a fragment of the girl

I was totally right about the coat issue. I spent way too much on something, once I finally decided. But I like it...I think. And I got it at REI so I can return it whenever even after using it. But I think I'll keep it. It's knee-length and down-filled. Should be nice and warm.

The weather here is very Irishy this week. Rainy and blah. Oh, and the clocks are changing this weekend. I'm sooo not looking forward to that. I try to get out running before it gets dark after I get home from work. That's quickly going to end after this weekend. I don't mind running in the dark. I just kinda don't like starting in the dark.

I'm determined to start a new crochet project this weekend. Maybe a small thing or two and maybe a blanket as well. Must hit up JoAnns. And I want to learn to knit socks. The patterns for knitting are WAY better. So I should look up what needles I need for that. I used to be all crochet Nazi, but damnit there are just some gorgeous knit patterns I want to do. It seems I can either read or crochet in my free time - not both. There just aren't enough hours in a day. Maybe I'll do my reading during the week and use weekends for crochet. I'm reading Steinbeck at the moment. East of Eden. It's really good so far.

Come on weekend!

I read lj, like every day, but I never remember to update. I always say "tomorrow" and then that becomes "several weeks from now".

I had a pretty good relaxing weekend, and now it's only Monday and I'm already looking forward to the weekend coming. Not a good sign.

I am so frustrated with people at work. Like, sooooo frustrated. It's too pathetic to even go into. People are just a mixture of incompetent and ignorant. Sigh.

I bought a new dresser over two weeks ago. I only got around to putting it together on Saturday, and only got it half-done, despite working on it for over two hours. Ikea, damn you. And I hammered my thumb four times. It was time to call it quits. So it will probably be the weekend before I manage to finish putting it together.

I need a new winter coat. I left my one in Ireland and I haven't gotten a new once since I went to Ireland the first time. I want a down or other insulated one, rather than wool or the like. I need something really warm. But I'm too picky and it will probably take me ages to pick something and then I'll likely spend way more money than I should on one. Bah!

Ok, this was a rather pessimistic post. Hmm, something cheerful to say... I bought a couple new shirts and a sweater that I'm quite pleased with. And I'm still enjoying getting lots of reading done. And I talked to John 3 nights in a row over the weekend, so that was nice!

I am so top dog at work. The DIT lead (who gets copied on emails confirming work done) asked my team lead why I was doing all the work. Lol. It's largely because I've been primary in the morning most of the time (and mornings are generally busier), but also due to me picking up a lot of slack from the incompetent team members. I can't help it if I have my shit together and other people don't! So now I get to work on a side project. Nothing too complicated, but still, it's like...recognition. :)

I went to the library to return books and got three new ones tonight. I am quite excited to start a new book. And I ran 3 miles. Finally a night where I feel like I got something done.

So work has gone from being mad-stressful to super boring. Hopefully it will get better this week. I went in late today so I had to stay until 5:30 and that sucked. I much prefer the early morning. I didn't get home until after 7.

Emily was here for the weekend and we had loads of fun! We baked cookies on Saturday (angelfalling's recipe from her food blog). They were tasty tasty. We stitched and bitched while they were cooking. I still haven't finished the scarf I started for Rachel. I'm such a bad friend! Anyway. That night we went to an Orioles game with a couple of girls who were in my fraternity and two others. The Orioles won and it was a good time. On Sunday we went to a wine festival in Lorton, VA, which was nice. It was the first annual one so it was kinda small. Only 6 wineries. We did two rounds of tastings to get our $30 worth! It was held at an arts center so we saw some nice art work in a variety of media. There were also jazz performers, but neither of us like jazz, so we pretty much ignored that.

I thought John and I were video chatting tonight, but he's missing online... where is my man?

My birthday is on Wednesday. I'm getting dinner with a friend that night, but otherwise I really don't have anything planned.

I'm coooold. I don't want winter to come!

Work is an odd thing. The 60-year old on our team is dragging us down and making us look bad. It's simultaneously sad and infuriating. It's stressing me out. Otherwise, work is fine. But I'd say it's gonna get bad later this week.

I got a new mattress and frame last week. The frame is the Leirvik from Ikea, which I quite like, but I fear I'll have to get rid of when John come over because he's too tall to have a footboard. The mattress is nice, but has an odd smell of peanut butter. Apparently I'm not the only one to get an odor from a new mattress (dunno how many other people think it smells like peanut butter though). I sprayed it with Febreeze tonight, which I think was a bad idea. Now the smell is a really sickening mixture. Blegh. Shoulda just waited and let it air out some more. Sorry Emily, I hope it doesn't still smell when you're here this weekend!

Did happy hour with work peeps on Fri. Slightly ruined by the annoying 30-year-old ass coming along, but he didn't stay all night. I got home too damned late. I was up about 22.5 hours. Consequently I spent almost all of Saturday in bed. But it felt so good.

Emily's coming to stay this weekend! It should be fun. Going to a baseball game, baking cookies, and stiching should be on the schedule Hopefully I don't have a late night on Fri before she arrives early on Sat.

I got my haircut for the first time in nearly a year! I like it. Maybe I'll keep up with it this time (though I say that every year and never do).

Ummm, I think that's it.

Tell me things about yourself, friendslist.

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favorite Movie:
5. Favorite Song or Album:
6. Favorite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:
9. Do we know each other outside of LJ?
10. What's your philosophy on life?
11. Is the bottle half-full or half-empty?
12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
13. What is your favorite memory of us?
14. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the 'world peace etc' malarky) - what are they?
17. Can we get together and make a cake?
18. Which country is your spiritual home?
19. What is your big weakness?
20. Do you think I'm a good person?
21. What was your best/favorite subject at school?
22. Describe your accent:
23. If you could change anything about me, would you?
24. What do you wear to sleep?
25. Trousers or skirts?
26. Cigarettes or alcohol?
27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
28. Will you repost this so I can fill it out for you?

I really shouldn't stay up late and sleep in on weekends. It just makes getting to sleep harder on Sun night and therefore waking up on Mon morning harder as well. But it's 12:30 and I'm not ready to sleep yet. I am tired, but I haven't felt moved to go to bed. And now I'm hungry, so I'll have to eat first anyway. Maybe a glass of chocolate milk. Mmmm.

I got my first paycheck in the mail today! So nice. It was only for 6 days of work but already was what I might make in two months at Gorby's. HR is stupid though because they have my info for direct deposit, so I shouldn't have gotten a check. Must call them about that on Mon.

Work was pretty good this week. Finally did some work on the live website on Friday and we did good. This week should be slightly more interesting and settled. I'm starting the early shift of going in at 7am, so I'll be waking up around 4:30. It's gonna be rough.

I must go to the library and grocery shopping tomorrow.

Oh blast, I just realized I'm out of milk. Crap.

What the hell is this xbox advertisement bullshit in the LJ header? Way to sell out LJ. Laaaaaame.

I feel like I was very lazy this weekend. I had a failed run on Sat and then didn't run on Sun. I just laid about a lot. I did meet friends for dinner and hanging out on Sat. And today I went shopping for camisoles to wear under my dress shirts. (For some reason, despite the shirts fitting well, I get gaping between the buttons at the boob point. Why, I ask? My boobs aren't that big. This should not be a real problem.) I had to resort to dreadful WalMart to find the damn things at a reasonable price. $24 for a freaking camisole at Target or Kohl's? You've got to be kidding me. $7.94 at WalMart. Anyway, I also went to see Harry Potter and went grocery shopping today. So, not a bad day.

Oh yes, and my mom and I went to the fabric store and picked out fabric for a lap quilt she's going to make me. I was complaining about being cold at work and she offered the one she just completed, but then started to regret making the offer. Haha. So now she has to make me one so she can get hers back.

Second week of work down. This time my Friday was 16.5 hours long (13.5 at work, 3 commuting). I'm holding up surprisingly well. That's probably from a mixture of things. I'm just so pleased to have a job that any task seems doable. I really have nothing else going on, so it's not like I feel as if I'm missing out on other things I could be doing. My salary's enough that I don't feel as under-appreciated at work as I have in lower paying jobs. And the pressure is on for my team to show competence in the tasks so that we can proceed with the transition process, so I feel sort of...important? I dunno. I mean, it's not all that complicated work, but it's a lot of details to remember, and if we don't get up to speed quickly, the old contractors will have to stay on longer, and I want us to prove that we can handle it. Basically I just want to do well. I want to succeed. But I do need to make sure I take some time off next week because I worked 45.5 hours this week and I'm not eligible for overtime. I know things will smooth out once the transition is over. I'm willing to work hard now to catch up in order to make things easier later. And while it's not exactly the job I might have envisioned, it's not a bad one either, and hopefully with time I'll be able to expand the work and maybe do some more real development.

I'm thinking I won't move down there as soon as I had originally planned. First of all, I don't have the money. I won't get my first full pay check until the end of this month. And I have to pay off my credit cards that I have run up some bills on during my last few months in Ireland and in my unemployment. And as bad as the commute sounds, it really hasn't been too much of a hassle so far. It sounds long when you actually say "an hour and a half each way" but it seems to go by fast. I just read on the metro and before I know it, I'm there. The worst bit is getting up super early, but I can survive it. So I may stay with my parents for 6 months at least and see how things go. And I can save up a crap-ton of money. If I play my cards right I could, at the very least, cut my student loans in half in a year's time. Who wouldn't want to do that?

My running is still not fully recovered. Ran twice so far this week and my shin was not too bad. I'm gonna try again today and maybe tomorrow.

I haven't been able to talk to John really at all this week, which has sucked. I'm going to bed around 9:30 now, so I'm not online after he gets home from work anymore. :(

That's about all my news. I finally finished all of the Harry Potter books. I now need to go see the 6th movie. Hopefully it's still showing somewhere.

Oh yes, it's Labor Day weekend, so yay for having Monday off!

The beginning of starting a new job is always pretty boring. But it's bound to be even more boring if you're not technically allowed to do any real work because you're not fully cleared for the space yet. I'm still waiting on my FDIC badge so I've just been reading a big binder of SOPs this week. Thrilling, let me tell you. But hey, could be worse.

I am also dog tired today. I have to get up at 5am to leave by 6:10, to be on the metro by 6:30-6:45, to be in Arlington by 7:30-7:45. Monday I was pretty tired, yesterday I was actually pretty peppy when I got home, and today I've just been dead all day. And the two hour commute home today was super fun. Stupid traffic on Rt. 1 back from Greenbelt. It wasn't like that yesterday. And of course I thought I was the only one who knew of a back route to detour off on. Oh ho ho, silly silly Clare. Even slower there, with nowhere to turn off. Of course Rt. 1 was probably so backed up because of the reported accident on 95 at 198. Oh, the intricacies of DC traffic. I'm sorely tempted to try driving Rt. 1 through the district tomorrow, but I really don't know. There's just no good solution. And despite living 30 mins from DC almost my whole life, I have very limited knowledge of the Beltway and city traffic, so if I hit shit, I won't know how to formulate a plan B or C. Oh, yes, but the reason I'm even considering driving is that I'm getting horrible motion-sickness on the Metro. I just don't know how long I can handle that. It was bad on the way home today. I think it's better if I sit in a sideways seat, but there are so few of those.

I tried a run last night because I felt pretty good. I made it to the 3 miles I had planned but my shin was still twingey. Boo. Of course it was probably a bad idea to do that after wearing heels all day.

I think part of the reason I'm so tired today is that I had a good cry last night while reading the last Harry Potter book before bed. Like straight-up sobbing. That always tuckers me out. But I'm not done with the book yet, so nobody make any comments about the ending!

And dudes, it's a pain trying to pack food for 12 hours. By the time I get to work I'm ready for a second breakfast, then I need one or two snacks before lunch at 1, then I need another snack before leaving, then during the hour and a half (or two hour) journey home I get hungry again! Stupid fast metabolism! ((Ok, not really, I'll deal, but lordy I feel like I'm just eating non-stop!)

Heh, yes. When we were dog-sitting my sister's dog while she went on a road trip to Disney World with her family. Flash rebuffed me repeatedly when I would try to pet or call him. But oh, he came around. A thunderstorm scared him and he cowered against my leg like the little scaredy-dog he is. After that he was all about being cuddle-buddies. I was the bigger man and forgave his earlier rudeness. ;P

I have been commanded by John to update, and so here I am.

I got a job! Yay! I start tomorrow. I am not excited about the commute until I find a place to live down there. It's gonna be 1.5-2 hours each way. Laaaaame. The job is as an "Internet Technology Specialist" with a government contractor at the FDIC in Arlington, VA.

I spent a load of money buying work clothes this weekend. I still have some pants from the last time I was working full-time but my shirts either deteriorated or were thrown/given away in the move back from Ireland. I bought some cute skirts that I'm excited to wear, and some new shoes. I also got two new pairs of pants and some shirts and cardigans. I could do with a few more shirts, but I have some coupons for New York and Co. that I can use next weekend, so I'll go then.

Hmm, what else?

I have taken two weeks off running. I tried running this past Tues but my lower leg/shin was hurting (the reason I took a break). So irritated. I finally get my right ankle behaving really well and then my left leg starts up. Grrrrr! Plus, in the stress of interviewing and waiting to hear back, it would have been a welcome relief to go out and let off some steam on the road. Oh yeah, so I gave up my goal of doing the Baltimore Half in October. Not sure the shin would hold up, and now with starting a new job with such a long commute, it may be hard to fit in the runs. But I signed up for the 5k and I'm still going to do my utmost to keep up the running once I start back.

Oh yeah! I got a new car! My dad took advantage of the "Cash for Clunkers" program and traded in the Explorer. I got a new Toyota Yaris - "Flint" exterior, "Charcoal" interior. I really like it. It's a base model so it's lacking some conveniences (no power locks, windows, or mirrors), but it does come with an auxiliary jack to hook up my iPod. Woot. I'm going to start paying him back for the car when I start bringing in the dough.

I think that's all I've got. I've been avoiding blogging until I got a job, but now maybe I'll be around more.

I haven't been updating primarily because I feel like I need to wait until something happens for me to update. I feel like I'm sort of in a limbo. Waiting for a job, after which I can do everything else I want to do, such as get an apartment, start furnishing it, start getting into a normal routine, start feeling useful really. So, no job equals really no news from me.

I did my longest run yet on Sunday. 6 miles in some pretty bad humidity. Unpleasant. But I did it and it went well. This week's a cut-back week, ahh.

I'm going to see The Proposal with a friend tomorrow. There are really no good movies out, but that looks kinda funny. And hello, Ryan Reynolds nearly naked? Hubba Hubba.

First: If you've been tagged, you must write your answers in your own LJ and replace any question that you dislike with a new, original question.
Second: Tag eight people. Don't refuse to do that. Don't tag who tagged you.

I was tagged by fractal_rainbow

Lots of pillows or just one?
One only. Though I do like a body pillow sometimes as well.

What kind of books do you read?
Primarily fiction of an assorted variety. I like great works of literature mostly and the occasional popular fiction book. I like some non-fiction as well.

What are your most awesome skills?
I'm a fair hand at crochet. I'm not particularly good at running but I'm good about doing it regularly. And I'm pretty good at bashing my head against a problem until I figure it out.

What's your occupation?
Currently unemployed. Looking for a web developer/designer job.

What's really creepy?
Smarmy guys in nightclubs.

What do you want to accomplish or do in the next 5 years?
Establish some stability, get my career started, get John and I united in the same country long-term.

What flavor ice cream would you choose right now?
I could go for some Sherbet right now.

What websites do you always visit when you go online?
gmail, livejournal, facebook, twitter, runningahead

What was the last thing you bought?
BodyGlide

What's the most interesting thing you've read today?
The Flea by John Donne

Do you get cravings? If so, what do you crave?
Yes, lately I've been craving Slurpees

What do you do to change your mood?
run, talk to people, blog

What is your zodiac sign?
libra

Do you want to learn another language?
I wouldn't mind being fluent in Spanish. It would be awfully useful. I also really love Irish, but not a chance in hell I'm ever gonna master that. I'm content just to listen to it.

Five things you make you happy.
John, running, accomplishing things, reading, sleeping

What's something you'd like to say to someone right now?
"Please please call me and hire me."

What are you looking forward to?
A good job and an apartment to call my own.

Say something to the person who tagged you:
I hope you and I both find good jobs pronto.

TAG:
angelfalling
ionracas
nightmarebegins
eimran
johnnyk407
special_boots
ajaxoiche
speedsters

I can clap with one hand.

Man I had such a great 4 mile run. I feel awesome. It was pretty damn slow, but very satisfying.

Family reunion was yesterday and it was good fun. I had intended to make a bigger dent in the crabs because I missed them last year. I wanted to eat 12 but I only made it to 7. I started to get full! And I missed all of the other good food because I got caught up chatting to my aunt inside. Oh well. There are still some hot dogs left so I'll be enjoying those.

I'm really enjoying learning new stuff through working on my own website and on the fiber farm one. I learn something new every day. Now if I could just get a paying job...

Check out my new site design btw: clicky. It's much simpler and I really like it.

FINALLY the race photos went up today.

Jennifer and I somewhere in the first mile:



Me at the end, booking it:

My mom made chicken breasts in some sort of packet sauce in the oven recently. I've been cutting them up, reheating them, melting cheese over it and wrapping all in a tortilla. So damned tasty.

On a semi-related note... I seem to be shedding a lot lately, and I'd REALLY like it if my hair would stop shedding right into the meal I'm preparing. 'Cause I never seem to notice it WHILE it's happening and then have to pull half-eaten hair out of my mouth mid-meal. Nice.

I ran the Baltimore Women's Classic 5k on Sunday. I had a great time and am, of course, bitten by the racing bug now!

( detailed report with pics, for those of you who care )