Boxes

I know I should be updating about moving and the whole experience of being somewhere where you don't really know anyone or where anything is, but I just don't have it in me to be profound or coherent for that matter, so I'm going to save it up for another day and go to my list:

- Just for those unaware: I moved to Cincinnati yesterday with Tim and Peter moving just about everything. I stayed here while Tim went back to Lakewood with Peter, so he can finish up the season at the pool. I opted to come earlier than Tim so I could get settled before my new job starts (a week from tomorrow) and Tim won't be there till then.
- My mom's coming tomorrow and will be staying with me for a couple days because I'm a wimp who doesn't want to be alone in a new place. Also because my mom is awesome.
- The apartment really doesn't look too bad, with all things considered. I've been unpacking a lot of boxes and watching a lot of How I Met Your Mother while doing so (not only do I now have the season 3 DVD, but it was on both Lifetime and CBS tonight, so I would be a little HIMYM'd out if that was actually possible).
- I know how dorky I sound. Deal.
- Hoping I can fall asleep a lot more quickly tonight than I did last night. I was physically exhausted, but it took me hours to fall asleep, then I kept waking up every hour or so.
- I really shouldn't even be writing right now. I should be trying to find the handiwipes so I can wash the dishes that are in the sink.
- My excuse for not washing them sooner was that the sink was backed up this morning and I had to wait for maintenance to come by and fix it. Which was loud, but hey, my sink's not backed up anymore.
- That's what she said.
- I had a very enjoyable conversation with Rachel over AIM today, typing inbetween putting clothes in my closet. My new favorite Rachel quote is below:

• L: But I want the universe to know that my uterus is currently not welcoming any visitors whatsoever
• R: NO VACANCY.....WELL, VACANCY, BUT YOU STILL CAN'T COME IN
• L: That's what the sign outside my uterus says.
• R: Very clear. I'm sure all the sperm will stop and read it first. They're very polite
• L: Are they, now?
• R: Well, I imagine. Because they look like tadpoles and I've always imagined tadpoles to be very polite

- It's really weird being here by myself. I've never actually lived alone - I think there was a day sprinkled here and there when a roommate went out of town for the weekend or when my parents went to spring training and I awesomely rearranged all the furniture in their house (with the help of Megan...Ryann looked on in amazement) - but this is different, you know?
- I cannot stop listening to this song. I made it that link instead of the one to the actual music video because this kept playing on the modified CBS channel (showed certain episodes of certain shows repeatedly, no commercials) on the cruise and I really like the puppets.
- And I'm divorcing Tim to marry the guy in the pink outfit.
- But actually, the song doesn't end that way...I prefer the actual ending.
- I'll shut up about the song now.
- Really, I should shut up altogether because I really want to unpack more before I (hopefully) fall asleep.

Unfinished

So, I started writing two days ago and then I went to dinner and never returned because I was sucked into a packing vortex. So there's my excuse for this:

I had my iPod on shuffle today and it played a song/its cover back-to-back three times - This included "Such Great Heights (Postal Service and Iron & Wine), "Walkin' in the Sand" (Aerosmith and The Shangri Las), and "Just the Way You Are" (Billy Joel and Maggie Gyllenhaal's version from 'Happy Endings'). It was freaky. I wish the iPod had an actual off switch, because a lot of times holding down the play button does absolutely nothing but play and pause a song for twenty minutes until you just give up and let the charge run out because you can't get the damn thing to turn off.

Perhaps the secret is to let it rest and play half of a song and then try again because that just works for me. Maybe it really wanted to hear the first half of "Sometime Around Midnight"?

Lady Gaga freaks me the hell out. Have you seen what she wears? She actually wore a skirt that was Animal's (as in the Muppet's) head. Don't believe me? Like I'm a little afraid for Animal here. I mean, he's probably the most crazy of the Muppets, which is no small feat, and even he's like, dude this shit is crazy. His face is totally saying, "Look this bitch is crazier than me". And furthermore, I don't think her music warrants her crazy dressing. At least Bjork has some individual, albeit at times difficult to listen to music to go with her weird ass style. Lady Gaga has the same damn thing that everyone else plays.

You Say It's Your Birthday

We got back from our cruise last night, but I really don't feel like writing about that just now. I can't seem to find the cord that connects my camera to the computer and I want to upload the photos first. Plus I've felt like crap on and off all day, so I don't feel compelled to go through an entire week's worth of information just now. My head keeps aching on and off, plus I'm probably still tired from travelling, and vacation being over/the prospect of moving this weekend doesn't really help matters much either. The headache/feeling weird is making it hard to sleep, so I wanted to do something other than just stare off into space.

Tim's birthday was today and mine is tomorrow...Actually, I just looked at the clock and my birthday is today. I am 24. My eighth birthday just popped into my head, the one where I had a hopscotch cake. We got the idea from a magazine and I know it suggested that people throw a fruit loop or cheerio onto the cake to determine which square they got, but I can't remember if we actually did that.

One year my birthday cake completely collapsed, possibly from the weather or maybe the cake pan misbehaved. It must have been my seventh birthday or earlier because we were still in my old house and I was still having family parties. My parents got me an intact cake from the bakery, but throughout the entire party people kept breaking off pieces from the collapsed cake. Homemade cake has always tasted better than bakery cake to me.

know I had a bowling birthday party because I still have the bowling pin at my parent's house, but I really don't remember the specifics. One of my favorite birthdays was a combined party with Rachel where we all went putt-putting and then went back to my house for the rest of the party. Rachel and I did combined parties for a couple of years and they were always fun.

My mom offered to make a cake for me this year (plus Tim would do it in a second if I asked), but I declined since I really don't need to eat an entire cake. I was a little sad just now when I realized that means no fun writing on the top of the birthday cake. Past cakes have included "Happy Birthday Jackass," "Moo Moo" (as in thunder cows), drawings of street gremlins and chicken boob dog, amongst many other fun things. Though I can imagine that this cake would have something to do with Rick Astley in my mom's attempt to further Rick Roll me (as if she hasn't enough already, but more on that later).

I started to do a survey because I'm still awake and had nothing else to do, but I got bored with myself, so I'm going to wake up and it will feel more like my birthday. Hopefully my head will feel more like it's my birthday too.

So Long

Today was my going-away party at work. I'm not going-away till tomorrow, but I think they had it today so Linda and a couple other people could be there. I think never quite decided whether they wanted it to be a surprise or not because there was a lot of whispering and being quiet when I entered the room, but I had two people pretty much tell me about it, one directly and one indirectly, and they put up the sign-up sheet in the nurse's conference room, where I frequent on a regular basis to check for announcements (and cookies).

It was very sweet, even though I feel extremely awkward in situations like this. I wish it wasn't the case, but I have a habit of feeling sheepish and almost nervous when attention is focused on me in a positive way. There was a bakery cake which tasted amazing, which is abnormal for me because I usually hate bakery cake. I ate entirely too much and was pretty sugar drunk for the remainder of the workday. A bunch of people chipped in for a gift certificate to a nice restaurant in Cincinnati which I'm very much looking forward to going to. Louann made me this ridiculous yet amazing T-shirt covered in puffy paint with all these sayings and everyones names on it - The best part of it is where she drew a bone marrow biopsy needle sticking out of where the hip would fall on me. I complain about that woman constantly and quite possibly will complain about her tomorrow when she inevitably does some sort of controlling thing, but damn if I don't get a little choked up when I think of her taking all that time to do something nice for me. I doubt I'll ever wear it, but looking at it makes me smile so much.

I can't say that I expected it, but I really am a little sad right now. I bitch and moan about work, but there are definite aspects and people in this place that I will miss with all of my heart. It's weird to look at someone and realize that you might not see them again when they've been such a huge part of your life for nearly a year. A group of people gave me a home for the last ten months and let me do a job that I've been waiting to do for so long. Some people weren't what I expected and how I handled death wasn't really what I expected either, but I really was welcome here and that means so much to me. And everyone keeps telling me that they're expecting me to come back when we return to Cleveland. It's kind of like that t-shirt they gave me - I'll probably never use it, but it's nice to know it's there.

So thank you for my job, bone marrow transplant team. Thank you for putting up with a brand new graduate and teaching her so many interesting and important things. Tonight I'm sad, but tomorrow I'll be celebrating because I get another chance to see if I can truly truly love the field I'm in and not just the position I have. And the three weeks of paid vacation doesn't hurt much either.