Friday, December 23, 2005

About an hour to go. Thought we might get to leave early but some people decided to come see the musuem...go to a movie instead!

5:00 Countdown

It's 2:30 at the musuem. Just counting down the minutes until the work day is over. In 2 1/2 more hours I will begin my 2 week Christmas vacation and will be on the road headed to Dallas. I can't wait to see my family! It's been a month since we saw each other at Thanksgiving. I hope everyone has a wonderful and very merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Time Is On My Side

Yesterday I had a small moment of panic after lunch. I knew my couch was going to be delivered at some point and I had been told it would be late afternoon/early evening. This made me think that it might be around the time I got off from work which would have worked with my schedule a lot better. There were only two of us working on Wednesday and I was the only staff member so I couldn't leave work at all. (That's not how the day was planned when I agreed to have the couch delivered). So I got the fateful call at a little after 1:00. The couch was coming from Houston and the sales lady said they would call when they left the city and call again when they were an hour away to give me some time. So I call back and the mover guys tell me they are 10 minutes away from my apartmen! Even if I could have left work it takes me 30 minutes to get home! Grrr! So i quickly called the apartment complex to see if they could unlock the door. The receptionist said they weren't suppose to but they could if they had something in writing. I frantically wrote out a document that gave them legal permission to open my blasted apartment and shove my couch in. Thankfully when I got home that night there was a beautiful, comfortable couch in my living room. No more sitting on the floor!

*A breaker has shut off at work today. Of course it had to be the one that provides electricity to the kitchen. So the refrigerator and microwaves are out...looks like we will have to order hamburgers for lunch!

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

5 more chapters done on my defensive driving (3 of which I did at work). I now have 3 more chapter and the final test. The plan is to do all of this at work tomorrow. Since I will be the only one working in the office area and I really don't have much to do this week I figure I can execute this plan successfully. We shall see...

Monday, December 19, 2005

Today I finished all of my Christmas shopping. Well, at least everything is bought (I'm waiting for 2 items to come in the mail). I'm just happy to get out of the Christmas maddness. I'm not a typical girl in the fact that I really don't like to go shopping so Christmas time is 5 times worse. But it's all worth it to see the happy faces of my family on Christmas day. This year I was way ahead of schedule. Last year I was working 20 hours a week at the Provost office and about 30-35 hours at Kirklands. So all my Christmas shopping was done the day before Christmas Eve!

I started my defensive driving today. It's going to be a long journey. I'm doing it online which is nice because I can do it on my own time. I spent 2 1/2 hours on it tonight and I got through 3 chapters out of 12. This is a real life lesson for me...always go the speed limit!

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Special Present

Today I got a special surprise at work. I showed up at 9:00 as usual for my Saturday work day. It was going to be just me and Ketra today. I got all the lights turned on and just as I was going to open the safe the phone rang. It was Houston (the director of the museum) calling to tell me that Ketra went to the emergency room yesterday and he couldn't get anyone else on the phone to take her place. He told me it was unsafe to have just one person working the museum so he told me to put up a closed sign and go back home. So now I have a 3-day weekend!

I ate so much food this week. We had two Christmas parties: one with our staff and one at Blinn College. Our staff party consisted of breakfast burritos, cream cheese rolls, and christmas cookies. We had a gift exchange and at the end of it I got a wonderful Christmas cd (which I had wanted) and 4 lottery tickets! These were my first lottery tickets--and I won dittley squat. At lunch we had lasagna, salad, bread, and cheese cake. I was so stuffed.

On Friday we went to the Blinn Christmas Party. Our museum is affiliated through Blinn--the way we explain it is we are the stepchild of Blinn. Blinn is located in Brenham which is about 30 minutes away. So we all loaded up in the van and headed out on our field trip. There was so much food there! Tons of cocktail shrimp, roast beef sandwhiches, a chocolate fondue fountain, and lots of desserts. It was another day of fullness!

Monday, December 12, 2005

I Got a Couch!

Well, my days of sitting on the floor are coming to an end. Today I found my very own couch! It is a cream color and the fabric is like suede. It comes with pillows but I'm going to change them--not my cup of tea. The best part is it folds out into a bed. That was my major stipulation. I had seen the couch in the store but it didn't have an "i'm also a bed" tag. Luckily the lady helping me checked and low and behold it was a bed! This way I will be able to have people over and they can comfortably sleep. The sofa is out of stock right now but it will be delivered once I get back from Christmas holidays. I'm so excited!

Saturday, December 10, 2005

"Here Let Me Give You My Card"

Right before leaving work on Friday, the director of the museum, Houston, returned from Blinn College with a present for me...my business cards!!! I was so excited I wanted to give one to everyone I met that night at the mall.

Today we had a special reception at the museum for a group from China. Houston and I were the only staff people there to get ready for the event. The day before, Anne, the curator of education and Houston's wife, asked me to help him. She said he really didn't know how to set up for a reception. So I helped arrange the cookies and petit fours neatly on the plates. Then I set out the glasses for spice cider and the wine (that was quite different from any ACU receptions). When the group from China came it was fun to hear the interpreter speak chinese.

I'm still not use to having an upper level/salary job. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to go into the reception with everyone. I'm use to being the student worker or the sales associate--aka the bottom rung. But this time I was suppose to be there--it was a nice feeling.

It's very interesting to see what goes on at the museum. Each day is new and there are interesting surprises sometimes. I think that's why I like it so much!

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Ice and TV Stars

Last night it was very very cold and rainy. I realized that there would probably be some ice on my car in the morning. So I left the apartment 10 minutes early in order to scrape it off. Well, the ice was on there a little bit thicker than I thought. At first I couldn't even get my key into the keyhole. Then, once i got the door unlocked I couldn't get the door open! I had to make countless trips in and out of the apartment with cup-fulls of warm water to dump on the door. (Also I couldn't find my gloves so I had a pair of warm socks on my hands). Finally, after about 20 minutes I got my door open. Then I couldn't find my scrapper. So I had to sit in the car and just wait for the defrost to thaw my car out. By the time I got to work I was an hour and 15 minutes late--Sheesh!

Effie, our secretary, found out from her husband that a man just down the road from the museum won the Home Edition of Extreme Makeover! So there are workers and camera crews just down the road. Starting this Saturday the public can park at the musuem and take a shuttle down to watch the construction. So if any of you watch this show keep a lookout for the episode located in Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas!

Monday, December 05, 2005

Today I got a music downloading system! It's been quite awhile since I've had this. So a majority of my day off was spent downloading music. I've found my new time waster...second only to facebook :)

A few of my favorite downloads so far:
* "Hallelujah" song from the finale of season 1 of the O.C. (I tear up everytime I hear this song)
* "I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You" from Mask of Zorro
* "Mack the Knife" sung by Michael Buble
* "One Song Glory" from Rent

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Marshmellow Cream Dilema

Saturday I spent about 20 minutes searching for marshmellow cream. Sheesh! I needed to make a batch of fudge for my Small Group meeting Sunday night so I ventured to HEB for the ingredents. During my first 5 minutes of the search I ran into Andrei--a guy I met at church who actually worked with my dad a few years back. After a discussion about organic cereal I began my search again. I walked up and down every aisle and finally had to ask for help. The girl I asked had to go call the grocery department then came back to tell me it was on the side of the aisle. Finally I found it--located on the top of the shelf way out of eye level. Oy vey!

I watched an amazing movie Saturday night called Awakenings. It stars Robin Williams and Robert Deniro. It's about a doctor who helped epillectic comatose patients to revive. I absolutely loved it--it is on my Christmas list. Everyone should rent this movie!

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Christmas Carnival

Friday night I helped at a Christmas Carnival that A&M Church of Christ puts on every year for children from low-income families. I figured this would be a good way to get involved with the church and have some time to interact with children. The night started off with me going to the wrong place (the church) and then having to call a lady I have befriended to receive directions to the carnival. Once I got there I had to figure out where I was suppose to be stationed--I signed up to help with the arts and crafts table. So the first lady I found I asked if she could direct me. She was so sweet and made sure I found my table. The craft of the night was Christmas cards involving construction paper, stickers, Christmas foam pieces, glue, markers, and pom pom balls. We were a very popular table during the night.

The lady who helped me find my station stayed with me and learned about why I was here in College Station and about my activities in Abilene. Through our talk I found out she is the Children's Coordinator at church and was interested in my work with the youth at Highland. Because of this contact I think I may have a position helping out in the 3 year old class starting in January! I'm so excited--I've really missed teaching at church. Just another step to getting more involved with my new church family.

*Interesting note: Last Monday while shopping in Target I realized one of the workers looked familiar. He did a double take of me as he walked by. On his way back he asked if I was from Abilene. I said yes and then asked him if he went to Abilene High...another yes. Brandon Corey (who I went to middle and high school with) is just recently out of the Marines and going to school out here---what a small world!

Saturday, November 26, 2005

A Little Light Fun

So it's Saturday afternoon...I'm at work...(just gave a program designed for small kids to 9 adults)...it's been pretty slow...time to jazz up the day! Enjoy! (I borrowed this from my ex-partner in the Highland Middle School class--thanks Kat!)

FIRSTS :
First best friend: Kristen Kliever (haven't seen her since 5th grade!)
First car: '84 Honda Accord--pretty janky
First date: Freshman year of college with Layne Dussechleger (first and only date)
First kiss: Well, according to my mom it was in kindergarten--note sent home "Erin needs to control herself. She kissed a boy today"
First crush: Brandon Green in first grade
First self-purchased CD: umm...not sure--my very first cd was The Monkees Greatest Hits--yeah

LASTS :
Last car ride: to work
Last library book: The Warren Report--it was for a history paper
Last movie seen: in theaters--Walk the Line; on t.v.--Finding Nemo
Last beverage: Coke (drinking it as we speak)
Last food consumed: Fun Size Fast Break candy bar
Last phone call: last night with matt
Last shoes worn: my black work shoes (the comfortable ones)
Last cd played: Jekyll and Hyde
Last item bought: diet pepsi with lime and a twix
Last annoyance: aunt flo--enough said
Last disappointment: Abilene High--0 South Lake Carroll--52 (yikes!)
Last frustration: car ride to Waco (i'll explain later)
Last reason to smile: when the highway patrolmen searched my car at 12:30am
Last reason to laugh: retelling the story of the patrolmen on the phone
Last shirt worn: light blue button-up shirt
Last website visited: xanga
Last words you said: one more hour (to Ketra about leaving work)
Last thought: I really need some chocolate
Last song you sang: In His Eyes (jekyll and hyde) I tend to sing all the time in the car--keeps me awake :)

Monday, November 21, 2005

Thanksgiving Schedule

I start my wonderful Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow at noon. I go to work at 8:30, give two tours to school kids (cutting it a little close there, kiddos) and then I'm on my way to Abilene! Here's what my schedule looks like for the next few days:

Tuesday
- Arrive in Abilene around 5:00ish
- See if any of the SPP gang is still in town
- Movie at 8:00ish with Christy and special guests (so far on the list are Haley Savage, Tyler Lawerence, and Steven Moore!)
- After the movie hang out with my boys

Wednesday
- possibly lunch with Matt and Bryson
- go check out the crew at Kirkland's
- leave sometime with the family to Dallas

Thursday
- watch Thanksgiving Day Parade
- help with lunch
- laze around

Friday
- not sure what I'll do during the day
- 7:00 go to the Abilene High playoff game in Waco!
- After the game head back to CS for work on the next day

Saturday, November 19, 2005

$=real food

Well, I survived 5 weeks waiting to receive my first pay check from the museum. This past week I start to get a little low on the creative food venue: mainly I was living on cereal and pb&j. But Friday was a blessed day when the direct deposit fell through! Tonight I spent a leisurly trip in H.E.B. My kitchen is now filled to the brim with wonderful food! Some of my favorite items:

* Chocolate Peanut Butter Soy Ice Cream
* White Chedder Cheetos (whoa)
* Popcorn Shrimp
* Kashi Crunch Cereal

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

I hate Mondays!

With my current work schedule I have my day off on Mondays which should make the day a joyous time of relaxation, right? Well, the past few Mondays have been hectic, stressful, and sometimes have ended in tears. I'm still trying to get settled into my new city which means I have a lot of things to change and setup and Mondays have become the designated day for all that crap. I should have known it was not going to be an enjoyable day when at 8:30 in the morning a jackhammer type instrument went off right behind my apartment. Apparently they decided to fix the sidewalk early in the morning on my one day to sleep in! Somehow I managed to drown out the sound and sleep a little longer. During the morning time I researched different insurance places for my car insurance. Then I made a list of everywhere I had to go--I had to get a notary to sign my request for defensive driving (yes I got not one but 2 tickets on my way to and from Abilene a few weeks ago) and I need to get a few groceries from super walmart. I got in the car and started to backup when I noticed the car was really sluggish. I got out and saw the the problem--a very flat tire. Grrrrr! At first I wasn't sure what to do. I followed my first instinct and called my parents but neither one of them answered. Then I remembered that in my trunk I had a travel size air pump that plugs in the car. So after airing the tire I rushed to the little Walmart across the street. I assumed it would take an hour to an hour and a half to fix. Well, I was there from 2:15-5:00! They had to change both of my front tires and for some reason it takes 3 hours to do that. So I missed my chance to go to the notary and it was after 6:30 when I returned home from grocery shopping...sheesh.

Maybe next Monday will be a little better!

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Not a Dull Day

So my day at work started out like a pretty typical Saturday. Yes I work on Saturdays. It's not as bad as it sounds--I'm the only one back in the office so I can do whatever I want. Today I was doing research for some upcoming bulletin boards I will be putting up. This whole past week the temperature in the office has been very cooperative--a nice liveable setting. Today it literally is the ice box. At around 11:45 Ketra, one of the weekend front desk workers, came by my desk and asked if I would like the space heater. I thought it might be nice to feel my fingers again. So I brought it in, pluged in in and turned it on. As soon as I turned it on my computer shut off and this horrible, continuous beeping commensed. I ran out to Bill and Ketra and asked for their help. We figured out it was the backup system that was beeping--not really a good thing. So we called Effie and followed her suggestion on flipping all the breakers. This did not erradicate the problem but made it worse as the lights in the outer office turned off! Finally, under Effie's suggestion, we just unplugged the backup system. What's scarey is it kept beeping even though it wasn't plugged in! Ketra and I slowly backed away from it. We got the lights turned back on--thank goodness! So at least the day wasn't completely boring!

*Highlight of the day: I had a Pizza Lunchable for lunch today! I haven't had one of those in years. I felt I need to revert back to my childhood.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Kids Say...

Finally after almost a month I have internet capabilities in my apartment. The guy who fixed it was only on my computer for 10 minutes. He clicked one little thing and everything worked--sheesh! All that waiting for one little click.

I love working with little kids. Each day is different and you never know what they will say. Today on one of my tours I had an answer to a question that I had to keep from laughing at. On the second floor tour of the museum I set the kids on the floor while I talk a bit about the people who came to Texas. I begin by saying "many people came to Texas because there was something they could get that was really cheap and sometimes free". I ask the students what it was. The correct answer is land. Some of the common answers I get are food and wood but today I had a little boy say doors. It was such a random answer that I wasn't expecting. I had to hold in the laughter.

One more day of work until my blessed weekend. But this evening I have some special visitors coming that will make the weekend a whole lot better!

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Getting Paid to Play!

Today I had such a wonderful time at work! Anne took Judy and I (the newbies) to see the rest of the park. I have been here almost a month now and I haven't met the other people who work at the park--I've talked to them on the phone. We started at the visitor's center which has a wonderful gift shop full of texas items. I already know where most of my Christmas presents are coming from. Next we walked the trail behind the center all the way to the Brazos River. It's so beautiful down there--everything is green and there are trees, real trees...not the bushes we have in Abilene. Next we went down to the farm. Since we are VIP we got to ride around on the golf cart. We toured the slave cabins and the pen with the baby oxen named Sam, Slim and Shorty. Next we visited the house of Anson Jones (it really is the actual house). FYI: Anson Jones was the last president of the Texas Republic. In the yard of the house were chickens and ducks freely roaming around. Janice, one of the ladies who runs the tours of the farm, showed us her gardens in the back full of carrots, cabbage, onions, etc. She actually uses the food grown to cook meals down there. I can't wait to go there while a school group is down there! After lunch I went to the back where Maria and Shawn work on all of the artifacts. They showed some of the stuff they have and explained how to handle them and the type of controlled climate that has to be kept. And now it's about time for me to leave--I'm leaving early to meet the internet guy so I can finally get internet in my apartment! All in all it has been an absolutely wonderful day--I love my job!!!

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Sheesh...It's About Time!

Well, I know I told everyone that I would start up my blog again since I wouldn't be in the same city. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to get started. The main problem is I don't have my wireless internet setup yet. It's going on the 4th week without it. I now personally know 3 of the guys at the computer company and talk with them as if I have known them for years. Hopefully sometime this week I can get it figured out. (If anyone out there knows anything about getting wireless on a laptop I would appreciate any advice).

The job is going great! I love it alot! So far I have scheduled many tours--I think I have most of that down. Last week was my first time to give tours. I gave 7 tours in 3 days! My first day, Wednsday, I gave three separate tours so by the time the day was over I was an expert. Each tour is different depending on the kids and mostly on the teacher and how she manages the class. I've had some interesting groups who have been hard to handle mainly because their teacher pretty much gave them to me and went to look at items in the museum--grrrr! But I have had some other wonderful groups. Last Thursday I had the "heavenly group" as I call them. They were absolutely perfect and so far no other group has matched them. At the end of giving the tour to one of the groups, two third grade girls were upset that I wasn't going with them to the next site--it was so cute!

Apartment living is going well. I'm still lacking a few pieces of furniture but I have the major essentials...the t.v.! I'm still unpacking--it's hard to figure out were to put all my stuff. Last night I went to the exercise room for the first time. It's pretty nice. I used the treadmill (which I found out this morning I should have stretched first--a little sore). I'm slowly getting involved with A&M Church of Christ. Already I have found people I have connections with. I met the parents of a girl I knew from ACU and last Sunday I sat next to a guy who did an internship in my dad's office--how weird!

Anyway, that's about all that's been going on in my life so far. I promise to keep ya'll posted!

EC

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

It's Been Awhile

Wow. It really has been a long time since I wrote on this thing. What with student teaching and work spring semester I hardly had time to get on the computer. But here it is September and I'm ready to write...

The most exciting news right now is I have a job interview this Friday. After 3 months of sending out resumes I finally have received some contact. The job is in Washington, TX (20 minutes from College Station). It is at the Star of the Republic Museum, a state accreditated museum through Blinn College. The job title is Public Programs Coordinator and includes the tasks of giving information about the museum, scheduling tours and conducting tours.

I'm so excited and a little nervous. I would really, really love to have this job.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Top of the Morning to Ya

Last night at Kirklands was very, very slow and boring. The one event that perked things up was that three women visiting from Ireland came and bought quite a few items. It was so much fun to hear them talk. I love to listen to different accents. It was also fun to watch them count out their American money, wondering which coin was a penny or a dime. Once they had finished paying for something they would walk away and in a few minutes return with something else they wanted. They were so adorable!

I think Robin comes home either today or tomorrow. I'm really excited--I miss my roommates alot. I've had fun living in the house by myself, but after a week and half of that I'm really longing for someone to talk with. So maybe when I get off from work tonight there will be a special Robin surprise waiting for me!

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Where'd Ya Get that Shiner?

I found out that on Sunday night around 10:00 totally chaos struck my family's house. At this time the lights in the house flickered on and off until finally the whole house went dark. Then there were sparks in the backyard right next to the windows. Apparently one of the electrical lines ran through a tree and over time, the wire had rubbed against the bark until it severed. Needless to say my sisters were going frantic in the dark.

Along with the darkness my mom managed to injure herself. She was back in my old room, which she is converting into an office (shot through the heart). When the lights went out, she saw the sparks from the window and thought it was a fire. In her moment of fright she forgot that she had placed some large pieces of furniture in the hall. As she ran out of the room she tripped on my bench, causing her to hit her eye right on the corner of the wooden beast.

I went to my parent's house yesterday to check out the damage to my mom. She entered the house wearing her sunglasses. When she removed the glasses there it was...quite a nice shiner. Not only was it black all around, but there was also a small gash near the corner of her eye. I felt so sorry for her.

On another note, I saw an opossum in the road (alive) while I was driving last night. I get cheap thrills out of the most insignificant things.