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
18 April 2009
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
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
17 April 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
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...
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...
16 April 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
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
15 April 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>
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.
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.
14 April 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.
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.
lost pause
i'm just taking a quick pause during my viewing of last week's Lost. let me just say, UUUGGGHHH.
how lame is this 'ben having to be judged by the monster' crap? come on.
and i can't stand how Locke is all powerful and all-knowing. UUUGGGHHH. i don't like him at all. and i don't trust him for one second.
also - Sun. UUUGGGHHH. why has she gotten so lame and annoying?!!?
ok. i think that's it.
OH! and don't even get me started on Kate and how she's a bad mother. the writers of Lost need to learn a thing or two about child car safety.
PUT AARON IN A CAR SEAT.
that's all i'm gonna say.
ok. back to the show.
how lame is this 'ben having to be judged by the monster' crap? come on.
and i can't stand how Locke is all powerful and all-knowing. UUUGGGHHH. i don't like him at all. and i don't trust him for one second.
also - Sun. UUUGGGHHH. why has she gotten so lame and annoying?!!?
ok. i think that's it.
OH! and don't even get me started on Kate and how she's a bad mother. the writers of Lost need to learn a thing or two about child car safety.
PUT AARON IN A CAR SEAT.
that's all i'm gonna say.
ok. back to the show.
13 April 2009
blogging tornado
ALL i want to do is blog. i keep getting distracted by work!!! it's been so crazy busy tonight it's not even funny. not even a little bit. i was upstairs long enough to boil some pasta and heat some chicken, but then i had to go downstairs and work and it got cold!!!! it was still good.
i was downstairs for an hour having a very serious conversation with a girl who i really like. it was a hard conversation to have. but, i think i did well. she left feeling better, which was the most important thing.
then, i wasn't upstairs for five minutes when i got another call. back downstairs.
then i came up and made supper real quick. but, then i heard a bunch of footsteps down on the second floor. and i'm like, "COME ON. are you serious??" they're supposed to be in their rooms by 9. and this is the HARDEST task in the world to enforce.
so, i go down. check one room - empty. check another room - empty. really? really? it's so hard to stay in your rooms!? check another room - whoa party!!
so i'm like, "guys, what's going on?" and they blame the bed bugs. not like that cute little expression, "don't let the bed bugs bite!" yeah, seriously. they're all showing me their bite marks and freaking out. great.
so i go into a bedroom and search her bed. don't see any bugs, but she refuses to sleep there. so now we have to come up with an alternate plan. there's already one girl who's not sleeping in her room because of the bugs. so, i have to come up with this alternate plan. i suggest she changes her clothes and sleeps in the living room. great, she agrees.
then, i'm not back upstairs 5 minutes and i get a phone call. "hi, um, i'm too scared to sleep downstairs."
ok, fine. i would probably be too scared too. so, i know she really, really wants to sleep in this other girl's room. so i make her a deal - she can sleep in the other girls room if they leave the door open. and i will be doing walk-throughs to check on them.
i really hope the bed bugs don't scatter up here. like, really, really, really hope they don't. where would i sleep?
in other news - i signed up to go to court again on thursday. THIS thursday. court is at 11. we're leaving at 9:30 because it's in Brattleboro, Vermont. different girl than last time. apparently this one should be easier. i still have to dress up, though. and i'm already getting nervous.
in other news - i signed up for a class! it's called: Medications: What Residential Staff Need to Know. starts april 25 and goes until may 8, i think. it's partly online, partly workbook.
i'm also going to be water safety certified! the whole gang here is going over to Dartmouth Hitchcock in mid-may to learn about water safety for the summertime. i'm excited about that!
and i'm also going to call the Red Cross this week to see about CPR/first aid certification. and i also need to call Eastman's to get my car inspected and an oil change.
MAN. such a busy bee. actually, i might put the car inspection off one more week, because next week is pay week. and Netflix money is due this week.
ok, hold on. time to go check on the girls.
wow, everything seemed fine.
so NOW, i suppose it's time for the photo portion of the entry. it's a big portion. probably equal in size to an Oscars entry. YEAH, get excited. there will be less Leo and Kate, but don't let that scare you away.
alright! i think we're charged and ready to go.
some background: so, last week Kara came to visit me. on Sunday, the plan was to drive up to Lake Fairlee and Lake Morey. we got there. so lovely! we forgot to bring the camera.
so then, we were about to leave Lake Morey, when we stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. and, we saw a section of maps. and we said, "let's just buy a map and drive further north." grea idea!
and it was then that we decided that this week would be ADVENTURE WEEK. we were now hard core explorers.
so, we headed north on 91. so many mountains! we pulled over at a rest spot to decide where to go. we decided we would go to one more exit, and then get off. no matter what it was.
so we did!
off the exit and took a right. we ended up in McIndoe Falls. such a strange place. it was like driving into the deep south. houses with these huge columns in front. like tiny white houses. and a huge Inn in the center of town. it was just really strange.
and then we intruded into someones house, thinking it was a store. there was lots of stuff outside. there was a sign hanging off the roof. now, the sign didn't say anything on it, but we thought, 'sign out front, it must be a store!' so, we parked in front and ventured in to see what kind of people lived in this town.
and, we're standing inside the door in this room full of stuff. like, just stuff. art stuff. junk stuff. new stuff. rusty stuff. and then a woman comes out and me and kara are like, "um, is this a store?" and she's like, "no this is my studio! i normally never let anyone in!!" and at the time i was really worried she would get mad at us. she told us she was doing her taxes today. she didn't get mad. she was excited to hear that we were on a driving adventure. and! she gave us directions to more scenic places!
nice lady. she also mentioned that the population of McIndoe Falls is "down to about 120." good times.
so, we followed her directions and ended up in Barnet, Vermont. another strange little place. there was this super confusing roundabout that we actually had to pull over to figure out where to go. it was like, around this tiny monument. all very weird.
but, the drive was so lovely. and then we were running out of gas. so now we needed to find a gas station. and it seemed like we were driving to nowhere. the map said we were headed to Route 5. which would lead us to more places.
so, we made it to Route 5. decided to drive towards St. Johnsbury, Vermont. got gas at an Irving. full serve, which i was disappointed about until i saw the cute little guy come out. "hello jeremy!"
drive through St. Jay's. nice place. there was a "teen lounge" right downtown that very much intrigued me and kara. pulled into a very randomly placed JC Penney's. planned more of our day. we decided that we would go back to Route 5. head west until we hit Montpelier. then head south on 89 to Lebanon! great plan!
so, we headed west on route 5. passed lots of mountains. lots of lakes. lots of strangely placed Inns. ended up in Montpelier! by population is the smallest state capitol in the country! fun fact!
nice place. lots of sweet shops. not like, candy stores. but like, lovely places. i think this was our first experience with "disappearing things."
on our way there, we passed the junction of 89. we thought, "okay, it's right there." so, we drove through the town, admired the capitol building, etc. and then said, "ok, let's leave now." so, we headed back to the 89 junction and we were driving for like, 15 minutes before we said, "wtf?! where did it go?!?!" it was GONE.
so, we turned around. we had gone really far back. and when we drove back, it had reappeared. the 89 junction. it was weird, though.
and we drove 89 back the entire way. what a lovely day! we came back to the house and planned the rest of our ADVENTURE WEEK.
Tuesday night after my staff meeting we headed to the ice cream place in the parking lot of the Home Depot. I KNOW it sounds super sketch. but no! it was delish soft serve. 24 flavors!
then we headed west on route 4 to Woodstock, Vermont. wow! what a great place! there's a little brick house for sale right downtown that i want to buy. i actually want to buy it really bad. we passed this delish looking bakery that i had read about online.
then, we headed west some more. passed through Kilington, Vermont where there is a big ski place. Kara enjoyed this part much more than i did.
we arrived in Rutland, Vermont! the second biggest city in the state. ghost town. everything was closed! we parked the car and walked all around the city. nothing was open. we heard the orchestra rehearsing at The Paramount, which was exciting.
then, we were hungry. so, we decided we would get some appetizers at this place called Table 24.
nice place. really good food. nice people.
after we ate, we headed back. east on route 4. it snowed pretty hard for some of the drive. i know, snow!
wednesday was our big adventure day. we headed to Lake George, New York. the great empire state. this is where the photo documenting comes in. ENJOY!
we left at around 9:30am. i suggested, "oh! let's stop at the delish looking bakery we passed yesterday!" so, we headed west on route 4. we planned to stop at the Quechee Gorge first.
(note::: new teal jacket. new trendy pins :::)
so, there is this huge gorge right in the middle of everything. it's quite spectacular. we pulled over and walked across the gorge bridge.
i guess you can't really tell, but we were SUPER high up. like, scary high. what a great gorge! what a great start to the adventure!!!!
after the gorge, we headed to Woodstock to go to the delish looking bakery. we drove through town looking for it. hm, must have missed it. we drove pretty far looking for it. turned back. drove back through town looking for it. no bakery. turned around. drove back through town looking for it. NO BAKERY. this was our second experience with disappearing things.
we never found that bakery again. we looked it up online and it should have been RIGHT THERE. and i'm 100% sure i saw it the previous night. it was freaky.
instead, we stopped at the Woodstock Farmer's Market. we split a coconut chocolate chip muffin and a donut. um, THAT DONUT was so effing good it was crazy. we talked about it all week.
and then, we kept driving.
wow! what a great drive! probably around 3 hours after we began the adventure, we arrived in Lake George!!!! so beautiful! and also, a ghost town this time of year. there was this creeper abandoned amusement park. and this really beautiful building that i wanted to buy.
lake george!
aw, it's me and Kara!!!! notice i'm wearing a scarf. IT WAS FREEZING. also, notice in the two pictures of me, MY PIERCING. in my left ear. at the top. THAT IS NOT CLIP ON. i still can't believe it or get used to it.
Lake George was a nice place. we stopped at the only place open in town and bought t-shirts for $6. nice! this little gift store had EVERYTHING with your name on it. we looked through racks and racks and shelves and shelves of things with your name on it. first: there were bears. and! the Julie Bear just happened to be above the Maria Bear!!!
how cute! and then! we moved onto the 'door sign' section and found this!!!!
the 'Caution Julie' sign was right above the 'Caution Kara' sign!!!!! we decided it was a pretty good "sum up" of our adventure week.
then, we stopped at a gas station and got a free area map.
we tried to go to the top of a mountain, but it was closed. there were barricades in the road, and, as you'll learn later - barricades do not keep us out....
SO. Lake George was pretty much abandonded. even the McDonald's were closed for the season. like, they get NO BUSINESS. it was strange. but, eerie and beautiful.
then, we headed more north to Ticonderoga, NY. we were looking for lunch. and then! we came upon a roundabout in the center of town. there was a beautiful statue in the center, so i whipped out my camera and took this incredible shot:
I KNOW. isn't it beautiful!? and it happened to be perfectly positioned in front of that beautiful house. now, this shot really boosted my photography ego. after this, i decided i would start my own photography company and call it, "I'm that Good."
after this, i decided to do a series of this statue. we ended up driving around this roundabout three times. and each time, i got a different view of the statue.
i really like the different background in each of the shots. the first one, the house is very close to the road, the second one there's lots of grass, and in the third, some cheesy motel. loves it! what a great roundabout!
we ended up eating here:
The Hot Biscuit Diner. i had a tuna melt. delish. nice people there. FYI, cash only.
we continued to head north until we hit.....
Port Henry, New York. our goal was to drive over this bridge. this bridge is one of the only bridges that goes across Lake Champlain. and it was in Crown Point, NY.
so, we see a sign that says, "BRIDGE TO VERMONT." so, we take it. and i'm getting super excited because i'm so excited about crossing this bridge. and this is what we find:
this lame little bridge that crossed some railroad tracks. (i also liked the signs with question marks on them. kara said it was for information, but i liked to think they were 'surprise! you don't know what you're getting if you come here!' signs.")
at first we thought it was a disappearing bridge, since we had experience with disappearing bakeries. but, we didn't want to give up. so, we immediately turned around and continued to drive further up. until we hit the Port Henry beach.
took some lovely pictures of Lake Champlain. and THIS is when we saw the real bridge. the Champlain Bridge. what a sight! we realized that the tiny, lame bridge would lead us to the magnificent bridge. we turned around pretty quickly.
THE CHAMPLAIN BRIDGE
a lighthouse memorial as seen from the bridge. we tried to go afterwards, but it was under construction. lame!
the bridge ROCKED. and in total we drove over it THREE TIMES!!!! awesome! it was really high. Kara made "roller coaster noises" on our way up. half a mile long! a great experience.
so, we drove over the bridge. entered vermont. turned around. drove across the bridge again. entered new york. from the top of the bridge, we could see some "ruins" which were in a historical site. so, we went.
WOW. at first, we drove in and it was obviously closed. but, the gates were open. there was one car there. but, we parked anyways and got out and walked around.
yeah, we probably weren't supposed to. but, when would we be back?! and if we did come back during summer, it might be swarming with tourists! this was perfect.
(the bridge, as seen from the ruins)
um, so how much do those last two shots rock?! yeah, they rock hard. i knelt down to get the building, as well as the title of what it was!!!! "i'm that good."
wow, what great ruins. it was so beautiful. and kind of spooky too.
Lake Champlain, as seen from the ruins.
and then, we were freezing, so we left. BUT. we drove to the entrance and the gates were closed. THE GATES WERE CLOSED. all i could think was, "oh crap we are trapped inside a national historic site." what's worse, intruding onto a national historic site, or intruding into someone's house?! yeah, because we did both of those things.
so, i got out of the car and opened the gates. LUCKILY, they were not locked.
now, i could have easily left the gates open for any riff raff to come in. but i didn't!
dear new york,
you're welcome.
love, julie
it was funny. and terrifying.
after this, we headed back to vermont.
snapped a few creepy shots:
creeper place.
creepy and gorgeous shot of the trees, which were all leaning towards one side. no, it wasn't windy. promise.
then, we switched up our route. we were going to take route 17 and go around the Green Mountain National Forest. but then we were like, "why go around the forest when we can go through it!!!" so we did!!!! we drove through the national forest.
(disregard the blurriness of this shot. i'm still that good.)
so, we're driving, looking like we're going to come to nothing. when, BAM, we hit the village of Ripton, Vermont. it looked like kind of a strange little mountain town. and then we learned later on that the world's oldest and most prestigeous writer's conference in held in Ripton. weird.
also, Robert Frost lived there.
and Middlebury College has a campus in the forest.
a strange little ride. Kara was really hoping we'd see lots of deer, moose and bears. i was very strongly not hoping this. we didn't see any wildlife.
and then, we left the forest and it was dark. it started to snow pretty hard. and, i tried to snap a picture of the snow falling to prove it was snowing. and i got this creeper shot instead:
it was a road sign that turned into a very creepy hitchhiker. yikes.
and then we headed home!!! wow, what a great day! we were exhausted. creepy things, beautiful things, eerie things, yummy things, nice people, mountains, bridges, farms, long roads, lakes and gorges. we saw everything! and had lots of sister bonding.
i'm pretty tired now. just about 1 hour and 50 minutes thus far into this post.
i hope you enjoyed your trip along eastern new york! i'm probably going to retire to bed now. hope the bed bugs don't bite.
i've been like, all itchy this entire time. not like things are biting me. but, just the thought, ya know? 'Just a Thought', great Shirley Jackson short story. everyone should read Shirley Jackson.
actually, she lived in Bennington, Vermont, which was a place that Kara and i wanted to adventure to, but we ran out of time. Bennington is supposed to be a window to another universe or something. lots and lots of strange things have happened there. Robert Frost also lived in Bennington. which makes me think that we should just rename New England to something like, Robert New Frostland, or something. New Robert Frostland. he's just everywhere.
so. okay, then.
i'll talk to you again soon. everyone have lovely tuesdays. we have staff meeting. i have a feeling it will be pretty emotional.
oh! but someone from Smith College is coming to talk to us about using sign language with babies. i'm excited. i hope i can somehow drop that i went to Hampshire.
alright friends. goodnight. sleep well. sweet dreams.
<3<3<3
i was downstairs for an hour having a very serious conversation with a girl who i really like. it was a hard conversation to have. but, i think i did well. she left feeling better, which was the most important thing.
then, i wasn't upstairs for five minutes when i got another call. back downstairs.
then i came up and made supper real quick. but, then i heard a bunch of footsteps down on the second floor. and i'm like, "COME ON. are you serious??" they're supposed to be in their rooms by 9. and this is the HARDEST task in the world to enforce.
so, i go down. check one room - empty. check another room - empty. really? really? it's so hard to stay in your rooms!? check another room - whoa party!!
so i'm like, "guys, what's going on?" and they blame the bed bugs. not like that cute little expression, "don't let the bed bugs bite!" yeah, seriously. they're all showing me their bite marks and freaking out. great.
so i go into a bedroom and search her bed. don't see any bugs, but she refuses to sleep there. so now we have to come up with an alternate plan. there's already one girl who's not sleeping in her room because of the bugs. so, i have to come up with this alternate plan. i suggest she changes her clothes and sleeps in the living room. great, she agrees.
then, i'm not back upstairs 5 minutes and i get a phone call. "hi, um, i'm too scared to sleep downstairs."
ok, fine. i would probably be too scared too. so, i know she really, really wants to sleep in this other girl's room. so i make her a deal - she can sleep in the other girls room if they leave the door open. and i will be doing walk-throughs to check on them.
i really hope the bed bugs don't scatter up here. like, really, really, really hope they don't. where would i sleep?
in other news - i signed up to go to court again on thursday. THIS thursday. court is at 11. we're leaving at 9:30 because it's in Brattleboro, Vermont. different girl than last time. apparently this one should be easier. i still have to dress up, though. and i'm already getting nervous.
in other news - i signed up for a class! it's called: Medications: What Residential Staff Need to Know. starts april 25 and goes until may 8, i think. it's partly online, partly workbook.
i'm also going to be water safety certified! the whole gang here is going over to Dartmouth Hitchcock in mid-may to learn about water safety for the summertime. i'm excited about that!
and i'm also going to call the Red Cross this week to see about CPR/first aid certification. and i also need to call Eastman's to get my car inspected and an oil change.
MAN. such a busy bee. actually, i might put the car inspection off one more week, because next week is pay week. and Netflix money is due this week.
ok, hold on. time to go check on the girls.
wow, everything seemed fine.
so NOW, i suppose it's time for the photo portion of the entry. it's a big portion. probably equal in size to an Oscars entry. YEAH, get excited. there will be less Leo and Kate, but don't let that scare you away.
alright! i think we're charged and ready to go.
some background: so, last week Kara came to visit me. on Sunday, the plan was to drive up to Lake Fairlee and Lake Morey. we got there. so lovely! we forgot to bring the camera.
so then, we were about to leave Lake Morey, when we stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. and, we saw a section of maps. and we said, "let's just buy a map and drive further north." grea idea!
and it was then that we decided that this week would be ADVENTURE WEEK. we were now hard core explorers.
so, we headed north on 91. so many mountains! we pulled over at a rest spot to decide where to go. we decided we would go to one more exit, and then get off. no matter what it was.
so we did!
off the exit and took a right. we ended up in McIndoe Falls. such a strange place. it was like driving into the deep south. houses with these huge columns in front. like tiny white houses. and a huge Inn in the center of town. it was just really strange.
and then we intruded into someones house, thinking it was a store. there was lots of stuff outside. there was a sign hanging off the roof. now, the sign didn't say anything on it, but we thought, 'sign out front, it must be a store!' so, we parked in front and ventured in to see what kind of people lived in this town.
and, we're standing inside the door in this room full of stuff. like, just stuff. art stuff. junk stuff. new stuff. rusty stuff. and then a woman comes out and me and kara are like, "um, is this a store?" and she's like, "no this is my studio! i normally never let anyone in!!" and at the time i was really worried she would get mad at us. she told us she was doing her taxes today. she didn't get mad. she was excited to hear that we were on a driving adventure. and! she gave us directions to more scenic places!
nice lady. she also mentioned that the population of McIndoe Falls is "down to about 120." good times.
so, we followed her directions and ended up in Barnet, Vermont. another strange little place. there was this super confusing roundabout that we actually had to pull over to figure out where to go. it was like, around this tiny monument. all very weird.
but, the drive was so lovely. and then we were running out of gas. so now we needed to find a gas station. and it seemed like we were driving to nowhere. the map said we were headed to Route 5. which would lead us to more places.
so, we made it to Route 5. decided to drive towards St. Johnsbury, Vermont. got gas at an Irving. full serve, which i was disappointed about until i saw the cute little guy come out. "hello jeremy!"
drive through St. Jay's. nice place. there was a "teen lounge" right downtown that very much intrigued me and kara. pulled into a very randomly placed JC Penney's. planned more of our day. we decided that we would go back to Route 5. head west until we hit Montpelier. then head south on 89 to Lebanon! great plan!
so, we headed west on route 5. passed lots of mountains. lots of lakes. lots of strangely placed Inns. ended up in Montpelier! by population is the smallest state capitol in the country! fun fact!
nice place. lots of sweet shops. not like, candy stores. but like, lovely places. i think this was our first experience with "disappearing things."
on our way there, we passed the junction of 89. we thought, "okay, it's right there." so, we drove through the town, admired the capitol building, etc. and then said, "ok, let's leave now." so, we headed back to the 89 junction and we were driving for like, 15 minutes before we said, "wtf?! where did it go?!?!" it was GONE.
so, we turned around. we had gone really far back. and when we drove back, it had reappeared. the 89 junction. it was weird, though.
and we drove 89 back the entire way. what a lovely day! we came back to the house and planned the rest of our ADVENTURE WEEK.
Tuesday night after my staff meeting we headed to the ice cream place in the parking lot of the Home Depot. I KNOW it sounds super sketch. but no! it was delish soft serve. 24 flavors!
then we headed west on route 4 to Woodstock, Vermont. wow! what a great place! there's a little brick house for sale right downtown that i want to buy. i actually want to buy it really bad. we passed this delish looking bakery that i had read about online.
then, we headed west some more. passed through Kilington, Vermont where there is a big ski place. Kara enjoyed this part much more than i did.
we arrived in Rutland, Vermont! the second biggest city in the state. ghost town. everything was closed! we parked the car and walked all around the city. nothing was open. we heard the orchestra rehearsing at The Paramount, which was exciting.
then, we were hungry. so, we decided we would get some appetizers at this place called Table 24.
nice place. really good food. nice people.
after we ate, we headed back. east on route 4. it snowed pretty hard for some of the drive. i know, snow!
wednesday was our big adventure day. we headed to Lake George, New York. the great empire state. this is where the photo documenting comes in. ENJOY!
we left at around 9:30am. i suggested, "oh! let's stop at the delish looking bakery we passed yesterday!" so, we headed west on route 4. we planned to stop at the Quechee Gorge first.
(note::: new teal jacket. new trendy pins :::)so, there is this huge gorge right in the middle of everything. it's quite spectacular. we pulled over and walked across the gorge bridge.
i guess you can't really tell, but we were SUPER high up. like, scary high. what a great gorge! what a great start to the adventure!!!!
after the gorge, we headed to Woodstock to go to the delish looking bakery. we drove through town looking for it. hm, must have missed it. we drove pretty far looking for it. turned back. drove back through town looking for it. no bakery. turned around. drove back through town looking for it. NO BAKERY. this was our second experience with disappearing things.
we never found that bakery again. we looked it up online and it should have been RIGHT THERE. and i'm 100% sure i saw it the previous night. it was freaky.
instead, we stopped at the Woodstock Farmer's Market. we split a coconut chocolate chip muffin and a donut. um, THAT DONUT was so effing good it was crazy. we talked about it all week.
and then, we kept driving.
wow! what a great drive! probably around 3 hours after we began the adventure, we arrived in Lake George!!!! so beautiful! and also, a ghost town this time of year. there was this creeper abandoned amusement park. and this really beautiful building that i wanted to buy.
lake george!
aw, it's me and Kara!!!! notice i'm wearing a scarf. IT WAS FREEZING. also, notice in the two pictures of me, MY PIERCING. in my left ear. at the top. THAT IS NOT CLIP ON. i still can't believe it or get used to it.
Lake George was a nice place. we stopped at the only place open in town and bought t-shirts for $6. nice! this little gift store had EVERYTHING with your name on it. we looked through racks and racks and shelves and shelves of things with your name on it. first: there were bears. and! the Julie Bear just happened to be above the Maria Bear!!!
how cute! and then! we moved onto the 'door sign' section and found this!!!!
the 'Caution Julie' sign was right above the 'Caution Kara' sign!!!!! we decided it was a pretty good "sum up" of our adventure week.
then, we stopped at a gas station and got a free area map.
we tried to go to the top of a mountain, but it was closed. there were barricades in the road, and, as you'll learn later - barricades do not keep us out....
SO. Lake George was pretty much abandonded. even the McDonald's were closed for the season. like, they get NO BUSINESS. it was strange. but, eerie and beautiful.
then, we headed more north to Ticonderoga, NY. we were looking for lunch. and then! we came upon a roundabout in the center of town. there was a beautiful statue in the center, so i whipped out my camera and took this incredible shot:
I KNOW. isn't it beautiful!? and it happened to be perfectly positioned in front of that beautiful house. now, this shot really boosted my photography ego. after this, i decided i would start my own photography company and call it, "I'm that Good."after this, i decided to do a series of this statue. we ended up driving around this roundabout three times. and each time, i got a different view of the statue.
i really like the different background in each of the shots. the first one, the house is very close to the road, the second one there's lots of grass, and in the third, some cheesy motel. loves it! what a great roundabout!
we ended up eating here:
The Hot Biscuit Diner. i had a tuna melt. delish. nice people there. FYI, cash only.
we continued to head north until we hit.....
Port Henry, New York. our goal was to drive over this bridge. this bridge is one of the only bridges that goes across Lake Champlain. and it was in Crown Point, NY.
so, we see a sign that says, "BRIDGE TO VERMONT." so, we take it. and i'm getting super excited because i'm so excited about crossing this bridge. and this is what we find:
this lame little bridge that crossed some railroad tracks. (i also liked the signs with question marks on them. kara said it was for information, but i liked to think they were 'surprise! you don't know what you're getting if you come here!' signs.")
at first we thought it was a disappearing bridge, since we had experience with disappearing bakeries. but, we didn't want to give up. so, we immediately turned around and continued to drive further up. until we hit the Port Henry beach.
took some lovely pictures of Lake Champlain. and THIS is when we saw the real bridge. the Champlain Bridge. what a sight! we realized that the tiny, lame bridge would lead us to the magnificent bridge. we turned around pretty quickly.
THE CHAMPLAIN BRIDGE
a lighthouse memorial as seen from the bridge. we tried to go afterwards, but it was under construction. lame!
the bridge ROCKED. and in total we drove over it THREE TIMES!!!! awesome! it was really high. Kara made "roller coaster noises" on our way up. half a mile long! a great experience.
so, we drove over the bridge. entered vermont. turned around. drove across the bridge again. entered new york. from the top of the bridge, we could see some "ruins" which were in a historical site. so, we went.
WOW. at first, we drove in and it was obviously closed. but, the gates were open. there was one car there. but, we parked anyways and got out and walked around.
yeah, we probably weren't supposed to. but, when would we be back?! and if we did come back during summer, it might be swarming with tourists! this was perfect.
(the bridge, as seen from the ruins)
um, so how much do those last two shots rock?! yeah, they rock hard. i knelt down to get the building, as well as the title of what it was!!!! "i'm that good."
wow, what great ruins. it was so beautiful. and kind of spooky too.
Lake Champlain, as seen from the ruins.
and then, we were freezing, so we left. BUT. we drove to the entrance and the gates were closed. THE GATES WERE CLOSED. all i could think was, "oh crap we are trapped inside a national historic site." what's worse, intruding onto a national historic site, or intruding into someone's house?! yeah, because we did both of those things.
so, i got out of the car and opened the gates. LUCKILY, they were not locked.
now, i could have easily left the gates open for any riff raff to come in. but i didn't!
dear new york,
you're welcome.
love, julie
it was funny. and terrifying.
after this, we headed back to vermont.
snapped a few creepy shots:
creeper place.
creepy and gorgeous shot of the trees, which were all leaning towards one side. no, it wasn't windy. promise.
then, we switched up our route. we were going to take route 17 and go around the Green Mountain National Forest. but then we were like, "why go around the forest when we can go through it!!!" so we did!!!! we drove through the national forest.
(disregard the blurriness of this shot. i'm still that good.)
so, we're driving, looking like we're going to come to nothing. when, BAM, we hit the village of Ripton, Vermont. it looked like kind of a strange little mountain town. and then we learned later on that the world's oldest and most prestigeous writer's conference in held in Ripton. weird.
also, Robert Frost lived there.
and Middlebury College has a campus in the forest.
a strange little ride. Kara was really hoping we'd see lots of deer, moose and bears. i was very strongly not hoping this. we didn't see any wildlife.
and then, we left the forest and it was dark. it started to snow pretty hard. and, i tried to snap a picture of the snow falling to prove it was snowing. and i got this creeper shot instead:
it was a road sign that turned into a very creepy hitchhiker. yikes.
and then we headed home!!! wow, what a great day! we were exhausted. creepy things, beautiful things, eerie things, yummy things, nice people, mountains, bridges, farms, long roads, lakes and gorges. we saw everything! and had lots of sister bonding.
i'm pretty tired now. just about 1 hour and 50 minutes thus far into this post.
i hope you enjoyed your trip along eastern new york! i'm probably going to retire to bed now. hope the bed bugs don't bite.
i've been like, all itchy this entire time. not like things are biting me. but, just the thought, ya know? 'Just a Thought', great Shirley Jackson short story. everyone should read Shirley Jackson.
actually, she lived in Bennington, Vermont, which was a place that Kara and i wanted to adventure to, but we ran out of time. Bennington is supposed to be a window to another universe or something. lots and lots of strange things have happened there. Robert Frost also lived in Bennington. which makes me think that we should just rename New England to something like, Robert New Frostland, or something. New Robert Frostland. he's just everywhere.
so. okay, then.
i'll talk to you again soon. everyone have lovely tuesdays. we have staff meeting. i have a feeling it will be pretty emotional.
oh! but someone from Smith College is coming to talk to us about using sign language with babies. i'm excited. i hope i can somehow drop that i went to Hampshire.
alright friends. goodnight. sleep well. sweet dreams.
<3<3<3
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