Friday 5

1. Everyone has heard about the Starbucks trainings by now. I must say that I’m excited that the training taught me to consistently steam really good milk. That’s one of a barista’s pleasures. But, what a publicity stunt!

2.  Everyday, when I drive up and down the street of my apartment I wonder what it will feel like to drive on it in the spring/summer. Right now, it feels like I’m driving down a very rutty country road, or through a cornfield. No exaggeration! My car literally bounces down the road.

3. I really like the YMCA gym. I like the diversity and the fact that I haven’t found such a busy time that I can’t get on a machine. And today I got to watch the swim team practice. The little girls were a hoot!

4.  I’m still in the unease of waiting for more grad school letters. I can’t wait until I know exactly what is happening in fall. Where will I be? I love looking for apartments and my mouse just itches to click on craigslist. But, it isn’t worth it yet.

5. I finally got Righteous Indignation from the library after impatiently waiting on the hold list. So good! I haven’t read all the essays, but this is one book that I know that I need to own. And, I must say that it’s kind of cool that I know a good amount of the authors in the book–some better than others.

Keeping things in perspective

I have decided to visit Duke, because they gave me a half-tuition waiver. The waiting to find out from the rest of the schools is hard. I don’t know what my other options are. So, I scheduled a trip for after I’ll probably know my options. And I may have to schedule another trip or two after that. I didn’t expect to get any sort of financial aid, because of the master’s program thing. But, I’m definitely grateful.

If you don’t already know, I’m a bit intense when it comes to my future and making decisions. Although most of the time, I disagree with my mother about things, when I went over to drop something off today,she set me straight. I was all stressed out about paying for the flight and a rental car and a hotel. I’m used to having public transportation where I visit, and I know there are buses, but it seemed practical to rent a car. She reminded me that I would only be going to school there (if that’s the choice I made) for 2 years, most of the time would be spent studying, and what the neighborhoods looked like didn’t really matter. So, I’ll hold off on stressing about the car, hope for someone’s couch to sleep on and relax a little. But just a little.

Tomorrow, my sister and my parents are both flying off to California–my sister to the South to visit a friend, and my parents to the North to visit my grandparents.  I will be the only one in town for a whole 4 days. Time to clean the apartment, get caught up on stuff and watch some cable at the parents house. Oh, and of course, I’ll be working, too.

Stay tuned for a post on the merits of certain types of saran wrap

Friday 5

1. I got all ambitious tonight and pulled out butter for chocolate chip cookies. It’s still sitting out and the time just turned to 10 PM. Those cookies are not being made.

2. I just forced myself to stay up until 10 PM. Sometimes, life just exhausts me.

3. Haven’t heard from more grad schools. I’m still deliberating between the 2. I’m seriously vascillating and actually still trying to decide if I should visit before I get the rest of the decisions or not. Opinions?

4. It’s going to be in the 30s this weekend! I can go outside without a hat! And there will be lots of puddles.

5. I feel like I’m living in a book desert. I read the most horrible book this last week (or so). And almost all the books I got from the library were not winners. So, on Tuesday (when I broke my necklace) on surveyed Borders for title ideas. And nothing! I could not find a single book that looked interesting. Either something is wrong with me or people don’t publish in the mid-winter.

13 years

In celebration of my Bat Mitvah, 13 years ago (April 29) my parents gave me a sapphire ring. My aunt had her mother-in-law (a jewelry designer) design a special Star-of-David pendant that was not obvious, as we lived in a less-than hospitable community. The pendant was beautiful and I always receive compliments on it.

I wore both the ring every day (save for camp and waterskiing sessions) since it was given to me. The same goes for the necklace. Last week, I discovered that I had lost the sapphire in the ring. It had disappeared. I was kind of upset, but not teary or anything.

Yesterday, while at Borders, the necklace broke. I thought that the pendant was gone for good. We frantically checked the apartment and it wasn’t here. I just called Borders, and they have it.

I am so relieved. I love that necklace. I play with it whenever I’m nervous and I feel naked without it.

I can’t believe that both pieces of jewelry (the only pieces I ever wear, I might add) broke within a week of each other, at the age of 13.

Friday 5

1. Winter has not stopped here in Madison, although the other day we reached a balmy 20 degrees.

2. I have been accepted to 2 graduate schools! See my pro-con lists for details.

3. I’m more excited than I can express.

4. What’s the most exciting is that I know that I have a future. I’ve been steadily working towards these next steps, but time passes so slowly. Now I know that I will be a graduate student and can continue on with my life-plan.

5. Although I’m not going to visit Temple to help make my decision (because I’ve heard so much more anectdotal information about Philadelphia and Temple), I am going to be visiting Duke. Which, since I’m so bogged down with winter, will be a refreshing change of course. More details, when I know them, to follow.

the opposite of the usual

Winter clothing and I have always had a tempestuous relationship. I was the little kid that needed the clips to keep my mittens together. I frequently lost my scarf, a boot, a mitten. In elementary school, my sister would somehow find the sad, lost companion and bring it back to me (I’m so glad that we were only 2 years apart). She still picks up my gloves next to the car, in the cafe, etc. I’m much better, I must say, and am using the same pair of gloves I used last winter. But, right now, the location of my hat is elusive.

However. Today, as I brushed the snow off my car (really nice and fluffy, I might add), I spotted a bright, cloth object. I grabbed it and discovered that it was my sister’s glove. The tables have turned, folks. I found my sister’s lost glove (on top of my car).

She’ll get it back tonight.

Officially Madison’s Snowiest Winter

See, I’m not crazy. Nope, not at all. This winter has really stretched my tolerance thin, which is especially telling, because I love winter. They have officially declared this Madison’s snowiest winter and spring is still a ways off.

Now, if I could cure my cabin fever…

Friday 5

Ah, Friday 5. It’s still Friday, isn’t?

Well, this wasn’t my best week, but I’ll give it a shot.

1. We had a horrible blizzard and I had to work, of course. I got home after getting stuck in the parking lot at work and then my dad had to come by and work with my car to get it into the apartment parking lot, it took a half hour.

2. Because of the blizzard, my dad noticed that my front tires had no tread. I had to pay 200 dollars for new tires today.

3. I disappointed myself this week.

4. I did have fun in Chicago, but it’s always sad to come home from fun weekends back to the grind.

5. We’re halfway to spring and I’m still wistful about hikes and grilling and green grass.

Chicago Weekend Highlights

I missed Friday 5 this week for no explicable reason except that I had severe Starbucks fatigue. So, here are some bullet point highlights of my weekend in the Windy City (it wasn’t very windy, more like snowy).

• Reconnecting with a college friend. It felt good to have the catch up time and meet her fiancee. AND, we hung out in Andersonville, which is my favorite Chicago neighborhood to hang.
• yummy Middle Eastern food at Al-Khaymeih
  
• Good Chi-town Smithie company all weekend long, plus loving from the very friendly Kedzie the dog.
• brunch at Violet (pretty good!) with a couple of friends that I also haven’t kept in good touch with this year, and their new baby! She had beautiful eyes.
• A pre-Superbowl dipping extravaganza (we made several dips)
• bowling at Diversey Rock ‘n’ Bowl during the game.
• books! I got 3 books for (belated) birthday presents. I was thrilled

All in all it was a fun, friend-filled weekend

Chicago smells good

Usually when I think about Chicago and smells, I reconstruct smells of rotten garbage sitting in the alleys that permeates neighborhoods in the summer. But, this weekend, Chicago smelled like laundry. Yummy, yummy laundry. I first noticed the heavenly smell (can you tell I like the smell?) on Kedzie Avenue near Lawrence…where my favorite Middle Eastern restaurants (grocery stores) are. It was the 24 hour coin laundry. And, then, in the parking lot near the grocery store in Logan Square I smelled the wonderful smell again. (another coin laundry). While walking to our cars in the neighborhood, I’d smell the warm dryer scent wafting up to the sidewalk. It was comforting, because if we were walking to our cars, there was going to be some digging out of cars and some burnt rubber smells to come.