Gratitude 361

Campus is glittering with the glow of lighting bugs. They are like little Tinker Bells. :)
(Probably connected to the fact that I love glittery things! hehe!)

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Today, I applied for yet another loan to pay for my life/career/etc... One day, I'll actually be able to afford to pay them back...right? :/ On the plus side, I crossed another line off my "Boston" to-do list! Life is expensive.

Also, can I just add that last night I got the cutest (and most random!) email from the lady I am renting the room from in Boston: "I'll reply in a day or two. All's well. Will look forward to you staying here. .... Jason is a dear."  (Jason is a former tenant of her's that I spoke with last week about the room.) I'd confirmed the room literally a day prior to this. I haven't even met this lady yet, and she already cracks me up! These coming months are going to be quite the adventure! ;)

Destination: Boston -- Update

Attention, everyone! I have a very important announcement...

Gratitude 360
I HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE IN BOSTON!!! Indeed, it's true. I succeeded in the thought-to-be-impossible task of finding a place on a nearly zero budget in the third most expensive city in the country without actually going in person. It's not your "traditional" set-up, of course...it's a room in the house of a 72 year old lady who has some associations with the school at which I will be studying. This could be super great! ...or super not. I do know that, regardless, it's going to make for a pretty great story 10 or 20 years from now. haha! ;) It's not a "permanent" situation but a good move to get myself started in a new city, and later if I find a different place, I can move in 6 months or a year. Life adventure, let's go!

Approximately 2 1/2 weeks left in Ohio! ACK!

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I got a message asking to go in and open the bakery this morning. Opens much later on Mondays, so I was okay with that. I got the email about the room after that. Then, I had to go nanny...in the first hour, the three year old peed his pants, which led to bath time, he hit his head the sink in the bathroom, then he threw a flailing temper tantrum while running around naked, and once calmed down and dressed, spilled juice. Oof! Thankfully, once he got that all out of the way in that hour, the subsequent hours were fine. Such is my life!

My friend Sarah came over for dinner and chats. Then we went to get smoothies across the street. When she left, I visited Sara (the other one) for a bit. Again, I didn't accomplish much after I got home today. So tired lately. :( Off to bed here in just a bit and hopefully more alert, focused, and energetic tomorrow. ;)

Xander, Butterflies, Slushies...and MORE sugar!

I've been going to write for several days now, but I've either not had the time or been too tired. I love writing, but anytime it's been a long time since the last post, I continually put it off because there is so much to catch up on. So many things to say!


Gratitude 358
Last Tuesday night, Jessi and Xander came to visit. They got in late at night, and we went straight to bed...that is, after we calmed X down! haha! The next day, he was up bright and early. We made carrot cookies...

...made telescopes out of empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls, went for a walk to the library, the coffee shop and the bakery, and then went to see the butterflies!

Xander throwing coins into the pond: "I make a veesh!" (wish)

He loved it! But he wanted nothing to do with them touching him! haha! Just like his Aunt Sam. ;) I worked up the nerve to catch one on my finger for him to see up close and personal. That was all fine...even when it was climbing on my arm...but then it got freaked out and went for my neck! ACK! I still get the heebie jeebies just thinking about it. *shiver*

After about an hour and a half there, he fell asleep practically the second we strapped him into his seat. Since he was asleep, Jess and I went for an adventure driving downtown looking for a couple of places she wanted to visit and then hit a thrift store before heading back to my place.

Getting this kid to eat anything but sugar is quite interesting. At breakfast, we sat eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and he pointed to a basket of fruit they had brought me and said, "Happy Mother's Day!" Apparently they taught him to say that, and now, he says it for everything. Hilarious! We got take out for dinner, and it took convincing him that he had to save the chicken nuggets from the Toy Story aliens to get him to eat...while he jumped an obstacle course through my living room! haha! He got a kick out of playing in a giant box I acquired for packing, though. ;)

Seriously, that kid is so intelligent. He knows everything and responds to everything. Were we that way when we were two?

They left late Wednesday night after we went to get ice cream. Xander was certainly sugared up on his visit to Aunt Sam's!

Xander named his friend "Fish".

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Friday, there was a party, or rather a small get-together, at The Rossi (a kind of "classy" bar downtown) for my boss's boyfriend's 40th birthday thrown together by my boss's brother. After work, Quinton, my new friend Sara (I know a million Sara(h)'s!), and I headed over after closing the bakery for some wine and pizza. Good times! I love those types of things. :) ...But I don't want to even know what that tab looked like! YIKES!

I had to be up to open the bakery the next morning, too...Samantha does not do well on pretty much no sleep! I survived, though.

Gratitude 359
Saturday night, Sara and Q popped over to my place for tea, music listening, and chats on the balcony. Made my day. :)

Sunday morning, I was up bright and early at 6:30am because I agreed to sing for Chad at the church...both services. He took me out to breakfast at Bob Evan's in between services, too. He's such a good friend! I love making people's day just by merely singing a simple song. That is why I do what I do. The music was absolutely no frills and just a strophic hymn setting, but that didn't matter; all that mattered was the simple act of sharing it and using my voice for His good. Everyone who "gets it" in this career always says that it isn't about you. And that's real life. If you are doing it right, it isn't about you.

The rest of the day was very unproductive. I'd been battling sinus headaches and such for a few days straight, so I just sprawled on the couch till I had to go into the bakery for a bit. Two Tylenol and about a gallon of Pepsi later, I was feeling better. (I know, both terrible things for me, but usually, they're the only things that help.)

Side note: When Q was cleaning the bakery Saturday night, he found these sample packets in a box of flour bags of some sort of probiotics especially for nasal issues. Random. But I tried them, and I actually think they might be working...not really any issues today. Go figure...they are like $40 a bottle! ha! 

My friend Haley called up while I was working and asked if I wanted to go see a movie later, so we did. Yay! She's one of my favorites! We saw Bad Teacher...don't waste your money! Amusing but not good at all. Jason Segel was the best part of that movie. I don't think the two of us were the right crowd for that humor, either. :-/ On the bright side, it was great to see her. Now, our mission is to find her a music-related job in Boston, so we can find a place together and have even more crazy epic adventures together! ;) 

To Daddy:

...Because I clearly didn't buy nor send a card!

Happy Father's Day!

Yesterday, I ...

Woke up at 6:30am; baked and decorated cookies and the like; made (and drank 2) various cups of coffee; bathed 5 kids; 2 meals and snack times; watched a Sesame Street episode I am certain I watched when I was 4; settled various meltdowns and disputes (while suppressing my own from actually happening!); made a guitar out of paper for a 3 year old; biked ~2 miles; sent emails about apartments; read bedtime stories; and then had chocolate cake that Barb and Tim brought home from their anniversary dinner. You know, the normal daily life of a soprano, right? ha! I'm just a regular Mary Poppins...or Maria! Oh, goodness!

I think I should have saved that glass of wine I drank the night before for last night! Except that by the time I got home at 10pm, I was ready to just fall over...but of course I couldn't fall asleep till about 12:30am! Ugh.

Work tonight, then meeting up with my friend Carolyn to catch up and give her their wedding gift...from over a month ago.

Gratitude 357
The rare occasion of eating cake for breakfast...and after sleeping in till 10am!  ;)

Also, I was ordering prints online this morning and found these "old" photos from my first trip abroad when I was 17. (Of course, I was playing around with the originals on Picnik, so they are "revised" versions.)

 

Gratitude 356

Those days when I actually don't have a sinus headache! :) And witnessing the joy that people get from something very simple. It truly is the small things that make life wonderful! :)

Gratitude 355

The recipes on the back of the StoveTop Stuffing box. Seriously delicious! :)

Last night, Sarah came over after work for a little girls night. Yay! We cooked dinner, went to "Terazza della Prima Donna" (hehe!), chatted, listened to music, and then watched Arthur. Now, I have no idea why I hadn't ever heard of this movie before, but it was HILARIOUS! It could be in part that it was after midnight, and I'd had a couple glasses of wine earlier in the evening...nonetheless, it was funny. How can it not be funny when you put Russell Brand and Helen Mirren together?! Total ridiculousness! ;) Then, this morning, we made chocolate chip pancakes! Yum!

Also this morning, the maintenance guy came by to do the routine fire extinguisher check. Good thing I had no idea where it was...and after living here for two years... Oops! And yet, my mother, who is currently 225 miles away proceeded to rattle off in complete specific detail where it was. Ha! Go figure. Not like I would have been in trouble had there been the necessity to use it, since there is one two feet outside my door...which is like fives steps from my kitchen! Just thinking ahead... ;)  

Gratitude 354

Turning on the television after getting home late from work and finding a Josh Groban special on PBS. That just made my night! :)

(Although, it definitely makes me sad that I am narrowly missing him in Ohio AND in Boston. Fail.)

It's been a somewhat lazy weekend, besides work. Pajamas are just too comfy to have to take off on a Saturday morning...so I didn't! haha! Didn't accomplish as much as I should have today, but that's okay. ;)

Pirates of Penzance tomorrow after church, going into bakery for a bit, and then the Tony Awards! It's going to be a busy Sunday!

Oh, Noni!

Gratitude 353
Gloria aka Noni aka Glo aka "Carol Burnett" aka Geri's (my boss) mom is one of my favorite people! You just can't help but love her. AND she gave me a copy of the new Flogging Molly CD! (Her son is the drummer!)  ;)


This week in my life...

Trader Joe's trip with Q, followed by dinner on the balcony...and our own little cop show across the street...yeah, that actually happened.

Not very productive days off. :-/

Watching the hot mess they call America's Got Talent. Sometimes, I think it's very entertaining...other times, I can't believe I'm watching it! haha!

Franklin Park Conservatory and BUTTERFLIES with Barb and the girls. I have discovered that I love looking at butterflies because they are beautiful, but I won't dare touch them...their spiny legs creep me out! I was freaked out that one had gotten up my skirt, too! I am in love with Chihuly artwork, though! Sheer brilliance! (Photos below)

Catching up with Chad for a few minutes while getting a piece of music from him...he leaves for Europe today! Jealous? Duh! Except for the fact that it is going to most likely be stiflingly hot and that he has to chaperone 30 middle school-aged kids. =P  (I told him to order two glasses of wine at dinner, one for Chad and one for Samantha, and not to do anything I wouldn't do. hehe!)

Typical ridiculousness at the bakery. ;)

Have a happy Friday! I'm off to nanny and then to the bakery. Well, nanny, provided I don't get a cancellation call, again, like I did on Monday... Lord, let me have patience today! :)

Terrazza della Prima Donna

Yesterday, I awoke with patience in short supply, meaning zero. I am not certain why, but they just weren't happening for some reason. And what did I have to do for the day? Nanny for 5 hours...and then go to the bakery for 4 hours. Needless to say, my patience level was in the negatives by the time I walked into the bakery... (And don't worry...I didn't lock the kids in a closet! -- Not that I would ever do that, of course! -- haha! It took a lot of self-control and effort to keep my cool and manufacture something that passed as "patience" for those 5 hours. What a day! Plus, I had to get at least some studying and practicing in for the day before all of the above, so basically, I went from about 8/8:30am till just after 10pm nonstop. :( Shoved a bagel thin and 2 carrots in my mouth in between nannying and baking and by 9pm, I was so done. Grouchy, tired, and hungry. Nem jo.

Enter Terrazza della Prima Donna. It's this great little place I know. Great European, artsy, relaxed feel with limited seating, so it's very exclusive. And lucky me, it's located ten steps from my door. hehe! ;)

Gratitude 352
I had about a 1/3 of a bottle of wine left sitting on my counter, so I grabbed a glass and the bottle, made up a quick cheese, cracker, and veggie tray, found the candles and lighter, switched on the rope lights across the balcony, and took it all with a book and my ipod dock out to the balcony. The night had cooled, and it was perfect outside. Exactly what I needed. Pure bliss. I am sure it was quite the sight to see, almost like a scene in a movie. ;) Love it! I sat out there for 2 or so hours and let the tension and stress just melt away while I read and sipped some wine. (And I know by the shear fact of me writing this that I am going to get a message from my mother lecturing me on reading in poor lighting, just like she did practically every other week when I was a kid! So for all you reading this, of course I wasn't reading by candlelight...*wink wink*!) I could even see a few scattered stars here and there, despite the street lights.

Looking up, I saw the blinking light of a jet plane headed east, the direction I'll be headed in just a couple of months (EEK!)...and then another headed west. I felt placed in the middle of them with an affinity to both directions. I'm not going to even try to explain that one, just go with it. ;) It's an odd feeling being "caught" between two worlds (or sometimes more!). I'll be approximately 800 miles closer to Europe from the current position where I am sitting, ~575 from my hometown. Excited? DUH! ;) Stressed? DUH! Do I have a place to live yet? Of course not! But that's just technicalities! haha! ;)

Unfortunately, my tension and non-relaxed state has come back full throttle today. Boo! And my shoulders have become new earrings, again. For irritating reasons, I ended up going into work in the a.m. instead of the closing shift, but that actually turned out better because it gave me a whole evening of I-can-do-anything-I-want. Unfortunately, I couldn't knock out this tension despite attempts. I had plans to return to Terrazza della Prima Donna for tea and toast tonight, but alas, I was rained out. *sigh* (Or, rather, monsooned out! The weather today is crazy, I tell you! I thought they were coming back to take Kansas today and that we needed to hang onto Toto for dear life! Geez!)

Time for some tea, a book, and bedtime. Perhaps that will melt some of this away. Jo ejszakat! :)

P.S. Oh, and I just discovered this great song. Enjoy!