I don't know if we've met, but I'm The World.

I had the FUNNEST night tonight!!!

Katie invited me to a lecture at the Chicago History Museum called, "Why Do We Care? Pop Culture and the Media." Walter Jacobson (of Chicago news fame) and Mark Caro from the Chicago Trib were the speakers. It wasn't a bad lecture, but there was really no debate, and I don't even really feel like the question was ever answered. Alright, I take that back. Some ideas were thrown out there -- escapism, identification with celebrities, etc.

After the lecture we walked over to  Bricks Pizza on Katie's recommendation. We had a baked goat cheese bruschetta appetizer, and for dinner I had their green garden pizza, which was uh-mazing. Pesto sauce, cheese, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, basil and diced red pepper. So fucking good. Additionally, we bought a bottle of Fleur Pinot Noir (also Katie's pick) , and THAT was great. Fuck salmon & pate, it was amazing with my pizza. I want to go buy three bottles. Through dinner we got to watch the Cubs game into the 10th inning, but we left, and they eventually lost to the Astros 5-4.

On the way to the train station, she put in the gangsta rap CD her brother made her, and I danced and sang and it was hilarious and awesome. We haven't had a good time like that in a while, but we need to have another one again very soon.

Wilco @ Pritzker is sold out, and I am pained. Fucking pained, friends. I let that one slip right through my fingers. Now I am resigned to Craigslist. I will get tickets, and I am going.

Today was nice. It included a hot dog and a movie and friends and news of going to the beach Saturday morning.

The Cubs are ON TOP at a .538 to the Brewers' .537, and Wood slated to be back on the mound by week's end. I lost 6.2 lbs this week. I bought very cute new underwear. I have all the makings of a great fruit tart in the fridge, I've just got to put it all together. My dad is okay. I smell good. I have a new purse.

I am going to sleep and hope my goodness keeps on.

Woo! I woke up and worked out this morning! I really needed to, even if I stopped 5 minutes short of an hour of cardio and was pretty tired throughout. At least I did it.

I'm working a lot the next few days, and it seems like a LOT (and I guess it is, really), but I've only worked 12 days this month! The paycheck is still going to be nice, but, hah! Well, I guess that is part time.

Kyle left to be a camp counselor for a week. It's going to be so hard not to talk to him daily. I'm sure it will be hard for him, too, plus he's going to miss Lucy. But, I know it will be good for him.

School starts in... let's see how many days... 19 days. I'm really pretty ready to go back and get in the swing of things. I sort of miss class.

Weeell... time to blow dry my hair and put my things in my new purse. Then, more work.

Who is the very first friend you ever had?  Are you still in touch?

Albert is the very first friend I made on my own. We became friends in kindergarten. It was pretty easy because he had a crush on me. At Christmas he gave me an engraved ornament. It was two candy canes shaping a heart with my name on the bottom, and, "From Al" on the back. I opened it just shy of Christmas even though I was told to wait (I couldn't!) and my dad & I went to get him some Matchbox cars. I sorted through a lot of cars before picking a cool one or two. I wish I hadn't lost that ornament. I still have the Christmas mouse engraved ornament he gave me later.

We also lived across the street from each other, so we were at each others' homes all the time. It's likely that he first played Nintendo in my basement. The Nintendo that my dad got us because it had "fallen off the truck," if you get what I mean. HOT.

He cried at our 8th grade dinner dance because I was moving away for high school. I think I could only chuckle at him, and he told me, "Shut up! You're like my sister!"

Lots has happened since kindergarten. We don't live so close anymore, and we don't see each other very often, but when we do, it's like a beat hasn't skipped since the last time we met. He still thinks I'm funny.

He'll be in my wedding next summer.

I'm still the same! That post below... re-reading it makes me sad. All of it was true, but I never got it. A friend of mine got it, and is learning and doing so much. I am so jealous of it. Ugh. Maybe it just wasn't my time or some such bullshit.

I'm ready to go back to school, though. I'm ready for new subjects and more learning. I gave my two (really three) weeks' notice at the job I worked at all summer. They want me to work all three weeks, and I should have known it. Well, whatever. I suppose it's a bit more money. I haven't saved SHIT so far this summer, and that was the entire plan! Oh, boo.

Kyle & Lucy left today after spending a little over a week with me, and now I miss them both SO MUCH. I regret not kissing Lucy goodbye. She is the sweetest dog.

Alright, I am tired and wiped out from work. Maybe more of this business soon.

So, I had the interview, and it went really well. Really, really well. I didn't stumble over my words, I was confident, and I could answer her questions. She told me flat out that she was impressed with me, that she liked me very much and that 'passion was dripping from [my] pores.' How flattering! I was thrilled. Thrilled. Of 38 applicants she was impressed with me! When I asked her how I could sumbit the letters of recommendation I didn't have with me, her mood changed. She searched for a polite way to tell me that my not having them could really 'ding' me in the application process.

Rewind.

Yesterday I returned their call, and they asked when I'd like to come in for an interview. I explained that I could come tomorrow (today), but I didn't have the letters of recommendation. Would that be alright? She checked. She came back, and told me that'd be fine. Alright then, tomorrow it is!

I would NOT have taken the interview today without those motherfucking letters if I had any idea that it'd be detrimental to me in the process. But you know, I asked. And she said, OK! So, there I was. Getting glowing reviews with a 'but...' at the end.

I'm getting the letters tomorrow. A day late, and a dollar short. $14.55 an hour short. I'll run them over to the hospital to her office right after school. And I will wish and hope and pray that I had it together enough today and that she was as impressed as she seemed to be.

I need this to happen.

I thought today was a good day. Maybe it was up to a point but now I feel like shit. My best friend and I had plans to hang out tonight (sadly, we don't hang much), and she snubbed me for another friend of hers who 'needs her.' When I explained that I needed her, too, she asked why. I said, "I need you to be my friend." She went on to say that she was my friend, yadda yadda, stupid shit. She's basically sticking by her shitty shitty decision to ditch me because 1) Her other friend had a mortifying episode and needs support (what? over dinner?) and 2) Because she's seeing me on Friday. Except I don't even really care to see her on Friday, now.

I have an interview for a nursing externship tomorrow at a local hospital. Getting an externship would be huge, and I'm applying for OB, Labor and Delivery. A friend of mine is also applying for the same position, and is taking it just a step above 'friendly competition.' I'm not optimistic about it at all, but it'd be great to get. I also applied (again) for a student nursing job at another hospital. I'm not optimistic about either of these, really, but at least I'm trying.

I'm also really not interested in wedding planning anymore, except it has to be done and I know I (largely) have to be the one to do it. The date for the wedding is in June (2008), which means it's prime wedding season, and I should be on top of finding shit we need before someone else finds it for their wedding. I just don't give a shit right now, though.

Not tired, but I think I'll try sleeping.

Hum

"Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 5 facts about yourself. Then choose 5 people you want to tag and list their names. Then leave a comment on their blog letting them know they’ve been tagged."

1) I was on homecoming court my senior year of high school. I absolutely won, but the faculty wouldn't let me win with my negative campaigning. A 'popular' band geek won instead.  I gave her one of my carnations. I heard she got fat. I don't think it had anything to do with the carnation, though.

2) I used to write a lot, and I thought I was pretty good at it. I could certainly have written what some 'famous' bloggers currently write, but I let it all go to shit. I don't really know how. I think I fell in love and then stopped, or something.

3) I love dogs, and I pretty much hate cats, but if the cat isn't a total asshole and is kind of nice to me (and also cute) I may pet it a little. But then I will still hate it.

4) My favorite comfort food ever ever ever is my dad's beef stroganoff. I keep asking him to write down the recipe and he won't do it. I've made it with him a few times, but I don't think I'd be able to get it right without some kind of guideline to follow.

5) I don't keep a check register. I don't write down what I spend at all. I do fuzzy math in my head, and I get the actual figures from the internet banking site. Sometimes I will spend money for about a week without checking it online, and
lazily doing it in my head, and that's where I get fucked up. I'm not very good with money.

Tagged:
Wimpdork
Kyleg
(I have no more friends)

Everything's alright, you know?

This week I've got a good deal of stuff going on, but the weekend off really got me fooled into believing I can handle it without going crazy. I'm nearing the finish line, anyway.

It's snowed, and it's been really cold. I mean, really cold. Right now it's 10 degrees, and the moon is full and there's snow on the ground. I had soup for dinner and finished writing out my holiday cards. That is unless you would like one, of course. Ask nicely and I may oblige -- I do have some left over.

I've started drinking coffee again and I had forgotten just how wonderful it is. So many flavors, so warm and rich... and the aroma. Mmm. If it didn't keep me up I'd be drinking some right now (come on, decaf just isn't the same and you know it). It's probably not good for my blood pressure, but I haven't taken my blood pressure lately, and so that makes that possibility easy to ignore.

Tell me what's going on in your life -- I miss you.