good things:

Oh-I also bought a book on global warming yesterday (with by book-buyback money from school!)

It’s this:





It’s really awesome-so easy to read (it’s really colorful and there are lots of pictures). Since I hate reading, those two things are really important to me. I feel like I should be more educated about global warming and I want to be able to tell people that it’s a bad thing and actually have some facts to back it up.

So I’ll post interesting things from the book later.

I’m also in the middle of reading a book called Salt: A World History, by Mark Kurlansky.

It’s this:





I will never look at salt the same way again. Here is an excerpt from it:

“…Not only did Rome want salt to be affordable for the people, but, more importantly as the Romans became ambitious empire builders, they needed it to be available for the army. The Roman army required salt for its soldiers and for its horses and livestock. At times soldiers were even paid in salt, which was the origin of the word salary and the expression “worth his salt” or “earning his salt”. In fact, the Latin word sal became the French word solde, meaning pay, which is the origin of the word, soldier…”

ISN’T THAT SO INTERESTING?! This book just amazes me! Salt is so interesting!

I also managed to eat an entire container of alouette Brie cheese today (with Triscuit Thin Crisps). Not in one sitting, mind you, but it’s so g.d. delicious that I had to go back for more! Now I’m eating chips and salsa-my all time favorite snack.


OH MY GOSH-i struck a belt GOLDMINE today, ya'll.

I went to Goodwill by campus and oh. m. g! I've never spent so much at a salvation before but I've never gotten so much stuff before, either!! I'm still reeling from it!

I'll post pictures when i'm good and ready.

I FRICKING LOVE BELTS!! and now i have one of every color. almost.

christmas cheer!

On my (walking) journey to 7-11 yesterday, I was about150 ft. away from the lovely establishment when a familiar small rushed into my nostrils. ‘What is this smell?’ I thought to myself. ‘Where have I smelled this before? Ah, yes-it is the pungent aroma of 7-11’

How does the smell of 7-11 cut through the air like a drop of blood in water?

Anyway, I’m currently adorning the apartment with Christmas decorations (accompanied by the hanson Christmas album, of course). And thanks to global warming, it was 63 degrees outside today (indeed, all of the windows are still open) with no snow-not the typical decorating weather I had expected...

I’ll post pictures when I get them uploaded.

I had the day off today. Well, I've had days off since Sunday. But today I didn't have to do anything. I have my religion final tomorrow at 8am then I have to work at 230. But it was so nice not having to do anything today because i actually got stuff done!
-cleaned the kitchen (that includes washing all of the dishes, coffee pot, and stoveop)
-cleaned the toilet (a rare occurence)
-went to the grocery store
-mailed out christmas cards
-watched two episodes of season 1 of the OC with kevin
-spent quality time together
-decorated the living room, kitchen and bedroom
-took out the recycling
-did a load of laundry and hung it on the drying rack

that's a LOT!! that's more than I do when i actually have to do stuff!

omg, i just can't wait for this test to be over tomorrow so that i can work a bunch of hours and kroger and spend all the money in ohio at thrift stores!!!

more christmas joy.

omg!!!




1) oh, Taylor (on the keyboards) do it to me right!!

2) Zac (on the drums) are you a young Michael Jackson?

3) This is probably the best "christmas special" i've ever seen.

christmas joy.

so i definitely just downloaded the hanson christmas album.



it is fantastic!!!!

two nice things:

so, earlier i posted the pictures of the snow outside. well, i went out to get the clothes out of the dryer (an hour later) and the snow was gone. observe:




also, i had a nice little surprise waiting for me when i got home from work:

A BRAND NEW WINTER COAT!!!!



i left my winter coat in buffalo when we moved there for the summer. i only needed it for like 3 days then it was nice out. needless to say, i forgot it when we moved back to va and i've been donning layers upon layers of clothes under my spring jackets! kevin picked it out for me-he's such a good little shopper!

A Day of Miracles:

so, yesterday two very fabulous things happened to me:

i got to school about an hour early and i figured, "i don't just want to sit around in the library today, i'll goto the new Goodwill, which i have not been to yet"
so, i go in and i'm looking around. i don't really know what i'm looking for, and even though the store sucks it's probably the best damn salvation army that i've been to in va. so i find where the linnens are and i find 3 pairs of bed sheets that i absolutely cannot live without.

this is an actual set that i got and i think it's my all time favorite set of sheets that i've ever seen. i had planned to actually use these as bed sheets, but i think i'll end up using it as fabric instead. afterall, i don't think kevin wants to sleep on a stranger's sheets.



for the blue and brown sheets, i plan on using them to make a quilt-nothing extravagant-i think i'll just sew strips of this fabric together lengthwise so that it's stripey. after all, i've never made a quilt before!


this is an accent pillow cover and i think it goes with the flowery sheet set. if not, it matches pretty g.d. well. i think i'll actually use it as a pillow case....or maybe i'll find a different use for it-like a laptop bag!!!




okay, onto the miracle:

so the sheets were $2 a piece and i only had $6. the total came to $13 and some change (i picked up two other things that were less than fitty cent). so i say to the cashier:
"alright, here's the situation-i only have $6-is there any possible way that i can get the sheets for $1 a piece???"
cashier-"no, mam, we can't change the prices"
me-"oh. [i am very sad to have to pick which sheet(s) i want less!!!]"

so, an older woman who was paying at a different register seemed to know what was going on with my situation and said:
"how much do you need?"

[now, ladies and gentlemen, i know that i live in america and people just don't give a shit about eachother. i know this. i forget to breathe for a few seconds because i am so taken-aback by this comment]

i say, "are you serious?! no! i absolutely cannot take your money!"

the older woman responds "no, seriously-how much do you need."

me-"um...like $7."

older woman-"here-take it."

[um....what?!]

i kept trying to say that it was fine, that i couldn't accept her money, blah blah blah. and she kept insisting!!!

she actually said at one point, "it's an early christmas present." (HAH!)

i wanted to cry! people don't do that!! complete strangers don't just hang around places waiting for another complete stranger to come up a few dollars short of their total and offer to pay for it! not in america!! american's are too selfish, too busy and too poor to be handing out money like that! seven dollars is a lot. i mean, let's be honest, people-anything more than $5 is a lot! it's not like i only needed fitty cent!!


so we ended up walking out of the store at the same time and i kept saying "i really appreciate this! i really, really do! thank you!!" over and over again. and i gave her a hug and she was so sweet. then she said,
"are you going to make something?"

[HOW DID SHE KNOW?!?!?!!??]

me-"why, yes! yes i am!"

her-"i know what it's like to be a poor student-when my husband was going to school, i used to stay home all day and just make stuff" [it doesn't sound as cute here, but seriously this woman was a-dor-able!!!]

i wish i got her address to send her a christmas card or something. maybe she knits-we could have gotten together!! damnit!

i was elated! on cloud nine! i smiled all day yesterday just thining about that. and the crazy thing about it is that i think she knows how happy it made me. i hope that if i ever see her again i'll recognize her and buy her something.

so that was the story of the first miracle that happened to me yesterday.


the second miracle was:

when i got to work, i was supposed to be on U-SCAN but they said i had to goto a 2 hour meeting at a different store to listen to this guy talk about what we're supposed to say to customers to make it seem like we care.
it's called: fake

this is what i learned:

Eye contact
Smile
Greet
Engage
Thank!

(don't tell anyone-i think that's Kroger's secret!!!)

so miracle number two that happened yesterday is that i didn't have to work that confangled u-scan for two hours!!! but i still got payed!!

which leads me straight into the third miracle that happened yesterday:

I GOT A RAISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i've never worked someplace long enough to get a raise before!!! this is fabulous!!! i am now officially making $1.15 more than i was before!! thats HUUUUUUUUUGE!!!!!!

ah! i don't know how the rest of my days could possibly compare to yesterday. i'll never have a good day again!!!! ah!

so let's wrap this up:
1st miracle: complete stranger pays for utter junk.
2nd miracle: got payed for doing even more nothing than i usually do.
3rd miracle: getting payed more money for doing nothing.



alright, time to get ready for the crappy day i'm about to have.

ciao!