Fall Cleaning

apparently when it's stormy and fall-ish out, i get an urge to clean and cook. i made dinner tonight (spaghetti with from-scratch meatballs) for me and my friend jen, then vaccuumed the kitchen and my room, did the dishes (twice), and baked a cake. from scratch. oh, and i wiped down my bathroom sink. and windexed my floor-length mirror. forget spring cleaning...it happens in the fall, apparently.

No Real Reason

for once i have no lameass excuse for not posting yesterday. i went out to dinner with my mom and sister and her husband and kids, and got home lateish only to watch tv and cruise my websites. it just totally slipped my mind that i have a duty of some tenuous kind to about 3 people to post here every day. my bad.

yesterday and today have been those perfect late summer/early fall days where the weather is just ideal, all warm goldenness and comfortable temperatures, there's a nice cool breeze, and i can drive around with my music cranked and windows down without having sweat running down my back. it doesn't hurt either that i have this amazing guy in my life that makes me smile all the time, or that i'm within about five pounds of my ideal weight, or that i have an awesome apartment to chill in all the time. i'm waiting for the other shoe to fall, which shows what kind of an optimist i am. it's just too much goodness right now, so much it's scary.

I <3 Pizza Rolls, So Sue Me

it is, i've found, the toughest thing to work all day, come home, and cook for myself. it sounds pretty simple when i put it like that, like hello katie people do that every single day all over the world, but for some reason i find it to be this often insurmountable challenge. usually i say F this and end up at chipotle's, or mcdonald's, or drowning my laziness in my java chip. or even more often, dependent upon supplies, i usually end up waiting all of 15 minutes for my $0.79 pizza to heat up, or a frozen egg roll, or etc.

but tonight: i cooked. nothing insane, and i got the kind of bacon that's already cooked you just have to heat it in the microwave (YES THIS IS AWESOME, there is nothing i hate more than dodging bacon grease), but i had wheat pasta with crumbled bacon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a ton load of parmesan cheese. highly recommended for you carb addicts out there. and not super challenging. just don't look in my freezer at the newly bought stack of frozen pizzas and pizza rolls and chicken patties...or if you do just pretend i'll make something exotic with them.

Strategery

how to win a game of cutthroat pool, when it is down to your ball and your opponent's ball (and who cares if he's six feet of cuteness, you still need to win):

1. aim for your own ball. yes, on purpose.
2. miss. "accidentally."
3. watch your opponent aim at his own ball.
4. let him get it in the pocket before telling him he just hit his own ball in.
5. lord your victory over him.

it's a surefire way to win, and then get a glare that is half anger half hard-won respect for f-ing them over, and then get a smile that might make you momentarily feel bad for winning - but you hold strong because you totally won.

then give him a i'msorrybutnotallthatsorry hug, and continue holding your victory over him.

Left My Heart

i know the song is about san francisco, but though i've been there this year, my heart has been left in memphis, tn. it could have been the company, (ok it was mostly the awesomely baby blue-eyed company...) but i loved memphis. if i didn't have such a grown-up life with obligations, i would be moving there pretty much....tomorrow. as it stands, though, i'll definitely be going back. the city has great vibes, i loved everyone i met, and it has decent food. the barbecue not so much, but the other food was good. to tell the truth though, i mostly just miss this guy:
i'll be seeing you again, memphis.

Totally Not My Fault

i was held hostage at a hookah bar last night. then pete wouldn't let me use my computer. but now he gave it back to me, so here i am...

today we went to the mid south fair here in memphis, and to sum it up in some brief images: a woman's head on a fake spider body, carnies yelling at pete to win me something or they would, the smell of frying anything and everything, a camel biting pete on the chest, smile jesus loves you, and aviator sunglasses.

back to more regular posting soon, after i unfortunately wrap up my visit here.

Mystery Revealed

so my big mystery does not involve crunk paint jobs or firebirds, it involved me driving 8 hours to visit the reverend, who i have known and talked to for the past 7 years but not actually seen, in memphis, tn. last night i was too busy packing and being overly excited and unable to sleep over the whole trip, so no post. but here i am again, from a new city!

i actually left at 3 am this morning for my drive, and consequently barely remember the leg from kansas city to st. louis. i better remember the st. louis to memphis leg, notable for a rock hitting my windshield and cracking it, and me getting tired enough to pull over to close my eyes. i guess driving on two hours of sleep isn't the smartest plan out there.

the rev. and i have had an awesome day since i've gotten here, and i've already seen a ton of memphis, including their art museum, beale street, and starbucks. the essentials. we got to catch a free concert downtown, which was possibly the most perfect thing to relax after driving for so long.

stay tuned for more i'm-in-another-city posts...

Top Secret

there are major covert operations afoot in my world. covert really from one group of people, pretty much wide open to the rest of everyone.

i don't want to give any clues because all clues i can think of are pretty much too obvious. and most of you reading this already know what's going on. it does involve this weekend, it also involves my car. am i finally getting that crunk paint job i always wanted? new rims? trading it in for a firebird?

you'll find out in a few days...there may or may not be a post tomorrow, but saturday all will be revealed. duh duh duhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....

Publish!

crapcrap it's 11:59 how fast can i type....

I Promise I Am Not a Cat Lady

to continue my trend of using the house cats to showcase my emotions, here is how i feel when my alarm goes off and it is too sunny in my room and i went to bed late and there is not a large cup of coffee waiting at hand for me and i realize i have several hours of work ahead of me:
yoshi, you totally get me.

Mrs. Java Chip

if it were possible to marry something that is edible, this would be the love of my life:
it is worth every overpriced penny i spend on it, it never lets me down, and it brings coffee and chocolate into my life whenever i so desire. what more could you ask?

Evening Nap

after a comforting dinner of chicken tikka masala, and a long slow day at work (again), i was ready to cozy down on my bed to check out all of my jillion websites (see sidebar) and catch up on all i've missed while at work for 8 whole hours. two hours later, i woke up. i had done the whole oh i'll just close my eyes for a couple minutes deal, which turned into passed out cold next to my laptop. i guess i was really tired. i came to find out too that yoshi took a nap at the same time, directly under me - the minute i woke up and started text messaging (because that is what you do the second you wake up, you send a text), he jumped on the bed with a thank-god-you're-finally-up-to-pet-me yowl. maybe i was a cat in a former life. and i can only hope i was this cute:

Hunter Gatherer

i'm pretty sure that shopping satisfies a basic hunting/gathering need in womenkind. and the biggest rush in shopping is getting a deal...i'm not sure what the equivalent would have been for our cave dwelling forebears (an extra large basket of berries? a really chubby wild pig kill? who knows), but the sale is an all powerful thing in my world. i have been known to look deeply at things that i would never have otherwise looked at except for the lovely red sticker. and today i got the best deal of all - the negotiated deal. i wanted a bench made to go with my new bed and dresser, yet didn't want to pay the full price. luckily, i came to discover that my bed had actually been put on sale, so i did something i have never done: gotten the difference back and applied it to my purchase. throw in my minor level sob story about how i had to live a week without my dresser and i suddenly dropped $90.00 off of my bench. awesome. i don't get it for almost a month but that's ok, i get it and i love it and i got a deal. i totally got the chubby wild pig today.

Just Blink or Something

i am under no illusions about my looks. i think i look ok, better than some, worse than some, i get by. but in just the past couple days i have been stared at intently by at least two men that come in to my work, who try to catch my eye and keep it from the moment they approach the counter til they leave. for one, this is uncomfortable. i don't like making eye contact for an extended period of time. for two, i don't like making eye contact for an extended period of time when i don't know what your motives are. and lastly, you are wearing a wedding band. way to be subtle. mad sketchy. i have gotten to the point that pretty much any guy in my age range ish or who is doing the hey keep my eye contact so i might be able to skeezily wink at you thing that approaches the counter gets virtually no eye contact from me. they get the bustling katie who is over here and there getting bags, getting things bagged, organizing your stack of purchases, waiting intently for receipts, looking for a pen, etc etc. awkward.

Flash of Anger

how. on. earth. could a woman put a pro-life sticker on her bumper? it made me want to go punch the back of her stupid little escort. i mean, my explanation was written all over the back of her car: "st. teresa's academy...st. elizabeth's school for whatever." neat. i want to see the immaculate conception happen to her and have her not freak out.

The MTV Spiral

i am not sure how or when or why this has happened, but i am addicted to several crappy mtv shows. namely the hills, real world: sydney, and engaged & underage. i watch them online and patiently wait out the buffering (rationalization: it is the same as waiting through commercials) so i can catch everything in smooth, 3 inch by 3 inch square action. i talked to a coworker today about the downward spiral real world has taken over the years, and how i actually felt like i learned valuable things from early seasons like seattle and san francisco whereas now i learn how retarded you can look if you get wasted and sleep with your roommate. which i suppose is valuable in its own way. and just to wrap this up, i just reread my first sentence and want to yell "they are NOT crappy shows! they are entertaining! and they sway me in what color nailpolish to use! and i see how naive and dumb teenagers in love can be! and i don't know what's redeeming about the real world but it is not crappy! maybe!"

Aminals

after rescuing a stray siamese/very tall bobcat-like cat tonight, our household now consists of three cats and three humans. these are the cats:



this is fiona. she is the baby, and is owned by roommate amanda. she is a fluffball.



this is bowser. he is the original cat of the apartment, and is kind of resentful of these newcomers.



and this is yoshi. he is the brand new member of the house, rescued from my assistant manager's back porch. he is HUGE.

and those are the non-humans of the house...

Fall at Swelles

with the air turning cooler, crisper, fresher, this is the time of year my mind always goes back to a certain verdant oasis 13.5 miles outside of boston. and when i say always i mean this year and last year since the previous four years i was actually in said oasis. at this time of year, the place smelled greenish brown, you could just begin to hint out the undercutting ice to the air temperature, and there was no place where the sky got bluer or the leaves redder. i have no desire to head back to musty classrooms or required lectures, but right about now i have the strongest urge to lay facedown on severance green on a big soft blanket and not move.

37 Hour Shift

today was one of those days at work where i become convinced that time has actually finally stopped. i would work for about an hour and look at my watch and it had been three minutes. there is n o t h i n g worse to me than a day going slowly. nothing. i would rather be running pell mell around the store keeping a jillion customers happy than staring at the white wall across from the store as the light changes its color all day. it makes me so tired, no matter how much sleep i did or did not get. so basically this was just a post to bitch & moan...my life is hard and days need to move faster sometimes. the end.

In & Out & In & Out

i'm still awake, it counts.

today was a long and busy day. because i went to bed at the way cool time of 10:45 last night, i woke up at the equally cool time of 8:45 this morning. i was productive and went to lowe's to get some shelving for our kitchen, and then unpacked what was left of my junk in the kitchen. then i went to old settler's out in olathe, then back to midtown where my DRESSER ARRIVED YAYYYYYYYYY, then out to downtown kc for the greatest show on earth. i forgot how cheesy the circus can be, but it's still fun. after that it was back to my place to show it off to some family friends, then out to dinner where my roommate works, then back to my place to unpack into my new dresser from my luggage (can we say finally? finally.), then out driving to the plaza and back in jen's new car. THEN i finally stayed put and did laundry and finished pretty much all unpacking (except putting up my curtains which is proving to be more of a challenge than previously realized since my wall appears to be made of something the consistency of cement). then i was on the phone. for like...2.5 hours. addiction is bad...but not that bad.

Make It a Double

i had my first normal-sized but doubly espressoed starbucks coffee this morning. and after about, oh, three sips i was wired. my whole brain still was in asleep mode under my blankets in a warm dark place but i was up and walking and fidgeting and twitching with caffeine. i sipped on that coffee for the rest of the day to give me little spurts of energy, but by the end of the day i was rubbing my eyes like a 2 year old needing a nap. i remember days in high school when i stayed up til 3, 4, 5 am and woke up at 6:30 for school and did just fine. i think i used to be part robot. now 2 am and the next day i am pretty much needing someone to come physically pick me up out of bed and carry me to coffee. maybe i should move my senseo to my bedside table...

Another Lame Excuse

i did not post or shower last night (don't worry i just finished showering, i am clean) because i was on the phone. i could say the guy i was talking to was having some big life crisis and i couldn't be torn away to post, but that would be a lie. i was just on the phone having fun and didn't want to be torn away. ok well my brain is still in a basically comatose state, so i'll post again later tonight. unless he gets me again.

Oh Shiz

i almost sat here all night tooling around online and not posting on my blog. not that anything earth shattering occurred today to write about, but i still made a pact to post. today was one of those days where you feel like you've been at work for approximately 17 hours and then you look at the clock and it is 2:30. meaning you have 3.5 hours left to go. that is the worst feeling to me. i hate days that just d r a g. but then i went out to dinner with jen, plus a trip to walmart to get some necessities, plus i may or may not have a plan in the works for a solo weekend trip in the next couple weeks to a state and city i am not so familiar with but a person that i am more so familiar with. more on that to come.

I Don't Understand

why does starbucks not serve their own ice cream in their own stores? at least, i haven't visited every starbucks on the planet, but i am pretty sure they don't. and this makes me sad because right now god what would we better than some starbucks coffee ice cream while sitting in a starbucks? mostly because then i would be eating coffee ice cream and smelling coffee at the same time which just sounds good right now. and then i would be up til like 3 am. does coffee smell give a contact caffeine high? i'm pretty sure it does.

The New Place

after one persuasive vote, here are pictures. view them all at picasaweb.google.com/katie.landise...enjoy!


what it all began with.


end result! my pretty new bed with my ososoft bedding.


my wall of pictures. up there: a john singer sargent that hits you like a kapow when you see it in real life at the isabella stewart gardener museum, my modigliani print that was a gift from my grandfather, a trio of my niece & nephews, an original photo print by a kc photographer, a picture of galenstone tower at swelles, an african mask i bought last summer, and a trio of my baxters.


and lastly & importantly, my bathroom. i put that shelf thingy together. i should probably start my own TLC home building show now.

Squeaking In

i'm barely making this whole self-imposed deadline of posting every day. i've got half an hour so i'm still good, at least for today.

i'm unwinding on my brand new bed against my serasoft (carried at bb&b, check this stuff out it is the shiz) pillows listening to jack johnson and smelling my tocca candle, reveling in my successful picture hanging. pictures of my pictures to come soon. i also built a bookshelf and shoe cubby deal today, and filled two garbage bags with clothes i'm going to get rid of. this was all after work was over at 6 pm. long day. unfortunately, i still have approximately 6 gajillion bags to unpack, plus 4 boxes. plus all my clothes need to be better organized for easy access til my dresser gets here next weekend. plus i still have crap to hang, and to buy, and to organize in other rooms. but i'm getting there. hopefully by the end of my day off tomorrow i will be able to post some pictures, though i'm tempted to wait all the way til next weekend when i have my dresser and tv set up. i'll take votes.

1/3 Of The Way

ok well everything is in the apartment. it is a jumbled pile of doom but it is in the house. i think i broke my back and arms and possibly also calves carrying the furniture up, but it's always nice when you can sit down on it and be like yesss it's done.

we only had 2 hitches today. we got to the truck rental place this morning where i had a 10' truck reserved (i won't say the company's name but it rhymes with fudge it) and they were basically like uh yeah we don't have any 10' trucks. so we ended up with a 16' truck, which actually turned out nicely because we had ample room for all of my crap. but they charged us more. not cool. my other little hitch was the fact that when my dresser was being delivered, they had the dresser and its feet but no hardware to put the feet on. i ended up refusing that dresser, opting for them to deliver a whole dresser with feet attached in a week. so i'll be living out of my suitcases til then.

i'm about to drop dead with exhaustion. i couldn't even finish my pho for dinner i was so tired. that is very tired.

Ew I Totally Need to Repaint My Nails Now

so technically i didn't post "yesterday" either since it's now technically september 1, but i have been up this whole time so i think it counts. yes/no?

i feel totally icky right now from packing up stuff at the townhouse. that took forever and a day, and i hate moving heavy things and unscrewing things and boxing things. who knew i had 15 boxes worth of crap? hopefully as i unpack i will de-crap as i sort. tomorrow/today is moving day, and i think it's gonna be a long one. i'm already sore and tired...who wants to be hired to carry all my stuff for me? i will pay you with love and sunshine.