I feel like most of my posts lately have been list posts, but there's really not a whole lot going on that necessitates its own post. *shrugs*

1. I have a new default icon! Thanks, slytherin_face!!

2. I had a very weird dream last night. It involved a dentist's office waiting room that looked like a food court where my BFF Maria, my Australian friend Wade, P. Diddy, Jason Gordon-Levitt, and I ate lunch together. Jason Gordon-Levitt sat next to me, stealing my Goldfish crackers as we ate. IDEK, you guys.

3. I worked this weekend to finish something by today, which was not so fun. But overtime pay is certainly nice, especially since annual raises are due this pay period. Yay!

4. I know I never posted anything about my birthday. I want to, but LJ keeps freezing up when I try uploading my pictures to the Scrapbook. I need to make the time to create a new photobucket account or something. Hopefully that will happen this week.

5. Sadly, I don't have time today for the 30 day music meme, but I'll double up tomorrow.

That promotion at work FINALLY got posted, so I have officially applied! And I got a lot done at work, so that felt really good. Also, a family friend gave birth to her first baby at 8:02 tonight. Yay!!

On top of that... I'm currently watching Arrested Development while making icons in Photoshop. :D

Which is where I need y'all's help. I made a bunch of Siobhan icons tonight and have no idea which one(s) to upload. Help?

1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7. 8.

The rain continues to pour, so I'm not going in to work today. I'll be checking my work e-mail and doing some work that I brought home last night, but driving 82 miles round trip in torrential rain and flooding is just not smart. Too bad I didn't sleep in, though. :\

Ugh. Work has been insanely busy. Monday, I only got a 15 minute lunch, and yesterday and today I didn't get a lunch break at all. Yesterday I was in meetings for 4 hours. Today and Friday I'm interviewing candidates for an open position on my team. Plus I have about 5 ongoing projects to work on every day in addition to the day-to-day stuff that comes up.

And, on top of all of that, I'll probably have to work over the three-day weekend to finish up a major project that (through no fault of my own) is 6 months overdue.

And I have a bad head cold, but I just can't afford to take time off right now.


Good thing my hair's so thick. No one will notice when I start pulling it out.






On the plus side, it's a rainy day. :)

This week has been insane. We had a "retreat" at work, which is basically two full days of training and meetings. Those days were Tuesday and Thursday. So Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I had to work longer to make up for the lost time in the meetings. So yeah. I worked 41 hours instead of 37.5 this week (and today was a half day!). I'm le tired.

Also, I got rear ended on Wednesday night coming home from the gym. Luckily, the damage was very very minor (the paint on my trailer hitch is scratched, but that's it), so we're not ever going to do anything about it. However, I exchanged information with the guy just in case there was an issue. And since I had paper and a pen, he was sort of hunched over my passenger seat to write down his information. And when we had parted ways... I realize he had left his wallet in my car. Face, meet palm.

My mom ended up driving the guy's wallet over to his house, since we had his address on his driver's license. So that's all sorted. But it was a very frustrating night.




In other news...

I bought new shoes last weekend! I love them so much! ( Pictures under hereCollapse )

Goals for this weekend:
- Watch this week's Top Chef and Project Runway
- Renew my AAA membership so my mom stops hounding me
- Do some laundry
- Make some Arrested Development GIFs
- Watch Slumdog Millionaire (FINALLY!)

OH! ETA!
Watch this. Donate.

The last 48 hours have been spectacular! On Tuesday after work, I went to my friend Maria's house. She and I were best friends in high school, and even though she went to Notre Dame University while I stayed in California, and even though she's teaching English in Korea while I'm living at home, we are still very close. Anyway, I stayed overnight on Tuesday, skipped out on work yesterday, and then spent New Year's Eve with her and her family. I absolutely adore her family, you guys. She has two beautiful and incredibly wonderful sisters, and they had another friend over, whom I know pretty well. New Years Eve consisted of several episodes of "The West Wing," an absolutely amazing four-course meal, a Korean card game, champagne and raspberry red wine at midnight, and a two hour dance party in the kitchen with the 5 of us girls. I was a bit sad to leave them today, since Maria is going back to Korea until September, one of her sisters is returning to school at NYU, and the other sister is going to grad school in Vermont in a couple of months. I'm going to miss them all terribly!!

So that was my New Year's Eve. And even though it sort of sucks that I have to work longer hours next week to make up for playing hookie yesterday, but it was absolutely and completely worth it.

So...

2008 was a really good year for me. I've listed my top ten moments of the last year (complete with pictures) under this first cut as a way to look back on the year and remember how wonderful and amazing it was. Sure, not everything was peachy keen all the time, but I tend to be an optimist, so I'd rather remember the good things.

Enjoy the list and the pictures!

( Top Ten Moments of 2008Collapse )

Okay, I haven't made resolutions in ages. I've always thought that the idea of waiting until January 1st to decide to change aspects of your life was a bit silly. And I'm generally very happy with my life, so I never really felt the need to resolve to make things better. But, for whatever reason, I feel like making them this year. They are mostly serious, but there are some sillier ones in there, too.

( Ten Resolutions for 2009Collapse )

I haven't decided yet, but I might post monthly updates about how my resolutions are going, just to keep me on track with what I want to achieve in the next twelve months.

I wish you all a happy, healthy, safe, blessed, amazing 2009. I love you all! *HUGS*

1. I listened to Coldplay's Viva la Vida in the car all the way to and from work. I just bought the CD yesterday. It's absolutely incredible. I HIGHLY recommend it to... everyone!

2. My boss at work told me I'm doing really well and that he's impressed!

3. There were chickens on the side of the freeway today. Seriously. Two hens, a chick, and a rooster on the shoulder of the freeway. There was traffic, so I was going slowly enough to see them. But yeah. CHICKENS ON THE FREEWAY FTW!!!

4. Tonight's episode of Pushing Daisies was AWESOME in every way!! I'm actually watching it a second time. I adore Kristin Chenowith. And Lee Pace. And Chi McBride. And Anna Friel. And, you know... all of it.

You know, it feels really nice to have money in bank account that did not come from my parents. Money that I earned for doing a job and that I can spent (sort of) however I want. I'm definitely going to start saving up money so that I can move out in the near future (hopefully within the next 10-12 months), but now I can buy the things that I've been wanting/needing for the last few months, like a RAM upgrade for my laptop and a new pillow and a membership to the local swim club so that I can exercise more. Not that I'm going to be rolling in dough or anything, especially because I commute over 400 miles a week and I have to start paying my parents back for the Denver program, but still. It's nice to be able to go out to lunch with my co-workers every now and then and not worry about it.

And, as my icon just reminded me... there's a meme going around to post a quote from The Princess Bride. So here's mine. (Actually, I'm posting a couple, since I've seen this more than once on my f-list.)

Grandson: See? Didn't I tell you she'd never marry that rotten Humperdinck?
Grandfather: Yes, you're very smart; shut up.

Humperdinck: And then my tongue I suppose. I killed you too quickly the last time, a mistake I don't mean to duplicate tonight.
(This has always been one of my favorites, just because it has a cool rhythm to it when he says it.)

Inigo: I am not left-handed!

The was one of the best Supernatural episodes I've ever seen. It make me gasp, cry, laugh, squeal, and generally make a fool of myself. Also, I adored all of the guest stars.

I cannot form anything else coherent at the moment. I was tired already and that episode just killed my brain. I think I'm going to go to bed now.

P.S. Yes, work is going well, even thought the commute kind of sucks. I'll do a more comprehensive post on the weekend.

Feel free to skip this; it's mostly for my benefit so I can remember what was said, think through those things, and have a good reference come November 4th.

( I finally watched Friday's presidential debate.Collapse )

In completely unrelated news, I START MY NEW JOB TOMORROW! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Wish me luck!!

Thank you very much to all of you who commented on my "I have a job" post. I didn't feel like commenting with the same "THANK YOU SO MUCH!" comment to every single one of you, but just know that I'm so glad that you guys are happy for me and that I am grateful for each and every one of you. I hope the sparkles and giant blue font I used weren't too obnoxious, I just felt like celebrating. Tomorrow I'm making an celebratory apple pie. It's going to be LEGENDARY.

Also, I'm super excited because I'm going to post my first real Supernatural meta post tomorrow. I spent the last couple of hours watching, taking notes on, and screen capping "Sin City." I have all the info and pictures I need, so tomorrow I'm going to organize my thoughts (they're all over the place right now and not in any particular order) and post it. I'm crazy excited because I think I have some really cool information and quite a few insights that I hope make people think.

This is the kind of thing I get really excited about when I don't write a literary analysis paper in several months. This meta pretty much feels like a paper, but with pictures and our favorite Winchester boys.

Lastly, IS IT THURSDAY YET?!?!

P.S. Turns out I don't start the job until the 29th, not the 22nd, but that's okay. My goal was to have my first day of work before the end of September, and that's what's happening (barely)! So I'm happy. My mom also bought me some new work clothes for my birthday, so YAY!

I HAVE A JOB!!!!!

I'll be working at Cengage Learning as an editorial assistant for their education textbook list. It's a good entry level salary, pretty much what I expected, and they hope to have me start on Monday. The person I just spoke to on the phone is the person that gave me my first phone interview, and he just now told me that he wanted to offer me the job right after our first conversation, but he couldn't, since I had to do the rest of the interviewing first. But, hey, that's a nice little ego boost, eh?

Interview tomorrow (Monday) at 12:30 pm. Should last about two hours. Happy thoughts/prayers/crossed fingers most welcome. Will update when it's over.

Things in Denver are still very good. We finished our editorial workshops this week and next week we're starting on marketing workshops. I'm excited for them. I think marketing would be really fun to do, but I don't really know what it actually entails, so I'm curious to find out what exactly it is and if I think I'd be any good at it.

I've also been researching publishing companies in my hometown and companies that work on children's and young adult literature so that I have options in case I don't get a job from the interviews that are in two weeks.

Today, four friends and I went to a rodeo in Cheyenne, WY, as I mentioned in my latest vlog that we might do. It was... interesting. I still haven't decided if I think it's fun and entertaining or barbaric and cruel to the animals. I guess it's a bit of both. Anyway, it was fun to hang out with my friends, so I guess all in all it wasn't a bad day. I have pictures and footage, so I'll probably post some of that in the future.

GUESS WHAT?! I forgot to bring my iPod on the 90 minute drive to Cheyenne, so we ended up listening to the radio all the way up and back. Now, I haven't listened to the radio in... three or four years? I NEVER listen to it because I prefer my iPod and my CDs. But we found a contemporary rock/pop station that we all liked and settled on it for most of the drive. And what do I hear? TIME OF MY LIFE!!!! DAVID COOK'S SINGLE!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! I hadn't heard it on the radio yet, since, as I mentioned, I never listen to the radio. Besides, in the last couple of months I didn't feel like listening to a bunch of songs I don't know or don't like on the off chance I'd hear David's single. ANYWAY! The moment the first chord started, I gasped and flailed and turned up the volume. The four people in the car with me were like, "wut?" and I explained. It was pretty cool. Highlight of my day.

I still need to send David Cook my thank you letter.

ETA: I saw Wall-E last night (finally) and ADORED IT!!!! YAY!

Just got this e-mail!!!

Congratulations!

We are pleased to tell you that the Admissions Committee of the
University of Denver Publishing Institute has accepted your
application, and we are very much looking forward to welcoming you to
campus for the four-week session, July 13 to August 9, 2008. A hardcopy
of this email has been placed in the mail to you today.

*happy dance* *bounces* YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

I WANNA WATCH SUPERNATURAL BUT I'M IN CLASS AND THEN I'M MEETING WITH ELAINE UNTIL 4!!! *POUTS*

I have tabs up in Firefox for everyone's reviews, and I'm DYING to read them. The title alone is making me super excited to watch it. RAWR!

First, the pimp. longleggedgit is hosting a bad music meme. Go snag so awesomely bad songs and upload some of your own. I know you have an least one song on your computer that you love to hate and hate to love. We're talking embarrassingly bad stuff here, friends.

In other news, school starts in three days. I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, but I'm not ready for the busy-ness that will be this year. ( See picture of crazy schedule under the cut.Collapse ) The classes might not seem to bad - two or three hours a day - but those are each upper division classes, all literature based. I think I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in reading and writing. On top of school, I'll have my work with Elaine, and...

EDITING FOR SCRIBBULUS OVER AT THE LEAKY CAULDRON!!! I applied for the job about a month ago, I think it was. Out of 30+ applicants, they narrowed it down to 7 to interview, and then 2 of us got the job! [/bragging] I'm so excited I can't even tell you. For those who don't know, Scribbulus is an essay project for the Harry Potter fan website The Leaky Cauldron. The team is really friendly, and I can tell it's going to be a blast, even though I'm still learning the ropes.

I also met with a voice teacher today to start taking lessons once a week. It was really good to sing and be conscious of my technique and all that again - I haven't had that in a couple years. I'm looking forward to this, too! The teacher seems nice and competent and fun. I have get to go buy new music books now, and figure out if I can have access to a piano somewhere. I know my apartment complex is creating a business center with TVs and computers and prnters and such, but I doubt they'll have a piano in there. It's worth checking out, though!

Finally, I signed up to take a modern dance class through the school's Rec Center. I start on the 9th and I cannot WAIT! I haven't taken dance in two or three years, and I love, love, LOVE modern dance. I knew I wouldn't have the time to take it as an academic class, so I figure I rec class is just as good (and cheaper than paying for a 2-unit class!).

Well, that's about all I have to say for now. How are you guys?

Just got this email from the woman I'm editing for:

Linda, wanted to tell you that I am really impressed with your ability - - and think your chosen path of being an editor is 'right on.' You are a really good thinker.... and though I believe you certainly have the ability to do graduate work, you can undoubtedly profit by some professional activity as an editor. You might have to start out as an assistant, of course, but you would certainly made the grade!
Keep up the good work!


I know, I know... I said I wasn't going to work for her anymore. Well, I think I came up with a better solution. I'm still going to work for her, but when school starts I'm going to tell her that I'm too busy to meet once or twice a week. I'm hoping that that way I can just take the finished chapters from her when they are done and edit them at home. Cuz honestly? I'm not walking away from a person who thinks that highly of me. References FTW.