Tag Archives: story time y’all

today is…

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an ode to today, because it is so busy:

today, is:

busy

crazy

door open/shut/open/shut/open/shut/open

“where do you…?”

phone rings. “this is Jennie…”

“where can I…?”

“do you know where…?”

“can you remind me of…”

purple, yellow, white.

phone rings. “This is Jennie…”

intials: sign sign sign.

sign.

door open/shut/open

phone rings. “This is Jennie.”

sign sign sign. hand out a goodie. hand out one…

hand out one, two, three…seventeen, five left. thirty five.  done.

door open/shut open/shut

“do you have my locker combination?”

“do you have mine?”

2-32-4

number 345.

door shut.

j. p.

j. p.

sign, sign, sign.

intials, everywhere. jp. jp. sign.

(lunch is over.)

whew.

Riding the Metro to work?

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Last night, on my ride home, Jeff called to say that he had to be somewhere east of LA at 7:30 am. The same time I have to be at work. Which meant…I had to take the Metro to work. I looked for options out of it, but in the end, this was the only option.

work_subway

So I woke up at 5:10 am. I got up. I showered. Jeff offered to drive me to the train station at 5:55 am. I arrived at 5:58 am. That’s right, folks. In the 5 o’clock hour, I was at the Metro station.

I walked down the escalators, bought my ticket (I always buy my ticket, even though no one checks your ticket and there are no turnstiles. I like to be honest, and I believe that if no one pays, the system will never get better. So I pay.) I walked to the platform, impressed at my alertness, sipping my coffee, ready to pull my book out…book out…BOOK. I had forgotten, in my haste, to grab my BOOK! And this is terrible news, because I finished a book yesterday, leaving a wide open space for me to pick up where I left off in The Red Tent so I could attempt to finish the book club books on time.

No dice. And then, I remembered that I could listen to my Bridge of Sighs book on tape. And then I remembered it wasn’t on my iPod anymore.

But then I thought it’d be OK. I could people watch.

So I did!

And let me tell you, it made me feel like I was on the subway in Beijing again. That was the last subway system that I was familiar with, and it reminds me of the Beijing. There are tons of people on the LA trains that are not “white people.” In Boston, it feels like there are Irish, Italian, and a slew of college students around. In China, everyone was Chinese. Here, people are white, Hispanic, black, etc. I feel like it’s more diverse here than any place I have lived, and a good place to see that is on the subway.

As I rode to work, I had lots of time to take in my surroundings. I took some pictures of the scenery, because most of the Gold line is above ground (the second line I ride.) I also rode the Pasadena ARTS bus for the first time! (Pasadena Area Rapid Transit System.) It was wonderful, because the bus arrived promptly, which meant I walked into work at 7:25, just in time to see Liz’s dog!

All in all, not a big deal at all. A little sleepy, but I have an iced coffee here. Tomorrow I will remember a book.

Some things to tell you.

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Guys, I have so many little things to tell you!

* I have this plant at work. It’s SO needy. It legitimately needs water every day. It was regifted to me from my coworker because she’s not really into plants. And what am I supposed to do? Let it die? I think not. So I have to water it every day. This weekend we had a three day weekend, and when I got back all the leaves were droopy, and several were yellow. NEEDY.

* I dropped my iPod on my toe yesterday on the way out of my bedroom. It is bruised.

* I want to start bird watching in LA. To prepare, I am reading this article.

* I cut myself some bangs this weekend. My longer bangs just keep getting all up in my business.

* I wore capris with sneakers today. It looks a little weird, but I can’t help it. I need the sneaks to walk, and it’s hot. I might have to get some cuter kicks.

* Corelyn and I are going to make summer dresses and skirts. We’ll let you know how it goes.

* There are 2 Dunkin Donut mugs on my desk. I didn’t bring one home yesterday because I had to take the train. It is shameful. I might make Jeff come in and collect them tomorrow before he scurries off to work.

* Speaking of the train, I think I am going to finish my book today because I have been riding the train! How awesome is that!?

* I am volunteering tonight. I don’t really want to, because I am a bit tired, but that’s the point of volunteering, I think. So I am going anyways. Besides, it’s only for an hour, and it’s with children, so I think it’ll be good.

* This morning I woke up 1 minute before my alarm went off and convinced myself it was rainy outside. It was not. I was also convinced that I was WIDE awake. And woke up after 1 snooze 9 minutes later…

* This morning, while 5 people were in my office AND I was on the phone, I spilled coffee all over my desk. Whoops. But, the nice thing was, no one noticed!!

* One of the kinder teachers just broke cake in. I am excited and saddened by this, because I’ve already eaten M&Ms today. Whoops.

Snickerdoodles with Reese's Pieces

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A few days ago, I asked my friend El about cookies. Via email. The following is our email convo:

“If you were to eat a cookie, which flavor would you like it to be?”

“Matzah flavored,” he replied, since it is Passover.

“What if it WASN’T Passover? Then what kind of cookie?” I asked.

“That’s tough.  I like all cookies!  probably snickerdoodle with Reese’s pieces,” he replied.

So I made him some Reese’s pieces Snickerdoodles. On account of it being his birthday week, and all.

I used a recipe from FoodNetwork, since I have never made snickerdoodles before, except ONCE in the 7th grade in my first week of Home Ec when I had first moved to MI. It was a traumatic experience, as I had only ever made chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin, and had never heard of snickerdoodles. What land has my parents brought me to, one where cows and tractors and snickerdoodles are plentiful?? I asked myself this question daily for a few weeks, and since my Home Ec teacher was dramatic and told me I shouldn’t chew gum and had a problem with me from Day 1 (I’m pretty sure my mom got a call or two), I vowed I would hate snickerdoodles forever. Of course, I haven’t eaten any since then, nearly 10 years ago, and had nearly forgotten my hatred until El asked me to make them. Alas, I still don’t really like them. But hopefully he will.

Recipe

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening ( I used regular Crisco )
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for dusting
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour ( I used wheat flour. Shh!! Don’t tell El. )
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ( I probably used more. )

I did not use the “chocolate sticks” mentioned on the recipe page, instead I put Reese’s pieces into the dough (after making some for Jen, on account of her peanut allergy.) They were good plain OR with Reese’s. If, you know, you’re into snickerdoodles.

IN OTHER NEWS…

The only person who reads my blog that may know this is M. OK and maybe a bunch of you, but I had no idea!!

cinnamon-tree

DID YOU KNOW THAT CINNAMON IS TREE BARK? I would like to move to the land of Cinnamon-barked trees. It’s almost as good as Candy Land. Only the place in which Cinnamon-barked trees grow is in Sri Lanka.

Apparently we need “tropical sunshine and abundant rain” and I don’t know if I can recreate it. I might try to, in the bathtub, if Jeff says it’s OK. More to come.

So give me a little credit [have in me a little faith.]

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I love the song “If I Am.” It’s wonderful. I am listening to it right now.

Anyways. The point of this post:

So I’ve been having this reoccurring dream that I am running really fast and I never lose my breath. I’ve been having it for a few years now, and I’ve decided that maybe it’s trying to tell me something. Meanwhile, I was thinking the other day if I was ever hypothetically in a situation that required me to “run for help” I probably wouldn’t get very far. I’ve refused on multiple occasions to run for a bus, train, subway, etc. I missed the train to my first day of college that way, nearly 4 years ago.

I have had many excuses in my past of reasons I couldn’t be a runner. Arches in my feet are the number one culprit. They hurt from walking, and I figured that running would aggrevate them. That’s the reason I had to stop playing soccer my junior year of high school, after all.

But my arch issues are under control, and I do recall that sophomore year I would always lap my sister in cycles when we were sprinting. She’d always catch up to me in the jog, but hell I could sprint.

Meanwhile, I have come to realization that I don’t want to pay for a gym and I don’t want to spend time doing Pilates in my living room forever. I’ll never get into shape that way. What’s a girl to do. Then I thought…what about run?

Another story: About two years ago, my friend Laur and I were heading to Grand Central Station from Times Square. The run is less than a mile. I should have been able to handle it. I ran about half way before I had to stop–and as my friend Laur pushed me along, I thought I would die. Once we boarded the train, it took me about ten minutes to stop panting, and about a half hour before my lungs stopped hurting.

That’s pathetic. I should be able to run a mile. That is reasonable. Human bodies only last for so long, and I should at least give mine the benefit of being in good shape so if something else should go ary my body would be prepared to fight. Right?

So, guys, I’ve decided I am going to become a runner. I have a game plan, and I am going to do it.

Of course, I decided this three days ago. But then one day it rained, and then the next I got home at 8, after dark and very hungry.

So today, after work, I got home (early which was helpful) and began. I slipped on my Olympic shoes and my Olympic fanny pack (over the shoulder, of course) and started my training: 10 cycles, walk 2 minutes, run 1 minute. My body was very tense as I prepared to run that first minute. But I did it. And then I did another minute, and another. After 3 cycles, however, my lungs were on overload and I had to slow to a walk for a bit. For quite a long time. For 10 minutes, actually. After those 10, I finished strong by running/walking 3 more cycles. 6 cycles in total. That’s something.

woman_running

[not me running. What I’d love to look like, though…]

Today, I ran for 6 minutes. I also probably only ran .6 miles. But the total travel was 2.14 miles. So I did something. I feel like I am getting somewhere. I’ve already made a playlist for tomorrow, and I am aiming for 8 cycles.

Here goes nothing.

How do you guys keep in shape? Anyone??