Mosaic Life

The other Georgia

So now that Georgia is on the news for being attacked by Russia, it’s got to be sort of confusing for people at first. Especially people who weren’t very aware that there were two of them to start with. I know when I first saw the news, I did a double-take and wondered why I hadn’t noticed that sort of thing. I can be incredibly oblivious sometimes when I’m focused on other things, but I’m pretty sure that bombs or fires would pull my attention away from my usual musings as I drive to work/school. But then I realized that it was the other Georgia they were talking about and did what most other Americans probably did. I muttered “oh, that’s a relief” and cared about 85% less about it.

But here’s the thing. Even though the state I reside in isn’t the only Georgia, aren’t we the most popular one? Shouldn’t they have to qualify it when they’re talking about the other one by adding “you know, that little country in Europe somewhere, not the U.S. state”? I think it would avoid a lot of confusion that way. And I’m all about avoiding confusion.

Happy Friday!

Yay, it’s Friday. I have one week left in my Shakespeare and Hitchcock classes. I can’t believe they’re nearly over. I do like 8-week classes though, because we get right to the important stuff and it’s over quickly. You get a nice sense of accomplishment afterward, so that’s good too.

In a few days we’ll have lived in Georgia for 2 years. Isn’t that crazy? I feel like we just left California yesterday. When we first moved here, we lived in campus housing, which was pretty much a complete dump, especially compared to the nice apartment we left. I remember standing in the empty apartment, looking at the elementary school-style carpet, still sweating from the heat and humidity outside, and having this panicky what-have-we-done sort of feeling. At first, I hated Atlanta. I didn’t know my way around, it was hot and disgusting outside, we didn’t know anyone. But it got better. I got a job. Fall came. The trees changed colors and the temperature began to drop. We made friends. We moved out of that 400-square foot dump and into a nicer apartment. Things got so much better in less than a year.

After our visit back to California in July, people asked me if I missed it. I do. It was a beautiful place to live. When they ask where I like living better, it’s harder to answer. Both places are so very different. Southern California has amazing weather all year long, but fall and spring in Atlanta are gorgeous. I will say that it feels like it’s easier to make friends here in Georgia, but that may be because Brandon’s in seminary, so there are more people that have similar lives and interests to hang out with. Plus, it seems like there were more beautiful people in SoCal, and they have awful personalities. I’m sure they mean well, though.

Lesson learned

Wanna know why I have a big round bruise on my hand, and one on the inside of each arm? Well, if you ever have to have blood drawn for any reason, never go near closing time, especially if you have bad veins. Because the lady who took my blood, she was not afraid of going in after the vein. Yeah, and after finally finding it on the third attempt, moving the needle around to keep the blood coming.

Ouch indeed. I’m just proud that I didn’t faint.

Saving the earth

Well, maybe a little. We’ve switched from using plastic grocery bags to cloth ones. It started when we were at Publix, and Brandon saw how cheap one of their big green cloth bags was and decided to get one. And then we went to Kroger, and I had to buy one from them so that neither grocery store would get jealous of the other, y’know? I strive to be impartial. Although I do prefer Kroger to Publix, because there’s this really mean mustached cashier lady at our nearby Publix who we never can seem to avoid.

We also have two bright blue Pitts Theology Library bags to add to the mix. I figure that this gives the impression that not only are we impartial to grocery stores, but we like to read, too. Now that’s well-balanced!

As long as we remember to keep the bags in the car and actually take them in at the grocery store, I think this switch could work pretty well. Even when we get a cart full of groceries, we only seem to use about four bags. They kind of make you feel like your groceries are nicer for some reason, like you’re taking better care of them or something.

So I guess now we’re sort of green. Maybe just a minty shade, but still. We’re getting there.

Sarcasm seen as evolutionary survival skill

I’m evolved, yo. What with my heavy use of sarcasm in everyday life. According to this article:

People with dementia, or head injuries in that area, often loose the ability to pick up on sarcasm, and so they don’t respond in a socially appropriate ways.

It’s easy to imagine how sarcasm might be selected over time as evolutionarily crucial. Imagine two ancient humans running across the savannah with a hungry lion in pursuit. One guy says to the other, “Are we having fun yet?” and the other just looks blank and stops to figure out what in the world his pal meant by that remark. End of friendship, end of one guy’s contribution to the future of the human gene pool.  

So my sarcasm proves I don’t have dementia. Sweet!

Crusty eye update

I know, the title totally has you wanting to hear more. Anyhow, a while back I blogged about how my tears burn when I cry and that my eyes get really crusty, so much that I can no longer wear contacts. Welp, I went to the eye doctor Saturday, and he said that I probably have developed an allergy, or my eyes just produce too much oil. Glamorous! So he prescribed these eye drops (that health insurance will cover) called Pataday that are supposed to stop my eyes from producing gook that dirties up my contacts. He also recommended that I wear one-day contacts, which of course will be more expensive, but I figure won’t be so bad so long as I mix things up by wearing glasses half the time.

So this week is a trial period with the contacts and eye drops to see if I can handle them. If so, I may be able to wear contacts again regularly. Yay!

Eye Question

Okay, so I doubt that my small group of readers would know the answer to this, but maybe someone who lands here doing a Google search might.

Ever since I moved back to the South, I haven’t been able to wear my contacts without my eyes crusting over. I know that sounds glamorous, but it sucks, because there are times when looking nerdy by wearing glasses does not play in my favor. Also, my tears burn when I cry. Apparently this can be a sign of chronic dry eye, but I really don’t think that’s what it is. How come I was able to wear contacts all through high school while living in the south, but after returning, I can’t?

Riddle me that, Internet.

No, you look professional

So I was at Old Navy today, which is one of my favorite stores, what with my love for good deals and clothes that allow me to stay in style enough to blend in with the masses. I was combing through a top rack of tanks tops trying to find just the right size and color, and might I add that I probably looked quite silly, standing on my tiptoes, mumbling “no I don’t need a friggin’ extra small” and probably flashing a little midriff, when I heard, “Excuse me, miss?” Even before turning I assumed the woman had mistaken me for an Old Navy employee, but before I could even mutter that I’m sorry but I don’t work here, she plunged into her little speech.

“I couldn’t help noticing that you look like a professional. What do you do for a living?”

“I’m an editor.” I said this with a little pleasure that I didn’t have to say receptionist or administrative assistant, which would have been my answer less than 2 years ago.

“Well I am from Mary Kay and we are looking for professionals just like you to be coaches for our salespeople. I know that when you think of Mary Kay you think of the Mary Kay parties.” Now she looked professional. Perfectly applied makeup, clothes that certainly didn’t come from Old Navy, a Coach purse. She smiled pleasantly and continued, “Would you be interested in a job where you could make up to six figures?”

This might have been a little more convincing, was I not dressed in a tee shirt, jeans, and flip flops. As for makeup, I had only a little more on than mascara. Yeah. I looked like a professional.

“No, thank you,” I responded, “I love my job.” She nodded, thanked me for my time, and walked away.

Did I mention that I had a very similar experience at Target a year ago? Same pitch, similar lady, except I was on my lunch break and had on dress clothes and heels, so the “professional” comment wasn’t quite as ridiculous. I walked away laughing to myself, and continuing to muse about it all the way to the car.
Good fun.

Woo, Spring Break

This week is my Spring Break. My intentions were to get ahead in my German and Broadcast Media classes, but you know how that sort of thing goes. Good intentions, blah blah.

I haven’t been completely lazy, though. I’ve been working to finish up a project that I’ve been working on since January. I can go into more detail about that next week, since it’s sort of a surprise for someone. At any rate, I consider it my magnum opus. I feel like Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web when I say that. You know, how she tells Wilbur that the egg pouch/eggs that she’s been creating are her magnum opus and then she dies? Well I don’t expect to die, but man, I had no idea what I was getting into when I started this here project. I’ll be super glad when I have a finished product.

So yeah, Spring Break. Not going to the beach to party. I never was into that sort of thing, anyhow. But I must say, I would really like to see an ocean soon. It’s been too long. I took it for granted when I was living in California and the ocean was always 30 minutes away. But hey, now I have tornadoes and humidity. Beat that, California.

At least it’s not the bird flu

I took the day off yesterday to study for finals and write a paper. I’m really glad I did, because when I woke up yesterday morning, Brandon had a high fever and the classic signs of the flu. He never gets sick. Really, never. But apparently this was the sickest he’s ever been. So we drove to the student health clinic and he tested positive for the flu. Did you know they have a test for that? That’s so cool. We’re getting to a point in healthcare where it’s going to get hard for kids to fake illnesses. Good thing I escaped childhood before that happened or I would have had to go to school way more.

Anyway, so yeah. The flu really sucks. But Brandon was able to start taking Tamiflu within 24 hours of symptoms, so I’m hoping he gets better fast. Oh, and I hear that the flu shot I got in November is useless, because a different strand of the flu is going around than the three strands I was vaccinated against. At least I tried.