2010

here's the thing, i'm terrible at keeping up with this blog. but I think in 2010 i'm going to take a cue from a wise friend who also has a blog and who recently became a new mom, and if she has time to write her blog about things she is thankful for, then i have time to write my blog.

so a recap from 2009:

i was in louisiana when 2009 started and i needed that job, that experience. i learned a lot about life and work and myself, but i was only really half-living. 2009 really started for me at the beginning of the summer when i got a job in Oregon. and in order to get there i went on one of the most amazing road trips ever. annie is a champion cat and went on the road trip as well.

its beautiful here and the weather isn't as bad as people make it out to be. eugene is a pretty cool town and an example of that is the movie theater i saw Precious in tonight - it was an old church with amazingly tall ceilings and cool old church touches...for my columbia friends, its a lot like the old Ragtag, shows the same kind of movies too, pretty great all around though. since i've lived here mr. and mrs. wade have been to see me and so has my brother, visitors are fun, AND ALWAYS WELCOME. i also went climbing in town with a friend that lives in salem now, good climbing too - not at all like capen park.

i flew home for christmas and hung out with my mom - a lot, it was good though, she missed me, aaaand i guess i missed her too. i got to go to columbia while i was in town and it was amazing to see my friends and their kids. back in STL i also got to see a couple friends from undergrad who have been busy abroad for the last few years- one teaching and writing in spain and argentina, and the other peace corpin' it up in guatemala. we got to see my grandpa for christmas at his house, which was good. i don't know how much longer he'll be around, and i got to hug him and tell him thank you and that i love him. all in all, the trip was great.

2009 ended with a bang, and i'm thankful for another year and excited to see what 2010 holds for me and the people i love.

grace in unusual places

this morning i was running late despite my best efforts which included packing my lunch and laying out my clothes last night.

my morning routine consists of waking up, turning the ceiling fan on in the kitchen (so the steam from my shower doesn't set off the fire alarm-becuase it does), jumping in the shower, getting dressed, doing my hair, and running out of the house, all of this has to be done before 7:01 in the morning. any later than that and i miss the bus. luckily, my route has a safety-net built into it, so if i miss the first stop 1.5 blocks from my house, i can run 4.5 blocks to the another stop in time to catch the bus there by 7:10.

since my hair cut, i 've missed the first stop 3 or 4 times. so anyway, this morning as i stepped onto my driveway from my porch i saw the bus pass the stop. my heart sank. and then out of nowhere the bus driver pulled over and stopped right in front of my house and let me on the bus.

this is a huge deal becuase just weeks earlier this same bus driver yelled at me for flagging him down in between stops when I almost missed him at the 2nd stop - i was desparate, which still does not excuse my behavior, i should just be on time...but we all have our days right?!?!

i've found myself thinking about all of the grace that happens on the bus or at Eugene Station, and if you knew the place, you would know that it might be the last place on earth where you would find grace.

last week on a very crowded bus a teenage guy gave up his seat to an elderly woman without even being asked.

the week before that a guy got on the bus but couldn't afford the fare, so the man that sits behind me everyday paid for the guy's day pass - an even $3.00.

at Eugene Station a woman comes around every morning and collects all of the empty cans and bottles out of the trashcans and turns them in for the deposit - her only income, 5 cents a piece - and the store owners at the station allow her to trade in more than the daily limit, knowing if they turn her away she may not eat that day.

so, for a place i rarely go after dark, there is an unusual amount of grace to be found.

things i've seen and lessons i've learned since i moved to oregon

Things I’ve Seen:

• a girl walking topless around town
•  a cop shot a raccoon in the head and then waited for the body to stop flailing long enough to pick it up and dispose of it
• a guy on a bike got hit by a car in the middle of the street and then got up and walked away
• homeless people making a good living by collecting all of the discarded cans and plastic bottles in trashcans around town, but mostly at the bus station
• children climbing 5.8/5.9 runs on skinners butte without breaking a sweat
• snakes in my front yard, deer next door

Lessons I’ve learned:

• it is legal in lane county for women to be topless, as to not discriminate against them since men can go shirtless
• if you hit a raccoon with your car on a busy morning, don’t pull over and wait around for help to come or you will witness a brutal yet merciful killing
• always where your helmet and look both ways when on your bike on the street, and always drive prepared to dodge bikers
• if budget cuts get REAL bad, plan B includes a lucrative can and bottle collection agency
• mentally prepare yourself to handle defeat and embarrassment at the hand of children when climbing
• watch your step
• business casual in Eugene means jeans with no holes and no flip flops
• there are more stray cats in Eugene than there are people in the state of Montana.
• if there is any kind of Fair or Faire going on proceed EVERYWHERE with caution, because there is no telling what you may see or smell

Moral of the story: life in Eugene is like a box of chocolates….

And I love it here.

 

i'm sorry blog

dear blog,

i miss you. i have two posts in draft form, but haven't seemed to get them finished. i'm sorry. but, i can't take all the blame--you were down yesterday.

.b

transitions

so, expect a number of posts this week chronicling my move up to Eugene, the awesome road trip i went on with Stuth, and general reflections on life. 

this post however, is about the craziest thing i've seen in a long time, and my first real reality check that I A. no longer live in louisiana, B. no longer live in a "red" state and C. Eugene is awesome and full of crazies. 

on my way home from a walmart/rei/target adventure I was driving up my street and was looking around, trying to get my bearings and generally just taking in the scenery. then I happened to take in some scenery that i did NOT want to see. there was a group of 3 people, two boys and a girl, and two of the three people had their shirts off. AND IT WASN'T THE TWO BOYS. There she was, a 20 something girl in jorts and NO SHIRT. she wasn't wearing a bra either. seriously?!?!?! a half naked girl on the sidewalk chillin' with her posse, shirtless. 

friends don't let friends walk topless. 

welcome to Eugene! 

movin' on up....

That's right. I finally got my big break. I'm moving to Oregon, Eugene to be exact. Go Ducks! I promise a real post soon, but as you can imagine, I have a lot of work to do!

boo beedo bee bop, boo boo beedo bee bop

if you know me at all (i think may be one of my favorite ways to begin a blog post), then you know that i am obsessed with grey's anatomy. unknowingly, i missed last week's new episode because i was with the NSU Women's Basketball Team in Katy, Texas at the Southland Conference Championships. i was so busy watching games, cheering on my girls, and exploring the Houston/Katy area that i actually forgot about greys. not only do i find this deeply saddening, but also completely out of character.

cut to tuesday night this week. i am watching the fat show (as my mom and i so lovingly call "The Biggest Loser") and crying which is totally me, which i willingly admit, and thought to myself, "isn't that veird, greys has been repeats the last couple of weeks....OR HAVE THEY?!?!?!?!" so, i ran in to my sweet computer and hopped on ABC.com only to realize that i had in fact missed a NEW episode of this outstanding season. i was devastated. thankfully, i had about an hour before I needed to go to bed, and praise Jesus that ABC posts full length episodes online so people like me don't have to just be out of luck and have to wait for a rerun. SO, i watched it and boy was it an episode. whew! intense, like camping. i love this freaking show. I don't know what it is about it, well, maybe it is partly because it takes place in the city i love (so much so, that facebook quizzes tell me i should live there), or maybe because the writing is so freaking good, or that i am in love with George, even though sometimes he makes poor decisions and ends up with STDs. I just plain love the show, more than any show i have ever loved before. it's an addiction, really. and the first step is admitting that i have a problem.

i hit an all-time low today and took the "how much do you know about dirty dancing" quiz on facebook, and then while reading the preview of tonight's new greys episode, i came across the "which greys character are you" quiz...and i took that too. Turns out, I know a lot about Dirty Dancing and I am most like....

Cristina:
Very few people have, or can understand, the sheer determination and drive that propels you, but you're just as fiercely protective of your friends as you are of your own hopes and dreams. If they're smart, your friends already know that. They also know that you're more vulnerable than you seem and are only glad to offer a shoulder to cry on.

So, you see, I do have a problem. Also, i have been known to spend so much money you'd blush if i told you how much, on songs that have been played on the show. Secretly, well, i guess not so secretly now, I've always dreamed of being the person that got to pick out the music that plays on shows, or in movies. I don't necessarily want to write it, i just want to put it all together. I suppose that if i could marry Jack Black's character in "The Holiday", we would be the Hollywood powerhouse music couple, forget about Beyonce and J-Z. hahaha. see my life isn't fun enough on its own, so i spend my down time pretending to be married to movie characters, not even real people, like actors, but the characters they play.

alas, i should go. i have a hot date with my futon, cat annie, a big bowl of special k, and the ol' boob tube tonight that i need to get ready for!

i'm a loser baby.................