Latch on to the Affirmative

Despite the professional lamentation, I had a pretty good week off once any job related parts were over. Sure, it's had its ups and downs. Sad Hooter's Clown winning the spot in Not Supernova, "Go where the money is!" and gimpy, bruised knee, this fist shake is for you! Over all, though, it's been really good AND I am listening to Kelly Hogan sing Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive as I type, which always puts me in a good mood. This can only be viewed as a plus, considering the thought of returning to work tomorrow makes me want to cry. So, here is a vacation week retrospective that recognizes the ups and downs of The Wheel that seems to pop up concstantly these days, but ultimately latches on to the affirmative:


Friday: Vacation starts 6 p.m. and I have a date with my hair crush
Highlight: Purple and blonde hair
Lowlight: Having to wait 45 minutes for my hair appointment
Highlight: 45 minutes is enough time for Red Beans & Rice at Popeye's AND I now have purple hair with which to freak out the squares!

Saturday: Trip to the Beach with Jen & MQ
Highlight: The beach!
Lowlight: Cutlets are expensive, even at the outlet mall
Highlight: Money saved on cutlets purchases 3 new t-shirts and badly needed sleepwear

Sunday: Welcome DirectTV!
Highlight: I now have German t.v. AND great hopes that having a satellite dish will invite interstellar hazy cosmic jive proclaiming that all the children should boogie thereby ending the quandry of what to do with my life!
Lowlight: First show on German t.v. featured a shoeless, hobbit-like little man in Lederhosen singing Heimatsmusik
Highlight: Hobbit-like little men singing Heimatsmusik are fun to mock AND the satellite dish is slightly cheaper than cable

Monday: Interview Day
Highlight: Whee! An interview!
Lowlight: The interview & "Go where the money is!"
Highlight: Lunch downtown with friend and music writer extraordinaire Sonya & starting the class I'm taking

Tuesday: Volunteer Opportunities
Highlight: Going to an orientation on becoming a ZooGuide
Lowlight: Zoo volunteers were all wearing dorky red camp shirts
Highlight: Volunteering at the zoo sounds fun AND it looks like there is a red t-shirt alternative, which will make me feel much more comfortable and photogenic

Wednesday: A Day of Rest
Highlight: Sleeping in and having some time with the house all to myself
Lowlight: Tripping over a dog bone on the carpet and injuring my knee when I grab on to a chair with wheels for balance (no one said I was smart), then wondering if it had anything to do with my position in the discussion Jen & I were having about blasphemy and what God can handle
Highlight: I don't think God works that way

Thursday: More beach!
Highlight: Almost EVERYTHING, especially the ice cream. Oh how I love you, chocolate chip mint!
Lowlight: Seafood lunch was a bit overpriced /my knee did not find the walk to the lighthouse at Cape Meares to be as good an idea as my brain did / hearing a weird guy in the ice cream line claim that the Tillamook Cheese Factory is the most visited tourist attraction in Oregon, a distinction I had always believed went to the lovely and far more deserving Multnomah Falls. (A Google search for "Oregon & most visited" ellicits findings on most visited natural site, most visited paid attraction, etc., so I'm thinking maybe the factory is the most visited cheese selling attraction in the state.) I'm sorry (ok, you caught me, I'm not really), but the whole idea of sticking assembly line workers behind a window like a human zoo exhibit and calling it a tourist attraction has always struck me as bizarre. If they'd been Oompa Loompas, I would have sworn I was watching a scene from Charlie and the Cheese Factory.
Highlight: Good lighthouse pictures, lunch was very fresh and good, & I had an excuse to spend the evening with eating pizza and being waited on while watching My Own Private Idaho.

Friday: Escape the doldrums!
Highlight: Sleeping in & eating leftover pizza for breakfast
Lowlight: Knee still gimpy/feeling depressed
Highlight: Milkshakes with Jen, then going to a "house cooling" potluck that was rife with good food and engaging company

Saturday: Joyful noise v.s. Doldrums
Highlight: 5 hour choir rehearsal
Lowlight: Doldrums not completely escaped
Highlight: Mood is better and knee feeling rested and slightly less gimpy after a day spent mostly sitting around singing

Sunday: What happens with Sunday remains to be seen. With the end of vacation looming, I am determined to make the best of this last day. I am not sure yet how, but I know it will all work out in the end.