...HAS NOT FAILED!!!!!

I would like to announce that I am officially not looking for a job anymore, since my company has moved me back to 30 hours. This is very good, since I wasn't getting very many bites in the job market.

I also wanted to reflect on imaginary friends. Anthony and I just finished watching a Star Trek TNG episode that hit on that topic. Synopsis: An ensign has been moved from place to place in the federation, dragging his daughter along with him. She has not been able to stay in one place long enough to make friends, so has created an imaginary friend to take along with her. An alien energy life-form takes the shape of this friend, and causes a lot of mischief.

Now, in the hope of not making this too serious, I would like to describe my own experience with imaginary friends. I was somewhat ... strange growing up, and sought out ways to be "wierd." One of these ways was to create a decision-making entity which I named "The Critics." Don't ask me where I go the name, or when I created them, I can't remember. I do remember interacting with them.

Basically, when confronted with any decision, I would announce that, "I must consult the critics" in a somewhat manic manner, then throw myself face first into whatever crevice I could find, whether between the cushions of the couch, or my own elbow, wait there a few moments, and then emerge with whatever decision "The Critics" would come up with. Isn't it silly what some kids come up with? Do you have any stories about imaginary friends growing up?

It's been a while...

Due to the popular request of my adoring public (:P) I have decided to take time out of my busy schedule to let you know what is going on.

First, my job. It is going really well. I have been working there for 2 months now, and while I am still a probationary employee,I have a feeling that in one month's time I will be a full time regular employee for Spencer Godfrey Architects, Inc. I was told today that a lot of the reason they hired me was because of my 3d modeling experience, which has become apparent as they asked me to do a perspective model of one of the jobs I have been working on. This is in addition to the 40 hours a week I normally work, which means that lately I have been working so much! Luckily this is a short term assignment, so by the end of next week, I should have this done, along with a nice bonus! I was also told that this would likely be something I do a few times a year, however, not all of them would be in addition to my normal workload. All in all, I am very happy with what I do. It has been hard to come home and make dinner and clean our apartment, but slowly I have improved in that arena.


Next: Sylvester. This is our new cat. He is so adorable! He is always wearing his tux, and gets along with Max (our other cat) famously. He also always sleeps with us, right next to me, either around my head, curled at my tummy or back, and even under the covers! I have never seen a cat do that!


I have also changed my appearance a bit. To be precise, I have gotten a perm! Since my hair is pretty short, it took really well, since my hair isn't weighing down the curls., also it is long enough to not be a 'fro. I have also noticed a slight change in my hair color because of it. It now has a reddish tint to it. Yeah, It is not the best picture ever, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like.

Job Status

I finally have something to write about! I have a job with an Architecture firm in Round Rock, starting Monday! I have been looking for a job for over a month now, and had set a goal to obtain a position as a CAD technician by the end of January. I am very happy to say that I have met that goal, even though I don't start my new job until the 4th of February. Conversely, I am sad to say that I won't be able to enjoy eating lunch with my friends who are lucky enough to stay at home with their children, at least most of the time.

During the last days of my freedom before full-time employment, I have been playing computer games, and just chilling out in general while caring for my sick husband. Anthony has had a cold since Friday and is now at the tail end of it (hopefully).

This evening, we watched the Republican debate on CNN.com, and I was really annoyed that the debate and questions centered mostly on McCain and Romney. I have decided that I don't like McCain, because he tends to make jabbing comments directed at his opponents. I think I am leaning towards Huckabee at this point, and I also like a lot of what Ron Paul has to say.

Not much new...

I don't really have anything to say, except that my allergies are going crazy. I have been sneezing and blowing my nose all evening. I think it is the change in weather.

Anthony and I have decided to stay home this year for Thanksgiving. My mom wasn't too happy about that, since this holiday is a very big deal in our family, but we decided to try it on our own this year. Every year we go to Houston, or some other place to celebrate and this time we want time to spend with ourselves.

Our friends, Shawn and Sarah, came over last night, and they brought their dog, Serisse, over to meet Max. I had them meet with our glass porch door between them at first, with Max outside. That way they were able to see each other without doing much by way of scaring each other. My plan worked! After a couple of minutes of them staring at each other through the glass, I opened the door, while Shawn was holding Serisse and I caught Max and held him as well. They started sniffing each other, and after a few minutes of that, I let Max go. After that, Max sort of kept his distance, except the time when he sniffed Serisse's butt. Nothing crazy happened, and I am thankful for that! All in all it was a lovely night.

Anthony has become a pretty good cook. He has somewhat taken over the role of cooking for reason's unknown to me, and for them most part, he has done really well. For when Shawn and Sarah came over, he made beef Stroganoff, and even though he pureed the onion and bell pepper in our Kitchen Aid food processor, it turned out delicious!

I'm ba-ack!

So much for keeping up with my blogging...

I was threatened a few days ago that someone (I won't mention any names, but you know who you are) would unsubscribe to my blog, since I haven't been writing anything. Well that changes now!



So, here goes...I am finally in my last month of school! My last class will be on December 4th, and then I will be walking across the stage on the 15th. The two classes that I am taking are Moral Issues in Society, in which I will complete a 20-30 page essay describing a moral issue, and coming up with a definitive proposal of what should be done about said issue. My chosen topic is human cloning. I don't know what should be done about it yet. I will however post my essay once I am done with it, and by then I will have figured something out. Speaking of which you should all vote on my brand new poll! It is just to the left of this entry. Go ahead! I'll wait.

The second class I am taking is History of Mexican Americans. This class is ok, but it wasn't my first choice. Since they weren't offering my first choice this semester, and this was the only class that would have fulfilled my requirements, I decided to go ahead and take it.


Some of you may already know this, but I am getting over being sick with food poisoning. I made a burrito Friday for lunch with faulty beans (meaning I kept them in the fridge too long). Late Friday night I had to take a trip the the bathroom, and kept going back until 8 the next morning. after that I was finally able to keep water down, so I progressed to sprite. a little after lunch-time, I ate most of a saltine cracker, followed by maybe half a cup of Campbell's soup later that evening. This morning I surprised myself by eating 3 saltine crackers. For lunch I ate a few bites of rice. So I have decided that I should continue to be on the "sick-diet." It might compete with the Southbeach and Atkins!

(I am, of course, kidding.)

For those of you who are interested, Max, our feline friend has been very cute lately!


Recently I also gave Max a bath, and he wouldn't speak to me for days! But he is now nice and sparkling clean!

New Old Car

Anthony and I just bought a new car today. Well, new to us. It is a 2003 charcoal gray Mazda Tribute. It has a manual transmission, gets 23 miles to the gallon in the city and 28 on the highway (pretty darn good for an SUV) and even comes with a keyless entry! Surprisingly it wasn't hard going through the process of buying it. Both of our credit scores are really high (I am still beating Anthony by 3 points!) so we got a good deal on the interest rate, then our credit union was really easy to work with, as well as (surprise, surprise) our insurance company. We test drove the car at noon, and by 2 we drove it off the lot! We had done our homework on the internet before, and decided that this was the best choice that we saw. Then we actually test drove it, and found it suited us well. We both agreed that this was the car we should buy. Anyway, we hadn't had a chance to eat lunch beforehand, so I was ravenous by the time I left! I stopped at Dairy Queen on the way to go shopping with a few of my friends from the young marrieds group at my church. We went to a thrift store that was having a 75% off sale, at which I found a dress that actually fit me for only three dollars! I was absolutely amazed! Anyway, I think I will wear it to church on Sunday.

On a different note, I am a bit disappointed that I have not been able to practice my German much since I got back, but I have also been amazed at the number of people I meet who speak even a little Deutsch. For instance, the lady who helped Anthony and me with our car loan yesterday asked me what I was studying, and I told her "German" and she just started speaking to me in German! She even complimented my pronunciation. anyway, even with those pleasant surprises, I find it is very hard to hold a good, adult conversation in German. I guess I just need to work harder on my vocabulary. Once I get a picture of our new car, I will post it. Have a blessed day!

Switzerland

On the weekend of July the 14th, I spent time with a family in Zurich, who know my great uncle. They were so kind to me, and allowed me to sleep in their guest bedroom, while I explored the city. I left Mannheim early Saturday morning, and arrived in Zurich and was greeted warmly by the Martens. Uwe, (pronounced "Oovay") took me around the city, showing me a couple of churches, one that had stained glass windows designed by a famous Jewish artist, depicting the story of the Bible. He also took me to a place called "Lindonhof" translated roughly "lime tree yard." Apparently the lime tree symbolizes young love and the center of a township, namely where legislation was made and punishments were carried out.

After seeing a few of the sights Zurich had to offer, Uwe and I went back to their house, where his wife Uschi (pronounced "Ooshee") had coffee and cake ready. "Kaffee und Kuchen" is a very popular meal in the afternoon, usually around 4, so the Martens had set this up, and we had "Eiskaffee" which is coffee with ice cream in it, and pastries. Their youngest son, Fabian, was also there. Shortly after coffee and cake, the older of their two sons, Florian, arrived for the weekend. We had dinner a couple of hours later, which consisted of barbecued meat and potato salad. The meat was mostly German sausage and veal, without our traditional Texas barbecue sauce, however, it was a very good meal. After dinner, we sat around and talked for a while, then I went with the two sons to walk the family's two dogs, Fiona and Duke. I have never really been a dog person, but these dogs were very sweet and quiet, too. Anyway, that ended my day.

The next morning I woke up a bit late, around 10:00, and found that breakfast was ready. I ate a typical German breakfast with the family, consisting of bread with cheese and coldcuts and jams, then we decided what we would do for the day. Florian said he would take me around Zurich again, showing me what I hadn't seen the day before, and along the way, we would basically take Fabian to his flat which was in the city (The Martens lived in a very small town just outside of Zurich) so that he could study. Florian took me to see a few things around the city, including a church where I went up into one of the towers overlooking the city. Florian told me that a couple of men were martyred, and after they were beheaded, they took their heads and walked back up to the church where they finally died. It was a very interesting story. The climb into the tower was quite a workout, as well. Then we met everyone else, excluding Uschi, who hadn't been feeling well, for dinner. That was where I had a Swiss meal which consisted of fried potato shreds very similar to, yet better tasting than, Ihop hashbrowns, called Röschti. Along with it came veal, I think and Rattatouilles (did I spell that right?). Anyway, the meal was very good, and filling. After dinner, we headed back to their beautiful home, and I lounged in their upper garden with Uschi, watching the sunset, and the stars pop out. It was amazingly serene and peaceful. I started getting tired, and decided to go to bed, and so ended the second day.

When I woke up the next day, I had breakfast with Uwe (Uschi was at a hair appointment, and their two sons had gone back to where they lived, as it was Monday and they had to go back to work and school), then he took me to the train station, where I caught a train to Lucerne. Once there, I got onto a boat which took me to the Rigi Mountain (I don't think it is actually a mountain, however, it is one of the bigger hills I have seen). I took the next train to the top of the mountain, and was rewarded with a spectacular view on the Swiss Alps, and the clear, blue water Switzerland is known for. It was absolutely breathtaking. The only the thing I would have changed was the cows. There was a herd of bovine at the top of the mountain, and I had to step carefully so as not to step in fermented cow poo. I take that back. That would not be the only thing I would have changed; I wish Anthony, or really anybody could have been there with me. Towards the end of my trip, I was very tired of traveling alone. I suppose the travel plans could have been talked about much more, since when we got there, everyone had different plans. Anyway, it was still a lot of fun, and I would trade those experiences for anything!

After I took a walk around the mountain peak, I went back down the mountain, only to find out I had a sunburn! I took another boat back to Lucerne, and visited the one thing I knew was in Lucerne: die Kapellbrücke (the chapel bridge) and the water tower attached to it. I saw a few other pretty buildings but I didn't want to stray far from the train station, so I wasn't really able to go sightseeing much in Lucerne. After a bit, I went back to the station, and traveled back to Mannheim.