Friday the 13th came late this year.

This is what I get for bragging that Friday the 13th has always been a lucky day for my family. It's called Karma. In the last 24 hours (in no particular order)

- I forgot about a piece of chocolate I had placed in my pocket only to discover the melted mess when I shoved my hand into the pocket much later, looking for my drivers license that I had apparently left in the bathroom

- Had my homemade lotion (yes, I mixed it myself!) as well as a mini bottle of mandarin vodka confiscated from me because I forgot to pack it in a ziplock bag (it made it to KS in the first place! must be safe.)

- Got my period (sorry if this is tmi, but it's just another thing to add to the list)

- Had my luggage LOST by the airport

- Had to wake up earlier than normal in order to get a cavity filled

- Spilled fruit punch all over my jacket because there was no place to sit in the food court so I had to bring my lunch back to the office

- Had to cancel a very hot date so that I can get my bag back! (This was one of the saddest of all!)

- Realized the sweater I'm wearing today has a HUGE hole in the armpit

There's more, but let's change directions...

In the last 24 hours:

I learned that our Assistants Retreat is tomorrow (free food ALL DAY LONG as well as getting to wear jeans and talk about whatever we want without it getting back to our bosses. Oh yeah, and not having to do real work!)

found out that I did not have to pay for the filling, so I saved $55!

got an email from a random friend about taking a bike ride together (I'm constantly looking for more people to go on bike rides with me before the weather gets too cold)

got my luggage delivered to my good friend's place, and realizing that canceling a date to watch season 2 of 24 with good friend to say thanks is not such a bad thing (sorry, no names, but feel free to inquire within)

realized I get to go on a hayride this saturday night! weeee.

time to peace out and give my assistants projects to work on for tomorrow! I'm glad this rainy day is coming to an end. Now I'm just hoping my date will be free tomorrow! cross your fingers!

On my way into the building this morning, I spotted a girl with an Athletic Penn windbreaker. What sport did she play, you ask? Dancesport! Because as we all know, it's only a real sport if the word "sport" is in the name. Who knew that ballroom dancing could be so hardcore? No one, because that statement is false.

Another strange occurrence happened early this morning. I was heading out to hand some files off to Joey (see below) and a man was sitting on the bench outside my area. He definitely looked me up and down as I walked past him and almost seemed to be taking notes. I think he even checked out my shoes! In the past, the Dean has heard comments from other people in our building (the President of the university works a floor above us along with the Provost) about how our staff is not well dressed enough. I feel like this guy was a spy. Good thing I had just changed out of my flip flops and into my sexy heels! Take THAT mister spy-man, sir. I mean, pig.

Joey is a very sweet man who really helps me out with this out-of-date database that I work with. In fact, he's the ONLY other staff member who can help me with it and not make me look incompetent in front of Doris when it comes to working with it. (Even though she honestly has no clue how to even open the program.) I thought he was so nice to be so helpful, so a few months ago, I started hugging him when I was really grateful, or even just to say hello because he was so happy about it. Then I saw that he was, well, really happy about it, so I pulled away. I felt bad 'cause I think he noticed I became much more distant with him, but I think it worked overall. Then of course this morning I had to go directly to his space, and as I stood next to him, he put his arm around me. Not terrible, I know! But still, I felt sketched out. I know he means no harm, but still, I can't wait to get out of here.

I'm done with my observations of the morning.

The theme of this weekend was disappointment. I tried to keep a positive attitude the whole time, and almost succeeded, but ultimately it overcame me and I am upset. There are certain situations when you can't really do anything about your disappointment except let it go when you're ready. I'm not, but hopefully I will be in the morning.

I forgot to post about the music I've been in love with lately!

I'm just going to list them for now, and perhaps elaborate more later:

Sparklehorse - LOVE it. Very relaxing and chill. Thanks to Mike for sending this my way.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - whole album is great, I wish I had seen them in concert

Pieces of April Soundtrack - bought this back in May, one of the few albums I can really listen to over and over again and never get bored of it

Phoenix (their newest album) - I learned about them by going to a free concert at World Cafe Live and it was the best thing I've done recently! The lead singer is Parisian and HOTT (those are mutually exclusive)

I like the song Brother Down by Sam Roberts and discovered it through my Launchcast radio station. I also like Mandolin Strum by REM but can't seem to find it anywhere.

Oh, Flaming Lips! Like their newest album too. And Bob Marley and the Wailers has been on my playlist a lot at work.

I finally started writing down the story of how I found an answer to "what do you want to be when you grow up?" for grad school apps. I'll need help editing, so if you'd like to lend a helping hand, please let me know!

So, it's been a while. I'll try to be better, I promise!

Anyway, check this out:

http://www.qwantz.com/posterchild/

I'd love to do this in Philly if anyone wants to go in on it with me. Yeah? Alright.

I still haven't forgotten about my awesome mural idea. I even have a stack of CDs at my desk to keep me thinking about it. One day I will make a prototype. I'm thinking... John Legend? Particularly because he's contemporary, and that would work well with the CD's. I guess he would work better if he were actually from Philadelphia, or at least the state of Pennsylvania and not, say, Ohio. (Thank you, wikipedia!)

I'm trying to think of my big life updates and put them into a reader's digest form for your viewing pleasure.

A la Project Runway, my roommate Tara is OUT,(I just like the way she says that) and my friend Anna has taken her place. The apartment has undergone a gigantic transformation and I'm falling in love with it all over again! We have a beautiful living room with hardwood floors, actual seating space, and a newly created reading nook. Our kitchen is actually stocked with tools, and both our fridge/freezer now actually have space for food! Oh yeah, and I have a NEW roommate! Anna is great to live with, and we all feel very at peace with each other and excited for the coming year. Expect dinner parties, craft parties, movie nights, etc.

I will soon reach the 1 year anniversary for my job. Lots of drama has been brewing with all the new people hired. I like most of the new people, but I still don't feel any extra special connections with them. Fine for happy hour, but no one I'd just call on a Saturday afternoon to meet up for coffee. That's ok, though. I've heard that that's probably a good level of connection to have with coworkers? Either way, I'm ready to move on to something new (hopefully grad school?). The time off was the best thing for me, and just as I predicted, 2 years was just enough for me to really appreciate going back.

Hrmm, what else? Oh, its lunch time! Ok, off I go!

I just want to say I think it's pretty funny how many people do not know how to work an office phone and how scared people are of this suspicious creature.

I know I acted the same when I started, but it's funny to see multiple people going through it at once. "So, I just...pick up the phone?"

Yes. Exactly. When it rings, you pick it up.

That is all.

Oh, and it'll be a while before I go over the two drink limit again. My Dunkin Donuts breakfast clearly did not do the trick to a quick recovery.

a quote before I forget:

Lauren: "I'm too lazy to pull down my pants."

(in reference to using a public restroom or waiting until we got home)

Also, I had some very interesting and incredibly vivid dreams this past weekend.

Let's see... the first night I remember a friend of mine was meeting up with his family, and his mother was the grandmother from Arrested Development. I asked where they were going (they were all dressed up) and they said they were going to the synagogue and assumed I was coming with them. At first I thought "why would they assume that?" but then I realized it's because I'm jewish. Oh yeah.

Anyway, when we got there, the synagogue was having a greek festival of sorts? but then I had caesar salad. Weird. Another dream later in the night involved me wanting to skip out of a calculus course and running into one of my best friends. He said he was going to propose to his girlfriend. Hooray!

The next night I dreamt that I kissed this guy I know. I never would have thought about it in real life but in the dream it was really good. Hrmmmm.

And finally, that same night I dreamt that I was visiting my brother and Brenda at the hospital. Sammy was being looked at by a doctor (everything was ok, it was a standard check-up or something), and while we waited, we sat in this booth. I guess it had been a while since I'd seen the family because my brother wanted me to see/hold my niece. I picked her up, and she was at least 18 months to two years, with lots of curly blonde hair. There was a pause as my brother tried to coax her to do something he'd taught her, and she looked up at me and said in her little baby voice, "My name is Sylvia and I am cool." My brother and I laughed and I was excited that that was one of the first things she knew how to say.

When I called my brother and told him about the dream, he suggested it was my inner child. I DID have blonde hair when I was young...maybe he's onto something. That is something I'd say anyway.

Back to work I go!

It feels good to have someone listen and say "I understand." And you know they do.

Coming from someone who usually feels that it's not true, that people DON'T understand, I can happily say how content I am to know that I am indeed not alone in my views on life, people, etc. I may not fit into any pigeonholes, square pegs or the normal box, but there are others out there who appreciate me for that very reason.

So I haven't posted in a while. I'm trying to think of what you missed.

Upon arriving back in Philly, I crammed for and took the GRE's. I'm glad they are over, and that's all I really want to say on here. It wasn't bad studying again, though. I actually kind of liked it. Particularly the vocab. Who knows, some time in the future I might get nerdy and learn new words every now and then just for the fun of it.

After that, I drove up to north Jersey to hang out with a friend. It was nice to be in suburbia. In the summertime especially, I like to enjoy just sitting out on the grass by the pool and enjoying the slower pace.

This past week was pretty busy in terms of having one of my favorite bands and fabulous 4-some, Distance to Empty, stop through Philadelphia. The dynamic between Kyle, Curtis, Ryan and Bo is something I truly envy and adore being around. As much as I worry about making sure all their needs are cared for, I really do miss them all terribly when they're gone. It's also nice that I really do love their music. Seeing them perform live is always a joyful experience that I only get from seeing friends perform.



I was just about to talk about the foul mood I am in and how much I adore the concept of third wheel (said sarcastically) but fortunately my great roommate just got home so off I go!