Memories Redux

10 years ago today: June 8, 1999: I was working full time at Avon. Worst. Job. Ever. (And I've worked fast food and done a stint in the KMart Layaway, so that's saying something.) At the same time, I was tutoring a high school student in German during the week and babysitting on most weekend nights. This was also the summer that a friend of a friend introduced me to her au pair, who had just arrived from Germany and was feeling a little shell-shocked. We started hanging out with each other on a regular basis, speaking German and shopping at Old Navy. Claudia, the au pair, used to tease me because I would always swear that I wanted to buy something "different", and would always end up buying khaki shorts and dark blue, black, and white tops. My wardrobe certainly was neutral that summer.

5 years ago today: June 8, 2004. I was planning my move to Our Fair City with Hulio. We were getting ready to meet here for an apartment hunting trip, and I was not at all certain where the law school was, what sort of neighborhood it might be in, or where we should be looking to live. Hulio was not at all certain whether or not she was actually going to come with me. We laugh sometimes at the conversations she would have with people who asked her why she moved here: "Well, my best friend goes to law school here." "Ummmm... OK. So, why did you move here again?"

EDITED BECAUSE LUNERAY IS TOTALLY RIGHT.

So, um, actually I was in Our Fair City, getting ready to leave for Sweden in about a week's time. It would have been about this point that I learned from my student loan lender that, in fact, they would NOT be disbursing my loans because the program in Sweden wasn't considered "academic in nature". Which is ludicrous on several levels, first and foremost because the program required something like six hours of class per day. Fortunately/ Unfortunately, depending on how you look at things, I'd already put the course fees on my credit card. It had seemed like the expedient course of action at the time, what with needing to be able to pay in Swedish Kronor and not yet having the student loans I'd been promised in hand. I am still paying off that credit card today-- that's the unfortunate part. On the other hand, the fact that I had already paid the non-refundable fee meant that there was no backing out, so I couldn't feel too guilty about going ahead with the plans despite the lack of funding. I had an amazing summer and met Luneray, and that wouldn't have happened if I'd found out about the no-student-loans thing earlier.

On a side note, I can tell you exactly what I wasn't doing on June 8, 2004: packing for my trip to Sweden. I remember Hulio yelling at me, and I made a bet with her that I could go from "nothing is ready to go" to "let's leave for the airport" in less than two hours. I totally won that bet. I AM THE QUEEN OF PACKING FOR LONG TRIPS!! Of course, I am correspondingly bad at packing for short trips.

1 year ago today: June 8, 2008: According to my blog, I went to see Iron Man.

Yesterday: Ash and I went to buy a new bike helmet for him and ended up buying a bike for me. Then we took the new bikes to the park and rode them on the bike trail. This was the first time I was on a bike since I borrowed Luneray's bike in Sweden. I've never really spent any time on a bike in the US, so I kept catching these gentle waves of cognitive dissonance. It was kind of weird, nerve-wracking, and annoying to share the path with pedestrians at the park, because, you see, they don't know the Rules of the Road... that I learned in Germany. I had to laugh at myself because I was irritated that the walkers didn't keep to the right, and I kept wanting to ring my (non-existent) bike bell to make them move over. Another somewhat frightening bit of habit I struggled with was my inability to remember that THIS BIKE DOES NOT HAVE COASTER BRAKES. See, every other bike I've ridden had coaster brakes, and I would want to slow down, encounter no resistance on the back pedal and my heart would skip a beat while I tried to make the hand brakes work without causing myself to flip over the handlebars. I am clearly a menace who should not be on the road/ bike path. And Ash kept turning around to tell me to go faster. I think he might be trying to get my life insurance money, but the joke's on him because I didn't take out a big enough policy to pay off all of my debts. HAHAHAHA!

Tomorrow: Work. Ick. I mean, don't get me wrong: I'm very grateful to have a job at all. But I'm not sure that where I am is a good place for me. I'm bored AND stressed all the time, which is a very bad combination. There was apparently some drama today, but I was working from home, so I'll have to get the blow-by-blow tomorrow.

5 snacks I enjoy: Any cereal with a cartoon figure on the box, popsicles, Grießbrei, sweet popcorn, and Twizzlers.

5 bands that I know the lyrics to most of their songs: Patty Griffin, REM, U2, Billy Joel,

5 things I would do with $100,000,000: Pay off student loan debt for myself and several of my dear friends, give my parents enough money so that they could quit their crappy jobs and do something that makes them happy, set up a scholarship fund, travel, buy a home.

5 locations I'd like to run away to: Iceland, Germany (specifically to my little town in Bavaria), Hawaii, Finland, .

5 bad habits I have:
- Too impatient and not good enough at hiding it.
- Chewing my pens and pencils
- Procrastinating
- Staying up too late.
- Being hesitant about important things.

5 things I like doing: travelling, learning new languages, eating, spending time with close friends,


5 things I would never wear:
A halter top, those pointy toed super high-high heels that have been so popular lately, a micro-mini skirt, a baseball cap facing any way other than forward, one of those "maxi dresses" that look like someone sewed a tablecloth together and added some straps.


5 TV shows I like: Iron Chef (only the Japanese version, and I am still angry that I can't watch on Food Network anymore and can't buy the show on DVD), Scrubs, The Daily Show, Clean House, Friends

5 movies I like: Amelie, Mary Poppins, Office Space, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Big Lebowski

5 biggest joys of the moment: Being married to my perfect match, sunshine, getting a break from teaching that allows me to get some physical activity for a change, new books waiting to be read, Jenna's inability to act sane at all anymore (she's just too cute).

5 favorite toys: My laptop, my knitting, my new bike!, my french press (made some seriously awesome coffee this morning), Katamari.