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Guess it’s been kind of a while. Um, been busy (compared to usual life). While the weather has been nice I’ve been trying to get out and take walks/bike rides to soak up some sun, fight off some of that Seasonal Affective business. Got my old job with the Science Center back, I start on Monday!! (YAY!) I figure after everything I went through this fall, I can deal with whatever silly complaints I had before.
Took a trip to NJ last weekend. It’s weird that my parents are getting ready to sell their house. I’m realizing now that I’ve had a lot of “lasts” there that I didn’t realize were lasts at the time: last Thanksgiving, last Christmas Eve picture with Jill, last summer night on my swing…maybe it’s better that I didn’t know at the time. That way those occasions weren’t bittersweet. But I am secretly hoping for just one more time on that swing. I will swing for 24 hours straight if I get it. (Okay maybe not. As long as my legs/butt can handle it.) It was also sort of surreal going through things in my childhood bedroom and deciding what to keep and what to throw away. Letters are the craziest. I left a bunch behind for my mom to dispose of; I didn’t have the heart to actually put them in the trash can myself.
I know it’s been a long time since I was Metuchen-Amy, and that I’m much more comfortable being Baltimore-Amy now, but it’s still a little hard letting go. It still feels like losing something.
On a lighter note, knitting is AWESOME. After Valentine’s Day I will post a knitting/sewing retrospective. I think that I’m going to be doing a lot of knitting on lunch breaks, etc. during the work week, so I’m going to try to get more practice sewing on the weekends. I think a lot of my frustration/rough edges is just from lack of practice. And from being too hard on myself.
Looking forward to the KG show at Talking Head tomorrow night. Mandy times, yay! (Mandy, I am sure, will be updating her blog very soon! hint, hint) I’m hoping the other bands will be enjoyable…I need a new favorite band. I still like my old faves, but they don’t give that same exhilarated feeling they used to. I miss that. I need a band to make me all starry-eyed at shows and blow up my car stereo. I thought that would be Jukebox the Ghost, but I’m kind of over it; only 3-4 songs on that album had real staying-power for me. One of those is a remix.
For now I believe it is time for taco salad. I am trying to be more conscious about where my food comes from, so I’m making more things at home. Last night’s taco salad was a definite hit. Let’s see if it lives up to the hype today!
(Good thing I start work Monday: I obviously need to get out more! 
P )
1. Yoga in the a.m.
2. Played games in French and moved up to the rank of “Kindergartner”
3. Had a piano lesson
4. Knitted with Katie
5. Finished my ribbed scarf!!
6. Started some stripey mittens (knitting in the roooouuund!)
7. Made delicious turkey soup all by myself
8. Drove to 4 different places all by myself
9. Parallel parked almost perfectly (first time since October)
10. Continued to have the most awesome fiancee and cats ever.
Things I did today that were not so awesome:
1. Realized I have spent a lot of money in the last two weeks.
I need to suck it up and get a job, yo.
So, let’s see. A lot has been happening this week, at least relative to my life since October. On Thursday, I got together with Katie for my first foray into a yarn store and knitting. It was fun, and damn is knitting addicting!! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this fact, since Katie and Mandy are knitting constantly, but I really can’t believe how often I get the urge to complete “just one more row.” I’m currently working on a red ribbed scarf, I’ll be sure to post the finished product. Then on Friday I had my first piano lesson in like nine months, which was pretty good! Since it’s been so long we kind of have to start from scratch, but it’s nice to be back in the saddle again. I love learning new things!!
That night we went over to Joe’s for pizza, white Russians, and The Big Lebowski, which was definitely fun. Scott from AVEC wound up coming over later in the evening, too, which was a nice surprise! We like that guy, and haven’t gotten to hang out with him in a long time. On Saturday Zach came over and we had our first “real” band practice. It went really well!! We played three songs, and had some nice collaborative moments. I’m really excited, I have high hopes that this band will be a really fun endeavor and get to play some rad shows in the greater Baltimore region.
Finally, I feel I should do the obligatory end-of-the-year reflections, not so much because I have to, but because I feel like it’s especially pertinent this year when so many things are in flux.
2008, a Recap:
In January I was working at the Maryland Science Center and living at Dolly’s house. In February I moved into my favorite apartment ever with my favorite sweetheart ever! March came along, and KG went on tour, so I had the apartment all to myself (+3 kitties) for a few weeks. I learned that sharing a thermostat can be difficult and REALLY cold. April brought a little more sunshine, and I grew closer to my co-workers by bonding over shared cancelled cake slices, creepy school mascots, beautiful vistas, vans breaking down (yay Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse!), and guys doing inappropriate things in parking lots. ::ahem:: I had my first experience with a high school friend dying (likely not the last) and learned that I can cope on my own. May ushered in the sweet, sweet sunshine and I took many personal field trips around the Inner Harbor/Federal Hill after work with my iPod. The month ended on a bittersweet note as I left the Science Center’s employ and looked ahead to my first teaching assignment. In June and July I was lazy a lot of the time and went on a lot of bike rides. We got really close to a deer at Patapsco State Park! Then came August with all of its dizzying mad-dashery: for three weeks I was in class for 6-8 hours a day for the Baltimore County/Towson University Teaching Residency program. I turned 23. I got engaged! I had seared Caesar salad, the most savory salad known to man! I went to New Teacher Orientation, then spent the better part of two weeks getting my classroom/mind ready for the students’ arrival. School started, and I got my feet wet with my first First Day of School ever, my first Back to School Night, and my first official week of teaching survived! September was more of the same, lots and lots of adventures in teaching. 110 students, 3 good informal observation reviews, 2 fist-fights in my classroom, 4 labs, countless copies made, and approximately 608 oz. of water consumed. October started out strong, I got a “Satisfactory” formal observation review (which is the highest rating you can get), an AWESOME student-made poster on photosynthesis, and then started passing out randomly. November was a string of doctors’ visits and days spent in bed, waiting to feel better. There was some brightness at Thanksgiving with the Smiths (and lots of other nice folks) and post-Thanksgiving with the Grecos (and Cottons)! I resigned from Baltimore County Public Schools. I said goodbye to my classroom. In December I did start to feel better. I got all my Christmas shopping done before Christmas Eve! I spent my first Christmas with Aaron’s side of the family, and he spent his first Christmas with mine. I went to Nashville for the first time ever to help Mandy move. (I helped with my charisma, I guess?) I played a LOT of Nintendo DS! I wore heels for the first time in a long time. I rang in the New Year in two time zones. I was really thankful for everything.
2009, a Glance Ahead:
I’d like this year to be a fresh start. I’m still struggling a little bit to wrench myself out of the mire that “mystery illness” made of my life and my ego. I want to get back in contact with friends I’ve been avoiding. I want to get a job I enjoy, and start small so I don’t get swept under and carried away like I did this past year. I want to reorganize my life and my apartment. I want this band to play some shows. I want to have fun, and see the fruits of my labor, all my hard work paying off.
I want to forgive myself for things I’ve done, but more importantly for things I’ve left undone.
I want to remember to take baby steps and not be too scared or too proud to ask for help when I need it.
Mostly I want what I think most people pretty much want: I want 2009 to be a happy and healthy year for me and the people I love.
Yay, New Years!
So, in my ample spare time, I’ve been having fun reading all the backlogs of my friends’ blogs. It’s so funny to go back and read things written from the perspective of doleful teenagers and young adults…it’s also weird to trace back through old blogs of people I don’t talk to much (or at all) anymore. All of the heartbreaks, victories, and inside jokes long-forgotten or gotten over were really so humongously important once upon a time.
I’m kind of jealous that I haven’t stuck with one journal for a long time, although I feel like the changes were justifiable/liberating/necessary. And in a way I guess it’s nice to be able to shed those former skins and let them rot in the archives of Ye Olde Internette. I’m almost tempted to go back and scan through them in this time of reflection between jobs and such, but ultimately I think I’m too scared and embarrassed. From what I can remember, lots of old posts (especially in high school) were pretty melodramatic and boy-centered. Really, that crush you had in tenth grade that you dragged out for excruciating months just is not that important anymore. I get it. I don’t think I need or want to rub my nose in it. Reading other people’s embarrassing melodrama, now THAT’S much more insightful. Scratch that – it’s much more entertaining (and endearing).
In the world outside my computer, I’ve been back on the piano-practicing bandwagon! Several hours each day for almost a week now. Pretty sweet. I figure I’d better do it while I can. I’ve also been doing vocal exercises for the first time in God-knows-how-long, that’s swell. Kind of have some writer’s block of a most-frustrating nature: I’ve got like three choruses for three different songs with no verses or cohesive lyrics to go with them. It is SO ANNOYING to plink/pound away at the same five chords and just not be able to get past them or around them. Whatever, I’ve decided to let them lie for a while and hope that inspiration hits some other time. I think I might finally suck it up and order the Hanon for guitar book, too. It’s only like $4.50 on Amazon, I think I can afford that. Pretty soon I won’t have time to practice like this anymore, so I guess I’d better do it now.
Still trying to get a band together. Still frustrated. I’m seriously considering putting up flyers in the Center for the Arts at TU. Maybe even UMBC since I live right down the street from there. Because as much as I love Jamie, playing with just the two of us is getting a little old, simply because we play through the songs we’ve been working on and it’s like, “Okay…now what do we do?” We need at least a drummer so we can start playing some local shows. I’d really like a bassist or second guitar-player though, so we can actually perform the three-part harmonies I’ve written. My friends have proven pretty flaky thus far. Except for Jamie, who rules the school.
Also in the world outside my computer, I’m almost finished with Aaron’s birthday present (his birthday was last week, but after a few nights of working on it ’til the wee small hours, he told me to stop stressing about it and finish at my own pace). It’s going to be super-sweet, and when it’s done I’m going to round up all of my previous sewing projects and finally post them here! *If I made you an eyemask for Christmas ‘07, please send me a picture! Preferably of you wearing it, that would be rad!*
I really suck at time management when I have no actual obligations. It’s already almost six o’clock, and other than piano practicing/lesson I have not done anything productive today. It’s so hard to get motivated, which is ironic since I have all the time in the freakin’ world right now. Only 19 more days and then I have to get back into school mode + crack (Three different classes in three weeks)! YIKES. Speaking of school, I think I’ll start my Grad Application online. W00T!
Fun first day of unemployment yesterday:
1. Played Zelda all morning with Aaron
2. Went to Jo-Ann Fabrics with Mandy to get preparatory goods for Aaron’s upcoming birthday
3. Went to Trader Joe’s for some random food items
4. Went swimming in Mandy’s pool and got free dinner!! Woot!
5. Came home, puttered around the apartment
6. Accidentally left Katie locked out of my house in the dark for 15 minutes (doorbell is getting fixed tomorrow!), then helped her load my piano into her car.
7. Aaron came home.
8. We watched Arrested Development and ate popcorn
9. Bedtimes!
‘Twas a good day. Today I’ve been straightening things up a bit, doing laundry, all the generic household junk what-all needs doin’. I think I may have a garage sale sometime in the near-ish future. I have a lot of jewelry that I don’t ever wear that little girls and old ladies would just love. Also some random housewares and nonsense that I would love to give to someone in exchange for money. ‘Cause man, I don’t have room for all of this unnecessary crap. And I could use all the money I can get.
Last night I went to Andy’s house for homemade pizza! It was delicious, I’m a big fan of dinners at Andy’s house. We had an impromptu drum circle with items from around the house: Andy played the “Yoga Ball Bass Drum”, Justin had “Free Weight Claves,” Anna had the “Guitarback Bongos” and I was on the “Mixing Bowl Ride Cymbal.” Now granted, we were slightly (::cough, cough::) inebriated at the time, but it sounded pretty wicked. Or, as those weird Californians would say, “sicky gnar-gnar.” Anyhow, we listened to lots of records, including the soundtrack/book-on-record of one of my FAVORITE childhood movies, The Point! (The Alan Thicke version, not the Ringo Starr version because that is BOGUS.) Then Anna went to bed because she had been galavanting in Philly with les artistes all day and was sleepy. So Andy and Justin and I sat around singing three-part harmonies (and I was not the one singing soprano, surprisingly!) and watching episodes of The Muppet Show. Oh man it was amazing. I finally dragged myself home at three o’clock, got to chat with Aaron for a little while, read some Star Wars and went to sleep. I really hope I haven’t killed my circadian rhythm too badly these past two days: the work week might actually physically hurt me. But yeah, it was awesome. I want to jam with those guys soon.
In other news, I may be buying a Korg from a guy in Columbia today, because I just need more keyboards. (Riiight.) I have a weakness: this person is trying to unload this keyboard for a mere $150 because they’re moving and need it out of their lives asap. And I kind of want it because I’m a sucker. I do not need to be buying this. But now that I know the option might be there, I want it! Waiting to hear back about it. What’s meant to happen will happen with that.
Getting together with Jamie and Jess this weekend, too. I am turning out to be the little social butterfly, apparently. All a mere distraction really, but it’s an excellent excuse to reconnect with friends I’ve fallen out-of-touch with. So yay! That’s a good deal. For now I am just enjoying a leisurely Sunday morning/noontime. I don’t really want to do anything responsible today beyond practicing piano. I might take a walk, but it’s a mere 40 degrees outside today, so maybe not. I snatched up a copy of Sewing for Dummies and 101 Basic Sewing Tips off Amazon yesterday, so by this time next week I might be having Sunday Sewing Sessions! Screw the real world. I’m over it.
