Creative Juices

Beneath the Veneer

I really really wanted to blog yesterday. I wanted to tell you about my Tuesday night, because it was a surprise to me... and how often do you get a surprise on a weeknight?
But instead of blogging yesterday... I was working. I know, I know, I "work" everyday. But yesterday, I dont know what it was... I guess it just all caught up with me. Really, it was mostly because the phone wouldnt stop ringing. Crazy Duke Moms calling and being all "How do I register my son for summer classes?" Well, you dont, silly Mom, your son can do it himself online. "But he's busy taking his finals." Finals my ass. He's busy getting drunk in the pool across the street in the front yard of some Dukie's house. Call his cell, tell him to get his wet ass out of the pool with the hot chicks and register himself for summer session.
Yep, thats the kind of day I had.

But Tuesday.
After work, I drove to the far corners of Raleigh to shop at the Triangle Town Center. Why did you drive all the way out there when you have three other malls at your fingertips, you ask? I needed a change. And I was in desperate need of a dressy blouse to go with the new skirt I got on sale (a few months ago, now).
So, I'm shopping. And my cell rings. And it's Steve. And he says "Guess who I just talked to?" Even though he knows I hate that game. So I say, "I dont know, who?" "Aliecia! She's in town!"
And you're wondering, who's Aliecia? So, I'll tell you.
Aliecia is a friend of mine from The High School Years. I met her in the youth group I frequented. She even joined me at Liberty for a few years before transfering to another school. She's a year younger than me. The crazy thing about Aliecia is that she's 24, married and pregnant with her third child. Crazy.
Two other friends of mine, from the same background, are Jessica and Brian. They moved up to Raleigh (Wake Forest) a year ago for Brian to finish seminary. They just had their first child a couple of weeks ago (Anastacia Grace). Jessica and Alieica are best friends.
So, Aliecia was in town visiting Jessica and Brian and their new baby.
I called... we chatted... and then I left the mall and drove to hang out with them.
And spent some time with the baby makers.
It was a nice surprise, though, and I enjoyed catching up with them. I also enjoyed being 25 and without child. Because, if you think about it, if I did have a kid, I wouldnt have been at a far away mall on a Tuesday evening and then have the opportunity to visit my friends on a whim and hang out with them till almost 11pm. And that, my friends, is Reason #45.

Eight Six Seven Five Three Oh Nine

I have to answer the phone a lot, it's part of my job description. Usually, when people call, I provide them with helpful information (or tell them they couldnt afford Duke, even if they sold their first born). When people thank me for the information I've provided, I say "No problem."
But today, I decided to spice it up a bit and say "No problem at all."

But I Haven't Thought of You Lately At All

Who would have thought picking out cabinets and countertops could be so stressful?
Last Thursday, Steve and I made our first visit to the Design Studio to "browse." And by "browse" they mean, "to stand in the middle of forty different colored cabinets and not understand which ones are available to you, only to decide on one you like and then to find out that they are a 40 billion dollar upgrade." Needlesstosay, we werent too happy with the way "browsing" went down. The Design Studio was newly remodeled, and not everything was available for us to see. (and NOTHING was labeled) Like, we really wanted to see what dishwashers we can pick from. After having an apartment dishwasher that piddles on your dishes and calls that clean, we really wanted to upgrade to something that might actually wash our dishes. But, they didnt have them. Yet. So, we got to look at a book, and pick. Which worked out fine, we went with the top o' the line. It's also kind of hard to pick out things for a room you've never been in. So, I left the Design Studio Thursday evening very very overwhelmed. And I spent the next 4 days stressing about it.
So much so, that according to The Man That Sleeps Beside Me, I had a nightmare Sunday night. Usually I dont dream... but I very much remember this dream. When Steve woke me, I told him what I was dreaming about. Cabinets and countertops. I have no idea what about them, but I'm very sure thats what I was thinking in my dream. However, Steve said I was tossing and turning and shouting "No!" as if those cabinets and countertops were attacking me. Apparently, I even hit Cooper, who was trying to sleep next to me.
The biggest decision we had to make was how much could we spend. I was trying to leave that decision up to Steve. Mostly because it hurts my brain to think about that much money. And also because he knows our income much better than I do, and therefor, he knows what we can afford. But then he would say scary stuff like "Lets just upgrade it all." And add another 10k to our mortgage. He convinces me that its smarter for us to mortgage the things we want now, rather than having to pay up front for them in a year or two. We even spoke with some recent homeowners that wished they had mortgaged more things. However, that was their 3rd home.
Then, Monday afternoon, a couple of hours before we're set to go settle the score... Steve decides we cant afford all he thought we could, and we should keep our upgrades minimal. You know, after I was set on Cornerstone cabinets and a jacuzzi tub...
So, we go. Masha was there, and she's always very helpful. She liked our choices and said they would be great for resale value too. Even if we werent being totally traditional.
Because, in case you didnt know... Traditional means brown and beige. "Earthy" colors. And we all know, Sabrina is not "earthy"
Here's what we went with. White cabinets (with a last minute decision to wait on knobs and handles until we see them up). Galaxy Nebula (black with speckles of white and gray) countertops in just basic formica kind of stuff. The vinyl flooring in the kitchen, bathrooms and foyer will be in a white and gray stone looking kind of thing... they didnt have many floors that werent brown based, but I liked that one.
Oh! The carpet. We were having such trouble deciding on the carpet. The one we liked the most, which was a light light gray, we about 2k extra. Too much. The second one we picked was a much darker gray, for almost 1k extra. We werent entirely happy with that either. Then, out of NO WHERE, Design Studio Diane pulls a light gray carpet, right out her ass, that's only 500 bucks. It was the greatest magic trick EVER. So, we chose that, with the upgraded carpet pad (because, according to The Steve "Padding is what makes good carpet great." I think the same theory applies to bras.
We also upgraded the bathroom sinks, from the traditional drop in bowl on formica to a beautiful culturized marble one piece top. I'm very happy about that, much easier to clean.
And! And! I got an island in the kitchen. I was trying to resist it, being that it cost almost 800 bucks... but really, I just had to. You can never have too much storage and space in a kitchen. Plus, we dont have a table and chairs for the eat in area, so a place to put a couple of stools (that we already own, from Apartment 1 in the 'Burg) would be great.
Other than that... we went with the fancy fancy dishwasher and upgraded to a self cleaning oven (which, though I always wondered, does not mean it cleans itself).
We also went refrigerator shopping and decided on a bottom freezer fridge (just like the good ol' days). I had my heart set on a side by side... mostly because I love the water thing... but then I realized I couldnt fit my longest stoneware or baking pans in there, so I had to give it up.
Masha also talked us out of a few things on our list, like a garage door opener and digital thermostat (which she insists Steve can install himself). We also decided not to get the security system. Oh, and last minute decided not to get a mantel on the fireplace. I'm playing to go all Ty and build our own.
Oh, this makes me laugh... we got two additional cable drops. Masha said "You cant do that yourself? You work for Time Warner Cable!"
I'm very happy with the things we decided on.
Hopefully I will be tomorrow.
Now, if only they would start building the damn thing.

Sabrina! I Just Met a Girl Named Sabrina!

Thats how my dad prefers to say my name... to the tune of "Maria" from West Side Story, of course.
But I did meet a Sabrina today, while buying my beloved's new CD/DVD from Best Buy.
She goes "Do you hate your name too?"
How sad.
How could you hate such a great name? Obviously, I love my name.
But I know what she means. "Aw, because of the teenage witch comments?"
She rolls her eyes and nods.
And me, being the annoyingly optimistic girl that I am (sometimes) say "But wasnt it great when the movie came out?
She nods again, but I dont think she really thought it was that great.
I felt like saying... "Well, if you're not going to fully appreciate such a great name, maybe you shouldnt have it. Maybe you should change your name. You look like a Beatrice. Maybe you should call yourself that."
But I didnt.
I smiled, as she handed me my bag and said "It was nice to meet you, Sabrina."

I point this out, because, I havent come by too many Sabrinas. There was one Sabrina that went to my high school for two weeks. In that short time, she started the rumor "Sabrina does acid." Since she came and went so quickly, people assumed They were talking about me. So, I constantly had to tell people "THAT Sabrina does acid. This Sabrina does no such things." Yeah, she left her mark.

Anybody know any other Sabrinas?

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

From the Super Yellow Pages
"You can file a complaint with the North Carolina Attorney General by writing to: State of NC, Department of Justice, Consumer Protection, P.O. Box 629, Raleigh, NC 27602-0629, or by calling 919-716-6000."

I'm sure you've already done this.
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the sentence on your blog along with these instructions.

via Nick

Even at 25, You've Got to Start Sometime

Back to the trial.
So, as the evidence was revealed, it became very clear that all of these people didnt know what the hell they were doing. The police officers seemed too confident that they didnt bother collecting enough evidence to prove their case. The Defense Attorney thought he could trick us. That just made us mad.
So, there was this big black coat, that at some point the guy running dropped in the street. Inside the coat, according to the officer, was a pack of cigarettes, three oxycontin pills, and a piece of paper with the Bloods prayer written on it. The defense attorney, trying to prove that the coat was not the guys, had the guys ex-girlfriend (or, his baby's mamma) bring in a letter she claimed he wrote from prison. However, when looking at those two hand written samples, and the guys signature on his ID, none of them matched. Like, obviously, none of them matched.
Then, oh, this was good. One of the police officers is on the stand, with the black coat. The Defense Attorney gets up and asks if he is sure he examined every pocket. The officer says he's pretty sure. The attorney then strolls up to the jacket, sticks his hand in a pocket and pulls out a key on a key chain and a lighter. And just like on TV, everyone in the room took a shocking deep breath in. The DA jumps up "Objection!" The judge snaps out of his coma "Over ruled." And we continue.
The closing arguements were the part I didnt like the most. The Defense Attorney rambled on about mistaken identity. The DA kinda yelled, which I didnt like at all.
I wasnt happy with the situation. I was upset about the lack of evidence, how could you possibly make such a decision when everything handed to you was so grey. So, I went into the deliberation room, at 10am on Friday, decidedly Not Guilty.
And I left the room, at 1pm on Friday, decidedly Guilty.
I'm really not entirely sure what changed my mind... I got over the fact that the evidence sucked, and we all decided that it all boiled down to his word against the cops. And, well, who wouldnt believe a cop over a felon. I wish it would have been easier than that... I wish there was some hard proof. Because I'll never actually know if he was actually guilty. I just know what we decided.

We Believe in the Sum of Ourselves

It's not as black and white as I thought it would be, jury duty. My case, possession of a fire arm while being a convicted felon. Pretty simple, you'd think. Either he had the gun, or he didnt. Except he pleaded Not Guilty, which is why he had a jury trial.
The story, as believed to be true by Officer Stevenson:
It was 7pm, March 18, 2002. Two officers went to help another officer that had been called to an armed robbery. They were given the description of two black males in dark clothing, and went on to patrol for any suspects. Down the road a bit, they saw two men that fit the description, and stayed back in their car to watch then men. As the men were walking, one walked up the porch steps of a house, knelt down to the right, stood up again and knocked on the front door. The other man stayed down on the street. The officers pulled over, got out of their cars and approached the two. One officer started asking the man on the street what he was doing, while the other officer asked the guy on the porch to come down. Then man came down, just as the woman of the house came to the door. The officer asked the man for his ID and the man gave it to him. Then the officer asked the woman, and her family that had joined her on the porch if there was anything there that didnt belong to them. One woman shouted "A gun!" and the guy from the porch decided this would be the time to run. He booked it down the street, and one officer chased after him. The officer continued to chase him, as the man dropped his big black coat in the street and then began hopping fences and running through peoples backyards. At some point, the officer lost him. So, they put a warrant out for the man (since they still had his ID). The man was picked up a month later.
But, the man, he claimed he was never there. He said someone stole his ID, in fact, his ID had been stolen or lost 5 or 6 times in the past few months.
It was a very hard case, but mostly because the evidence sucked. The entire jury was so disappointed in the police officers. They didnt even have the gun fingerprinted. Hello?!?! Really?
There was a bunch of other stuff that was really weird about the case... but I'll have to tell you about that tomorrow.
I will, I promise.

I Know the Judge and the Jury

Say "Hello" to Juror Number Twelve. My trial begins on Thursday. I can't tell you about it (yeah, announcing it on a blog, even if only three people read it, is probably not the smartest idea)... but it is a criminal case.
So, I got to the court house at 8:30, yesterday, like I was supposed to. They keep you in this waiting room, about 40 of us for the day. The Keeper of the Keys was a very nice woman, she told us how the day would go... said court was kinda like the weather, you never know how its going to be that day. She even gave us some tips of things to say if you want to get out of it.
So, I sat and read my book. Slava got me "Big Fish" for my birthday, per my request, and I havent really had the opportunity to read it.
At about 10am, the Keeper announced that she would be splitting our big group of 40 into two groups of 20, Group A and Group B. I was in Group B.
Then I read some more.
At about noon, the Keeper announced that group B would be going into the court room.
So, we filed into the court room and sat in the first two rows of the audience. The clerk (who seems to have a very interesting job) called out 12 names at random. I was not one of them.
At this point, it got much more interesting. The judge asked the 12 contenders a few questions, name, employement, spouses name and employment... so many interesting people in this world. Then, the District Attorney got to ask the questions. And boy did he have some questions. And boy was he not very good at asking them.
That took an hour, and then we got dismissed for an hour and a half lunch.
When we got back from lunch, the Defense Attorney got his turn to ask questions. But I think the DA stole them all... cause all he said was "Have you remembered the answer to any of the questions asked before, or would you like to state your concerns on anything else?"
Then, they dismissed 4 of the 12 jurors. For different reasons. One had a nephew being charged with a similar case, one knew the neighborhood in question, one had a newborn baby and could possibly be distracted in trial because of lack of sleep and one had a very bad case of laryngitis.
And then my name got called to fill one of those seats. And then I got to answer the questions. Some of them I actually had to think about. Like, would I be more likely to accept the testimony over someone in law enforcement over a normal civilian? Well, at first I'd say no. But then I thought... really, it matter on who's dressed nicer. And most of the time, a police officer looks more well kept than Joe Schmoe. How wrong is that of me? So, me being fair should be interesting. I mean, I'll certainly try... I want to be fair. I'm making a decision about someone's life.
So, we'll see how it goes. I'm back in the courtroom Thursday and possibly Friday.
I'll let you know how it goes in the end.

Does She Smoke Cigars and Stay Up Late

I caught this article in the Chronicle, while waiting for my lasagna to heat up in the microwave. It made me laugh.
Whats even more funny is that the website really exists... I almost thought it was a big big joke.
I considered being an imaginary girlfriend myself. It pays between $30-$100 for each client... all you have to do is write the guy emails, letters, you can even call him (though he cant talk back to you). All to make some insecure guy feel a little better about himself.... I advocate that. They could be spending their money on just plain phone sex... but they're actually looking for something with a bit more realness.
I got talked out of it. It didnt take much.

Lets Go Away for Awhile

Yesterday, I took a drive up to Lynchburg, VA.
It was well worth the trip.
I've been trying to get up there for several months. Once a month my 'unit' of Creative Memories has a unit meeting. I think it's a good idea for me to show my face at those every once in awhile. I know my upline is a terribly busy lady, and I still think she's great... but I do feel like I'm out-of-sight, out-of-mind with her. Not only that, but I really needed to stop by Liberty. I hadnt seen DeMoss since it was done done, the whole grand atrium thing (which is the bluest blue I've ever seen) and the new computer lab. I also desperately needed to visit with Dr. Troxel, my advisor, favorite professor and the guy that married us. And, because I really do miss my old job (or maybe just the people I worked with), I brought cupcakes to the Techs and Admins (well, I guess it was just the Admins...). Though I've never had a bad boss, Phil is definitely one of my favorites. He makes me laugh (not that that's hard to do) and he appreciates me. And he also geniunely wants whats best for me. I like that he cares, even though he totally doesnt have to.
So, after catching up with them and Dr. T, I went and had dinner with my good friend Dave and his girlfriend at Shakers. I I was all set to just get chicken fingers... cause I missed them so much... but then I saw they brought back potato skins, so I had to get the sampler platter (which we all know, I'll only eat half of). Lucky for me, Dave paid. Out of all his girlfriends, she's my favorite. She was very pleasant and easy to get along with. She picked on Dave, so I immediately joined in and we created a nice little bond. I was happy that she wasnt intimidated by me, or my friendship with Dave. Hopefully he'll keep her around for awhile.
So, after dinner, I went to the meeting. My upline, Debbie was glad to see me. I had left her a message the day before, asking for a pack of stickers that someone wanted from me, but I didnt have in stock. She brought them, and gave it to me for driving up. Yay! Then, they did drawings during the meeting, and I won a very nice glasses case with the CM logo on it. (which is pretty ironic, considering I might have to get glasses. but that's for another day).
So, like I said, it was well worth the drive.
Then I drove home. The best part of the drive was a new CD I had to listen to. A few weeks ago, when I had met up with Nick and Kelli, I gave Nick an old cassette tape of mine. He converted it to a CD, because he's just cool like that. It was The Party. Let me help you understand something here... I LOVED The Party. They came out around the same time as New Kids on the Block... and though I was a bit (okay, overly) obsessive with NKOTB... it was a much more serious passion for The Party. They were mine. Not nearly as popular, but just as catchy. So, I listened to their CD on the drive home... and it was wonderful. The best part? I didnt have to flip the tape over. Amazingly, I knew ALL the words, still. My funny little brain. Cant remember the end to a movie I watched the other day, but has no problem recalling all the words to songs I havent heard in 10 years.
Then I got pulled over. Oopsie. I've never been pulled over before, so this was a new and interesting experience for me. I wonder how long his lights were flashing before I noticed. I was bopping along to my music, which was so loud I certainly didnt hear his sirens... and at some point I realized blue flashing lights behind me. Took me awhile to comprehend he was flashing his lights at me. So, I slowed down, and pulled to the side. Then I remembered to put my lap belt on. Good for me. I waited for awhile, prayed that he was pulling me over for a tail light out and waited for him to knock on my window. He asked for my drivers license and registration, just like on TV. And just like on TV... I had them both easily accessable. He told me I was going 70 in a 55 and asked if I had a reason why. I was honest and just told him I was trying to get home. He went back to his car and came back and said he'd give me a warning this time, but I should really be careful. Yay! I dunno if it's cause I'm cute, or cause he could totally see down my shirt from his angle, or because he was a nice guy. Whatever the reason, I didnt get a ticket! It's a good thing he pulled me over then and not two songs before, because I'm sure I was doing 80. The music slowed down, and luckily, so did I. However, I didnt go over 60 for the rest of the trip home.
I dunno if I'll be telling The Steve about that one. Getting pulled over and NOT getting a ticket is just the kind of thing he'd be overly pissed about. He's already telling me how to drive, I really dont need him watching my speedometer too.
I will be watching my speed more now... at least I say that now. But it was interesting that going 10 miles less the rest of the way, and I still made the same time.

It May Feel So Real Inside, But Don't Forget It's Just A Ride

So, yeah. Sorry about the not blogging thing. I so dont have any excuses, I've been really really not busy. It's just been so boring. Seems as though after I got my very own bag (which is doing very well, thank you), I had nothing else to report. So, lets take a look back on my calendar and see whats been up.
Last I wrote was March 18, which just happened to be Steve's birthday. I baked him a coconut cake with strawberry in between the layers. It went over very well. As part of The Birthmonth Project, I didnt do anything extravegant on the day of.
Oooo, on the 20th we had lunch with Nick and Kelli, who were down from Lynchburg. Kelli has her very own bag, as well, and it's really cute. We had a good time with them, and hopefully they'll come down again soon so we can hang out.
March 20 - 25 looks like a very boring week. Absolutely nothing written down. How sad.
Though that weekend, I had lots of Creative Memories stuff going on. A workshop Friday night that was loads of fun and my good friend Anne had a class Saturday afternoon. That went very well.
Monday the 29, I left work early to pick up my very good friend Dave at the airport. He had flown out on Friday for a job intereview. The interview sounded like the suckiest interview ever, and I was sad for him. He was really hoping this was THE job. He's very ready to get out of Lynchburg (and I can totally understand that). If anybody is looking to hire a kick ass Music Pastor, he's your man. Well, after I said goodbye to Dave and sent him back up to the 'burg, I decided I needed to do some shopping. I'm really in need of some springy clothes (because, though the weather denies it, it really is spring). But, 4 hours later, and I left the mall empty handed (though I did get some Dippin' Dots as a consolation). I dont know what is up with clothes lately, but we just arent getting along.
Oh, I did get two new CDs at various points this week. I bought Mix 1, from The OC, which released Tuesday. It's a pretty good soundtrack. Lots of songs I didnt know, so, that's enjoyable. Thursday I got Veggie Rocks!, which does, in fact, rock. It's so much fun to hear my very favorite VeggieTales songs, in some good rock, but bands I know and love. I'm very happy with my purchases.
Wednesday was the last day of The Birthmonth Project... not as easy as it sounded, people. Though I started off with a cute something everyday, I certainly fell off towards the middle of the month. I tried to take it out with a bang, but Steve got really sick on Wednesday. So, the card I gave him, with the opportunity to call the shots for the evening, he didnt redeem. The sweet little wifey I am, told him he could turn it in when he feels better (though it will certainly expire on April 30).
And now it's Friday. Yippee! I've got a very busy weekend preparing for Palm Sunday. Our new Worship Arts Pastor flew in from Canada and we'll be spending the whole day practicing with him for Sunday. I've got to scan pictures of Jesus tonight, put those together in a nice montage (or convince Steve to, he's much better at pictures to music than I am). I've got 44 CDs to burn, and also have to stop off at Kinko's and get 44 CD jacket copies made. And then I have to pick up some palm fans (even though nobody seems to know why). And a bunch of other little things... OY! I will be very glad when it's Sunday evening. I have a feeling I'll be going to bed early (especially since Alias isnt on).
So, really, thats what my calendar says. Next week has some exciting stuff, we'll see how that goes.