little bunnies in the movie are just so darn cute. And did you watch the dog show last night? The terrier juggernaut on Best in Show (43 titles since 1907) continued, but the dog who won was so delightfully ugly-cute, I didn't mind. I was rooting for the Scottish Deerhound who was very graceful looking (and hounds have only won 3 times since 1907) and he was from Ohio, but no luck. The pug was cute too. Oh, let's face it, I love all dogs and they were all adorable.

Have a great post-Valentine's day!

Almost TGIF!

Just a quick check-in to say hello and things are (mostly) going well. It's been an interesting week, full of more-than-usual highs and lows. I've discovered that my Dansko clogs have spoiled me for any other shoe and I'm apparently incapable of wearing anything but them or sneakers! What can I say, my feet are picky. A had to actually bring me my clogs from home since there's no way I could wear these shoes (previously-comfortable Doc Martens for god's sake!) any more.

It's cold but sunny and it's almost Friday! Those things combined work well for me. Had lovely pad thai with tofu for lunch, which caused my mouth to burn for 20 minutes or so, but it was worth it. Class tonight (A&P - snoozeville!), but Veronica Mars was excellent last night and I have 2 massages this weekend and plans to see Capote. I'm easy to please I guess. I also need to get some serious studying in, because we have our big muscle test in 2 weeks and I am in no way prepared. Pulled out my notecards and was struck at how little I remember. Bad Erin!!

Hope yous alls is doing well. Smooches!

Long Time, No Blog

Hey there people! Sorry it's been so long since I updated you on my boring life. Let's see...what's happened since my last entry? N-O-T-H-I-N-G!! haha. Actually, some stuff did happen - A's mom came home from Africa on Friday (yay!), and we talked to her twice in a 2-day span! First time in the last 2 years. She seems welll and we're hoping she'll make it out to Ohio to visit. I propose that SE Ohio is a perfect place to relax back into the U.S. and get back into the swing of things. It's very laid back here and not too many people are in your face all the time.

Other than that, which was the real big news, my dad had surgery (he's recuperating well at home now), I failed one massage test and got 100% on the other (go figure) and I've gotten some of the nicest comments ever in our clinic. Which is nice, considering the vibe at my day job makes me feel like a bad bad empoloyee. Which I' m not, by the way, but whose ass you kiss is often more important than doing a good job. A sad-but-true fact I have come to realize.

We have seen some great movies lately, including Brokeback Mountain (again), The Corpse Bride, The Constant Gardener and Grizzly Man. All were good but in extremely different ways. I'm getting psyched up for the Oscars and the big party I go to annually, and I'm trying to see as many things as I can. May see Capote this weekend if it's still here, and I'd like to see Good Night and Good Luck but I'm not sure if it's still playing. I never did get around to seeing The Squid and The Whale, because I get really tired of seeing intimate indie pics set in NYC, like there's nowhere else that people have intimate family relations. Maybe that's what I liked about Junebug so much -- that it wasn't set in New York!

And finally, finally, my sister has stopped making fun of me for my love of Veronica Mars because she's now hooked too!! Mwuhahaha! I successfully forced her to watch it and now she and her hubby are (somewhat) obsessed. Go Me! Rob Thomas, you owe me one.

Hope you kids are having a good February! It finally feels like winter and we got snow and everything!

Holy Weather Batman!

OK, this weird weather has got to stop. I know, it's typical Ohio weather, but good lord, 70 one day and 32 the next? 52 yesterday and now you can't see anything, it's snowing so hard!? Dude.

Not much going on here this week. Did massages basically nonstop all weekend, including my day off on Monday. Think I may have gotten a new regular client (knock on wood) which is cool. Have clinic again tonight, which means 3 massages in a row, one of which is on our instructor's daughter, who also happens to be a Licensed Massage Therapist, so....eek! Slightly nervewracking. Got my application to take the massage boards in June done, including the 3 notary signatures, passport-style photos and the recommendations of 2 people who said I was of "good moral character". Fooled them huh? haha. Now I've just got to come up with the $250 and mail the sucker in.

Feeling jealous of Mariya, who's in the Bahamas!! NO FAIR!

Puppies and Kittens and Rainbows, oh my!

LOBSTAH!

Just felt like sharing this funny picture with you. Hat? No, that's what my hair always looks like.

So this week is almost over. Thankfully, it's been much better than last week -- no flat tires or tow trucks in site, and I didn't fall down the stairs once. Good times. My clinicals went well last night -- I even got a tip!! $5, shh, don't tell Hocking College.

I just read an awesome interview with Jason Dohring, my TV boyfriend (OK, one of many) from Veronica Mars. He is so cute! And also says "dude" alot, which I totally dig. Dude! It's just such a great all-purpose word and can relay virtually any emotion. You practically don't have to think at all in your interactions with people -- just say "dude".

I've officially thrown in the towel here at work, which is kind of relaxing and refreshing! I'm just looking now for something else and beginning to get psyched about my upcoming new career (knock on wood that I pass the boards in June!). I had 3 massages in a row last night, and I've got 6 more scheduled from now until Monday, so go me! Hopefully some of these people will turn into long-term clients.

And.......BEST NEWS EVER!!! A's mom is coming home from Africa in 3 weeks!! From today, as a matter of fact. She has been gone for 2 years and we miss her like crazy. Best.Mother-in-Law.EVER. Seriously, duuuuuuuuuuuuuuude.

In other news, we learned Reflexology this week, which was really cool. It hurts like hell in some places and is tough on your thumbs when you're the giver, but your feet feel so awesome afterwords.


Our dogs are doing fine, despite the fact that they had been eating contaminated dog food. I guess over 100 dogs have died, so we're thanking our lucky stars. There was a sad article in The Athens Messenger yesterday about a poor chow who lost her companion dog and who now has permanent liver damage and has to be fed Ensure through a syringe because she can't eat solid food. It was sad but the picture was so pathetically cute.

That's it from here! Hope everyone is having a good week. It's almost over people!!

Bounjourrrrrrrrrrrrr 2006!

So this is my first entry of 2006! How are all of your 2006s going? I have to say, mine did not begin in an auspicious manner, as my slippers and the carpet on our stairs conspired against me at 10am on Jan 1 and I fell down the stairs on my ass. all....the....way.....down. It would have probably been amusing to watch as I bounced down each succeeding step on my ass, while, I believe, I was yelling "I'm faaaaaalllling down the staaaairs!!!!" for, I guess, A's benefit. I scared the shit out of him, but since I landed mostly on my padded buttocks, all was well. I was a little sore the next few days and I currently can't really move my neck (possibly related only to stress and not the fall), but otherwise: no harm, no foul. A has forbidden me to wear my slippers on the stairs anymore, and, like a good wife, I have mostly been complying.

Anyway, the year seems to have really begun now that I am back in school and everyone's back here in Athens. Uptown is teeming with students jaywalking every which-way, making it dangerous to be both a driver and a pedestrian, and the faculty are all back and all of them decided to submit proposals all at one time. It's a stressful time, but I have my Happy Bunny mini sign book to cheer me up (current sign: It's cute how stupid you are) and my new cat calendar - yes, I love cats, so sue me. For some reason, after having received NO calendars last year, got like 7 this year. Where to put them all? Some are freebies -- 2 alone from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, like aren't you guys supposed to be raising money instead of sending me 2 separate calendars? -- but 3 of them were actual gifts and need to be deployed somewhere. Perhaps I will bring them in and leave them for my coworkers, since our employer has decided they are too cheap to provide the calendars they used to give everyone which very helpfully told us when exams and the end of the quarters were, as well as university holidays and whatnot. .

Other than that, not much going on but the winter doldrums. Getting excited about finally being out of school, and about our clinic every Wednesday night. I'm going to get to work on so many different people! It will be interesting for sure and, let's face it, better than sitting in a lecture. I'm not crazy about the 3-nights-a-week thing, but I keep telling myself: IT'S ONLY 10 WEEKS. Say it with me now.

In other news, I love the new mug I got from Mar-Mar. It says "Childless Whore" and has a picture of a well-dressed young woman, sitting quietly drinking coffee and reading a book! I lurv it. Mar rocks.

Ciao dudes!

Au Revoir 2005

So, 2005 is almost at an end. I like this time of year, because I am a cheeseball and enjoy making bad end-of-the-year jokes such as "See you next year" or, the one I just made: "I'm giving up egg and cheese sandwiches for the rest of the year!". Oh, I just crack myself up.

Because everyone else is doing it and I ALWAYS give in to peer pressure, here is my best-of list for this year:

• Best Movie: Brokeback Mountain
• Best Discovery (TV): Veronica Mars
• Best Discovery (music): The Ditty Bops
  
• Best Purchase: massage table (followed closely by my iPod!)
• Best Concert: Nickel Creek at the Newport 10/20
• Best Trip: Maine!!
  

Yeah, that's all I have. I could sit here all day and think of the best of everything but 1) no one cares and 2) it's Friday and I don't feel like it!!

I am instead amusing myself today keeping track of the ass-kissing going on around me.

Another year is ending and one is beginning. Hopefully, this year I will:

• graduate from massage school
• pass the Ohio boards and become a licensed massage therapist
• quit my office job and do massage therapy full-time
• move back to the country
• welcome a new niece or nephew in May
• not go to my 15th high school reunion because that number just freaks me out

among other things...

I hope everyone has a healthy and happy New Year's and an even better and brighter 2006.

Erin, circa 1988

Here's a treat for you all - a picture my dad found of me, my freshman year in high school, for some dance (Sadie Hawkins maybe?). I believe my hair, while not as awful as some 80s hair, is crimped. Check out the scary wallpaper that lined the hallway in my parents' house. Doesn't it look just like flowers growing on a trellis? Yeah, no. Sadly, I thought I was so fat then and now I'm thinking "gee I was so skinny!"

So....the holidays.....went fairly well, considering. Didn't get too much family overload, not too much stuff. It was nice to see everyone, and of course there was good food to be had. Got a duplicate gift of something I bought for myself with a birthday gift card (my bad - it was still on my wishlist), but that only means I get to return it and have a bunch of money to spend at Best Buy. There are worse things, man...the dogs got some Greenies, the cats got some Pounce, A got some clothes, which is good, because he'll never buy them for himself and me buying him undershirts is a little too 50s housewife for me.

Back at work now, which is fairly quiet and no one is here. Looking forward to more short weeks this week and next. Of course, next week I'm back to school which means BYE BYE SOCIAL LIFE! If by "social life" you mean "free time", which I do.

Got the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack as a late birthday gift, which kicks ass.

Hope your holidays were good!!

Brokeback Mountain

I have to say, since I haven't already, I highly recommend Brokeback Mountain. I had the good fortune to see it in NYC when I was there (since it likely won't come to Athens for a while, if EVER). I had huge expectations going in and I was not disappointed. This movie is so touching and heartfelt, so quiet and beautiful. Run, don't walk, people, when it comes to your local theater.

I'm off for the holiday now! Have about 4 hours of work left (unless we get our early - please please!) and then I have a blissfull 4 days off! Of course, alot of it will be filled with family and overeating, but there will be presents too. Despite what people seem to think of me, I'm not totally anti-Christmas -- I object on principal to the fact that it's the only religious holiday that is also a federal holiday (shut up Bill O'Reilly), but I don't object to the general feeling of hope and goodwill people seem to have this time of year (those come in between the bouts of screaming at people in the stores and in the mall parking lot and the tearing out of hair thinking "What do I get Great Uncle Harry the Pervert?"). I do not object to gift-giving, but I do object to the required "I must get _________ something" that causes people to give me crap I don't want, can't use, and that they probably bought at my mortal enemy Wal-Mart . I would much rather people put their money to good use, donating to some worth causes in my name. Or do nothing, I don't care!

A and I are going to Rock N' Roll Karaoke at Casa tonight. Watch out world, here I come!! I've never done it before, and I'm not sure I'm going to get up and sing/embarrass myself. I will definitely tie a few on (don't have to work tomorrow, yay!) and see how it goes from there. A has to work in the morning, so I will have the pleasure of burrowing under the covers and laughing as he heads out into the cold, cruel world. Yes, I'm a mean wife, but he's gotten to stay in bed after me plenty of times in our 13+ years together, I can gloat just this one time! (I reserve the right to gloat Monday too).

Happy Holidays y'all!

It's the most wonderful time....of the year!

That is, the time of year with lots of free days off.

This week has been surprisingly busy at work, although since I'm off school, I have so much free time in the evenings it's lovely. Since I last wrote, we spent about $2,500 to replace our furnace, which isn't as big of a deal as it sounds. We had been meaning to do it since we moved in, but had just been too lazy. So our new furnace is 90%+ efficient, which should help on the heating bills.

Also since I last wrote, I won a pair of kick-ass new Dansko clogs on Ebay, scheduled a 90-minute massage tomorrow that will pay for them, and ate LOTS of chocolate. I must stop eating sugar. I'll stop next year, ha ha ha ha.

Recommended reading for today: Rolling Stone's The Magical Victory Tour Great commentary on Dubya's proclivities when it comes to explaining away what we're doing in Iraq. I love it because it calls Scott McClellan a "spokescreature". FUNNY.

Appropos of nothing, here's a cute picture of my cat, Finn. Love and kisses to you all!

Chipper Chipper Chipper

So I'm in somewhat of a festive mood today. Who knows why, maybe it's the prospect of 4-day weeks facing me for the next 3 weeks (yay!) but I'm chipper as....well, something chipper. Like a woodchipper maybe? Despite the fact that it's cold as hell and our furnace has stopped working!

My new favorite toy are my I [heart] the office stickers -- fun things like I [heart] new toner, painting my nails with whiteout, using my good looks to get to the top (currently gracing my monitor), answering the phone in a foreign accent and the flask in my bottom drawer. I went around and let everyone choose one. And I didn't stick the I [heart] kissing ass and I [heart] backstabbing on certain people's computers like I really wanted to!! Go me.

I'm currently listening to good music, updating my iPod and thinking about all of the CDs I burned on Friday instead of working. Keeping my eye on some Dansko clogs on Ebay and waiting for the furnace guy to call. Oh, and working too!

Jus enjoying being off of school for a while and actually having some free time. Had a great weekend, got to hang with my sweetie alot, read SO MUCH (finished 2 books in the last week and got 3 more at the libary on Saturday) and saw King Kong. Not as great as all the reviews I read, which convinced me to see it, but it was definitely good in some parts. EW has a great little piece on the best times to hit the bathroom, which I would have appreciated before I went to see it. The island part was super creepy, and I like Adrien Brody, despite his somewhat odd-looking face, but overall it was just way too long. I know, Peter Jackson, you think you couldn't have possibly cut anything else out, but next time you have that dilemma, call me. I can help you out.

Hope everyone is having a good Monday (is that an oxymoron?).

Could the weather BE any crappier?

The weather sucks today. It's cold and rainy, and there's still leftover snow and ice everywhere making it even more treacherous. I guess it could be worse -- could be much colder and freezing everywhere. Once again had a lovely egg & cheese for breakfast, but much later than yesterday, since I had to work on a proposal first thing. I had my coat on until 9am, does that tell you anything?

The week is almost over, for which I am grateful. Not that I ever really am, but I'm REALLY NOT in the holiday spirit this year. Being in school is becoming a trial, and I'm just so tired. The conspicuous consumerism of our country is never clearer to me 1) at the holidays and 2) when I go to New York City. I feel the greed trying to suck me under and sometimes I cannot resist. Just say no people! Stop buying shit!

Oh yeah, and Happy Holidays.

Individuality through conformity!

All I was trying to do was post a comment on someone else's blog and here I am with my very own. I have a very boring life and probably won't update this, but it's kind of fun having somewhere to post my thoughts. Of course, right now my mind is blank. Typical. Right now, my favorite things, in no particular order, are:

* Veronica Mars
* vacation days
* being out of school for the holiday break
* my new Happy Bunny mini sign book (Thanks Leslie!) Current sign: Not listening
* breakfast egg and cheese sandwiches
* The Colbert Report

My current pet peeves are:

* office coffee
* the fact that I'm not home sleeping
* super-cold weather (I'm tired of winter already - bad sign, considering it's December)
* Bill O'Reilly and his stupid-ass "War on Christmas"

Hope your holiday season is going well.