Yet another time killer...

I know, I know, you hate these...then delete it and don't feel bad if you
don't wanna fill it out.

I got bored while I should be studying...

Accent - Slight central Texas accent which is nothing like the east Texas
soft slur or the west Texas nasally drone...and Chris tells me I do a very
bad English accent when I am drunk...
Chore I hate - Tidying up...dishes, tub, windows, vaccuming all of these I
can tolerate...but just putting stuff away and organizing...shivers run down
me spine
Dad's name - Joel Matthew Gold...at work they call him Joey, in Wimberley
they call him Jojo and mom likes to yell JO! if she needs help bringing in
some groceries.
Essential make-up - If I must wear it, some powder, lip gloss and mascara
Favorite perfume - Yuck. Perfume gives me headaches. Although I love
essential oils, like lavender or rosemary.
Gold or Silver - Silver.
Hometown - Wimberley
Interesting fact - I can't stand it when I hear people bite into their forks
(and if you do this around, damn it I swear I will pour water over your
head. I mean, why is it when some people find out what annoys you, they do
it all the g-damn time?)
Job title - cashier (oh, doesn't that sound important?)
Kids - Zero.
Living arrangements - 3 bdrm house with pete, sometimes aaron, one smelly
dumb dog and another dog who is too smart for her own good and growing pile
of mess that might eat me when I come home one day.
Mom's Birthplace -Sacramento
Number of apples eaten in last week - Oh jeez, did you know that Pink Lady
apples are on sale right now at my work...good Lord, I must have eaten ten
in the past week.
Overnight hospital stays - one, about five years ago
Phobia - I can't think of anything serious right now.
Question you ask yourself a lot - What was I going to do?
Religious affiliation - Currently attend mosais off and on. More associate
myself with the religious aspect of nature. (what the hell does that mean?)
Siblings - one gorgeous sister who is about to graduate high school and turn
18, one gorgeous brother who has the midas touch of sports, everything he
tries, he succeeds who is 16
Time I wake up - Alarm goes off at 530, don't actually get up until 615 or
so.
Unnatural hair color - I used to dye my hair red, bright beautiful red. Then
it got expensive for the upkeep, so it is now back to my boring natural
color.
Vegetable I refuse to eat - onions, although I like leeks
Worst habit - picking at my cuticles, not putting things away.
X-rays - teeth, knees
Yummy food I make - a green lentil soup with carrots, garlic and rosemary,
oh my gosh, I think I am drooling.
Zodiac sign - Aquarius

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Assignments

No, not assignments from school, that would be easy. Instead, Chris and I are trying to come up with a plan to keep the house clean. Yes, it has been clean before. But alas, Chris and I are major slobs therefore the vaccumed floor and sparkling sink soon turn into clutter and mess. It is really hard for us. We are not neat freaks. I have never been one and I suspect Chris is the same. But I am tired of people who visit expecting the mess or are never surprised by it. I am tired of doing major cleaning and it taking all day long. I want to only spot clean...pick up where it is needed.

So, we are going to get as much done this weekend as possible...wiping the slate clean as Chris deemed it. Then, we are going to make a list to hang on the fridge where it will tell us what needs to be done by the end of the week and we can check it off as the week progresses. I don't know if this is a good plan or not. The thing is Chris doesn't do well with actual assignments, he hates "having to do something", required to do it. With the list idea, the goal is that all the chores are shared and no one is designated to a specific task. We want to have a nice clean house so we are willing to give almost anything that works a try. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment. Please.

School is going well. We are almost done with the semester. Yay! This makes me really excited because if I finish this class (and with an A which is where I am right now) then this will be my first completed class since 2002! (Pathetic, I know) But this is a major milestone for me!

On a similar note, Chris is thinking about going to grad school, which I am really excited for him about. He is thinking about going to teach in a college setting. Personally, that is where I envisioned him all along. But in order to go back to school, I am going to put my school plans on hold or at least not be a full time student.
You see, this upcoming fall, I was going to drop my hours down at work and go to school full time. This would be impossible if Chris was not teaching and in school full time himself. So, instead I will continue to take a class or two until he can support me while I go to school.
You are probably thinking, why put off your goals Michelle? Well, we discussed the possibility of concentrating on my school and graduating. But the thing is, I still don't know for sure what I want to do yet. I am only toying with the idea of horticulture at the moment. That could change after I volunteer for a while at the Wildflower Center or take a couple of botany classes. Chris, however, knows what he wants to do. So, it will take him less time to do it instead of me dallying around. So you see, Chris can go to school for about 2 years and get his Masters degree, possibly get a job teaching at a community college while working on his doctoral degree while I take a couple of classes, get my GPA up and decide what I want to do and what program I want to go into. Then, after he graduates and we are making some money so I can cut back at work, I can go to school for about another year, graduate, work a couple of years and then maybe we can think about having a baby.

Of course, I have it all planned out and it won't go anywhere near according to plan. It never does. But at least we have an outline, a goal for the future. Chris won't be going to grad school until the fall of 2006 (they only start master programs in the fall and the deadline has already passed for this fall) and until that time, we can start saving, paying off what we can, and get ready for being really really poor instead of just kind of poor.

So yeah...that is all for now. I think. We did our taxes last night, that is a major relief.

On that note, ci vediamo ragazzi.

Michelle

One quick note

I forgot to mention in the previous update that Chris and I closed on the house almost a week ago! Yay, let the tearing out of carpet and window units begin! Wait a minute...we need money to do those things. Yay, for owning a house!

I had forgotten

So...I took allergy/sinus medicine for the first time in years today. I usually just stave off a cold by drowning it with vitamin C and echinecea. But today, as I blowing my nose for the upteemth billion time, I decided I should do something proactive about it. Now, I can breathe. Ah, to only blow my nose and sneeze once every 15 minutes insead of every 2! But at what price?
Well, currently, I am a space cadet. Wait! I know I am one normally, but now I would be content to just stare a brick wall all day long. Though I am trying to keep focused, hence the update of my blogsite. But man, what a feeling! I feel as if I am weightless, my head floating in the wind. Wow, if I only knew how such accepted and widely used drugs made you feel. Although I will try not to get more in the future. I really don't like this feeling all that much. It makes me feel stupid.

Why do they need to use synthetic and artificial coloring in pills? You know, I won't mind swallowing a brown or pale pill. Just because a pill comes in yellow and green doesn't say anything to me about how effective the pill is. Just give me the damned relief, my stomach doesn't care about the Yellow #5 and Blue #1 & #2. I am sorry, maybe I have been brainwashed by certain companies in which I work for, but I just don't trust the artificially made colors. Do we know if they are even safe to consume? What exacty goes into Yellow #5? So, why, why do we need colorful little pills? Are we still children that we need something shiny and pretty to swallow it? Would little kids even want to swallow a pill that has color if all the pills in the world didn't? In that case, would we even give the child a pill that has a synthetically made color that was bad for her/him?

Oh, the questions. Oh, the rhetoric. Oh, my empty head. I want an apple. I think I am going to go and get one.
Have a wonderful and sinus-clear day,
Michelle

What do I want to be when I grow up?

Argh, the infernal question that burns my soul. One week I want to be a social worker standing up for womens rights and mental health issues. The next week I want to be a physical therapist and help people get back on their feet and have normal lives once again. This week I want to be a professional gardener and study horticulture and bring native plants back to their indigenous homes. But who knows if this new passion will actually stick? I have thought about this one before, about six months ago or so. Unfortunately, there are no programs in the Austin area. The closest one is at A&M and boy, wouldn't I get hell from my cousin who went to A&M and made fun of me when I was at UT. Not to mention from my father-in-law and uncle-in-law (is that actually a term? I don't know, but it makes sense to me). So, I have been doing some research online about what it would take to transfer into A&M and how I would work that out since I live and work here in Austin (as does my husband) and we don't want to move (we are almost done with the process of buying our first house).

So, where does this leave me?

Nowhere. Back at the start, just like always. I love Whole Foods, but I don't want to work there forever.

So, what do I want to be when I grow up? Who knows.

Michelle

Fast times in Austin

Hello dear friends,

Wow, it has been an interesting couple of weeks. Let's see: we are in the process of buying our house and trying to find the money to fix it up as well, the new Whole Foods opened downtown therefore generating some madness in our store, I am in the process of possibly transferring down to the produce department in the downtown store, going to school and trying to embroider, crochet, sew, etc...

So...deep breath in and deep breath out...and I am fine. Chris is fine. We are fine. Wonderful. Spring Break is coming up and I took a couple of days off from work so we can have time together. Yay!

Update on house info:
We are sending off the mortgage application tomorrow so we can still proceed with the closing date of the 14th. Our realtor tells us that we are getting a good deal, and I trust her word so that is good. We might be able to move in and close without paying anything, which is awesome!

Update on transferring stores: Well, this is a relatively new event, although I have been thinking about it for a while. I have been itching to go into the produce department, but I think working at the downtown store would work better for me. I could actually ride my bike the whole way and only take half an hour as opposed to riding my bike to a bus stop to take into work taking an hour and half of my time (No way! you say. Yes, sad but true). Also, this store is amazing. Busy as hell but amazing. And I think I would really really enjoy working in produce. Think about it: I have been into gardening since I was around 13 or so, I am a vegetarian and I could learn so much about how to prepare, grow and name all kinds of produce. Oh, I get excited just thinking about it. So please direct all your good thoughts and prayers over this way and that everything works out.

Update on school: School is good. I am going, which is a start. I am making A's which is good. And it is easy which is great! So yay!

Update on craft projects: This can be a long story. I will summarize: Our church is looking at a space to be used for community outreach and services in north Hyde Park. The only problem is we are not a self-sufficient church as we are very young (only 2 years old) and most of the congregation is in college (hence, no money). So, in order to pay rent for this wonderful space that would expand our services and community, we need to donate a part of the store to retail. Which brings the topic round to me. If our church did this, I would sell skirts, scarves, soaps, embroidered bags and clothes, etc...in the store. Which I don't care about the profit really, I just want enough to be able to buy the materials. BUT, this is a huge thing. If someone had told me two years ago that I would be selling crafts that I make, then I would have laughed. But to be given this opportunity is a huge deal for me. So, I have been practicing. I am in the process of making a skirt which in my mind looks really cute. We shall see how it turns out since I haven't made a costume on my own since 2000. And I am not saying that people will actually buy my stuff, but it is still encouraging.

Update on my mental health: Sunny skies, some chance of cloud cover. No humidity.

Well, that is all for now. I tire of typing. Ciao amici! Adios amigos!

Michelle