Good one!

Today I played the funniest trick on my roommate without even knowing it. After my first shift of work, I gave her a call because I remembered that I had left my clothes in the washing machine. She wasn't working today, so I thought she might be able to throw the clothes into the dryer for me.

"My change purse is on my desk. I have the key to the laundry room in there and there should be enough quarters to dry the load."

That's what I told her.

The trick was when she went to look for the change purse. For some unknown reason, I have 3 different change purses on my desk and NONE of them have the key in it. One had foreign currencies in it, one only had American pennies, and one had Canadian change.

Oops. Turns out the change purse that Erin was looking for - the one with the key and quarters in it - is the same one that I unknowingly brought to work with me today.

Sorry, Erin. I didn't mean to frustrate you. But c'mon, that's funny.

too bad it is such a great day for playing with kids

I went to the doctor this morning and... conjunctivitis. Gross. Since I do not have someone following me with a megaphone saying, "watch out, she's contagious," I had to stay home from work today.

I really like going to work. It is all I ever do. I do not like it when these little unexpected things make me stay home. (Unnecessary snow days are another example.) Maybe I should use this day off to find something to do over spring break so I do not spend that entire week wishing I was working. As much as I like my job, that would just be lame.

to bed, take two

Not too long ago, I self-diagnosed myself with pinkeye and went to bed. An hour later (not 5 minutes ago), I hear my name. It is G-ma calling. Erin. My roommate. The birthday girl. The good news is that my eye feels slightly less like it is on fire. The bad news is that Erin says she heard a mouse in her room. Tasks such as searching for rodents are generally assigned to me, so it was acceptable that she woke me. Maybe there is a mouse in her room, but I tried my hardest and I could not find it.

Just looking for the mouse made me think of two funny things, though.

First, Chelsea, Sam - remember that HUGE spider that crawled into Chelsea's stuff? And I found it in her duffel bag and killed it? That is kind of what this was like. Except that I was looking in an entire room instead of just a bag. And I did not find it at all.

Second, ANYONE who stayed with the same family as I did in Ping - remember the corn hanging in the corner of the room and the family of mice that came with it? And how we slept on the floor and the mice crawled all over us? And ate our food? And overtook us and drove us out the middle of the night? Oh, Ghana. Good times.

Man I am flipping exhausted. If this eye problem goes away, I have to catch the bus in 5 hours to get to work on time. I want it to go away, but... OY!

Please, No.

So, I was all ready to go to sleep tonight, but I figured I'd have a chat with my roommate before bed. Because it's her birthday and also because I did not feel like sleeping, even though I was tired. Do you ever get like that? By the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY G-MA!

ANYWAYS. During our lovely evening conversation, my left eye started watering. I have this thing where my eye starts watering at random, but it is ALWAYS my right eye, so this was unusual. Oh well, I just wiped it away. But THEN, the wiping away turned into itching because, well, my eye was itchy. And NOW my eye is all red and irritated, my eyelids are burning, and something goopy is forming in the corner.

Conjunctivitis? Must be from all of that mascara I've been borrowing.

Cassy's right.

As it turns out, I just told you that I went to Calgary and I did not give you any details about my trip. I will do that now.

The trip can basically be broken into three chunks: getting there, being there, and getting back. Okay, here we go...

Getting There
My sister and brother picked me up in Seattle on Monday night and drove me up to my mom's house in Maple Falls. That is where I spent the night. At 8 o'clock on Tuesday morning, my mom drove me to Ethical Addictions in Abbotsford, where I would wait for Cooper until 11:30. Lucky for me, Cassy called while I was on my way there to tell me that she'd be stopping in to say hello and tell me a hilarious story about ice cream. So we did that, then Cassy left for work. When Cooper got there, we ate some sandwiches and hit the road. It was smooth sailing until we went into an icy tunnel, fishtailed, started spinning, and crashed face-first into a wall. And then it was smooth sailing again. Because the only thing we could find wrong with the car was that the hood was about two inches open and it was stuck. 60mph into a wall and basically no damage? Weird. Anyways, we later drove through a blinding blizzard and got to Calgary at midnight.

Being There
The first thing that happened when we got there was sleep. For some reason, I stayed awake for the entire car ride. This is unusual for me, so I was just tired. I got to sleep in Sam's bed, which was really nice because my feet are always cold at night, unless I am sleeping in Sam's bed. Then they are warm. I know it sounds strange, but that is just the way it is. I had to make her bed in the morning. I think maybe it was my punishment for taking an hour to get out of bed. I'm sorry, that's just the way I am. We had a fun day. We stalked Cooper and ate twist cones at Costco. We found my co-ass Jack-a-mo and some other friends at an Irish pub that starts with the letter K (can't remember). We got tea at some teahouse and then left the teahouse and took Jordie with us. At that point, the only thing Sam and I had eaten all day was twist cones, so we took the scenic route to a mall where Sam and I got FALAFEL!!! I'm not really sure why the falafel bit was so exciting because there are tons of places within walking distance of my apartment where I could get good cheap falafel anytime I want, but I was still excited. I turned out that something in that falafel wrap had curry in it, which I happen to be allergic to. My face was getting quite warm and I was getting very sleepy. But I managed to stay awake, probably because our next activity was going to a concert. We saw Underoath, Taking Back Sunday, and some other group. I went into it having no interest in the concert whatsoever, but then I ended up really enjoying it. I didn't fall asleep at all. When we got back to Sam's house I took a shower and then watched the end of Lost with Sam and Cooper. I had never seen it before and I came in halfway through the episode. Thus, I was confused. Oh well. We went to sleep again and my feet got one more night of being warm.

Getting Back
We drove 95 km/hr all the way from Calgary to Abbotsford. If we went faster, the car would shake. Apparently this was a consequence of driving into the wall. Cooper dropped me off at the border, I crossed into Sumas, and this is where my troubles began. But I still don't want to talk about that. It was just un-fun and if you really want to know why it was so sucky I just might tell you personally some day.

Now, don't let the ending make you think that I didn't enjoy the trip as a whole. Because I really really did. I got 20 hours of quality car time with Cooper and Ricky Gervais AND I got to see Cassy, Sam and Jordie, three people who I like a lot. There you have it.

Cities

So, I want to tell you all about my week but I'm not sure what I ought to go on about. The momentous event of the week was when I went for a drive with Cooper. We drove to Calgary, hung out there with Sam and Jordie for a day, and drove back. It was wonderful and random and fun.

I'd tell you about my trip from Sumas to Seattle that began just after Cooper dropped me off at the border, but I just can't do it without complaining and nobody wants that. Oh fine, I'll just complain a little bit and tell you that it wasn't very enjoyable. Not even a little bit.

something about ecological footprints

Last week I decided I'd be a vegetarian. I was going to be vegan, but then I remembered chocolate and pizza.

My transition from carnivore to vegetarian consists of finishing the chicken nuggets I have in my freezer so that they do not go to waste.

Redeem?

Here is my second attempt at posting something funny:

from an alleged middle schooler

One of my glamorous tasks during the day is office duty. I sit in the office while the secretary takes her break. I give out sparkly pencils to kids who have lost teeth and bandaids and ice packs to kids who think they are hurt. Every so often I will greet a parent volunteer who is checking in. I did that once yesterday. This is what she said to me:

"I don't think I know you. You must be an 8th grader."

I frowned for a second, then I laughed.

I wanted to explain how I am actually an adult and that is why I was in the office and not in class, but she is a soccer mom and soccer moms are always bustling out of places so quickly. So, I did not get a chance to say anything at all.

I may have looked a bit foolish

I just went to the little grocery store up the street to buy some delicious whole milk. It was only $1.52, but I didn't get cash beforehand so I had to pay with my card.

"There's a $2.50 limit for all credit or debit transactions," said the woman running the place.

"Oh, okay. Could I also get a soy latte, then?" I loved that this was possible because everything in Seattle doubles as a coffee shop.

But, really. A soy latte. To go with my whole milk. I'm such a dork.

in regards to meeting my dad

I wrote a little article that you can read while you are waiting for the book to come out. And you thought I was joking. Ha!

Click me!

Cool!