Thursday, April 30, 2009

another day another dollar

i feel like i recently used that as a blog subject. or, as a something subject. email, maybe.

anyways. another unexpected work day. i have worked a total of one thousand hours this week.

nah, probably not really.

but, i did work tonight 5:30-10pm. Courtney called out sick. i told my boss i could work tomorrow night too, if Courtney is still sick. and then i called Courtney and told her that. she's been sick lately, and i told her not to worry about coming in if she didn't feel good. she said she thought she'd be back, but i think she appreciated me calling.

anyways. it was such a busy night at work. man. there was a huge debate over "normal school versus charter school." i had to reign it in a bit. it was getting really loud.

and, there was no dinner. like, nobody cooked dinner tonight. so, that was strange. but, i walked into the kitchen when the toddler was eating her supper and we had a pretty nice conversation.

TODDLER: Hi Julie!
JULIE: Oh, hi!
TODDLER: Julie, I like your shirt.
JULIE: Hey, thanks!
TODDLER: I love that shirt.
JULIE: Thank you.
TODDLER: Julie, you happy?
JULIE: I am happy! Are you happy?
TODDLER: Yeah!
JULIE: Good! Did you have a good day at daycare?
TODDLER: We did the jumping game!
JULIE: You did!? Wow, that sounds like fun.
TODDLER: (to Diane, also in the kitchen) Di, I got a boo-boo on my finger.
DIANE: Oh no! Does it hurt?
TODDLER: Yeah. Julie, I got a boo-boo on my finger.
JULIE: I heard. I'm sorry to hear that.
TODDLER: Julie, you happy to see me?
JULIE: I am! I'm very happy to see you.

she is the sweetest. and there was another baby in the kitchen eating his supper and the toddler was just making him laugh and laugh and laugh and it was probably the cutest thing happening in the entire world. omg, they were just looking at each other and laughing! the other baby is 9 months and he just started making this laugh that is just so funny to hear. it's like, "HA HA HA HA." oh, he's so funny. and the toddler kept saying, "ooeeeooooeeeoooeeeoooeeeooo" and it would just make him laugh so hard, and then she would laugh so hard, and then everybody would start laughing. it was the greatest.

so, like i said, nobody cooked dinner tonight. so, i think the girls thought that meant there were no dinner chores to do. well, Emily (who i was working with) and i did not realize that nobody did their dinner chores until after 9pm. and i was doing their charts for the night and tallying up their sign-out time for tomorrow (based on behavior tonight) and then i needed to go out in the kitchen for something. and i walked into the kitchen and IT WAS A DISASTER ZONE. dishes piled up in the sink, a huge puddle of water on the floor, stuff spilled on the counters, a full dishwasher. it was disgusting.

so then, emily and i talked it over and decided that they all know that they're supposed to do these chores. so, i had to go back into all their behavior charts and give them minuses for chores. which they will all be pissed about. and none of them have phone on friday which they will be even more pissed about.

and we got a new computer for the staff office. our old one completely died this morning. and so we took a 'new, old one' from the other Julie's office and set it up in the staff office. it's nice.

it was nice working with Emily because she's graduating from college in 9 days and she probably won't be back for a while.

anyways.

so, i might be working friday night. but, i might not be. i guess i'll find out in the morning.

i'm tired. MAN. i slept sooo good last night. i went to bed around 2am and then woke up at 6:30 for work. and those hours in between were wonderful. just like, that really fulfilling sleep.

and then went back to bed around 9. and when my alarm went off at noon, i JUMPED out of bed and thought, "omg i'm late for work!" thinking it was 6:30 again. i do that so much! i hate it because i get so scared i'm going to be late and they won't get their meds, and the door won't be unlocked.

so. i think i will away to bed.

i might start my side job as babysitter next week!!!!!! yikes! for one of my coworkers! she adopted a little, little baby. the baby was born 7 weeks premature and she adopted her right after. when i first met the baby, she technically wasn't even supposed to be born. but man, she's beautiful.

yikes. that's scary.

okay. for bed now. i mean, to bed now.

hey - it's friday! happy may day! it's may! holy man. have a good start to the month!

<3

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

lucky susan

so, i think i have found a new celebrity crush. mr. tim robbins. i think he's super handsome and has got a very nice voice.

the reason i say this is because i just finished watching City of Ember. this is one of the series of movies released last summer that i thought they should make theme park rides out of. i decided to rent it because i had remembered thinking it looked good and pretty interesting.

it was very good! and very interesting!! i haven't read the book, which i'm sure explains much, much more. at times the movie felt rushed and jumpy. like, in the beginning and in the end. i definitely feel like there were parts in the movie they could have cut out and used the time for explanation purposes.

so, the movie is about this civilization that was built by "the builders" to last for 200 years, on a huge generator power, deep deep underground. so, finally after 200 years, the power starts to go out and people don't know what to do. but there's this whole code thing and instructions on how to get out of the city, if the 200 years have gone by. so, leave it to these two teenagers and a small child to be the first ones out. but, the ending sequence where they are following the map and unlocking the next clues on how to get out, is really quite exciting.

and i felt the music did a lot for the film. there were some long shots without any dialogue of some 'big moments' and i felt the music really added a lot.

and Tim Robbins plays the teenage boy's father, who was bff with the teenage girl's father when they were young. and they had tried to get out of the city once before, and the girl's father ended up dying.

Bill Murray is also in it. he's good and pretty comical/evil.

so, yeah. basically i just wanted to give a short review as well as mention the crush on Tim Robbins. he's a handsome guy. i think he's one of those guys who looks better with age.

Andrew visited today! we did some song writing and some recording. i had written what i thought were nonsense lyrics yesterday morning at 3:30am, and mysteriously there is one part of the lyrics that fit absolutely perfectly in with the music Andrew had written. so, we laid down the track. and as i was singing the lyrics over and over, i realized that it was kind of a beautiful song. even though i'm not quite sure what it means yet.

it's called The Blue. andrew says he thinks the lyrics are "highly personal" and that they "have a sort of lonely longing" to them.

so, i think it will be another good cd. we finished 2.5 songs total. by next week we've got to have all our lyrics written. so, i've got to get on my game. i also have to write another rap. i can't quite think of a hardcore-enough subject yet to rap on. perhaps suggestions? the first rap i wrote was about a baby bird. and the second was about outer space.

right now, i'm thinking 'springtime'. i've kind of been coming up with some good lines.

anyways. i'm just now listening to some of me and andrew's old stuff. ha, the cover of that Nick Lachey song we did. What's Left of Me. i actually think it came out awesome.

not sure about my thursday plan. possibly library. definitely sleep.

tonight was rough. i was downstairs checking in with Cheryl. man, i just can't even explain how ridiculous some of this stuff is. so much lying and manipulation it drives me insane.

i vacuumed my rug this morning and it looks so awesome. i had to clean for andrew. i also used my new bathroom cleaner. it's the Green Leaf and Mandarin that Seventh Generation puts out. it smells so leafy and foresty! i wasn't going to buy a bathroom cleaner at all. i was just going to use the all-purpose cleaner for the tub and sink.

but my effing sink gets so gross like, the second after it's clean. seriously. it gets all grimy and disgusting. so, i figured maybe i need to actually buy a bathroom cleaner to clean it. it seems like a pretty normal sink. porcelin, or something. and old-timey sink. the hot and cold water come out of separate faucets.

anyways. enough of the grossness.

hm, okay. i think bedtime is near. gotta do a walk-through first, though. i have a very strong feeling there will be a conflict in the morning. actually, i'm pretty sure there will be. and i need to be ready and FIRM.

as the weather is becoming warmer i also have to be the 'appropriate clothing' police in the morning.

perhaps i'll fix my curtain tomorrow. add on the extra fabric to the bottom again. even though it's too short right now, i'm so freaking proud of it. i'll take pictures when it's complete.

OK! love you. have a great end of the week. any fun plans for the weekend?? me? no. probably being lonely. and maybe lazy.

goodnight friends.

<3

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

break through the mold

zac is so good at jumping off of things. i guess that's what people do when they're emotionally tortured.


i finished my medication homework for tonight! it was really interesting and informative. i like learning about all the different types of medicine, different ways to take them, proper storage and documentation. it went by really fast. i was almost going to do the work for next week, but then decided to watch High School Musical instead. a logical and natural evolution to the evening.

and i made a picture and hung it above my tv. this time it was from a shirt that said, 'let the sun shine'. i think i told you about it. i hung it by the windows where the sun shines in, duh.

now it's pretty cold in here. i've had that fan on all night and it's quite chilly. i like it. it feels nice. i might leave it on all night because i forgot how much i love having some sort of noise on constantly.

also, i forgot how annoying Gabriella is. and her little giggle. all she does is giggle and pout. and wear short little sundresses.

also, who knew Troy's best friend's name is Chad?? since when did that happen?? i didn't remember that at all. they kept saying his name and i was like, "who the heck is chad??" and all i could think of is CHaD, the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth. probably because i've lived in the hospital for the past two days. is that really his name?

did i ever show you pictures of the totes brillz Halloween costume i made for kara this past year?? i need to get those pictures. i hope she has them.

but, it was right after we saw HSM3 in the theaters and it was right before Halloween, and she was like, "if you make me a Troy costume, i'll wear it." so - I WAS ON IT. like white on rice.

bought red shirt, red gym shorts, white felt. spent hours drawing letters that spelt out WILDCAT. and BOLTON. and 14. hot glued them onto the shirt. it took allllll night. and she needed it done in one night because she was going back to school the next day. it came out AWESOME. like, i felt like a mom. and i rocked it.

did she wear it? no. i think i've seen her wearing the shirt sometimes to bed. ah well. but, the costume RULED.

wait a sec - now the events of that night are coming back to me.... i think i felt so inspired by the costume, i might have taken pictures of it with a magazine page pictures of Zac himself. did that happen? now i'm kind of thinking it did. yeah, i've got to get those pictures so i can show you.

anyways. i've got to get to bed so i can wake up for work. i can feel a power struggle with one of the girls happening in the morning. i have a feeling it will happen. i need my rest so i can be strong and firm.

ALRIGHT. sleep well friends. have lovely mid-week adventures. talk to you soon!!!!!!


<3!

extraction distraction

so, i forgot to mention the best part about last night!

i called my boss, Charlene, when i was on my way home, because she stayed at the house while i stayed at the hospital. and so, i called her at quarter to 2am and she said, "so, why don't i just finish the overnight, and since i'll be down here in the morning, you don't have to come down." NICE. so, i got to sleep in. and she said we would work on figuring out hours and everything later because she didn't want me to lose any time.

WHICH WOULD SUCK. because the overnight time is different than the day time. i really hope i don't have to use personal time because i was working until 2am.

anyways. so, went to bed at 3am. cell phone woke me up at 11:30.

"Julie, do you want to work this afternoon until around 4:30?"

i said yes. they just needed someone to bring a resident to her doctor's appointment and stay there with her. oh, and pick up another resident at the hospital and bring her home. ok, fine.

so, staff meeting was pushed back until 1 today. and we didn't really start talking about anything until 2. so, then i had to leave at 2:15.

here was the plan:

- bring GIRL 1 to her doctor's appointment
- drop her off and go pick up GIRL 2
- bring GIRL 2 back to the house
- go back to the hospital for GIRL 1's appointment

the appointment was at 3 and the scheduled pick up was at 2:30. nothing happened on time.

- i dropped GIRL 1 off at the appointment at 2:30
- picked up GIRL 2 just after, but of course they weren't ready and she still had an IV in and everything.
- leave the hospital at 3
- at the house by 3:15 (every red light. so much traffic)
- back at the hospital for 3:35

so, i felt really bad being a half hour late for her appointment. and so, i go to check in and tell them i'm here and they're like, "oh yeah! she's in a class right now."

and that's when i realized i had absolutely no idea what this appointment was for.

it was for her wisdom teeth! i walked into this class of kids and their parents and the doctor was explaining the wisdom teeth extraction procedure. it was funny.

and then after his presentation there was another presentation by the nurse. it was like,

soft, cold foods!
no sports for two weeks!
no mouthwash!
ice for ten minutes!
take your prescribed medication!

the whole thing seemed kind of lame. it just totally felt like a way for the doctors to make it a more personal experience or something. but like, a staged one. not a real one.

and then they individually went over each child's chart with them and their parents. they all thought i was "the mom." not sure how i feel about that. this girl is 16. i'm 23. really?

i had to sign a consent form saying that i was going to get GIRL 1 have her wisdom teeth out. and the LNA got pretty mad at me because i turned around and asked GIRL 1 if she wanted me to say 'no' or 'yes' in case of the need for blood transfusion.

LNA: No! She's only 16, she can't consent to anything! YOU need to decide, that's why I asked you if you could sign consent forms. Well can you?!?!
JULIE: Yes!

that just irked me. and then, she got mad at me again because i was taking too long to read the form. or, i WAS reading the form. i think she thought i was just there to sign things. OH NO.

LNA: Ok, just sign the bottom of this.
JULIE: Alright.
LNA: (walks away, then comes back.) Ok, just sign there.
JULIE: I know, I'm still reading.
LNA: (sits down in a huff)

seriously, she was in a huff. and then! she was upset that she had to fill out the "hannah house medical follow-up form," which we need to bring to every appointment. it was like, "you wanted me to sign all your forms, now you can sign mine!"

yeah, what a great personal experience. thanks, Dartmouth Hitchcock.

but! the lady that saved the whole day. Karen. the appointment setter/wisdom teeth secretary. she was GREAT.

we walk in,

KAREN: (in a thick long island accent) Hello hello! Come in, please. Alright, we're here now to set your appointment...(looks out the door at another lady) OH! IT WAS YESTERDAY!!
OTHER LADY: Haha! No, ours is on Saturday. We're all going to celebrate.
KAREN: Ok, count me in. (back to us) Everyone's just havin a birthday around here, you gotta celebrate the secretaries birthday's too, ya know. Ok, so when would you like to have your wisdom teeth out?
GIRL 1: As soon as possible.
KAREN: Ok. Please, sit down! Take a chair, pull up a chair, relax a little!! Ok, as soon as possible. Geeze, you've got beautiful lips. Doesn't she just have beautiful lips? Oh, you look so much like my neice. Paige. Oh, I love her but she's a little devil. A little disaster, that one. Not that I'm sayin you're a devil. Although, maybe you are, I don't know.

oh, she was great. i immediately wanted to be her best friend.

so after that, i dropped her off at school and went home. checked in downstairs for a while. there was lots of gossip. so much drama.

so then, i went to the upstairs office to check in with Diane. actually, i wanted to see Julie. the other Julie. to talk to her about the girl who was admitted to the hospital last night. but, Julie was already on her way to the hospital.

so, Diane called her cell phone for me and i talked to her. i just needed to know if she still needed me to bring up the list of things she needed. Julie thought no, because she had already brought things up this morning and then was bringing more then.

but, we actually talked for a while on the phone. i really like Julie. she had worked one-on-one for a while with (we'll call her GIRL 3) before she came to live here. so, they are really close. and Julie told me that when she went to see GIRL 3 this morning at the hospital, GIRL 3 told her how nice it was to have me there with her last night and how she was really happy we were able to have a conversation without me getting mad at her, or getting her in trouble. which has been most of her conversations with some other staff here.

and she told Julie that she thought "the two Julie's and Sue" were the only people there who liked and supported her. so, that felt really nice to hear.

and that's actually why i decided that i didn't mind taking her to the hospital last night. i knew how i would be with her, but i didn't know how another staff would. i knew that she liked me more than the other staff who would have brought her up, had i said no. so, i'm glad i made the right decision.

and then, Julie told me the best part. she said to me,

"it sounds like you really made a difference in her life last night."

wow, that was pretty much like the best thing to hear, ever. it actually made me a bit teary. that's like - the ultimate. ya know? like the thing that is above all things. making a difference. having it really mean something to another person, especially when they need someone to support them.

so, i felt really good after that. i still feel really good.

and then! i was telling Diane how hott it was upstairs and she was like, "here! borrow this window fan!!" yes! so, i got that going. i had to use the extension cord from my chandelier because there are no outlets in my bedroom. well, none near windows.

anyways. so, 6pm i finally got back upstairs.

oh, also, last night in the hospital, me and GIRL 3 were talking about her baby girl. the 10-month old who is so smart and beautiful. and she said,

GIRL 3: Whenever I hand her to you, your whole face just lights up!
JULIE: I love her!! She's the greatest baby.

so, that made me happy too. and also a little embarrassed. ha. oh, i love that baby.

alright. well tonight, i have a busy schedule. i have to do homework for my medications class. i was going to do it last night, and the night before. but, i ended up working. so, lots of reading.

also the bed bug guy came back today to reinspect. he did another treatment because he found one alive in the infected bedroom. so, that's just great. i haven't seen anymore up here.

also, tonight i got a phone call from Aer Lingus. the airline we're flying to Ireland. she said the flight times have changed and we're now also stopping over in Shannon. i said that was fine. thanks, bridget.

ok friends. i hope you are having a good day. again, too hott. one "bank sign temperature" display said it was 92 degrees. it was quite warm. i hate it.

andrew is coming to visit tomorrow. we're going to start work on a new cd. lyric writing and recording, i think. should be fun and exciting as always! i like making cds.

alright. hope your night is well. stay cool, san diego. i'll talk to you later.

<3,
.Jacuzzi.Jacuzzi.

Monday, April 27, 2009

the rundown

for your records and mine, here's a rundown of my work schedule the past two days:

SUNDAY:
work 1-10:30
overnight 10:30p - 8a

MONDAY:
work 8a - 2p
(off from 2 - 7:30)
work 7:30p - 2am

man. nonstop. it has been so crazy crazy busy here it's unbelievable. like, i feel so exhausted. physically and mentally.

monday was kind of a surprise work day. i didn't sign up to work until sunday evening.

so, i wake up at 6:20 monday morning to get ready for work. 6:45 downstairs for school. that went fine.

played with the toddler from 7-7:30. snake book. oh, we found that snake. then, i drove her to daycare and dropped her off. no hug goodbye. she saw her friends and ran off. such a little heartbreaker. i was like, "wait!!!! bye!!!!"

then, back to the house just in time for the huge delivery truck to pull in. just my effing luck. he only had four boxes for us today, which was nice. only one was really heavy. actually, no, they are all so freaking heavy. especially at 8am.

after that, i covered the house until around 10am. man, it was busy. a lot of phone calls. and i had to make a trip up to the hospital and i kept starting to leave and then something would make me stay.

so finally, i decided that now there wasn't enough time to go to the hospital before the WIC appointment. so, i would just bring all the stuff i needed and go after.

so, get the baby ready, put her in the car, and me and her mom go pick up another mom at the high school. we drive into "old west lebanon" to the church on maple street for the appointment. all very nice ladies working. i had never done a WIC appointment before, so it was a good experience.

after that, we made a trip to normal west lebanon to go to Wendy's. one of the girls was missing lunch at school. so, they got delicious food and we were off. back to the school to drop her off. back to the house to drop off the other mom and cutest baby in the world.

and then i could finally make my trip to the hospital. by this time it was noon. they had the hospital grounds patroled with guards handing out information about Swine Flu. ugh gross.

did my hospital business. totally rocked figuring out where to go.

back to the house by 1ish. sat in on meetings until 2 and then i left.

upstairs. ate some cookies. took a nap. did my timesheet. had to make some work phone calls. then, just after 7 i went downstairs to turn in my timesheet. checked in with my boss a little.

ended up volunteering to take someone to the emergency room. (we all know i don't mind waiting)

so, i had to go pick her up at the place where she was, and then we left. back to the hospital. we didn't have to wait long at all. which, for once, was too bad because the entire Dartmouth Varsity Rugby team was there!!!!!! oh, that was a sight for sore eyes. heck, if i were sick or bleeding in that ER, seeing those boys would have made me feel better. they were handsome.

apparently one of their team mates cracked a few ribs and they all came to visit. even the coach was there! it was great! they were like a family.

anyways, so then we were called in. they took us to a room off of the most horrible hallway ever. there was one guy whose hand had just gone numb, one guy with a knee injury, and this girl.

THIS GIRL. she was playing volleyball and somehow fell, hurting her knee and ankle. she was SOBBING the entire time she was there. omg it was awful. and she was yelling and swearing and refusing to practice her crutches. she had sprained her ankle, twisted her knee and had a tiny cut on her leg. but man, you would have thought her whole leg had fallen off. SOBBING. oh, it was misery.

and so, we were in this little room for a while. probably from 8:15p - 12:30a. then, we were moved to a room upstairs because they were admitting her.

actually, the room might have been downstairs. it definitely was downstairs because when i took the elevator to leave, i had to go up. but yet, when we were on that floor, we were high up. that hospital doesn't make any sense. i hate it. it's too big and too confusing. and clearly it is full of space and time warps, as i have experienced before.

so, i stayed with her until she was all set in her room. i finally left at 1:40am. got directions from the nurses to the ER parking lot. omg. which was horrible. because they were like,

NURSES: Drive safely! There are deer in the parking lots at nighttime!

OMG. i was horrified. DEER. luckily i didn't see any when i was leaving. i would have freaked.

anyways. so now i'm super tired. i didn't want to go to bed without saying goodnight. and updating.

tomorrow is staff meeting. i have to go down a little earlier to get some things ready so someone can bring them to the girl in the hospital.

k. i need to go to bed. i'll talk to you again later. goodnight. goodbye. sleep well. have good days. don't get that flu.


<3

Sunday, April 26, 2009

house of reginas

they should seriously consider renaming Hannah House, Regina House. because this house is full of little Regina George's. little mean girls.

omg they are so tiring. everyone came back from vacation tonight. and i was the only staff working from 4:30-10. UGH. so much stuff. like, it was just busy and hectic and noisy. and i couldn't wait for the night to be over.

BUT. i'm working tomorrow morning until 12:30pm. yeah NOT excited about that. i have to do a WIC appointment and i've never done it before. there are two girls who have appointments at the same time, in (i think) different places. so, i'm going to give my boss a call in the morning and see what i should do. and if babies need to be present at these appointments.

and i'm seriously tired. i might just eat supper and go to bed. again, another night with no Zac. i don't think i could stay away for a movie. but a Gossip Girl? yes.

um, what's with this public health emergency thing? that really grossed me out.

so, tonight doesn't seem to be as hott as last night was. last night was brutal. i slept in shorts and a tank top, with no covers on and i was still sweating. it's supposed to be super hott all week.

ok. this is a quick update so i can do what i need to and get to sleep. my vacation's over. up at 6:30 again tomorrow.

well, goodnight friends. i hope you had a lovely weekend. miss you. love you.

<3

Saturday, April 25, 2009

oh emm gee

so, i get back to the house after a super wonderful day with my mom and kara. i get back at 10 pm. i go downstairs to check in with courtney at 10:15.

BAM BAM BAM. so much drama happening. i felt bad for courtney because she was pretty much right in the center of it all. and it was all pretty fresh.

so, she fills me in on everything.

and then we spend the next hour an a half with two girls who are in the middle of a confrontation. UGH.

tears. lies. manipulation.

ugghhh.

and on top of it all - IT'S SO FREAKING HOTT. i opened like, all of the windows in my apartment but there is no breeze. it must be like, 85 degrees in here. okay, maybe like, 80. IT'S SUPER HOTT. it's like one of those nights where you can't move because you're too hott.

okay. so it's currently 1am and the actual temperature is 67 degrees. so IT MUST be 80 degrees in here. it's not comfortable.

the current temperature in berwick is 53 degrees. that's a huge difference!

i wish i had one of those window fans in my room. although, i have no idea where i would put it because i have no power outlets.

anyways. i'm tired. i thought i would get home and it would be a nice quiet night. i would check in, all would be well. and then i would come upstairs and watch Zac in HSM3.

uuugggghhhhh i need a night off. i haven't had a night off in over two months. yuck. sooon. well, one more month.

ok. i'm tired. i don't know if i'll go to bed or not. i'll update you more later. i'm working sunday 1-10. maybe after? i don't know. i'll probably be pretty beat tomorrow night.

OKAY. have a nice day. talk to you soooon.

<3

Friday, April 24, 2009

the windshield wiper movie

just watched it. ya know, the one with Greg Kinnear and the Dave Matthews Band song in the trailer?? Flash of Genius. i just finished it.

man. good movie. i spent all summer making fun of it whenever we would see it as a coming attraction. and so, i figured since i had laughed at it so much, i better see it. and i did. and it was really good!!!

that guy ruled. Robert Kearns, was his name. and he invented the intermittent windshield wiper. like, the first option on the windshield wiper scale. and like, at first, when i was thinking about the movie, i was thinking, "who really cares about this story?" and then i thought, "wait a sec - i use those windshield wipers all the freaking time!" and this guys just wanted people to know that he invented it and Ford didn't! that's all he wanted!!!! but Ford wanted to take all the credit and just give him lots of money to be quiet. BUT HE SAID NO!!! and he fought and fought and fought them for the credit. and, i'll let you rent the movie to find out the end. it really is worth renting.

SO. let's go back. to wednesday!

wednesday morning i woke up semi-early. like, 9:45. got ready. and left to go to Concord, NH just after 11am. it was a fine drive down. no problems.

pull into the Target parking lot and Kara is waiting for me!!! lovely. i get into her car and we head to go get some lunch. i had a chicken sandwich. kara had a sort of turkey club.

after that lunch, we went to get another delicious thing in the form of ZAC EFRON.

let's feast....


aaahhh yes i loved him in that plaid shirt.

so, YES, kara and i went to go see 17 Again. it was a celebration of Earth Day and all the wonderful things the earth has given us...(see above photo).

MOVIE = **** oh so good. yeah, i really liked it. it was really funny. really sweet. great music!! seriously - i've downloaded a few of the songs already. OH - and great editing. *specifically the scene where he is super hott and getting out of the car, walking into the school, and taking off his sunglasses. that scene was my fave.*

let's continue talking about the Zefron hottness. so, i have seen all 3 of the High School Movies. i have also seen Hairspray. i have also seen Zac interviewed on late night talk shows, as well as numerous photos of him on gossip websites. NEVER have i seen him as hott as he is in this movie. he was like, beautifully gorgeous. i just can't even describe in words.

AND - he's a man of many talents. in like, the first scene, he totally cuts a rug in an awesome dance number. seriously! i did not think there would be any Zac dancing in this. BUT THERE WAS!!!!! and he totally rocked. he's like, a for seriously good dancer.

ALSO - you could hire this man for party tricks. there is an awesome scene where he does many fancy things with a basketball. and he's fighting at the same time! he's like, basketball-illusion fighting. it was awesome.

i also love Zac as a person, because sometimes when you see him going to the gym, he is wearing a headband to hold his hair back. and ooohhhhh......boys wearing headbands? yes. i don't know what it is about it that i love so much. but oh, it makes me weak.

so. go see 17 Again. tell them i sent you. it's really a sweet movie.

after that, kara and i parted ways. she went home to maine, and i continued north.

i ended up working from 8-10. so, that was good. one of the new girls talked my ear off for an hour straight. and then i pretty much spent the last hour arguing with them over curfew.

UGH CURFEW. why can't they just stay in their rooms when i tell them to?!!?!?!? it drives me insane. I KNOW it's school vacation. and i've let them stay up later because of it. but then wednesday night, i go up to the lounge where the tv is, and it's a DISASTER. there's empty cups, yogurt containers, bowls filled with random salad dressings. it's gross.

so i say,

JULIE: You can't have late curfew until this gets cleaned up.
GIRLS: It's not mine!

it was nobody's. apparently it just appeared there all by itself. and also, it belonged to all the girls who went home for vacation. because yeah, that makes sense....

so, it didn't get cleaned up. so i said no late curfew. in your rooms by 10. and i know they won't listen so i do a few walk-throughs a little while later.

yep - in the lounge, chatting. i'm like...

JULIE: Um, hey, what's going on?
GIRL 1: Oh. I couldn't sleep so I came out here.
JULIE: Ok, you need to be in your room.

and then i have to stand there until she walks into her room! it's like they're five. and so, i walk downstairs, and another one is up making food. what?!

JULIE: Hi, what are you doing?
GIRL 2: Oh, I was just getting a snack.
JULIE: You should have called me to ask if you could come downstairs.
GIRL 2: I didn't know that.
JULIE: Ok, well, you need to be upstairs.

and know what i hate? is that they always have an excuse. like, just admit that you were up past curfew and get back to your room. don't make up some story about how you can't sleep, or you were hungry. JUST GO. ugh.

anyways.

thursday was a big day. i had my car appointment that i did not forget about. yay me. so, i get there and they take my car in immediately.

TIME FROM START TO FINISH = 2pm - 2:25pm
COST FROM START TO FINISH = $85

EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS. for 25 minutes of work. it was seriously super quick. i couldn't believe it. they inspected it AND changed the oil. it passed inspection, which i knew it would. it's been driving like total crap, though. i need that $120 transmission thing.

here's what i figure - my student loan payment is due at the end of the month, so i'll get the transmission at the beginning of the month. so, it's like, breaking it up a little.

they also put on my NH plates. that was traumatizing. i don't like it. although, i think the NH plates might actually look better with the gray.

anyways. the guys in there were really nice. i talked to one of them while i was waiting. he's from St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where Kara and i were on one of our adventures. i told him that.

and the whole car place inside is full of awards they have won. which made me happy.

after that, i still had the entire day.

so, i came home and was productive!!!! i shortened my curtains. i have three curtains (the chandelier pattern) in my bedroom and two of them were too long. one of my bedroom windows is 5 feet tall, so that one fit fine. but the other two are pretty normal sized, so they needed to be shortened.

so, i measured them on the window and then took them down. and then drew a line with a pencil on the back. cut them. hemmed it. put them back up - perfect!!!!! it looks great. i'm super impressed with myself.

so then i had some extra fabric. so, i decided it would be a great idea to make a smaller curtain for the window on my front door. but, it was like, 7 inches too short.

so, i went to JoAnn's. bought some bright blue fabric and some thick turquoise ribbon. i sewed the blue fabric onto the end of the chandelier fabric and hot glued the ribbon over the seam!!!!!

i actually did that project tonight. and then i hung up the curtain on the door - and it's still a little too short. aw man. so, i might have to do a "ruffle effect" at the bottom and sew on another piece of blue fabric. i'm okay with that.

i'm pretty impressed with my ability to make and alter curtains. remember how i made Kara curtains for her birthday?? for her apartment. did i ever show you pictures? hm, do i have any pictures? i don't know.

basically, i should open a custom-made curtain store. i think it would be pretty high demand.

that's basically all i did today. and watched The Virgin Suicides while doing it.

yesterday i watched Fame. ooooo i'm excited about the new Fame. although, the old one is so so good.

last night i had this dream that i was wearing a yellow bathrobe and i saw a black thing on my shoulder and i looked down and it was a bedbug. and then i looked in the mirror and there were three more bedbugs on my back. it was gross. i hated it.

i had to sleep with the baby monitor on last night. the 10-month old was here overnight visiting her mother. man, she did not cry all night long! that was nice.

so, today i'm driving to Concord again! to meet kara and my mother. and we're seeing State of Play!!!!!!! soooo excited about this. i'll give a full recap soon.

and kara is going to bring me HSM3 so i can watch it again. if you haven's seen High School Musical 3 - SEE IT. it's the best one. it's awesome. Zac totes brings it.

hm, what else.

there is a light on at the house with the bright porch light. it's a light i have never seen before. i don't know how i feel about it.

tonight, i went into my room and turned on the light. i got my iPod and left my room. when i came back, my light was turned off. i really, really, really don't remember turning off the light. and i was totally expecting it to be turned on. it was weird. i actually figured it must have burnt out while i was away for three seconds. but no, it turned on again just fine. i was kind of spooked out. but then, i got over it.

i made myself some new earrings tonight. i'm not too sure about them. can't decide if i like them or not. i may or may not wear them tomorrow. i probably will.

ok. i'm really tired. it's quarter to 4am. i hope to have a nice sleep. i hope you had a nice sleep too.

have a nice weekend. it's supposed to be hott, i think.

can i just say something? maybe you'll be offended by this statement, and if you are - i am sorry. i've been thinking this all winter. now i just have to say it.

i hate nice, warm weather. i hate being outside in hott weather. i'm sorry. i just don't like being outside in general. like today, it was so hott. i just wanted to stay inside all day.

there. i said it.

and now i can go to bed. aaahhhhh.

ok! goodnight friends!!!!!

<3

hold the phone!

why didn't anybody remind me that Dr. Hunt from Grey's Anatomy played Tommy in TRAINSPOTTING?!?!!?!? incredible!!!! i watched Trainspotting last night and was like, "HOLD ON A SEC - IT'S DR. HUNT!!!!"

so many famous people in that movie!

Ewan McGregor - duh.
Jonny Lee Miller - hottie. Eli Stone on that tv show. used to be married to Angelina Jolie.
Ewen Bremmer - in lots of british movies.
Robert Carlyle - famous. the alcoholic dad in Angela's Ashes.
Kevin McKidd - boyfriend in Maid of Honor. Dr. Hunt on Grey's!!!
Kelly MacDonald - "i'm not risking my life over this story, Cameron!"
Peter Mullan - Syd from Children of Men!!!

WHO KNEW?!?!?!? i really enjoyed watching movie again. i hadn't seen it in a long time. oh, i hate that one part, though. ugh, i really hate that part. so hard to watch.

ok. right now i have to get ready and go get the post. THEN, i have to finish all the crafty amazing things i started yesterday. then, i have to take a bath.

i promise i will send an update your way sometime this evening.

love!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

another day, another dollar

oh boy. long day. let's see....where did i leave off?

right, my sleepless, locked out night of misery. well, after writing to you yesterday morning, i went to bed at 9am. slept until 4pm. got up. did nothing. took a bath. went out to wal-mart to exchange my picture frame that was too small. got a bigger frame. back here right at 9pm.

watched, Zack and Miri Make a Porno. REALLY liked it. it was really sweet and very funny. i liked it a lot more than i thought i would! especially since it has that guy in it. so yeah, watch it. but not with young children in the room. there's lot of bad language.

but, for some reason, the bad language in this didn't bother me like it did in Superbad. maybe because they were just in high school? ugh, i couldn't stand listening to it. it just made my skin crawl. but, it was funnier in Zack and Miri.

after the movie, i made jewelery and did laundry. i think i did like, four loads total. all my sheets, blankets, clothes, towels. it was a lot.

and also very traumatic because i had to put everything in the dryer after it was washed. i normally am EXTREMELY selective in what i put in the dryer. but, i had to do it. and it had to be on high. the bed bugs can stay alive in the washing machine. to kill them, you have to put them in the dryer on high for at least 20 minutes. and, i didn't want to risk anything.

and so far, all my clothes look normal and not too shrunk, which i am so relieved about.

so this lasted until just before 4am. and then i started taking Facebook surveys. once you get going, it's like you can't stop. like those stupid ones that don't even mean anything. and this lasted until just after 5am.

and then i was like, "crap, it's 5am. i should go to bed now."

so, after putting all my blankets back on my bed and everything, it was 5:30. sleep!

phone rings at 7am. it's Courtney. she says she's sick and won't be in today. aw man. and she was supposed to be attending a very important doctor's appointment this morning. so, she asked me if i would go for her. i said yes.

then, i called my boss Charlene at home to let her know what was going on. she said that was fine because she had scheduled someone else to be in to watch the house at 8:30. great.

so, it's 7:15. i reset my alarm for 7:33. and then i lay back in bed. i can't fall back to sleep, though.

so i get up at 7:25. get dressed. get ready. make a waffle. downstairs to work at 8am! less than three hours after getting into bed!!!

i walk into the kitchen this morning and the toddler is sitting in her high chair eating yogurt. she says,

TODDLER: Julie! I'm freezing!
JULIE: You're cold?
TODDLER: I'm freezing!

(she makes a shivering motion)

JULIE: Well, where are your socks? Where's your sweater?
TODDLER: My socks?
JULIE: Where are your socks?
TODDLER: What?
JULIE: Your socks?
TODDLER: What?
JULIE: Your socks...for your feet?
TODDLER: What what?
JULIE: Where are your socks?
TODDLER: What?

yeah. this went on for about 30 more seconds. then i left to go into the office....

TODDLER: Julie!
JULIE: Yeah?
TODDLER: Where you going?
JULIE: Just into the office.
TODDLER: You coming right back?

she's so cute. so, at 8:30 we all piled into the van to do a drop off at daycare and then head to the very important doctor's appointment. the girl who just moved in had her baby who i had never met!!! OMG - the happiest and most excited baby girl ever. she was awesome.

so, the doctor's appointment is at 9am. we don't get out of there until 11am!!!!! yikes. it was so long. and super intense and lots of information. but, the baby was sooooo good. she didn't start to fuss until the very, very end. and then i just picked her up and rocked her for a minute and she calmed right down.

and, she's just learning peekaboo. she's 10 months old. omg, it's the sweetest thing EVER. she'll close her eyes really tight for a few seconds and then open them really wide and have the biggest smile on her face! it was so fun!!! and she was making all kinds of noises with her lips. and she says, "da da." she seems very smart and very curious about life. which is great. great baby. i approve.

so, back here just after 11. hung around downstairs until about noon. went upstairs to have a sandwich. napped for 5 minutes.

12:30 downstairs for staff meeting. that lasted until 3:30. back up here. got my act together. went to the post office. and then i was like, "omg! while i am out i should make a car appointment!"

so, i drove into the car place and went inside. the guys there seem very nice. they were all excited when i told them i worked for Hannah House, because all the other employees take their cars there. that's how i knew they must be a good place. so, i made an appointment for a NH inspection and an oil change for THURSDAY AT 2PM. don't let me forget.

THURSDAY AT 2PM.

then, i drove into west leb and got a "free" ($.54) raspberry iced coffee. so lame. it really should be free. you'd think that in these times of economic strife dunkers would cater to the poorman. but no! they make you pay $.54 on FREE ICED COFFEE DAY.

then, i drove across the street, returned Zack and Miri. and drove home! kara called me on the way back and we chatted. we chat?

i think we're going to meet in concord tomorrow for 17 AGAIN. yeah, be jealous. at first, we talked about seeing the Hannah Montana movie....

KARA: We could go to the movies?!
JULIE: And see what?
KARA: Umm....
JULIE: Hannah Montana?
KARA: YES!!!!
JULIE: I really don't have any money for the movies.
KARA: Do you have enough money for 17 Again?
JULIE: UM, YES.

and it was decided. i'll take the money from my unlimited fund to support zac efron films. yeah, you know you have one too.

and that brings us to the now. i'm drinking my coffee. and talking to you! both are equally wonderful and delicious.

i'm probably going to take a nap at some point tonight. i don't think i can make it all night without sleeping.

oh! i got my class workbook in the mail today. it's weird. it's like, worksheets and stuff. multiple choice. true false. matching. yes. there are matching questions. in a college workbook class. i was like, "i graduated from four years of college to answer matching questions!!?!?"

no, i shouldn't talk. i'll probably fail the class.

and, i was getting soooooo confused. they sent me a spring course sign up sheet along with the workbook and there are all these weird numbers and letters next to the class names. and it took me forever to realize that they are the credits.

it's like,
MEDICATIONS: What Residential Staff Need to Know
TYPE: 0.6 CEU

so, it's .6 of a credit? some classes are 1.2. like, what?! is that really how it goes??? i always forget that one class does not always equal one credit. that's the idea i have in my mind. cause like, if you need 100 credits to graduate, one class might be worth like, 8 credits. is that right?

whatever. at least i'm getting paid to take this class. and i have to mail in my assignments to the instructor. and then there's an eval i fill out in the end.

should be good.

OK. naptime is upon us. hope you are enjoying your evening. is it rainy and cold?? it is here. it was SLEETING last night. for serious.

i met up with this guy at the gas station (who i think was running for state representative) and we were talking about the sleet. he was a nice guy. he had on all these buttons that said, SHARP on them. and he had a bunch of patriotic looking hats in his backseat.

so, i looked it up online and yesterday was a registration day at town hall for state rep voting. or something like that.

ANYWAYS. have a good night. i'll talk to you a bit later.


loves you.

Monday, April 20, 2009

all night long....

OH BOY. do i have a story for you. i think you'll enjoy it. i have enjoyed this story all night long. it all started with the laundry....

so, it's just about 10:30 last night. sunday night. april...something. 19th? 18? maybe even 20. i don't know the date. and, i'm deciding which pile of clothes i should wash first. i decide on my light pile, since that has the pair of pants that i found the bed bug on yesterday morning. (which, i didn't tell you about. but...pretty self explanatory. woke up. found a bed bug on a pair of pants. freaked. the end.)

so, i gather the pile of clothes together. grab my laundry detergent. i'm all set. walk out my door. it's a little hard because of all the clothes. now, this is the crucial part. i kind of lose my balance because of the clothes and instead of closing my door part of the way, it shuts completely.

THE EXACT MOMENT when i hear it click closed completely - i realize i don't have my keys. any of them. not the house keys. not the apartment keys. niente.

i try my door. no. it's definitely locked. because i always lock it. (i swear) then, i quite calmly go downstairs and put my laundry in the washing machine. good. that's done.

then i walk over to the office to see if there is some slight chance that Cheryl left it unlocked. nope. then i go to the upstairs office to check the same thing. it's locked. all the doors are locked.

hm, okay. so now i have to figure out someone to call to let me in to the office so i can get the spare key to get back into the apartment.

hm. so who can i call? and then i realize....

you can't make outside calls on any of the phones that aren't behind locked doors. this is so the girls can't make any unknown phone calls. it makes sense, because they totally would.

so now i step back and assess my sitch:

- i'm locked out of my apartment
- also locked out of everything locked in the house
- unable to make a phone call
- can't leave the house because the alarm will go off and i have no way of shutting off the alarm
- it's only 10:45

wow julie, great deal.

so, i go upstairs because i'm pretty sure two of the girls are still awake.

i knock on one of their doors,

GIRL: Um, hello?
JULIE: Can I come in?
GIRL: ........yeah.

so i open the door and the two of them are sitting there. they know that they're not supposed to be in each other's rooms this late.

GIRL 1: Are we in trouble?
JULIE: No, I won't get you in trouble.
GIRL 2: We won't get minuses?
JULIE: No, I won't give you a minus. So, um, here's the deal.....

and then i proceeded to tell them what was going on. i just wanted to hear if they had any other ideas of what to do. maybe something i wasn't thinking of.

GIRL 1: Well, call someone.
JULIE: No, I can't use the phone.
GIRL 2: Use your cell phone.
JULIE: I don't have my cell phone. Do you guys have any cell phones? (they're not supposed to have cell phones)
GIRLS: No.
GIRL 2: If we did, and we let you use it, would you let us keep it?
JULIE: I would let you keep it for tonight, and then tell the staff tomorrow that you let me use it to make a phone call.
GIRL 1: Well, why don't you call the police?
JULIE: No, we can't make any phone calls.
GIRL 2: Have the fire department come.
JULIE: (shakes head)
GIRL 1: I could hold my lighter up to the sprinkler, and then they would come!
JULIE: No, don't do that. Wait, do you have a lighter?
GIRL 1: .....um....maybe in my room.....
JULIE: Ok, I'm gonna need that.
GIRL 1: Yeah, okay.
GIRL 2: You could let us walk to a pay phone.
GIRL 1: Yeah! Where's the closest?
GIRL 2: Down by Village Market.
GIRL 1: That's not far at all! Just down to the green and take a left!
JULIE: No. Nobody's walking anywhere.
GIRL 1: Oh, I know a shortcut! Just walk behind the house and down that street over there!
JULIE: Nope.
GIRL 1: OH! Here's an even shorter way! Walk down to the graveyard and cut across that way!!!
JULIE: Not gonna happen. Everyone's staying here.

part 2.

GIRL 1: Oh! I need a card.
JULIE: A card?
GIRL 1: Do you have one?
JULIE: Like...a credit card?
GIRL 1: Yeah!
JULIE: I don't have any with me.
GIRL 2: I have a gift card in my wallet.
GIRL 1: Go get it! We can get in to your apartment that way!
JULIE: You know how to do that?
GIRL 1: I used to do it all the time.
JULIE: Oh.

so then, she attempted to open my door with a JC Penney's gift card. it didn't work. she tried pretty much every other locked door in the house. nothing worked!

so now it's almost midnight and we have made no progress. the girls are both going to bed now.

and i'm left alone now. in a locked up house. so, i did what any other person would do. i made a sandwich. and had some juice. and took it up to the lounge to watch tv.

and - lucky me! - Jon and Kate were making their house "green". so, i watched that. omg, love that show. i hadn't watched tv in FOREVER. like, just sitting, flipping through the channels.

i watched:

- 2 Jon and Kate Plus Eight - they greened their house in one episode. and then in another, they renewed their wedding vows in Hawaii! it was great.
- Chelsey Lately. ugh i can't stand her.
- an infomercial
- an infomercial
- an infomercial
- an infomercial
- an infomercial
- an infomercial - i had seen this one before. but i love it. and i secretly really want it.
- Larry King. he had on Ashton, Diddy, Jimmy Fallon and Ryan Seacrest all talking about Twitter. it was pretty funny. they were all really great together. even King. and then he had on Susan Boyle. the singer from Scotland on Britain's Got Talent. she sang 'my heart will go on'. basically, she's me in 20 years. singing songs from Les Mis and Titanic.
- C-SPAN. i decided i want to be in Congress.
- House Hunters.
- All American Rejects, 'Gives You Hell' video. love the main guy.

and, yeah. i think that's it. (um, also - if you go to Jimmy's twitter, he says that he was totally in NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS this weekend doing stand up. UM, WHAT!!?!? i live there for FOUR YEARS and he never once comes to do stand up. unfair.)

so then, it was about 4am. and i was tired. so, i turned off the tv and lay on the couch. i'm pretty tired. can't sleep. it's too loud on the second floor. too much music playing at night.

now it's 4:45. i am hungry. so i go downstairs and eat a bagel. and some iced tea. the sky is getting lighter.

i sit in the living room in a big comfy chair. there is a book next to it called, The Cinderella Rules, and so i pick it up and start reading.

i'm not but ten pages in and i already hate all the characters.

- about two sisters. the older one is boring. she works on a farm. has no boyfriends. has no style. the younger one is this social butterfly. sleeping with all these random guys. travelling places on a whim.

- so, the younger sister says, "hey sis, there is this place called Glass Slipper Inc. it's a make-over place! but, not just a "looks makeover", they make-over you're entire life!!"

(which is just a polite way of saying, "but everyone really only cares about how you look.")

and that's when i closed the book. i already knew the ending.

- the older sister gets the makeover thing and suddenly she has all these guys who are in love with her. but not because of her new look, because of her new life. yeah, sure.

- ugh. it made me so mad.

so then. i decided i would lay on the couch in the living room and close my eyes. and i think i slept for about 45 seconds!

and now it's like, 6:15. and i hear the toddler and her mother coming downstairs. the toddler is very excited to see me. but she's even more excited to see my flip flops. she has her flip flops downstairs too. so, i helped her put them on.

and then i sat with her while she ate breakfast. she sang her ABC's for us! it was super exciting and she did a great job.

and then at 7:30, her mom left to bring her to daycare. i said it was okay if she set off the house alarm, since she needed to leave.

UGH i hate the alarm. it's like the frequency before humans can stop hearing things. horrible.

so, i went back up to the second floor where you can't hear it. and turned on the tv, hoping to catch a morning talk show or something.

and that's when i heard a car door shut! and i looked outside and our director, Randy was here!!!

lately, he's been getting here early. it wasn't even 8 o'clock!

so, i race downstairs to meet him.

JULIE: Hi!
RANDY: Morning!
JULIE: Oh, I'm so happy to see you.
RANDY: Yeah...what's going on?
JULIE: I've been locked out of my apartment all night!!

and then i proceeded to explain to him that i couldn't use a phone, blah blah. because he was like,

RANDY: Locked out all night? Are you serious?!
JULIE: Yeah.
RANDY: You should have called me!!!

and so he let me in to my apartment. i shut off the alarm. and now i am here. i had to tell you everything as soon as i could so i wouldn't forget all the infomercials i watched.

the one fun thing i did was around 1am. i went to the water cooler to get some water and it was empty!!!!! sooooo - i got to change the water!!!!!!! just like in the airport lounge!!!!!!! and it was the middle of the night, which made it even funner!!!!

and that's that. that was my locked out story. i realized that during all my four years in college, i never once was locked out of my room. (save for the time when elizabeth locked me and kerianne out of our room..... :) )

i also realized during the middle of the night that when i came back to my apartment, i wouldn't have any sheets. because i took them all off. and they need to be washed. and my other pair also needs to be washed. so, that was a bit disappointing. i guess i'll be sleeping without sheets tonight. today.

but yeah. i'm going to go to bed now. it's 9:07am. i'm pretty tired.

yeah. i guess i'll go to sleep now. now i'm getting like, dazed over-tired.

ok. well. i hope you have good mondays. my plan is to make it to the post office because i didn't on saturday. but now since i haven't slept all night, i'm wondering if that will happen. i'm planning on getting up around 3, maybe. realistically, maybe like, 4. we'll see.

ok. enough. glad to be back.


good morning!!!!!!

<3

Saturday, April 18, 2009

vacation too!!!

i just realized that i'm on vacation this week too!!!!! since there are no girls getting up for school in the morning, that means that julie doesn't have to get up in the morning either!!!!!! yesyes!!!!

i had totally forgotten about that. oh so nice.

aaahhhh yes.

<3

holy moly

just finished watching Changling. man. i don't even know what to say. i didn't think i would be able to watch the whole thing in one night. it's almost 2.5 hours long. and i didn't start it until 1am. but it was noooo problem

what a movie! 4 stars out of 5. and i went into it with EXTREMELY low expectations. i am happy to say i was wrong. this is coming from a girl who can't stand Angelina Jolie OR Clint Eastwood. but man - they can sure make a movie.

the movie was extremely angering. i was completely furious throughout the whole thing. furious and terrified and heartbroken. it was pretty hard to watch. especially the second half.

MAN. i cried pretty hard. more than once. i can't imagine watching it being a mother. hard stuff.

my ONLY real complaint was that Angelina was too skinny. she looked disgusting. her little bony face and her tiny bony arms. and then there's a part where she's not wearing any clothes and you can see all the ribs on her sides. ugh. she looked gross.

but, i thought acting-wise she did good. (although, obviously not good enough.) (no, that was mean. i'm sorry.) (team winslet!!!!)

my other only real complaint has to do with the guy playing Detective Jones. he was the bad cop leading the case. and he was such a freaking bastard.

but man, was he gorgeous. i could look at him all day. and all night. he has the most beautiful face. and throughout the whole thing he's being all bastardy and such a jerk and being so mean to Angelina and i'm like, "wow, i feel bad for her but i really just want to make out with him."

so naturally, i did some research after the movie was over. Jeffery Donovan is his real name. oh, and where is he from, you ask? Amesbury, Massachusetts! which is like, an hour from my house! in maine. and oh, where did he go to school, you ask?? UMASS FREAKING AMHERST!!!! seriously. i could have passed him a million times on the street. or on the highway.

anyways. super hottie. super bastard. ain't it the truth.

but yeah. good movie. tough movie. man. still can't get over it. i hope i can sleep.

i made some good rice. with peas and chicken. just like i said i would.

and now i think i'm going to bed. it's almost 4am. i need to be up before noon to go to the post office to get my other movies. can't remember what's coming.

and then no plans for tomorrow. i have no money. no gas in my broken car. so i'll probs be home. ssoouunnddss great.....

WELL. again, have great nights. i feel like we've talked a lot today. i like it. i miss you when we don't talk.

i also miss my mom after seeing that movie. she's working today. and i love her.


<3

Friday, April 17, 2009

the only thing better than hairspray???

that's me!


watched Hairspray tonight. i had been wanting to watch it again for some reason. and i thought it might satisfy my Zac Efron craving. (come on, we all know that 17 Again opened today and i really want to see it) and yeah, he's a total babe. especially singing Ladies Choice. and, i do really want to see 17 Again, i just don't want to see it ALONE. how pathetic would that be?!? it would be like if i had seen Aquamarine by myself. or, Crossroads. or, that tennis movie with Paul Bettany and Kirstin Dunst.

anyways. loved Hairspray. wish they had included It Takes Two. i love Hairspray because all the songs are like, big production numbers. at least, they make them out to be. Amanda Bynes really has a lot of good one-liners.

while i was watching Hairspray i made some wall-art. meaning, a picture i can hang on my wall. actually, it's already hanging on my wall. i bought a frame today.

so, i have this t-shirt that has a picture of a seahorse on it and it says, "it's much better down here." kind of sweet, but also a little sad. this is why i like it. and, i never wore the shirt. it never really fit right, and it's a shade of yellow that just didn't look good on. but, i didn't want to give it away.

SO! i cut out the picture and the words, bought a piece of teal felt (teal is an accent color in the picture), sewed the picture to the felt, framed it, and hung it on the wall!!! it looks great! i'm thrilled with it.

i have another t-shirt that i'm going to do this with, but i bought the wrong size frame. i bought 11 by 14. and the 11 part is what is too small. the length. no, i meant the width. it's another yellow shirt that says, "let the sun shine" and it has a picture of these two people holding hands. and i want to cut out that picture, frame it and hang it by the window. but, the frame is too small. perhaps an exchange tomorrow...

so today, i went into Shaw's because i needed some more bread. and the traffic was misery. well, not really. it was just all backed up and not moving at all. (because of the horrible traffic and traffic light patterns in this area...i won't go into more detail because i know i have before. but SERIOUSLY - something needs to be done.) anyways, so this lovely man in a truck (jeep?) let me out into traffic.

but i could only pull out halfway still because of the backed-up-ness. so, i wave to thank him for partially letting me go. and then when it's time to really go, i wave to him again.

now, normally, i am quite happy that people let me go. and i am even happier when i have the chance to let them go.

but today - i was THRILLED. just, so overjoyed with this nice man. and so when i waved at him again, we exchanged the biggest smiles ever. like we were old friends, or something. and it just made my day.

and then he was behind me all the way (meaning, stop and go, stop and go) to the 89 south turn off and then he got into the right lane, and i think he honked goodbye at me. because someone gave a friendly two honk, and i think it was him. so! i made a new friend. it was lovely.

went to the post office today. my netflix was IN MY BOX. so, this whole week when i was like, "aw crap i missed the window hours" to get my netflix - it was in my box the whole time. UGH!

it's Changling. with angelina. bleh. i think i'll watch it tonight. i hope it's at least good.

i think i also might try and make this necklace tonight. one of the shirts i got at Penney's came with this extra button incase the real one falls off. and it's this really pretty green button that would look great on a necklace. because the button holes are in a strange place, so that something should naturally be threaded through it. (like, thread, to sew the extra button on) (or, necklace material!) so, that may happen.

i'm getting hungry for supper. wow! it's midnight! what the what!?!? how did it get to be midnight?!?!

i was super shaky today out doing errands because i had too much coffee this morning and not enough food. so i had a sandwich when i came home.

i think i might make rice. with peas and chicken. i really wish i had another one of those calzones from Brattleboro. man, now that was delish.

OH!!! ALSO!!!! i don't know if any of you took advantage of this great deal. so, on tax day on iTunes, the new Coconut Records (jason schwartzman's one man band) cd was only $5.99! i learned about this via Twitter. nice! so, i bought it! and - i think it's great. i think overall i might like it better than his first cd. right now, my two favorites are Microphone and St. Jerome. he's got such a sweet little voice. and a gorgeous little face.

ok! now i'm hungry hungry.

aw crap i was supposed to do laundry tonight. hm. i'll do it tomorrow night.

alright. hope you had a great friday. and here's to a great saturday!!!!! i've heard rain!!!!


cause the world keeps spining round and round
and my heart's keeping time to the speed of sound
i was lost 'till i heard the drums and i found my way

spooooky

so, remember how last night i was complaining that i didn't have anything to do today? or, ever, really? and how i never knew "what to do?"

WELL. will you please read my horoscope for today. it's quite astounding.

If you are looking for a good way to spend the day, stop. Sometimes, change only comes when you stop looking for it! Don't be proactive about creating the day you want to live today -- let it all unfold around you naturally. Boring or exciting, happy or sad, this day is going to be whatever it's going to be, and you can't change that. This is a very good lesson for you -- it will teach you how to give up control a little bit and allow the world to surprise you.

that's like, crazy weird, right? right! i guess i need to learn to allow things to unfold.

and, i had totally forgotten that we have a "part 2" staff meeting this morning until i looked on the calendar in the office. (i'm downstairs in the office right now.) so, that is something i wasn't planning on.

we'll take it from there...

Thursday, April 16, 2009

the first row

long day. i'm tired. even though i had like, a four hour nap tonight.

finally got to sleep last night a little after 3am. i slept with my chandelier on. i figure, if the bed bugs are nocturnal, i will simulate daylight in my room. i was really nervous falling asleep. the damage that bed bugs do to your mind is probably worse than actually having them.

anyways. no bed bugs bothered me last night. i woke up a lot during the night.

so, i got up at 6:30. downstairs. good times. back up just after 8. got ready for court. we left just after 9:30. it was an easy ride down. she was on the cell phone the entire way there. and the entire way back. it's a pretty ride down 91 south.

so, we arrived in Brattleboro around 10:45. nice and small courthouse. much smaller than Manchester, NH. i didn't set off the security alarm, which was nice.

i met lots of new people. mainly her probation officer, and her guardian ad litem. all very nice people. and i met the security guard, who had to take my name.

so, we're all hanging out in the court lobby. talking about Hannah House, etc. and babies.

and then! we get to go inside the courtroom. i had never been inside a court room before!!! it was pretty lame. there weren't even marble floors or anything. it was all carpet. i was the only person to sit behind the ropes. and everyone else knew where to sit besides me.

so, we're waiting in there for a while. there's a stenographer. and a security guard. and then there's a little doorbell that rings and that means GET ON YOUR EFFING FEET BECAUSE THE JUDGE IS COMING. seriously, everyone like, jumps up. and then the security guard yelled something like, "THE HONORABLE COURT IN BRATTLEBORO IS NOW IN SESSION." or something like that.

so, the whole thing lasted ten minutes. no joke. i sat down in the court room at 11am, we started at 11:05, and we were out of there by 11:15.

so the judge was this normal looking lady. you could totally tell that she had on normal clothes under her judges robe. and like, the robe wasn't even on straight. i kept thinking, "um, hello, all these people are addressing you so formally, can't you at least look presentable??"

i guess the whole thing was pretty casual. i was the only one wearing pink. everyone else was wearing black business suits. totes lame.

i don't know. the whole thing just annoyed me. not that i was the only one wearing pink. just the whole "your honor." and how if you wanted to talk to the judge you had to stand up. those two parts really annoyed me.

yeah, okay, so the judge is like the highest job in the legal profession. yeah, so she's had to work really hard to get there. i know, i know. great, so she's doing a great job. but, all the other women in the room were also doing a great job. and working super hard to represent this one girl. and, the judge doesn't even get to do any of that work. she just comes in at the end and is the decider.

i don't know. at least make sure your robe is on straight.

so, court went really well. it was a happy day for our resident. and her dad, who was there. and, her probation officer too. and afterwards we hung around some more talking.

and then we left. the deal with court is this: so, if you go to court, you also get to go out to lunch. so, i let her pick the place, obvi. she picked this place in downtown brattleboro called Frankie's. it was a pizza place. i had a hawaiian calzone. OMG. best thing ever. it was seriously so delish. they put goat cheese in it!!!! and the crust was all garlicy and wonderful. it was a great choice.

and then we were off! back home. again, on the cell phone the entire way back. eh, that's okay. and then i dropped her off at school on our way back.

came home. napped. kara woke me up when she called. talked to her. took a bath. checked in for work with Courtney and Emily. back up here. ate the other half the calzone for supper. started to watch Superbad on Netflix.

i'm sorry everybody, i can't finish this movie. is it like super amazingly good in the end? is that why everyone likes it? i can't stand listening to all that bad, dirty language. does that make me a horrible person?

i just don't like those guys. apatow. rogen. jonah hill. they're not for me. now, i'll take Paul Rudd anyday, anytime.

i got 57 minutes into the movie. there's A WHOLE OTHER HOUR. i can't do it. i don't even really think it's funny. just annoying. i hate that all they care about is buying alcohol. i mean, really? they're in high school! come on.

anyways.

i really wanted to go out and do something tonight. i don't know what. i keep having this idea of "doing something." but i have no idea what that means.

like, what do people DO? when they don't know anybody.

ugh. OH. i know what i can do. make a freaking car appointment. my check engine light came on while i was driving home the other night. i hate that freaking light. i hate my freaking car. i just wish it would break once and for all.

there was a car for sale on my way to hanover the other night for $500. it was either a BMW or a Mercedes. which ever one has the logo that almost looks like a peace sign.

maybe i'll go try to find that disappearing bakery in Woodstock.

i just don't like doing things by myself.

oh! i'll go to the post office tomorrow. i won't screw it up tomorrow.

today i actually thought about taking my laptop to a highway rest stop with wi-fi. because like, every rest stop in vermont has wi-fi. and they always advertise it all over the highway. and i thought, "hm, that could be fun." but, then decided it could also be sketchy.

i guess i could always go see 17 Again. or State of Play.

no. i really want to see State of Play with kara and my mom. since we all watched the BBC miniseries together.

here's what i've been thinking about in regards to State of Play. (i'm really worried that this will suck) and i hope they didn't replace Bill Nighy's character with Helen Mirren because they downplayed Della as the strong female.

because, in the BBC one, Bill Nighy was powerful, but he was also kind of a funny guy. ya know. and i'm just worried that they will have made Helen Mirren all serious and uptight because she's the boss. and then they would have made Rachel McAdams like, "the girl." which is totally not who Della is. she's a super tough girl.

anyways. PLEASE just be good. BUT, i am in no way suggesting that you should only see the remake and not see the original. SEE THE ORIGINAL. it will be better.

another remake i'm excited to see? Grey Gardens! premieres on Saturday on HBO. i won't be able to watch it. but, if you see it, let me know how you like it. Drew Barrymore and David Letterman actually had a pretty good conversation about the film and the original documentary when she was on wednesday night. Drew said that she absolutely didn't think the original was exploititive of Big and Little Edie. whereas i would disagree. it is creepy watching the old one. almost like you're an intruder. i don't know. there was just weird feeling i remember having while watching it.

still excited for the new one.

i guess if i get bored tomorrow i could always go downstairs and hang out with Courtney. she's working alone again. next week is school vacation. a few of them are going home.

we should take day trips!!!! i could plan them!!!!!!

oh well. i'm tired now. i think i'll get ready for bed. i might try sleeping with the light off tonight. i had a fine nap. and i wore short sleeves.

this will be the first saturday in a while where i haven't had to wake up early for something. is that true? i feel like lately it's been, "up early on saturday, sleep late on sunday."

okay friends. i guess that's all. i didn't really talk about anything, it seems.


take care. <3

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

crawling

UGH. okay.

before i get into the gross stuff, let me post for you my court outfit. i'm super happy with it. i had a fashion show earlier tonight and i'm totes going to be the cutest and most stylish girl there.

BEHOLD - Court Outfit for Brattleboro, Vermont:


everything is new! those are the two tops i got tuesday at JC Penney's. both on sale! and then this afternoon i went to the Gap and bought that skirt. originally $54, on sale for $20. i got another gray ruffley top at the Gap that was on sale for $18, from $29. and! even better was that i had a gift card and a $10 off coupon, so i only ended up paying $5!

anyways, that's my court outfit. i'm wearing it with black leggings and my black flats. i'm thinking i'll wear my hair up so that everyone can see.......


my new earrings!!!!! i just made them. like, just made them. those two flowery beads at the bottom used to be on a bracelet that i bought at Claire's. but, i thought they would look better on earrings. so, i cut up the bracelets. added some pinky and gray beads to go along with it and voila! lovely earrings.

i'm excited about them. i love jewelery making. it makes me so excited. it took me all day to come up with the pattern for those earrings, though. i seriously started at 7:45 this morning. and was thinking about it all day. well, just while i was driving, actually. and then i finally decided on this one while watching Gossip Girl.

so. there's my thursday outfit. i approve.

i think i might add in a jewelery store to Aliya's big dream slash strip mall store.

so. in bed bug news. let's recap.

- bed bugs found in the house about two weeks ago.
- girl has bite marks that are confirmed bed bug bites.
- her bedroom and couches in the lounge were steam cleaned today.
- i found a bed bug in my bathroom this afternoon.
- bug guys came up to check the apt. no bugs had made residence there. they gave me super sticky paper in case i see more, to catch them.
- girl downstairs moves back into her room.

which brings us to about 10:25 wednesday night. i get a phone call. "um, can you come downstairs?" yes. i go downstairs.

"there are bugs everywhere still."

MORE BED BUGS. in the same room. all in the window. GROSS GROSS GROSS. we counted four. then i said, "OKAY hold on! let me go upstairs and get my sticky paper!!!"

i went upstairs, got the sticky paper. came right back down. now there were seven bugs. some were very little babies.

so, we were able to get five stuck to the paper. a few fell off the walls and then we lost them.

i instructed her to pull her bed (brand new mattress, brand new box spring which she had just taken out of the plastic...) away from the walls and very quickly move her blankets and pillows out of the room.

i brought the sticky paper downstairs to the office. Cheryl was still there working. i told her. i showed her the sticky paper. she swore like an effing sailor! she was so upset and mad. she called Charlene to warn her for the morning. then she called the bug people and left a message saying that we had been still finding live bugs.

i guess they said it was normal to find dead ones. but not live ones.

SO, YEAH. it's super gross. i highly doubt i will be able to sleep tonight. i haven't found any more evidence of bugs up here. but, i still feel all itchy and gross.

so, the girl is back to sleeping on the couch. after she changed her clothes. i don't know what the heck is going to happen. if they'll have to treat the outside of the house to get them all out of the walls, and then treat the inside.

i just hope they do it effing soon. i am so freaking sick of being paranoid about this.

geeze, first i get the stomach flu, which i hadn't had for like, 15 years. and now bed bugs. what's next? seriously.

so, yeah. i'm getting super nervous about court. they gave me the offical court report tonight. tomorrow i'm going to be like, the grown up. it won't be as serious as last time. like, i won't be testifying. but, i'll probably have to summarize our resident's progress here, or something.

at least i'll look good. and i've never been to brattleboro, except to drive through it. so, that should be fun.

so, i don't know if you noticed in the picture of my court outfit, but i figured out a way to hang up my mirror!!!!! i can't find the 'over the door hooks' it came with anywhere.

so, i spent about an hour in the hook section of wal-mart tonight. they didn't have any that would work completely. but, they did have standard 'over the door hooks'. so, i bought a pack. two bucks.

then! i got home, got out my fishing line, cut some pieces, threaded them through the hooks on the back of the mirror, tied them, and hung it over the door hooks! voila! hanging mirror!!! i'm psyched!

i just learned something interesting and awesome. so, my Chinese zodiac sign is the Tiger, and Leo DiCaprio and Oscar Wilde are also Tigers!!! isn't that exciting!? and also, the most favorable month for the Tiger is February.

now, for me this makes sense because my birthday is in february.
if we look at it from Leo DiCaprio's perspective, it basically means we're supposed to get married.

uh oh. i'm getting tired. i've been yawning. i bet it's stress yawning. maybe i should try and sleep? i'm wearing long sleeves to bed. maybe if i sleep with my light on the bugs will be scared away. i've never slept with my chandelier on before. that could be nice.

i don't want to toot my own horn, but i'm still pretty impressed with that letter i wrote to Zac Efron. where i used the song titles from Footloose. yeah. i pretty much rocked that.

anyways. i think i'll sign-off. off and out. off, over, and out. whatever.

i just don't want to get bitten by a bed bug. get bitten? get bit? the guys (i think they were Scott and Wes) said that some people react just like it were a mosquito bite, and others get these huge welts on their skin. and with my luck, i'll get the huge red welts. that would totally ruin my court outfit.

luckily, bed bugs carry no known diseases.

ugh but they're just so gross looking.

okay. enough thinking about this. let's just pretend that i didn't find a bed bug in my bathroom today.

(i moved my outfit into the tiny room just in case...)

OH MAN i'm nervous for court.

ok. you have a good night. i hope you sleep well. and i hope you have a lovely thursday. i'm not excited about this hot weather.


<3heart<3>

jp pest

i just had the bug guys up here.

i was getting ready in my bathroom. doing my hair. braiding it, to be exact. and i saw a little black spot on the wall. "hm, that looks interesting." i said to myself. i looked closer - BUG. about the size of a ladybug, but with the characteristics of a tick.

i jumped back. i think i even swore.

ok ok ok. try not to panic. i looked again. yup. bed bug. then! it fell off the wall into a pile of clothes.

then i started freaking out. i ran into the kitchen, grabbed a garbage bag, threw all the clothes in and ran out of the apartment.

(well, that sounds pretty dramatic. i didn't really run.)

i went downstairs to the office. told Courtney. told Cheryl, who was also working. we caught the bug guys before they left.

they came upstairs with me. two really nice guys. i showed them where i saw the bug. they shined their flashlights everywhere. didn't find anything in the bathroom.

"can i check your mattress?" one of them asked.
"yeah, sure." i replied.

then all i could think was, "oh no, i have a lot of stuffed animals in my bed...." so, that was a little embarrassing.

he checked the mattress, the sheets, my pillows. didn't find anything. both of them really liked my bed because there was no wood, no screws where they could hide.

so, they said i was alright. they told me exactly what to look for. they thought the bug i saw might have just been a stray from the room downstairs. so i asked,

JULIE: So, is it possible that once it gets dark more will come out?
BUG GUYS: Well, you never really know until they're here.

he told me what bite look like.

BUG GUY: There will be two or three bites right in a row. And, if they're in your mattress, they're eggs will look like someone sprinkled pepper on your sheets. Or, you'll find a casting.

apparently they shed their skin just like snakes.

so, i'm totally grossed out right now. i'm kind of dreading sleeping tonight. which, i probably won't even do because i'll be so nervous about going to court tomorrow. and then the bugs on top of that.

UGH now i'm all itchy.

and now i don't know what to do with all those clothes in the bag. i guess i'll be doing laundry tonight.

they said that the clothes need to be in the dryer for at least 20 minutes. which sucks, becacuse i hardly dry any of my clothes. BUT, they can also live in the dryer hose if they dryer isn't on for long enough, or doesn't get hot enough.

maybe i'll wash my sheets tonight too. aw crap, it's big chore night. so everyone else will also be washing their clothes.

aw man, this really sucks. like, really sucks.

they also gave me these sticky things to stick the bugs onto if i see another.

AND! i missed going to the post office again. great.

so, this was your lesson on bed bugs. now you know what to look for.

it probably also doesn't help that i have that huge hole in my bathroom wall. oh geeze. i hope this doesn't turn bad.

ok. i think i'm going to go out. remove myself from the situation for a little while. nobody is allowed on the second floor until 7pm. that's when all the chemicals should dry.

MAN. i don't like this.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

happy anniversary!

today is the one-year anniversary since i finished my div 3. hooray! actually, no hooray. i feel like i haven't done anything productive since then. nothing that i can hold up and yell, "look! i wrote this!!"

ran errands tonight. first, TJ Maxx. then, Jo Ann Fabrics. then, Kmart. then, JC Penney's. then, Shaw's.

i had never been into this Kmart before. holy crap it's huge! it's like a huge store. i guess i had really never spent too much time in Kmarts before. i didn't really know what to expect. i thought it might be like a Marshall's, but it was more like a Wal-Mart/Target hybrid. i went in there looking for a skirt i thought i might want after seeing it online, but then got there and wasn't crazy about the fabric it was made out of. so, i passed.

i did get sme things at Penney's, though. two pairs of footless tights and two tops for $20. i was looking for a court outfit.

speaking of court, i don't want to go. i know it's good practice. i just don't want to go.

the bug guys are coming today. finally. i was definitely on the girl's side for this one. i thought they took way too long deciding on a bug company. nobody else has to live here. i really hope they don't scatter up.

i wore my denim jacket today and it made me happy. don't worry - i wore it with khakis.

i bought some beads today. i'm going to make earrings out of the cheap bracelets i bought at Claire's last week. and i needed some nice accent beads.

i have curtains in my room!!!!! did i tell you?! i think i forgot to tell you!!!! tonight, i was in my room and it was dark and i was like, "wow, i feel alone." i couldn't see out any windows. i couldn't see any families having dinner. it was nice to think that they couldn't see me either.


this is the front window of the house! it overlooks the family with the new car. with the wife who leaves for work at 7:30. and the husband who stays home. that's my bed. buck is still sleeping.


these are the windows that overlook the house that ghost man (aka retired dartmouth doctor) lives in. those are his windows you can see! i need to get another curtain panel for the other window, but when you stretch out the one i have, it pretty much covers the entire thing. you can also see the drawers in my wall! one of the best features of the apartment. and my Twilight chandelier!


this is the pattern on the curtains!!!! tiny chandeliers everywhere!!!!! they rock. yeah teen bedding section of Targs.


this is my fridge! i wanted to show you my newest addition! the bird!


the toddler made him at daycare and gave him to me!!!!! i was so excited. isn't he beautiful? i haven't named him yet. any suggestions? and of course, he's complimented by Che, and my "i love being awesome" magnet. anyways, i wanted to show everyone the bird because i am so proud of him.

the toddler was sick today so she stayed home from daycare. she had a fever.

today in staff meeting we had someone from Smith College come in to talk to us about baby sign language!!!! it was fun! i can sign, "more cookies please". i can also say, "more apple please", but who wants more apples when you can have more cookies?

and then she actually MADE us cookies! they were omg so delish. anyways, so i told her that i had graduated from Hampshire and we talked a little bit about the awesomeness of the amherst/northampton area. it was just nice. and now i'm wearing my hampshire college t-shirt. and it's the anniversary of my div 3 being done. and i miss being in school.

i don't think my, "Medications: What Residential Staff Need to Know" course will cut it. i wish i could at least send in my registration to the student loan company and be like, "um, yeah, i'm in this class for a week.....and i can't pay my loans right now."

i got my Dental insurance form today. i have to fill it out.

and kara fixed my taxes for me. we did them wrong over the weekend and the IRS said REJECTED. and i said, "screw you IRS." and then kara did them right. thank you kara.

in staff meeting today we all took a moment to be mad at the Department of Education. do better!

i'm tired. i'm always tired on staff meeting days because i have to wake up early. (noontime)

i have to go to the post office today. i haven't been in like, over a week. i schedule my visits aroudn my Netflix schedule. i have Changling in my box right now. i don't really want to see it, i don't know why i got it. everyone here is always talking about it. i haven't seen it yet, but why didnt' she just have a picture of her son to show the police? did she have no other people who knew her real son?

today is also the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. 97 years. maybe i'll watch Titanic instead of Changling.

i decided that i really like Zac Efron. and for a split second tonight i thought to myself, "hm, maybe this weekend i'll go see 17 Again." and then i realized what i was thinking. if i see that movie, it will not be by myself. that would be sad. but, Zefron is just so cute. like, for realz. and he's all about the musical theater! (except apparently not Footloose, which is lame because he would have rocked it)

YEAH - let's talk about that.

Dear Zac Efron:

Why the heck did you pass up the Footloose opportunity?! It was right there ready for you to rock the socks off of it, and you turned it down. You just up and changed your mind. What was wrong with Footloose?? Huh? At first it was all, "Yeah! Zac is doing Footloose! Let's Hear it for the Boy!" Now you're all, I'm Free and the rest of us are saying, Heaven Help Me what are we going to do with no Zefron?! Come on, Zac, Can You Find it in Your Heart to change your mind. With you playing Ren, it would have been Almost Paradise, but now, I guess we'll just be Holdin' Out For a(nother) Hero.

Dancing is not a crime,
Julie

AAANNNNDDDDDD SCENE!!!!! nice. yeah, i rocked that, i'm not gonna lie.

anyways. Zac can still be my musical theater boyfriend if he wants to. as long as he sings 'It Takes Two' from Hairspray to me. actually, if anyone sang that to me, they would automatically shoot to boyfriend status.

i saw the guy who played the original Ren in Footloose in Rent in Boston. he was Roger. i think i remember him being good. wait, Boston? how many times have i seen Rent? only twice? Boston and Broadway? it definitely wasn't on Broadway, so it must have been in Boston.

speaking of Roger. the guy who is playing Claude right now in Hair on Broadway sounds like Adam Pascal. i've just heard him sing 'Hair'. but, him and the other guy singing (Burger?) together they sound like two Adam Pascals. hey, i'm not complaining.

there are some good songs in Footloose. was that the last thing i saw at Hackmatack? no. when was that? was it? i can't remember. i feel like i haven't been to the Hack in a while. maybe it was Footloose.

not sure what i've got planned for today. maybe into Hanover.

OH! State of Play opens this weekend!!!!!!! the less-good version of the totally awesome BBC miniseries!!!!!! WHY did they turn Bill Nighy's character into Hellen Mirren!?!?! we'll never know.

i think that Ben Affleck will be perf as Stephen Collins. but, Crowe as Cal? eh. i'm not sold. Rachel McAdams will be good as Della, i think. i just hope they don't make her too fancy. and J. Bateman will be awesome as Dominic. i'm disappointed they're leaving out James McAvoy's character. he was great. some great Nighy-McAvoy scenes.

wow. what a great movie. has everyone seen the BBC version of this??? you must. i can't believe that this remake will be better. MAN.

hm. what else!? i guess that's all. i did one walk-through tonight. i'm going to do another and then call it a night. everyone was in their rooms. nice and quiet. and i haven't heard much movement downstairs.

OH! tonight in Kmart i heard a song from Fame on the radio! or, on the Kmart CD they were playing! it was On My Own. or, wait. that's from Les Mis. Out Here On My Own? let's check. Out Here On My Own. that's what it is. that's a great soundtrack. Dogs in the Yard is my fave. sung by Dr. Romano for all you ER fans. he's great in that movie.

AND! i think i forgot to tell you that a few weeks back, when me and Kara were in Walgreens we heard Good Morning Starshine on the Walgreens radio! that was super exciting too. maybe Walgreens is a sponsor of Hair on Broadway. but, probably not.

k. i'm tired now. probably going to bed. OH, i have to do petty cash. right now. OKAY i'm going. have great wednesdays.


he didn't like math or geography, but check-this-out, he loved choreography,
.Jacuzzi.Jacuzzi.