Category Archives: me!

A *great* way to start the day

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My phone rang at about quarter to eight. My first thought was, “No one I know would call at this hour.”

I checked the number, and I didn’t recognize it…except for the fact that the same number had called me yesterday.

Around 8:30, the phone rang again. Same number. This time, they left a message.

The message was from an angry man telling me to stop calling him. 

I was, um, confused. I called him back, to tell him that I have never called him in my life. This does not placate him at all. He says, “the only way I GOT this number is that it’s been ringing my phone for a week.”

He angrily suggests that I call the phone company (as if it’s MY fault somehow), to which I say “fine” and call Verizon.

Verizon can tell me nothing, but they offer to change my number.

Sigh.

Weekend wrap-up

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Again, I neglected to post photos yesterday…but this post will have many photos to make up. 😉

We had a lovely time Friday night at Kelly’s goodbye concert. It was very, very kind of Jenn and Scott to open up their house for the party…see, originally, the concert was going to be at Madame Mocha’s, that cool little coffee shop on Lovejoy.

Unfortunately, about a week and a half before the show, Madame Mocha’s shut down. 🙁

Panic! But fortunately, it all worked out in the end.

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The guys did two sets, and let Kelly choose the second set. The second set consisted primarily of rarely (or never!) performed Ookla songs, some dating WAY back. The Lemon-Ohs song, for example. This gave Rand and Adam a chance to tell some entertaining stories and do some seriously silly stuff.

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For example, they did a super-speeded-up version of (oh no…I’ve forgotten which song it was. Rand?). The above photo is of Wolfram during that song.

Everyone seemed to have a great time. I was especially happy to see Thomas make it out, because we so seldom get to hang out!

Rand and Adam presented Kelly with a big ol’ pile of set lists and other memorabilia. Kelly collects their set lists, and she apparently said that if she ever got to 100, she was getting an Ookla tattoo. The pile of set lists included a certificate promising that the band would pay for her tattoo. 😉

Jenn also made a really cool card (with photos!) for Kelly and had everyone sign it for her.

kelly and ben

Kelly has been a great friend to the band, and I know she will be dearly missed.

And the rest of the weekend? Nothing that terribly exciting. Maybe later. 😉

Product promotion!

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I have what some might call problem skin…it’s somewhat oily, but quickly dries out if I use products that are too harsh. I’ve spent most of my adult life bouncing around from product to product to find something I like.
I first encountered Clinique skin care products through my aunt, back when I was a teenager. I liked the products then, and she proceeded to buy them for me as gifts for many years. At some point, I got away from them…probably because of my financial situation. I also had issues with the soap, which then only came in bar form and would get all slimy and gross inside the soap holder.

Recently, at a friend’s house, I saw some Clinique products, and I was reminded how much I liked them. I did some quick research and found out that the soap now comes in a liquid pump. Joy! I promptly drove myself to Macy’s and purchased the 3-step system. (when you go into the store, a specialist will work with you to determine which formula best suits your skin.)

The best part is the Dramatically Different moisturizers. I use the gel, because my skin tends to be oily. It adds moisture without making my skin feel greasy. It’s amazing.

I’ve been using my new Clinique products for a week, and I’m not even remotely joking when I say my skin looks and feels better than it has in years.

No, Clinique is not paying me for this post. 😉

Hey, it’s a photo of a person!

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I like this photo I took of Rand Friday night, but for the redeye. There are some more photos from Friday night’s house concert here.

The concert was in honor of Kelly, a good friend of the band who is moving away from Buffalo soon. Kelly wrote a very sweet post here.

Valentine’s Day–a retrospective

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I think Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays that’s a bigger deal when you’re not with someone. At least, that’s the way it’s always been for me…without a relationship, it was a day that reminded me that I was lonely. But in a relationship, well, usually the *first* one together has always been sort of an event (not that I can remember much about any of the others, really).

When I was a sophomore in high school, for example, I had just started *dating* J. I wasn’t really expecting anything, but the day before Valentine’s, he offered me his class ring. Student council always did the whole carnation sale thing, and he got me a bunch of carnations and gave me a cute little-kid valentine. I figured I was done. I was happy…and then I got a dozen roses when I got home. That was probably the high point of our relationship. 😉

With K, I’m sure it was something ridiculously cute and disgusting, because that was just how we were. I’m equally sure it wasn’t something that cost a lot of money, because we were in college.

X? I honestly can’t remember.

My first Valentine’s Day with Rand, waaaaay back in 2005, was special because it came around the time that we both knew it was something serious, and it was still months from our first milestone anniversary. And as much as I enjoyed that day…what I enjoyed most about it was that Rand took the time to plan something. The what didn’t matter so much to me. Since then, we once had to cancel a dinner reservation because I was sick. Last year, we decided on a low-key dinner at Taste of India, one of our favorite places.

This year is a little weird. My evening classes fall on Wednesday and Thursday, so I had to teach tonight. Tomorrow we’ve got plans, so we’ve decided to go out on Saturday, but I’m kinda thinking, “do we really need to spend a lot of money on a big, fancy dinner?” Eh.

We did have lunch together today, since I wasn’t working, and I got some pretty flowers (pictured in an earlier post), and that’s just fine with me. Rand and I celebrate our love every single day, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Looking for your Face
-Rumi

From the beginning of my life
I have been looking for your face
but today I have seen it.

Today I have seen
the charm, the beauty,
the unfathomable grace
of the face
that I was looking for.

Today I have found you
and those that laughed
and scorned me yesterday
are sorry that they were not looking
as I did.

I am bewildered by the magnificence
of your beauty
and wish to see you with a hundred eyes.

My heart has burned with passion
and has searched forever
for this wondrous beauty
that I now behold.

I am ashamed
to call this love human
and afraid of God
to call it divine.

Your fragrant breath
like the morning breeze
has come to the stillness of the garden
You have breathed new life into me
I have become your sunshine
and also your shadow.

My soul is screaming in ecstasy
Every fiber of my being
is in love with you

Your effulgence
has lit a fire in my heart
and you have made radiant
for me
the earth and sky.

My arrow of love
has arrived at the target
I am in the house of mercy
and my heart
is a place of prayer.

Haircut!

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super closeup!

I got my haircut today. I took this photo myself, and it shows. I tried taking some using the self-timer on the camera, but they were all out of focus. 🙁 I’ll have to have Rand take some for me later.

I chose the salon based on a recommendation from a former coworker. I likee.

Photos (late!)

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Oopsy. This is what happens…I get lazy. 😉

valentine's cupcakes

I made cupcakes yesterday, just because. They’re devil’s food with homemade cream cheese frosting (colored pink) and finished with a cinnamon imperial heart in the middle. I sent them to work with Rand.

Also, I finally posted this in my etsy shop:

yellow scrabble journal

$10 plus shipping, if you’re interested!

Brr…chilly weekend wrap-up

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Greetings on this exceedingly chilly Monday. This is the kind of day that I wish I could stay cuddled up all warm in the blankets drinking warm drinks and reading. But alas, I have to BS my way through social studies notes instead. (note to social studies teachers–I don’t know anything about feudal Japan. I’m happy to put the notes up on the overhead for them to copy, but don’t expect me to be able to, y’know, talk about it.)

On the other hand, getting paid is always nice. 😉

The weekend was low-key but interesting. Rand and I checked out two houses. We made an appointment to see one on Saturday that seemed perfect on paper. Fireplace, hardwood floors, central air, full basement and attic, three bedrooms plus an office. Everything about the house was quite nice, except for the bedrooms…they were tiny. Seriously tiny. Like, “I don’t know how we’d fit a bed AND furniture into this” tiny. It was nice, but we were sort of a little glad we weren’t totally in love with the place. Right now, we’re kind of at the “looking, but not 100% sure it’s for real” stage.

On Sunday, we called about a townhouse we’d seen up the street from us. I spoke to the realtor as he was on his way to the place for an open house. Well, that worked out well! So we popped over to take a look. It also has a fireplace but is all carpeted. It also has no basement, which is not ideal…but the place is nice. It’s bright and spacious with lots of closet space. Are we serious? I don’t know…interested enough to do some more talking about it and find out if it would be possible.

Otherwise? Had a nice dinner out with friends on Friday. Went to Wegmans to talk about flowers on Saturday…they’ll be emailing me a quote, but their prices seem quite reasonable.

And that’s it for me. How’s your Monday? 🙂

Munchkin

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If you go to the Lost page at abc.com, you can have a genuine “Sawyer nickname” generated. Mine’s “munchkin.” I’m pretty sure my dad used to call me that. 😉

sawyer's nickname generator

School board meetings (PORN! Part 2)

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So, I remembered that the Depew School Board meeting was last night, so I had to check the paper to see what happened. As expected, a bunch of people showed up to talk about John Green’s book, Looking for Alaska. Some of them were in favor, others were opposed. the board will review the book and make a decision next month.

Reading this story made me SO HAPPY that I am no longer required to attend school board meetings. I did this back in PA for a couple of years, and briefly covered Sweet Home for the News.

Of course, one of the people who showed up to bash the book was a member of the taxpayers association:

Jan Wiercioch of the Depew Taxpayers Association called the novel “disgusting.”

Back in my hometown, we always had a member of the taxpayers association ON the school board. “Taxpayers Association” should be code for “I’m a raving lunatic.” Basically, his job was to make sure that the district never spent money on anything. Seriously, I think that guy voted no to everything that came before him.

My favorite quote was this one, though, from a parent:

“Would any of you read this aloud at a board meeting?” Miller asked the seven-member board. “What’s next? Free condoms and unisex showers?”

Incidentally, this was from the parent of a 9th grader. The book is being proposed for 11th grade English.

I cannot wait to read this book.

Don’t forget to visit John Green’s webpage.