A Disneyland-like High

Last weekend my best friend Rachel was in town.  Her husband, Ron, had some business to finish up (they moved to Washington this past July) so Rachel decided to accompany him since flights were so ridiculously cheap.

We had such a great time and it just makes me miss her more and wish they would move back.  Trust me, Wenatchee Washington holds nothing on California.  On Friday we hung out at the apartment and by special request from Rachel we had In-n-Out for lunch.  She's not the first Californian that has requested In-n-Out upon return - I know that I never have and probably never will.  I think their food is good but I'm not goo-goo over it and never have been.  Although they do have good shakes...

On Saturday her sister and sister's boyfriend drove from San Diego to visit with Rachel (and I like to think with me too).  I've known Krista forever and think fondly of her, as I do of Rachel.  We had a wonderful visiting with them mainly because they satiated my huge appetite for games and indulged me in several of my favorites.  We also walked to our local Thai place (Toi Thai on Wilshire) and had an outstanding meal!  I think they are starting to recognize me and Joel cause the waitress (who is my favorite) brought us mango sticky rice....and yes, it was on the house!

On Sunday Rachel and I drove to Riverside (man that is a far drive from SM) to a Chicago Bears bar where we met up with Ron and watched the Bears game (they are a football team for all you non-sporters out there.  Before Ron I had no idea Chicago had a football team.)  Its amazing how excited grown men get over touchdowns.  These guys gather almost every week at the bar to watch the games...they have definitely formed a community and it was a privilege to be a part of this community that Sunday morning.

After the game Rachel and I went for pedicures.  She is getting bigger now (no, not because of the In-n-Out cheeseburgers, but because of a very unfortunate growth in her stomach.  It seems that Rachel is almost 6 months pregnant.  Its definitely a trip seeing your best friend - of God-knows how many years - pregnant!).  We finished off the trip at church and then said our teary goodbyes.  

Now I am completely unmotivated at school and am hoping some burst of inspiration comes my way this weekend.

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Goodbye Legos, Hello Internet!

***UPDATE***

I've been asked what the bad news was...well, it was how much he would be paid at this new dream job.  Lets just say that he would probably be better off at Starbucks or In-n-Out.  However, he has just completed his first week and LOVED it!  The guys he works with have already given him greater responsibility and he comes home beaming on a nightly basis.  I couldn't be happier despite the fact that we may still be on the streets next week - or at least Chachi will be.

****

A few weeks ago I mentioned Joel got a job teaching Legos and how wonderful this was.  Seems this was only wonderful in my book and while I may have wanted to spend my days playing with Legos, Joel certainly did not.  So he continued the job search.

Last Friday he had an interview with a company that posts how-to videos (much like YouTube).  The interview went perfectly and we were on top of the world cause we knew that Joel hands down blew them away.  Everything was perfect - Joel would be working in the marketing division of a venture capitalist techie company; they used macs; Joel would be required to spend mass amounts of time on the internet; he got along great with the guys there; he would work part-time until he finished up school and then they would bring him on full-time; and the place is a few miles from home.  He was told that they would get back to him that night.  We waited.

Each day Joel became a bit more depressed about the situation.  I tried the pep-talk, the well if you don't get this I will still love you talk, the you're perfect for the job and it must just be extraneous circumstances keeping them from calling you.  Everyday I would rush out to my car after class and frantically check my phone to see if Joel had called with the good news.  But everyday my little phone returned nothing.

I gave Joel permission to take the week off from job-hunting so that he could focus on school (and more importantly not focus on jobs).  We prayed and prayed and knew that if this was what God wanted then it would happen.  But surely it was because the job was so perfect!

And then it came.  No, not the text message on my phone.  I came home tonight and decided that if they had called then Joel would tell me.  So I refrained from asking, but I didn't have to because when I got home Joel told me had good news and bad news.  I knew right then - they had called and he had the job.  To say that I screamed and jumped up and down would be a slight understatement.  Periodically I would scream out loud and grab him by the neck in a I can't believe you're doing the job of your dreams kind of way.

He starts next Tuesday and I can't wait to hear how the first day goes.

Microwaves and Toasters

At the age of three I was cooking eggs in the microwave.  I would stare at the rotating bowl and couldn't wait until the eggs boiled up so high that they almost flowed over the bowl's lip.  I remember my mom telling me not to stare into the microwave - that it was bad for my eyes or my brain or something...I can't remember!

I remember loving the microwave so much that if it could fit inside the microwave then I would most certainly use the microwave.  I lived on campus my first year at Pepperdine.  They provided all the furniture for us - except for a microwave.  No microwave!  I mean, was this the 17th centurty?  Was I not at a school where 18 year olds drive ferraris?  One of the first things we did was buy a microwave, because, come-on...you have to have a microwave!

When I moved into our current apartment I was so mesmerized by the size, wooden floors and pink & blue bathroom that I failed to notice the kitchen had only one - ONE - outlet and this outlet was (in)conveniently located by the smallest part of the counter.  Ugh.  This didn't register disaster to me until I thought about my precious microwave.  There was no way I could have that and a toaster and a blender and well, anything that requires electricity.  What was I to do?  We chose the toaster.

And boy am I glad we did!  Very few times have I uttered the words, "I need a MICROWAAAAAVE!"  For the most part we are able to use the stove and the ever so amazing toaster.  I mean, its amazing what you can do with a toaster.  And, when I watch the food cook and bubble over the lip of the baking sheet, I don't get the waves shrinking what's left of my microwaved brain!

Throwing Caution to the Wind

Joel and I have been penny pinching lately since neither of us are gainfully employed (we each have odd jobs...I'm a research assistant for one of my all time favorite law professors and Joel is a lego instructor).  We've been eating in and shopping less.  We even make fewer trips to Orange.  I think we've morphed into old people since we tend to say things like "Man it's getting late" when really its only 9:30.  Our computers have become appendages and we envision how to conquer our favorite video games when we should be sleeping.

But sometimes - like tonight - we throw caution to the wind, extricate ourselves from our faithful Macs, and wind up in some store or some bar.  Tonight we drove the 1.2 miles to 3rd street promenade and enjoyed some guilt free shopping at the Gap (I have $100 in gift certificates as a 'thank you' for spending money on my credit cards) and then some drinks and mini sliders at Yankee Doodles.  It was such a wonderful night.  Everytime we do something like this we remark about how necessary a date night is and how much we enjoy it.  But then we find ourselves holed up in the apartment with Chachi as our only outlet until we go stir crazy (much like tonight) and wander back out into the real world where three dimensional people have fun and don't say things like "I powned that video game!"

I am in love with iTunes genius feature.  First, if there is a song you particularly like just click on the song then click on the genius icon and voila!  iTunes makes an entire playlist of songs that mesh well with the song you chose!  Also, it suggests other songs that would go well with your library that are not currently in your library.  And, other songs of that particular artist that are not in your library.  Ahhh....this makes it so much easier to get cool music.

Yea for iTunes!!  Hopefully it will still be around after this whole ordeal with the music industry goes down...

Widgets

Today I discovered the power of widgets.  Now, this may just be a ploy to avoid the mountains of books that I have to read and the dozens of papers I have to write.  But I like to think of it as "taking care of business" because if this law thing doesn't work out I am definitely going to become one of those mommy bloggers that make all their money writing on their blogs while never having to remove their pajamas from their very happy bodies.

If you start to see ads pop up on this thing - you'll know what happened.

God Grew Tired of Us

In 1987, Sudan's Muslim government pronounced death to all males in the Christian south: 27,000 boys fled to Ethiopia on foot. In 1991, they were forced to flee to Kenya; 12,000 survived to live in a U.N. camp in Kakuma. Archival footage documents the 1,000 mile flight; we see life in the camp. We follow three young men who repatriate to the U.S. John Bul Dau goes to Syracuse, and by the film's end, becomes a spokesperson for the Lost Boys and Lost Girls of Sudan; Daniel Abol Pach and Panther Bior go to Pittsburgh. All work several jobs, send money back to the camp, search for relatives lost in the civil war, acclimatize to the U.S., seek an education, and miss their homeland.

The only thing Joel and I could do after watching this incredibly heart-wrenching movie was embrace and allow the tears to flow.  Its amazing how resilient the human spirit is and yet how delicate in all the same passage.  One of the boys that came to America ended up losing his mind and had to be committed into a mental institution.  I realize that people endure un-Godly hardship and survive.  Yet not without a price.

If you can, rent this movie and allow their stories to become a piece of your story.

(pictures and caption from imdb).

She's so great it kills me

A recent article noted Tina Fey's comedic ability in capturing Sarah Palin (on a side note, the article had nothing to do with Tina Fey's impression.  The author started out talking about Palin's performance at the debate and ended in this excerpt.  I personally do not see the connection, but I appreciated the author's viewpoint on Tina Fey). Here is the excerpt:

We must take happiness where we can. Tina Fey's Sarah Palin has become, in that old phrase, a national sensation, and Ms. Fey is becoming, with her show "30 Rock," and now the Palin impression, one of the great comic figures of her generation. Her work with Amy Poehler (as Katie Couric) in last weekend's spoof on "Saturday Night Live" was so astoundingly good—the hand gestures, the vocal tone and spirit—that it captured some of the actual heart of the Palin story. Ms. Poehler as Couric: "Mrs. Palin, are you aware that when cornered you become increasingly adorable?" Ms. Fey as Palin mugs, adorably.

To spoof someone well takes talent, but to utterly nail a political figure while not brutalizing him takes a real gift, and amounts almost to a public service. After all, to capture someone is a kind of tribute: it concedes he is real, vivid, worthy of note. We are not as a nation manufacturing trust all that well, or competence, or leadership. But some things we do well, and one is comedy. Ms. Fey plays characters who are sour, stressed and who, on "30 Rock," live in a world that is cynical, provisional and shallow. But to observe life so closely takes a kind of love.

Joel and I are huge fans of 30 Rock and Tina Fey. Her renditions of Sarah Palin are priceless and like this article notes, she nails them.

If there was an award for the best wife in 2008, I would totally be in the running.  Today I made a great dinner for my husband, followed by homemade snickerdoodles, and he may just get lucky tonight.

Of course, this award would not take into account the countless hours I lounge around on the couch playing around on the internet.  Nor would it base its opinion on my cleaning skills and general household abilities.  Because, if that was the case I would definitely not be in the running.  Not even a little bit.

But you see, this is why I married Joel because he LIKES doing the dishes - it relaxes him!  (I know, crazy talk right?  But he told me this today while we were washing the dishes and he was cringing at the dirty water I was using to clean the pots and pans.  I could tell he was resisting rewashing them with all his might.  I know this because he told me the other morning he had to remove a dried up onion piece from his coffee mug.  Nevertheless...I made dinner!  DINNER!  I deserve the award and if you ask Joel he would agree)  He also likes cleaning the bathtub, running the Scooba (aka mopping the floor), doing the laundry, and tidying up.  So you see, there is never anything left for me to do.  Hence my lounging around.

Trust me...our system works very well and in the meantime I occasionally don my apron and whip up a delicious meal using almost every dish in the house only to leave a tornado of dirtiness in the kitchen that Joel then later quietly and dutifully puts back together.

He's so wonderful!

Dear Winter,

Where are you?  Its October and time to break out the scarves and jackets.  Instead you are forcing me to wear shorts and tank tops.  Its too hot!  Bring your refreshing rains and comforting cloud cover.  I'm ready to pack away my swim suit and bust out the space heater.  And, if you come real soon I promise to not complain too much when your blustery winds bite my nose and cool temperatures nip at my toes.

Love,

Amanda

Intelligent Voting

Recently, Joel and I had a great conversation with some friends about why we have decided to vote for Obama.  Their main concern about him is his pro-choice stance (I will refrain from having a conversation about this because I believe the issue is complicated and I am not entirely set on my own opinions). 

Joel and I would never want someone to agree with us just to agree with us.  More than supporting our viewpoints we want others to intelligently understand their own.  I understand the one issue voters and respect their opinions and reasons for supporting one candidate over another.  However, more and more people are voting with the hearts, their pocket books or because "their parents voted that way" and less and less are voting because they have intelligently looked at the issues and have made their minds up based on the information and evidence in front of them.

With that said, if you are a one-issue voter (whatever issue that may be) I strongly encourage you to understand your position and your issue.  For all of you out there who cannot stomach voting for a pro-choice president, check out the wiki page on Roe v. Wade.  This is an extremely informative introduction into the legal topic of abortion.  Since voting for Presidents impacts the legal discussion on abortion - and not the moral one - I believe knowing the history and case law of that legal right is imperative when that issue is what defines your voting palate.

Ignorance is bliss, but knowing about the benefits and consequences of our decisions is empowering.  I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

A Heartwarming Moment

Today on my way home from school, I saw a man in his 50s wearing a suit (complete with the jacket and tie) riding on an itty bitty moped.

Ahhh...things can change.