Morning Rant

What a beautiful morning!
The sun woke me this morning at around 830am.

The sun rarely wakes me.
My alarm on my phone does.
Yesterday while packing to move into a new place, I took down all the curtains in my house.
That included the heavy red corduroy I had hanging in the bedroom.
They did well to block the light.
So the sun woke me today.

I always thought that concept to be old-fashioned.
"Being awoken by the sun"
It's just so poetic.
I feel so literary now that it has happened to me and I noticed.
And it was nice.
I did not feel rushed or late or that I had slept in too late.
I felt relaxed.
I know this is because my tutoring appointment was cancelled today.
That has freed up my entire day.

I am going to pack pretty much all day today.
Maybe go out for a little drive, wash my car.
I need to vacuum the interior.
I also want to go out and skate a little bit today.

My tummy is coming back from the dead.
I thought I had killed the pouch.
But it's coming back.
And I have not been skating, like, at all.
Ever since I got a new car I have not been on it at all practically.
So I need to get back on that thing.

With skateboarding, it's weird.
Once you spend some time off the board, your body forgets really easily.
It forgets what it feels like.
It forgets that it had forgotten to be afraid.
So that when you step up onto the deck, the fear lingers.
The fear of falling returns.
And then you don't skate as well.
To skate well, you have to remove your fear.
It's the fear itself that makes you fall.

I've made some delicious coffee this morning.

And now I have just found out that I may not be moving in my stuff tomorrow.
I may have to wait until the weekend.
But I have already arranged to borrow a truck from my sister-in-law.
I'm taking her to the airport in exchange for the truck.
bummer.

Well, maybe I can still move some stuff over the weekend.
It depends on how dirty the apartment is from the last tenant.
My mom needs to do a walk-thru with her today or tomorrow.
And after that I can start cleaning.
See, I was planning on doing the cleaning in there tomorrow evening and then move in everything Friday and over the weekend.

Now it looks like next week.
Good thing I didn't pack as much stuff.
At least I have until the 5th until all my services get turned off here at the house.
What would I do without my DSL? Cry, I think.

Not being able to have my internet up would make me kinda crazy.
I get on the net almost first thing in the morning.
And I don't have cable, so it's not like I could do that instead.
The internet is like my "morning paper."

This coffee is amazing.
I'm slowly waking up.
It's going to be hot today.
I need to be ready.

skater girl

So, I've been skateboarding almost every day.
Skating to the bus stop, and then skating from the stop to my classes.

I'm losing weight.
And my legs are getting stronger.
And my tummy is losing it's two-pack 'o fat rolls.

All this from only two weeks of skateboarding, like, a little over a mile a day (+ -).

So I recommend this to anyone who's been really lazy lately and has been driving everywhere. Get out there and skate!
Especially you girls out there.
Cuz we look hawt when we skate (for some reason boys like it)....

good morrow

I woke at 8am this morning.
My phone woke me up. No, no one was calling. It was the alarm. The phone alarm.
Anyway.

I woke up.
It was hot.
The heater is so efficient that it gets to be too hot once morning arrives and the sun's rays begin to penetrate my bedroom windows.
So I turned off the heater, thought about going back to sleep for a half hour or so, changed my mind, and started to get ready for the day.

What I do is, I throw my covers off my body, then I turn off the heater.
I yawn a couple of times as I go to the living room to open my blinds, let in a little light.
Then, I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth.
After that, I go back into the living room and squat down by my big book of CDs to pick something appropriate for the first-music-of-the-day.

I usually choose something mellow with a little kick to help wake me up, but nothing too hard. Like I would not play Dokken first thing in the morning.
Come to think of it, I don't think I would ever play Dokken.
I don't have any of their stuff anyway.

After I set the mood, it's coffee time.
I used to drive thru Starbucks everyday.
But that got expensive once gas prices shot up.
So now I buy a bag of Starbucks coffee from Walgreens cuz it's cheap.
And I make it at home.
Now, granted, I have to get up earlier to make the coffee and be able to drink at least a cup or two.
But I deal with it because I cannot afford not to.

I ride the bus now.
I only use my car when I have to.
But mostly, I ride the bus.
I skateboard to my bus stop, which makes it kinda fun.

Oh, crap.
I gotta go catch my bus...

Miss Kauai

I am severely homesick right now.

The last few days I've been thinking about Kauai.
I wish I could just go back and live there sometimes.
I love LA, but I still miss the Kauai lifestyle and culture.

It's just so different from LA.
People are different.
Everyone is so close to each other and everyone knows each other.
Granted, with that comes drama, and everyone knows each other's drama.
But aside from that, that place is p-e-r-f-e-c-t.

Seriously.
And I miss it.
I want to just be there now.

*sigh*

A Legacy Begun

My grandfather was Robert Lyle Reed.
He died in 1981 when I was 4 years old.
His business partner and close friend recently passed away and I just wanted to share this obituary with you all.


"Robert M. Neiman, a decorated Marine, San Fernando Valley philanthropist and pioneer of some of America's first do-it-yourself home centers, has died. He was 87.
The co-founder of the Neiman-Reed's Lumber City chain and winner of the prestigious Fernando Award for volunteerism died Feb. 7 of pancreatic cancer at his home in Indian Wells.

"A big flame has gone out," said Ed Langley, senior vice president for Neiman Reed Lumber Co. in Panorama City, an offshoot of the company Neiman co-founded in 1948.

"A legend lives on. ... He'll be truly missed."

Neiman was born Sept. 14, 1918, in Mount Vernon, N.Y. During World War II, he commanded C Company, 4th Tank Battalion, fighting in some of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific. He was one of the few officers to fight on both Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The former Marine Corps colonel recounted his wartime experience in "Tanks on the Beaches: A Marine Tanker in the Pacific War," featured on the History Channel.

"I was standing there in the dark with orange-colored explosions all around, and all of a sudden I felt like I was floating above it in complete silence, watching rounds drop all around us," he recalled of the battle for Iwo Jima.

"`My gosh,' I thought, 'I'm dead! So this is what it feels like.'

"It really was not so bad, floating there over everything else. 'Well,' I said to myself, 'if this is what it's like to be dead, it's not too bad."'

He was not, of course. For his valor, Neiman was awarded the Navy Cross, three bronze stars and six battle stars.

After the war, he moved to Southern California and went into business with former tankmate Bob Reed.

Neiman-Reed Lumber and Supply Co. in Van Nuys grew to become the nation's biggest industrial lumber supplier. And their small retail counter that catered to thousands of do-it-yourself homeowners on the weekends evolved into Neiman-Reed's Lumber City in 1963. The chain, now California Do it centers owned by the Chatsworth-based Lumber City Corp., became synonymous with home improvement, with 14 stores throughout the greater San Fernando Valley.

After Reed's death in 1981, Neiman sold his wholesale lumber operation.

The Encino resident was honored with the 1993 Fernando Award for contributions to such organizations as Boy Scouts of America, National Conference of Christians and Jews, Jewish Big Brothers and California State University, Northridge.

"He was, through and through, a gentleman," said David Fleming, a Valley business leader and close friend. "He was the kind of guy people really looked up to ... way up there at the top of Valley leaders."

Neiman is survived by his wife of 55 years, Suzy; sons, the Rev. John Neiman of Temple City, Phillip of Valencia and Andy of Westlake Village; and three grandchildren.

A memorial service was held Feb. 11 in Indian Wells.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Col. Robert M. Neiman Memorial Scholarship Fund, U.S. Marine Corps Scholarships, 205 Camino Arroyo North, Palm Desert, CA 92260."

I Heart geeks

Gosh, I miss the sound of my own voice.
My writing voice, that is.

School has me tied up.
But I am doing well.
I am budgeting my time equally between taking care of myself and my relationships, school, my family, and keeping my house clean.
Maybe that last part needs some more help, but oh well.
Who does not wish for their home to be cleaner.

But that is not what is important.

What is important is that I am not drowning.
I thought I would be.
I was not sure how I was going to handle taking 5 classes.
And I am surprised with how well I am doing.
And what's more astonishing, is that we are in the first month of the Spring semester, and I am not behind in my work and my assignments.

I am ahead.

This is a miracle, trust me.
And I have to attribute it to my clean living.
It is the only explanation.
I revel in this.
This pride in doing good work and doing it on time.

I am getting things done.

I am satisfied.
I am loved.
I can smile.
I can laugh.

And I do...

Fallen In love

This is it!
It's finally happened!!!

I got a typewriter!
I am sooooooo excited about this.
Now I can write my novel the old way.
The real way.

You have no idea how awesome this is.
The sounds this machine makes.
The rattling of the old motor while I strike the keys.
The way the words look on the page, with that Times New Roman font that comes alive instantly, instead of having to print from my computer.
The imprint that the letters leave on the back of the pages I type.
It's like Braille for the gods.

I am in love.
I love the sound of the letters as my fingers hit the keys and they appear like magic, real and tangible, alive and breathing.

It's phenomenal.
It's my new obsession.

It's my new reason for girlish sighs...

Observe This

So I went back to my old high school last week and met with my senior Literature teacher to ask her questions about teaching at the high school level and what I should expect coming into a school as a first-time teacher.

Today she is allowing me to observe her freshman Honors American Lit class.
I'm pretty excited.

I get exhilarated when I think of what kind of teacher I will be.
I'm always thinking of ways to introduce material in a fun and enticing way.
Ways to inspire the apathetic and get them interested in the written word.
Maybe even get them interested enough to be curious about that world around them.
That world that does not involve mainstream-media-lies and celebrity gossip.
Sometimes I think about this as I am lying in bed and it keeps me awake.

I start school again a week from today.
I'm nervous and happy at the same time.
I will be taking 16 units.
And now that I have two situations with two different families, I will be making the money I need while working only 20 hours a week, maybe less.

And that part is amazing.
I enjoy tutoring the 14-year-old and the 2-year-old that I am the weekend nanny for is really smart and fun.
I cannot believe how blessed I am.

This life is truly amazing...

I am my own Maid

I'm actually cleaning my house.
Seriously I don't think I've cleaned it since like November.
And by cleaning I mean like a deep-clean, including mopping and cleaning of walls and doors, etc.
I mean, I have done dishes and done some light cleaning and picking up of things.

Except my room.
That's an official disaster area.
I should get it taped off by the feds.
It's that bad.
I just have crap all over the floor, papers, clothes I've been meaning to give away, and other shit.

I'm bad, I know.
There's just so many other things I would rather do than clean.
But now that it's a "new" year, I kinda feel obligated to change something about myself or my lifestyle.

I figure this is as good as anything.

Charlize Theron

My friend thinks I look like Miss Theron and he made these pics for me
LOL