Sleep In Deep

• I felt guilty about sleeping in this morning but I finished everything I needed to and didn't miss anything...so I think it's okay.
• Got to talk with RJ today. I don't see him very often (well, especially now that he's so far away) but I miss him...maybe I'll get to see him and Sara over Christmas :)
• Now I'm headed to bed because I have to get up at 4 a.m.!

Pumpkin Carver (Oct 30)

• Carved pumpkins with Cara and her parents tonight :)

• Laughed with Cara uncontrollably at the first 14 pages of Damn You AutoCorrect for about an hour and half. We perused - and cried over - such pages as the Halloween fails and the Top 25 of DYAC's first year on the web. I love laughing that hard :)

Competition Smile (Oct 29)

• Competition day - even when problems or drama or sickness happens, I'd rather have a million of these days than any other kind. My girls are so beautiful and the drummers/band kids make me laugh and I get to say "They're with me" as I walk through the ticket gate with my Director badge. And today I got to hang out with PP, Anna, my Dad and Barbara, and see Brad and Rob. I just love doing this.

Candy Everybody Wants

• Started my job at Macy's - met some nice people and some not nice people, but I got paid to organize clothes racks, so overall it was pretty good.
• I was really cool and sewed while listening to piano music on my Friday night :)
• Apparently, the Farmington kids love butterscotch candies as much as they love stickers. I love it. And they basically made my day awesome.

The Great Day Has Arrived

• Bank tellers are quickly becoming my new favorite type of people...today, mine (a girl this time) asked me if I was a dancer. I said, kind of, that I started taking classes in college. She was like, "I knew it! The way you walk and stand, and your hair in that braid thing, you just had to be." It was so awesome. I secretly love it when people tell me that because it's my dream, in another life, to be a dancer.
• I found this sandwich shop on 4th St. in Ann Arbor and the sub I got was so good! And the sandwich shop girl said I made her day, just because I gave her $21 (my bill was $6) so that she could give me change in fives, because she was running out of ones.
• I got to eat lunch with Cara before practice.
• Because of all these great things, I had a ton of fun at practice (a lot more like I used to, I was realizing...not sure what has changed...but that's a different, more somber train of thought that I'm not going to investigate right now), even with the crazy weather. Got lots of hugs from my girls and had fun watching their animal interpretations of the dance in Fur Elise. Told Jackie I was going to make her a sash that says "INJURED" so the judges don't get confused about why she doesn't have a flag. Made Mike laugh, which is always fun, because sometimes I don't think he does it enough. Talked with Laura about the transition out of HS and HS band. It was a great afternoon.
• I love my guard girls and my drummers. Yes, they are MY drummers :)

And She's a Slut (Oct 26)

• [I would write about my training at Macy's today but it was incredibly boring, other than the fact that I did get paid for all 6 hours of watching modules and reading guidelines.]
• Sewed while watching Pride & Prejudice tonight. Perfect.
• Melissa's phone does a voice alert to tell her who's calling. Cara and I took turns calling her while we were all hanging out tonight because I'm in her phone as "Angry Emily" and Cara is "Cara the Slut" and it was really funny to hear the phone voice say those.
• I finished my bottle of mouthwash!

Hard Life, Simple Song

• All I've done today was watch White Christmas, HIMYM, and Pride & Prejudice; eat; nap; cut some fabric; and scheduled my training at Macy's. Mostly, I'm grateful that I'm alive to do these silly things...there have been at least 4 people, whom I distantly know and who are around my age, that have died unexpectedly over the last week. Prayers for healing for their families and those close to them.

Foreign Window

• Ate donut-flavored Oreos today. Other than the fact that the Oreos weren't very crunchy, they were practically the best thing ever.
• Baby oil shouldn't come in a bottle with a child-proof cap, it should come in a bottle with a spill-proof cap.
• Watched Julie & Julia - very cute movie :)
• There are people (or at least one person) from the UK, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Russia who have read my blog! So cool! (I've also had people from Germany, Australia and South Korea read it, but I know of people in those countries, so I can guess who read it there.) 

You Sound Like You're Sick (Oct 22)

• I wore my brown turtleneck, soldier sweater, orange scarf and brown jacket today and all the guard girls commented on how cute I looked! It was adorable. Lindsay said that when she gets older she wants to where cute clothes like me.
• Fantastic performance tonight. My girls did really great and I'm so proud of them :)
• I got a cold this week so my man voice arrived today. Very quickly, like between rehearsal and performance. It was very funny to hear the kids' reactions. Most laughed, which is fine - it's funny. Also, I tricked David into thinking there was a strange guy in Cara's room. Also very funny.
• Guilty pleasures are really fun and are even awesomer when shared with someone.
• Currently curled up in my bed, watching Grey's Season 7 (I'm pretty sure it's my favorite). I only wish I was the little spoon to a sweet guy who didn't care about getting sick from me, instead of my Kleenex box. Oh well, can't have everything ;)

Keep The Customer Satisfied

• I know customer service is their job but when the cute teller at the bank gives me tips on how to get over my cold and tells me he hopes I feel better, I'm going to pretend he would only say that to me.
• There's a gas station on Washtenaw that charges the cash price when you pay with a debit card and it makes me happy.

Only In The Movies (Oct 19)

• Making movie trailers might be one of the coolest jobs. You get to make movies look super fantastic, even if they don't turn out to be that great. You match the action with music and introduce, but don't give away, all the characters. It seems kind of like making movies except not the same kind of hard.
• When I "settle down", it will be in a big city (like New York) or in/around a small city (like Kalamazoo). I love both settings so much. Mostly though, I can't stand a commute or fighting traffic. It does NOT work with my impatient personality.
• Rachel McAdams is in the new Sherlock Holmes!!!!!! I'm beyond excited because she wasn't in the trailer that was released this summer but she's in the new trailer. GAH SO EXCITED!

People In The Valley (Oct 18)

• Visited Lauren at Grand Valley today! I told her she should feel very special because I have had lots of friends go to GV and she was the first person I'd visited there. I took back roads from Matt and Liz's and the drive was so pretty.
• I did not have my coffee today and that was not a good plan. I will fix that tomorrow.

Lady Rachel (Oct 17)

• I love driving on the M highways, especially in the fall. I feel like they take you through some of the most fantastic and characteristic parts of Michigan. Also, it's amazing how beautiful the fall colors have been this year.
• Talked with Liz, played with Rachel, got to put Rachel to bed. I love visiting the Carrs :)

Breakfast at Tiffany's (Oct 16)

• Katie and I ate breakfast at 2:00 pm. Isn't it rude that Panera doesn't serve breakfast at that time?
• After breakfast, Katie had to work on a project so I went home. Where I watched football. And HIMYM. And took a nap. Yes, 3 hours after I woke up, I took a nap. For 3 hours.
• My dad made breakfast for dinner.
• I watched HIMYM and went to bed (4 hours after waking up from my nap).

Windy Autumn Day (Oct 15)

• Fantastic day with Katie, doing pretty much everything we planned :)
• First thing, Crystal Springs cleanup...That place is sooo beautiful in the fall, I can't believe I've never been before. I started out in the kitchen, helping prep lunch. One of the summer staffers came in a little after and said she didn't even think twice when I was in there cutting up vegetables; it just looked so normal. "Why didn't you ever work here?" was her question. Then she asked Jeff why he'd never recruited me (he said he doesn't recruit people, even if they'd be really great on staff - 2 compliments!). After raking lots of leaves and making new friends, Katie and I stuck around to help The Boyz and their movie-making. By "help", I mean I took pictures and laid in the leaves. But it was fun :)
• Eastern won against Central! Very exciting.
• Then, we met Jane. She's very cuddly and totally fell asleep in Katie's arms. It was great to see Phil and Kristin too, I miss them.
• Next, after hanging out with Charlie, Jason, Justin, Ryan and Carrie for awhile, we went in search of the movie Bridesmaids. As it was after midnight, our only choices were Meijer and Wal-Mart and neither of them had it!!! There wasn't even a label on the shelves for it at Mejier, I don't know what their deal was.
• So we went back to Katie's and danced it out, Meredith-and-Cristina style (we were both pretty riled up about our own issues, and the Bridesmaids fiasco, at this point). Oh, and we called Katie's friend Dave.

Professor Plum in the Ballroom With the Candlestick (Oct 14)

• Got to see Dr. McVey and Dr. Williams today, while turning in my study abroad application. I love so many of the profs I had at Eastern and I'm so glad I'm still in touch with some of them. Also, both of them keep telling me to leave the country as soon as possible ;)

When Girls Get Together

• Anna and I watched Grey's "together" tonight, despite being 70 miles away.
• I wore my grey Macy's dress to rehearsal, because I didn't have time to change, and got lots of compliments. Love those Farmington kids ;)

Stepping in Your Shoes

• Finished my quilt today! I'll post pics after I give it to the recipient, so as not to spoil the surprise :)
• We watched more HIMYM today, including "Slap Bet"! Love it (and was singing the Mall Song all afternoon/evening). Carrie made fun of me and Cara for calling it "HIMYM", but it's fun to say.
• Carrie, Cara and I were trying on shoes in Macy's. I put on these really cute green/blue tweed Rocket Dogs and Cara came around the corner with the same pair of shoes and said, "Do you like these?" I said, "Look down" and then we laughed a lot.
• Wore my bright purple tights today and was complimented by a worker at Macy's. I also wanted to apply my employee discount to my FroYo (which quickly became FYo, and then just Yo) but I don't actually work there yet, so that wouldn't have worked so well.

Hey Good Looking

• Put in Sherlock Holmes when I woke up.
• Had an interview for Macy's today and got a job! I'm not sure exactly what I'll be doing, but there will be at least one interesting challenge - though I don't work every day, my shifts are going to be starting at 5 a.m....
• Met with Dr. Koh to discuss the TaLK program, for teaching English in Korea. She is really funny! Among many other amusing things, she asked "Are only good-looking people in marching band?" after I told her that I knew Julie Glowski and Mike Sobolak from EMUMB.
• Great rehearsal with the girls. We worked on tosses the way that Krystle suggested and I think it really helped.
• Ice cream for dinner, with Anna.

It's amazing how at the same time that I'm having a great day, other people are having really shitty days...I found out that the husband of a very happy, bubbly (middle-aged) woman that I know passed away this weekend. Not fair at all.

Pulling Lame (Oct 10)

• Skyped with Lauren. Miss that girl :)
• Creatively solved a sewing problem on the quilt I'm working on. Also, this may be the cutest baby quilt I've made so far.
• The rest of my day was pretty lame. Was told by Macy's that they've filled all the positions I'm supposed to be interviewing for tomorrow; I rear-ended a guy (from a stop so no one was hurt, nothing was wrong with the cars and - since the guy had a hitch - no one was mad or upset); and my car wouldn't start after visiting the library, so I had to walk down Michigan Ave. to a gas station and buy oil. Boo.

One Foot On The Path

• Today was just a day of sewing and enjoying the sunshine. OH and I got the BEST dress at Plato's Closet the other day and I got to wear it today. And now Cara and I are watching How I Met Your Mother, which is pretty great.

My new favorite outfit!
And most of it was already mine :)

• As I was working on my quilt today, I was drawing parallels between the seams I was sewing and my life. On the fabric of this quilt, there are all sizes of squares and rectangles that fit together to make a pattern, so I decided to do real quilting and go around the edges of all the shapes. As I work, I'm constantly deciding which path I should take with the next seam to maximize the duration of the seam and minimize how many times I go over seams I've already put in. There are literally a million different ways I could go. The most effective and successful way to do it seems to be to just make a decision about where to start and then make turns based on that choice, rather than trying to plan out the whole path before I start. And no matter which way I go, it's still going to be a pretty great quilt.

Good Day Sunshine (Oct 8)

• The great adventure today was that I got to spend it doing something I love (guard) with people I love (Krystle and Anna) and for people I love (my guard girls). I feel like any day that that happens is a day well-spent :)

Believe in Humanity

• There were about 40 minutes tonight where I thought I lost my car key. It was pretty awful and I felt stupid when I found them right where I thought they were. But there was a pretty great part. I went back to the stadium (FHS football game) to look for my key and, as I was searching around, this 6th or 7th grade kid said, "Are you looking for something?" I told him I was looking for my car keys and he said, "We'll help you look!" Next thing I know, this kid and his friends - who had all been throwing rocks at the bleachers when I walked over - were combing the area under the bleachers for my keys. He asked me what they looked like, where I had been sitting, if I had checked with the press box to see if anyone had turned them in, how I was going to get home if I didn't find it. I assured him I'd figure it out and they continued to look while I went up to the press box. When I asked the adults up there if anyone had turned anything in, they just said, "No, not to us"...so I just left. When I went back down, the kid asked if I'd had any luck, and I said no. I told him I was going to go back to the school and he said they would keep searching. After I had found my key and gotten into my car, I went back to the stadium to see if he was still around, so I could thank him again, but the game was over and he'd already gone home. I hope he knows how grateful I was for his help. It was simply amazing that he was so willing to help me. How do you make sure your children (or the children you interact with) have that kind of compassion for other people? I want to learn. It was really beautiful.

Queen of Perfection

• Good Lord today has been filled with many lovely things. (I've been saying "Good Lord" a lot lately.)
• I saw a car with a Nova Scotia license plate today and thought how cool it'd be to drive that far. I bet it's beautiful there.
• As I ate an Odwalla bar at lunch today, I was perusing the ingredients list. Date paste is the 2nd one. I really don't know how to feel about that.
• Picked up the following awesomeness at the library today: HIMYM season 1, HIMYM season 2, Julie & Julia, Eat Pray Love, The King's Speech, Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More, The Fray - How to Save a Life. Plus, I already have Inception, Backstreet Boys - original, Adele - 19, and EPT and J&J (the books). I should be sufficiently entertained for quite some time.
• Went shopping today and got apple butter (from Wiard's), milk, cheese, chocolate and cereal. Do I really need anything else?
• Cara's mom made sweet potato cassarole tonight. YUM.
• Vacuumed out my car. Cleaning! It's so pretty now. I love cleaning!
• Had a fantastic Skype convo with Annie. Love/miss that girl.
• I could run up AND down the stairs today! Yay muscles being usable again.
• Right now, I'm listening to Mumford & Sons (found the song that one of my campers danced to at camp this summer!), eating Wiard's Golden Caramel Corn Nuggets, and exploring the Internet (including such pages as Dear Ryan Gosling, Super Bass in a Tutu, Someone Like You cover and various movie poster and Royal Wedding searches on Amazon). Perfection.

The only sad part about today was the news about the death of Steve Jobs. It's amazing to think of all the forward-thinking and innovative things he did for the technological age we are in. My heart goes to his family, friends and fans.

Interview With Whom

• Slept until 1 pm, secured an interview for a seasonal job at Macy's, and just finished apple pie and tea. Aside from still being sore as hell, seems like a pretty good day to me.

Send the Pain Below (Oct 2)

• Today was definitely a challenge. I'm glad I went to Zydeco auditions but it was really hard and my body hurts all over. I also had a lot of think-time on the way home, which made me start asking questions about myself and what I'm doing. Too many unformed thoughts to write about here, but I'll eventually figure it out.
• My car is getting like 32 MPG right now! It's very exciting.

Highway Lady (Oct 1)

• Happy October!
• Started the morning with Starbucks and sunshine. Also, I have FINALLY been reunited with my FM transmitter for my ipod. It was a rough 7 days without it. It's ridiculous how happy I am to have it back.
• Why do towns in Ohio and Indiana have such foreign names? And why are they places that are so far from each other? I saw an exit for Sidney and Versailles on my way down I-75 tonight.
• After talking on the phone for a good 2.5 hours of my trip (thanks, mostly, to PP :)), I flipped my pod back on and finished Avenue Q. As I was searching for a new playlist to enjoy, I listened to approximately half of 2 separate Ke$ha songs and realized that my phase of liking her may be over.
• Highways are amazing. I don't know how you'd start designing one or, harder yet, figure out how to fix one.
• I love driving. Seriously.
• I'm really lucky to be able to travel so much. Tonight, I was reminiscing about Anna's and my trip to MER last year, as I passed Anna, Tipp City and Needmore Rd. It's really cool to have so many memorable checkpoints throughout the MidWest, even if some of the memories are of not-so-fun things.