X-poll

for those who've seen X3--

thumbs up? thumbs down? ambivalent flat hand? comments on the handling of the phoenix character? (apparently that's something that graphic novel enthusiasts are debating to some great degree...)


fyi- i love her hair. somebody get mine to turn all fiery red like that. would i be able to pull off that color? that would be excellent.

beautiful weekend

short version: weekend in PA with chris at the rents' house, visiting said rents and a google of relatives and neighbors. VA 5K did not go well (damn the fact that we actually need our lungs...) but the fun run made up for it with Toby's PR of 8:57. rock on! sadness because the rents' pool looked about as welcome as the swamp thing's abode (thanks to the pool dudes dragging their feet to come fix the pump...), so no awesome swimming. in my cute little two piece. damn. watched X3, was neither vomitously repulsed or terrifically impressed--just enjoyed it as pulp entertainment.

returned to MD and watched seasons 1 & 2 of X-Men cartoon on my laptop. chris & i considered phoenix & wolverine for halloween 2006, except that i'd rather not ******** (not giving away the movie's ending! haHA!). next idea is gambit and rogue, from the cartoon. cartoon rogue, fyi, is far better than anna paquin's silly attempt. anyway, it's an idea. went to bed very late, slept in very late, and essentially laid around until 5 or so when chris and i went to the gym. pumped iron, then ate the most fattening sub i could get at quiznos. awesome. so all is well, and i enjoyed the decidedly warmer weather, despite the lack of swim.

now back to my cube at work. *sigh*

gross

but STILL not as big as the city rats...

runs and rebukes

so sunday was face-plant city, and yesterday was easy day with the tobster. today was all about solitude, and i did an easy 5 miler, my regular out & back on roland, easily my favorite route in the city. was out for all of ~47 min in very comfortable spring weather, and the time to myself was exactly what my body needed.

and then my spirit gets a strong talking to. i have not been honest and genuine with some people, and relationships have noticeably suffered, although we're all too nice to complain to each other. we don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. but, in the attempt to avoid any bloodshed, we get caught up in merely pretending with niceties. thanks to the counsel of a very astute phd student, i've realized what i need to do.

i need to pull my head out of my butt and have a true relationship. do we consider the other person's needs? do we consider other P.O.V.s? do we ask what we could do for them? do we treat them as well when we're not pleased as we do when we are?

so, if you're the person who knows that this is about you, i promise that i'm going to work harder. you, i AND our friendship deserve the best.

riddle me this

so, how exactly does God work? i think He has a sense of humor when opening our eyes to Him, you know? since april, i've been doing the drudgery that is job searching, and this whole time, i'm thinking, "WHERE THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO BE, GOD?? HMMMM???

and God must have a direct line to my mom, who always says that things happen when we least expect them. just this morning i was giving up on the job opportunity with the fitness company, and i randomly (yeah, not so random, probably) get an email from the president inviting me to the employee training sessions. !!!!!!!!!!!!! seriously?!

so here comes the hard part.

how do i handle the logistics? i have to get some information from tom, like how many classes/sessions i'd be leading (relating to paycheck), where he most needs me to work, etc. then, based on that, i have to figure out--how do i leave the job i'm at? do i leave before the training, giving them the time to fill my position but leaving me bereft of $$$ for a little? do i wait until afterward and wrap things up quickly, thereby kind of giving them the shaft but still earning myself a little bit of dough before i go?

and do i move? that's based on where and how often tom needs me to teach. i was talking to meawad (a favorite person!!!), and he said that i should think about what i would regret the most--staying in baltimore or uprooting and heading to DC. i'm already feeling that baltimore is getting stale...

but i think the best direction i've ever gotten comes from my sister-in-law maria, who in turn got it from a former pastor of hers:

--you know it's time to move when God provides a calling, an opportunity, and the resources.




i see something exciting unfolding here...

those silly little continentals

read this and then laugh.

2:1

yay, i have new running buddies. excellent! i'll be meeting kim & the other fleet feet runners on thursdays at 6:30. it's so relaxing to do Galloway method. while that won't be my primary mode, it's really nice to shake things out a bit and just enjoy the company. this has also kicked me into my training phase too--i have my shoes (YAY!) and have some good races on the calendar, and hopefully my work schedule will iron out too. i hope...

my room is a disaster. clothes, however clean they may be, are in piles on my floor. oh well.

i am so hyper. and, considering some of my behavior today, probably a little manic. i hate that. i can't relax and focus. i won't be able to sleep either. dammit.

CLARA'S ON THE RUNWAY!!!!

or crawl-way, as the case may be.

i just checked out mia's blog a second ago and read that bebe clara was requested to pose for a line of baptism fashion. clara is the littlest baby of the two and appears in the slideshow above "retailers only."

*awwwwww*




:)

have you ever met a dancing nancy?

neither have i.

i'm feeling rather beat up lately. nothing is horribly wrong; life is just happening, that's all, and i think we're all allowed to feel shitty every now and then.

what puts a smile on my face is my spreading popularity in MATH4202. more specifically, my popularity as an accomplice in the harrassment of chris on his turf (his very office!) is simply blooming! exponentially! excellent.

but seriously. chris really does make me smile. and hey--a party for him--> he's finished his master's thesis and will be getting his degree shortly!!!! after this, no more TA-ing. he's a research assistant who'll begin working on his dissertation. which means i'll see him for two hours on a bi-monthly basis. just kidding. but sort of not. but sort of.

anyway, amidst all of the hard work he's doing, he's just been ____ (adj.) and has ____ (past tense verb) my ____ (noun) so ____ (superlative), and that just makes me ____ (adj.).





*mad libs can be a very bad thing.*

new pix! new pix! new pix!

i'm so generous for availing these pix of my lovely niece and nephews. you're welcome.

:)


goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal!!!





geoff & nici storm the castle gates...

via a cargo net...

at the kiddie museum...








baby girl clara has a bit of a fever, but that doesn't stop her from being absolutely adorable.

:)




nici and manny are born engineers.












squirting ketchup is a very serious affair.









much more poignant than rodin's thinker...












such is my family.
excellent.

i'll take whips and chains for $200, alex

maybe there's a discount for bringing your own handcuffs...

this is light-years away for me, but...

it might pay to be barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.

back on my feet and off my back

numerous things to report:

first, vanishing scent ben gay is beautiful. though still sore, i'm up like an elevator and all about doing my thing.

second, the ambush was a riotous success. and i say riotous because MATH4202 will have spent all day harrassing chris, saying "chris & jojo, sittin in a tree..." and everyone will be crying with laughter. i'm not kidding. anyway, the cookies were loved by all, and chris loved the fresh asparagus. also, i am apparently well-loved by chris's fellow nerds; i am grateful that the numerically inclined will so generously allow a woman of letters into their fold. i get to be a nerd too! YAY! so, to all you haters named steve handy, HA-HA! you owe me a movie of my choosing. and shoot me if i choose rob roy....

third, i have a new job today. once again, it's a temp position, but at this point, work is work (e.g., a paycheck is a paycheck). i'm starting out as a computer person for Classic Photography in ellicott city, and i spent all day itemizating, touching up and saving kids' team pictures. so, not bad, right? BUT OH-HO! one of the co-owners asked me if i want to go on some shoots and learn how to do it all so that i can do it on my own at some point. ARE YOU KIDDING?! i have missed photography ever since i changed majors at umbc. that was foolish of me. i had far too little patience for the science, and i got angry at those who tried to foist their artistic sensibilities on me. and i let that stop me. but now, i have a chance to start again! and you know the funny thing? my sophomore year, i was setting goals for my future... and i still loved photography, and i was discovering my passion for literature... and i remember very distinctly writing down that i would one day do photography AND have a PhD in English...


oh, and i'll be working the world cheerleading championships this weekend. i hope they have the girls from Turin. then it'll be a *real* competition!

on my back all day

not fun. yesterday was rough. i think i pulled a fair amount of back muscles (probably around my lats...) in the morning, and it isn't until you've f***** up your back that you realize how much you use it. it was painful to sit and stand. even when i was lying around and doped up on advil (well, as much as a girl can be), the pain didn't go away. barf. BUT, i decided last night that i would be okay today because i didn't want to be bored to tears. plus i had cool stuff i wanted to do. so, this morning, i was still tight and sore, but i willed my body to cooperate. and i'm glad i did. moving around has helped some, and i am really grateful not being bored to tears. yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!


thanks to my iron will and constitution, i have gone to rite aid and superfresh and am now baking cookies. hopefully my strength will hold up (with assistance from smelly bengay) so that i can ambush somebody later this afternoon. awesome.

family circus

i love beth, my cousin's fiancee. but the bridal shower yesterday was a *BIT* much. actually, i'm in too much pain (seriously) to go off about it, but i do have this to say; if/when i get married, it won't be such a freakin production.



i've been on my back all day. it *SUCKS*. i pulled a whole boatload of muscles in my back, and it hurts to sit or stand. so i've basically spent the past twelve hours lying down. *aside--big shout-out to my girl Kate for bringing up dvds and pizza so that i wouldn't have to torture myself by moving. I LOVE YOU, GIRL!!! anyway. i've been lying down, using a heating pad and doping up on advil like a madwoman. according to my medicallly knowledgeable friends, that's pretty much the only thing i can do. that *SUCKS*. i don't take being sick or injured very well.

get your joke in....

i don't take injuries lying down!

bastard.

anyway, i had some awesome plans for tomorrow, and unless the tylenol PM kicks in and does right by me by restoring my iron constitution, then i'm screwed. d'oh.

okay, the shooting pain is really getting to be a little much. i'm going to bed. or, well, just staying in bed...

dammit.