adios 0-8

lots has happened in 2008. i am just glad i had petey to find me the remote and shred cheese. hopefully 0-9 will be most excellent!

right now our house looks as if we've been burgled.. we can't help but start a packing spree then get distracted by something less stress inducing. just seven more days until the movers come to take it all away..

while peter was away in israel i spent most of my downtime shoveling the godforsaken snow, arranging furniture in my head and eating taco bell while driving. i also worked for moms and made some money. this past week we've been sorting, cleaning and assembling/filling boxes. it has been lame.

also been..
watching the spartans kick some golden grizzly ass
eating bbq meats at slows
daydreaming about how excellent it would be to live here
feeling confused but happy i did not find a this
listening to montel imitate barack in this commercial
watching the lions make history

lately

peter is gone and i've become more of a recluse than usual. i hope he is having a good time but who know since i haven't heard a peep from him.

last friday after dropping off the deposit for our new place [woo!] we ate a deep fried lunch and drove to annapolis. the streets were tiny and we saw lots of adorable old homes with holiday decorations.. and lots of girls wearing uggs.. and a store named "america!".. and the oldest uni in the states. next we went to the mall so peter could buy sandals for his trip. i found the cutest polka dot cutout peep toe pumps in the world. then we returned our prius and went to the airport..

our plane was broken. every half hour or so the pilot would come out and make an announcement at the gate counter. we watched that week's episode of the office and 30roock then three episodes of the wire [just started season 5] and looked for recognizable locations. after being in the airport for five or so hours, our flight was canceled. we re booked for 6am the next morning and got our hotel vouchers.. then waited an hour for the shuttle before giving up and taking cab.

we were grumpy and eager to use the entire $40 food coupon, so we went to the hotel bar and ordered enough food for a family of four. we sat in bed watching the darjeeling limited while i ate the better part of three entrees. i don't know how it all fit inside.

shortly after we passed out only to wake up three hours later to repack and go home. on the way back from the airport we had breakfast burritos from del taco and i tried not to drive off the road. that night we had my little sister and her boyfriend over for dinner then got krunk at the union. the night ended with peter playing chef and making quesadillas, as usual.

sunday we were back at the airport for peter's birthright trip. i tried not to drive off the road some more then lounged for the remainder of the day. that night we had a sleepover at johana's. i drank one too many glasses of carlo rossi and had to call it a night a bit early. it was not pretty. monday i waited around all day for the repair man.. not like i had other plans. but still. that night i bought christmas cards and spent some quality time at value world. today i drove to lansing, had lunch with jackie and did more thrifting. amazingly i didn't buy a thing. tomorrow i start working at my mom's office for a few days. bah.

baltimore, hon

baltimore has been good to us the last couple days [except for the incessant rain].. we ate good food and found an excellent new home in hollins market.

i cannot wait to have visitors!

boozing, baltimore + bi bim bap

this weekend was filled with lots of good times. friday we were hermits with val. saturday there was a snowstorm and i almost crashed at the end of our street. that night we drank vodka in the car, just like the old days, before going to see friends at the crowfoot. sunday was johana's [and my first ever] surprise party, organised by ad. we made cough syrup-esque jungle juice and celebrated birthdays with lots of friends. it was most excellent. monday we slept in, did not takes showers and ate too much hungry howies pizza for dinner.

today we made lots of phone calls.. well i made two and peter made many more. we have six appointments to look at places and plan on making a few more. it is good we are leaving tomorrow because our cupboards and fridge are depressingly bare. we made this for dinner [with petite tomatoes and extra parsley] and it looked like christmas.

wish us luck in baltimore. hooray!

p.s.

bibimbap - mmm.. so good.. delicious!

Bibimbap from Maangchi on Vimeo.

MI, money + mcgiver

being an adult is not as great as i expected it to be. it is awkward being in the same job pool as my parents and especially being concerned for my family's financial future.

in 1995 we lived in hyde park, NY and my dad worked at IBM, as did many of my classmates' parents. when they went bust my dad lost his job. over the summer, half the neighborhood moved out of state and my family was off to MI. my dad was lucky enough to find work at GM. 13 years later we're getting deja vu. our neighbor, an engineer at chrysler with a large family, was forced to take a buy out. my father in law decided to retire early after being offered a ford buyout two years ago. my father has lost half of his colleagues and fears his job will not survive past the end of the year.

i understand that much of the country does not have the perspective of those of us in MI. i also understand why america is so ant-socialist. those who start with nothing and earn things through hard work [or luck], the "american way," may not sympathise with those who need help, even if their situation is unavoidable. i was lucky enough to hold a national insurance card with my name on it. i also paid the taxes to fund it and, although i complained at the size of my paycheck, it was worth it. i did not having the fear i have now. last night i was cutting onions very carefully.. imagining chopping my finger off and having to give myself stitches, mcgiver style.

anyhow, i don't claim to be a economic or political expert, or even skilled writer. i'm sure my posts routinely reflect this. i do know we are lucky peter found a seemingly stable job. that's really all i was trying to say.

now that thanksgiving week is over i have gotten back into the delirium that is life without a job. the only reason i know what day it is is by what shows are on tv. oprah and dr. oz have convinced me i have ocd. i am a housewife with a stay-at-home husband and no kids.

besides watching a nauseating amount of daytime tv, i have been preparing to dispute a collection that is now being reflected in my credit report. this collection is tied to an unfortunate exacto knife accident that took place on thanksgiving-eve 2006 [thankfully i DID have insurance then]. for some reason i kept getting bills for the [worker's comp-covered] visit ER instead of my workplace.. even after i pointed out it was their bill to pay they took their sweet time paying, hence the collection. so, because i would like to be able to get a loan and purchase a home someday i need this fixed.

next week we are going to look for a place in baltimore. we have both been browsing apartments online and there are lots of hardwood floored, stooped, semi non-creepy row homes available. i can't wait to move in to a place and not move out a year later.

sorry much of this makes no sense.. here are some more coherent things to read:

the most dangerous cities have the worst NFL team
this is why people like me are afraid of guns
detroit schools have fewest students enrolled since WWI
does anyone else remember the lady who used to live here? greta really liked to wear scarves..
i have this book..
and this one too!

busting moves

part chaka part dusty.. i envy her small boobs.

yay!

today we feasted on this and this and this and some greens with pa charlie. we also celebrated with cava because peter got the job! we're moving to baltimore - the city that i've been borderline-obsessed with since falling into "the wire" abyss.. woo hooo.. hooray.. yippee!

also been drinking far too much and having chats with friends. it has been an excellent week.

saturday we get to visit 30 of my family members and eat a real, meaty thanksgiving supper up north. happy thanksgiving!

booze, books, birthday..

please buy something from my mom on ebay. i have spent the better part of three days cataloging, photographing and listing things for her for a commision. if i made 10$ i will be amazed. i will be listing things for weeks as she is a packrat and i need some dough.

last friday we went to the union with a friend of peter's and had some beers. they've added fancy chairs and stools to the MC. there was less spilled beer than usual. afterwards we went back to the house where i had some wine [in addition to the wine i had drank before the union..] then apparently fell asleep on the couch. johans visited and i gave her a fashion show with my sal army finds [or so i'm told] then fell asleep during an episode of bad girls club.

saturday felt poo-ish but had to go to the rents to begin my enterprise with ebay. i also played with lots of kittens and scooped lots of poo. when i got home that night val and timmy were visiting [timmy was sporting some serious 70s beard-face and long hair] and we all ate pizza and had chats. johans and ad joined us later on and we smoked some hookah. once again, i partook in one too many vodka/cranberries [apparently three is too many] and was put to bed early.

sunday i was feeling well beyond my [almost] 26 years. i had unfortenetly over-celebrated and had the hangover from hell all day.. while continuing to catalog ebay items and attempt to make fish stew, cheddar biscuits and a roasted root veggie salad for 12 of my closest family members. luckily by time dinner was over and it was time for cake and ice cream i was miraculously healed. woooo

monday was my for-real birthday.. i woke up feeling [finally] completely un-hungover and finished packaging and posting all ebay items. i packed my car full with boxes from the garage and spent the night looking through middle school yearbooks and high school photo class projects. although i did not do much to celebrate my birth i did eat leftover chocolate cake with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast. and had birthday chats with some peeps.

today i spent some quality time with peter and henry. peter played with his facial hair. i cleaned house.

tomororw petey goes to baltimore and i will try not to get too lost while visitng sal army's along telegraph.