Good-bye, September

So, tomorrow it's October, and historically, October has been a good month for me. As much as I love summer, I also enjoy Autumn. I think I love my apartment more (if that's even possible) in the Autumn because I can light candles, burn incense, snuggle in on my flannel sheets. The cooler undertones of even a warm day are pleasant. Although it doesn't quite rival the color bursts of Wisconsin, the turning colors of the leaves are pretty, too. By this time of year I am ready for sweaters, too. I unpacked my "winter wardrobe" to exchange for the "summer wardrobe." I just don't have as many cute clothes as I do for summer.

I went ice skating on Wednesday night, after not having been in probably eight years and even then only a handful of times. My muscles paid for it the next day. My whole core area was sore, not to the point whee I felt incapacitated, just a gentle reminder. I had run on the treadmill earlier that day, so it might be from that instead. I was "good" this week and lifted weights three times. I don't really enjoy strength training. I find it boring. But, I think I need to do it to lose the last 20 pounds I need to lose, since cardio doesn't seem to be doing it. Too bad pilates is so dang expensive; that's what I really want to do. Here I am...blathering about working out/weight loss. I try not to do that too often. Outloud, that is.

I finally have the last Harry Potter! I started reading it last night. As usual, I have a hard time remembering what happened at the end of the last book. I probably should have reviewed. Like, I don't remember Snape definitely being a bad guy...so I keep wondering if this is a ruse.

On Saturday night I may be going to Chopstix. I've wanted to go there since I heard about it, so it should be interesting.

Nikki on 09.30.05 @ 12:28 PM PST [link]

Another Questionnaire

1. Name someone with the same birthday as you: Dana Carvey and Thomas Hardy



2. Where was your first kiss? In Jeff's parents' basement.



3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else's property? No.



4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex? Nothing serious.



5. Have you ever sang in front of a large number of people? Only when I was in choir. In Concert Choir for our semester "exam" we had to sing a portion of Rainbow Connection in front of the class. I am a horrible singer. I am sure no one heard me.



6. Whats the first thing you notice about the preferred sex? Hmmm...I generally go for the eyes.



7. What really turns you on? Witty banter.



8. What do you order at Starbucks? Caramel mocchiato or in the summer I like mocha frappachinos.



9. What was your biggest mistake? My mistake always tends to be wasting time on unrequited love. For instance...wasting too much time pining away for a boy who would become a monk.



10. Ever hurt yourself on purpose? Physically? Not that I recall.



11. Say something totally random about yourself: When I put my socks on in the morning, I have to immediately go put my shoes on. I can't finish getting ready for work without shoes on.



12. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity? No..



13. Do you still watch kiddy movies or TV shows? Some of the cartoon movies I've liked...but that's it.



14. Did you have braces? Unfortunately, no. My grandma offered to pay for braces for me but my mom said no. Thanks, Mom.



15. Are you comfortable with your height? No. I wish I was about three inches taller.



16. What is the most romantic thing someone of the opposite sex has done for you? I haven't really had a lot of romantic gestures thrown my way, at least not stereotypical romance. No flowers or such. I've had moments that were super cute and other times where I think he was being romantic in his own "special" way.



17. When do you know it's love? I have no idea. Maybe when I know it's reciprocated. I'm always pining.



18. Do you speak any other languages? A little Spanish and a little ASL.



19. Have you ever been to a tanning salon? No...it's tempting sometimes since I am so pale, but I don't want to take the risk.



20. What magazines do you read? Self, Shape.



21. Have you ever ridden in a limo? Nope.



22. Has anyone you were really close with passed away? My grandma.



23. Do you watch MTV? Yes. My guilty pleasure shows are Real World and the Real World/Road Rules Challenges.



24. What's something that really annoys you? People who break promises.



25. What's something you really like? Kissing.



26. Do you like Michael Jackson? I was never really a fan of his, even when he was "cool."



27. Can you dance? Mmmm...not really. At least, not freestyle. I do okay with routines.



28. What's the latest you have ever stayed up? I've been up over 24 hours before.



29. Have you ever thought that you were honestly going to die? I had a moment of thinking that might be a strong possibility once when in Marie's car in high school. It was winter and the roads were slippery and we slid across the road while a huge dump trunck barrelled towards us.



30. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room? Yes, three times, although I have no recollection of any of them.



31. Does the furniture in your house have an identifiable theme or motif? It's very IKEA.



32. Do you actually read these when other people fill them out? Obviously.

Nikki on 09.29.05 @ 07:13 AM PST [link]

Blogging

The bad thing about blogging is that it's easy to want to use it like a journal. I hardly write in my real journal anymore; I blog. But there is that set of niche information that cannot be blogged about. For instance...when someone hurts my feelings and I am sad and/or mad about it. I'm easily Googleable and it's not really a good idea to air one's dirty laundry on an internation level. I wouldn't want to read about some wrong I had committed against a friend on their blog, so I feel as though I should respect that and not do it on my blog either. Plus, it's a bit passive agressive. I struggle with that enough. But, it's hard to not write, "Today, a friend hurt me and I am sad about it." Guess I need to crack open the ole journal again. I think the last date I wrote in it was a year ago. Since I tend to use my writing journals as regular journals, too, it got thrown to the side.

Yesterday I had to return my contacts because they ordered the wrong prescription...again. Sears has never ordered the right box...but amazingly, whatever wrong they do is always different. I think that's a pretty amazing feat.

Today, my plans for the day and evening were abruptly changed so I ended walking over to the Fremont Oktoberfest. There wasn't a whole lot going on...but I did get to hold a ferret. I donated some money to an animal shelter because they've taken on a bunch of pets from Katrina and I haven't helped out with any Katrina donations yet, and decided this was as good as any. I am a sucker for animals.

When I came home, I finished my first book for September. I am not sure if I can finish a book this week or not. We'll see how busy I am. Then I kind of lazed around the house because...well, because there wasn't much else to do.

This better not be a forecast of the week ahead.

Nikki on 09.25.05 @ 06:33 PM PST [link]

Writing and Stuff

On Friday night, which is my favorite night to work out because it's step with the good teacher, I got to the gym only to discover that I didn't have my tennis shoes. I had worn them all day the day before and never put them back in my gym bag. Disappointed, I left for home. However, since it was 5:30, traffic on the bridge was already backed up to nearly 405 so I took the first exit into Kirkland that I could, intending to go somewhere to write. Usually I go to the Triple J, one of my favorite places around here and a great place to go since the coffee shop in my novel is loosely based on it. However, JJJ doesn't allow laptops to be plugged in and mine wasn't fully charged, so instead I stopped off at a Starbucks along the way.

It was a nice Starbucks, fairly large, a nice cushy chair. I wasn't hungry or thirsty, though, so I tried to hide in a corner since I wasn't going to buy anything. I felt a little guilty being there without purchasing anything...but I figure they do well enough without me. So after awhile a basista offered me a free, frande vanilla latte. Did I have that haggard writer-wannabe look? He claims that he just didn't want it to go to waste, but what does that mean? Did someone order it and then not take it? Did he not make it to someone's liking and had to make them another one? Well, whatever the case, I took it and was pleasantly surprised with it. I had never had that flavor before. But, it did kind of make me feel more guilty for not ordering anything to begin with. Anyway. I ended up staying there for three hours! I even got a free sample of their yummy caramel apple cider. I probably could've stayed there longer, muse wise, but What Not to Wear was on at 9, and I like that show and needed the break anyway. :)

On Saturday, Judy and I finally made it to the Red Cross training that we tried to go to last week. It really wasn't what either of us expected; what they were recruiting for was volunteers to be deployed for 12-21 days to the South or other shelter sites. I can't really afford that. And, as much as I would like to help in those areas, I don't think I could handle it emotionally. If I was weeping on a regular basis just watching it on tv...what would happen if I was in the thick of it. No, I don't think that's a good place for me. But I did turn in my paperwork to be active locally, so hopefully I can be utilized somehow around here.

Sunday was pretty laid back. Oh, I did see a weird thing happen. I was taking a walk and out of nowhere, on the block ahead of me, this Ford Escort kind of car pulled away from its parking spot at the top of the block and managed to cross the street, take out a street sign, and hit a stone wall. No one was driving and the emergency brake appeared to be on. Several other people saw it happen; amazingly it didn't it anyone or any other cars. While we stood around inspecing the car, no owner showed up and eventually we all dispersed. It was a weird sight. I cleaned the house up really good. Even the office got nice and tidy. Even the desk drawers!

Oh, and I used up a skein of velour yarn that I bought a year ago and made a scarf. Now that I am a more seasoned knitter, I was able to get it to work, which is nice, because I love velour.

The Packers lost. Stupid CBS didn't televise the game like they were supposed to so I don't know what happened in the fourth quarter, but there was some kind of score surge for both teams. But we still lost. Dammit.

Nikki on 09.19.05 @ 12:54 PM PST [link]

Gloomy Day

I think tonight will be a good night to light some candles, don my velour yoga pants and a tank top, put in a movie, maybe drink some jasmine tea, and knit. It's cold and gloomy...And What Not to Wear is on, too! I love that show. I wish that someone would nominate me for it, although, it's never the people who want it that are selected. It's always the people who don't think that they need it. Sigh. Anyway. I finished knitting a scarf last night so now I can move on to something else. Thinking I will do a Packer hat now. I hope that the people who get knitted stuff for Christmas don't think that it's lame. Oh well. They're getting it anyway.

I should work on the book this weekend.

I did write a little narrative nonfiction essay today. It's about how it's not fair that one of the kids that I used to babysit for is getting married before me. It's very rough and wanders all over the place. But, I think it might be workable.

Nikki on 09.16.05 @ 12:52 PM PST [link]

Tuesday, September 13th PST

September 13, 2005

Wednesday, September 7th PST

September 7, 2005

Tuesday, September 6th PST

September 6, 2005

Thursday, September 1st PST

September 1, 2005