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Completely_Classic_Kate
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Name: Kate
Country: United States
State: Michigan
Metro: Grand Rapids
Birthday: 2/29/1984
Gender: Female
Interests: community supported agriculture. a secret infatuation with comic books. acquiring new freckles. fair trade. nature. IHOP at 2 in the morning. photography. worshipping at the feet of St. Wendell. loitering for hours at Ric's. seeking to cultivate beauty in language, art, & alternatives to prescribed style. good music. good food. good books. good friends...
Expertise: Hugging trees, getting all angsty about consumer culture.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Art
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
8/26/2003
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| I have mono? Really? You have GOT to be kidding me. I feel like I'm back in the ninth grade or something.
So far, mono has been extremely lame. Take all the awful things you have heard about, double their intensity and then throw in a week of antibiotics for subsequent sinus infection, an ultrasound to check for spleen/liver swelling (potential for rupture = imminent surgery), and a week+ (still waiting to hear on the final duration of this one) of steroids to shrink my tonsils enough so that I can breathe, swallow, and speak without tremendous pain.
Now my doctor is talking about the possibility of me having to pull out of the semester because of how much my immune system is flipping out and how if I don't take this seriously and rest enough, I could be up a creek for MONTHS with this thing. So far we are at 17 days and counting... my next doctor's appointment is tomorrow where I will find out more, hopefully positive, information. Please, God, let this end!
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| Wow. It's been a while...
I'm in the middle of trying to unpack the many banana boxes that hold all my worldly possessions and I got lazy and ADD. So here's the scoop, for those of you who still follow this thing at all:
This Friday wraps up orientation week down at Western Michigan University for me. I'm a new graduate assistant there (basically the only difference between a grad student and a GA is that if you're a GA, they give you a small sum of money that in the broadest sense of the word can be labeled a "salary" and cover your tuition and you get a few other perks). I'm doing a new co-enrollment program -- I'll get my masters in biology and my Ph.D. in science education when they spit me out in 5 years. It's a pretty long commitment, but it shaves a good chunk of time off vs. if I got my degrees consecutively. Orientation so far has been pretty interesting and I'm definitely struggling to get acclimated with a campus that is literally 5 times the size of Calvin's. I'm really stoked to start work/classes on Tuesday and actually get things cookin'. The program just feels like a perfect fit and so far, everyone from my department has been really warm and welcoming and kind.
Hmmm... other than that, I'm still with Tyler, who I love with all my heart. He's an amazing guy and I feel so lucky that we found each other. And I'm relatively sure that he thinks I'm pretty damn amazing myself. Things are going incredibly well and there's some exciting potential stuff that may be happening in the next few months... No! We are not getting engaged. At least, not that I know about. If you actually have any desire to know what I'm talking about, shoot me an email and we'll talk. Ty and I will be down in Coldwater visiting his parents over the holiday weekend and it'll be really nice to just relax and take it easy before the chaos of the school year starts. I love his family, so spending some quality time with them is a huge bonus too.
Moved down to K-zoo this week. Living with a cool young couple in a house near downtown. I still feel pretty unsettled and it sucks to be in a new town I don't know where I also don't know a single soul. I'm sure I'll adjust, but on my worst days, that's what I stress over.
All the other stuff is really just details, but if you want to catch up, I'm always game for a chat.
Later.
--KB
***Suggested listening: "The Staunton Lick" Lemon Jelly... I can't believe they put such a great song on a CAT FOOD COMMERCIAL!***
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| I'm dogsitting, bored out of my MIND and while surfing the net (so to speak), I came across my xanga site and realized I haven't posted in a good long while. So if any of y'all are actually still checking this thing out, here's a little 2006 update for you... 1. Where did you ring in 2007? Tyler and I spent the night in at his house. We (well, mostly HE) made an incredible dinner with appetizers and right around midnight we uncorked a bottle of champagne and made a fire in his fireplace.
2. What was your status by Valentine's Day? Last year? Single, single, single. And I had been for a very long time.
3. Were you in school (anytime this year)? Finished up at Calvin last May.
4. How did you earn your keep? While I was still in college I TAed, worked at a financial planning firm (where Tyler and I met), and waitressed. Since this past August, I've been teaching ecology, biology, and environmental science to middle schoolers at an outdoor education school in Santa Cruz, CA.
5. Did you end up in the hospital? Nope. And since I have such crappy insurance, let's hope it stays that way.
6. Have you ever encountered the police? On the way home from waitressing one night at about 1 in the morning, I got pulled over for speeding but he decided to play "good cop" and let me off with a warning.
7. Where did you go on vacation? Really, pretty much nowhere. Took a few weekend trips to Coldwater with Tyler. Oh wait, I went to Philly to visit a friend from Belize over Spring Break.
8. What did you purchase that was over $500? Uh, I don't think anything. Yeah, nothing. None of my plane tickets have even cost that much.
9. Did you know anybody who got married? Great friends Dicky and Nicole, a couple of people I knew in high school, some Biology folks, and, of course, my best friend in the world, Miss Janna Leigh Huizenga (now Mrs. Janna Leigh Romero).
10. Did you know anybody who passed away? My grandfather on my mom's side. It hit me pretty hard again this Christmas.
11. Have you ran into anybody you graduated high school with? Well, I still hang out with Jan and I see a couple of people now and then when I'm in Grand Rapids.
12.) Did you move anywhere? Santa Cruz, CA. Not as idyllic as it sounded initially, but to be fair, most of that is not Santa Cruz's fault.
13.) What sporting events did you go to? The Grand Rapids Roller Derby (actually pretty fun, but most of that was just the company. There wasn't enough fighting though. I thought I'd get to see more girl-on-girl slapping going on) and I watched a WHOLE LOT of Tigers baseball on TV.
14.) What concerts did you go to? I think this might just be the first year in a while that I can say none. I mean, I saw a few people play acoustic sets at bars, but that doesn't count.
15.) Are you registered to vote? Sure am.
16.) If so, did you do your patriotic duty on Nov. 7? Nope, I was out of state.
17.) Where do you live now? My body lives in Santa Cruz most of the year, but the rest of me is 100% in Grand Rapids.
18.) What did you do on your birthday? I honestly can't even remember. That's pretty darn terrible. I know I celebrated with my family (went out to dinner) and did a date night with Jan at some point, but I don't think either of those things happened on my actual birthday.
19.) What's the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2006? Went surfing. And I HATED it. But I usually have a pretty strong dislike for things I suck at. And let me tell you, the Pacific is WICKED.
20.) What is one thing you regretted this year? Having a snotty attitude and thinking Tyler was a jerk-off for so long before I saw what a wonderful guy he is. Wasted time.
21.) What's something you learned about yourself? Deep down, even though I NEVER thought I'd say this, I think I'm kind of a midwest girl at heart. Maybe you have to move away from home to truly appreciate it and see it's everyday beauty. That, and I think that even though I fight, fight, fight against it, I'll always be somewhat of a people-pleaser.
22.) Any new additions to your family? Nope. Maybe in 2007. And let's hope that if there are any, none of them will be in baby form!
23.) What was your best month? July, because that's when I realized I loved Tyler.
24.) What from pop culture will you remember 2006 by? Britney and K-Fed's divorce because for the first three months in CA, that was the only "news" from the outside world that reached my ears other than Rumsfeld resigning (woo hoo!)
25.) Rate the year with a scale from 1 to 10? The first 5 months get a 7, the middle 3 get a 9.5, September through November get a 4, and Dember gets an 8.5 -- How do you like them apples? Alright guys, there's the long of the short of it. If any of this has piqued your interest or if you'd like more frequent updates (by getting on my CA mass email list), leave me a comment, shoot me an email, or give me a ring (the last two are the safest if you want a response). See you in another 6 months.
--KB **Suggested listening: "Smack that" Akon and "She's Everything" Brad Paisley -- what have I become?** **Suggested reading: "The Brother's K" David James Duncan -- astonishing. Oh, and who's excited for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"?!?** **Suggested exotic cuisine to try: Ethiopian. The first time I tried it was at a restaurant in San Jose, but you can get some killer Shiro (spicy lentil paste, served warm -- MUCH tastier than it sounds) at Little Africa on Fulton.** | | |
| So, I'm not dead or anything. That pretty much sums up my summer thus far.
Moving to Santa Cruz in 2 months. How odd, how surreal. As
for what I'm doing with myself between now and then... working like a
crazy person. Still at the financial planning firm 20 hours a
week or so. And appreciating it now more than ever since I'm back
in the ol' waitressing ball game working at what I often affectionately
refer to mentally as "the Q." Tips are usually mediocre at best
and with tip-out and the whole getting paid $2.65/hr to close down the
restaurant for the last two hours of my shift (sans tables...
translation: sans tips), I usually only make $8 or $9 an hour.
Needless to say, this is the hardest I have ever worked for such a
meager amount of loot. And while 30 hours a week there may not
sound like much, when you consider the fact that approximately 50% of
those hours get racked up post-9:30 pm, that's pretty rough. But
hey, whatever pays the bills, eh?
Honestly, that's really and truly about it. Other than a few fast tidbits:
1. I finally reached the 20 pound mark in "Kate's weight loss challenge of awesomeness."
2. I think I may, unbeknownst to myself, be psuedo-dating someone. But I'm not entirely sure.
3. Janna's wedding is in T-minus 58 days or something mind-blowingly close like that. GEEZ!
Okay, that's all.
Gotta go sweat now.
--Kate
**Suggested listening: Alright, alright, I'm ashamed, but I love love
love the slutty new single by the Pussycat Dolls "Buttons"... it's
another one of those songs that when I hear it getting ready, I dance
around and make sexy faces at myself in the mirror. Seriously.**
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| I can't believe I'm up this early on a Saturday. I'm about to go over to Mongolian to learn all about how to serve alcohol. By watching videos. Oh, and get THIS: I have to take this serving test at the end of my training for which I need to memorize every type (brand, size) of alcohol we serve and its price among other things. So, when this whole college gig wrapped, I kind of thought I'd be done with studying. Not so much it seems.
In other news: I've accepted a job in Santa Cruz, CA starting at the end of August. I'll be flying out the day after Janna's wedding. So that will be crazy. I'm going to be a naturalist at Mission Springs (outdoor ed facility) where I'll be teaching environmental science and ecology to upper el and middle school kids with a few high school groups. I'm pretty excited. Especially since I've never been west of Wisconsin.
Gotta get to it.
--Kate
**Suggested listening: "Paper bag" Fionna Apple**
**Suggested fine dinning experience: Holy CRAP! For graduation, my folks took me to the 1913 Room and man, let me tell YOU, was THAT ever an experience. Beyond being simply a culinary delight, the whole atmosphere was incredible. It was so special and while I normally can't stand having to dress up and act all mannerly, this was amazing. If you ever have the opportunity to check it out (on someone else's tab, of course), I highly recommend it.** | | |
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