Three Things I Never Thought I'd do at 3 in the Morning

before coming to college, 3 am was a time for sleeping. sometimes it still is...but sometimes it isn't. here is a list of things i never thought i'd do at 3 am, yet somehow i have done them.

1. laundry. i hate doing laundry in the first place, but doing it when i'd rather be sleeping? unthinkable!

2. make enchiladas. sometimes you're just hungry, and you need to make food--and it has been a long time since your last meal.

3. grocery run. some stores are open 24 hours a day, so you can actually go get your groceries (including hair gel needed before getting ready the next day) at 3 am. crazy.

what crazy things have you done at 3 am? post them as comments, and i'll do something special for you in my next post. :)

Back to School Shopping

backpack. my niece inside it. super cute!

DDDT

"don't do dumb things"

great life advice, yet something i struggle with.

Pranks

Funny story, I got into a prank war at work. There are some people I want to explain so that I can just use their names rather than describe them each time. Clayton is my supervisor. Amy is my co-worker, and usually we clean together. Chris is my co-worker, and we used to clean together usually, but that changed after Amy was hired. Alden is another co-worker who was hired more recently. I trained him (like I trained Amy) but he works with Chris most of the time. There are other co-workers, but these are all the people important to the story. One upon a time, we roll around large trash cans while cleaning the classrooms and usually we leave them out in the hall. On Wednesday, Chris took mine and Amy’s trash can and rolled it down the hall and hid it while we were inside a classroom. We were rather confused. But after calling him a dork the next time we saw him, we brushed it off as nothing. The next day He stole our rags that we had on our trashcan-cart and hid them. Reeeaaaal mature. This time, we decided we needed to get him back. So, we started sneaking our trash into his trash can. (Also, we had to be super sneaky because how this works is we start at one corner of the building and go off different directions.) At some point, we decided that they weren't noticing that we were adding to their trash, so we went and got the bathroom trash and put them in their can. It filled them up. So, we’re going along minding our own business, and all the sudden we get a little paranoid. We decided that we better start taking the trash can into our room with us. So we do. Good thing too, because Clayton later told us that Chris was looking for our trash can, and when he saw Clayton he said, “They must be taking their trash can in the rooms with them.” Back to the moment. We are nearing the end, and we see them poke their head in the door, telling us they’re done. They also said, “You don’t play fair. You’re puppy guarding your trash can. That’s LAME.” Then they leave. About thirty seconds later, we hear a little bang against the door. Amy looks up and says, “I’ll bet that they just blocked the door or something dumb like that.” She was right. They had pushed desks in front of our door, so we had to move them to get out. We made them put them back—we weren't going to clean up after a prank on us. In the meantime, we had moved on past cleaning classrooms and Amy and I were doing entry glass while Chris was vacuuming by the back stairs and Alden was sweeping the outside stairs. That’s when we told them that we hadn't cleaned up. While Chris was gone, we hid his vacuum. But, the real plotting began. The plotting for the next day. Amy and I came up with a brilliant plan. (We’re the kind of pranksters who are clever and psychological…thus the slow filling of the trashcan.) We asked Clayton to please make sure to assign Amy and me to the south hall and assign Chris and Alden to the north hall so that we could prank them. He was super serious in his ‘yes,’ and didn't ask any questions. Amy and I took a minute then and went to steal a cardboard box from the cardboard trash compacter. That evening we met up and created our prank. The next morning, we checked in with Clayton a little early to make sure that he was still on board. We pretended like we were starting our job, but really, we sneaked around to some classrooms that they would get to later and set up. We drew on the boards a progressive comic strip. Here are the pictures of what it looked like.

                     
In the last room, that is a cardboard cutout of a stick figure lion. The words on the board say, “You know what this means? (This being you in the same room as the cardboard lion.) This means you’re in the belly of the beast now. This is WAR!” Also, when they came out of the room (it was the last room they cleaned before running into us, so we saw them) they were smiling at our witty and clever joke. But we had to explain to them that yes, the man ate the lion, but he is the real beast. And now they’re in his stomach too, just like the lion. And then we named the lion Roger. I don’t know where Roger is, but they were saying something about us finding him on Monday (which is the next day we go in to work). I’m excited, but I’m afraid they won’t be clever, they’ll just hide him somewhere. But I think that Roger is going to become a big part of life at work. It’s an exciting job.

Oh, ps, when Amy and I were cleaning entry glass, Clayton came and found us and asked us what we had done to them. He told us about all sorts of pranks he pulled on his co-workers when he worked construction. That’s when he told us about Chris’s trash can moment. And that’s the end of that story…

The Link

okay, today's the day that you get the link to my new blog! here it is:

http://rosiesrecipereceptacle.blogspot.com/

post number one is today, and i'll try to post something everyday, but we'll see how well that works out. have fun, and hopefully i'll see you over there :)

Random Tangents

what does it mean when you have recurring dreams about your older brother coming back to the country without telling you and then jumping out of the front coat closet at you? sometimes i really miss that guy. he's growing up without me.

i never wanted to admit it, but i've come to the realization that life will always be busy. there will not be a time of full-time fun like there was when i was a kid.

my dinner is now often accompanied by the news....it makes me feel like i'm informed.

dear BBC chronicles of narnia, you are ridiculous, but i still love you.

why are backpacks designed to cause tacos on hot days? that seems like bad planning to me.

someday when i'm rich i will own a good washer, a toaster oven, a bosch mixer, an amazing camera, a good freezer and fridge, an absolutely beautiful ukulele, a good guitar, a nice vacuum, and a comfortable bed.

i love my mountains. i wish to always be near mountains.

Remote Programming

once upon a time, we have a dvd player without a remote, and also it doesn't have many buttons on the front. we wanted to watch the fourth or fifth selection on a dvd in a series, but there is not a fast forward button. we decided to try to program the remote we had to control the dvd player--it is a universal remote after all. we followed the directions the first time, but alas, we missed the last step, and it wasn't working after we thought we had programmed it. so, we decided to try one more time, and success! it was a big deal. a really big deal. a ridiculously big deal. there was much celebrating.

Second Blog

be excited. be very excited.

i decided to start a second blog. i need to take some time to prepare for it, so i am not giving out the link to it yet, but it will be coming fairly soon...ish... it will be a cooking blog, based on the beginnings of my cookbook and further adventures in the kitchen. it will be delicious. this way, i can separate my daily happenings from food. i'm honestly curious, will you be able to use this second blog? will it be helpful to you? please vote and let me know (the poll should be to the right). i promise i won't be offended no matter what you vote. here is a little preview of what you might find on this up and coming blog:

I came across this recipe on the internet over the holidays when looking for something to make in celebration of not only the holidays, but also the end of the semester. I was struggling because I wanted something chocolate, but I didn't have any chocolate chips, which almost all chocolate recipes called for. This asked for only ingredients that I had on hand already, and took about 15 minutes to make. I put it in the fridge to speed up the cooling process. It came out super delicious. Great last minute dessert idea!

SUPER EASY FUDGE

* 3 2/3 cups powdered sugar
* 1/2 cup cocoa
* 1/4 cup milk
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 tablespoon vanilla
* 1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

Combine milk, butter, and cocoa in a microwavable bowl. Microwave until the butter is melted. Mix together. Mix in powdered sugar. Stir until smooth. Blend in vanilla and pecans.Spread into a buttered 8-inch square pan. Cool and cut into squares.

Food is what it's all about

generally, i'm a fan of short blog posts--i think they are less intimidating. i know i'm a bajillion times more likely to read a post if it's short. (also, i'm a bajillion times more likely to write it if it's short...) however, this post may be a little bit long, so it's up to you whether you want to read it or not. but, if you're intimidated and don't want to read it, i won't be offended. you'll just miss out. and on that note, i'll move on to the real content here.

let's play a day in the life. it's 3:15 am, and my alarm is going off for the first time of three or four times. sometimes i hear it, sometimes i don't. if i hear it, i get up and get ready for work (pull my hair up, change into jeans, put on socks and shoes and eat breakfast). if i don't really hear it, generally i wake up about 3:45 or 3:50 and then get ready minus breakfast. if i heard my alarm i leave at 3:42 and walk to work. if i don't hear my alarm i leave as soon as humanly possible and drive to work. work starts at 4. i clean. sometimes i work with someone else, sometimes i work by myself. i prefer working with people. most of my co-workers are really fun to chat with at 4 in the morning. the ones who aren't...well, it's because they don't like to chat at 4 in the morning, and who can blame them? i clean classrooms or labs for the two and a half hours, and then work on entry glass and some other random project that changes from day to day. now it's 7:30 and i'm clocking out. i return to my apartment, eat breakfast (i don't eat much before work if i do eat before work) and decide i'm going to be productive this morning. then, i am productive for a little while--an hour or two, but i almost always fall asleep, which frustrates me to no end when i wake up. after my morning nap, it's about 11. i shower and get myself ready for the day, then i eat lunch before heading off to school. i have accounting from 12:30-2. after class i make my way up to my dad's office to study. i take the post class quiz for accounting and then work on preparation for the next class period. following that, if there's still time, i work on homework or reading for my next class, java programming. then i go to that class which takes place from 4:00-5:15. generally, i go back to my dad's office for a while to finish up homework for that class before heading home for the night, usually around six or so. dinner is always the first thing on my mind when i get home...food is a central part of my life. i either cook something nice, or i make a quesadilla or pasta-roni. usually while eating i watch the news, which makes me feel connected to the world again. after i finish my food i decide whether i should make something for tomorrow (something like tortillas or muffins usually--things i always keep on hand, but use enough that i run out frequently). if i have more homework, i work on that. if i don't do either of those two things, i just hang out with my roommates or clean things. if my roommates are doing fun and exciting things, i probably will stay up too late with them and then go to bed, praying that i'll get up on time in the morning. otherwise i make it to bed fairly early, by about nine usually...sometimes by seven thirty or eight if i'm really tired. and then the cycle repeats.

now that i've written that out, i realized that my life sounds really boring. i promise it isn't. i do exciting things with my roommates, and conversation at work is always interesting. for example, today, one of my co-workers and i decided that when summer term starts, since we both won't be going to school (most likely) we are going to have kitchen adventures and create the most amazing college cookbook ever. well, actually it was more like, we'll finish the-most-amazing-college-cookbook-ever that i started during christmas break. we have lots of good ideas, so you should be excited. that's all i'm saying.

i love my life, and i think it's pretty great.

Potato Chips

last night, i found myself at the dollar store taking advantage of 88 cent tuesday. everything in the store is 88 cents! you can't beat it...you really can't. i ended up with a bag of potato chips (i may have gone before eating dinner). on this bag of potato chips is the most hilarious warning ever:

WARNING: This product contains acrylamide, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive toxicity. Acrylamide is not added to the products, but is created by browning potatoes. The FDA does not recommend that people stop eating browned potatoes.

the subtext there? 'califorina, please get over yourself--known to you, everything causes cancer. this warning label is a joke, and you're ridiculous for making us put it here.'

i never knew a warning label could sound so sarcastic. and the chips were delicious--it's a win-win.

As promised:

(yes, i know i look gross--i had been asleep for 5 hours previous to this picture.)

That's my kitchen, and that's a wookie

picture to come...BUT...

once upon a time i fell asleep on my couch at 7 at night. i woke up at 12:30 to a knock on the door, and when my roommates answered it, in walked a wookie. chewbacca. i still don't know why. we all took pictures with him. it was exciting :) it took me a long time to believe i wasn't dreaming, but they convinced me. and the picture proof the next morning helped.

it kind of reminded me of that time there was a llama in the road...

like i said, picture to come...

Boat Racing

the streets by my apartment were flooding. we weren't sure why at first, but then we came to realize that the fire hydrants were being tested. this was continuing on throughout the day, and at about 7 at night, the guys across the street come running and knocking at our door, "get a boat together, quick! we're having a race in the gutters." we scrambled around for about three seconds, and ended up with a cup taped to a pencil. the race was on. the pencil didn't stay taped on for long, but in the end of the first race, our cup came in first, and our pencil in second. the U.S.S. Awesomer was the champion of the gutter race! and here it is, displayed on our fridge.

Taking Candy From Strangers

once upon a time, in a very beautiful place, there were three little girls...maybe not so little...except for one was a liddle...

these girls were brave--very brave indeed. so brave that they would venture to cross the line that should never be crossed, the taboo of all taboos, the no-no of all mothers' nightmares. but there they walked, parched for energy. there they stepped. the only solution to take the glistening candy from the hand of the man with stranger stamped on his forehead--quite literally! who would do that to themselves? the enticing brown paper bag filled to the brim with dreams of sugar plums and ice cream rivers called their names. "come here little girls who are not so little except for one who is liddle. EAT ME!" out of the bag came smarties, orange slices (the fake kind), peppermints, and almonds covered with chocolate...and something else...(probably drugs. you should have seen this guy! mr. rogers sweater? working it.)

not only did we take one smartie, but he filled our hands with goodness. and then, with his departing words, his face dropped. "muahaha now you guys can get sick!" and then he walked away to stalk other little children...who were actually little (and wiser--they followed the cardinal rule)...and were probably his grandkids.

THE END

post script: this entire post was dictated to me by the other two girls. just so you know.

Can VS Pocketknife Episode II

to read the first episode, click here. new roommates, same apartment, same dilemma, different reason. we don't actually have a can opener. true, it hasn't even been a week since the new roommates moved in (by the way, they are really awesome. REALLY awesome.) but we don't have one yet. so, i pulled out my pocket knife again when i needed to open my can of chicken for my pasta-roni lunch. i just thought i'd include some pictures this time...

Thought from the Roomates

This quote is possibly my favorite birthday present. It was given to me inside the cover of a beautiful copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

"Never doubt your ability to think and do impossible things. You are much more "muchier" than the rest"

My roommates are amazing. They have been great forces for good in my life this year, and I'm very sad to see them go soon.

And even though that quote was directed at me, I would re-direct it back to all of you. See my last post's quote if you want to know why.

(And yes, I did decide to capitalize properly in this post...)

April Fool

this is when i regret taking a job a few weeks before school gets out. this is also when i regret taking 17 credits this semester. however, school's almost over! yay :) four finals tomorrow, so it'll be a full day. then on monday i'll take my last two finals and have a week of freedom (except work) before spring term starts. a lot of people have expressed their opinions on me taking classes spring term--they call me crazy. but fear not--change is as good as rest!

i leave you with this thought: "you really can do whatever you want to do if you decide to do it. most of us limit ourselves--we think we have mostly bad ideas, so we follow the paths that are paved already. i, however, want to travel through a jungle and a rain forest and over a mountain and across the savannah . i will be the one paving the path, and if you wish, you can be paving right along side me. or, you can follow. the choice is yours."

Cake in the Night

tonight...this morning...last night (???) at midnight, I had class registration. That doesn't work well with my schedule really--i mean i work at 4 am. so i decided i'd go to bed really early (we're talking like six pm) and then woke up just before midnight. i registered for classes, made my lunch for tomorrow, and also made chocolate zucchini cake. i volunteered to bring it to our weekly friday breakfast party (every friday my work does a breakfast "training meeting" which really just turns into a party.) and then i worked on a couple school assignments. and soon, i will be getting ready for the day. but i made cake in the night. it will be delicious. :)

One-Two-Three-o'clock, Four o'clock rock!

i just got a job...i start work at four. that's right, four o'clock in the morning. am i crazy? maybe. but hey, it's really the most ideal situation ever. so, i will be working part time from now until...a long time from now. i'm pretty excited. yes, it's just custodial, but there is something really fulfilling about doing good, hard physical work. It just feels good! this is gonna be good. :)

Rosie the Riveter

that's her name, right? the icon of women in the workforce during wartime.

i maybe just became her a little bit...

there are two reason:

i am working again! i'm super excited about it--just got done with my first day in fact. i know what you're thinking if you've seen the time stamp on this post: yesterday must have been her first day. well, you're wrong. today was my first day. i am on a 4-7:30 am shift. i'm working custodial in the basement of a building on campus. i'm super happy. i feel so good, and i'll be so productive all the day because it starts off early and with work that will wake me up. i'm very glad i got this job.

my campus is at war. or at least it feels like that. what are we at war with? final projects, final midterms, and preparation for actual finals. people are moving come spring and things are just starting to get crazy. mostly though, we are at war with two things: our bodies' need for sleep and our brains' lack of focus. it's a painful war that we are fighting and there are bound to be casualties along the way, but in the end, we all know we will come out of it. maybe not as victorious as we'd like, but victorious if only because we survived. and we will survive.