zafu update

a while ago, i posted about a website that claims to identify the jeans that will fit a woman best, based on her answers to a few questions about how jeans typically fit her and what she wants the jeans to do for her.

well, i had the opportunity to test it out today. i needed a new pair of jeans and went through the questions. i found a pair of banana republic jeans and two pairs of lucky brand jeans that were supposed to fit well. i went on over to the mall, which is about 5 minutes from work, and hit up the stores. the banana republic jeans fit well as far as form, but i think i was just barely in between sizes. the lucky brand jeans were good. the sweet n low style was a great fit and they are comfortable and look good. they are also designer-y and retail over $100. i knew the price issue going in, but figured it might be worth it if they really fit that well. they did. but, my bargain luckiness continues, as today was the first day of their take an extra 25% off things already marked 50% off sale. so for about $44, i got a pair of designer jeans that fit great and were originally $118! i picked up a couple other things in the sale, and a few tops from gap (big sale going on there, too). what a great lunch break!

payday!!!

yay! i got my first paycheck for my new job today, as well as my last check from my old job! it's good timing, too, since the security deposit for the new apartment will be due soon, and heath and i will potentially be paying double rent for august, unless his landlord can find a new tenant by the end of july.

i definitely noticed my pay increase in this check, which i have to admit is really really nice to see. i'm really proud of what i've accomplished career-wise in the last two years. i'm literally making double what i was making less than two years ago. i was able to find a new, and so far, great, job, despite relatively limited experience. sometimes i get discouraged because i don't feel like i'm where i want to be in my career, but when i take a step back and realize what i have managed to do so far, i'm really quite satisfied, and feel like there is a good chance i can continue this growth and continue making my way up whatever ladder i decide to pursue!

ohhhh man

something smells buttery and delicious. and warm. like yummy biscuits. i must be getting hungry

pulled the trigger

my new phone is on it's way, and i hope to have it by the end of next week!! 15+ attempts to retrieve a voicemail is too many. i'm tired of dealing with it, tired of complaining about it, and i know heath is tired of hearing about it. it'll be allllll better soon! i wanted so badly to just buy the phone today at the store, but was a good girl and convinced myself to delay gratification so that i could save some money by buying it online cheaper. good for me! now i'll be able to afford a nifty bluetooth headset for it. :)

lucky it wasn't worse

saw this on the freakonomics blog and thought i'd share it here, too. it's one of those stories...

the gist: man takes sons camping and is cooking with them at the fire. bear comes up and starts sniffing around food. son takes shovel and pokes at bear (dumbass, but that's not the point). bear doesn't like it. bear goes after son. dad throws firewood at bear then flees with sons in truck. bear dead from firewood bonk. park rangers investigate and fine dad $75 for not storing food properly to keep animals away.

the freakonomics commentary on it isn't really what i was thinking.

I am guessing that the $75 ticket is, in most cases, a good incentive to get campers to properly stow their food. And I am guessing that Everhart was truly guilty of said infraction. But if you were the officer in charge of determining whether this man who fought off a bear to save his sons should get the $75 ticket, don’t you think you might have considered waiving the fee, just this once?

response #2 is closer to what i was thinking.

Sounds a bit of a similar situation to someone who gets into a traffic accident, nearly kills a member of his family, and then the police test him and find he is driving with twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. In such a situation wouldn’t you expect him to get charged with DWI?

The point is if you do something illegal and inadvisable and in doing so put someone else in severe danger, then you should expect some kind of punishment. Would the situation be any different if the kid who had been approached by the bear was someone else’s kid?

in my opinion, this guy violated park rules. the bear wouldn't have come up at all, and this would have been a non-issue had he properly stored his food. they have those rules in place to protect campers. not to say it wasn't great that he saved his son, or that it wasn't traumatic, but, this situation never should have unfolded in the first place! this guy and his sons should consider themselves lucky! $75 is a small price to pay considering what they could have lost.

silver razor paperweight that torments me

my cell phone and/or service has seriously started sucking in the last week or so. it's a good thing that i don't rely on it any more than i do, otherwise, i'd be even more upset. amazingly, my two year contract with cingular/at&t expired last wednesday, so i am free to leave the network without having to pay a huge penalty.

ever since cingular switched over to at&t, my service has been horrible. heath thinks it's the phone because he doubts that the network could be that bad without one of us hearing something about it somewhere. either way, i'm thoroughly frustrated by it. first off, nearly every call i am on gets dropped. (ironically, it happened once as i was driving past an at&t billboard touting their wireless service as having the 'fewest dropped calls.' pfft.) even worse than having dropped calls is how many call failures i have. this is the little delight that has been driving me most nuts. i try to call somebody, it attempts to dial, then blips out "call failed." i retry, and it fails again. i retry and it fails again. yesterday, i needed to call to check with heath for something before heading to meet him at the beach, and i promise that i'm not exaggerating, it failed at least 15 times before finally going through. i was so frustrated that i hardly wanted to go to the beach anymore, but i was stuck because i couldn't call heath to let him know i wasn't coming!!! arrgh! by the time i got there, i was fuming and was about to throw the stupid phone in the lake.

i've got to just pick out a new phone and just sign up with a new provider. at the moment, i'm leaning toward verizon, but am not 100% sure yet. i was looking at a few of their phones and the front runner at the moment is the LG VX8600 or the LG enV. (motorola is off the list after this razor experience, and LG has historically had pretty good phones.) feel free to offer your input as to which i should get. i need to check the verizon site when i get home, but it seems as though amazon.com might be cheaper.

full weekend

this was one of the busier weekends i've had. all day saturday was spent moving my stuff out of my apartment and putting most of it into storage and the rest of it into heath's apartment until our new place (some photos/floorplans here) is ready on july 15. it went fairly well, despite steady but light rain and being on the third floor. my parents came down to assist and we got almost everything out of there in a pretty reasonable amount of time.

then sunday morning was the ricky byrdsong memorial 5k race against hate in evanston. we were soooo tired when we woke up, but got up and ran it nonetheless. i actually ended up running the 2.3 miles to the race start to get a few extra miles in for the day. heath met me there and we ended up running a really good time, even though i was pretty tired most of the race and heath's achilles has been bothering him. i ran the fastest 5k i've ever run so far at 28:44 (9:15 min/mi), which isn't really that fast, but i'm happy to know i am getting quicker, even after having run already that morning. i even cracked the top half for my age group! i was 21st place out of 42 runners in the women's 25-29 group, so i was really really happy with that.

after we got back from the race, heath (unbelievably kind and helpful that he is) went back to finish up stuff at my old apartment, while i went for a bike ride, since i needed to get one it. i had a slight spill during the ride, and wasn't wearing my gloves so i got a bit of a cut on my palm but no big deal. when heath got back, we got changed and drove up to ravinia for a concert with some of his friends. it was a great time. everybody just brings food to pass around and you sit in the lawn and enjoy the live music. they even have an obscenely overpriced gift shop!! (shocking, i know!)

so yeah, it was a packed (no pun there) weekend. i'm very tired today, but it was a lot of fun. next up: finding a place for all my stuff at heath's place, and going to cleveland next weekend!

also -- this was my 150th post!

packing is no fun

i think that a good number of the people that read my blog are moving soon, and either are or will be packing. good luck to you. i'm nearing the tail end of my packing, and while i feel good about getting close to done, i'm stressing about feeling claustrophobic with the boxes everywhere and feeling like more and more stuff just keeps emerging and needing to fit into a box somewhere. i'm out of my place tonight, and next saturday my parents come to help me put most of my furniture into storage for a month or so. i want things to be pretty much ready to go when i leave here tonight. at least i'm only packing an apartment that i've been in for a year. you folks with real houses will definitely have it harder. i've probably gotten rid of close to 1/5 of what i owned prior to packing, so i do feel really good about that. the one good thing about moving every year is that it forces you to decide what you want to keep and what you can get rid of. it's no good to move stuff you don't use and/or aren't going to use!

project playlist

you can go to this website and create a playlist of song you like and then put it on your blog, your myspace, or whatever. you're able to listen to your playlists directly off their site, too. i like it, especially for myspace, since there have been several times that a song i wanted to have play wasn't available. it's not perfect by any means, but i didn't have a problem finding anything i happened to look for (except the new version of instant karma by u2).

rebel!

i'm SUCH a rebel. since it's my last day here at work, i decided to go ahead and wear flip flops. yeah, that's right. i am in violation of the company dress code. uh huh. rebel. all the way. i'm also having a chocolate chip muffin for breakfast. yep, i'm totally living on the edge here.

it's probably going to be a pretty sad day. i've been here for over two years, which isn't terribly long, but is definitely long enough to forge some relatively close relationships with some of my coworkers. i'm definitely going to miss many of them, particularly the ones i sit really close to and those i ate lunch with nearly every day. last night, two of them took me out for a few drinks and to chat, which was really nice. i still have to pack most of the stuff on my desk, but it shouldn't take long. it's only just hitting me today and yesterday that i'm actually leaving.

ewwwww

as i was driving back from my swim at lunch with the windows open, a cicada met its demise on the frame of my driver's side window. ewwww. so there was the mangled cicada carcass lodged in the window track. it's wings were sticking out making a buzzing noise. ewww. i grabbed a napkin and tried to brush it out the window, but there was still yellow cicada goo in the track. ewwwww. i rolled my window up anyway and turned on the air conditioning.

interesting choice of words

from an article about chamique holdsclaw's surprising retirement from the wnba (i don't really follow it, but the article caught my eye).

they make it sound like a torn acl or something. i know it's based off typical sports lingo used when a player can't play due to medical reasons, but it just doesn't sound quite right in this case...

"The news was a jolt to the Sparks (3-2), who had already lost star center Lisa Leslie to pregnancy this season."

boomshine

ok, this is addictive. a friend forwarded this to me at work. enjoy!

http://bored.com/boomshine/index.htm

at&t

/rant

i followed at&t's suggestion to merge my wireless (cingular) and home phone/internet bills. i thought, "hey, this will be great. all on one bill, one payment. easy." so, the folks over there merged the account, called me (using MY cell phone minutes) to let me know that my accounts were being combined (duh, i requested it), and that therefore my autopay for cingular would stop but my autopay for at&t would continue. right.

well, the billing cycles were slightly out of sync (which is fine. reasonable, even). and since they transferred a partial balance from my wireless account over to my at&t home account, which was out of sync with that payment system, i got charged a late fee for not paying my cingular bill on time, even though it has AUTOPAY right there, ready to go, and they told me there would be no problem. grr. i wonder how many people they are milking that money off of by offering such a "convenient" service of merging the various accounts. i'm certain that i'm not the only one.

i'm calling there today to cancel (which i was going to anyway, since i'm moving), but i think i'll say that a large part of why i'm not going with them in the future is because of these shenanigans.

/end rant

funny

ricky gervais simpsons on tonight. i hadn't seen it. quite good! :)

"marge i love you, and i can tell by your basic level of courtesy that you love me, too."

bargain storage

i'm moving in a few weeks and then again in a few weeks. today i set out to reserve my moving truck and reserve self-storage space.

i initially called the uhaul storage in evanston which is very close to where i will end up in july. i was told that they were super busy and they requested i call back in 5 minutes. i called back in 15 minutes and was put on hold for 10 minutes. i hung up.

i called public storage, got a person right away, she helped me figure out what size storage unit would be appropriate for my things, and went over my various options at the location i preferred (only about an extra 2 miles from my future apartment). THEN, she pointed out that since i only need the unit for about a month, i could take advantage of this offer they had going on. instead of paying $107 +$22 fee for a 5x10 unit or $174 + $22 fee for a 10x10 unit, i could get a 10x 15 unit for $1 + $22 fee. the rate after the first month would be high, but i'm not locked into any contract and as long as i'm out within a month, it's only $23+tax. needless to say, i'm very VERY satisfied with the assistance i got from public storage. hopefully everything else works out alright with them (nobody can guarantee a storage unit until you actually go to rent it, so there is a chance that the 10x15's could all be rented up - but it's as solid a reservation as i'm going to get anywhere).

i also rented a moving truck. much less eventful experience, but the lady was nice and it went smoothly.

kids and tv

i came across this article on the new york magazine website about children and tv/video watching. i thought it was particularly interesting given that my sister and her husband recently took the tv out of their family room.

it's official

i have accepted a job offer from american imaging management. i told my boss and most of my coworkers today. i'll start at my new position on june 25th, and am very excited about this new opportunity. i feel very strongly that the company and position will be an excellent fit. i anticipate learning a lot very quickly, and am looking forward to the fast paced dynamic environment in which i'll be working. i'm sad to leave my friends here at the joint commission, but it's an important step for me to take in advancing my career. i'll be working as a business analyst in their project management office. i'll be helping to coordinate various software development projects and improvements, picking apart business processes, and ensuring that the software meets the needs of the users/customers. it's located in deerfield, il, which is about a 30 minute drive from where i'll be living when i move to evanston.

life is really good

i'm really happy right now. things in my life seem to be falling into place. some of it is a little stressful as it gets worked out, but overall, i really don't have anything to complain about. it's been a very very long time since i've felt generally content. so long that it's actually unfamiliar to me to be even remotely contented. it's good, though, and i'm going to do my best to just enjoy the great things that i've got.

manipulation?

okay, so the company i work for is a heathcare "watchdog" in a sense. the mere mention of our name has been known to make nurses sweat and their blood pressure go up by 10-20%. it's always an interesting experience when you are going in for a doctor's visit and the staff finds out that you work for such a scary entity.

there is also sort of a way to use this to your advantage.

i had a doctor's appointment (routine annual you know what exam) at 11 this morning. i wanted to miss as little work as possible. often, visits to the doctor involve a good chunk of waiting room time. well, i just happened to (consciously) leave my work id badge around my neck when i went to the appointment. (mind you, i have absolutely NO power, other than my awareness of basic healthcare safety/quality things, and knowing where/how to report any bad things i see.) yet, the badge still holds power. i didn't flaunt it or anything, just left it around my neck where it lives all day long.

the result: everybody was VERY nice to me. my waiting room time was 1-2 minutes tops. my handbag AND my shoes were both complimented on. i was in and out of there faster than i ever have been before. it was great, since it allowed me to get back to work in a timely manner, and i was actually seen at my appointment time, rather than 15 minutes past it. i think it was alright since it wasn't like i was saying "hey you better be good to me since i can shut you down like this *snap*" they were really friendly, but in my opinion they should be that kind and courteous to all their patients. maybe they are and my badge wouldn't have mattered. they have always been very nice, but it certainly seemed to be a much quicker experience than on previous visits.

last weekend

last weekend was very very busy, but a lot of fun.

saturday started semi-early, with heath and i heading to wrigleyville to join with his illini people for their cubs game soiree. we got to a bar called moe's at about 10:15 and met up with his friends brian and camelia, as well as several of their friends. it was free beer and free food, which is trouble. nothing like 4 miller lites (or was it 5 for me? probably 6 for heath?), several taquitos, and 3 corndog bites before noon to make you feel like crap around 6pm. at about 12:15 we headed over to the game. our seats were waaaay up high and waaaay down in the outfield, but we could still see fine, including the part of the game where lou pinella lost it and went after the ump. he got booted, the field got littered with the day's giveaway (blue travel mug) and other debris, the braves got booed and the crowd ate it up. after the game we went to another bar (sheffield's) to hang out for a while and have a LOT of water. pictures here. by the time heath and i got back to his place at 6 or so, we were feeling pretty tired and sicky. we just laid low and watched some tv. went to bed early to prep for sunday...

...which was the 10K race. nothing like drinking more than you typically do the day before the longest race you've ever run in. i was pretty anxious about it, but ended up doing just fine (blogged about it here). after the race, i changed out of my sweaty shirt (ick), and heath and i wandered around the zoo for a few hours. it was a lot of fun. we grabbed lunch and were able to see pretty much the whole place. our feet were killing us by the time we left, but it was definitely worth it. a few pictures here.


and now i'm about all caught up on blogging. i can blog about the moving/apartment situation once things get settled in a bit.

warren dunes camping

over memorial day weekend, heath and i went camping at warren dunes. my sister posted pictures from when they visited us there, and my pictures are here (there are some duplicates, as she likes to steal photos off my site :P).

we had a great time. raccoons got into our garbage on friday night, taking off into the woods with a very loud arby's container. we managed to stay quite dry overall, despite the heavy rains on saturday night. the weather finally cleared up on sunday. we did a bit of hiking in the dunes and even climbed a really big one. we felt old and tired by the time we got to the top. lots of hotdogs and marshmallows were consumed, and much firewood was burned. in the mornings, we enjoyed the sounds of the parents across the street yelling at their six (!) kids. i also kicked heath's butt in euchre several times in a row. overall, lots of fun.

backlogged

i've been up to a lot, but have been lazy posting about it. i have to post about the memorial day camping trip, the cubs game last saturday, and the trip to the zoo on sunday (i posted about the race on my marathon training blog already). i'll have pictures posted, too. stay tuned!