So the job in Rockville is officially ending on December 24th. The lady who had her baby is coming back. I can say that I will actually miss it!! I'll miss the people, I'll miss the location, I'll miss everything. It will be nice, though, because then I can clear my roster for the Peace Corps! I can't imagine what it's going to be like to hold the invitation that says "YOU ARE INVITED TO SERVE IN ______________ FOR THE NEXT 27 MONTHS. YOU LEAVE IN TWO WEEKS. KAPICHE?"
Life is unstagnating. Thanksgiving is a few days away, replete with turkey, the Jews, the Christians, the aunts, uncles, cousin's babies whose names I forget. It's the only time of the year that I see about a third of my family. What does that say about interreligious families? The cultural divide between me and some of my cousins is huge- they've gone to religious Jewish schools their whole life, they've never worn pants or played sports. But, at the core, most are chill people. Still, it's staggering that at my age, most of them were married and/or new mothers.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
On Hoarding, and Halloween
My new favorite show would have to be Hoarders. I thought Intervention was as good as it could get, but A&E outdid themselves with Hoarders. I am scared of how similar I am to some of these people. They have messy lives and messy houses that continue to get messier. They accrue stuff, let it pile up and up and up until they cannot walk through most of the rooms. One women had a room filled with her feces from her diapers. One women collected birds, and they shat everywhere and she still didn't want to see them go. Other people had houses so messy that repair people couldn't get inside to fix TVs, phones, or toilets. Yet when the junk removal teams come in to begin hauling this useless crap out to the dump, most of the hoarders become extremely frightened and agitated. Some hang on, work it through, and leave with a clean house. Others stall as long as possible and thwart the effort all together.
I think I am a slight hoarder. My room is roughly the size of Harry Potter's closet in the Dursley house, but still, it is a constant mess. Right now I hardly have any clean room on my floor. After typing this, I feel the urge to clean it a tad before I go to bed, but even so, the mess always creeps back. I don't want to be That Adult with the filthy house so I really need to get better about cleaning this room. I have very little space and few storage options, and i keep telling myself that it's only for a few more months so why start caring about it now. But since my stepmom is the Wicked Witch of Bumfuck Tennessee, I spend most of my time in this house here, or in my sister's room. Its my messy solace, but it provides me with little respite because of the constant clutter. Maybe I need to do what the hoarders do: get rid of everything I don't need- like most of my books, the swim team ball El made me that takes up so much room. Then I would paint it lilac. Then I would INSTALL WALL SHELVES, buy a loft bed, and get a big bookshelf. This would make my room beautiful but could cost $400, which is a LOT of money for me. Preschool teaching ain't paying well.
Ohh that is another thing. I am teaching preschool. I've been doing it for two months now, as a long-term sub for a woman whose broken leg injury was supposed to keep her out a month, but has kept her out far longer. I love the women I work with and the kids. They do fun things like run up to me and hug me with shining eyes. Then, two seconds later, the same hugging angel hits another kid and steals his Barney guitar, leaving me to console the crying kid and yank the guitar back from Hyde. At two, the kids look different every Monday. They constantly learn new words, new songs, and new names. And they LOVE repition. I will spend an hour playing a tame version of Hide and Go Seek with them, and every single time I pop up to scare them they squeal with delight. It's funny how distinct their personalities are- there is the precise kid who, when eating cereal, holds the spoon in his mouth and clamps down with his hand as guard, so that no milk will escape. There is the kid who is CONSTANTLY drooling. There is the kid who will only eat carbs and absolutely NO fruit or vegetables. They are all so different at such a young age.
At the end of the day, I am beat from playing, watching, scolding, making snacks, and changing diapers. It is the best birth control in the world, because they are exhaaausting. I don't know how moms even have time to brush their hair with these little tykes running around. I get stressed out being the aunt to two dogs. How do people raise humans?
I have two other jobs but my interesting one, my internship, involves working with asylees and refugees. It is SO absorbing. A meeting with a client could mean the difference between them finding child care or not. Or health insurance or not. Or a job or not. So there is no way to slack off, because if you slack off, they miss out on a vital service and struggle even more than they are already struggling. I love it. If I could work for this nonprofit forever, I would be content.
Other than that, life is fine. I'm trying to do more to spice it up. My wanderlust is getting the best of me, but the Peace Corps process is moving about as slow as the health care bill did in Congress. The PC dentist and I are obviously BFFs. I call him by his first name when I call the 1-800 number and say "It's Andrea," because I figure he must know who i am since he keeps rejecting my application. Then he gets confused becaues he, of course, has no clue who "Andrea" is, and probably sends my case to mental health to have them evaluate this delusional loon. I WANT TO GO TO LATIN AMERICA NOW! At this point, it is three month away. I have ONE more dental appointment and then all the cavities should be sealed. He has nothing else to reject me for. I hope that this will be IT for the dentist.
At least my friends are keeping me sane. Yvette and I got notecards today to write Thank You notes, and last night i saw Matt and Hernan in full drag, and Antoine in a purple pimp suit, before they went out to Georgetown to frighten young children. Justin and I carved Jack O' Lanterns and that was the first time in years I made one. He tried to make a confused one and I made an Italian one. One good thing about an All-American boyfriend is they are all about the tried and true Amuurrican traditions, like taking out a pumpkins guts and carving an offensive face on it. U-S-A!
That is all for now. Today is officially November 2nd, Election Day, so GET OUT AND VOTE. Every vote makes a difference. Please do. George Washington will smile down on you and your skin will glow with the freedom of democracy. You will shit justice. GO vote.
I think I am a slight hoarder. My room is roughly the size of Harry Potter's closet in the Dursley house, but still, it is a constant mess. Right now I hardly have any clean room on my floor. After typing this, I feel the urge to clean it a tad before I go to bed, but even so, the mess always creeps back. I don't want to be That Adult with the filthy house so I really need to get better about cleaning this room. I have very little space and few storage options, and i keep telling myself that it's only for a few more months so why start caring about it now. But since my stepmom is the Wicked Witch of Bumfuck Tennessee, I spend most of my time in this house here, or in my sister's room. Its my messy solace, but it provides me with little respite because of the constant clutter. Maybe I need to do what the hoarders do: get rid of everything I don't need- like most of my books, the swim team ball El made me that takes up so much room. Then I would paint it lilac. Then I would INSTALL WALL SHELVES, buy a loft bed, and get a big bookshelf. This would make my room beautiful but could cost $400, which is a LOT of money for me. Preschool teaching ain't paying well.
Ohh that is another thing. I am teaching preschool. I've been doing it for two months now, as a long-term sub for a woman whose broken leg injury was supposed to keep her out a month, but has kept her out far longer. I love the women I work with and the kids. They do fun things like run up to me and hug me with shining eyes. Then, two seconds later, the same hugging angel hits another kid and steals his Barney guitar, leaving me to console the crying kid and yank the guitar back from Hyde. At two, the kids look different every Monday. They constantly learn new words, new songs, and new names. And they LOVE repition. I will spend an hour playing a tame version of Hide and Go Seek with them, and every single time I pop up to scare them they squeal with delight. It's funny how distinct their personalities are- there is the precise kid who, when eating cereal, holds the spoon in his mouth and clamps down with his hand as guard, so that no milk will escape. There is the kid who is CONSTANTLY drooling. There is the kid who will only eat carbs and absolutely NO fruit or vegetables. They are all so different at such a young age.
At the end of the day, I am beat from playing, watching, scolding, making snacks, and changing diapers. It is the best birth control in the world, because they are exhaaausting. I don't know how moms even have time to brush their hair with these little tykes running around. I get stressed out being the aunt to two dogs. How do people raise humans?
I have two other jobs but my interesting one, my internship, involves working with asylees and refugees. It is SO absorbing. A meeting with a client could mean the difference between them finding child care or not. Or health insurance or not. Or a job or not. So there is no way to slack off, because if you slack off, they miss out on a vital service and struggle even more than they are already struggling. I love it. If I could work for this nonprofit forever, I would be content.
Other than that, life is fine. I'm trying to do more to spice it up. My wanderlust is getting the best of me, but the Peace Corps process is moving about as slow as the health care bill did in Congress. The PC dentist and I are obviously BFFs. I call him by his first name when I call the 1-800 number and say "It's Andrea," because I figure he must know who i am since he keeps rejecting my application. Then he gets confused becaues he, of course, has no clue who "Andrea" is, and probably sends my case to mental health to have them evaluate this delusional loon. I WANT TO GO TO LATIN AMERICA NOW! At this point, it is three month away. I have ONE more dental appointment and then all the cavities should be sealed. He has nothing else to reject me for. I hope that this will be IT for the dentist.
At least my friends are keeping me sane. Yvette and I got notecards today to write Thank You notes, and last night i saw Matt and Hernan in full drag, and Antoine in a purple pimp suit, before they went out to Georgetown to frighten young children. Justin and I carved Jack O' Lanterns and that was the first time in years I made one. He tried to make a confused one and I made an Italian one. One good thing about an All-American boyfriend is they are all about the tried and true Amuurrican traditions, like taking out a pumpkins guts and carving an offensive face on it. U-S-A!
That is all for now. Today is officially November 2nd, Election Day, so GET OUT AND VOTE. Every vote makes a difference. Please do. George Washington will smile down on you and your skin will glow with the freedom of democracy. You will shit justice. GO vote.
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