MOST STRESSFUL DAY EVER.

And it's not even 12:00pm.

I'm doing a trip reimbursement form.

1) Found out I'm not reimbursed for food: -$50.00
2) Found out the f-ing hotel charged me for a night that I didn't stay. -$207.00
3) Found out the lady who does billing at the hotel doesn't get in until 3:00pm. F*** YOU, ATLANTA PEOPLE WHO GET INTO WORK AT 3:00PM
4) Had to get employee ID #, went to find it on pay stubs. Found out that the last three paychecks I've received are about $750 short. The tax witholding jumped about 8 million percent for no reason. -$2,100.

Oh my god my head is going to explode. I'm somehow out of about $3,000 and I have to more or less depend on other people to secure it for me. I'm taking a break for some tea before I kill someone.

The approaching coldness.

I know everyone says it, but I really can't believe how fast it's gotten cold and dark. I think it's appropriate this time around, being that summer really only lasted 2 months, tops. However, not all is bad! I've thought of some things that cheer me up about the coming winter.
1) Neat new winter coat, NYC-style, from Macy's. So cute I look like I belong in one of those black-and-white "A Christmas Carol" movies.
2) Winter and Christmas-themed coffee drinks now out. I always thought these were the best ones anyway, with things like peppermint and egg nog. Delicious. Also, in the winter hot coffee tastes and feels good, and you don't have to get an iced one - blech.
3) Studying is easier when the sun isn't beckoning you outside for a picnic.
4) I always sleep better when it's cold out. Open up the windows and snuggle under the blankets.
5) Fun cold-themed activities:
a. Ice-skating! Didn't go last year but definitely going to make an effort this year. I'm horrible at it, btw, so I'll also definitely wear butt-padding.
b. Skiing. Yes, skiing. Finally. After... *cringe* 6 years? Oh, I'm sorry, skis... :'(. I'll rescue you from the basement and take you out. Apparently we're going on a trip to Mt. Snow with a humongous bunch of people (~30, yikes) and Adam doesn't want to look like a total fool so he said we should practice. He wants to snowboard after having had horrific experiences skiing and only semi-embarrassing ones snowboarding. HA! YES! Practice right now means doing lots of wall-sits and side to side jumps since there isn't any snow yet, but come late November we should be able to head up for some day trips. SO EXCITED YOU HAVE NO IDEA. At Mt. Snow maybe I can even try out some of the new racing skis for a day... *drool
6) Hot food tastes better. Pho. Mmm.
7) And last but not least... holiday season! I want to take the day after Thanksgiving off and then Christmas is on a Friday so no worries about that. (Last year I came in after Thanksgiving and boss came in after Christmas... but since there's no trade-off this year I'm going to really try to have Black Friday off. I'm hoping that's our first skiing weekend, eee!)

Don't comment about all the good summer things because I know there are some but I don't want to think about it.

...

.... not happy.

Saving Money

Going to make a serious attempt at this. I'm not losing money or in debt or anything drastic like that; it's just that whenever I check my balance, it's always the same... despite biweekly additions of over 1k. I would say, "I don't get it," but I know why that is. Having a steady influx of money is really a heady thing, and you can go shopping when you feel like it without having to just look, buy lunch instead of bring it when you want, etc.
But now that I've 1) noticed my flatlining bank account, 2) realized that I may have to finish school sans job and 3) have added responsibilities for the apartment like monthly electrical bills (instead of balancing it out at the end of the year like before), I think I should pay some attention to what I spend. That's the thing: I usually just chuck the receipts because (guilty look) I don't like seeing how much money I've just spent. Time to face the music.

Things on the forbidden list:
Unnecessary clothes: one of the greater evils I face...
Books that aren't school-related: probably the second-greatest evil...
Bought-out lunch: not too bad recently, although I have to learn that my eyes are bigger than my stomach
Starbucks for class - go to Oren's instead (very acceptable-tasting medium coffee for $2!): not usually a problem, but Starbucks is so expensive that it's worth putting on here
Random things that are on sale that I don't need: Adam's all-time favorite that I fall prey to sometimes.

Going to pay more attention to:
Groceries: going to not waste food when I already have it. If that means getting up earlier to make eggs for breakfast instead of cereal, so be it.
Electricity: turn off those lights! And plug all the tv stuff into a single power strip that can be turned off when not on.

Excluded (from the forbidden list) things:
Necessary outerwear: this includes winter coat to replace 3-year-old one whose pockets have been sewn back on twice already.
Going out once in a while money: we don't usually go many places, and it's worth it when we do.
Cheap restaurants on weekends: huge bowls of pho for $5 do not count. This could have easily been one thing at the grocery store (DAMN markets in Manhattan are expensive!).

Obviously you can tell I'm not going on lockdown or anything. I hate penny pushing; I think it ruins your day when you could indulge in something small and be happy for a while but don't do it because you hate spending an extra $2.99. However, I do realize that 5 things of $2.99 is already $15 and will keep an eye on it.

Maybe Confessions-of-a-Shopaholic style? Keep all the receipts and write down how much I spent that day? I think that'll be a pretty good deterrent, especially since I don't like looking at the receipts at all.
Today: $0 so far... going for the gold!

Family Junk

Apparently the reason we aren't that close with my dad's older brother's family is because... they don't like each other. :O *gasp* Not my dad and his brother, but my dad and his brother's wife. Now, I have nothing against anyone, really, but I can definitely pick up on some awkwardness etc. I had a big phone convo with my dad about it because she recently friended me on facebook and is commenting on almost all my stuff and they find it a bit weird. Speculating that her daughter is growing up and she needs someone else to supervise? I don't mind, as long as it doesn't get too weird that I notice it. I'll just delete some stuff.
Then there was this mini-fiasco: my mom commented on a status with an inside joke that I realize now can really be taken the wrong way. Well, my aunt took it the wrong way and (I think) recruited my cousin to look at it, who commented also. That's the one thing I found kind of unacceptable; my 15 year old cousin was like, "Aunt Amy, that sounds really horrible and I hope I misunderstood that." I would NEVER write something like that to my aunt/uncle, judging something that "I hope I misunderstood", because I probably did misunderstand it.
My fault: for posting an obscure conversation, not quoted. Mom's fault: for commenting with something that is a big social faux paus when misinterpreted. My aunt's fault: taking it way too seriously before asking what happened. My cousin's fault: For even commenting at all.
I deleted everyone's comments and explained what was needed, and no more. Now my mom and my aunt are blocking each other and going through me and I can just tell the fake icky niceness and *shudder*. If they can't be grownups I'm going to stop mediating soon.
Also, another cousin has testicular cancer. Guh.

I want to go out west for the reunion next summer. Lots of heat, cornfields, beer, potatoes and steak. And cows. And farm dogs. And swimming in "cricks" and riding in the back of pickup trucks. Driven by 14 year olds.
I think it's going to be a big one... which means somewhere in the vicinity of 800-1000 people. I want to bring Adam because he's never been west of New York State or something ridiculous that I refuse to acknowledge. Also, my great uncles want to take him gopher hunting; another worker to get those gopher feet and trade them directly in for beer at the gas station. Sigh.

Kindle?

I've been adamant about not getting a Kindle thus far and have had multiple discussions why I think real books are better. Then my friend got one.
Heavy books. Blah.
Adam's made disparaging remarks about my ginormous book collection. I'll admit, it was a pain to move them.
We compared prices of this new book I wanted to get that just came out. Real version: hardcover, $17.99. Kindle version: 0 space, $9.99.
And that's expensive for a Kindle version... most are just $2.99.
She downloaded 5 books while I was sitting there. Drove me insane.

So, I think it's going to be the one thing I hint about for Christmas. Sigh. Giving in. Oh well. Can't stop the book craving and this is probably the least expensive (in the long run) way to do it.

Good turnout

Things are lining up!
Our broker - who isn't a tall, grim-faced man in a suit, like you would expect someone to be who was a "broker", but a small asian girl (yes, girl) who trips constantly over her sandals but still manages to show us around all the places with broken pavement in Manhattan - pulled through for us. She got our management to send the landlord reference letter to the new leasing office today, and now we're just waiting for the credit to run and them to call us to SIGN THE LEASE YAY.
Lunch with June: not as weird as I feared. Although he did insist on paying (which is stupid, I mean, come on, I probably make more than he does), we had a pretty normal conversation and I didn't feel awkward when the silences came up. Probably because I was eating. My huge sandwich. With pickles. Mmmm....
It got a little iffy at the end when he was saying we could hang out with "some beers", but then it was better cause he invited Adam, too. And then I was like oorrrr you can teach me about Korean food! 'Cause honestly that's one of the big ones I don't know enough about and really should. I told him I had bim bim bap before and he said that was a good choice for a "beginner". Ha.

And whoever says they have some errands that they may enjoy? After work today I get to walk around in the perfect weather, return some library books, pick UP a library book (even though it's the 3rd in the series; the 2nd one is "in transit" and the first one isn't even returned yet! guh!), get my other textbook down at NYU, double-check that I know where my classroom is so I don't get lost. No, seriously. Because I will.
When I get home I'm going to attempt some yoga by myself (if Jared isn't there to make fun of me) and watch some Herrooooeeesss. And then have Jared make fun of me because he told me it was addictive. Pah.

This weekend is looking to be positively sublime, also.
Here's the lineup:

Saturday: Hopefully get the lease locked down. Look at a couch we might purchase. Go to Silver Spurs for brunch. Ignore bemused stare of busboy who we see every weekend.
Saturday night: I was going to put "Yael's barbeque" here, but then I checked and it's next weekend. Probably a good move on their part to not have it Labor Day weekend so that people could actually show up. So, instead, I may put: go home. :)
Sunday: Wake up "early" to dad cooking a simple breakfast that somehow still is fantastic. Get made fun of for waking up "late" at 7:30-8 by dad who's been up since 4. Probably get roped into doing some chores outside, which may include any of the following: spreading mulch in my bare feet, harvesting rhubarb, pulling the deck chairs up the back porch, bringing coffee upstairs to my poor mother who likes getting up at 10am and can only do so when the mug is juuuuuuust out of reach on the nightstand. Play with the dog. Forever.
Head over to Scott's Ridge to meet up with Conway, Marybeth, Jillian and Avery to watch Danielle play some travel soccer, wooooo!
Monday: Get picked up by Adam and his dad and head up to Limerock for vintage weekend. Watch some cool races. Get extremely sunburned (which always seems to happen at Limerock, even if the day is overcast). Head back to the city. Fall asleep early.
Tuesday: Go to work. Go to CLASS! AHHH!

Even adding a little drama to the none that I currently have is annoying...

Postdoc is either:
1) A nice guy who thinks its appropriate to want to have lunch with me as a coworker.
2) A little dense and wants to have lunch with me even though I talk about my boyfriend. Who I'm living with. Soon to be living with without an additional roommate.

I hope it's #1. I also hope that in his mind this is a one-time, get-to-know-you kind of thing, because I don't do staged coworker lunches all too often. Too awkward. Especially if it's just me and one other person! Maybe he got the idea from the boss, who took him to a restaurant last week... ugh... another notch in the "dislike" section.

Stress!

1) I can't hand in my Tuition Remission form until after school begins, 'cause NYU's Bursar's Office is an asshole (just like all the other important offices, i.e. bank, post office, etc.) and is only open M-F, 9-5 for the "summer". I know it's for students, but wtf! I have until Sept. 23, which is ok, but I keep getting ominous emails entitled, "Your NYU Electronic Bill is now available".

2) School starts soon, if you weren't able to figure that out.

3) The NYU Bookstore still doesn't have the textbooks for one of my classes. *stabby motion*

4) I had to call and cancel our application for 225 Rector Street, and explain to a very sad Sean that we found something else. I'll find out if we have to pay the $100 fee this afternoon... the only upside to this is if he says, "We could have shown you that building! Why didn't you call us?" I have a very legitimate answer. "Well, Sean, Antonio said he would email us a bunch of listings and take us around on Sunday, whereupon we would have cancelled our other appointment made last week and gone with you. Since he didn't, we didn't cancel, and you missed out on a sale. That is all."

5) 2 Gold Street seems extremely anal about their application process. Whoever heard of/needed a "Landlord Reference Letter"?? Plus, the income requirement is 45x the monthly rent, which is higher than the normal 35x-40x. This means that with a rent of $2567/month, the combined income of the people on the lease needs to be at least $115,515.00. Dah! Why are they so strict? This building is all younger, just-graduated-college kids - how is everyone making this much money?

6) We forgot/didn't realize we needed to sign the form that 15 Cliff sent us to say we weren't renewing our lease. Now it's 13 days late and it says on the bottom: "Failure to do so may result in an eviction" or something extremely stressful-and-worry-worthy. I mean, I doubt they will actually bother, but I REALLY hope this doesn't affect our application process elsewhere.

7) Now there are people in the fax room, and I feel weird telling them all to move away so that I can fax personal stuff... ;lieu;askdhng.

Get Cookin'!

I've made two things in the past two days that were REALLY good. Felt like sharing... with... myself. Haha.

Note: When I cook, unless I'm making a mixture that needs precise measurements, I just eyeball the amounts. It works out just fine.

Pasta Chicken

skinless, boneless chicken breast
olive oil
linguine
carrots
zucchini
garlic
chicken broth
dried basil
grated Parmesan cheese

Dice up chicken, saute in olive oil in skillet until no longer pink. Remove and let drain.
Cook pasta.
While pasta is cooking, stir fry carrots in same skillet in a little more olive oil, adding zucchini and garlic (mashed in garlic press, makes it so much better) after about 2 minutes. Stir in broth, basil, Parmesan and cooked chicken and let simmer for about 4 minutes.
Pour chicken/vegetable mixture over pasta and serve.

It sounds pretty simple, but this was so so so good! I think the addition of chicken broth and a little bit of Parmesan really made the difference. DEFINITELY making this again!

Summer Couscous (what I got when I searched for things with chicken broth, to use up what was leftover from the previous recipe)

1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup couscous (I used tricolor couscous, was pretty good!)
olive oil
diced tomatoes
diced Vidalia onion
diced cucumber
chopped fresh parsley
lemon juice
salt, pepper to taste

Chop everything up. Will take a while.
Heat up chicken broth in pan until just before boiling. Stir in couscous, olive oil and all veggies. Place top on pot and let steam for about 4 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve.

The recipe said that this was for 4 servings, but I ate it all for dinner. So, if you really want to make 4 servings, make a lot more. I saved about half of the chopped veggies for another go tonight, since there's no way you can use a whole cucumber for a half a cup of couscous. Really good! Nice, light and cool for a summer dinner.

Bad things come in threes? Fours?

Ahhhhh little things have been going wrong all day today! I messed up the first PCR with a bum number in the run method, had to redo that; one of the stain's tissue came off on the parafilm, had to redo that (and because of it, have to wait until 2:30pm to have lunch! guh!); dropped a couple things here and there... But I don't feel as bad as the lab next door, who have been having trouble with their mice for the past 8 months, and today just got a new batch only to discover the embryos are all infected with pin worms! They're all in there, squirming around, eating away the zona... Fun! It's so disgusting that they're calling a bunch of people who don't normally come in here to go look. Lots of "Eww, gross!" shouts from over there.

On another note, I realized it's almost August, so if the weather holds out and I get out on time I'll go over to 1 Park Avenue and snag a tuition remission form. This time I'm going to CALL the office first to make sure I'm doing it with the right timing - damn you, woman behind the window! YOU told me to bring it in after classes were over! And then YOU yelled at me that it was late! Yes, YOU specifically!

Also, the True Blood book is getting much, much better. Although there have been about 11 murders in the past 2 weeks or so, so that doesn't seem normal. And some hilariously weird quotes that I will definitely put in here. *shakes head* I still don't know if the writer truly doesn't grasp how odd some things sound, or if she's doing it on purpose...

Tidbits about the future

Subject # 1: School
After having a mini-self doubt episode at the end of last semester (before I got my grade, before I talked to my boss about class schedules, and before getting support from Adam), I've decided to keep going with classes for as long as my schedule allows it and for as long as this current job holds out. I get free tuition, a really good salary, somewhat flexible hours - not bad. I missed the advising appointment deadline before the summer, so I have to make one starting August 10. Based on my time schedule (that's it, really) I've got to choose between BioChem I (with a second half to it in the spring) and Special Topics in Physiology. I would much rather do the Physiology, since the background requires mammalian anatomy/physiology, of which I have in Systems Physiology and Mammalian Ecology, so I really don't think that would be hard at all and might even be fun. Prudence points to BioChem, however, being that it's one of those standard, foundation classes that I'm going to have to take anyway. I'm not too afraid of it, being that my knack for memorizing things is still going strong - even though I haven't ever taken it *gasp*. We'll see what my advisor says.

Subject # 2: Apartments
There was this weird time of tension between Stacey and Jessie (roommates, Stacey is Jared's loooong-time girlfriend) a little while ago about apartments. Jessie said she didn't know if she was going to stay in the city for next year, Stacey wanted to move out and room with Jared (Finally! No, like, seriously. 7 years?) and they also had to decide to sign their lease renewal with only about a week left. When Stacey said that if Jessie was unsure if she was going to stick around that she might want to move out, Jessie apparently threatened her with a friendship break, citing that Stacey had said she would room with her for 2 years (it's been only 1). This is from Stacey's mouth, who tends on the more melodramatic side, so I'm not sure if that was meant but it sure was taken that way. So, of course, Stacey signed the lease renewal with Jessie, resigning herself to a possible vacancy and new roommate search if Jessie suddenly ups and leaves for a new job out of the city. I thought this was... not the best idea. If they don't sign it, then they have all their options open. If they do sign it, then all of their options are null. Whatever. Not my choice. Anyway, before this, we had been thinking, wouldn't it be great if ALL of us (me, Adam, Jared, Stacey, Jessie) all roomed together? We could get an absolutely SICK place, three bedroom, for not too much money each way. That was kind of crushed. :( So Jared tells us, all right, we're just sticking together, we have to think about if we want to stay here or not, too. So, tra la la, couple weeks go by - and suddenly, one night, Jared informs us that he is going to live up there with Stacey and Jessie! Because he decided he wants to room with Stacey after all! Adam and I are like, um, ok... way to figure this out before... we all could have gotten a place together, a much better place.. but ok, thanks for telling us when you had this epiphany. Shrug. So that means it's going to be either just Adam and I, in a (most probably) dingy little place, since I can't put up that much each month. ORRRR... *drum roll* .... Adam talks to Hart, a college friend, who is living by himself in an awesome apartment in Gramercy, to get us three and maybe Hart's girlfriend living together. I really hope they aren't too far off our cycle to work (we got an extra month, sounded good at the time, but in reality it just put us off everyone else's cycle) because that would be almost better than our previous idea. Meet new people, have another roommate who's willing to spend more, etc. etc. Adam is going to talk to him this week, so I'm waiting to hear the news soon!

Subject # 3: New faces
Apparently that post doc who visited before is joining! He's mostly going to be in the main building, the other lab, but we're going to make a little space for him here, too. Yay, not being alone all day! I'm glad he decided to stick with us - he wanted me to teach him some Excel work... ha ha ha...

"The Sharing Knife: Beguilement (Vol. I)" by Lois McMaster Bujold

Review of "The Sharing Knife: Beguilment (Vol. I)" by Lois McMaster Bujold

(points out of 10, highest possible total = 100)

Introduction - 8
Character development - 8
Main character(s) - 7
Supporting characters - 8
Antagonist(s) - 10
Dialogue - 8
Prose - 7
Plot development - 7
Overall story - 7
Denouement - 7

Total - 77

The introduction was at that difficult-to-achieve medium between boring description and completely-takes-you-by-surprise plunge. I appreciated some interesting hooks that weren't quite explained yet, but also the fact that Bujold felt compelled to give a little third-person background. (I've started reading the first book in the True Blood series, and that one is extremely annoying in its introduction: completely first person, with a too-intimate voice, as if you know everything about the protagonist already. Also, totally improbable. But this I will save for later).
Character development was done seamlessly, even if it didn't take quite as long as Goodkind did for Richard/Kahlan, for example. It mostly was a thought, then a background, then tra la la things happen, oh! some interesting and relevant news from the past! Good setup.
The main characters were quite good. Believable, capable of existing, but each with some special kind of spark that distinguishes from normalcy.
For clarification: There are two different kinds of people in this series. There are "farmers", who include farmers but also townspeople with any number of different livelihoods. Basically, farmers are people who aren't Lakewalkers. Lakewalkers, on the other hand, are these kinds of nomadic, magical people who look down on farmers as helpless, rather stupid sheep that need protecting. Farmers view Lakewalkers as evil cannibals, with lots of overgrown horror stories.
We open with Fawn, who is very small, cute and rather naive. She is 18, a farmer girl, unhappily pregnant and unmarried, traveling by herself to distant town. Her one quirk is that she is quite smart, but her entire family sees her nonstop questions as a sign of being "stupid", so she presents low self-esteem, even though she trusts in herself, etc.
The other main character, Dag, is "old" (we later find out he's 55 - Lakewalkers live longer than farmers, so he looks about 35-40), a Lakewalker patroller; he is very intense, can be lethal and has a troubled past, kind of like that veteran who to strangers seems harmless but his friends know to treat him with respect. His groundsense, a special 6th sense kind of feeling that is sensitive to all life, including peoples' emotions, is extremely powerful for a Lakewalker (who have it, while farmers don't).
I took some points away because Bujold made Dag a little too intense. He lost his left hand in battle and has all these attachments for it, and by the middle of the book he's broken his right arm, too. Also, even though I know it's supposed to be shocking... an 18 year old and a 55 year old?! COME ON.
Supporting characters had enough personality to lend a real background. Fawn's family, with the grim father, busy mother, extremely annoying older brothers and loving aunt, were very convincing. Dag's older but she-means-business aunt patrol leader and friendly, full of pranks patrollers didn't have as much buildup, but from what I can tell, they will in the next book - along with his family.
Antagonists get a 10 because it was something new that didn't resemble anything else I'd heard before. There are "malices", evil creatures that suck life out of the ground, steal animals and shape them into human-like creatures ("mud-men") who are very strong and completely controlled by the malice. They can also snare people and control their mind, but only after they've grown a bit. Unless someone kills them, they will just keep growing and growing and eventually, theoretically, kill all life on earth. The only way to kill them is to "share" a death with them, since they are technically immortal and don't know how to die. This brings in the sharing knives, which are bones (mostly thighbones) from Lakewalkers who donated theirs upon their death and "primed" with the death of another Lakewalker (usually as they were just about to die, they will stab themselves in the heart). Only these primed sharing knives can kill malices. These practices grew into the cannibalism tales told by farmers about Lakewalkers, obviously.
The dialogue was fine, not Stephenie Meyer quality (aka absolutely riveting), but not boring or too long either. Since dialogue is a tough thing to do right, that's an 8 in my book.
Prose gets one point less than dialogue because Bujold kept doing this weird thing with interposing little thoughts in between a sentence, which can be helpful but it also was distracting and a little confusing at times. She switched back and forth between Fawn's and Dag's viewpoints with decent fluency, and I got used to the inserted bits after a while.
The plot development was flying ahead nicely in the first half of the book, where there were fight scenes, daring rescues, evil mud-men and malices, some love interest... and then in the second half it fulfilled the love interest bit (I'm used to waiting 3-4 books for that! Too quick!) and focused entirely on it for the rest of the time. No more skirmishes, raids or escapes :(. I can't complain that the love story was boring, because it wasn't, but I like that stuff mixed in there - not becoming the whole show! Also, the apparent driving force of the second book is only mentioned here and there and I'm still kind of confused about what it actually is. Obscurity, much?
The overall story was good, at least interesting enough to start the second book. I want some more evils to fight, though.
The denouement was kind of a disappointment - there is a kind of fight scene as the climax in there, but it's easily dealt with and then what you expected just kind of happens and then... they... ride off into the woods, and the book's over.

The next one in the series is "The Sharing Knife: Legacy (Vol. II)" - that review will come soon!

My life according to Godsmack

Pick your Artist:
Godsmack

Are you a male or female:
Mama

Describe yourself:
I Am

How do you feel:
Safe and Sound

Describe where you currently live:
Situation

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
Moon Baby

Your favorite form of transportation:
Trippin'

Your best friend(s)?
Vampires

You and your best friends:
No Rest for the Wicked

What’s the weather like:
One Rainy Day

Favorite time of day:
Awake

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
Someone in London

What is life to you:
The Journey

Your relationship:
The Awakening

Your fear:
Stress

What is the best advice you have to give:
Now or Never

Thought for the Day:
I Thought

How I would like to die:
Time Bomb

My soul’s present condition:
Serenity

My motto:
I Stand Alone

Potentially Hilarious "Party", Sunday Barbeque Destruction?

Had fun at Yael's dinner last night, met some new people (finally!) and got invited to a party tonight. Yay for filling blanks on my calendar! I was initially skeptical because the party is one of those things where your friends invite you and it turns out to be like... a presentation on some company.... this is hard to explain, but like a Tupperware party, right? Like you go for a purpose and it's not just hanging out. And for this one they're going to try to sell us makeup. Oh well. Not really into makeup, but I know I'm going to be bored out of my skull tonight if I stay in (Jared is leaving for Ridgefield after work, which means Stacey won't be over, either) and maybe I can laugh about it later. Also, it's only 2 hours. Not bad.

**Edit** The address is in Queens. Not sure if I want to go by myself looking for a place I've never been to in the dark. I'll ask Yael if she's going, and if not, then it's a no-go.

The weather looks sheisty at the exact time of the scheduled barbeque:
Sunday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Some of the storms could produce small hail, gusty winds, and heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. South wind between 9 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
So there's talk of cancelling. Some people can't do Saturday, which of course is going to be gorgeous. There's still a chance the forecast will change, so I think we're going to wait it out until Saturday night to decide. THIS is why you don't schedule things 6 weeks in advance, people!

Oh well... at least I got my chill time with Chris all sorted out.

Changes!

These past couple weeks have been ones more of action than inaction (which is why I feel the need to write here now, instead of before, which would have garnered a boring onslaught of sameness), a welcome change to the monotonous routine of work, exercise, sit, sleep. We went on vacation, which I have already discussed far too much of and posted far too many pictures of, so no more mention of that here. Changes and otherwise exciting events that occurred between the return and now:
- Got my hair cut drastically shorter
- Bought a bunch of new, smarter-looking work clothes to wear
- Began wearing heels much more often (read: actually wearing them at all) to work; getting some of them worn in so they don’t hurt as much
- Went home for the entire weekend to see au pair and her family
- Got Jillian’s phone number, so now I can stay in closer contact, which Conway loves
- Spent some quality sibling time with Mark
Monday: Sabine, Rüdiger, Paul and Tim were in the city, we met up after work; showed them my apartment and went out to dinner. Next time I’ll see them…? Paul will be a teenager… :O

Tuesday: Went to see Harry Potter (by myself!) which turned out rather good, relaxing, and a magnificent waste of time that otherwise would have been spent sitting at home and doing nothing

Wednesday: Epic battle with the New York Public Library. Details include: their not having any books that I want, and the ones they do have are in obscure branches out in the boonies and will ship in no quicker than a month; most of their copies are hardcover and huge, making it hard to carry more than 4 at a time (I got out 6 – probably a mistake); waiting in a 50-person line for circulation; being the next one in line when they underwent a shift change, aka a 5 minute period when no one was getting helped; them being pissy about using Adam’s card; them being pissy about me not having something with my “current address”… at least they held my books for me while I wasted an hour going home and getting a letter and bringing it back again. So, you can see, rather epic.

Tonight: Going out to celebrate Yael’s birthday! Dinner and drinks at Havana Central, for which I am trying to decide whether to wear heels or not (see above)

Friday night: Undecided, threatening to be the one night with nothing to do, since Jared is leaving. May return shoes to DSW for lack of anything more stimulating.

Saturday: Going home, meeting up with Chris?

Sunday: Barbeque at Jared’s with Stacey, Jessie, Rob, Marc, Heather… fun!

And then it gets a little fuzzy, so I have to think of some more stuff.

Also, soon to come: Since I’ve gotten a few books from the library and plan on getting the ones I want shipped to Mid-Manhattan, I think I’m going to start a running commentary/review system (purely for my benefit, since a) almost nobody reads this and b) only one of those who read this I know is into fantasy...) that I hope will keep up my writing skills and also be a little bit fun, like filling out quizzes for the characters/writing style/plot, etc.

Watch out for it!

Years Past

I am copying you, yes. But I liked this one!

Grade School

Where did you attend grade school? Ridgebury Elementary School

Who was your principal? Mr. Monty – he STILL recognizes me and remembers my name, some 20-odd years later.

Who was your best friend in 3rd grade? Stephanie Demers, Lauren Marker, Andy Murdoch …

What was a memory you have from Kindergarten? When Patrick Mott stabbed me in the arm with a plastic fork because I didn’t have any fake money to pay for the fake apple at the fake store so I just grabbed it. He took that personally, being the fake cashier at the fake store.

Sixth Grade? Eating Jolly Ranchers while practicing writing 5 paragraph essays – can never have another Jolly Rancher without thinking: intro, supporting 1, supporting 2, supporting 3, conclusion!

Seventh Grade? I think I did the Germany exchange trip in 7th… not sure. But if so, then woooo Oktoberfest in Ingelheim!

Eighth Grade? Climbing the rock wall in the side gym, and one kid not paying attention when he was supposed to belay and letting the person fall. They trusted us too much, sometimes.

Who did you have a crush on during Elementary years? Chris and Andy… there’s a “Chris + Chris” sign written in crayon on my basement stairs, and I went on my first conceivable date-like thing with Andy to the fair.W

hy did you like that person? Chris was cute and funny, things he still hasn’t grown out of, and Andy was very cute and smart.

Do you still like them? Do you still think of them? Chris is my friend/sometimes confidante/former boss – have random IM, facebook and phone conversations now and then; Andy changed a lot, went to a different school and I haven’t talked to him in years.

Who did you have a crush on in middle school? Lots of stupid little ones, and none that I would ever actually want to follow up on – I’d figured out by then that most of the guys in my grade from the other elementary schools were jerks.

Why did you like that person? Attractiveness factor only

Do you still like them or think of them? Absolutely not

What was one of your favorite songs in middle school? Probably some Backstreet Boys thing… *grin

What was the ultimate crush song in middle school? Stairway to Heaven.

Did you go to a lot of the dances in middle school? Yes, but it was mostly for the food and running around outside the gym where the actual dance was going on. That was much more fun than standing there, mortified, as someone else tried to physically drag you across the room to dance with someone else.

What was your favorite field trip in middle school? Sturbridge Village – we got to smell all the farm animals and churn butter for a day! or the Maritime Center – we got to go on a boat and then touch slimy ocean creatures!

Who was your best friend(s) in middle school? Allison Schnidman and Stephanie Mower

Do you still talk to any of them? Was friends with Allison through high school, then she went to Johns Hopkins and it died off… Stephanie, didn’t see her too much in high school, kind of ended there.

Have you seen them recently? No, Allison is going to live in London and Stephanie is still at Northeastern getting a business degree.

Have they changed in any way? Not really sure – doesn’t seem like it. Maybe Allison got a little more self-confident, judging by her facebook pictures? Yay!

Any gossip you know about some of your old friends? Lots are getting married/having kids. Not cool – for me, anyway.

What kind of car did your mom/dad/guardian drive? Old school woody station wagon, then a Saab, Oldsmobile, Volvo, Intrigue… and the newest addition is a little silver VW.

Was it considered the cool car for the field trips? School… bus?

Did you pick on any of the kids in middle school? No – if I didn’t like someone, I just didn’t talk to them. But I actually did talk to a lot of the unpopular kids because I either liked them or felt bad, sometimes. It also sometimes backfired on me. I went to a Power Rangers-themed birthday party. Wasn’t the best…

Were you the one picked on in middle school? No – at this point I was still taller than just about everyone. And I stayed away from those kinds of mean girls.

Who was your favorite teacher from middle school? Frau Venus for German

Did you ever get suspended in middle school? No

What was your favorite thing to play during recess? Didn’t have recess in middle school – in elementary it was either tag or playing on the tire swings.

Would you consider yourself to be popular in middle school? No

High School

What did you want to be when you were going into high school? I knew I liked biology, art and writing – hadn’t put a career to one of those yet, though.

Did a lot of your friends go with you to high school? There is only one high school, so yes.

What highschool did you go to? Ridgefield High School

Did you transfer a few years later? To where? No!

Who was your first new friend in high school? Jacqueline Robinson

Are they still your friend? I would say so – it’s just hard to keep in touch when she’s in California and then in Ridgefield still.

Were you popular in high school? No – but I had a lot of friends in a lot of different groups. A floater, you might say.

What was your favorite freshman year course? Art or English – they FINALLY divided people based on how good they were, whereas they did that in math in middle school. Frustrating! Also, Earth Science with Condosta.

What was your favorite sophomore year course? Biology with Noyes.

What was your favorite junior year course? AP English Language, go Ms. Wassall! Let us convene in the broom closet!

What was your favorite senior year course? AP English Literature – god, that was insane. Lots of extremely loud, irrelevant fights, my anonymous first chapter being picked for our joint novel and Indian food to celebrate the end! And AP Biology, with the talented Mr. Jeffrey “Jazzy” Jaslow and his ridiculous quotes: [As Kate goes to crush a bug] “And that would be a poor, innocent member of what phylum?”

Who was your favorite teacher (s)? Wassall, Jazzy, Ercole “Spin Doctor” Spinelli, crazy leprechaun Condosta and the German-woman-who-lives-up-to-the-stereotype-gloriously, Frau Kavilauskas.

Did you play any sports in highschool? Soccer for 2 years, skiing for 4.

Any big victories for your team, or your high school teams in general? Skiing: we were undefeated a couple times, won divisionals a bunch of times, won divisionals and states while going undefeated once…! And the football team won states, I think. More people cared about that. :(

Were you in any clubs? I forget the name of it, but it just served to be on my resume and it was kind of fun.

Did you do student government? Ugh, no. The people on student government were all nutjobs.

How were your grades in high school? Good, I guess – something like 3.5-.7, unweighted.

Who were your best friends in high school? Freshman year: Allison, Katie, Cate, Steph, Andrea, soccer team girls
Sophomore year and beyond: Jack, Meena, Steph, Katie, Micah, Dave, Ryan, PJ, Nick

Any good memories? Riding a bicycle off a dock into the lake in the rain.

Another memory? Piggy back race across the golf course at night.

And another good memory? Camping on the bluffs, Marcus Dairy Diner in the morning all scruffy and dirty.

Did you go to the dances in high school? In the earlier years, yes; went to junior prom, but not senior.

Were they fun? What was the song in high school? Got a little better at dancing, and it started to be about actually dancing instead of stalking your oblivious crush, so sure, fun. There were so many bad songs in high school, I forget.

What was the ultimate crush song in highschool? I forget because it wasn’t that important.

Did you drive to school in high school? Junior and senior years, yes, and we even evaded the mud lot.

Did you have any younger/older siblings that went to HS with you? Mark, was freshman when I was a senior, he didn’t know how lucky he was to get rides freshman year. It was nice to have him there, too, as long as he didn’t mess with the heater in the winter.

Where was your senior trip to? What?? If we had one, I didn’t go.

How was grad night? I probably just sat at home with my family. Lame.

Did you party a lot in high school? No, chilled a lot though. In the woods, snuck into people’s pools/hot tubs, relaxed in cars and on couches in the basement. Also, had some mad fun soccer and frisbee games in the muddy rainy fields.

Would you consider yourself popular in high school? Eh, no. Like I said, I knew some people who were, but I was not in that general group.

Was your car cool in high school? Totally. Wrangler. Kickin’ it like the stereotypical suburban kids.

Did you have any boyfriends/girlfriends in high school? Adam, after he’d left.

Did you break up? No

If so why did you break up?

Did you have a crush on anyone in high school that you asked out? Never. I’ve never asked anyone out.

Did you ever date someone from high school, but after graduation? Same person, so no.

Did you pull any senior pranks? I didn’t, but remember those jerks I was talking about? Almost the entire male body of my class? They poured cooking oil on the stairs, left a dead fish in the cafeteria ceiling and let mice go in the halls. The previous class was so much better: one kid rode a tricycle down the middle of the ONLY road that gets to the high school from the south side of town. Everyone was late.

What kind of high school did you go to? uniforms? Public school. One friend brought her baby to school junior year for a day.

What teacher did you hate the most? Rachel Black-Unger. Even the name should instill fear into your heart.

If not the same, what teacher did you fight with the most? No, probably her. She told me that my organizational skills were lacking. As if!

Did you ever get kicked out of class? No

About how many times do you think you had detention? Never in high school, a couple times in middle school because my stupid house group decided to never bring in homework, so anyone who innocently forgot theirs in the entire year had to eat lunch in perfect silence in the history room. NOT FUN. Thanks guys.

Did you ever run for student government? No

Did you do better in English or in Math? Or Both? English, by a long shot.

Did you get into the college that you wanted to go to? Every one, yes.

What college do you go to now? Went to BU.

Do you want to be there? Loved it.

What made you decide to go there? Boston seemed cool, in that perfect distance that was too far away to go home every weekend but still close enough to do so without too much trouble, and they had a good bio department.

What is your major? Biology and German Language and Literature

Any minors or emphasis in anything? No

What have been your favorite classes so far? Systems Phys, Neuro, Mammalian Ecology, Weimar Era Film, Der Romantik…

Any classes that you hate? I disliked Gen Chem.

Any classes that you have failed? Failed calculus the first time around, big time. I blame the teacher and myself. Got A’s when I took it in the summer, though. TAKE HARD CLASSES IN THE SUMMER.

Do you go to a big school, or a small school? Middle-ish, I guess. Nowhere near the size of some of those monstrous state schools.

Do you have friends from high school or elementary there with you? Mmm, no close friends, but I knew some people.

Are you still friends with anyone from HS or elementary school? Sure, whenever I can hang out with them, I definitely do so.

Who was one of the first friends you made in college? A real, solid friend? Raj. Played ping pong with him the very first night.

Did you live in the dorms? Towers, Hojo, StuV

How is/was that? I disliked Towers; my roommate was nice, but extremely awkward. Hojo was better. StuV obviously kicked some butt.

Did you like your roommates? Ok, Yes, Ok, Yes, Yes!

Do you like the people that go to your school? What, as a group? Um … for the most part, they’re cool, but some of them I just wanna… *shakes fist*

Have you ever gotten in trouble at your school? No

Has anything major ever happened at your school? Hockey team took some names – after I’d graduated… and freshman year was when the Sox broke the curse, so that riot was pretty intense.

Do you still have the car from highschool? No, it’s dead now.

Are you going to finish college in 4 years? Indeedy did.

Are you going to go on to a higher education later (masters)? ‘Swhat I’m doing now.

What are you going to be when you grow up? I don’t think I’ll ever consider myself grown up, so probably nothing ever.

Are you satisfied with that? :)

How many times will you change your job interests? How am I supposed to know that??

Are you dating anyone? Yes

If so how did you meet them? Invited by a mutual friend to go see Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life and then fell in love with his car. And him.

Are you going to get married in college, or after college? Uh, I think that one’s set just about now.

Any fond memories of college? Thao teaching me step at 2am – people under us probably didn’t appreciate that.

Another? Getting seriously sketched out with Jen and Danielle at clubs, then laughing about it over late night pizza.

And another? Dim Sum with Jia, Steph and Debbie :D

How long until you graduate from college? Almost exactly a year ago.

How well have your grades been? Sucky at first, then much much better.

Have you done any college sports/clubs? Played a couple of games of IM soccer, did some Ultimate.

Is your school known for anything (academics, sports, ect)? Hockey, biomedical engineering, I guess…

Any great acknowledgements you have recieved in school? I … got a German award? Seeing as I was one of two German majors, I thought it was pretty unsurprising. And Dean’s List once.

Do you think college prepares you for the real world? Depends what you do during it. Probably not, though.

What was helpful for college that you learned in highschool? Teachers love you when you stay after class and ask questions.

Alphabet time!

A-Z

A
Available: rarely
Age: 22
Annoyance: those who cannot read social signs
Animal: wolf

B
Beer: Schneiderweisse, Franziskaner, Reissdorf...
Birthday: April 12
Best Friend: Adam
Body Part on opposite sex: dark hair, must have
Best feeling in the world: falling asleep watching the summer sky in a leafy tree
Best weather: 75 and sunny, jeans, t-shirt and sandals
Been in Love: once
Been on stage?: oompa-loompa in 5th grade, clarinet and guitar in middle school
Believe in Magic: with what I read, I should, but no
Blind or deaf?: obviously not the former

C
Candy: skittles
Color: green, brown
Chocolate or Vanilla: vanilla
Chinese or Mexican Food: i can't decide
Cake or pie: pie... strawberry rhubarb
Continent to visit: Australia/New Zealand
Cheese: can't have enough (ate feta by itself for dinner last night)

D
Day or Night: day
Dancing in the rain: if it's warm enough

E
Eyes: hazel, apparently evil-looking
Everyone’s got: to do the best they can
Ever failed a class? yes!

F
First thoughts waking up: yay, what's for breakfast, which book should I read, what's the weather?
Food: sometimes a necessary annoyance, sometimes a delight
Full name: Christine Elizabeth Rice
Flaws: motivation for things I feel are trifling, not calling people back, temper

G
Greatest Fear: death - I like my life too much
Goals: be happy
Gum: makes me feel icky
Get along with your parents? great. they feed me. I entertain them.
Good Luck Charm: don't believe in luck - everything happens for a reason, not because you're lucky
Hair color: medium brown, reddish tint
Height: 5'8.25"
Happy: usually
Holiday: when?!

I
Ice Cream: vanilla bean, coffee heath bar crunch
Instrument: not musically inclined, but played viola, guitar and clarinet

J
Jewelry: watch for work, earrings sometimes
Job: launchpad

K
Kids: disliked them before, getting better at it
Kickboxing or karate: kickboxing (not that I've ever)
Keep a journal? had a diary in elementary... what do you think THIS is?

L
Letter: exchange with grammie and cousins; grammie's has $$, cousins have cute drawings
Laugh so hard you cried: four nights ago about some kind of animal noise I involuntarily made

M
Milk flavor: ugh, regular, plz
Movies: animated, old school B&W silent
Motion sickness? never until college
McD’s or BK: BK, food seems more substantial

N
Number: 3

O
One wish: make it count

P
Pepsi or Coke: die-hard pepsi until high school, coke now
Perfect Pizza: three-cheese. mm fontina feta
Piercing: 7 in ears... don't like em for guys

Q
Quail: eggs are next to the emu eggs in whole foods... who'da thunk?
Quiet?: unless with family/close friends

R
Reason to cry: books
Reality T.V.: I refuse to acknowledge its existence
Roll your tongue in a circle: can do
Ring size: looked it up, promptly forgot
Radio station: Top 40, rarely though

S
Song: Layne - Staind
Shoe Size: 9.5
Salad Dressing: balsamic or just lemon juice
Sushi: atlantic salmon with cucumber
Skinny dipped?: no, but would... lakes up north are too cold
Strawberries or blueberries?: strawberries for desserts, blueberries for freezing
Slept outside: too many times to count
Sing well: *snort

T
Tattoos? no, never - like them on guys, though
Thunderstorms: love them... thundersnow is even better
Time for bed: 11:15

U
Unpredictable: not at all

V
Vacation spot(s): Europe, outdoor things like camping, hiking

W
Weakness: socially awkward
Which one of your friends acts the most like you? Danielle
Worst feeling: guilt
Wanted to be a model?: no - career is probably over at 25
Worst Weather?: freezing cold but yet raining - how does this happen all the time?!
Where do we go when we die? don't know, but I hope we stay ourselves

X
X-Rays: have had them, discovered my broken toe
Ex’s: nonexistant

Y
Year it is now: cow or something?
Yellow: "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; short story, read it: http://womenshistory.about.com/library/etext/bl_gilman_yw.htm

Z
Zzzzz’s: only 7.5hrs, kthnx
Zoo animal: monkeys

Last
You fell asleep next to: Adam
You went to the mall with: Mark and Adam for xmas shopping
Went to dinner with: Jia, Steph, Debbie (yey!)
Talked to on the phone: Adam
Made you laugh: Adam
Hugged you: Adam
Said they loved you: Adam
Held your hand: Adam
Spoke with online: Jimmy

(ok, that's... overboard. even I'll admit it.)

Weird day.

I had class yesterday so I had to wake up about an hour earlier than I normally do. On the first Thursday of every month, we get this free breakfast at work - bagels, muffins, fresh fruit, OJ, coffee, egg wraps - that is quite good, even though no one knows who brings it (which is actually better for us, because there are laws against trying to sway organizations to buy products with bribes). So I had a good breakfast, a busy-enough day and studied a bit for my quiz. For lunch I had a sandwich that Adam had gotten me the night before, turkey and swiss and cranberry sauce (like Thanksgiving) and even though the cranberries had soaked through the bottom of the bread, it was really good.
I got a cinnamon dolce latte for class from Starbucks and felt totally fine... until the break in the middle. The girl sitting in front of me came back smelling like cigarette smoke and that just turned my stomach. I felt yucky throughout the rest, and although I didn't think of it at the time, it was a blessing that the professor finished a half hour early. I had to concentrate real hard getting back home, and the weird subway smells didn't help, either. The cold air did, thank goodness.
I got home, feeling really dizzy and lasted about 10 minutes until my roommate and his girlfriend left (to spare them the grossness) before seeing some of my lunch for the second time. I drank some water... which just made it easier to do it again. Adam called, I told him I was feeling sick, and he asked if I had anything other than the turkey... which made me have to hang up and run to the bathroom again. I finally forced some soup down and it stayed, but it was a struggle, since my friends came back and watched a Scrubs episode entirely about coffee (after having some and being sick, not a good association now) and flipping through the tv stations with an amazing knack for finding things that grossed me out; "Click" was on with Adam Sandler, and the only line we heard as we flipped by was, "...have tons of jello shots and puke our brains out!" along with some other reference to that in "The Office" or "30 Rock".
Not a fun night.
But Adam was sweet and brought me some ginger ale. :)

Daily quotes

So I have an iGoogle webpage and one of the gadgets is the daily quotes. I'm going to record the ones I like because I know I always like at least one but then I forget them. Here we go!

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see." Arthur Schopenhauer

"There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." W. Somerset Maugham

This makes me smile... nostalgia.

Either way, I'm extremely proud of my brother.

http://www.purevolume.com/lowfiy

The songs just make me smile!! Maybe it's because I know it's him, and I've seen him bent over his guitar in front of his computer messing around with song clips for the vast majority of his adult life and it just reminds me of home.... or do they really make YOU smile?

Notable notes.

So, I guess you could say it's been an interesting last week.

I got hit by a bicycle. This woman was on the sidewalk (illegal, first of all) and she was coming straight at me, making eye contact. I was pressed as far over to my right (the correct side) as I could be, being that there was a building right there. The sidewalk was at least two blocks wide, and she could have easily fit. She continued to make eye contact and came right past me, smacking my arm with her handlebars. I should have kicked her wheel. Idiot.

Just had an impromtu discussion/vent/comradely conversation at work with labbie-on-the-other-side re: a certain confusing yet superior entity. She asked me if I could show her how to get the liquid nitrogen out of the tank, and I would love to. It's not hard, good to know, etc., but I told her that I probably couldn't/shouldn't/wouldn't due to the strange definition of work and somewhat hysterical tendencies that come from this certain entity when I help others out. She understood, laughed, and shared a bit. It's good to know we're on the same page - that being a state of bewildered consternation in opposition to above said entity.

I'm using a Christmas gift for the first time today! It's a vacuum-sealed food jar, meant to keep cold things cold and hot things hot for up to 24 hours. I made some pasta this morning, and it always sucks to reheat pasta because it gets all dry, so I'll check it out at lunch.

I've narrowed down some of my favorites in my rather large box of tea that I also got for Christmas. <3 the strawberry and lemon spice, the raspberry, orange, green and apple cinnamon are good, too. The english breakfast is normal, along with all the others (which still means acceptably good). I might waste some time and make a spreadsheet... ahhhh what my employment has done to me!

I do believe that since my last post, I've read at least through the entire series of The Protector of the Small, which is a quartet, and also "Ender's Game." The former I'd read before and really liked, while the latter was a new read for me! (Doesn't happen often.)
I really liked "Ender's Game", which brought me a little closer to the science fiction genre that I normally tend to steer a bit away from. There are spaceships, aliens, wars, laser guns and null gravity fight scenes, all of which are somewhat separated from my favorite genre of fantasy, with the good vs. evil, sword battles, archery, clever animals, and most importantly, magic. (Laugh it up now, har har har.) Anyway, I loved the beginning of "Ender", where Card forces you to figure out what the monitor is, why it was there and Ender's relationship with the members of his family and with himself. The middle was still good in a different way, with the whole part about Ender finding out that he is horribly clever and a natural tactician, but I started to dislike how bad he began feeling about his whole situation. I know that is the ENTIRE point, but still, didn't like it. Also, the fake-ending is a complete (and for anyone other than me, extremely obvious) anti-climax and I hit myself over the head because I didn't see it coming. It was not nice to see how deteriorated he was, and how he now was useless, his entire difficult puppeted life meant for some event that was now over, etc.
Which is why the real ending was fantastic. And I really don't think ANYONE would see THAT one coming.
Minor note: Didn't like how his No. 1 enemy wasn't ever punished; did like how he died in his late seventies when Ender is still in his twenties (figure that one out!).

I'm now reading the first book of a completely unknown (to me) series by Jonathan Stroud called the Bartimaeus Trilogy; the book is "The Amulet of Samarkand" and of course you can probably figure out the main components of this fantasy book. Non-surprising details: it's kind of Harry-Potter-ish, being that there are magicians and non-magicians, it's modern times in London and there's a lot of sneakiness going on under the noses of the non-magicians (read: Muggles?). Couple of twists: all magic is done by various demon individuals and not through any power of magicians at all (which leads to a LOT of nasty critters running around in the book), the little kid (Harry? No. Nathaniel.) is actually the bad guy now... or as far as I can tell. It's also written in the first person from the point of view of.... a demon! Ha! Turnaround there, huh. I guess Nathaniel isn't that bad, but he's only 11 and he's bent on revenge against another magician who humiliated him. Just cause, poor anger management. Have yet to discover if he's going to actually be a bad person or not.

After these ones, there's an already-read but still wonderfully exciting two-book miniseries in the same... um... "universe"? Literary geographical and time-setting? as the Protector of the Small quartet, which were oh-so-surprisingly delivered to me by mail from my wonderous former roommates. Can't wait!

Oh, holidays were good, saw Meena (yay! :D), relaxed with Adam, immediate and extended family, brother included, got a kickass new desk/bookshelf (and I'm going to need it, I think...), started working out more diligently and feel good (although my right bicep is KILLING me right now, I've had to shake it out about 10x since starting this post) and ate enough cookies for a small herd of ponies.
All in all, a good mishmash of excitement and relaxation to round out the days off from work.