A Little Late: Are You Surprised?

I'm just impressed that I am getting to this at all, but seeing as how I decided not to go into work until this afternoon and was unable to fall back asleep after deciding to do so... well, here I am.

Lately, I've been a little sick. Mind you, I've been working very hard to keep from getting very sick, but with people coming down with nasty colds all around me, its rather difficult. Hence why I am still in bed right now. Between working at a place with lots of munchkins and going to school with teachers, I'm surounded. Everything that's out there right now, I'm exposed to. I'm regretting not getting a flu shot.

School is going well, but being on a quarter system is a little strange. I'm already registering for new classes, though I'm having trouble doing so since I would like to maintain 6 credits for my health insurance, but also keep the classes on the same days (either monday & wednesday, or just tuesday) to maximize my hours at work. Its not so much the money from work, its the fact that if I'm not there consistently enough things seem to become a mess very quickly; literally and figuratively. Just writing about this is stressing me out.

I suppose that's the big problem with blogging right now. Things are a little out of control for me, and trying to put a rosy pair of shades on isn't really working. It is starting to get better, though being sick did set me back a few pegs. The very good news is that I will be going to california in a week and a half. Its only for 2 days which is the down-side, but seeing my family will help a lot right now.

Seeing as how this has taken a morose turn, I suppose I will end it, lest the whining should become unbearable.

"No Whiners" as the bike jersies say.

The Big V: Part III aka The Spirit of St. Valentine

A summary of the Valentine event is necessary.

As you know, Alex and I made reservations for Biwa and had looked into an OMSI planetarium show. At noon yesterday, I called Alex on my lunch break and we discussed how the planetarium show was something we could live without.

At 4:45 I was saying my good byes to my boss, hopping in the car, and calling my mother to see how her Valentines day had gone. At 4:50, I was receiving a call from Alex and switched over to talk to him. At 5:15 I was picking Alex up at an emergency center and driving him, instead, to Immediate Care at 99th and Glisan, or somewhere in the near vicinity.

Alex had gotten himself hit at a bike event called the "Chariot Battles". I'll give you a moment to stare at that phrase in shock and disbelief.

"Chariot. Battles." On bikes.

*sigh*

Ironically, the Chariot Battles subtitle was Ben Hurt III: A Valentine's Day Masacre on Wheels. Somehow, Alex didn't get the omen.

By the time he got his finger flap glued down and became the newest member of "Nine Finger" (a club for those that have injured their left index finger (or their thumb in my mom's case)) we were starving. Our favorite inexpensive sushi restaurant was surprisingly low on occupancy and we stuffed ourselves with raw fish and rice. We went to Trader Joes and bought some ice cream since it was right near the sushi restaurant, then headed home to unload my ikea findings so that we could go back to the first hospital Alex went to and retrieve his bike.

By the time we got home it was 9. We had been planning to go out and see a friend of mine that was in town, but I had realized at 8:20 that neither of us was feeling up to it... Sorry Joel.

So, at 9pm we turned on the elctric blanket, popped some popcorn, put some anime in the disc drive, and watched 5 episodes between icecream and popcorn.

All in all, not a bad February the 14th. Biwa will be there next weekend, and so will the planetarium. Joel and I will celebrate the week long party that will be Deb's wedding together in August. All is well.

So, in the Spirit of St. Valentine, Alex now has a glued finger that I am nagging him to baby and I am eating a pink heart cookie that my mother sent me. Did I mention that she is wonderful?

Next year, we'll see if we can out do ourselves. Maybe not.

Enjoy the rest of you love-ly weekends!

The big V: Part II

Yes, I railed on St. Valentine's Day. Yes, I even reposted the most hilarious railings of St. Valentine's Day I have yet to encounter on facebook (and HERE (yes, this is a link)). And yes, I am a hypocrite.

I dislike the holiday thoroughly, almost to the extent that I would forgo the things I enjoy for such a day. However, due to the overwhelming popularity of this holiday, many of my favorite things are in abundance at this time of year. First and foremost, I made the mistake of putting my name on the e-mailing list for my favorite restaurant, Biwa, which I have mentioned before. If I had not done so, I would not have known that they were offering a special expanded menu on the afore mentioned "holiday". Imagine me weighing my options like Justice weighs whatever it us she weighs with her weighing thing. Except I'm not blindfolded, so I can clearly see Biwa winning out over the principle of not doing anything on St. Valentine's Day. 

I cannot be blamed for a tasty restaurant buying into the sham that is the big V. I merely do what my stomach tells me. It says it doesn't care what the date according to the Gregorian Calendar is. 

The other half of the demise of my principles was the OMSI. The OMSI is a museum. I also get their newletters by e-mail. I just noticed this connection. Thwarted by technology again. 

What was I saying?....

Oh! OMSI, that sly devil of a science and innovation museum! Sly devil indeed. 

OMSI is having an event in their planetarium. The event's title is "Romancing the Stars" and includes the telling of constellatory tales of love. Granted, those tales are all from people's past who had less critical sensibilities than we do in our current age, and I happen to like their lack of restraint in story telling. I find the whole idea to be incredibly interesting, and as I have been longing to do an event at the OMSI lately and their e-mail happened to arrive today.... well... you see my predicament here.

So, stone me for hypocrisy. So, Alex and I will be enjoying some tasty Japanese food and then a fun event at a museum. St. Valentine would be abhorred. I am too. 

But, a girl's gotta eat... and learn. 

Happy BIG V (aka, eat and learn day)!

The big V

Oh Valentines Day, how I loathe thee. Let me count the ways!

In a response to a friend this morning, I discovered the topic of the blog that would end my three week hiatus: The BIG V. There are a few words that come to mind when I think of this holiday in all its magnificent pointlessness. However, they aren't really family friendly words, so I'll just keep them to myself and let your imagination do the work. 

You might wonder why I hate this holiday so much, and it comes down to the fact that people hold so much stock in it as a symbol of something it could never possibly emulate: Love. Quite frankly, I find the idea that we have set aside a day to remember to be loving to our significant others to be repulsive. I am excluding anniversaries, though I see the same problem with them... it does seem to make more sense the busier I get that people need to make a point to go on at least one date per year; the diamonds, chocolates, and frilly ribboned things... just get them for me because you feel the need to on a whim, not because societal standards enforce giving.

I began to despise this holiday in high school for very different reasons. Not that I don't still feel this way, but seeing as how my friends are adults now and not as angsty as they once were, its not as big of an issue. I am talking about the alternate name of the holiday: Singles Awareness Day. And when I hear this phrase I simply want to cry out from the mountain tops "Give me a *&$#ing break!!" When someone utters this phrase in my presence I want to grab their shoulders and shake them until some sense falls into their heads. Because what they are saying is that they have set aside a day every year in which they have made a contract with society to be mopey and whiny and miserable. Seems a little pointless to me...

Needless to say, I will not be celebrating Valentines Day this year.

Aside from the big V looming before me, the rest of life has been decent enough. School is going well. I had a midterm in my probability class and I believe I did well. I expect to get at least a B, which is a good score in my mind these days. 

Work is hectic and not exactly pleasant. It has been extremely stressful for me lately with re-enrollment and Claudia going on vacation. Between school, work, and my relationship I have been feeling very maxed out. I'm taking some steps to alleviate it it a bit and get a breath of some healthy air, but it will be slow going. Luckily, slow and steady wins the race, they say :)

Well, Sunday is coming to a close, and I should start moving myself to the bedroom to do some bed time reading. I purchased the graphic novel watchmen recently. I highly recommend it. I have mixed feelings about the movie. 

See you here next week!