Nov 30, the first day of winter

... and it did not stop at fall, yo. Yesterday it was in the high 70s. It is currently 32 and still dropping. There's currently even a "wintry mix" a-falling. (That's the technical term for ice/rain/sleet/snow.) Wha? in the wha??? I guess I'll have to get out my coats and turn on the thermostat now. 'Twould be oh-so-helpful if my door didn't still have a rag stuffed in the peep hole hole. *glowers* The best part? That little ray of outside- which was the reason I asked Esther to have the weather stripping replaced, which is what spawned this whole new door business? Well, it's still there. Like, he replaced the entire door, inconvenienced me for two days, and still didn't fix the actual problem.

So, I have one of those stemware racks that hangs your wine glasses upside down underneath the cabinet, you know? Well, last night, I was making a cup of tea, just standing there, minding my own business, stirring my tea, a good 2-3 feet away from the glass rack, and one of my favorite wine glasses just fell off. More like lept off. My wine glass committed suicide and I cut my hand while I was cleaning it up. Seriously. I need to go out and start practicing random acts of kindness in mad hope that I can turn my karma around.

the day my day got shot to hell-

Dude, I was home like 6 days in November. Why, today, the one day that I want to spend doing nothing but watching TiFaux, washing clothes, and reading for A&P, does this guy decide to infiltrate my apartment and cover it with sawdust?? WHYEEEE? We've actually backtracked since this picture was taken; the door is now off again.

Also, when I was getting my Christmas tree out of the hall closet, I came across the biggest roach I have ever seen in my life. And I'm from East Texas. Seriously. It was like as big as my hand. I think I had a mild stroke. I screamed like a little girl, and then killed him with poison, but I'm sure his big, burly roachfriends are lurking around waiting to come in MY OPEN DOOR.

Oh, and it just started raining. Gaaah. GAH.

a day in the life...

Uncle Al, you're going to love this one.

So, I asked my landlady to replace the weather-stripping under my door. She forgot, about 3 times, so I finally left her a note and she called to tell me that my door was rotting, gross, and they were replacing the entire thing.

So I come home from school today and there's no door on my apartment. Like, no door at all. The carpenter is happily working on my new door next to the old door on the porch, while sawdust and leaves blow into my apartment at will. A little bit later, he realizes that he has the wrong hardware (why he didn't figure that out BEFORE HE TOOK MY DOOR OFF I'll never know), so, I'm glad I was home to baby sit the hole in my wall.

He gets back and it's almost dark, so hey, would I mind if he just finished tomorrow?? I don't have any locks on my door, except the little one in the knob. He stuffed a t-shirt into my open peep hole hole, and gave me a drop cloth for the 3" gap between the door and my apartment floor. He also left his shop vac in my living room.

And since I'm all sicky and just want to lie around tomorrow eating soup, I'm very excited about the fact that I get to spend tomorrow in front of an open door.

Awesome.

home-

I miss Casa Krysten already!!!!!

Bryce wouldn't say goodbye to me - I think he thought if he didn't "hug Miss Jamie goodbye" then I wouldn't actually leave. But I did, while he was asleep, so sneaky!!

I have a gi-normous fever blister on my lip, and the fever that accompanies it - the plane ride home was all hot and cold and hot and cold and I felt all clammy and gross.... and my lymph nodes are the size of golf balls. Grrrr~

I have a test tomorrow, then onto the important business of getting my car fixed and inspected so I don't get another ticket, yikes, then finding myself gainful employment for the month of December so I can afford to buy you all Christmas presents.

nothing but the rain

A lovely Thanksgiving, all in all. Our menu turned out beautifully, and then Friday was spent in our pajamas, eating leftovers (and pizza) and watching 13 episodes of Battlestar Galactica. With cocktails. Let's see... food? Good. Pajama pants? Goood. Cocktails? Gooood. BSG? Goooood.

This morning I actually got my a$$ in gear and did some school work. But when Brad gets home from work I'm sure we'll get back to BSG. He's gung-ho to finish Season 2 before I leave.

Boom boom boom.

squtternut-bosh

So, Bryce knocked Krysten's laptop off its stand and broke it. Broke it to the tune of $might-as-well-get-a-new-laptop. She's not very pleased, to say the least. Then I couldn't get online with the Lewelling's new router, so Brad started messing around with it, and pretty much succeeded in making sure that no one can get online. Ha!! There's an unsecured wi-fi connection that I can get a very low signal from, but only in the spare room, where I am hanging out right now, pretending that Brad didn't make me 400 vodka-amaretto sours last night.

I wanted Brad and Krysten to get into Battlestar Galactica but I lent my miniseries out and haven't got it back yet, so I just brought the rest with me and thought we could just rent the first disk. We ended up calling 5 Blockbusters to find it, but success! We unfortunately didn't start it until after 8, so we didn't make it all the way through. Hopefully they like it though (I know Brad does; not 100% sure about Krys)- and we can finish up tonight and start on the series.

I tried to make my Peep's pecan pralines last night. They did not turn out well. Candy-making is way too precise a science for me. I'm sure I'll never hear the end of it either - "oh, remember that year Jamie made the drippy pralines? Ahhahahahaha!" That's nothing!! Remember when Ross said "squtternut-bosh?"

Why I miss the MTA

So, I think I told you guys last week, the day after I spent $600 on new axles, my car battery died. Good times, right? Especially since the so-called "6-year" battery was purchased in March. Yeah, 8 months ago. Tom left the receipt in the glove compartment. He bought it in Frisco, but I didn't particularly want to drive up there, especially since I had less than a quarter tank of gas, and couldn't stop for more without jumping the car again, yadda yadda yadda. So I called all the Goodyears around here and none of them carried that battery, and I finally got ahold of one on Montfort. Tom very graciously drove down here to jump the car, and follow me up to Montfort to get it switched out. We stood around for a while, fretting about the fact that I didn't have a lot of gas, and finally I asked the mechanic if I should leave and come back- he said yes, give him an hour, so T & I went to eat lunch. When we get back, I tell Tom he can go, thanks for helping me, and then the mechanic informs me that he doesn't have any of the particular battery in my car. Um, thanks for calling, Mechanic. So I flip out~ (very rightly) stating that Goodyear sold me a shoddy battery and Goodyear needed to fix it, even if that meant giving me a different battery. He just says there's nothing he can do, switching batteries like that is the equlivalent of buying something at JC Penney and returning it to Sears. (It's totally not the same, but whatever.) I call Tom back, freaking out about how they won't help me, and I'm so frustrated that we're spending all day fixing a problem that isn't even our fault to begin with, and Tom the Awesome Definitive Decision Maker says "tell him to call Frisco and tell them that I am coming to pick up that battery. I will bring it back and he will install it." Go, T, go!!

I spent an hour watching Tyra and Montel (and I think I lost several IQ points in the process; seriously, I feel dumber) and then T came back with the battery. They gave him the wrong fracking battery! WHA? I almost busted a blood vessel from my neck, but the mechanics said they could make it work. Then they broke one of the little thingies that holds it on to the tray thing it sits on in the car. They didn't have one so they had to make another one, and the mechanic actually had the audacity to say to Tom, "this is a lot of bullsh*t for one little battery." I just stood there and glowered.

Soooo, about 4 hours of my day, and 4 hours of Tom's day- wasted on a problem that neither of us should have had in the first place. I leave (promising to babysit for Tom for free for the rest of Avery's childhood) and since I know I only have 5% of my front brake pads left, drive v-e-r-y carefully home, brakes squealing all the way. Guess who gets PULLED OVER??????

That's right. I got 2 tickets, 2 blocks from my house. TWO. One for expired inspection, and one for not having my "proof of financial responsibility" (insurance). "Where was your insurance, Jamie?" you might ask. The answer is "sitting next to the door in my apartment, 2 blocks from here." See, I got new cards in the mail yesterday, and set them next to my keys so I wouldn't forget them. But in my craziness to get up to Montfort before I ran out of gas, once Tom got my car on, I grabbed my purse and ran out. I mean, C'MON! [~Gob]

*smacks forehead* I have a court date of December 12th. Also? I've now had four tickets since I got that car in April. The hell? That's pretty steep considering that I'm only home to drive it maybe 20% of the time.

So, I'm leaving for Phoenix Monday and I'll be there a whole week, but stay tuned: next on No Day but Today, see if Jamie can get to Hurst for her Nov. 28th exams without using up the remaing 5% of her brake pads. *weg*

Oh, and oh holy frak, Erin and I got all caught up on BSG last night. Frak ME. What do you hear? Nothing but the rain. So grab your gun and bring in the cat.

Boom boom boom.

tempus fugit

...whether you're having fun or not. On that note, did you know that "tempus fugit" doesn't literally mean "time flies," but its more accurate translation is "time flees"? I like that - and it's more fitting for the feeling.

I had a crazy week in Ft. Lauderdale, really busy, but the show went well and I like the girl I was working with, both professionally and socially, so all in all, I had a nice time. Better yet, that was my last show for the year!! WHOOP! Before we all get too excited, though, I think I'm going to have to get a part-time job in December, to help pay for my car/Christmas/school/life. Ugh.

Tom is coming over later to help me get the car up to Goodyear. Everyone cross their fingers that it's just the battery (for now) and I will be driving again by lunchtime. It's been sitting out there, dead, for 2 weeks now. If it's more than the battery then I am going to borrow Bill's car to run my necessary errands this afternoon (bank, food, etc) and then be stranded here all weekend. I have a lot to do so it's no big deal; I just hate not being independent, you know?

Schoolwork, laundry, TV, and packing - to Krysten's house I go on Monday! We have a stellar Thanksgiving menu planned. Yay!! You know there will be pictures of our food and fun!!

what is Jamie's favorite game show?

I don't think it should be a surprise to anyone who knows me (or reads my blog) that my all-time favorite game show is Jeopardy! (On a side note, Trebek, lay of the Botox. You look like an alien.) It also shouldn't surprise you that my favorite part of the year is Celebrity Jeopardy. (Or that Celebrity Jeopardy is still my all-time favorite skit on SNL. "Your answer? Threeeve. And you wagered? TEXAS.") I'm not going to lie - I partially like it because the questions are easier and it makes me feel intellectually superior to the actors. But still, it's like Entertainment Weekly meets The Mensa Bulletin - and trust me, if they melded into one big magazine, well, it would be the coolest magazine... ever. Remember when David Duchovny and Stephen King duked it out to the end? Awesome.

Well, Celebrity Jeopardy starts today, my friends, with not a stellar, but a pretty good line-up. Some will be there just for humor (Carson Kressley, Drew Lachey, Mario Cantone), but some I think are going to kick some ass and all I have to say is The US Secretary of Education?? She's probably got a leg up on the competition. And REGIS, former host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Well, that just seems like cheating. Others faves of mine include Jane Kaczmarek, Michael McKean, and Bebe Neuwirth. I'm so excited I could pee my pants.

Now onto my day, which includes homework, 5 loads of laundry, dusting, vaccumming, mopping, scrubbing the shower door, and of course, watching Celebrity Jeopardy.

Monday, study Monday.

What a Monday! I woke up at 5:45 (did you know there was one of those in the morning?) to register for school. As did everyone else, so it took me over an hour just to get logged in. I got a spot in A&P II, thank goodness. I was worried there for a while that I was going to have to revise my 3-year plan. Then I had to take my car to the shop because I need new axles or some such. Turns out I also need new brake pads AND brake fluid, so, goodbye $1000 that I don't have! Hope none of you were expecting Christmas presents, mmmm?

Now I am perched on the couch with my 300+ flashcards and a 2nd pot of coffee. On top of driving to N. Dallas to vote tomorrow, I have 2 HUGE tests, and work peeps in town that I would love to see, but I must admit it's a damn inconvenience. I also have 4 loads of laundry to do and some serious house-cleaning, as I'm leaving town again on Thursday.

OK, so, last week, Kiddo posted this video of Stephen Colbert singing & dancing, and I giggled so hard my tummy hurt. Seriously. Go watch it. Anyway, it made me think of other folks who record themselves singing and dancing.... and I thought I'd give you another reason to believe that I am, indeed, batsh*t crazy. My favorite part is how loud our flip-flops are on the hard-wood floor. And my fat a$$. Go, self-embarrassment! Choose self-embarrassment! Oh, heee. I miss you, Schmevan!!

No alcohol was involved with the making of this video.



Heroes tonight!

addenda

Holy frak!!!!!! I just finished Tuesday's House. Whoa.

Also, how do I find out where I'm registered to vote? I could have sworn I did it when I got my TX driver's license back in March but I don't have a card. When I looked myself up online I found my OLD old address (like, 1999, and I know I've been registered since then, but in New Jersey)... can I just look up where I'm supposed to go according to my address and show up with my DL? *scratches head*

Kinky Friedman needs my vote.

Speedy Hawkins

Soooo, I landed at noon. Got my car out of remote parking, drove home, unpacked, sorted through my mail, went to the grocery store, cleaned my ceiling fan, worked out*, showered, and am in my pj's with a glass of wine. It's 4pm.

*it was a very short workout.

I am soooo glad to be home! I love Philadelphia but Texas is home. My Saturday night will consist of television, Entertainment Weekly, tomato soup, and sleep. Tomorrow and Monday are study days; Tuesday is test day, and Wednesday is laundry and packing day. I leave for Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday. Hopefully I will squeeze some socializing in there as well.

Today's "how do you know that?" factoid is this: Texas is the only state that has 3 cities with populations that exceed 1 million (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio). All three of them are in America's top 10, and Dallas is the nation's largest inland metropolitan area-- its ties to the oil and cotton industries, as well as its position along numerous railroad lines, made it a thriving business center despite no direct link to the sea.

This post was brought to you by the letter "T" and Shinerbock beers.

starstruck

Ohmigah! I just met the White House Deputy to the Associate Director for Science!! And she was soooo cool! She was a doctor, and then she was a teacher (and used to teach out of my A&P book, which is on my desk, which is how we started talking), and now she works at the White House! And we talked about science!! *flails*