Un-F'ing-believable!

I've been drawn out of my lethargy after hearing this morning about Obama's nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Um, say again? Yeh, that was my response after DH Jeff informed me this morning.

What was the reasoning behind the nomination? More importantly, would the reason make any sense to me? I'm dubious. Ah well, he'll be in good company with Arafat.

Updates

I'm now deep into school & have already submitted my first paper. Working on the first five pages of a larger paper. Sending out a paperbackswap book to a requestor today. Must work out. Going to see King Lear @ the Shakespeare Theater tonight. Foot's coming along just fine. Must go now!

Update!

So, the news of Renee:

1. Getting stitches out tomorr--oh, yeah--later today. This is good!
2. I finished Kingmakers. Watch for my review of this book club selection.
3. I'm on the LAST chapter of my Accounting book, which I hope to complete, uh, later today.
4. In the last week, I've been contacted by two Accounting placement agencies. They found my resume on Monster.com. A little clue that perhaps I should have posted my res on Monster first, you think?
5. I've found the joys of Freecycle. This is a forum in which you give stuff away (ie, free). Areas/neighborhoods/cities have their own "branch," for example, Arlington, Virginia has its own site that's for people who live in Arlington. You wouldn't believe the stuff that's offered. It can be real random stuff (eg, unopened cans of Similac, fabric swatches, left-over cleaning products, etc.) - maybe stuff that one really can't sell, wants to get rid of, yet doesn't want to throw out. Or stuff that might sell, but you just don't have the time/patience to go the Craig's List route. You send an OFFER email to the listserv, then interested parties contact you directly to arrange pickup (they have to pick up the item(s) from you). It's actually karmic & keeps stuff out of the waste stream. So far, I've had really positive experiences.

Marching on

Well, I finished Milagro Beanfield War. Wahoo! I'm in the middle of chapter 21 in Accounting. And my tan is coming along very nicely.

On a less bright note, I got another rejection from the Feds regarding a job I'd be perfect at. Mewl. My unemployment benefits are about to run out, so I'm hoping I can extend them...

I'm finally taking care of an old problem in one of my toe joints. Unfortunately, it'll require (minor) surgery. Whatever, this has been going on for years, mostly because my Internal Medicine kept telling me it was nothing (eg, tendonitis). The podiatrist's xrays spoke volumes - it's an obvious bone spur that's been causing so much discomfort.

That is all for now.

Some more "progress"

You know you want it. Well, here it is:

-Finished chapters 16 & 17 in Accounting.
-Applied for a Commerce Dept position.
-Reached p156 in Milagro Beanfield War, which I'm determined to finish, after a reading hiatus of a year. Clearly, I'm a masochist.
-Bought new shoe laces for DH Jeff's hiking boots.

Now I must:
-Go to the gym
-Shop for groceries
-Fold laundry
-Keep my chin up
-Ignore all news, esp. about Savior Obama

Argh.

Progress of sorts

I warned you that I would be giving you updates on my "progress," and you didn't think I was serious?

1. On chapter 16 of Accounting: Investments. Wahoo!
2. Yesterday, I applied for two positions.

Now I have some other realizations:

1. I can't stand Facebook - all the myriad applets. Drive. Me. Crazy.

2. I'm getting a little irritated when folks know my email address, but send me messages thru Facebook. So I get the notice of a message with the text in an email, but I have to log onto Facebook to reply. Uggh. Don't I have to log onto enough sites already?

3. I thoroughly loathe & detest America Online. One of our little projects to wipe my clean system to eradicate all the copious crap that AOL has inflicted upon my poor little computer.

Over and out!

Realizations

So, I've been unemployed now for half a year & have discovered:

1. I suck at time management
2. I'm getting good at crossword puzzles. Also, obsessed.

Nevertheless, I'm gearing up for my re-entry (again) into the world of academics (accounting). Before I start classes in July, I have vowed to complete my entire accounting textbook so I have a leg up (did I mention this?). So, my gentle readers, I will keep you informed of my progress. Also, this serves as motivation to re-engage with blogging.

Ok, with that in mind, I'm reading chapter 15 (of 26) today: Long-Term Liabilities. And, as long as the weather holds out, I'll be reading poolside. Wahoo!

Just because you need to know

Here are five things that are keeping me busy while unemployed:

1. started Rosetta Stone Arabic lessons;
2. working out like crazy woman - new regimen;
3. reading;
4. swapping books like mad(www.paperbackswap.com); and
5. becoming more housewife-y by the minute. because you know the bed needs to be made daily, and the crumbs must be vacuumed, and the magazines straightened, and the laundry done, and, and...

I need a job. Oh yes, I need a job.

Catch of the Day

For those of you who are enthusiastic bibliophiles, but don't necessarily have the room for an ever-increasing library, there's an online book-swap service that I just started using: Paperbackswap.com. Here's how it works:

1) you list books you want to get rid of;
2) another member orders it from you;
3) you send it to them;
4) they report on the site when they've received it; and
5) you get a credit for a book of your choice.

There are no membership fees - your only cost is postage for the books you send. When you order a book, the other member pays the postage.

Cool huh? So far, the members who have received my books are good about reporting the receipt. I've ordered a couple of books, but have not received them yet. I'll let you know how that works out.

Archaeological coolness in Colombia

WaPo has a neat blurb about some really freaky and awesome dig findings in Colombia. Coal mining sites have revealed a treasure trove of fossils, most notibly those of multiple HUGE snakes, that may have fed on crocodiles and giant turtles. Many other well-preserved fossils (fauna but also flora) are being found, the kinds of which indicating that the area was once a tropical rainforest-type place where scrub and small trees now grow. Check out the whole article here.

Realization

No matter how small a residence is, there is always housework to do. Mewl.

Reaction: pick yer battles; tackle the worst spots and accept the not-so-bad spots until tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

Well, DH Jeff & I are about to take off for a weekend in the mountains with friends. So I don't have time to do an actual list of resolutions at this time. Let it be said, though, that the first one is "Get a Job, Layabout!" Ok look for an actual list when I return.

Happy & Safe New Year's celebrations!

Merry Christmas to all!

I'm so ready for Christmas! Gifts bought, wrapped and either mailed or ready to go! I have a good bead on life & am grateful for so many lovely people in it.

So, let's have a wonderful, safe Christmas (or whatever) and start the New Year on a good foot.

Peace out,
Your humble hostess

Too much stuff

Because I [we] keep losing track of all of our stuff, and because I'm a bit OCD, I'm going to create a searchable list of where stuff is. For instance: doorstops removed from our 100 or so doors so we could fit more stuff into 980 square feet: in the cabinet above the fridge; removed door from study: under bed. You get the picture. Yes, I am serious.

Disturbing science moment

Just because you need to see this for your general edification, check out this YouTube clip of a centipede eating a mouse. I personally felt nauseous.

Rambling on Tuesday

Ok, so I'm totally burnt out on politics & news in general that I'm simply not going to comment about it. Sick, sick, sick of all of it.

Well, maybe a little: Obama's "Infrastructure Plan." Slogans & gimmicks but no real substance. Like that's a shocker. BTW, I cheated and just read DH Jeff's assessment of the "Plan." You too can read it here.

Obama smokes. What a wonderful and life-affirming example not only his daughters, but the nation's youths as well. Yeah cigarettes!

I often toy with the idea of buying stock in Philip Morris or one of those Evil Empire cig companies. Why, if I'm so against smoking? Simple: observation & the potential for financial gain. In other words, I see people smoking downtown every day & in bars here in unenlightened Virginia; ergo, folks are still buying the things for their daily poisoning, and since smoking is unlikely to kill them right off, those companies must still be making money. Look, no one's holding a gun to smokers' heads - they can conceivably quit. Why shouldn't I profit from others' stupid choices? After all, I'm already paying for people's stupid choices, so...

On another topic, I've finished a very interesting book & I'd like to review it - yet I've been avoiding it. Hmm. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I seem to be incapable of coherent, succinct summary as of late.

Do you ever get the impression that when folks (of all ilks) say "Middle Class" they mean "having kids, a mortgage and car payments" and not "child-free, renting & dependent on public transportation"? Just saying...

Ok, must go work on my resume. Pooh.

Project or exercise

Well, since I've been unemployed, I've started a project or "exercise" which I've wanted to do for a while. I call it "exercise" because if it doesn't turn out, I can tell myself what a valuable experience it was & how much I've learned from it. If it turns out awesome, I'll call it a quilt or duvet cover (not sure which yet). Hah!

Ok, now I'm going to file for unemployment...mewl. Did I mention how clean the apartment is?

A big Bravo Zulu goes to...

DH Jeff for completing a novel for NaNoWriMo the second year in a row! This is especially praise-worthy & awesome because he wrote most of it in the past week. Wow!

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a contest - for bragging rights really - in which one endeavors to write a 50,000-word novel during November. Yes, that's right, a novel in a month. The benefit (besides bragging rights) is that one then has the first draft of a novel.

It's very cool. I have yet to participate in this because I'm just not that disciplined and have the attention span of a five-year-old. So I'm very proud of Jeff for having done this a second time - AND, he has also written a screen play for a similar contest.

Evidence of my looming domesticity

Last night I (1)made stock from a chicken carcass...from (2) a meal I cooked on Friday. By myself.

(3)I hemmed a pair of jeans. With blue seam tape. By hand.

(4)I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping, wrapping, and it's creative. (5)Also decorating gift tags. Using glue.

It's gotten downright scary.

5 people to thank today

Ok, so today I went into my former office & boxed my computer to transport home. No, I didn't steal it - I bought it from the organization because it's closing shop permanently & had to do something with the computers. Now, those of you who know me are wondering - how was I going to get these things home since I don't have a car? Did I have some car'd friend willing to give me a lift? Well, I do have lovely friends who would have helped had I asked them...but that would have taken forethought, common sense and planning. And I'll have none of that. Short story long, I "planned" to metro in, pack up, then catch a cab home. Brilliant huh? Well, that's exactly what I did. Fortunately, along the journey, I encountered some very nice souls who helped in various ways & should be thanked here:

1. The office building security lady who watched my boxes while I returned the hand-truck to my office;
2. The young man who volunteered to carry the heavy box to the curb so I could hail a cab;
3. The African cabby (accent, people, it was the accent) who carried the box from the curb and later to my doorstep, & admonished me that lifting heavy boxes was not a woman's job but a man's job. Amen to that;
4. The young woman who held open the apartment building doors for me even though she didn't even live in my building;
5. And last but not least, the concierge who lifted the box onto the cart so I could easily take it up to our apartment.

My computer is now home safely, my back intact, my mood cheery. Thanks guys!