befanee’s blog

Monday night when I got home I found a mysterious piece of paper on the stairs saying that an electrician needed to get into "your" apartment for rewiring or something and to please move all furniture away from the walls, May 20 and 21. 8:30am-5:30 pm. It wasn't addressed to anyone...and it was sorta floating on the stairs on the floor like someone had dropped it. It also said to call the landlord if you have any questions so I debated forever about calling and seeing what it was about if it applied to everyone and such since normally things are taped to the wall by the entry like when they are going to put the stuff under the sinks for roaches and when they put the fence in back.

As of 11am Tuesday no one had showed up to invade my apartment so I continued to hope it was the guy across the hall from me or something because me moving all my stuff away from the walls is next to impossible...if not actual impossible. So I decided if someone does show up I would play dumb because a piece of paper on the floor is nowhere near sufficient notice for this sort of thing.

I heard hammering and sawing noises all day coming from downstairs. Then I went out to get a snack and there was a sign taped to the front door of the building (on notebook paper and taped with electrical tape...) that the electricity would be turned off in the building for 4-5 hours on Wednesday. That reassured me that no one would be invading my apartment, but still annoying they didn't mention WHICH hours that would be. And of course I half-joked to Travis that the electricity would probably go off in the middle of my shower because I am deathly terrified of dark bathrooms and then I would cry.

(Oh, by the way, in case you missed it, I have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off instead of Saturdays and Sundays.)

I woke up around 9:30 this morning and the electricity was still on. I hopped in the shower and, yes, I live in annoying stupid Chicago where it is May and still only 50 degrees, so I closed my bathroom door to keep the warmth in the room for when I get out of the shower.

In mid-shampoo the lights went out.

It was as dark as a cave.

I didn't cry, but I wanted to scream...but I was too afraid to scream. It was horrible. I want to cry now thinking about it. Some people are terrified of clowns, heights, needles....I am terrified of dark bathrooms...for reasons I made up in my head when I was a wee tot.

I managed to rinse my hair and step out of the shower to open the door to let the sunshine from the other rooms in...and I had to continue to shower because my hair would die without conditioner and what is the point of a shower without soap? haha it wasn't so bad after I opened the door but until I did I was freaking out on the inside. And I was rather upset because I really wanted a bagel but no power for the toaster oven! booo.

So then I decided to leave early because I was having lunch with Annie and wanted to look for shoes and needed some groceries, so I got shoes first which took no time at all (love when that happens...good ol Payless had exactly what I wanted) and then went to the post office and then to visit Annie. She had to finished up something before we ate so I hung out there. Then we ate and sat and chatted a bit. Then I headed home by way of the grocery. When I got home around 3:30 I still had no electricity! I was upset mainly because I am afraid my refrigerated goods could have been not cold enough during this time and are no longer good. Also I was anxious to do laundry AND do everything that required electricity.

Of course all other things were unappealing like reading and playing DS and washing dishes...I was sorta wiped and my eyes wanted to close so I half-napped on the couch with Hobbes for a while and FINALLY heard my refrigerator kick on! It was like angels singing!

So it ended up being off for around 6 hours, which is really annoying, but I'm glad it's back now! I would suck at being Amish.

What's your favourite TV network?
I've always been a fan of and watched more of ABC, going as far back at Saturday Morning cartoons of the 1980s (with the exclusion of watching Smurfs on NBC from 6am-8am)

If you could create your own channel, what would it be?
haha I would be the only one who would watch...oh and probably my sister too...ooo and Kristen would watch it sometimes I bet. The Bethany Channel would show the following: episodes of DS9, musicals, nature shows, and old school cartoons like She-Ra, He-Man, and Thundercats...and A&E Biography...and How It's Made...and Documentaries would be shown in the middle of the night at like 3am. Oh, and reruns of Friends and King of the Hill would also be lovely.

What TV show did you watch as a child, that you wish they would bring back?
oh my god pretty much everything...tons of cartoons like the aforementioned She-Ra, He-Man, and Thundercats, as well as Tiny Toons and Animaniacs and Freakazoid. Hmmm also Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite, Smurfs, deeeer...My Little Pony, Glo Friends, oooo ooooooooooo Flinstone Kids and a Pup Named Scooby Doo and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Jem and the Holograms! GI Joe, Transformers, Pound Puppies! oh oh and the NKOTB cartoon...Barbie and the Rockers, Little Clowns of Happy Town, and the list goes on. I don't really want them to come back as new shows but I wish all of them would be on DVD...that would make me happy and likely cry. Well some already are but I only have The Best of She-Ra so far. I am poor and behind on my TV on DVD collection. My top faves are available on DVD but I am really really hoping for Strawberry Shortcake because we have them on 20+ year old VHS tapes that I watched a million times and then my sister watched a million times.

What show have you always hated, and wonder why they ever made such a dumb show?
Everybody Loves Raymond and Sex and the City. I do not love Raymond and don't think watching people yell at each other and fight all the time is entertaining. This is why I also did not enjoy the movie The Breakup. And Sex and the City...the women are soooo annoying I want to throw things, but I still watch the reruns if it's on still trying to understand the appeal.

What TV show's seasons would you buy on DVD?
I already own the following: Grey's Anatomy 1-3, Smallville 1-4 (after that it got confusing and too dumb), DS9 1, 5, and I think 6; She Ra best of, Friends 1&2, aaaand I have downloaded Veronica Mars 1-3 aka all. I would LOVE to have ALL of DS9, all of Quantum Leap, Heroes, Lost, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, He-Man, King of the Hill, Friends 3-hmmm around 8 I think, Ugly Betty season 1, Pushing Daisies Season 1 (which I'm hoping will come out in true ABC fashion), Wonderfalls, and yes I am a TV on DVD whore it seems haha.

How many pair of shoes do you have? Out of those pairs, how many do you wear more than a few times a year?
Submitted by fightinggale.

HAHA

I cleaned out my closet recently and found 55 pairs of shoes in there...and got rid of 4. That included snow boots, 1 pair of tap shoes, and 2 pairs of character shoes. I also have another pair of tap shoes, 3 pairs of ballet slippers, and 2 pairs of pointe shoes but 1 is broken. I ALSO...have 2 pairs of flip flops not in that closet as well as a couple pairs of shoes that also were not present int he closet at the time.

I regularly wear...around 10 and semiregularly wear the rest, minus all the dance shoes which I am not currently using :( as well as fancy dress shoes because I do not often have occasions to wear them.

And I always want to buy more shoes....always...

the end

So there is a new Potbelly's opening at Clark & Diversey and today they gave out free food from 11-1 in preparation. Apparently that is how they do training for new places...which is an excellent idea.

So we had a bunch of coupon things at work and you bring that and a pal and get free Potbelly's. Sounds good. My "pal" was some new guy who is an agent and so far seems like a tool. Liiiiike...he asked what I did and I told him and I guess all her "heard" was the part of updating where i update the database...and so later when we were in line he was like, "So you just sit at the computer ALL day and input information?" Yeeeah....so he totally missed the part when I said I update the books while standing at the counter with all the books and gesturing to them...aaaand the entire part about processing...which became super obvious when I repeated it and was saying luckily I haven't yet had to call anyone to tell them they've been rejected...and he was like, "Rejected? For what?" Um...to rent the apartment. Yeah...they guy had NO idea that you have to apply for apartments, you don't just magically get to rent them...and that is his job...to get people to apply...ooooh boy.

Despite that it was the most fun I have had in Potbellys ever. Free sandwich, free drink, free chips, everything was free! Just take it! Free delicious cookie! And then there were two guys walking around passing out samples of soup and shakes. So I had a nice appetizer of chocolate shake, strawberry shake, broccoli cheddar soup, and chili. Fabulous.

Ok, now that I've typed it, it doesn't seem as excited as it did in my head. Oh, I forgot the part at the end where they gave me a bag and so I had this big bag of free goodies and a tiny cup of soup for the walk back. Fabulous...like Orbit gum.

Today I built a zoo and watched a lot of Grey's Anatomy Season 2 (aka the good one). Then I went to Kohl's with Annie and got a shirt, some magic no-show socks, and a grown-up purse which was somewhat of an impulse buy. Then I realized it was Saturday and not Sunday.

Also, I have been wanting to eat everything I do not have to eat in my home. Nothing new haha.

What You've Missed or What I Should Have Written About During The Past Week:

1. Travis came to visit for his Birthday. He arrived Wed (April 10) night and left Sunday night. I took off work Thursday and Friday and we had a blast. His BDay was Thursday and it POURED allllll day long. We spent the day in Schaumburg and went to IKEA and picked out our future furniture and also ventured for the first time to the ginormous Woodfield Mall. It is HUGE and has everything so much that we had little to on Saturday when we went downtown. I got the jacket I have been eyeing for months at H&M: it's a windbreaker with a topographical map design all over it. I love how 3 out of 4 of my most recent H&M purchases have been in the men's department. Anyway, there are jackets and hats and pants and it's silly but I adore it and found one that is charcoal with a black pattern that has a very nice subtly about it. THEN we went to the OTHER Nordstrom Rack (our regular one is downtown and there is another one in Oak Brook by where his old office was before it moved to downtown and that one we call the "other" Nordstrom Rack so the Schaumburg one is the "OTHER" one haha. Anyway, Travis got shoes right after noting that neither of us needed more shoes and that is really the only reason we go to NRack. Then we went back to the mall and ate at Red Robin because I never have and it's my name! (my screen name and many login names and email address that I made up before hearing about the restaurant for the obvious reasons that I have red hair and my middle name is Robin. Ha! I am clever!). It was delicious except for my Mango Margarita which was the most terrible thing I have ever tasted in a long time and luckily many people think so and they took it off the bill.

Oh, and the hilarious thing, I thought, about going to Ikea is that every time I go with Annie we miss the exit because there is this overpass right after it that hides Ikea, so you pass the exit and see the big glowing yellow letters and then the next exit is not for like 5 miles or something ridiculous! So I told Travis this and noted that we would not miss it finally because we had the GPS. Well, even with the GPS we missed it! I blame GPS voice for saying to exit right only once and not far enough ahead of time. Well it made for a good laugh...

2. Friday we went to Wal-Mart and then to the grocery. I wore my new jacket and it was excellent. I think we were lazy the rest of the day and drank some fruity alcohol and watched Roxanne and Hot Fuzz.

3. Oh but BEFORE that we came back from the grocery and then took a non-nap while laying on the bed for a while and THEN...well I have this big star bean bag ottoman thing that the cats LOVE like nothing else (except perhaps Doritos) and so they were settled on that and we decided to get up and go to the other room to watch more Heroes. So Travis picked up the entire star to take to the other room with the cats still on it. It was hilarious and I bounded down the hall to go open the door to the other room. But my hardwood floor decided to take a bite out of my foot! There is a loose end of a board that is sort of springy and I stepped on it while bounding and I guess because I was bounding it went down pretty far and when my weight shifted off of it the board pinched the side of my foot against the adjacent board and actually pinched off a good size hunk of skin. At first I thought it just pinched it...you know when you get pinched and it doesn't break the skin and bleeds on the inside a bit and hurts like hell? That's what it felt like and I collapsed inside the room cursing the pain and it even LOOKED like that too....and then it started actually bleeding....and bleeding and bleeding and bleeding! eek! I hopped to the bathroom and started rinsing it in the tub while I sent Travis to fetch my neosporin and band aids. It took a while to stop the bleeding and hurt like hell.

4. Because I hurt my foot Travis said we should watch Enchanted. Muhahahaha! He didn't really enjoy it but it was a sweet gesture. He DID find my favorite part as hilarious as I do, which made me happy. The part where Edward is in the park and hears Giselle...it's the part RIGHT BEFORE the commercials where he jumps off a bridge and starts to sing and is run over by bicyclists. Well right before that the shouts, "GISELLE!" and bites his fist. I die every time!
THEN Travis decided it was time for him to watch Heroes. Yay Netflix Watch Instantly! I love it so!

5. Saturday we were going to go to the Aquarium but go started so late and then the train was broken and stopped for a while so we decided to go on Sunday instead. So we hung out downtown and I hobbled around and had a lot of trouble getting my foot into a shoe but did and found a way to walk. We ate at Big Bowl and had the exact same thing we did before because it was so damn delicious. Then we came home and watched more Heroes and I discovered Netflix changed it's Watch Instantly rules and it's now UNLIMITED! YAY! That was the most exciting news.

6. We did not end up going to the Aquarium on Sunday because we were feeling lazy. We spent the day laying in bed watching MORE Heroes until the end of Season 1. Then Travis had to go home :( But it was a lovely weekend minus the foot incident.

7. I quit my job on Wednesday. Yes, some more bullshit happened that was the straw that broke the camel's back and I realized I could not return on Monday. So I had a fabulous weekend and after Travis left I was all over Careerbuilder and Mosnter.com

8. Monday I didn't show up for work and the fools sent me a TEXT message "r u coming" and then called but did not leave a message. I continued applying for jobs.

9. Tuesday I got another text similar to Monday's as well as 2 calls and finally a message. They didn't get the hint that I was done with them...fools.

10. Tuesday I also realized that I had no income and even if I got a job right away I wouldn't get a paycheck in time for rent. I panicked and cried and almost called old job to say I would be back on Wednesday and Travis said I would be happier struggling with money than staying at my old job even if I was working at McDonald's. It's true.

11. Tuesday night I cried some more and freaked out some more and watched Empire of the Sun and Of Mice and Men and should have been watching happy movies instead. At least Empire of the Sun had a very happy ending after 2 1/2 hours of horrible war conditions.

12. Wed morning I applied to over 50 ads on Craigslist and then cried an ocean of tears and cried so hard I almost threw up. Then I got calls and had 3 interviews scheduled. Then 4. Then I asked someone to lend me money for rent and they said yes. Calming down. Did I watch a movie? hmmm. Oh yes I moved my laptop back to my living room because I had been sitting on my bed for 4 days straight. I watched Big Fish and chatted with Travisty online and left a bunch of people comments on MySpace randomly around midnight.

13. This morning I was getting ready for today's 2 interviews and got 3 calls. I called one back and suddenly had a 3rd interview today. Goodness.

14. I went to #1 and was late but they didn't notice. Stupid bus!! It was great and they loved me and I barely said anything haha. The 3rd guy I talked to there was the main guy and said that the other guys loved me and he doesn't like doing interviews but had one more today and would give me a call after 4.

15. Interview #2 also loved me but I didn't love them as much. It's a small family owned company and I've done the family owned thing and immediately that was a red flag for me. And I like small but the description just sounded like a lot more work/responsibility/RIDICULOUS amount of organization than I'm willing to do for only 5 months, and they say it takes about 6 months to REALLY get the hang of it. Oh, I have told no one I am moving. Then I would never get a job.

16. Interview #3 was at Staffing Agency #3 for me. I must say I liked the feeling of this one the best so far and the girl I talked to was very friendly and through and also from St. Louis. And she was honest...she has something right now but it's only for 2 weeks. Right now they are busy but after 2 weeks when that is up they will probably be slow and there's not too much of a pattern to it. I mean...I would prefer a temp job because it's gonna be lame to get a job and then have to leave after 5 months but I would need a temp job that lasts 5 months! haha. Oh well.

17. Finally at 3 I was done and went to the Mart to have lunch with Annie. Finally food! mmmm burger. It was a fun time.

18. Then I went home and a little later I got a call from Interview #1 and they want to hire me and want me to start on Tuesday! HOORAY!!!! And to think I was stressed to tears yesterday! YAY I HAVE A NEW JOB! It's Thursday-Monday so my weekend will now be Tuesday and Wednesday, but I don't care because I am lame and and just lazy and sleepy on the weekends and now I can run errands in peace while everyone else is at work! And do laundry! The only sucky part will be if Travis comes to visit I have to work! But it's for the greater good because in a few months I will get him for always.

19. I forgot how damn good Big Fish is. Love it.

20. I wanted to have a 20. Hmm. So...here's to the end of the psychotic boss era! I'm going to have to write him a letter detailing why he forced me to leave.

How many light bulbs can you find in your home (including flashlights, the refrigerator, etc.)?
Submitted by Strive2Be.

Show us something you're allegic to.

I always say I'm allergic to doing laundry because the moment I start to do it I start sneezing and my sinuses begin to drain like crazy. This is also the case when cleaning...

My mom and my sister came to visit me this past weekend. Well, actually they came to visit Columbia College but I guess I was an added bonus.

That was Saturday morning...8:30am.

Saturday evening we went to get pizza because my mom loves Chicago-style pizza. Last time we went to this little place Angela and I used to go to on Diversey & Broadway call Rinaldi's because it's my favorite and not a tourist trap. This time I took them to Lou Malnati's because it's my second favorite, but it is unfortunately very popular. There's one downtown and one in Weenie Park (aka Lincoln Park). We went to the one in Weenie Park because I felt like it mainly lol...it felt easier to get to from where we are.

Ok...maybe not the best choice being the Saturday of St. Patty's Day weekend. (Remember how I do not celebrate this Holiday because I don't like what St. Patrick did, because people get stupidly drunk, and because everyone tells me I'm Irish simply because I have red hair? Yeah...take note of this for later.)

So the wait for a table is TWO hours...so I said, "Let's just get it to go." Plus mom wanted an extra pizza to take back to StL. So we did but it was still a 40 minutes wait and we were exhausted and tired of walking/standing and the place was crowded with people waiting and talking about their weenie lives to each other. FINALLY the people on the big bench were seated and we got to sit for the last 5-10 minutes of our wait. Oh, but a minute or two after sitting down I notice this guy standing with these people who walked in with 2 cases of Bud Light and bought one from them for $1....yeah.

So then...Pizza Boy strikes.

We are sitting on the bench: Mom, CR, me...and then the space in the corner where we used to stand. Then Pizza Boy decided to stand there...and try to chat with me and my 17-year old sister...

Pizza Boy: You looked pissed off.
Me: What? No. Just tired.
Pizza Boy: Are you all over 21?
Me: ...yes
CR: Um...
Me: I am. She's not.
Pizza Boy: Oh. How old are you?
Me: Over 21.
Pizza Boy: You're 21?
Me: OLDER than 21.
Pizza Boy: How old are you? (to CR)
CR: YOUNGER than 21.
Pizza Boy: And the conversation has turned cold...
Pizza Boy: Do you go to DePaul?
Me: NOOOOO! Ugh!
Pizza Boy: Whoa! Sorry! Well you can still enjoy St. Patty's Day! And you're Irish!
(oh no he didn't...)
Me: No. (pause) I'm Scottish.
(CR is dying inside her head at this point)
Pizza Boy: Oooooooh sorry! So you must HATE this Holiday!

then, thank GOD, my name was called because our pizzas were done. Saved! So we all got up and then he is yelling bye to me or something across the room and then sees our mom get up too...
Pizza Boy: Oh Mom is here too! Sorry Mom!!

Then we all RAN out of there and powered walked as fast as we could to the bus stop while retelling the tale to Mom who had been oblivious to the entire scene.

When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
Submitted by Maraschino.

 
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