Recent Goings-on & Photo Dump

For Thanksgiving we drove to Washington D.C. and spent the weekend with my cousin Taylor, her husband Gabe, and my aunt and uncle. It was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad we went. We were a little worried about weather and our car, but I'm glad everything worked out! Well, we ended up renting a car instead. It wasn't all that much more expensive, since it had better gas mileage than my stationwagon.

Here are some pictures of our trip:

On Black Friday Justin and I drove to Harper's Ferry & Antietam while everyone else went Christmas tree shopping. It was a lot of fun! We followed them to the Christmas lot, which was in beautiful horse country of West Virginia. Then it was just another 20 minutes to Harper's Ferry and another 20 minutes from there to Antietam. It was really amazing to see.

My uncle gave us an awesome night-time tour of D.C. He is so knowledgeable and it was a lot of fun to get that opportunity.

The Capitol is under construction right now. My cousin currently lives about half a mile from the Capitol. It is crazy!

 My cousin and I married tall men!

On the way back from D.C. we went through Ohio in order to go to IKEA. My cousin has a tiny apartment that was built in about 1910 and the entrance is really bizarre. The door is at an angle and only open about 45 degrees up a narrow staircase. It is one of those kind of apartment buildings that has been converted from one large, narrow city house to 3 small apartments. It is really cute, but because of the entrance, basically all of their furniture came from IKEA because it had to be assembled inside. 

ANYWAY, we went into IKEA looking for a shelf like the one my cousin had in her kitchen. We walked out with a different shelf and a futon couch. Haha! Worth it. So here are pictures of the new furniture:

This is the shelf we bought. It is our new pantry. I don't have any before pictures, but there used to be a little table that held some of that. 

Also, the garbage can was in the entry way. Now the kitchen entrance seems much bigger. It really is much better efficient use of space.

And now we have way more surface area! Imagine about half of what is in the pantry was on the kitchen counter. It made the kitchen seem smaller and constantly cluttered. 

Here is the futon couch. It is actually really comfortable. More so than any futon I've ever been on. It folds out to be a double bed, too. Bonus!

And I'll just keep going with this photo dump to show you Christmas Decorations!

Advent Calendar!

It is kind of hard to tell because of the flash, but there are little snowflake LED lights in the wreath.

My Snoopy blanket. Seriously one of my favorite blankets. So warm, but thin.

This blanket used to be on my bed all year round, but since it is for a twin bed, it isn't out as much. It is perfect Christmas colors, though! So I put it out with our useless lumpy pillows that happen to match very nicely!

Our little tree Justin brought back from Utah along with presents his parents and my parents sent back for us! Although I really enjoyed last Christmas when we got to come home, I'm sort of excited to have our own little tree and gifts. I'd probably feel different if Skype didn't exist!

Time

It is already December 15th! How did that happen??

Movies

As you can tell, the last several posts have been cranky pet peeves. Well, now I'm influenced by a positive thing on facebook! I was thinking of good Cary Grant films when my friend said something about Christmas movies. That made me start thinking of my favorite old holiday movies. Here are my favorite holiday movies that come to mind. I purposely left out plot points In order of date:

1. Holiday: (1938) Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant. This is a Grant movie that sort of flies under the radar compared to his other work. It isn't necessarily a Christmas holiday movie. In fact...I might have it mixed up and it has nothing to do with Christmas time. It is just that I got it as a gift for Christmas...not sure. Still, fun and also fun to see a young Cary and Katharine.

2. Shop Around the Corner: (1940) James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan. If you like the movie You've Got Mail, then watch this, because this is the original movie. (Although this movie is based on a play). Classic romantic comedy, set around the holidays.

3. The Man Who Came to Dinner: (1942) Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, Monty Woolley. I'll be completely honest...I haven't actually seen this movie. BUT! BUT! My parents have, and they love it and have told me to watch it. I'll take their word for it!

4. Christmas in Connecticut: (1945) Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet. I still like to say "It's a cat-a-stroph!" Fun and funny. This is another movie that I watch every holiday season. It is the fun "everything is about to be in shambles" type of comedy.

5. It's a Wonderful Life: (1946) James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore. This is a movie that seems to sort of be a classic movie. Everyone watches this, A Christmas Story, and Elf every Christmas. Well, we didn't really watch it every Christmas, opting for comedies The Bishop's Wife or Christmas in Connecticut. Still, I do like this movie a lot.

6. The Bishop's Wife: (1947) Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven. As religious of a movie as my family ever watches. I love it. The ice-skating scene, in particular, is a classic. As is the scene where Cary Grant's character (who is an angel) gets a scholar drunk. Love it.

7. Miracle on 34th Street: (1947) Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood. Classic story. I like this version as well as the 1994 version.

8. White Christmas: (1954) Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen. One of my all-time favorite Christmas songs is from this movie. Bet you can't guess which one it is!!!

9. Desk Set: (1957) Specer Tracey, Katharine Hepburn. Classic Tracy/Hepburn movie. One of the funnest things about this movie is the depiction of the times. It is about the computerization of a TV network's research department. Classic fast talking witty dialogue makes this really fun. To be honest, I don't remember any Christmas or holiday stuff in this movie, either, but um...oh well.

10. Bell, Book, & Candle: (1958) James Stewart, Kim Novak, Jack Lemmon. This is a movie that isn't necessarily a Christmas movie, but it takes place in the winter, and I think they tend to play it around the holidays on TMC and other channels like that. It also features a cat named Pyewacket. When we first found Mooch at the Pilot gas station, I had entertained the thought of naming him Pie, after Pilot, and I particularly liked it because it would double as Pyewacket. It didn't stick, though, so Moochy it was.

Bell, Book, & Candle is the only movie in this list that is in color, not black & white. Check out this cool psychedelic-ish Italian poster: 

Help

ARGH!!! When someone comes in and I re-direct them to the correct department, I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING. If I needed help, I would ask. I can't tell you how many times I have helped a customer, only for my coworker to run in and start asking questions. Then just give the EXACT same answer as I do.

Great Full

"Great full" is not a word! GRATEFUL is the word you mean!

Vocal Fry

STOP IT! I hate it. I HATE vocal fry. Stop, stop, stop!

Velcro

Our sweet little kitty. I miss you already, Velcro.

 

Three Little Pigs

I have a new blog! JUST WHAT EVERYONE WANTED!

www.threelittlepigpigpigs.blogspot.com

Xabi's Health

Okay, I'm turning into that crazy guinea pig lady constantly posting about her guinea pigs as if they were children, buuuuuuut, this is big news!

Since the day we got him, Xabi is a little "off". His head is slightly tilted, his ears seem more dirty than the other two, one eye is slightly closed and dull looking, he also kind of has a "wheezy" sound when he runs around, when he eats his food falls out of his mouth, and his teeth look just slightly uneven.

My theory was that he had an elongated root problem. Well, we took him to the vet and she thought the same, but wanted to keep checking. Turns out, Mr. Alonso Kazoo has a nerve deficiency in the entire left side of his face! Poor little guy doesn't have any motor control on that side.

 Hence, his head is tilted, because he can only see out of one eye, so he rotates one side of his head to look at you. His ear is more dirty because he can't feel it get itchy or gunky, so he doesn't clean it. His one eye is slightly closed and dull looking because he can't see out of it, he has a wheezy sound because he probably can only breath out of one nostril, he can only feel one side of his face when he eats and that is why food falls out, and because he probably tends to chew on the side he can feel, his teeth are uneven.

All symptoms of one problem! Unfortunately, of course, there is nothing we can do. Everything else about him is fine. This is just a disability he has. The vet said it might be genetic or he had an accident.

That's the update! And now a picture of the cute widdle piggy.

Xabi likes to jump up into the hay rack. 

Garden Update

 Check out the awesome planter box/step with handrail we* made!

*"we" being Justin.

Naughty Pig.

Deli

Today is Thursday. Deli day. This is what I used to do every Thursday and Sunday. Before I had it scheduled for Thursday and Sunday it was what I would do any day they wanted to schedule me in. That meant that at one time I was going between the deli job and my current job for 13 days in a row. NOT. RECOMMENDED. But hey, we needed money in a bad way. Before that I was also scheduled at any time, which was good, because we needed money, but bad, because it meant I might be getting home at 10pm to get a call at 6:30 am to please come in at 7 am. Here was my job (this is the morning shift job. The evening shift was mostly just cleaning and helping customers).

At 7 am I would arrive. First, I would get on my hair net and latex gloves.

Second, I would get a cart and empty buffet pans. Almost always there wasn't enough for the olive bar, so I'd get as many as I could. Also, I'd get a bunch of serving spoons.

Third, I would check all of the dates on the olive bar and pull out the ones that expire that day. Then I would lift the old pans out of their slots and spoon the olives into the new pans. This takes quite a while, and I would eventually run out of pans.

Fourth, I would spray the oil and junk out of the dirty pans. Then dip them in hot water, then soapy water, then sanitizer water and dry them off. I would return and finish up the olive bar. Sometimes this also meant that I would need to get more olives for a certain pan that expired. In which case, I would need to clean out more pans, then go to the olive bar fridge and open a new case of whatever I'm missing. I would then get the date tagger and count how many days until the item will expire and mark the tag. Finally, I'd take it back to the olive bar and put in the new dish with the updated tag.

Fifth, it's cleaning time. I would wash out all of the remaining dishes. Depending on how soon the Hot Foods worker needs it, I would either wash it in the sink or clean out most the junk and load it into the industrial dishwasher. After it is done, I'd dry the pans, then stack them back on the shelf.

Sixth, I would open every meat case window and check the expiration dates on all of the meat. Anything that expires that day I would take out and put it where our display case is for it to be "shrunk". Meaning weighed to get a tag, then thrown out. (Or, disgustingly, given to the Salad Bar to use in their Grab-n-Go salads.) 

Seventh, depending if there are any customers or how long it took I would take my first break. At this point it is about 9am.

Eighth, after heating up oatmeal and eating a banana or something, I would go back to work at 9:15. 

Firstly, I would get my Sandwich log, which is written up by the manager or co-manager every day, depending on inventory. I would see what sandwiches I am making that day and go into the "walk-in" freezer and get the deli cart. Usually, the meat and sandwich makings had their own cooler, but it was broken for about 4 months.

I would check each meat, cheese, and bread. Then I would slice what I needed. This seems like a short step, but depending on how much I needed, how many customers there were, and if I needed to open a new package, this could take a very long time. Sometimes about 2 hours, just due to stupid customers. For one thing, you get the meat and unwrap it. Then you put it on the slicer (if you are able. Sometimes you first have to clean off the slicer) and adjust the settings. After you have sliced what you need, you weight it, (or re-weight it, after re-weighing it, after re-weighing it) and tag the deli bag and put the meat in. Then, you take the hunk of meat left on the slicer and put a plastic tissue on the sliced side, keep the price tag which is also wrapped in a plastic tissue, and put it on the heat wrapper. (BE CAREFUL! I burned myself on this all the time). Sometimes you have to tag/date it first, then wrap it. And sometimes the weigh machine needs new labels, so it just depends on how this process goes to how much time you have.

I would start assembling my sandwiches. Usually I'd try to work with what I had, before slicing new meat. I'd start off with Kaiser buns, then the 12 grain wedges. If I need more bread I'd have to go to the bread isle, then to the front desk to get a sticker and back to the deli. 

Between assembling sandwiches and helping customers, it would eventually get to be lunch between 12 and 1 for half an hour.

The rest of the day is pretty much just between making sandwiches, slicing the sandwiches and placing them in plastic containers to then date/tag them and put them in the case, AND/OR slicing meat and cheese for customers. Between all of these jobs you also spray and wipe off the counter tops, meat scales, slicers and sandwich cutting board/knives. You get another 15 minute break in the afternoon. Sometimes I would skip this, depending on how many sandwiches I had left. You also sometimes have to go to the produce section and pick out a tomato to weigh/tag/record, then slice for sandwiches.

LONG STORY SHORT, I'm glad I don't have that job anymore. Haha!

300!

This is my 300th blog post! Whoa!

Guardians of the Galaxy

Justin and I recently went to see Guardians of the Galaxy and had quite a bit of fun. I didn't really know what to expect because I'm not at all familiar with the comic book or characters, which is good, because then I don't have any expectations going in. Justin loved it! I liked it a lot. I sometimes got a little uncomfortable with the violence, but I'm sort of sensitive to that anyway, I suppose. In the end I had to think of it as a comic book world and not get too caught up in it!

One of my favorite things about this movie is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. Even the most serious villain (Ronan (played by Lee Pace!)...and I guess Thanos, although we don't really see him much) seems over-the-top, exactly like comic book villains are. That was fun. I also really like Chris Pratt's acting. He is cool, but not overly Tony-Stark cool. He is also goofy, and that is entertaining.

I particularly like this poster because there is something very Star Wars-esque about it.

Haircut

I've been wanting a haircut for a while, but that isn't what this post is about. This post is about Xabi "Chops" Alonso Kazoo's haircut!!!

If you don't know, Xabi aka Xabster aka "Dozer" aka "Chops" aka "Kramer" aka "Ru-fi-ooooh!", is one of our three guinea pigs. He is notoriously difficult to photograph. He is very dark and you sometimes can't tell which end is which.

Here is his before picture:

And after!!! It helps that his after picture is much better lit, just like those extreme weight loss pictures are. It is like those infomercials where the "Are you tired of not being able to tell the front end of your guinea pig from the back?" and it is black and white and overdramatic, then "WELL NOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO!" And it is all color and super smiley!

Change and Adapt

It is crazy to think that one year ago tomorrow, was when we rolled into Bloomington, Indiana after packing up and driving 3 days to move here for grad school. It has been a long, hard, stressful, maddening, fantastic journey. We have grown so much and I find myself quite content these days. We are in a good place and we have good friends (with the cutest baby ever).

It is strange to reflect on my well being 1 year ago compared to today. I feel that if we can do this, we can do anything.

And hey, time is going by fast and we'll be back soon! We'll pack up with the 3 little guinea pigs in the back of the car and go "whee, whee, whee!" all the way home.

Wildlife Habitat

A woman called into my office wondering if she could find someone to help her create a wildlife habitat in her backyard. She is 71 and has stopped mowing the yard. I volunteered to help, and she has given me a budget to make her backyard nice. It's purpose is to be a place for wildlife, specifically pollinators. Bees, bats, birds. It is going to be a TON of work, but I am excited about it!

Before pictures:

Below are my "inspirational" photos. These are gardens that I hope to at least get a little close to.