Good Job OED

The other day I was looking up a word for one of my books in the Oxford English Dictionary.

The word, Aberystwyth, is actually the name of a town in Wales, so rather than heading to my usual word reference guide (Merriam-Webster), I chose to use the OED, assuming that, being British and all, it would include this English town.

Boy was I wrong.

Apocalypse Now.

I don't know if you've heard about it, but the middle atlantic area (i.e., Arlington/DC/where my parents live) was party to a killer wind/rain storm on Friday evening. 

I happened to be in downtown DC at the time and not only witnessed a funnel cloud of newspapers, dust, and popcorn (not a real tornado obviously, just an annoying wind thing) and a ridiculous frog squelcher of a rain storm, but I was standing in it. 

Soaked.

Great times.

Eventually it ended and on Saturday we all started picking up the pieces. We had tons of branches and leaves down in my complex and so many people didn't have power (and still don't have it) it's crazy. I'm pretty sure that we are in worse condition than last summer when the hurricane hit. That was basically a day long storm, Friday night's storm lasted two hours at most.

huge tree branches fell everywhere!

People were pretty much acting like the apocalypse was happening. Grocery stores (at least the ones with power) were cleared out and gas stations were (and some still are) completely depleted of their gas supplies...

Which made this super scary... 

Super scary. Never want to see that again!

 Yes. That is my car's distance to empty meter. I actually had about an eighth of a tank, but when I last got gas, I foolishly only put about a gallon in because I thought I could get it cheaper elsewhere.

Big Mistake!

After trying to get gas at two separate stations (which were completely out of gas) I ended up having to wait in line with all the people who were fearing the worst (no gas ever again) and the people who were silly like me, for about 20 minutes. Then, I paid about 20 cents more than I had paid earlier because the only gas left was super duper premium.

I think I've learned my lesson.

But at least I have power and internet, which is more than many, and my car didn't get damaged by falling branches or anything. Too bad my window fell out again, otherwise I would have come out completely unscathed.

Maybe next time.

Maybe King Louis XIII Had the Right Idea.

The Shower Window

Did you know that King Louis XIII only took five baths in his entire life and Louis XIV only took three?! Eww...

But I'm starting to think maybe they had the right idea, because I witnessed something super awkward yesterday.

I saw one of my neighbors in the shower.

Awkward.

Granted, I only saw the person's silhouette, but still, that was more than I wanted.

Let me explain. My apartment, and all the other apartments in my complex have a window in the bathroom—a window that looks right into the shower. The window is pretty nice, mostly because it lets lots of light into the bathroom and provides an awesome ledge to store stuff on. It's also kind of annoying because it leaks cold air in while you're showering and let me tell you, shaving your legs with goosebumps is not any fun.

Well yesterday's sighting confirmed another big downside to the window... the shower silhouette. It's something I've always kind of wondered about. The shower window is a privacy window, so it has that crazy pattern thing going so you can't see through it, but I've always kind of wondered if someone looking in my shower window would be able to see my silhouette—which while not as creepy as my actual birthday suit is still pretty awkward, no? To that end, I generally try to shower when it's bright outside (morning or afternoon) and not when it's dark (since that would require me to turn on the lights and internal lights + darkness outside = perfect window peeping conditions). But I'd never seen proof that my suspicions were correct. Until yesterday evening, when on my way into my building I looked to my left and saw the top half of my neighbor through the backlit shower window.

I think never taking a shower again (a la Louis XIII and his son) may be a little extreme (and smelly), but I also think I'll stick to my morning and afternoon showering schedule. Besides, then I won't have to worry about going to bed with wet hair and waking up with a crazy mess on my head.

What a Lot of Red

Traffic is no fun... Especially in the rain. At night. When you're hungry.

It's never good when you watch your GPS go from saying you'll reach your destination at 10:35 p.m. to saying you'll reach it at 4:45 a.m.

Driving Me Crazy.

I went home for a hot second this weekend. It's an easy trip... only about two and a half hours, and truthfully, I enjoy the drive.

There is one thing I don't enjoy, however, and that is driving 2 mph on a highway.

Tonight, thanks to an accident that blocked about 15 feet of the left lane and shoulder of 81, it took me an hour and 20 minutes to drive seven miles.

That's right, almost 1.5 hours to drive seven miles.

Lame.

Lessons Learned

Well, losing my wisdom teeth didn't make me dumber after all!

In fact, I think it made me smarter... here are just a few of the things I've learned about myself and the outside world in the past week.

Health Related Pearls of Wisdom (Teeth)   HA!

1. I'm allergic to penicillin. While this discovery is a good one, I didn't figure out that the penicillin was what was making me super nauseous and dizzy until four days after I started taking it.
2. While anorexia is a disease that I'm not advocating in any way, shape, or form... not eating (read: not being able to keep anything down, liquid or solid) for four days, thanks to the aforementioned penicillin allergy, did have it's benefits... I lost 7 pounds. It was almost as good a weight loss regimen as when I had the stomach flu before Christmas.
3. I'm finally glad I never had braces. It was painful enough when my teeth were readjusting to the new space in my mouth and moving around on their own... I can't even imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have metal bands constantly adjusting where your teeth are positioned in your mouth.
4. I swear that the loss of my wisdom teeth wrecked havoc with my sinuses. My doctor said I was crazy, but I found that taking pseudoephedrine along with my Advil helped to keep the slow aching pain in my lower left jaw and the feeling that my chin was separating from the rest of my face at bay.
5. Tights filled with ice bags and reheat-able hot/cold packs are a godsend. I kept two bags of ice tied to my face all day Thursday in my super useful Incredibles tights (see embarrassing picture, above, taken by my mother). Then for the next 5 or 6 days I kept my hot pack clamped firmly to my lower jaw to melt away the aches and pains.

Car Related Pearls

1. Squirrels are not cute. They eat cars. I no longer have a problem with my brother's crazy desires to shoot and cook them.
2. When you are having car trouble and are taking your car to the shop, DO NOT FILL THE GAS TANK BEFORE YOU DROP IT OFF. I made that silly mistake only to find out that the problem with my car could only be solved by replacing the gas tank. Losing less than 2 gallons of gas would have been a whole lot less upsetting than 12.
3. Toyota's are awesome cars... except for the fact that most of their parts are made in Japan. Thanks to the recent environmental disasters in that country, Toyota car part manufacturing there is at a virtual standstill... not a huge deal unless you NEED A NEW GAS TANK. (The parts lady said that she couldn't even fathom when my tank would be in... Awesome.)
4. It's really depressing to continue paying off a loan on a car you can't drive.
5. Good thing I still have the Buick.

Just Kidding.

My car really was sick.

The remedy... a new gas tank.

Yay.

It's Not!

The gas cap was loose...

Why the car took 5 days to realize this and start blinking lights and stuff is beyond me.

Epic fail Melissa.

Epic fail car.

Bracket Fail.

Red = loss. Green = win.

There's a whole lot of red on this bracket.

Brackets: 1. Me: 0. Office Pool: 1,000

I decided to join the office NCAA bracket pool this year.

Bad idea.

As I know next to nothing about basketball (especially college basketball) I made the brilliant decision to choose my teams by picking the ones that I am affiliated with, whether through family or friends. My bracket was filled with Cinderellaesque upsets and underdog defeats.

Thanks to my parents and friend, I had not one, but two 10th ranked teams reaching the championship game. I picked 11 teams ranked 6th or below to make it to the Sweet 16.

Again. Bad idea.

Day 2 isn't even over yet and three of the teams I picked for the final four have already lost.

My bracket = an enormously epic failure.



Stay tuned for my miraculous come back...

HA!

The Day I Almost Did A Donut

                                        ... in my driveway!

Exactly a month ago we had a snowstorm here in the valley. It was the last appreciable amount of snow, we've had. I wish Chicago would give us some of it's snow.

Anyhow, thanks to the about 7ish inches of snow fall, my mom had to get out the tractor again to plow out our driveway so that we could all go to work, and that required me to move my car so that the tractor could get out of the garage. (The tractor gets a garage... my car does not. See how our priorities stand in this family? Geez.)

But, since the tractor was dead, I had to turn my car around and move it back to its spot in front of the garage so that we could jump the tractor.

In seven inches of snow.

My car's no Buick, but it did very well in the snow... except when it didn't.

Like the time I almost did a donut into a large tree. Great times.

Check it out.

 My car attempting to side swipe a tree

 My fun skid marks... I was trying to back up, not sideways.

 Getting closer!

Success! Barely.

Epic Failure.

Because we live in pretty much the middle of nowhere, we have satellite TV at my house. DirecTV to be exact. Lately my mom and I have been noticing all these commercials for this new thing called DirecTV cinema which boasts to have more than 6,000 shows and movies available at the click of a remote, at no extra cost to you.

We were intrigued.

So we investigated. Apparently all you need to do to get this service is connect your internet modem to your satellite receiver with an Ethernet cable and voila! You have free on-demand television!

Unfortunately, our modem is very far away from our TV, so mom and I trekked over to Staples yesterday to get the 25 foot cable we would need to span the gap. Twenty-one dollars later, we headed home to reap our rewards.

After a semi-considerable amount of effort to get the cord to the downstairs satellite box from the upstairs internet modem and some finagling involving a mirror to see where all the cords plug into the back of the box, we discover something spine-tinglingly frustrating. Our receiver is Ethernet port-less.

Epic fail.

There's A Fly In My Office

A big juicy fly. It's been here since Friday. All I hear is buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

It's driving me crazy.

So crazy, in fact, that I've taken to stalking it with a pad of paper in an attempt to catch it unawares and smash it into a wall...

I'm glad no one else in my office has caught me doing this yet, because I'm pretty sure that I look eerily similar to Chef Louis attempting to catch Sebastian in Little Mermaid.



Unfortunately, the fly is winning.

The Cone of Shame

I ♥ UP.

Today mom took Little Kitty (aka Skits) to the vet to get her stitches taken out (we had her spayed) and they told her that the silly cat had developed a small infection from licking her incision. The treatment? A shot of antibiotics and a few days in the "Cone of Shame."

The poor thing hates it and lies around looking all pathetic when she has it on... it's really very cute...

Really?

Now I must admit that while I'm sort of apathetic when it comes to politics and I'm not completely satisfied with the direction our government has been moving in lately, it really scares me when I read things like this...

Donald Trump is seriously thinking about running for president.

Really? That's almost as scary as Sarah Palin's supposed presidential aspirations.

After yesterday's elections created an overwhelmingly Republican House and only slightly Democratic Senate, the republicans and tea-partiers are touting their victory, claiming that the AMERICAN PEOPLE have taken back the country. Last time I checked, democrats were American. I know I am.

But hey, over the last two years democrats have been dragged through the mud, stopped at almost every turn, and every decision they've actually been able to make has been criticized. So, who would want to be one anymore anyway? If you're a democrat, odds are, you won't be able to get anything done. After all, Sarah Palin thinks we're un-American, un-constitutional, and just plain unfit to be alive.

So, as much as I hate how red our country just got, all I can hope is that something, anything, gets done in the next two years. Anything, that is, except more stalemates, bickering, name calling, and all the other petty things that come part and parcel with politics. I'm willing to accept almost anything at this point as long as we take care of some of our problems.

But, if we elect the Trumpster or Sarah Palin as president in two years... I may completely lose my faith in people.

Five Reasons Buying A Car Gives Me Agida

I may or may not buy a new car this evening. Meaning, I'm going to, but I'm scared to death about it, mostly because buying a new car represents just about everything in the world that makes me nervous, uncomfortable, and scared, minus natural disasters. Here's just a glimpse of how dazed and confused my mind is right now...

1. Change - I hate change. I wish everything could stay the same forever. Unfortunately, it can't. That is one of the saddest truths about life.

2. Commitment - If I buy a car, I'm committing myself to it for at least the next ten years... probs more. What if I hate it? What if it's a lemon? What if I would have liked a different one better? My fear of commitment, combined with my fear of change, is probably why I will never get married.

3. Decisions - Anyone who knows me knows that I am the most indecisive person on the planet. I hate making decisions and am convinced that the choice I make is usually the wrong one.

4. Growing up - Most of you also know that thinking about the future (and being, gasp!, an ADULT) freaks me out more than most things, and this car basically represents my entrance into the adult world. I will have (and pay) my own insurance, I'll have monthly car payments, I'll have something super official in my name (read the car title), basically I'll be old.

4. Money - To me, there is almost nothing worse than spending a large amount of money all in one place on one thing. I'm never going to be able to buy a house... hello cardboard box.

On the bright side, the probable new car is very pretty! It's a 2010 Toyota Corolla, color Magnetic Grey Metallic.

Sesame Street

A lot of people have been talking smack over the past few days about Katy Perry essentially being booted off Sesame Street, thanks to the little greenish number she wore while singing an adaption of her song "Hot N Cold" with Elmo.

I mean really, why in the world did the producers let her film the spot wearing that? I know it's supposed to be "dress-up" but they should have been thinking about what all the moms out there would say about it. Don't you think they should have been like, "Hey, Katy, we're pretty sure that the higher powers will find that outfit you're wearing inapprops for little 3 year-olds, would you mind changing?" Silly people.

I'm not a huge fan of hers anyway, so it's whatever to me, but I think the whole situation is very silly and could have been resolved so easily with just one little wardrobe change. It's too bad because the song was very cute.

Slump.

I've hit a life slump and I don't quite know how to get out. Right now everything seems to be moving in the opposite direction I want it to, I feel like I'm having a mid-life crisis at 23. Why am I always bored? Why am I always a little bit sad or upset about just about everything? I used to be a pretty positive upbeat happy person... what happened to that girl?

Eat, Pray, ♥

Two weeks ago I decided to head up to DC to spend Labor Day weekend with Mik and Jenny... boy, has it been two weeks already? Time certainly has flown this year!

Anyway, I headed up on Saturday morning and with only a small amount of difficulty (and about a 10 minute detour) I found Mik's new apartment complex and gosh, it sure is nice! I'd live there in a heartbeat. Mik, as it turned out, had gone home for the day for a belated birthday celebration for his mom, so Jenny and I decided to make it a girls day.

We decided to go see Eat, Pray, Love since we both wanted to see it, and if I hadn't seen it with her I would have either seen it by myself or had to wait for the dvd release... It was pretty good. Jenny and I came out of it convinced that we needed to move to Italy, or maybe Bali, or even India, because they just looked so darn amazing... and then of course, there was the food in Italy. As Rachel Ray would say, "Yumo."

I think the lesson I took away most from Eat, Pray, Love, was that you should enjoy life, food, and yourself, without caring (exactly) what other people think... It's ok to not be a size 00, because really, people will love you for who you are, not what you look like or the size of your jeans, or at least they should...

To complete our girl's day, we decided to get pedicures. Oh. My. Gosh. This pedicure was by far, hands down, blow your socks off, the best one I've ever had in my entire life. Granted, I've had about five total, but still, it was amazing. And now my toes are a pretty shade of purple, "Damsel in a Dress" purple to be exact... I feel so pretty!

Saturday evening Mik and his fam came back to DC and we all headed down to the Nissan Pavilion to see a Jimmy Buffett concert! Boy was that an experience. I've never seen so many people in Hawaiian shirts and pirate costumes. Even more fascinating was the number of men who felt compelled to don a Hawaiian grass skirt, lei, and coconut bra... wow.

On Sunday, Mik had to get up super early (by which I mean 7) to go to a soccer game, so Jenny and I slept in... love doing that! We were going to head to the beach, but when we realized that it was going to be about 75 degrees and that good ol' Earl was still slightly wreaking havoc on the ocean, meaning that there were still crazy riptides and currents and stuff, we decided to nix that idea. Instead we ended up going into DC to get cultured.

But first, Mik joined us for lunch in the city at a really neat pub/restaurant, R.F.D. Washington, that my dad would die for, thanks to their spectacular selection of beer, which includes over 30 variates on tap and over 300 bottled. The food was also phenomenal. Then we got CUPCAKES! Yum. Red Velvet Cupcakery is right down the street from R.F.D. Washington, so we each picked out a cupcake to have for dessert... with dinner. We were far too full to eat them then. My favorite was the B-Day cupcake.
Then Mik went home to start on his homework... lame... and Jenny and I headed up to the Mall to get cultured. Thanks to summer hours, we were able to check out the new evolution exhibit at the Museum of Natural History and then finish up the evening with the National Air and Space Museum, which neither of us had been to in a while. It was kinda neat, and sad, to see how they've sort of removed Pluto from the planets exhibit.
As we were leaving to get on the Metro, we noticed a huge crowd moving towards the Capitol building so, being the nosy people we are, we decided to check it out. A friendly police man informed us that the National Symphony Orchestra was giving a concert in about 15 minutes, so we decided to stay and listen for a while. It was really neat. We had to go through metal detectors to get in, but then we got to sit on the lawn of the Capitol and listen to the NSO. They played a few famous, yet obscure pieces, and then in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission, they played a medley of music from the film Apollo 13. I was excited because that is one of my favorite scores of all time! Then, they played the march from Raiders of the Lost Arc, which made Jenny happy because that's one of her favorites!

On Monday, we were going to just make pancakes in the apartment for breakfast, but when Jenny decided that Bisquick pancakes weren't going to cut it, we decided to go to the restaurant Eggspectations. Boy was I glad we did... that place is amazing! Best french toast ever. Period. Then, on my way home, I decided to check out a new (to me) outlet mall and try to find some good Labor Day discounts... It worked! I managed to get a bathing suit for only $4. Perfect.

All in all, it was a pretty exciting and satisfying weekend... The perfect way to end the summer.

The Capitol is really pretty at night

I Can't Believe I'm Saying This But...

Thank God the Redskins won.

Stupid Eagles.

In other news, I just wrote a post about my super exciting Labor Day weekend, and it disappeared. Epic Fail. Stay tuned for version 2.0.