I can cross another thing off my list!

I learned to juggle this past weekend. I can now do a qualifying run with three balls (meaning six catches...a qualifying run means the number of catches equals 2x the number of balls). My brother was able to teach me to do it in a day. He's actually working on giving a presentation for forensics wherein he demonstrates how to learn how to juggle. My biggest problem with juggling is that I keep throwing/walking forward as I juggle instead of staying in place. My brother says there's a sport called "joggling" where people juggle as they jog forward. I think I need to get into that. Anyway, "learn to juggle" was on my 50 things list, so it can be crossed off. What am I down to now? 47 or 48 left? (It depends on if you count Maria's bachelorette party as planning a surprise party for someone.) Not bad considering I wrote that in September. It'd be pretty darn good if I could get 5 or 6 things done on the list every year. I may actually accomplish another of the things on the list next weekend...

Dress shopping

I'm going to go wedding dress shopping this weekend. I'm afraid that the people in the bridal shops are going to think I'm an idiot because I don't know the first thing about this sort of thing. Okay, Martha Stewart says that dresses usually fit into one of eight categories: ball gown, ballerina, princess, bustle back, slip dress, empire, A-line, or sheath. I'm pretty sure that if someone tested me on what these terms mean, I wouldn't pass.

Maybe I should get a gown that is just completely outrageous. I could get a polka-dotted flamenco dress for myself. I like the tradition that says that the groom shouldn't be allowed to see the dress before the wedding. I wonder what Jake would do if he saw me coming down the aisle with a polka-dotted dress wearing a spinning bowtie...

Where I'll be moving this summer

Jake and Justin are going to move the weekend before I come out for my Prince William interview. They're moving to Crystal Towers in Arlington. Well, it'll be cool because I can check out what the place looks like while I'm out there. Lelani, want to give them any decorating tips before they move?

Time Capsule

I guess that Forbes decided that it would let people write an email time capsule to themselves and then send them out up to twenty years later. This is an interesting idea. There are apparently other websites that will let you do this as well. Huh. I wonder if I should write myself an email so that a few years down the road I can look back and think that I've really accomplished a lot. Maybe I could ham it up a bit and make myself look even more pathetic than I really am. Do you think I'd believe myself or would I remember that I was faking it a bit? I wonder...

Has anyone else ever had to do something like this? I had a prof. tell us to write a note to ourselves last year and I think she told us we should put it in an envelope and we couldn't open it for another few years or something. It was on a topic, though...I think it had to do with how to collaborate well with parents as a school psychologist. Whatever I wrote was pretty stupid, I know...whatever I wrote was like 3 sentences long because we had like 5 minutes in class to write it. I ended up just throwing mine away. It would've been better if she would have been willing to pony up the money to send it to us in three years or something. Plus, I think it's more interesting if you write your future self about your whole life...not something about one aspect of your hypothetical future job. I think Brittany wrote a letter to herself like that while she was in high school. I remember something coming in the mail one day and she said something about how Mr. Brownell made her class write letters to themselves. I wonder what she wrote herself. I don't think she told me. She probably wouldn't tell me if I asked her either.

Lelani and Maria, remember that time capsule we put together? I wonder if it's still in that crawl space in my parents' basement. I'm a bit apprehensive about opening that because I'm pretty sure that something I wrote in there will end up making me feel like an asshole. Sometimes I do that to myself. I look back on something and I think, "God, I was such an asshole." Lelani, do you remember that confirmation card I made you that I drew klansmen in or something? I remember thinking that I was pretty funny at the time, but then I think you showed it to me years later and I just thought to myself..."How was this funny again?" I guess it's a little bit scary how much you can change in the course of only a few years. I don't know if it's good or bad. Probably good for the most part, because hopefully I'm just getting wiser. Although I'm not too sure about that.

I like the cock

Jake, Justin, and I went to the Laughing Lizard Lounge in Alexandria for happy hour last Friday. They had a fake rooster in the bar! It was so exciting...I was having flashbacks of the rooster in Georgie's in Princeton.
I played darts and really sucked it up. Jake kept telling me to throw the darts hard, but then I tried just lobbing the darts up softly and it worked a lot better than me trying to whip the things as hard as I could.
Here's that rooster from Georgie's. I wish I could remember how expensive that thing was. Man, I bet I could've bought the one from the Laughing Lizard for a lot cheaper.

Lelani the Festivus Elf

Here's Justin opening his "bomb" while I was in Springfield last week.

It seems that my glass is half empty

I went to the dentist this morning and they told me that I need two more fillings. Crap. I've been angry about how each one will cost $170. I'm poor and can't afford this crap. I've also been angry about how I need to buy another flight out to DC now, because I have another interview. Prince William County didn't contact me until yesterday, and now they want me to come in on February 24 to interview.

Am I a pessimist? I feel like I'm always calling up Jake to bitch about something. I could try to focus on some of the good stuff though (yeah, I never did do that gratitude journal thing)...hey, I have a better chance of getting a job because I'll have another interview. I have a printer now and don't have to run to school to print off my work. My health is generally really good. I'm not allergic to anything. I'm getting married. I'm going to move to an exciting city where lots of cool stuff happens.

But I'm always saying stuff about how I'm going to miss Wisconsin, how I'm afraid I'm becoming more distant toward my friends, how I don't want to spend the money on another airline ticket, and how I'm pissed off because I bought blue cheese dressing at the grocery store and found out that it tastes disgusting...Jake is probably tired of all my crap.

Is anger different from pessimism? Justin thinks that Jake is an angry person. Are angry people just disillusioned optimists?

States I've been to

This was fun to do. Emily had it on her blog, so I thought I'd give it a whirl as well. I can't remember if I've been in any part of West Virginia, Kansas, or North Dakota. Hmm...I don't think I have. I was only in an airport during a layover in Tennessee. Does that count? This list will help me make sure that I see all 50 states before I die (it's on my 50 things list).

bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C. /

Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

Picking a picture

Well, we took a whole bunch of pictures, but it was a really windy day, so in half the pictures, my hair is blowing in my face. Also, I can't sit still enough to take a decent picture. Jake looks the same in every picture, but I'm all over the place...

Okay, this picture won't get put in the paper, but it's kind of fun because a giant hand is reaching up behind us...haha.

This picture is on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial. I like the background and everything, but my hair is weird and poofy because of the wind. Otherwise, I like it.

I was thinking about using this one as the picture for the newspaper. We're sitting on the stairs in Francis Scott Key park in Georgetown. Does this one look okay?

Getting an Engagement Photo Done

My mom has been asking if Jake and I are gong to get an engagement picture taken. She wants to put something in the Princeton paper. Jake's parents also asked us about putting something in the paper by them. I think that Jake and I are going to have Justin take some pictures of us this weekend. Where should we go to take a good picture? Here's a picture of Jake and me from over break, just for fun...we're in my brother's bedroom.

The Invention of Polka Dots!

Okay, this was bugging me, so I looked it up. Here's an article about the history of polka dots. Apparently someone just named them polka dots to capitalize on the "hot" trend of the polka dance at the same time.

Whew...interviews are done.

Well, I finished my last interview while I'm here this morning. I don't know what to think. I hope that I get something, but I don't feel too sure about it. I'm pretty sure I screwed up the Loudoun County interview pretty bad. I totally BSed a lot of crap, and then afterwards I asked them if they'd give me a card and they totally didn't. I also had to do a writing sample for them, which I don't think I did that good of a job on. Whatever. It sounded like if I got my internship there, it'd be out in the western part of the county, which would end up being a drive forever away. I had to pay about $8 in tolls on the way out to that interview. If I had to pay that everyday, I'd be pretty pissed.
Today I interviewed with Fairfax County. I was pissed at myself because I showed up late. The drive there was supposed to take about 15 minutes, but it wound up taking me 40. The beltway was bumper to bumper and slowed me way down. I thought for sure I'd get there early. When I was on the beltway at the same time yesterday, it was flying along pretty quickly. I gave myself half an hour to make the drive. Anyway, I called the office I was going to to let them know that I was running late. They seemed pretty understanding of my traffic problems, but I am still mad at myself for not anticipating that the beltway could be that packed. The interview itself went okay for the most part, I think...I still think that I'm a stuttering idiot and will probably look way incompetent in comparison to whoever else interviews.
The crappy part about all of this is that I probably will end up flying back out to interview again (unless I can get phone interviews). It sounds like no one is going to let me know either way if I have something until mid to late February. Other places are doing their interviews at the end of February...so, I might not hear about anything until after I buy plane tickets to come back out here.
I'm just glad to be done for now. Now I can relax a bit for the next few days that I'm here...

My First Interview

Well, my interview at Prince George's County went differently than I had expected. I don't know how I feel about it. I didn't completely bomb it or bust out crying or anything weird, but still...I'm worried about getting an internship. I was kind of expecting my interview to be with maybe one or two people, but there was a panel of about 10 people in the room. Wow, not what I expected at all. The nice thing about it was that they gave me a sheet of paper with all of their interview questions on it, so I could look them over as we were talking. Luckily, a lot of their questions were things that I actually had prepared. I know that I really kind of rambled and sputtered a lot, though. God, I hate being so nervous. They seemed pretty impressed with my resume, so at least that was a plus.
The director of Psychological Services went to school in Wisconsin, too. Hopefully, that kind of gives me an "in". I don't know, though... It was kind of weird. When I came into the room and I got introduced to her, she was like, "It's my fellow Badger!" and she came up and gave me a hug. It was kind of awkward. I feel like I probably pulled away a bit and made the whole thing awkward.
They also had me complete a writing sample, which was interesting...yup, didn't know that they were going to have me do that...
The whole thing was set up like an "interview day". Other people were there interviewing while I was completing my writing sample and talking to the current interns there. I saw three other people that were interviewing while I was there. A couple of them were pretty intimidating. They seemed really smart and well put together. The interns that were there were really smart, too. One of them talked about how she had her Master's in clinical psych and she did work for two years with a neuropsychologist at John's Hopkins and she's finishing her doctorate. I know at least one guy that was applying said he is going on to get his doctorate, too. I don't want to get a doctorate...I just want to work in the schools. Yeah, um... those people were way intimidating. I feel like I don't have enough aspirations and am a lazy person.
They have four openings and I saw four people there (counting me) interviewing today. The director told me that they'll probably have two more interview days before they make decisions. She said they'll let me know in 4 to 6 weeks if I have a position. I just hope I get something. Well, I guess I'll see how the other interviews I have go...

More interviews!

I wasn't thinking that I'd get any more interviews while I'm out by Jake, but I got a phone call today and Loudoun County is going to interview me on Monday. That's three interviews while I'm there! Hopefully I can get an internship if I have that many interviews....hopefully I'm not retarded and screw everything up. I'm really pumped because it feels like I have to get a job...maybe I'll have a lucky streak this year. I already got lucky with getting a wedding reservation at Great Hall...

Okay, hopefully I'll have time in the next few days to post more stuff that's been happening with me and get some pictures up from the holidays. I need to get some errands done right now to prepare myself for flying out tomorrow and organize all my interview poo...

We have a wedding date!

Jake and I will be getting married on July 14, 2007. We got really lucky and were picked in the Memorial Union's lottery system yesterday so we have Great Hall reserved for our wedding reception that day. If I have time later, I'll post more about how that all worked out...whew, I feel like I have a million and twelve things to do right now...