Beautiful White Flowers

I've been bad about posting lately... but things have been SO busy and SO wonderful, it's been hard to decide what to write about and when to find the time to do it. Seriously, now that I am going to have a job, everything is much easier. I can sleep well again, and I want to get up in the morning again.

It was also awesome to be able to tell everyone at Leah's wedding about my new job. It made an incredible celebration even better. I don't think of myself as a weepy girl, sentimental, not weepy. However, when I first saw Princess Leah at her wedding my eyes watered a bit because she took your breath away.

I may post some more pictures/stories (songs??) from the event, I'm still busy editing them, of course. Sorry I've been AWOL, I'll try to be better.

Coming out of Retirement

Well...in a month, at least. I GOT A JOB! I'm pretty pumped about it as it is a job I want and I can see it as having excellent growth potential. Gross, I guess I really am thinking about the future. Turns out there are actually things I want (other than living the college life). I want a liquor supply that is still stocked after one weekend (What? I have my priorities straight). I want an apartment with a balcony, porch, or deck. I want to look at a menu and not think "What's the cheapest thing on here that I could eat and not still be starving??" I want a new computer and maybe a photo printer. Ok, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. In any case, I'm looking forward to having a steady income again, and I'm looking forward to working and having a routine again. Seriously, sleeping until noon everyday gets old! No, I don't sleep until noon, 9 or 10 maybe, but not noon. WOOHOO, I truly am excited. One month to get myself in order and enjoy the summer GUILT-FREE and then it's hello Real World for me!

This picture doesn't relate. I took it after the storm last week, and I like it.

Swimming & Scabs

Technically, the first swim was on Monday, however, Tuesday it was really official. I was there alone the first time and didn't do anything too crazy since I was without adult supervision. Yesterday, though, I tried all of my dives & flips and swam the full length of the pool, which means it is officially summer. I can't wait to truly spend some time in there, like once it gets above 70 degrees and my legs still have feeling after two minutes. Looks like that may actually be possible with the warm temps this week. The rest of my Greenland scab came off when I did a front handspring and I stuck its corpse in this perfect size hole in the cement as a sort of science project -- yes, I am aware of how disgusting that sounds :)

The Land of Evermor

Yesterday, Douglas and I visited The Land of Evermor. I read about Dr. Evermor and his amazing creations in FOUND, and I could not resist checking out this unique historical attraction. This is the center piece, The Forevertron and can best be described by The Doctor, himself.

I was particularly fond of the Bird Band sculptures. They are composed of numerous instruments and various other metal parts and, like many of the pieces, look as though they will come to life at any moment.

Doug and I were both inspired by the creativity and dedication to the pieces in the sculpture park. If you weren't paying attention you could miss entire colonies of creatures and people.

Though the pieces themselves were worth the drive, the highlight for me was actually meeting Dr. Evermor and his Lady Eleanor. Honestly, I was a little nervous to talk to The Doctor as I've become such an admirer and I was worried I would gush all over about how cool I think he is. We talked to them for quite some time, and I have a feeling we will be back to visit again. It was truly a pleasure to meet them and to visit The Land of Evermor. Certainly a worthwhile adventure.

Puppy Love Feet

This is Cappy (Captain). He is my Auntie's new puppy and I love him. I had the pleasure of meeting him yesterday.
We had so much fun running through the woods together. It was a gorgeous day and I don't know which one of us was more excited about being out and about in the countryside. I am a bona fide City Girl, right now, but often after spending some time in the wilderness I realize that I may have to return someday to my barefoot, gravel road, poison ivy, country roots.

Could you ever say "No" to that face?

Queen Scruffy Muffin Scruffness The Scruffinator

...or as she's most often called, by my Father, "Shithead"

I'm missing her right now. I was hoping for a picture of the summer sun to brighten this grey day, but I found her precious mug instead. Mom and I need to take her to the vet soon to have all of her clumps shaved off, she's not going to like that. I just want to stick my face in her cheek!

Greenland & Iceland

Are itching the hell outta' me! I've named my knee wounds Greenland & Iceland respectively, see here. There are a few discrepancies on my knee map: Greenland is the small one and Iceland is the big one and too far west. I consider their Pangaea-esque movement away from each other as progress, however, the insane itching NEEDS TO STOP. Also, teeny tiny, black, flecks of what I believe to be tar are starting to surface on my knee and face road rash scars, neat.

AH! A company that I sent my resume to over two months ago just contacted me for the first time, yesterday. They are considering flying me out to interview or setting up an interview here (I just did a phone interview ON SPEAKER PHONE, Tracie, today) . Then, they may want me to relocate halfway across the country. They'd have to make it REALLY worth it.

Feeling a little barfy... I think I will clean the ceiling fans, vacuum the apartment, and perhaps take a long bath :D

Success

WOO HOO! I went for my first blade since the crash and everything went smoothly! I did wear wrist guards, even though my wrists got the least of it the last time, and I tried to keep my pace moderate -- which was difficult. I stuck to the bike path... not sure if I'm going to rule out urban blading altogether (the three times I've fallen have all been on the street/sidewalk).

In any case, I'm just so happy to get back out there again. I need something to do with all of my energy (and sometimes stress) and maybe now I'll even get back to needing sleep.

Calling back a potential travel job, then, justifiably relaxing for once.

Endlessly Entertained

Interesting finds on my walk through the city today:

A discarded, rain-soaked, parking ticket

One puffy, blue, gardening glove

A conversation painted on the sidewalk between someone named Milla Bitch and someone named Buggie Boy

A post-it note with "Move Car" written on it

A folded page from a Joy of Cooking calendar (Monday, October 9) with a recipe for some sort of brisket on the front and a hand-written work schedule on the back. For that week the individual worked a total of 21.5 hours.

Four straws. No, I did not pick them up, I only picked up the calendar page. Why are straws interesting you ask? Because they're EVERYWHERE.
* I was late for class one day and I didn't have a pen, so I decided that there had to be one on the street somewhere along the way. I came across one leadless pencil, no pens, and all different shapes and sizes of STRAWS! ...I'm a little puzzled by the plethora of straws.

I am FOUND

Thanks to POSTSECRET I have a new love in my life = FOUND. I just picked up the first book edition at the library and I'm eagerly awaiting the second. While reading an interview of a fellow finder I said to myself out loud, "These are my people!"

Some of you know about the collection of playing cards I have picked up from the street, I have 9 after about a year and I am hoping to one day be playing with a full deck (pun intended). I totally pirated this idea, however, I am trying to make it my own by documenting (of course) little tidbits on each card about where I found the card, plus, some sort of fact about that day.

Still, the more I've thought about found items the more I've realized that for years I have been perpetually scanning the ground for interesting stuff. In Jamaica, the only souvenir I came home with was a beautiful, red, watch that I just loved: found while searching the dance floor at a club. I'll be honest -- I was initially looking for money which may have fallen out of the pockets of drunk spring breakers. Regardless, it was a great find and I learned that you never know what you'll discover when alcohol and carelessness are present, if you're looking, that is.

With Mother's Day yesterday, I decided to bring FOUND home to share with my family. I told my Mom that she is to blame for sparking my curiosity about all things found as she used to drag us through abandoned farm houses all over North Dakota. She loves scrounging through deserted items, hoping for some slice of information which will offer a view into the lives of the former tenants. She said she always got a kick out of seeing what month and year a calendar was left on, perhaps, that was the last time people actually lived there.

If you get a chance you should really check out the book FOUND, I also enjoy the website http://www.foundmagazine.com/ and please feel free to share any stories you may have about your own finds. As they say, "One woman's trash is another woman's treasure!"

My Face Fell Off!

I finally have some lilacs. I had a perfect accomplice for the heists. Who would've guessed that we'd run into multiple lilac bushes on our stroll back yesterday evening? My Mama says that if you pick them this year more will bloom next year, so it was our duty to pick some from each one. Aren't they just gorgeous?

Anyway, per the title and for updating's sake, it's true = MY FACE FELL OFF, well the nasty crunchy part, at least. I have new skin already, and although it is freckleless and pink (Mikey can relate), it is beautiful. I keep touching it, which I probably shouldn't, but it is hard to believe otherwise. I'd post a new pic, but I'm assuming you're all as sick of my mug as I am.

It's not like I didn't think I would heal (for the most part), it's just that when you've felt kinda' shitty about something, you have to celebrate when things come around. I hit a low point last Saturday morning when I woke up with gauze welded to both of my knee wounds. We tried to ease the gauze off with warm water, though it didn't really help. I became incredibly frustrated with the slow pace of my healing and let my frustration spiral a bit to self-loathing pity. Today, however, I am amazed at the speed and relative ease of the process considering I had just busted out of the ER a week ago.

I seriously cannot stop smiling, in the mirror no less -- THE CRUNCHINESS IS GONE.

High Gloss Foot

(Figures, I paint the toenails and the weather turns to crap)

Testing 1 2 3

I spilled root beer on my keyboard. I immediately threw it upside down on the carpet and beat the crap out of it. Then, I took it apart as much as possible, damn root beer is sneaky I tell ya'. More throwing it onto the floor with paper towels underneath, plus a little hair-dryer action, and finally, just now, I smushed toilet paper in between the keys with a calling card, it was seriously dirty. So far so good, though!

*Dano -- the "smush" usage is for you, of course.

NO MORE STITCHES

I got my stitches out today! That's very exciting to me, A) because it's progress, and B) because when I had stitches ten years ago 4 of the 6 stayed in too long and made the scar worse. The nurse-guy who took out my 10 today said the wound looked awesome = yay! After seeing the tiny amount of skill and the minimal tools the process required, I realized I could have taken them out myself, I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting, lasers? magic serum?

Anyway, I'm feeling MUCH better and healing, well, miraculously (at least that's how it feels). I no longer goo on anything, you wouldn't have believed all of the goo = gross. Most of the tiny lacerations and abrasions are gone. Fat lip is totally healed. My facial roadrash seems about ready to shed itself, I am trying to be patient when it feels crunchy, and the knee wounds are doing their thing, although rather slowly since I tend to enjoy walking.

What's most interesting to me, when I am out in public, is how few people actually inquire about what happened to me. I wish people would so that I could clear up any misconceptions. I've had two middle-aged men ask me straight out what I did, and that's it. Amanda and I were discussing this yesterday and she noted how if you have a broken arm it's a completely different story, strangers everywhere are wanting to know how you broke it, but mess up your face and people glance at you with horror and then avoid eye contact. She suggested that people tend to want to avoid any awkwardness associated with questioning abnormalities on someone's face. I think being female also affects the situation. To quote my Brother, "Yeah Steph, you're doing pretty well considering that facial disfigurement is supposedly the number one fear among women." Thanks Dano. Lucky for me, I think any permanent reminders will be minimal at best and if the crunchy mess wins me any sympathy at job interviews, for the time being, I'll take it!

Investigating...

I went back to my crash site today to see if I could figure out what went down. I found some of my blood and my busted sunglasses, right where I abandoned them. Still, there wasn't a lot of explanation for what happened. In general, I aim for sticks because it's fun to make them split into pieces and rocks just fly to the side. I'm usually going too fast for them to disturb me. I was hoping for inconsistency in the pavement as a cause for the skid, but it looked like a pretty standard section of street.

The woman interviewing me today said that she had had an accident dirt bike racing once and, at the time, thought she was a pretty skilled rider so it was hard for her to say what caused her to crash. It was nice to hear that and I told her that I felt the same way about my accident.

Pretty Colors

Crash

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out (scarred), and proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!!!"

My Mom sent me a card with that little quote in it after spending the afternoon with me in the ER Thursday -- I added the (scarred) part -- I thought it was perfect and totally depicts the philosophy I'm trying to adopt. It's funny, because when I made that List of Things I Like, last week, I included "interesting scars" on there...looks like I'll have about five more interesting scars.

So, what the heck happened? Good frickin' question. I was blading home (sans any music), a block from my place, and I decided to go down the street before mine so that I could go up my street, stretching out my trip a little longer and getting some road blading in. Then, well, then I'm not quite sure, I think I started to skid in one direction and I went to regain control and then BAM! I'm pretty positive my head hit the pavement first with my knee following shortly after and then my hands and shoulder as I rolled. I ended up in a sitting position, somehow.

The only thing I can really remember thinking when it happened was "Oh my God, here we go, I'm fucking up my face, neat." When I've fallen in the past I try to move on quickly telling all people who stop to inquire that I'm OK. This time I sat there, blood dripping everywhere calling out for help before deciding to stand up to make sure I had all my parts and get out my cellphone.

It was surreal when the blood poured down my face completely blocking out my right eye. It was so warm and bright and totally could not be my blood. As I wiped the mysterious blood from the screen of my cellphone, a guy on his porch asked if I needed anything:
Whoa. Are you OK?
Um, No.
Can I get you something?
Um, sure.
What do you need?
The only thing that was really bothering me was the hot, red, stuff trickling over everything so I asked him for a towel. At the same time a lady pulled up in her car asking if she should call an ambulance and some guys who I believe were doing maintenance on the house I crashed in front of started talking to me too. I reached my Dad on my phone and he told me to go to Urgent Care (which I thought I might rollerblade to) unless I needed stitches. I turned to my crowd of onlookers:
Do you guys think I'll need stitches??
Yes.
Probably..
Oh definitely.
I told my Dad that it was pretty unanimous that I would need stitches and that it wasn't that bad, but they say it's just a lot of blood. He told me to get to the Emergency Room. Now, I know ambulances are FOR trips to the Emergency Room, I just DID NOT think it was necessary. Luckily, one of the gentlemen who I believed to be working on the house I was in front of offered to give me a ride. I know you shouldn't take rides from strangers, however, I gladly accepted and promised to do my best to control the red stuff.

In the gentleman's truck I was given a pack of frozen vegetables wrapped in another towel for my head from someone I apparently did not see who lived on the street. After I was dropped off at the ER entrance and rolled through the front door on my blades, another Good Samaritan, who was just there waiting to see her grandmother, got me a wheelchair, pushed me to the check-in and kept me company while I waited AND WAITED.

Once again, I just want to say HOW INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL I AM for the compassion, the advice, the ride, the towels, and the frozen veggies all from complete strangers. THANK YOU.

The ER was a whole scene in and of itself, from Dr. McDreamy stitching me up to a bit of hysterical laughter about the "pain scale" and finally to me busting myself out with a hospital gown wrapped around me three times to cover my butt. Ah, but alas, I am getting rather sleepy and tomorrow I do have an interview (for just a job job to get me through for a while) and I have to call back a company whose number is on a bloody post-it note (it was posted to the screen of my cellphone before the crash) and I haven't even gotten to the best part where Doug and his family were exceptional and took excellent care of me over the weekend, making me forget that I was all messed up.

Bottom line is this: 10 stitches, a few scars, no broken bones, no concussion. Also, I am planning on getting some protective gear as I will be rollerblading ASAP, and I would additionally like to note that I am mad enough about this whole thing as it is and I cannot imagine what it would be like if a person had done this to me as opposed to me (and maybe the road) causing this ordeal. Doug and I joked about strangers giving us looks like we were a domestic abuse case, but I honestly feel that the reality of domestic abuse is not a laughing matter. Alright, I am stepping down from my soap box, curling into my bed, and crossing my fingers that my knee goo does not fuse to anything in the middle of the night.

Thanks to everyone for all of the concern!

Sincerely,

Crash

Oops

I'm totally alright. 10 stitches, but I'm alright. More details later, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all the strangers who helped me. Now, off to meet Doug's parents!

there's always tomORrow

A potential employer emailed me and spelled the word "tomorrow" as "tomarrow"...I know I've had equally stupid spelling errors before, but seriously?!

I think I will call her anyway, let's see how this goes -- oh great, voicemail! Another person who tells me to call them (to "set up a time to talk tomarrow") and then doesn't answer their phone. She sounds like a smoker, a smoker who can't spell!

Perhaps I'm being too critical?

Who the F am I?

Yesterday I tried making a list of things that I like in order to determine my career path. It was about as pointless as any other career exercise I've completed over the years. I remember in middle school, we had to take some sort of survey which would decide our "Ideal Career Choices" I think mine resulted in: doctor, bus driver, and florist. None of which truly interest me (except maybe florist).

I was explaining recently how I appreciate being realistic when it comes to what you want to be when you grow up, and how if I had a class of kindergarteners I would tell them to work really hard on the things that they're good at because you can't be anything you want, there are limits. However, I'm having difficulties taking my own advice because I'm not quite sure what I'm good at, and my List of Things I Like completely degenerated towards the end, as things such as:
- Breaking frozen puddles
- Dancing like an idiot with the windows open
- Leaving hidden notes for people
- A good burp
- Orange Dreamsicles
provide about as much insight as the middle school survey, proving only the fact that I have not matured past the age of 7. Which, by the way, I am completely OK with.

Well, now I'm off to turn in some more applications and possibly call back a financial advising firm that keeps emailing me. I'm perplexed as to what makes them think I should be a financial advisor, but at this point I'm so confused about who I am anyway I may as well call them back, if only out of plain old curiosity.

Have you ever watched rain fall in a puddle? Sometimes it is the only way to tell if it's actually raining. I love and hate that about rain -- it can be hardly enough to even observe, yet still plenty to ruin a good day. It seeped into my skin on Saturday and did just that. I sat and watched that puddle forever while I waited for warmth to return to my body.

The chill subsided eventually. Nonetheless, even now I could use a little sunshine. I felt the effects of the weather slowing me down today. I got up motivated and went to work on applying for jobs, per usual. I found a job that honestly interested me (that's always a pleasant surprise) and then after I spent what seemed like forever filling out another application and making more revisions on my resume, I realized it was only a part-time position. I decided to send it in anyway. I'm going to need something more than part-time, however, I'm starting to get ...who am I kidding? I am desperate right now to find a job, and most pressingly, some funds. After submitting everything for that job, I started surfing through other job sites until the words all blurred together and I decided to leave my computer before I threw my monitor through the window.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping the weather will shape up and inspire me on my quest to apply to the other two locations I wanted to apply to in-person: I'm days away from crawling in and begging or bribing people to hire me :) Then, it's back to sprawling out over the Classifieds on my livingroom floor and possibly calling the staffing agency again to tell them I've lowered my standards = I'm willing to do anything.