More About the Dump

Yesterday's talk about the dump brought back a childhood memory.

When my brother, sister, and I were young, we didn't have trash pickup at our house. (Which is totally weird considering we lived in a subdivision in the suburbs.) My dad had a jeep and a trailer and we'd throw the full trash bags into the trailer and every couple of weeks we'd drive down to the landfill, which was about 15-20 minutes away from our house, dump our bags of trash and then he'd take us to Hilltop Grocery, which to this day still has a sign in the window proudly announcing "Live Bait".

He'd buy us each a Martinelli's apple juice, which came in a cute apple-shaped bottle, and one bag of M&Ms for all four of us to split. This was a big deal because we generally weren't allowed to have juice or candy.

We'd stand in front of the store drinking our juice, holding out a hand for our dad to pour M&Ms into. Our hands were probably filthy having just come from the dump, but back then, people weren't so afraid of dirt and no one had heard of Purell.

After our snack, we'd load back into the jeep and go home. A couple of weeks later, my dad would say, "I'm going to the dump" and we'd all beg, "Can I go to?" "I want to come."

The moral of the story is, being down in the dumps isn't always such a bad place to be when you're with the right people. Thanks for all your support yesterday.

One of Those Days

I'm down in the dumps today, friends.

The week started off well enough. There was talk of me being permanently hired at the temp job I've been working at the last few months, starting June 1. I was beyond thrilled. I stayed late, worked my tail off, and gave them a lead on a potentially multi-million dollar client.

But the last three days the boss has been dodging me. No official job offer has come forward, no explanation.

There's still a gaping hole in my bathroom ceiling. Everything smells musty/mildewy and bugs are coming in to the apartment from the opening. The contractor who was supposed to fix the drywall has been cancelled twice. Our property manager is no longer returning phone calls from either me or Chuk.

I'm frustrated...or maybe I'm just tired and that's what's causing me to lose patience. I don't know. I just want to go home, get in bed, and watch TV. That's not happening though because we're going camping tomorrow and, of course, there's still laundry to be done.

I'm telling you all this 1. because misery loves company and 2. because I'm so over blogs that tell every shiny, happy thing in their life, but never the bad moments. This is my life. I have bad days. This is one of them. Tomorrow will be better, but now I just have to take a deep breath and get through today.

Thanks for letting me get all that off my chest. I feel better...a little.

I'm Lucky

I came home from work with a raging headache to this written on the chalkboard in my kitchen. Chuk then made me dinner while I lazily watched TV on the couch. He even folded the cloth napkins and got out bread plates.

I realize I'm very lucky.

Almost Famous

Today I saw Mike Isabella from Top Chef twice. Heard Jane Goodall speak. And got to sit in the eighth row at a Dave Matthews concert. Sadly, I didn't have my camera for any of it.

I also worked nine hours. It was a big day, but fun.

It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn?!

"Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse." -Lily Tomlin

I came home to this in the hall. The bathroom still looks the same. No new drywall until Monday. It should be an interesting weekend.

Are You Freaking Kidding Me: Leak Edition

Y'all (I've been in the mood to say "y'all" recently. Is that weird? I think it's the hot weather.) remember what my bathroom looks like, right? If not, look over here to see a big, strong man cleaning it for me.

Right above where that towel bar is on the left now looks like this. We've been complaining to the property management for three weeks now.

So the plumber did this to my ceiling yesterday. [I'm rolling my eyes.] There were two pin hole leaks in a pipe.

I also think there's a leak under the hall. Today someone else is coming out to cut out all the damaged drywall in the bathroom and look under the carpet in the hall to see if there are more leaks. Then Friday, supposedly, all the drywall in the bathroom is going to be replaced.

Argh! Major drama.

Are You Freaking Kidding Me: Me Edition

I have driven to my little temp job twice now. Guess how many parking tickets I've gotten since I've been at this temp job.

If you guessed two, you're right!

Admittedly, both times were totally my fault; I just wasn't paying attention, but Dude, it still totally sucks.

For the record, these two little beauties represent 2/3 of ALL the parking tickets I've ever gotten in my life.

Also for the record, I'm not telling Chuk about either one of them!

Ireland: Day 3

I described each day in Ireland as a "two sweater day" or a "three sweater day" or the dreaded "four sweater day". Happily, day three was a one sweater day! (Alas, it was my only one sweater day, but I'm totally ok with that.)

It was a beautiful day. We spent the morning exploring the idyllic Trim Castle. The beautiful weather, the castle ruins and the sheep grazing in nearby pastures made the setting like something out of a fairytale.

From there, we returned to the nearby Hill of Tara for a little more exploring.

We spent the main part of the day at Newgrange, an ancient stone-age burial and ceremonial site 1,000 years older than Stonehenge and 500 years older than the pyramids at Giza. Why had I never heard of this place before?

It has an opening above the doorway that perfectly aligns with the rising sun for 17 minutes on the winter solstice. The stones used to docorate the exterior of Newgrange come from dozens of kilometers away, which is quite a feat considering it was built before the invention of the wheel!

It was amazing. I don't even have words for it. We stayed until closing when they kicked us out.

(This was not the lake. It was just a little pond near Newgrange.)

Then we headed to a grocery store and bought bread and fancy Irish cheese for dinner, which we ate on the banks of a gorgeous lake while we watched the sunset. Intentionally, neither of us took any pictures. Some experiences are best preserved in the memory, because a photograph will never be able to capture it.

Avoiding the Fashion Police

Now that the weather is getting warmer, most of the shoes I'm wearing don't look good with socks, but wearing shoes without anything is uncomfortable for me.

A few years ago, when they first came out, I would wear peds most of the time, but they would either slip off the back of my foot or would be visible around the edge of my shoe. It wasn't ideal.

The solution that works for me is to do what my grandmothers would have done. (Isn't that so often the answer?!) I wear knee-high nylons. They're not as hot and constricting as full stockings, but don't slip off my feet or show like peds. Now, I'm not advocating wearing knee-highs with skirts and dresses (à la Vicki Lawrence in Mama's Family) but with pants, they're totally invisible.