Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Spring Cleaning!

Megan came across an awesome idea today. She was inspired by someone who had made it a point to get rid of 50 things in 5 days. These items could be anything, any size. They could also be given away, donated, or trashed. A photo was taken of each item, and that photo numbered. This created a satisfying visual of the progress in the form of a photo album. Megan thinks she can go further and will be tackling 100 things.

I decided to join her in this exercise, as I most definitely have at least that many things laying around that I'm going to inevitably have to purge in the coming two months. So here's day one:

This is a book I was fascinated with as a child. It contains fun facts about plants!

A book just like the other, but about the ocean! Sweet! If my niece likes these, they're hers, if not, garbage!

Some makeup from my costume for our Halloween in September party last year.

Can you guess what I was?

I'll give you a hint, I was a gay one of these.

Wait a second... I wasn't a witch. Oh yeah, this was part of David's costume.

I threw that printer out a year ago.

I was considering donating this, but I cleverly adhered it to the glass with tape or something. I just can't see having a place for this in the near future.

These fans were given out at a club I went to in Bordeaux, France. David enjoyed it this past summer, though; being from a fan-atic country himself.

I've used this phone in three different continents. It was even David's phone for a while. RIP.

In other news, David will have to pay about $100 dollars to have his package finally sent to him. We're not happy about it, but we're glad the mess will be over with soon!

And now I'll leave you with this!


Tuesday, March 30, 2010

FedEx Fail


Today was a stressful day. My work is at least mildly stressful by nature, especially when I'm trying to prepare for a meeting, can't get my bosses to review my "designs" in time, and end up having to BS my way through to a number of individuals who, granted this is by no means a rare occurrence, probably think I'm incompetent at what I do. On the other hand, it seems I'm quite competent at creating never-ending run-on sentences. (And hyphenating.)

In addition to normal stress (work-related,) I also spent an insane amount of time on the phone today with both David and FedEx. When I saw that for the fifth day in a row, the package I sent him was still under "clearance delay" in Barcelona, I started to fear that the too-good-to-be-true shipping discount I get through my work was just that.

Apparently, when they saw a blue fabric peaking through the seam at the top of the box, which had been shipped from my place of employment, they assumed it was a purchase for which David was trying to avoid paying taxes and duty fees. Disregarding that the paperwork said the package was "personal", an investigation of sorts was in order. Hmph.

The kind lady on the phone told me that we would have to pay the 80 euros if we wanted the package to clear. But when I explained to her the situation, she was happy to pass on my statement listing the contents of the box. Any new items would come with a fee. The only new items in the package are four still packaged dress shirts that I scored for $3 each at a work sample sale and an assortment of snack foods. The bulk of the package, including the catalyst for this unfortunate event, an old Mexican blanket, probably still covered in cat hair despite my best efforts; are old and/or used. Tomorrow will tell whether we'll get a reduction on the ridiculous sum they're asking (which David insists on paying even if it's twice what I paid to ship it initially.) Moral of the story? Spain is greedy y'all, better watch out!

This has me pretty concerned about the next (and hopefully final) package I'll be sending, as it will be twice the size, and most definitely flagged. I'm going to wait until the cat's out of the bag about my leaving at work, and will then be able to explain from my desk, "listen bitch, I'm moving to Spain, these our my possessions, and I refuse to pay taxes on them," which the lovely lady fortunately told me was a legitimate protest. Whatever is to come with this and the next package, I've come to the realization that these are likely only the first small bureaucratic hurdles we have yet to pass as I transition into living and working in a different nation. Will it be worth it? Hell yeah! Will it be fun? Hell no! Will it lead to several long-winded amusing blog posts in the future? Probably!

Also, I finally got my notification via email today that the Glee casting has begun! Time to dive into a humiliating five-minute audition video that will be approximately one million and one times more likely to be fun to make than to catapult me into the musical stardom I once aspired to reach. Yay!

Monday, March 29, 2010

This is forced.

So it's come down to writing when it's the last thing I'd like to be doing. I've decided it would be "nice" if I started writing in this blog every day. If I treat it like a diary, I'll likely be more inclined to write. After all, there are two main objectives for this blog:
  1. Capture memories of this climatic point in my life that might otherwise be lost.
  2. Start writing! If you want to be a writer, you have to, you know... write.
Back in 2001, I started what I guess was kind of my first blog. Only it took the form of a Free Open Diary. I wrote about my everyday encounters as an exchange student in Mexico, and almost instantly received random "subscribers" by the handful. People were entertained with my anecdotes, and intrigued by my perception of them.

All I had to do was let the words pour out of me, and I was left with an elaborate memoir of an amazing year. Until, well uh, 9/11. (When somehow due to current events, the website was forced to dump half of its data, randomly deleting fifty percent of its accounts.)

I digress. The point is I want this. I want to get it all down. A certain clarity comes with trying to organize your thoughts and emotions into structured paragraphs. And more importantly, I want to remember how I'm feeling right now, and how these feelings will evolve over the next year. So I guess it comes down to some stern discipline. But you know what? I'm kind of enjoying it by now.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

I'm marrying Aladdin.

Yesterday, I was home sick from work. David was home from work already, and trying adorably to take care of me in spite of the ocean separating us. We ended up watching one of my FAVOURITE Disney Animated Classics: Aladdin. He made one small reference to his resembling Aladdin more than I (relevant to the conversation we were having about both of us wanting to BE Aladdin when we were younger;) and hit me.

Could it be? Could I have never actually wanted to BE Aladdin? All those years, did I in fact want to BE WITH Aladdin? And now in my mid-twenties, am I perhaps pursuing a childhood fantasy by marrying a charming foreigner with an uncanny resemblance to Prince Ali Ababwa?

Naaahhh. It is a nice coincidence, though!