the end of 30 days.

Did I just complete NaBloPoMo?

In my mind I did. Sadly, according to some of my posts, I did not.

I need to stop posting at 11:58pm. Sometimes it doesn’t actually load until 12:01am. Lameness. I blame my internet.

Nonetheless, it was mostly fun. At times, it was difficult to find something to write about, and (I’m not gonna lie) finding the time to write was a bit of a hassle. But – like I said – it was good times.

Hooray to me for not giving up!

intense Mondays

Tomorrow is one of the most important days of work, ever – the day we close our fellowship application. On the surface, it doesn’t sound like this should be all that significant. What makes it significant (in my opinion) is the fact that I will spend most of tomorrow responding to emails and phone calls from last-minute applicants who failed the eligibility quiz (and are blocked access to the rest of the application).

So far, those last minute applicants are getting on my effing nerves. I’ve been dealing with them for the past 4 days and I’m kinda ready to punch a wall.

I have so much to do in the next 24 hours – I will be surprised if I leave work before 8pm. I REALLY need to get to work by 8am; hopefully my phone won’t be ringing off the hook at that hour. I need to start my day in peace.

By the way, I can’t believe tomorrow is December 1st. Where the hell did this year go? I need plans for New Year’s Eve. And Christmas.

note to self

NEVER EVER TAKE A BUS ON A MAJOR HOLIDAY TRAVEL DAY.

…especially if it’s raining outside. Today’s trip back to NYC was pretty terrible.

yuck.

Today is my dad’s birthday, and to celebrate, my mom and I took him out to dinner and a movie. The movie was pretty hot (Transporter 3) and dinner at Maggiano’s was tasty and extremely filling. Unfortunately for me, as I was eating a bite of my dad’s pound cake, a small piece of it went down the wrong tube and I started choking. It took a really long time for me to clear my throat – and my parents just laughed at me (as usual). Just as I thought my life had been spared, I started choking AGAIN. This time, it was pretty bad – and my body was fighting back by heaving up whatever was in the wrong tube…

I’m sure you can already see where this is headed.

Yeah, so I start heaving (quietly – thank GOD) and of course, all kinds of gross liquids come out of my mouth and nose. My parents are just sitting and staring at me. Actually, my dad continued to eat his cake while watching. For 3 seconds, a stream of nastiness just poured out of my nose and mouth – and my mom said, “wow, Deva. I’m glad I had finished eating.”

Oh. My. God. I was so embarrassed. And disgusted… Mostly disgusted. I didn’t even take the time to see if any other tables had witnessed the debacle. I didn’t want to know. Instead, I spent 5 minutes apologizing to my dad (since he had been eating), but he was mostly unphased by it.

I pray to God that never happens again. EVER.

i hate dog hair.

I love my dog, but I really hate giving him baths. After bathing him for 20 minutes, my back is in extreme pain, I’m covered in dog hair, my bathroom is soaked (and covered in dog hair) – then I have to clean everything up almost immediately after I’ve spent an additional 20 minutes drying him. It’s such a hassle.

The next dog I get won’t be an extreme shedder, like Samson. He’s a crazy dog.

at home, day 2

Thanksgiving was nice. I’m full, and now I have to clean the super messy kitchen. Alone. That’s what happens when you’re an only child.

Anyways, before I get to the mess, I need to map out my Black Friday strategy. As of now, I’m only going to Best Buy to get a not-so-expensive LCD tv. I’m excited. Depending on how much I spend, that may end up being my only purchase…

at home, day 1

My dad and I finally made it home around 4pm. Traffic leaving DC was pretty miserable, but we made it back. It was so freaking nice to be in a car and drive through Virginia again. I miss nature.

After a 25 minute nap, I picked up my Samson (my 12 year old chocolate lab) from my neighbor’s house. Since I last saw him in June, he’s gotten even more pitiful. It’s so hard to watch him sometimes. His hind legs definitely aren’t of much use; he even has a hard time standing up. And then there’s the cataracts in his eyes… those have worsened as well. It just breaks my heart to see him like this. On a more positive note, he’s still super awesome and I love him to pieces.

Of course, I was almost immediately put to work on starting our Thanksgiving feast. My dad is the cook of the house, so my mom had shopping duty and I was just supposed to do whatever they wanted. Between the hours of 6-11pm, I managed to:

1. bake 2 chocolate pecan pies (from scratch – except the crust)

2. bake 2 sweet potato pies (also from scratch, but not the crust)

3. clean the entire fridge because turkey “juice” spilled all over the place (not my fault)

4. give the turkey a rub down of spices

5. inject the turkey with cajun seasoning goodness

6. wash loads of dishes

7. drink 3 glasses of egg nog (I’m about to have a 4th)

8. watch 2 episodes of Clean House

And here I am. It’s 11:49pm and I’m extremely tired. I should sleep now because there will be (much) more cooking tomorrow…

(lame) excitement

I’m currently excited about 2 things:

1. How awesome are the new gmail themes?! Right now, I’m using Desk (thanks to Zach), but I had been going back and forth between Night Shade (orange and blue – go UVA!), Tea House (that little fox is so adorable), and Grafitti (meh). So far, I’m satisfied – but that may change in a couple of days. I wish the themes would extend to other google applications. Google is kinda running my life.

2. I’m going “home-home” tomorrow! It’s back to Virginia for this Deva. The last time I was this excited about going home was for Spring Break during my first year in grad school. Anyways, tomorrow I’m making the 4 hour bus voyage (yay for BoltBus) to DC then my dad and I will be driving home from there. I’m looking forward to seeing my parents. Now that I’m even further away from home, I miss them more. Surprisingly, I almost like being closer to them better than being further away. Oh, the irony.

I’m hoping I can keep up the blogging while I’m at home… I will try my hardest.

december 1st

I’ve decided that I want to start my “New Years resolutions” on December 1st. I sorta hate following traditions (some of them), and rather than putting off things like “joining a gym” until next year – I went to the Y after work today and joined. I was all over the $40/month.

When I finish reading In Defense of Food, I want to start taking Michael Pollan’s advice: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” The simplicity of that quote is genius. I was persuaded by his argument by page 50. Sure, buying real food will probably cost me more, but it’s for my health. I think that’s a valid reason for spending a little more money.

On December 14th, the ultimate payback of my $60K school loan begins. Because it’s taking out such a huge chunk of my income, I absolutely must keep better track of my money. I don’t really have a choice anymore. There are so many things I need to start saving for – and increasingly more reasons just to save more in general. Now’s a good time to start up those good habits.

That’s all I got so far.

***Side note: In Defense of Food is an excellent book. Read it. Live by it.

so much catching up to do

I’m back from Philadelphia and utterly exhausted. It was good times.

I’ll write more tomorrow. Right now, I have a massive amount of work emails to respond to.