Adventure #31: A Not-so-crazy Black Friday

 Adventure Day arrived this week on what is typically deemed 'Black Friday'...although there wasn't much 'black' that surrounded my holiday Friday off of work, so we'll just stick with Adventure Day!

 

It was quite the wake-up to a MESSY room!  I had Skyped Brian into the night on the previous night and had thrown things about onto my dresser (and on the floor!).  Ah well, it had been Thanksgiving, and I thought that very little effort should go into cleaning on Thanksgiving.  Mission accomplished!  (Though there was quite a bit of work ahead of me in tidying things up post-Thanksgiving-stubborness.)  And I actually got out of bed around 11am!  That's pretty late for Ali P, so I was pretty proud of myself for being lazy so long into the morning!  (Wooo!  Go me!)

 

 

Let's see, what else did I have to clean up?  Oh!  Look at the above pic--see a lil red stain on the carpet?  Well, that's a lil souveneir from additional Thanksgiving celebrating, since I cheers'd a glass of wine with Brian on the previous night...and spilled a big ol drop right on my carpet!  The good news is that this pic was taken pre-cleaning, so the spot is barely visible after I got to work on my cleaning frenzy (aka damage control!)

 

Then--dishes, dishes, and MORE dishes!  That's right, I seemed to suddenly remember the disaster of a mess that I had mostly taken care of on Thanksgiving night...well, except for UNLOADING the dishwasher and then loading it again with dishes that wouldn't fit in the first time (even living by myself, dishes seem to be and endless cycle--but probably because I cook so often!). 

Wow, the picture to the left became way more distorted than I intended!  I like to take a good look outside regardless of what day it is, to gauge the weather/temperature.  (Yes, I know that you can't tell the temperature by simply glancing out the window, but I usually tend to think so.)  It was a mostly cloudy day that never seemed to warm up exactly to my liking (again, it wasn't July, so it makes sense...)  But hey, look--if you can try to focus your eyes enough past the screen door, you can see Babs my minivan!  Keeping her in eyesight so that no one tries to break in and steal her away from me.

 

HOW is it possible that the picture to the right is all distorted, too?!  Ugh, my luck with photography!  It's because I took a pic of my computer screen, which I guess I should decipher so that you actually know what it is.  I got $2.00  in mp3 downloads from Amazon Student (even though I'm no longer a student, hehe).  The bummer part is that I'm lacking in intelligence sometimes and managed to bypass the promo code with the first song I downloaded.  Whoops.  There went a dollar...  I made up for it though and got THREE songs with my $2.00 credits.  (Yup, that's black Friday deals at their best--I got two songs for 50 cents apiece!)  Good stuff.

 

K, actually leaving-the-apartment time (but not for TOO long!).  I had a package slip from the other day, but the office was closed, so I was excited to venture out and see if the office would be open on Black Friday (and it was!).  Unfortunately I can't go into detail about the package, but just know that it's all in the holiday spirit!  (Hehe.)

 

 While I was out, I decided to do ADDITIONAL damage control from the previous day (WHAT a Thanksgiving!).  In transporting delicious roasted vegetables to the potluck I attended with CoFo peeps, I had dumped half of the balsalmic glazed green beans and mushrooms all over the trunk of my van...on the inside.  Luckily it was an easy cleanup (and didn't smell TOO much like left-out vegetables).  While I was at it cleaning in the van, I also spritzed and wiped away at the dust bunnies on the dashboard and cleaned out the middle of my cup holders, since I had become accustomed to using that as my tea bag/tea diffuser holder (quite effective actually, just a bit messy). 

 

And then--REWARD!  Clicked through a couple channels to prep myself for some veg time on the couch and what did I discover but SEX AND THE CITY!  Ahhh, that was such perfect timing!  (I'm currently pissed at the TV distortion, but whatever, it'll become the trend of this blog post, I guess.)  Yup, satisfaction to the max, sitting back and staring at the TV for awhile as Carrie narrated her struggles in Paris with the wrong man who seemed to think that she was his little prize to accompany him on his art show openings and other nonsense.  Carrie came to her senses and traipsed out of that fancy-ass hotel--to then stumble upon Big, who was coincidentally (or not-so-coincidentally?) in the same city, in the same hotel!  Yup, my interpretation is 'the rest is history, folks,' but I've also watched additional episodes following that one, haha.

 

Oh hey, did I mention that Adventure Day was a LAZY day?  Not in the sense that I was completely lazy and didn't do anything but in the sense that I didn't put too much effort or urgency into anything that I did--including my appearance.  So you can see that it was t-shirt,  no make-up, no jewelry, hair-on-top-of-head day.  And I was totally ok with that!  (Especially with reppin the WMU alum shirt!  Go Broncos!)

And THEN I decided that since Thanksgiving had passed, I could officially bust out my meager collection of Christmas decor.  You can see the array layed out for you to the left.  As small as it is, it's the little reminders of holiday cheer sprinkled throughout my apartment that get me excited for the Christmas season and SO ready to be heading for home in one month to spend time with those I care about.  Almost December!  Yay!

 

 

FOOD TIME!  Whipped up my version of egg salad:  fried egg with avocado.  Way better than mayo.  Because mayo grosses me out.  And avocado is yummy.  End of story.

 

My lazy-day productivity then continued with projects!  I can't show too much because of course it's all in the secretive spirit of the gift-giving holiday that is before us, but I got to make good use of one of my favorite hobbies--cutting out fun, empowering words from magazines!  I spend months collecting the words before I finally get around to using them for some project or another and yesterday was one of those rare days when I did so.  (Did I mention I was camped-out on the couch for most of the day?  Aeryn was away for Thanksgiving, so I literally set up camp in the living room with the glorious TV.  Yup, totally comfortable.)

 

And as I was project-ing away in my crafty state of mind--Brian calls me!  Quite exciting, since I had been concerned that his phone wasn't working and that he wasn't getting my texts that afternoon.  Turns out, he had taken two naps!  (Oops...was I not supposed to reveal that information?)  Anyway, we chatted for a bit about my day, his day, and his phone issues.  Not very exciting stuff, but I just like to talk with him on the phone (yup, mushy girlfriend stuff, haha).

 

My phone call was followed by actual decorating of the apartment--requiring me to leave the couch for a short time.  I took a couple pics for your amusement, feel free to be blown away by my extraordinary holiday decorating skills.

 

I feel like there may be a gap of time missing in here (let's see...ah, I didn't 'capture' my dinner, but whatever).  Eventually I moved all of my 'camping supplies' to my room and packed up for the day.  I meant to start another project with my abundance of bubble wrap (hoarded from care packages from the fam), but I never did get around to that.  I DID do damage on that apple though!  Yesh, quite delicious.

 

I got all excited about another project I intended to start, but I really didn't get very far with it.  It involved the strips of sturdy paper/cardboard on my computer keyboard...hmm, what will it become?!  Yesterday marks my discover of Spotify radio, so parts of my day were spent experimenting with that, too.  (Along with my re-discovery of cable TV!)

Of course I did Skype Brian last night, too.  The pic I snapped to the left (with the print screen tool) was when he was explaining something with Star Trek that I wasn't quite familiar with.  I always think it's interesting to hear him tell me stuff that I know nothing about, and I sat and listened intently (with my hooded robe on, haha!)  Ah, good times.

 

So yeah, nothing crazy-exciting occurred on Adventure Day this week.  Remnants of my Thanksgiving were taken care of and hints of the holidays were started.  I'm continuously thankful for the many positive relationships that I have supporting me in my life and look forward to the future days, months, and weeks that I have to blog about this full year of being a post-grad out in the wild and crazy world on my own.  Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you all!

 

 



Adventure #30: From Flip Flops to Adventure Shoes to Jeans to Jammies

 

MONDAY!  A Monday Adventure Day as determined by Brian.  Yes, I'm going to try my hardest to call him Brian.  Originally suggested by him so that people wouldn't get confused and so that they don't start calling him Fish.  (I have special priveleges.)  Anyway, I've decided just now that I'll actually put forth more effort.  I've been slacking.  But ANYWAY... 

 

Monday...  Washing-hair-day...ick.  I hate washing my hair, and I make a big enough deal of it that most people know this.  Be proud of me.  Another day goes by where I force myself to wash the mass of hair that is mine.  Achievement!  Also, it was FREEZING on  my Adventure Day wake-up (well, maybe not quite freezing yet, but close enough to make me unhappy!)  I'm in Texas.  The weather should remember this and get with the program.  Really.

House shoes versus real shoes.  Definitely wearing toe-covered shoes on the morning-of-cold, and the twirly swirly whirly skirt was definitely accompanied by leggings underneath.  I don't mess around--cold is COLD!  I must be prepared to face all elements, whether heading to work or heading out on an epic Adventure (...same thing sometimes...)

Uh, yeah, my full outfit does look kinda summer-y.  No worries, there is proof of me bundling up with more layers soon enough, just hang tight.

FOOD TIME!  Haha, but not this food.  This food was for lunch prep.  Made a yummy bagel sandwich.  Ingredients above.  (I like to get 'fancy.'  Definitely makes me look forward to lunch.)

 

It was one of my breakfast smoothies for breakfast, but I did something different with it.  I added spinach.  It sounds weird, but it really didn't do anything to it but affect the color.  My stomach issues are supposed to be helped by increasing my fiber, and since spinach has lots of fiber--why not, right?

 

To the right is the bundled up me, ready to go wait for the carpool to take me to work.  Complete with scarf and sweatshirt, I felt more warm than before.  And the wet hair dried--definitely another plus!  What about the 'random' corgi to the left?  I dunno, I just wanted to show off my awesome corgi calendar.  The November pooch has been pretty kind to me so far, greeting me each day with his cuteness and ensuring an smile is induced by his corgi-self.

I get to work and--awesome!  Hans brought in a coffee cake!  I'm not even that huge of a fan of that kind, but  it just sounded like a great idea on my Monday morning Adventure Day, so I snagged a small piece to be eaten while I sipped my morning mug of white tea.  Not a bad combo as I work at my desk.

 

 

 Ali must log into her work laptop.  Work laptop decides it would be a good idea if it takes Ali FOREVER to have to log in.  Ali must restart her computer after just booting it up.  Good times.  Definitely Monday...  (not that I'm actually superstitious and believe in such things as 'Mondays-are-supposed-to-be-bad-days' kind of theories).  Meh.  I got on eventually.  Student cases to tend to!

LOOK WHAT I GOT (to the right)!!!  A notepad of my very own!  It had been my full intent for what seems like weeks to walk myself to the copy room to acquire my very own full-sized notepad to use.  Yes, any coach can go and grab one at any time.  But...I just hadn't done it yet, and yesterday was the day that it actually happened!  So hopefully there shall be a lot less writing in my miniature notebook and plenty more to-do lists will be more successfully tackled after being scrawled across my fancy new notebook.

 

LUNCH!  It might look like lots of veggies, but no, that's not normal.  The doc says that celery is good for my stomach.  So...I bought celery.  Good thing I actually like celery.

 

And THEN I needed a bit more of a pick-me-up because I was draggin.  So sleepy!  I decided to make a Facebook status (with my work Facebook, of course!) about my sleepy state of being, and since I always post statuses with corgi photos, it required a corgi Google search for an appropriate photo matching the  occasion.  What a great mood-lifter!  I always laugh out loud when I get to Google about corgis!  Isn't my job great?!

Lucky me got a call from Brian shortly after that.  It was pretty wonderful.  A mini-break from my day to talk with my boyfriend and catch up on his day.  My own work day never seems like much to report on (you may/may not agree based on the entertainment factor of this post), but I'm always interested to hear of the happenings in his day.

Oh.  By the way.  I felt it was necessary to prove that I ACTUALLY ate all the celery.  See.  I ate it.  Go me!

 

 

Before leaving for home at the end of the day, I realized how I'd got used to the Teavana bag chillin on the corner of my desk.  Informal senior recruitment for the Completion program has been well under way, and my partner Kathryn and I had our last one today (Tuesday).  I'd been using my awesome Teavana gift bag to tote materials in (Thanks to the Leppeks for the awesome bag!).  And yes, 'materials' do include candy.  This is me we're talking about!

Oh hey look, there's my partner, riding back seat with me in carpool-land.  Only four riders that day, so it wasn't too squooshed.  I totally just zoned out on the ride home, while Kathryn read more of Blink.  (Update:  I've since FINISHED reading Blink!  Again, go me!)

Got home to the below flier stuck in our door from the apartment management.  They attempt to create a community in our mostly-student apartmet complex, but I'm going to be honest and say that they fail.  All of the events are at neighboring complexes, and my lazy self doesn't want to walk, so I doubt other residents will.  Funny pun though.  Hopefully you can read it below.

 

 

Once I was actually in the apartment and working on warming up my chilled self, I ate food and readied myself for TRIVIA NIGHT.  I determined that I needed ultimate warmth for a trivia expedition, which required jeans.  I really don't like jeans, but I realize that sometimes it's just a necessary part of one's wardrobe.  So I put them on.  Unfortunately, it was a traumatizing attempt at going to trivia.  There was NO PARKING for blocks.  I found one spot, requiring me to parallel park, which I don't know how to do.  I spent five whole minutes attempting this maneuver before giving up and zooming off, eventually causing my GPS to come flying in my face.  I thought I found a spot a minute later--much to my dismay, then saw that it was in a tow-away zone (after I got out of the car and walked around, of course).  I got a call from trivia-team-buddy Madeline, who notified me that trivia cost money that night anyway.  My failed efforts were for nothing, and I quickly departed for home in quite a flustered state.

 

The positive:  I came home to chill out in warm, snuggly jammies.  (Emphasis on the WARM and SNUGGLY part.)  Not much more to say about that.  Doesn't it just say enough and act as evidence to the fact that I was slowly on my way to feeling better and improving my evening?

And then there's food, which always does wonders for making me feel better about Life.  The usual apple, but a new kind of tea!  Blueberry tea!  Hehe, looked kinda like blood when I steeped it.  Was mildly entertained when the tea bag was 'bleeding.'

 

 

Wasn't sure whether to post this pic, but I figure if you're a hardcore reader enough to get to the bottom of the post, you deserve it (or maybe you don't ever want to see such a pic?  Haha, oops.)  But with my apple I had a pecan pie brownie slice (yum!) and a green apple tootsie pop.  While Skyping Brian, I got curious if my tongue changed color.  Skype did not give me evidence enough, so I decided to take a picture.  Solely so that I could see if I had a green tongue and not for blogging purposes at all.  Ah well, it got downloaded on here with the rest of the pics, why not show it, right?  (...loses readers after this post from gross tongue pic...)

 

 

And THEN, yes, I Skyped Brian.  The above is a silly picture.  But he had the biggest effect in cheering me up.  I couldn't even explain why, but my cold self threw on the sock monkey hat (my favorite), and he grabbed his own goofy Goomba hat, and it was just...funny.  Haha, we're such goofs.  Good times late at night on what was quite the chaotic Monday evening.  But quite a solid, full Adventure Day, don't ya think?  Well, I lived it, and I certainly think so!

 

READ NEXT WEEK!  I'LL MAKE IT WORTH YOUR TIME!  (We'll see what happens, because I honestly have no idea what will happen--or even what day it will be on--but that's half the fun!)

Adventure #29: Happy Heart, Unhappy Stomach

ELECTION DAY!  I was up, and I had to get out the door to VOTE because I was scared of long lines (and waiting in them).  I also didn't want to be late to work.  And I also didn't care enough to shower first before voting.  So...the above is what left the door on the 29th Adventure Day.

It was QUITE the Adventure in itself just getting myself to the voting location.  I thought I knew where I was going (of course), and I thought I knew the name of the place, too.  Nope to both of those.  So when I got to where I *thought* might have been the right location...I felt super uncertain and called Fish.  And of course, he was great about it.  (I had already called him early with a 'good morning!,' and he was willing enough to answer ANOTHER of my calls.  I was impressed.)

Basically he used lovely internet powers to confirm that I was actually at the right location (I was actually quite cranky to him in my current state of lost frustration), and I proceeded to walk inside the elementary school.  But soon I found out that to vote, I'd have to drive wayyyyy around back to the 'portables.'  Good times.  Hey, guess what?  After that I actually found the spot and finally voted!  Proof of it is to the left--in Spanish!  (Haha, it made me giggle that they only had Spanish, but I'm totally ok with that.)
 

Back-home-time for breakfast to calm my anxious self.  I got to use my fairly new jar of natural honey roast peanut butter, which I stirred into my hot cereal.  Quite a delicious invention of a food, and I'm glad I was adventurous at the store and tried it out.

 

 While eating up my breakfast creation, there was plenty of Election Day coverage on the Today Show to keep me preoccupied until my bowl was scraped clean and my stomach was deemed full.  But hey, speaking of my stomach...  It hadn't been a very happy stomach that morning or the previous day.  Flash forward through my day, it was a continuously unhappy stomach ALL of the Adventure Day.  No good.  I will mostly ignore this fact throughout the rest of the post, but....well, it was definitely a significant part of the Adventure Day.

Oh hey look--I finally got cleaned up and ready to head out the door for the second time.  (Notice that I actually wore my spanish 'I voted' sticker!  Wooo voting!

 

Upon stepping outside,  I very quickly realized that it was sunny outside.  Like Austin, Texas sunny.  Good thing I had my 2012 Bronco Bash sunglasses to wear, thanks to Fish who got them for me as a souveneir when he visited!  And I love that they are pink.  Of course.

 

 

And then:  the waiting game.  Carpools are good times.  The only thing is that I'm usually such an early bird that I find myself waiting around for awhile.  Ah well, it helps me improve on my patience.  And I waited with tea in hand to keep me somewhat preoccupied while waiting in the parking lot.

 I made it to work!  I'm often impressed when I pause and notice all of the papers/notes/stickies scattered across my desk.  I tend to jot a lot of things down.  I think I really stick to the 'better safe than sorry' motto, so I write everything down in the case that it becomes important.  If not, I am a strong believer in recycling, so my concern is not at too high of a level at this point as the papers accumulate.

And speaking of notes/stickies written to myself, take a look at the ever-so-cleverly-placed mini stickies lined up at the top of my laptop.  Most of them are just heads up as to the Collegians whose contact info I don't have (I sometimes get frustrated when I look up a student and realize I don't have a number, so first I glance to the top of my screen.  More efficient that way).

 

At some point in the day I took some time to submit an internship to our database and found myself pretty interested in the one I found.  There were so many positions offered through the Austin Film Festival, and there's really stuff year-round for students (and grads!) to apply for!  Sweet stuff!

 

While on the phone with a Collegian in the afternoon, these quarters mysteriously appeared on my desk...  Actually, it was not-so-mysterious, since I saw Mike drop them off, since he'd borrowed three dollars for coffee the week before.  Interesting payment method--too bad I don't use coin laundry, haha.

 

Before leaving for the end of the day, I had to revert back to my old ways of writing notes/reminders on my hand.  Totally brings me back to high school, but I don't care, it's super effective, as long as I don't go crazy with washing my hands between writing it and completing the tasks.  The scrawled words on my hand for Adventure Day were related to the senior recruitment that Kathryn/myself have scheduled for Thursday.  It's going to be pretty awesome.  (Mostly because we are pretty awesome people/Completion Coaches).

 

 

Speaking of Kathryn, she decided to snap pics of how DARK it was when we left the office at 7pm!  SO DARK!  Thanks, Daylight Savings, for making us feel like we work until midnight.  (I'm not looking forward to my driving week when I have to drive everyone home in the dark.)

 

 

I got home and despite stomach issues, I decided to cook myself something to go along with the leftovers I had.  There was cabbage in the fridge, so I roasted it with lime juice and olive oil brushed on top of the wedges.  It was a crisp and yummy veggie to preface my meal.

 

I've got to admit, I was one unhappy Ali on this night of Adventure Day.  My stomach continued to hate on me, although I did manage to accomplish my weekly/bi-weekly task of cutting up the 'good' coupons that Aeryn/I get in the mail.  I rather enjoy this because I'm crazy (no other explanation for it, haha).

 

And that is the end of the photos.  It wasn't the end of the night, but I can quickly sum that up for ya:  I watched Gobama win the presidency again.  Then I cleaned stuff up and headed to my room to Skype Fish.  Then I Skyped Fish and went to bed.  Exciting?  Not-so-much, but no matter, Adventure Days are exciting enough simply because it's a peek in the life of Ali P.--and just TRY telling me that my life is dull!  (I can easily combat it, so please, don't try.)

 

Adventure Day is still weekly.  Nothing has changed.  It will be back next week on an undetermined day.  But follow the blog or just patrol Facebook, and you'll get to read on and figure out what Adventures I get myself into next!