Random Musings...
Friday, July 29, 2005
·A free weekend?·
- Believe it or not, we're not going anywhere this weekend...AND I'm taking Monday off.
Something that is probably surprising: I took an accounting class in college. Something that is not surprising: I got the worst grade in it I've ever gotten in anything. And after all that torture and agony stressing out over a class I took "just because," I remember nothing about it to this day. I remember that you need to keep two columns, one for debit and one for credit, and you need to remember depreciation. What to do with that shred of information, I have no idea. So, for this reason, my parents are coming up on Sunday because my Dad is going to give me a tutorial on QuickBooks. He says it's a very intuitive program, but seeing as accounting is the one subject where for the first time in my life I seriously wondered if I had a very specific form of mental retardation, I'm not sure it's going to be so easy.
Actually, no, I take that back. The first time I ever wondered about my very targeted retardation was first time we had to do matrices in math class.
My grandfather got his master's degree in math from Stanford not speaking a lick of English, and he tried to tutor me in this very "simple" function since it just was not sinking into my head, and I was failing all of the quizzes leading up to the test. Everyone in the class talked about how easy it was. I got a 40 something on the test. The matrices came back to haunt me in my math class in college (unofficially entitled Math for Jocks) and once again I scored a 40 something. What the hell are matrices anyway? Honestly! A big bracket full of numbers that are supposed to make sense? When are matrices supposed to come up?? Why did everyone else in the class get it and I didn't when I was acing AP Physics in my next class period??So anyway, hopefully I've managed to outrun matrices, but the accounting crap has come back to haunt me. This time, it's not just the fear of a bad grade that's going to keep me on my toes. Now it's fear of losing money and of being audited by the IRS. I can see myself in a jail cell crying like I did in college.
"What are you in for?"
"I killed my husband and threw his body into the ocean. What are you here for?"
"I forgot to factor in the depreciation."
Posted at 8:59 AM
Comments... Any type of science class was my cross in school... my brain went into flat out decompress mode and mental barriers were barracading that information form entering into my brain. That one subject was the reason I missed honors all semesters both 7th and 8th grade because of it.. it made me feel like an idiot!!
Academic Accounting senior year I soared through... the 3 boys I sat by would copy there entire entries off of me, but ask me today what it all would mean I don't think I could tell you!!
Good luck to you, and if all else fails, there HAS TO BE an accounting for dummies series out there somewhere, right?!!
(And NO I am not calling you a dummie, you get my point!!)
Post a CommentClassic ending to that post! As you well know I can't do math to save my life! here is hoping you get it!
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Thursday, July 28, 2005
·Convention·
- Hmm....there is a convention in Charlotte August 25-27 for the engraving business. All of my suppliers will be there. I'd have a place to stay and everything. The downside is that that is the first week of classes here. Andrew would not be able to come with me and I'd be missing the one week that influenced my end date at this job because it's the craziest week of the year. Grr! Why couldn't it have been one week earlier?? I'd have been there in a flash!
Posted at 11:52 AM
Comments... Post a CommentI agree with Christina. If you tell them now, you have mucho time to prepare to go.
If you want I could come up for a day to hand out with you during your off time!
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·Catalog·
- I've been browsing the internet and a supplier list given to me by the company who sold me the laser to find different products to offer on my website. Andrew says he thinks I should start with a small line of products and gradually expand my catalog. The biggest problem to offering a huge catalog of products is that I don't have any place to keep them all at the moment. While I understand all that, I get so excited to see all of the different products available out there for me to sell. If I could, I'd love to have the following catalog:
Wine glasses
Champagne flutes
Water glasses/tumblers
Shot glasses
Mugs
Beer/pint glasses
Picture frames
Award plaques
Trophies
Pens
Coasters
Jewelry
Wood Signs
Acrylic Signs
Tiles
Key chains
Business Card Holders
Paperweights
License Plate Frames
Bottle Openers
Clocks
Jewelry Boxes
Photo Albums
Name plates
It'd be so cool to have a whole catalog like that. I could always start out with one box for each item and see which ones are fast movers and focus on those. What I'd do with 30-40 boxes, though, I have no idea. I'm trying to avoid renting a storage space I'd have to drive to for all of my inventory.
Posted at 10:48 AM
Comments... Have you thought of putting an ad in the back of a local wedding resource magazine down the road? Or getting a booth at a local wedding expo? I think that would be a great way to get your name out there!!
Absolutely! I see this probably being my earliest source of steady orders. The plan is get the website up, then hit all of the local bridal stores and wedding related venues, then expand on to restaurants, local businesses, etc.
I'd actually like to have something designed by you for one of my Team In Training fundraisers. Right now I'm thinking key chains would be the best bet.
Post a CommentI don't have any in stock right now, but I could certainly order them for you. Would you mind me using a picture of the product as a sample on my website? Send me an email if you are interested!
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Wednesday, July 27, 2005
·Play with the 'Canes--Yoo!·
- I just thought of a great birthday present for my dad (whose birthday is next month). Tickets to see his alma mater's football team, the Miami Hurricanes. He hasn't been to a single game since he was a student there in the 70's! I think it's about time considering he never misses a game on TV. I've gotten him plenty of shirts and hats over the years for him to wear to the game! They're $45 a piece. My mom and brother won't want to go. Andrew's not a big Miami fan, so maybe it would just be the two of us. Nice father-daughter bonding. I still remember as a child watching football with my dad and him teaching me all of the yells and cheers!
Posted at 4:44 PM
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·Swimmingly·
- Things with my machine are going just swimmingly. I made a couple more things last night. I'm hearing back from my lawyer today to get all the various numbers and licenses I need. Then, I'm off to the bank to start my bank account and merchant account. After that, it's only a matter of getting my website up and I'm in business! Actually, I can even start getting business next week outside of the website. How exciting! If my volume starts off small, I think I can do a good job. Last night was only my third time running the machine, and it only took me one or two screw ups before I figured out how to get things moving. I was able to set up a file and run it on the laser for Andrew to watch in less than three minutes. Pretty cool. I also came up with a simple little logo. We'll see if it sticks or if I come up with something better.
Posted at 9:26 AM
Comments... How hard is it to etch text onto things with that machine? If you can make glasses with two- or three-sentence quotations on them, I'd be all about that....
Oh, and if you get a postcard in the next few days from someone named John that you didn't know was in North Carolina, it's from me. :)
Posted by: 9:21 AM
Post a CommentI can engrave anything that fits onto the item, basically. Images and text are just as easy. Shoot me an email and let me know what you are thinking.
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Tuesday, July 26, 2005
·Come Home to Me!·
- Andrew was driving back from NC yesterday and called me around 4pm to tell me that he was in a major traffic jam...and then every half hour after that to update on how he hadn't yet moved. I-95 was completely shut down. I was already missing him so badly thinking I'd get to see him again around dinner time. It wasn't until a little after 7pm that he was able to turn around in the median and try to get off on another exit. I guided him through a map online and was able to get him back on track just south of the accident. It was terrible! He didn't get in until a little after 11pm. Poor hubby! I made sure to give him an extra big hug when he walked in the door.
Posted at 9:01 AM
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Monday, July 25, 2005
·My Latest Works·
Here is what I worked on tonight.
Posted at 10:13 PM
Comments... How great would it be to relax and drink a cocktail in a Dave Glass... SOOOOOO great!!
Way to go Rosalie, can I buy one from you?!!
Post a CommentI won't be selling any DMB stuff since I don't want to get in trouble by the very band I love so much. I can still send one your way for free, though! :)
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·Wedding Blues·
- So we're back from the wedding. It was a bit different than what I was anticipating, but not in a good way.
My in-laws threw a pretty nice rehearsal dinner. It was in the upstairs loft of a nice restaurant just down the street from the church. It had beer, wine, and champagne as well as great food and yummy cake! My father-in-law got up to say grace. Andrew got up to give a toast. Then, Hannah's dad gets up and proceeds to give us a sermon about what the Bible says about marriage, Then Hannah's mom gets up and talks for another ten minutes about what John should do to keep Hannah happy. Never once in these big speeches did they mention any thank you to my in-laws for hosting this dinner. My father-in-law was pretty offended about that and the fact that they took over when they had the wedding itself that they were hosting to say all of these things.
Well, the wedding itself was worse than what I expected. It turns out Hannah objected so strongly to her mom inviting her whole crazy church congregation that the wedding ended up TINY, family only. There were maybe 30 people there. We only filled up three pews on either side of the aisle in the church. The church was very pretty, though, and the ceremony was nice. When we walked over to the other side for the reception, though...wow. It was in the church's basketball court. You walked in, and all you heard was the buzzing of the a/c and the neon lights. The flower arrangments were cute when you looked at them, but you barely noticed them in this huge gym. The buffet consisted of Tricuits and dip, rolls, dry roast beef, and fruit salad. They only served punch. I asked if they had anything else, and they told me that there was a water fountain out in the hallway. When the bride and groom came to the room, no one was there to announce them. Andrew and I got up to clap to get the place going. The cut the cake, and that was the extent of anything to suggest a wedding. People were kind of sitting around waiting for something to happen, but it never did. Everyone was gone about an hour later. Hannah was left holding her bouquet and said, "There's no one left for my to toss my bouquet to. No one wants my flowers." You could tell that she was very disappointed in this entire thing. And really, the few guests there were were horribly bored. There was nothing to do except chat politely. I felt really bad about it all.
My in-laws were so happy they had insisted on having this bbq after the reception after what a dud of a wedding it had turned out to be. Most of the people who were at the wedding came. It was very laid back, but it was nice to do something that remotely resembled a celebration.
Here are the pictures of the weekend. The good news is that Hannah and John looked great. (And I thought Andrew and I looked pretty nice too!)
Posted at 10:15 AM
Comments... Post a CommentPoor Bride ;-( That doesn't sound like a fun wedding at all ;-( ;-( ;-(
Hopefully, John and her have a great time in Napa! The weather is perfect!
PS Your dress was super cute!
Posted by
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Thursday, July 21, 2005
·Leaving on a Jet Plane·
- I'm leaving work today a bit early to catch my flight out of Orlando tonight for John's wedding. It's stupid how alone I felt in the house last night and this morning. All of a sudden I was hearing all these miscellaneous noises I never hear otherwise. Weird. Andrew is usually the one who turns off the alarm in the morning, so when it went off, I just laid there thinking "When is he going to turn it off??" Then I realized that I had to, so I leaned over and pressed every incorrect button on the whole thing.
So after my post last night and my two successful, albeit slightly off, masterpieces, I attempted to throw together some quick, personalized glasses for John and Hannah. This part process requires a special rotary attachment. Well, I tried for an hour and a half, and I never once got the thing to work. I even tried it again this morning. Nothing. I tried all of these different setting, etc, etc and nothing. I think I'm going to have to call the guy who sold it to me to see if I'm just being stupid or if there is something wrong with the machine. It also took at least two minutes from the time I hit start to the time it attempted to do anything. I hope I'm just missing something really obvious.
God, this whole thing has me so nervous!
Posted at 9:25 AM
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Wednesday, July 20, 2005
·Masterpieces!·
So here I am with my new laser! I created my first two masterpieces this evening. I think I'm going to try and go ahead and make some wine glasses for John and Hannah before I leave tomorrow. Let's see if I can turn out something decent enough to give them!
So remember my whole big deal with the exhaust issue? Well, this is what it looks like at the moment. Not the most attractive. I'm going to have to figure out something more practical than this. So anyway, here is the process of the very first thing I made...a luggage tag! And here is the making of a name plate. Very cool!
Posted at 8:41 PM
Comments... Post a CommentAwesome Rosalie! Way to go! Very excited for you. Good luck. Hey how about a name plate for my desk? I can see it now.... Spikey!
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·In My Mind I'm Goin' to Carolina·
- Just got a call from Andrew saying that he's just now pulling in to his parents' driveway in NC. Tonight, he and his brother are heading out for drinks for brother bonding. I'll be flying up tomorrow night with my family. I'm somewhat looking forward to this because I always love going back to NC. I am always greeted by a wave of nostalgia.
I know I've trashed talked this wedding quite a bit, and I really need to stop. I have to change my attitude. This girl is going to be present for every holiday and visit to NC from now on. Let me not forget that I was the one that first broke into their family of five and started celebrating Christmas with them. When his parents and sister were visiting last month, they all started talking about how annoying she can get. I was about to butt in, but I had to bite my tongue. I didn't feel right saying anything. They may have complaints about me, who knows. It's just not my place to talk about how intrusive this girl is. She really has so many positives, and that's all I should think about at this point that it's inevitable.
I still say it would help if they put a little something in that punch they're going to be serving!
Posted at 2:06 PM
Comments... Post a CommentHa ha! Wow! How random! Well, they decided to stay together and do the long distance thing. She is now suddenly very busy now with beginning her med school residency and not getting any sleep, so needless to say, no more blog updates from her for a long while if ever.
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·Zit of Mythological Proportions·
You know the story of the Hydra. The story of the warrior who kept trying to chop off a monster's head and with each slice, two more heads would grow back in its place? Well, that's whats going on on my face right now. I had the most enourmously nasty, white-headed zit on my chin yesterday that I just HAD to take matters into my own hands. This morning, I woke up with a double header. It's mind boggling. Andrew left for NC this morning, and I think he was afraid to kiss me goodbye.
Posted at 8:42 AM
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Tuesday, July 19, 2005
·Reality Sinking In·
- So I thought I was going to get to start working on my new machine yesterday. I've had the thing in its place since Sunday, but I'm still having to work on installing it. The laser machine itself was easy. I intalled the software on my computer and plugged the thing into the wall. Done. However, the machine requires an exhaust system to collect all of the particles that I'm lasering off to create the engraved look. I was sold a contraption that looks somewhat like a leaf blower, and I assumed it would have everything I needed. Well, I'm realizing that I have to really work on that. I've been to both Lowe's and Home Depot two nights in a row now buying pieces that I barely know anything about. Exhaust hoses, clamps, vents, window panels. I even had a mild anxiety attack last night wondering what the hell I'm getting myself into as I stared at all of these shiny metal parts I never knew existed before that I was somehow supposed to know how to assemble. I may have had the others guys beat in terms of being computer savvy, but I'm definitely clueless as to the "industrial" side of it all. The big leaf blower looking thing came with an instruction book, but not instructions on how to assemble and connect the different things because they assume you already know how to do that. I was daydreaming of having created several masterpieces by now. I still haven't even gotten to the point of being able to turn the thing on.
So yes, I was freaking out last night about what on earth I've gotten myself into. Not just this installation, because once I figure it out, it's done, and I don't have to worry about it again until we move. I was just feeling very inept, and then I freaked out over feeling inept because inept people aren't supposed to start their own businesses. Inept people's businesses fail because the people are too inept to figure out how to run it. It was all wildly irrational for the gravity of the situation at hand, but I think my brain used this little obstacle as an excuse to dump out all of the emotions I've been feeling for a while, but have suppressed. I just wrote a check for over half of my current yearly salary on Thursday to buy this thing. A salary I'm leaving a month from now. I wrote that check only on a hunch. I know all of the wise sayings about how great things only happen when you take risks, but the flip side of it is that often bad things happen when you take risks as well. Actually, more often than not.
The only things that soothed me last night were remembering that I'm a glass half empty person about absolutely everything and seeing how sure Andrew seemed. He told me how this is the perfect time to take this risk. We're moving in less than a year anyway. I'd only have this job for maybe 10 more months. And when I move, then what? I have four years of secretarial experience under my belt and nothing else to show for myself. The next job I would apply for would see me as a secretary. That's not what I went to college for. Since I wasn't able to get another job over the past two years of trying, I had to make things happen for myself, and any future employer has to respect that. My excuse of this little town not having anything for me will seem a lot more valid when I demonstrate that I wasn't complacent all of this time. I'm telling the world right now that I'm not a secretary. Secretaries don't start their own businesses. Secretaries don't buy lasers and don't duct tape shiny metal pieces together. Secretaries stay put in a chair in a pretty office all day and kill time.
I'm done killing time. I'm 26 years old. 26. 26 is no age to be killing time. 26 is the age to enjoy life. I have the most incredible husband in the world who amazes me every day of my life. I have great friends who call me every week to go out. I have a wonderfully supportive family. I have a nice house, a car that turns on whenever I want it to, a dog who thinks I'm one of the best human beings on planet Earth, and (relative) health. Who am I to be killing nine hours a day when I have so much else to live for? How arrogant do I have to be with all of the gifts I have been blessed with to just shrug my shoulders and resign myself to sitting on my ass. I have people in my life who let me know every day that I'm worth a lot more than that, and there has to come a time when I decide that I'm capable of much more than that. At this point, I've committed myself. There is no turning back, but this is the moment I've been planning for a long, long time. I need to go ahead confident in this decision. What's the worse that can happen?
Posted at 8:42 AM
Comments... Post a CommentWow, you have been a busy blogger bee! Great show review! Gets me all excited again for next week!
You will do great. You said it all yourself in your last paragraph. Inhale...exhale.
:)
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Monday, July 18, 2005
·Another Survey·
- I got tagged by Kathy to answer the following little questionnaire...
What were you doing:
10 Years ago....Summer 1995 was the summer in between sophomore and junior year of high school. I can't remember exactly, but I was probably spending the summer with my grandparents in Puerto Rico. I loved those summers. I don't think a day has gone by in my life when I haven't thought of them.
5 Years ago....Summer of 2000 I was just recently engaged. I spent the summer back home from college busily working on planning the wedding. We also took a fabulous cruise that started in Barcelona, Spain and ended in Stockholm, Sweden. It's the only major trip the four of us ever took, and it was wonderful.
1 year ago...Plotting my way out of this job. Glad to say that now I actually see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Yesterday...We had brunch with my family in Orlando before heading back up home. We went to Lowe's to buy a few assorted pices for the ventilation system for my new laser machine. We put it up in the newly arranged office upstairs. I'm so excited to play with the machine I can hardly stand it!
what WILL you do tomorrow.....Same thing as today. Try and kill the time between 8am and 5pm as quickly as possible so I can get home and play with the machine!
Posted at 3:55 PM
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·Family Matters·
- The family was supposed to head out to Universal Islands of Adventure the next day after the concert, but when the alarm went off, I knew there was no way I could get up after getting to bed at 2:30am after a full day of training plus non-stop dancing at DMB. So, I decided I could save it for another day. I slept in until around 10:30. I met my dad for lunch and then came back home. My mom and my little six year old cousin Hilary didn't go to IoA and got back home a little before I got back before lunch. She was so excited to see me, and I must say I had a very good time with her. We went swimming in my parents' pool for quite a while. I began reaching deep into my memory to think of all the little games I used to play when I was her age. I'd show her how to do cartwheels underwater, how to make water squirt out of my hands, how to make the biggest possible splash, etc. It was tons of fun, I must say. I've never been particularly good with children, but my attitude has been changing quite a bit lately.
We got out of the water and I took her to take a bath. She proposed that the two of us get in and take a bubble bath. I decided that it might be fun after all. She kept bugging me asking why I was still wearing my bathing suit in the bathtub, but fortunately I was able to give a reasonable explanation about how I only take showers or something like that. So, we sat there with bubbles and put bubble beards on each other and all that. I can't believe how much fun I had! Even bathing her and washing her hair was fun. She's a really neat kid. We were all wrapped up by the time the rest of the crowd got in.
Visiting us were my cousins Maria and Hilary obviously, but also my cousin Johana and my aunt Lois. Unfortunately, the visit is extremely bittersweet. It was wonderful to see my cousins who I don't get to see very often, but the premise of the whole trip is very sad. My uncle Jorge (my mom's brother) and his wife Lois are about to get a divorce. It turns out that Lois has been cheating on my uncle with another guy for almost a year now. The kicker...the guy just turned 23 years old. Lois is 42! I remember her talking back during Christmas about how she wanted to start her own gym business and how much she loved working out. She's work out 3-4 hours a day. Well, this kid was her personal trainer. My uncle found out when my cousin Johana told him about it. Johana is Lois's daughter from her previous marriage, but my uncle has raised her as a daughter since she was 7 or 8. he's been so wonderful to her actually, that Johana is begging him to let her stay with him rather than go with her mom. Can you imagine what it would take for you to prefer your stepfather over your own mother?
Anyway, Lois has been extremely devious. We've realized that this gym idea was to set her little boy toy up with his own business. My uncle, looking over all of the financial records and everything (she always handled that) saw that she got him an apartment already. My uncle noticed one of his safes had been pried open and was missing his Rolex watches and family jewelry. She has been stealing from him and funneling money to this other guy. Lois came up with the idea of this trip, presumably, to have a last hurrah with her two girls before dumping them off with her mother in Maine. She's heading back to Venezuela herself to break things off with my uncle. What she doesn't know is how much my uncle knows already. My uncle has taken this time that she has spent away to work out some deals with his lawyer. Since she is so money hungry, he has hopes that he'll be able to offer her a deal...money or the girls. The thing is, she's extremely likely to go for the money. She has been very inattentive to the girls and my uncle loves them. Johana wants to be with my uncle, no questions asked. The saddest case is Hilary who is too young to understand anything. Every six year old loves her mommy. My heart breaks for that girl who will have her family torn in two without understanding why. The thing is, what kind of realtionship would Lois be bringing these girls in to? Johana has dated guys only three or four years younger than this guy. How long is this kid going to stick around a 40-something year old woman anyway?
So anyway, the visit was tainted because of all this in the background. We went out on Saturday to the Kennedy Space Center, which was pretty nice. We saw the space shuttle Discovery sitting on the launch pad ready for takeoff whenever it's fianlly cleared. It was a pretty fun little trip. I hadn't been in ages, and Hilary loved seeing all of the rockets.
We got back to Gainesville yesterday afternon and finished setting up the office with the very important addition of my new laser machine. I'm so happy! I'm going to finally get around to begin practicing on it tonight. I'll have to take pictures of what I do when I get the chance. I can't wait!
Posted at 1:01 PM
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·The Concert·
- I couldn't control my excitement as we went closer and closer to the stage in search of our seats. They were amazing! Thank you so much to my DMB Fairy Christina! I couldn't help but shout and grab my cousin by the shoulders and shake her!
A few minutes later, out of the shadows backstage, Dave walked out to introduce the opening act, Marc Broussard. At this point, thanks to the traffic, there was hardly anyone in our section yet. I shot up and started screaming as he walked up to the mic. After that first scream I let out, Dave turned his head slightly and looked at me. Then, all of a sudden, I realized that there was Dave on stage, and I was the next tallest thing in his line of vision. The man was most definitely looking right at me as I was jumping and screaming. I froze. Crap. I suddenly felt naked. I just stood there. Dave talked about the storms that had brought in all this mud and about the bad run of weather we've had in Florida lately, all while glacing back at me like he was having a conversation. But it wasn't a conversation as all I could do was stand there ten rows back. Every now and then he'd say something that made me cheer, but then I'd feel embarrassed and just stand. It was the single weirdest concert experience ever. Dave has made eye contact with me before, but only during a show, which felt completely different. I just wished I could hide, but I couldn't move.
Thankfully, he let the opening act take the stage and I was released from my paralysis. What a dork I am. My cousin and I had a hearty laugh at my behavior. Marc Broussard was pretty decent. Several of the songs were pretty groovy. Toward the end of their set, these two girls arrived to their seats directly in front of ours and looked at each other and began screaming "I CAN'T BELIEVE THESE SEATS!!" I leaned over and told them that I just had an identical reacion myself. They asked if I had been to any DMB shows before. "This is #14 for me actually," I said somewhat sheepishly. "OH MY GOSH! OURS TOO!" they squealed! One of the girls had flown down from Michigan and the other had driven up from Sarasota. I knew I had found my replacement concert soulmates. We spent the time in between Marc Broussard and DMB discussing what they would open with, what songs we were hoping for, what the last show we went to was like, etc., etc. It was perfect!
Finally, I was mid-sentence when the lights began dimming and I let out a huge scream. My excitement had been building, and I had even built my cousin up enough so that she started screaming too. One of the other girls correctly guessed the opener...
Everyday This song is fun. The honey-honeys never really got off the ground, though, so I was slightly let down by the choice of song. Still, I was screaming my head off at having the band RIGHT. THERE.
Dream Girl This song is nice enough. I was a little worried, however, at the tone of the concert so far. Just a little too mellow for my taste. I wanted something with some substance. Something I could sink my teeth into!
American Baby The song has definitely grown on me, and the jam at the end was nice, but I was still a bit concerned over what kind of setlist the boys were building. Throw something at me!
Warehouse Oh HELL YEAH! This is what they threw at me. I shreiked from the very first note of the guitar and jumped straight up in the air! High fives all around directed at me from all my seat neighbors. I LOVE this song. LOVE IT. This was the first song I ever remember getting completely lost in way back when I bought the CD more than ten years ago. I can close my eyes, and it just touches me way deep. I love this song.
Where Are You Going Well, I guess I needed a breather after such a high. It's was amusing to see the mass exodus from our section for the designated bathroom break song.
Hunger for the Great Light This song is decent live. Pretty energetic.
Ants Marching What a surprise to hear this drum intro at this point in the night! The whole place was dancing. This song still hasn't gotten old on me! Dave snapped a guitar string a ways into the song. He switched guitars and tried to come right back in for "People in every direction..." but didn't quite make it, so he let the crowd sing it. I love it when he does that!
#34 WTF??? #34?? I just squealed! Not only was it fun to be surprised with such a concert rarity, but I truly love this song. This song and I have an "intimate" relationship. To explain would definitely be TMI...
Bartender Ok, so after boring me a bit early on in the set, now they were trying to give me a heart attack. This song was nearly enough to bring me on my knees. Standing there, watching Dave wail a few yards away from me was just incredible. It felt like everything else disappeared and I felt so connected to the emotion of it all. I have never felt so connected. The jam was extended for quite a while and I savored every note of it all. I felt so close. I can't even describe how close I felt. It seemed ridiculous that I was just one head in this sea of people all listening to the song. I wondered if anyone else was experiencing what I was experiencing. I wondered if the band knew that in this enormous crowd, there was one soul standing a few rows away who really got it.
What Would You Say Fun song. And exactly what I needed after the heaviness of Bartender.
Louisiana Bayou This is the one song I was looking most forward to from the new CD. It's so much fun in concert I can't stand it! I hope they keep it in regular rotation in future tours because I just loved dancing and singing along to it!
Steady As We Go A lot of people think this is a snoozer, but I bet those people weren't sitting as close as I was. To watch Dave sing this was incredible. He was very into it, and I loved watching his face. The funny part was that he doesn't play guitar in the song, but keeps his guitar in place. He'd close his eyes and then kind of air-guitar the song just inches away from the actual strings.
Lie in Our Graves HELL YEAH! If Bartender hadn't been such a spiritual experience, I'd call this the highlight of the night. Boyd went nuts on this song. Totally nuts! It was just incredible. I love this song live and this is definitely the best performance of it I have ever seen! I joked that I felt like I needed a cigarette after it. And actually, the crowd was really, really pumped after the song. The people were stomping on the bleachers building up to the next song, begging for something big.
Stand Up Eh. Fun enough to please the eager crowd. It just seemed a bit forced.
All Along the Watchtower I'm always disappointed when Stefan begins his solo because I've heard this song so many times and it's always such a predictable closer or encore. Yet, once the song gets rolling, it never disappoints. I had a blast howling along with the song.
I always take the encore break as a break of my own. I was up on my feet and jumping and dancing the whole time, so I figure I'll let the other people yell for them to come back for an encore while I sit and take a breather. It always seems like they take forever to come back anyway.
Old Dirt Hill As much as I hated this song when I first heard it, I must admit, I think it's a terribly cute song. I got really into it, as did the rest of the crowd, surprisingly. The whole place was clapping along. It really is impressive to sit on one end of such a crowd and look back and see such a huge crowd behind you.
Too Much This song is tons of fun in concert, but it seemed really short to me. I just found out that Rapunzel was supposed to be the encore (NOO!! I LOVE Rapunzel and I haven't heard it in ages!!) but there was something about a curfew, so they just threw in this quickie instead. Eh, it was fun.
The boys finished playing and I suddenly remembered that Carter always walks up to the edge of the stage to toss out his drumsticks. My cousin and I ran to the front and were RIGHT THERE. I was just two people over from one of the girls who got it. As she walked by, I got to touch it. It was cool to see Carter THAT close up. He has the have the best smile ever!
My cousin did suprisingly well during the show. She claimed to have known a few songs going in, but when she didn't recognize Ants Marching, I knew there was no way she knew any of them! Still, she was up and dancing for 3/4 of the songs and cheered after particularly good ones. I was pretty impressed, though it was still great to have those two fellow freaks in front of me to gush over every little detail.
We waded our way back through the horrendous mud to our car. I squeezed into a line to get out of the parking lot, but sat there for a little over an hour with my car in park. I was dozing off. I worried about what the drive back to Orlando would be like if I was nodding off already, but fortunately, once we got moving I woke back up.
I was on such a high after the concert. I listened to nothing but DMB during the drive back, reliving the show. It's too bad this is my only show of the year. I always look forward to these shows, but at the same time, I always forget exactly how much I love them!
Posted at 11:50 AM
Comments... Post a CommentI'm so happy for you. Yet so sad for me! I need DMB, I want DMB but I have no DMB this summer. I SUCK!
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·Tons of Updates...·
- So much has happened since my last full post! I'm probably going to have to break this up.
I was so happy to get together with Cori on Wednesday night. I had such a great time. I wish our schedules had worked out better so we could have gotten together more. Plus, the sushi and drinks were amazing! :)
Unfortunately, she also witnessed a little spat I had with my mom. My mom decided at the last minute that instead of taking my brother to the DMB show like I have every year since I moved back to FL after college that I should take my 14-year old cousin Maria who was visiting from Venezuela and doesn't know a word of English, let alone a single DMB song. She was trying to promote a bonding experience with my cousin who really looks up to me, and I get that. I appreciate that. But honestly, out of any event of the entire year, this is the ONE I'd ask anyone not to mess with.
I came up with a million logical reasons why this couldn't happen. I was going to be receiving training on the machine that day less than 30 miles from the concert venue. She was asking me to pick up my cousin from Disney, which would mean me having to drive over an hour and a half in the opposite direction of the show to drive in, pay parking fees, and try to locate my cousin in the Disney parking lot. There's no way I'd make it back to the concert in time if I left as soon as my training was done. I thought surely at this point she'd realize that it made much more sense to have my brother come who could drive himself so we could get there and have a great time together like we always do. However, she said that I then needed to decide if I prefered being late to the concert or leave my training session early. Umm...excuse me?? You're asking the girl who has flown halfway across the country to camp...CAMP!... for this band to miss part of a show around the corner (the only one I'm seeing this entire year because I decided to be responsible) or cut corners on my new startup business?? How does that make any sense? She explained to me about sacrifices for the family, and how she had already told my cousin who was very excited about and it would be terribly cruel to take that away from her. YES! IT WOULD BE CRUEL! WHY DID YOU TELL HER THIS?? UGH! So in the end, yes, my 14 year old cousin who didn't even know what Dave looked like was sitting in 10th Row with me while my brother who sings every word of every song with me sat at home.
So yeah, Cori witnessed this thing, which was pretty embarrassing. I even tried telling her that I'd call her back later because I had a friend visiting from California sitting right there, but still. Oh well.
But anyway, I tried to erase all of these thoughts from my mind the next morning as I got up to drive an hour and a half to train on my new laser machine. I loved it. I was so glad at how much I understood. The guy kept complimenting me on how much homework I had done on this whole process and that most of the people who come in don't know very much at all. Makes me feel very optimistic about my chances of doing well with this. We were able to get past the basics in a snap so I got to learn a lot of the little minutia and tiny details about it all. At the end of the day, I wrote the biggest check I've ever written in my life (yes, bigger than the down payment on our house!) and walked out with my shiny red and black laser machine. It's now official.
The annoying part is that I kept getting calls from my family over and over throughout the training trying to figure out how to work out the thing wiht my cousin. I kept telling them to please leave me alone to get everything I can out of this because this is my future. Anyway, my parents finally found someone to pick up my cousin and bring her to the outskirts of the Orlando metro area so I could shave half an hour's drive in each direction. I wasn't sure how to find the place, but I got there eventually and picked her up.
I was happy to see her and we had some nice conversation. I pushed all of my negative thoughts out because there was nothing I could do about it now and my poor cousin had nothing to do with this whole mess. She was excited, so I pumped her up for the experience and warned her that she was about to see me as she's never seen me before!
When we approached the venue, there was a backup of cars. So much rain had fallen that all of these cars had gotten stuck in the mud so that there was only ONE LANE OF TRAFFIC entering the venute at this point! Wow! I was so glad that we had made it with good time. We made it to our seats with a few minutes to spare before Dave came out to introduce the opening act...
Posted at 9:47 AM
Comments... Post a CommentWhen I was reading the review I kept wondering why you were with your cousin and not your brother. I hate you bro missed it
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Saturday, July 16, 2005
·The Last Few Days·
- I'm sitting here just crawling out of bed at my parents' house. I have so much to write about I have no clue how to even begin writing about it.
Ok, I seriously was going to start, but my little 6-year old cousin just came in and asked me to draw with her, so I've gotta go!
Posted at 8:57 AM
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Wednesday, July 13, 2005
·Sushi Girls!·
Sushi with Cori was great! I wish we had more time to hang out! She was so much fun.
Gotta get to bed. Tomorrow is a big day for me!
Posted at 10:08 PM
Comments... Hope you had a great time tonight. The setlist looked awesome! I got to hear Bartender & LA Bayou thanks to some friend at the show who were kind enough to give me a few concert calls.
YAY for DMB!!! :)
Post a CommentAWW.. look how cute you and Cori are.. too bad the picture is tainted with plates of sushi:(
LOL!!Glad your meeting went well, always nice to meet a fellow nancie! Also hope youe DAVE DAY was AWEEEEEESOMEEEEE!!!!
Can not wait for details!!
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·Come on, 5pm!·
- I just have to survive until 5pm today, and then I'm done with all the pain in the ass stuff for the week! After work today, I'm meeting Cori for dinner. Then tomorrow, I head down to buy the machine, get the training, and then see DMB!! Yay! After that, I'm heading back to Orlando to hang out with my cousins visiting from Venezuela. It's going to be a good second half to the week.
Last night, Andrew and I did some major rearranging of the office upstairs to accomodate my business. If I keep a low inventory, I think I'll be able to work the entire thing just out of that room. We moved the bookcases to the guest room downstairs and threw out and consolidated a bunch of clutter. I hope we can make that room manageable.
Tomorrow, this will stop being "just an idea" I have. This will all be real!
Posted at 9:23 AM
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Tuesday, July 12, 2005
·4th of July Pics!·
My cousin Jennifer sent me the 4th of July pictures that she took in the mail. I scanned the highlights, which can all be found here. I love the one above when I ignore how huge my nose looks (because it looks huge in all of these pictures!) I hope that when Robert is older, he can look at these pictures and see how much I friggin' love him, even if I only see him a few times a year.
The best pic of all, though, if of Robert the Rockstar. Rock on, little dude! Rock on!
Posted at 9:57 PM
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·How to Demotivate Me·
- Please come to my desk, look around, and point to things. Ask me what they are and what I'm doing to be working on them. That's a great way to get me motivated.
My boss left town for a two week vacation, and now Bitch Prof is left in charge. She has come by my desk to do this twice today. "What is this stack of mail here? Uh huh. And when will you be addressing it? Uh huh. How about this file here? Uh huh." With an end to this job in sight, you might think that I'd be slacking off. Truth is, though, I'm working just as much, if not more than I have been during my previous three and a half years of work here. What has, in fact, changed now that I have an end date is that it is infinitely harder to keep my not-so-nice thoughts to myself when things like this happen. It's going to be very challenging not to let my big mouth loose on this woman!
Thank goodness tomorrow is my last day of the week!
Posted at 2:24 PM
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·4am·
- Nothing is scarier than a ringing phone at 4am. I must have jumped five feet in the air. When I looked at the caller ID, though, it said that Unknown Number. Usually, that is only for telemarketers or something. Very weird. I didn't answer it, and whoever it was did not leave a message. Still, it rattled me so badly that it took me forever to fall back asleep.
I guess I never fell back alseep very well, because I remember every single dream I had. I had a terrible, terrible dream that Andrew was cheating on me. I was so heartbroken. I was so upset with him for betraying me so badly, not just because he slept with someone else, but because he had been so unbelievably deceptive toward me that I had not an inkling of any of it. I felt humiliated that everyone I knew was going to find out about it after I gush all of the time about how wonderful he is and how we're going to grow old together. I felt like an idiot. I was so angry and nasty to him. Sometimes I'd go off and dream about other things, and then he'd show up again. I'd give him a kiss and then suddenly remember what he had done, and I'd go through all of the agony all over again. Thank goodness it was only a dream!
Last night we bought some tables and a filing cabinet for the office. Tonight and tomorrow, we'll put the final touches on rearranging it all. I can't believe I'll actually have the machine on Thursday! Exciting!
Posted at 9:41 AM
Comments... Post a CommentI once had a dream Mike slept with my best friend Kim. The next morning when I woke up I called her and yelled every dirty word in the book. She was so upset. About five minuets after the call I realized it was a dream and called her back. I will never live it down!
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Monday, July 11, 2005
·OOPS!!!·
- Damn it! Email can be so damn embarrassing sometimes. I just got a really complicated email from Bank of America regarding merchant services for my business. All these different fees, etc., etc. When I was on the phone with the guy, I had my professional voice on and pretended like I understood everything. The guy sent me a whole rundown of everything we had discussed in Excel format. I forwarded it to my dad and wrote, "Dad, I really don't get any of this! Help!" and a couple of other things explaining how maybe the other service is better or whatever...except I hit reply instead of forward. Damn it!! Now Bank of America knows what an idiot I am!! I just had to send an email telling them to disregard the last email. Geez. I'm such a moron. My face is bright red.
Posted at 11:45 AM
Comments... Post a CommentLOL!!
I have done things like that before, and it is not fun.
Do you not have a recall option on your email? You could have always recalled it and deleted it hopefully before anyone read it?!!
ANYWAYS, I am sure that person realizes that what he told you was complicated and you were just telling him you understood!
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·Curtain Call·
- Due to construction delays with the new theater, GCP had to revamp next season's schedule. They took off Arthur Miller's The Crucible, which I was unbelievably excited about. Now, I don't know that there is anything I could be cast in between now and the time we leave Gainesville. I'm crushed. I miss the stage. I hope I can make it back some day.
Posted at 8:59 AM
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Sunday, July 10, 2005
·Rumbles·
- I'm sitting here at my computer posting on here when I was supposed to have been at dinner with Cori! This Dennis character pretty much put a kink in those plans. I was suprised when Cori said her flight was cancelled because all we've had all day were just some regular rain and wind. Nothing overly dramatic. Right now, however, there is a very bad thunderstorm approaching. It's been rumbling for about half an hour and it just turned pitch black. We're under tornado watch until midnight tonight. Hopefully this is the final stretch and we'll be in the clear. I hope all of those in Pensacola and Alabama are doing well!
As for the rest of the weekend, Friday night we went out with Brent and Kim to Satchels, the best pizza place in town. Mmm! It was awesome. We then headed to the bowling alley to witness some mighty fine karaoke. It was interesting for sure!
Yesterday morning was a bit traumatic. Very randomly, just walking down the hallway, I caught my little toe against the overhang of a door frame and blew my toenail right off. Holy crap that hurt!! I just have this tiny little piece at the base still there. Somehow, the toe itself is fine. I'm still limping a bit anyway. Putting pressure makes it feel like it's going to explode! It's weird how something so silly can put such a damper.
We decided to go out to a birthday party that afternoon anyway, even though it was a roller skating thing. Amazingly, the skating didn't hurt all that much at all. I was surprised how quickly I picked the skating back up, actually. After a wobbly first five minutes, I was soon zooming around like I was back in 1987. They even played some 80's music for us to complete the time warp. It was pretty fun!
We went out for drinks afterward and then over to Dan and Amy's house with Laura and Jason to play some board games. We decided to play Taboo as couples, and all three couples ended up having terrible arguments about "How could you miss that?" or "Why didn't you say this?" etc. It's kind of funny looking back on it, but we were glad that we had brought Apples to Apples, because we switched over to that and marital strife was gone! It's a really, really fun game, and even though the others had never played it, we all got so into it. Now they want to do these more often!
Today we've been reorganizing the office for my baby business. Kim also came over and hooked up our wireless internet. Yay! Right now I'm typing from a laptop that's not plugged into anywhere. Aren't I cool?
Well, anyway, Cori and I are going to try to get together Wednesday night now instead. I was so looking forward to the sushi tonight, too! ;)
Tomorrow I begin a three day week! It's not so bad to think of Monday morning like that. Thursday is a big day for me! Purchase the machine, training, then DMB!!
Posted at 6:29 PM
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Friday, July 08, 2005
·Fairytale·
Last night was a lovely night celebrating the last four years of our lives. Sometimes our wedding seems like last month, but sometimes it feels like we've been married our whole lives. We went out to a very romantic fondue restaurant last night and went all out. We ordered the four course meal for two and a bottle of cabernet and finished every last bite and every last drop of it all. We talked, laughed, and held hands by candlelight in our little booth, and all the tragedies that we had been hearing about all day melted away.
I scanned and uploaded some of the best pictures from our wedding last night. I remember how much I loved my dress and how perfect everyone looked that day. I felt beautiful, and we looked beautiful together. I remembered how right it felt to declare our love and committment in front of everyone we love. I remembered the laughs. I remembered the happy tears. I remembered giving my dad a kiss just before he walked me down that aisle. I remembered how I knew I had the perfect man to share the rest of my life.
And we lived happily ever after...
Posted at 8:43 AM
Comments... AWWWWWW... so beautiful and lovely. I have said it many times, but, you truly were one of the mist beautiful brides I have ever seen.
Many happy more years to you both!
Post a CommentThat was simply beautiful. *wipes tear* Congratulations to you guys. I love the pic of you guys on those stairs. It looks like it belongs in one of those bridal magazines or books. You look gorgeous!!! Andrew ain't that bad either. ;-)
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Thursday, July 07, 2005
·Do You Know What Today Is?·
- It's our anniversary! Four years of total bliss. You know, for all the bumps in the road and all the trials and tribulations, this marriage thing has been a lot sweeter than I ever expected. Every day, I can count on laughing so hard it hurts and a kiss goodnight. Despite anything else that can go on in my life, he's there to give me a hug. No matter what. I love sharing our lives. These four years together have only made us closer and closer, so I look forward to what the rest of our lives will be.
Posted at 8:28 AM
Comments... Post a CommentAaaaaawwww!!! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! Like Cori, I hope to be able to say the same some day. *crosses fingers*
Here's to many many more years of bliss. May your life together get better & better as the years go by. :)
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Wednesday, July 06, 2005
·Still in Shock·
- Ever since resigning from this job, I've been on a manic rollercoaster of emotions. Most of the time, I'm excited. I wasn't sure if I'd have the courage to go through with all of this. This business is really, really going to happen now. No turning back. I'm going full speed ahead. Every now and then, a small sense of panic overcomes me. What am I doing?? I'm giving up steady income and cheap health insurance for total uncertainty. What if this totally bombs?? What if I'm stuck with a $13,000 machine and $150 a month of health insurance and only making $50 a month in return?? I just have to remind myself that I've been researching this idea since November. My husband believes in it, my parents believe in it, and my friends believe in it. I have to trust my gut.
The great news is that I have nearly nine vacation days between now and then time I leave that I have to use up! I was already planning on taking three of those (one for the DMB concert, one for John's wedding, and one for Andrew's 10th high school reunion), but now I have more that I can play around with. Most of those days can go to getting my bsuiness up to speed even sooner than I was working toward before. That will be a very good thing. I talked with my boss, and we determined that what would work best is if I work 4-day weeks between now and the time I leave. That sounds awesome, doesn't it??? :)
I still can't believe I'm doing this!! Wow!
Posted at 8:40 AM
Comments... Post a CommentRosalie... just to echo what I said before... put those fears and panic out of your mind. Think big, be strong and things will be great!!
I am proud of you!!
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Tuesday, July 05, 2005
·I Did It·
- OH MY GOD!!!
I did it. I just resigned from my job. It's done. No turning back now.
I JUST WALKED IN TO MY BOSS'S OFFICE AND TOLD HIM I'M LEAVING IN SEPTEMBER!!
Oh dear Lord, I hope I know what I'm doing.
Posted at 2:37 PM
Comments... Post a CommentYay! I'm proud of you for finally getting out of that job that you're way too good for anyway...
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·4th of July Weekend·
- We had a great weekend. We drove down to Orlando on Friday night. On Saturday, I had to buy one of my cousins a birthday gift, and then we caught War of the Worlds. Eh, it was ok. At first, it was very thrilling, but then all they were doing was running away and running away. I won't spoil it, but the ending was really anti-climactic. Meh. Not a bad movie, but it definitely did not live up to all of the hype.
Sunday we went down to Stuart for the big 4th of July party at my aunt and uncle's house. There were probably about 40-50 relatives there. It was a blast. I got to see my adorable little Robert, of course. He's walking and running all over the place like a real person! He is so friggin' cute I wanted to scream. When I first walked in, the first thing he did was look at me and then hand me a little stuffed lion in his hand. My cousin told me to ask him what it was. His response to my question: "Rrraaarrrrr!" You make any funny face at him, and he will giggle and squeal. He is just too cute to believe. I was in heaven. Of course, I forgot my camera, but Jennifer took one with hers, so hopefully she'll send it soon so I can show it off. I love that little guy!
The rest of the party was fun too. I got to catch up with all of my cousins and other family I haven't seen in a while. It was a very good time, even for Andrew. My family definitely knows how to have a good time. We stayed all the way until the fireworks that night. We didn't leave until around 10:30pm. We brought one of our cousins back to Orlando with us because he and my brother have been plotting for the past several months to build their own custom computer this week.
We left just after lunch (grilled out hot dogs, of course!) yesterday to head back to Gainesville. When we got in, Andrew and I got to doing a lot of work. He worked on a talk he's giving tomorrow, and I worked some more on my business. I ordered 36 wine glasses to practice on for when I get my machine next week. The invoice is all ready and done up! I can't wait to have the machine, because then I'll finally feel like I can accomplish things. I'm well on my way to getting this thing off the ground in August. I used this 4th of July party as a chance to announce to all my relatives my plans. Now I'm accountable, and there is no turning back! Once I tell my boss in a few minutes, it will all be in place! I can't believe I'm actually going to be running my own company!
Posted at 12:37 PM
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·Three Years in the Making·
- Today is the day. I've decided to tell my boss that I'm leaving. I wonder how it will go. He is in a meeting until noon. Let's see. I have butterflies in my stomach!
Posted at 10:39 AM
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Friday, July 01, 2005
·Working?? At Work??·
- Wow. I just worked for several hours straight this morning. And I plan to work for several more. I don't know what's come over me! Perhaps it's the knowledge that I only have two and a half months left here.
We're going down to Orlando today after work. On Sunday, we're going down to Stuart to celebrate 4th of July with the big family. It's going to be great. My grandmother, my aunts and uncles, all of my cousins, some extended family, and of course, Robert Matthew are all going to be there! Good company, good food, good fun. I'll try to remember to pack my camera so I can take plenty of shots with little Robert.
Posted at 1:10 PM
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·Exit Strategy·
- My goal: Get the business started and active by the end of August. Last day of work: Sept 9th. I'm pretty sure it's attainable!
Last night we went out with Brent and Kim since we don't have any weekends here for a while. It was nice. They told me they want to throw me a party for when I quit my job/start the business. :)
Posted at 9:02 AM
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