Worry Wart

I needn’t worry: breaking the news to my aunt about my veganism was easier than I thought. Friday night I arrived at their home and she offered me dinner. She pulled out a jello and cool whip salad. I begged off explaining, “I doubt you remember, but I can’t eat dairy—I’m allergic.”

“That’s too bad!” she exclaimed, “Here, have some pork.”

“Uh,” I stammered, “actually, I don’t eat that much meat, so I think I’m going to pass on that. Thanks.”

I ended up with a lovely diner of veggies and veggies and a banana.

She didn’t quite get how I could think that was so delicious.

Saturday for lunch she asked me, “Now, Granola, I was thinking about making a taco soup. It has only a little bit of dairy and a little bit of meat. Would that be ok?”

I inquired after what kind of dairy she said, “A can of cream of potato soup.”

“Yeah, I can’t have that. What kind of meat?”

“Well, let’s read the ingredients” she offered.

2 cans of chili con carne
2 cans of kidney beans
1 can of cream of potato soup
1/2 pound of ground beef
2 cans of beef broth

“Well,” I said with a smile, “we might as well put the meat in it.”

Only after we had completed making it, and dinner was served did I learn she made it especially for me.

Definitely the meatiest Vegan meal I've ever had.

Pilgrimage

It turns out that Salt Lake City really is a 12 hour drive from Seattle. I found that out the long way. We had a lovely visit, and stayed with the aforementioned aunt and uncle for the weekend.

I’m in Provo tonight, and am looking forward to a long trek home tomorrow evening.

There’s a lot to be said for pilgrimages, one of the main things that are said? They’re not short. Glad to know mine qualifies.

Growl-nola!

My sister, Fox (I've gotten tired of calling her Sissy and thus have stolen Mumsy's blog name for her), decided to put her (nearly) 2 year old on the phone with me and have her say some of her words, "Say 'elbow'" "bow-bow" "Say 'elbow'" "bow-boW!" was repeated a number of times. I laughed and said to my niece, "Can you say 'granola'? gra-no-la." Turns out she couldn't. Fox and I had a good laugh about it. (My end goal is to get her to declare, "granola is GOOD!", brainwashing has to start young...

These days my niece can sort of say 'granola,' but it sounds much more like "growl-no-la!" It's wonderful!

I laugh every time. I'll be sad when she actually learns how to say it.

Phone Numbers, Phone Numbers

So, I waited a week. I didn't want to wait any longer, and much sooner just seemed, well, desperate. I called TreeHugger's roommate again tonight looking for his number. The roommate answered this time, and after the boring introduction, I said, "I'm looking for TreeHugger's phone number and wondered if you could give it to me?" He hemmed and hawed for an impressively short two seconds before saying, "How about I give him your number? That way he has it."

I agreed that this was a good idea, and, quite frankly, I think it's actually a wonderful idea. It's a good way to protect the roommate's privacy.

Apparently, his roommate is good to his word, because two hours later my phone rang with an unfamiliar number. It was TreeHugger!! Yippee!!

We chatted for a bit, then I asked him, "So, do you have anything exciting going on this weekend?"

He replied that he had a friend's birthday party on Friday, but Saturday was free. Then he asked what I was up to. All of this leading up to me asking him out, silly. Unfortunately, I told him, I have to go out of town this weekend, but, I queried, would he like to get together and do something sometime, like next weekend? He readily accepted!!!!!!!!!!1111!!!! (That's, erm, me, a little excited)

I told him that I'd give him a call when I get back, but let's plan for Friday. Out-freaking-standing! Now, what to do?

Oh, and !!!!!!!111!1!!!!!!11111111111111!11!!!! :D

Coming Out of the Closet

No, not that closet. Sheesh. Don't you know me at all?

I have this conundrum: I'm going with my parents to a family reunion next weekend. Fun times! I'm excited and looking forward to it. The only problem? We're staying with an uncle and aunt who wait for it.... don't know I'm vegan. I haven't figured out how I'm going to drop that bomb. I mean, I promised myself years ago that I wouldn't be one of those vegans, and yet, I think I am, slowly, bit by bit, piece by piece.

I never wanted to be the one who expected others to (drastically) change their menu just because I was going to be eating. However, I find myself annoyed that people don't seem to care enough to plan just a little bit. Next weekend, however, is going to prove rather interesting. I mean, how can I not offend? If I show up and say, "By the by, Aunty, I don't eat meat. Or dairy." How can I not offend? Another possibility would be to show up and just not eat the things with meat or milk in them... but then I'm pretty much starving. Not that I couldn't use a little starvation, but, yeah.

If you have any brilliant suggestions I'd more than love to hear them.

Backbone

I decided that I would ask TreeHugger out on a date for this weekend. Yes, kids, that's right, Granola is stepping out and making the first move. I don't mind asking out people I already know, or reciprocating with a second date, but the first date I have long had trouble initiating. So, you should be proud, very proud, that I've decided to do this.

I happened to have a phone number which I was guaranteed either belonged to (a) him, or (2) someone who would know him. After I finally came up with something to do (Olympic Sculpture Garden and dinner) I gave the number a try.

Not his. Undoubtedly his roommate's. I listened to the message, then hung up. An hour later I checked my phone and noticed that he had called back. I waited a bit before dialing the number anew. This time, I was determined I would leave a message if he didn't answer. He didn't. I left a message briefly introducing myself and asking for the number, 'Hi, this is Granola from church. I was looking for Tree's number and wondered if you could get it to me? You can reach me at 555-867-5309.'

He hasn't called back. Sad.

Events

Musician and Nurse announced their engagement in church today. More correctly, she showed up this afternoon with a rock on her hand, and that escaped the attention of no one.

I'm happy for them both. A little heartbroken (but I knew when they got back together that any chance I had with him was shot), but happy.

Best wishes go out to them. I hope they finds the true love and joy and happiness they both deserve.

And, I hope I finish getting over him quickly.

Eviction Notice

When I got home this evening I discovered a note in my door. It was from the management, allow me to quote from it:

Dear Resident:

The attached notice is being sent to you because at this time our records are not reflecting a payment for your account. If this is an error please contact Cristine Xxxxxx the new Operations Manager for assisance.

Thank you,

[signed]

Christine Xxxxxx

The attached reads (and, I kid you not)

THREE DAY PAY RENT OR VACATES (RCW 59.12.030(3)

yOU AND EACH OR YOU ARE HERBY NOTIFIED and informed that the rend for the period below for premisis situatied in the above county and at the above address is now DUE AND PAYABLE by MONEY ORDER OR CASHIERS CHECK in the follwoing amounts:

RENT $XXX.XX
...
Late Charges Persuant to Rental Agreement $75.00
+DAILY LATE FEE of $5.00 Per Day From the 7th Until Paid In FUll.
TOTAL DUE AND PAYABLE $xxx.xx

AND YOU ARE HERBY NOTIFIED and required to pay the above total in full to the undersigned or his agent named below, within three (3) days for the date of the date of service of this notice upon you, or the alternative, to vacate and surrender the permise. IN THE EVEN of your failure to do so within the said period, you will be guilty of unlawful detainee and subject to eviction as provided by law.

THREE DAY PAY OR VACATE

Seriously. Because the rent was (in their opinion) 4 days late?! I don't even get a phone call? Uh, no.

So I called Christine.

That conversation went thusly:
"Hey. I just got home and I had a notice saying I didn't pay my rent. Except I put it in the drop box Sunday night." (actually, it was Monday morning at 7am. But they werne't there, so who cares.

"Ok. Well, sometimes things happen and we lose checks."

"Wait? You lose checkes? How?!"

"Well, sometimes when we pull the checks out of the box it's windy." I'm sorry, but if it's so windy that the checks are scattered when you attempt to pull them out of the little box WAIT until it dies down you effing moron.

"The weather?"

"Yes." Have I mentioned before that I think Christine is a complete idiot? If I haven't allow me to do so now: she's a lying, incompetant, idiot.

"Okaaaaayyyyy...."

"So," she has the balls to ask, "can you get us a check in the next three days?"

"No." I replied very seriously.

"What?" She gasped. I don't think she's used to people telling her no.

"No. I can't get you a check. Not with the other one lost and floating around somewhere. I have to wait to see what happens with that check, if it gets cashed or anything. I'm not going to pay the $50 stop-payment on the check plus a $75 late fee because you guys lost my check."

"Well," she said huffily, "If you don't pay your rent, I have to inform you, then we will send your information to our lawyers can you believe right out of the gate she's threatening to sic her lawyers on me? and then you will be evicted."

"So, you're saying, I have to pay a $50 stop check fee and a $75 dollar late fee because you lost my check?! Or I get evicted? I don't think so."

At this point she rudly inturrupted me, telling me that that is not what she said. She also went on to back peddle and tell me that if I bring a recipt from my bank the management will absorb the cost of my stop-payment. Damn-right they will! I was, at this point (in case you couldn't tell) fuming. She made the fatal error of saying, "If there is anything else I can do, don't hesitate to call and ask for me."

"Well, actually," I said, "since I have you on the phone, what's the deal with our overpriced utility bill?"

She gave me some crap story about how they were taking care of that and we should see an improvement on our next bill. Sure. I'll believe that when I see it.

"If there is anything else I can do for you," she started again.

"Yeah. There is. What's the deal with painting my building for the third time in 6 months? And, how come I didn't recieve a notification that you'd be doing anything."

"You did receieve a notification." She lied.

"No. I didn't."

She told me that she'd "Have to talk to my girls" and see why not. She also told me that the previous contractor had made some mistakes so they were fixing them because "We don't want you living in an unsightly building."

I really wanted to tell her that the 5 different shades of baby vomit they had picked to paint our buildings wasn't helping their cause, then. I stopped myself.

But, I'm still mad.

In fact, I sent out an email tonight to someone hoping to take a look at their place and move in as soon as possible. I am sick and tired of this horrible management. I mean, seriously, 4 days late with the rent and they're threatening to kick me out? Worse than that, however, is the incessant lying about the utilities. I can't get a straight answer out of anyone in that office. It has beyond reached the point of pissing me off.

Cranky? Me? Never

This morning I woke up slowly and peacefully to my pager beeping violently at 3 am. When I managed to stumble out of bed and log on I discovered that the problem wasn't that big of a deal. However, it took Hippie and I 2 hours to figure out (generally) where the problem was. I eventually made the decision that I would worry about it in the morning, as it wasn't as big of a concern as my friends in Europe would have me believe.

I emailed the group saying I'd be in late and see you all then. Then, I hit the sack.

At 8:30 I again woke peacefully. This time to the sound of workers moving and climbing on ladders and scrapping on the wall right. outside. my window. I was pissed. 8:30 in the freaking morning! I wasn't going to get much sleeping done, so I got up and headed into the office. Blargh!

ControlFreak

One of my coworkers has taken it upon himself to clean up the team wikis. This wouldn't be a problem, except he's deleting references to legacy wiki's that we need. In addition to deleting helpful stuff, he's trying to reorganize the alphabetical index. Um... it's alphabetical, dude.

Finally today Hippie and I were making fun of/complaining about him to each other and I decided this called for dramatic action.

So, I sent an email. Essentially it said, "Hey, we can't go changing the wiki 'cause one person likes it one way. Why don't you make your own index and leave the alphabetical one ALONE!"

He replied saying he was just cleaning stuff up, and maybe we should discuss it in 'the meeting.'

Um, what meeting? Yeah, that's right, he scheduled a one hour meeting to discuss the organization of the wiki. Rid-i-cu-lous.

I told him that an hour was probably more than sufficient, and let's cut it down to 30 minutes. Thankfully he agreed.

Tragically, Hippie is back home in the UK so she can't help me out on this one. Wahh!

Oh, and did I mention that our friendly neighborhood ControlFreak isn't even a manager? That's right, kids, he's a lowly peon like the rest of us.

Ah, The Smell of Young Crushes

Sweetheart has a crush. I don't think I mentioned that last time. At the root beer kegger I ran into a boy I knew from BYU. He came over and said hi and I introduced him around. Sweetheart seemed really interested in him, so I invited him to the Cinco de Mayo gathering, making sure he got the details from her.

He came.

And, gave her is business card.

So she called him.

And invited him to dinner last night.

He came.

And we stayed until 11.

When we left he gave her a hug.

And not me.

Which was more than fine.

But, oh, so cute!

She likes him.

I mean really likes him.

She really, really likes him.

Nanny has to remind her to not get too excited.

I think things could progress well.

I hope so.

I'll keep you updated.

Cinco de Mayo

Well, I went to the Cinco de Mayo fiesta that the Young Single Adult committee put on. It was ok. The best part, honestly, was the band. Unfortunately, and really annoyingly, not many people danced all that much. I danced a ton! Mostly with Ninja's niece. And, this random guy who very rarely comes to church. He asked if I wanted company while dancing, and though I didn't particularly want his I didn't want to be rude. So we danced together.

Nurse was there also, which wasn't much of a surprise. Frankly, I would have been far more surprised had she not shown. What was surprising, however, is that she left fairly early on. I wonder if she was just there to be seen. Not to be seen like Paris Hilton, but to be seen with her man. More possessive than narcissistic. Oh well. I got the point. Oh, and I have a crush on TreeHugger, now. Fun!!

That said, I'm in so much friggin' pain right now. As soon as I sign off I'm going to cuddle up with a good ice pack and call it a night.

Party Debrief

I'll have you know, I made allthree of my parties last night!

The root beer kegger was SO much fun! The cute guy from church on Sunday was there, which was no surprise once I learned it was his house. Oh, and I shall henceforth call him 'TreeHugger', since his degree is in environmental studies (erm, How HOT is that?!?!). So, about this... I'm excited, which means (as we all know) it's going to go nowhere. I got to his house and Nanny and Sweetheart were already there. (I have decided it's high-time to patch things up with Nanny, so I'm going out of my way to be around her at social gatherings.) I found them and chatted while we danced a bit. After a bit Sweetheart pointed through the crowd and said, "TreeHugger is over there. He's wearing shorts." I took note, but didn't go talk to him.

A bit later the girls were sitting outside cooling off, when he joined us. He was talking to Nanny, Sweetheart, and Nanny's annoying friend when I added a side note to the conversation. He hadn't seen me (since I was in a weird spot), so when I spoke up he turned to me and saw me for the first time that evening, "Oh! Hey, Granola!" he said, excitedly. Did you catch that? He remembered my name. Oh yeah... Conversation went on, we flirted a bit, whatever. Eventually we all ended up back in the house, he came over to where we were dancing and said to Nanny, "Would you take a picture of Granola and me?" She obliged.

I decided I should go fetch my camera, so I did, but I never got the chance to reciprocate. Sweetheart walked with me to get mine, and as we were walking she asked, "So, what's up with you and TreeHugger?"

"Nothing." I replied, "We just met on Sunday. Why? Do you think they're something there?"

"Oh yeah! He was awfully excited to see you!"

That made me feel really good. Later however, the party was shut down (cops came by around midnight because we were violating the noise ordinance), and I ended up chatting with this random guy. We started talking on the porch, but decided to move into the house. We ended up in the kitchen, which would have been ok, except TreeHugger was in there talking to this other girl. Sad times.

I left that party around 12:30am and headed to my last one of the day. I got there around 1 (after having changed out of my 80s clothes into normal street-wear by the side of the road) and stayed until 2:15 or so.

The second party was notably more mellow. where the root beer kegger had hundreds of people show up the Quatro de Mayo party had, maybe, 20. That said, by the time I got to the second party everyone was pretty much plastered. Being sensitive to my beliefs the host offered me soda (which I don't drink because it's bad for you, and I think it's gross) or water. I ended up with water. One of the other guests quickly determined that I was drinking water and called out, whilst pointing to my glass, "Party Foul!" I informed him that, "sorry, I don't drink. At all. Ever." Which lead to a host of questions such as, "Ever?" "Nope, never." and "Have you ever had alcohol?" "Nope. Not at all, not ever." That last answer garnered a "Woah! That's hardcore!" Our host then took it upon himself to announce "Dudes, she's Mormon." Normally I don't have a problem telling people that, but since he was raised Mormon and doesn't really practice it, and I was not sure how familiar they were with his beliefs I decided to just leave it out. I didn't mind that he offered up the information though. However, it was a bit entertaining to see him squirm as I looked at him with the "and you're not?" look. Bad Granola, bad! One of the guys there was really interested (for whatever reason) asked if I drink coffee (no) or tea (only herbal) or soda (no, but not for religious reasons). Later on in the evening he asked me another question about my drinking habits. Not that he'll remember in the morning...

Oh, I forgot to mention, they had a hookah going, so the whole place was full of smoke. So pleasant (I'm allergic, tobacco smoke gives me a horrible headache). By the time I left my head was not so happy with me.

This morning I had a doctor appointment, so I had to wake up at 9 (blarg). I should not have stayed out so late. When I got up I had what can best be described as a 'hangover' from the combination of secondhand smoke and pain killers that I had been sucking down at the root beer kegger (since my back was killing me and I wanted to dance). I took a long hot bath and headed to the chiropractor. Surprisingly, my back has improved over the last few days! WHoo hoo!

I had to take a nap this afternoon to kick the headache.

Social Calendar

For some reason my social calendar spins out of control. I don't understand it, quite frankly. I mean, it's not like I'm in "demand", as it were. No, no. Mostly, I just like to socialize, it's where I gets my energy. Oh yeah.

Take this weekend, for example. Which actually started last night.

I went to the First Thursday Art Walk, which was rad, but had to cut out early because my back was killing me. It was really good, though.

Tonight after work I headed over to this bar in downtown. I know what you're all thinking, "But, Granola, you don't drink. Ever. What are you doing heading to a bar?!" Rest assured, gentle reader, I was not drinking. Well, that's not strictly true, I was not drinking alcohol. I was, rather, drinking orange juice. Why was I there in the first place? Simple. It's customary when someone leaves the company to have a gathering at a bar in the area around 5:30 on that person's last day. Well, one of the developers (who actually hasn't been in our department all that long) is leaving. So, he had a gathering. He extended the invite to me personally (as opposed to the whole group—in fact, I was the only qa he invited. Huh.), so I felt I ought to at least put in a showing. Two orange juices and four dollars later, I wished him well and ran to the door—I did, after all, have a bus to catch.

This evening I am also headed to a "Root beer Kegger—80s style." That shall prove interesting. I'm planning on having fun! Mostly, I'm going because the cute boy from church on Sunday was there to invite our ward. Deal. That's at 9:30.

At 10:30 one of my coworkers is having a Cinco de Mayo celebration. He realizes that it's actually currently the Quatro de Mayo, but something came up for him for tomorrow night, so tonight it is. However, it shall extend past midnight, thus sufficiently becoming Cinco de Mayo.

Somehow I have to hit both of these parties. I may go to the root beer kegger for a bit, then dash down to the Cinco de Mayo celebration, then back up to the root beer party, we'll have to see. I'll let you know—if I'm functioning.

Tomorrow (since we're talking weekend, here) I have a dr's appointment at 10 am for my back (oh yeah... it's a good thing I don't drink! I don't know if I'd be able to manage 10 am after a night like tonight). Then, a real Cinco de Mayo celebration that the Young Single Adult committee is putting on. They have a great! band playing! I'm excited. With any luck I'll get to see Nurse. woo.

Sunday, as you all know, is my day of rest, which means (drum roll here, please) I'm super busy, as well. Mostly just church, but sometime in there I have to prepare my Sunday School lesson. Oh, and my Visiting Teachers want to come over. Ok then.

See, I told you, my social calendar is out. of. control! I love it!

Bus Signs

On the bus there are many advertisements. There are also poems and quotes and general warm-fuzzy inducing posters.

When I first started riding the bus I saw a sign applauding Rosa Parks. It reads:

Rosa Parks: A quest for human dignity,
A quiet act of courage.

That really resonated within me. Until one day I noticed that the poster had been vandalized. It now read:

Rosa Parks: A quest for human dignity,
A ----- act of ---rage.

This really got me thinking about my perspective on things. Sure, it was a quiet act of courage, but even more certainly, it was also a very vocal act of outrage.

Now, I smile and pause for a moment to think whenever I see one of these corrected posters.