Summertime and the Living is Crazy

Wow, I'm really not doing great at getting posts up in a timely manner this month, am I? I was posting much more consistently during the school year than I am now. Really, I'm just not home enough lately to spend much time goofing around on the computer. In the past month I had so many 12-hour work days that I lost count, I petsat/housesat for three different people and two of those jobs involved actually moving myself and my dog to said houses for several days at a time, and I spent quite a few of my nights off at Penn's place. So when I am at my own apartment I'm generally just home long enough to sleep, spend some quality time with my dog so that he doesn't feel neglected, and pack up some snacks and clothes before hitting the road again. [Oh, and lest you think my boyfriend is an ass for making me do all the driving in this relationship, lately it has only made sense for me to go to his place. He works a normal Monday-Friday job but it's pointless for him to come down here on the weekends since lately I've been working Friday nights and from 11:00 AM-11:00 PM Saturdays and Sundays. My days off this month have been Mondays and Tuesdays, and since he works all day and has to get up so freakin' early it makes more sense for me to drive up there for my "weekend" than for him to drive down here. We get to spend more time together that way. Oh, and the dog always comes with me when I go to Penn's. I don't know why its important for me to tell you that, except that I don't want you to think that I'm ditching my original "boy" for the new one. I'd take the cat with me, too, except that he's not a huge fan of the car.] So anyway, that's the long and short of it: lots going on, therefore I'm never home long enough to actually write about it. That's just how it goes.
Luckily life is gradually returning to some semblance of normalcy and routine. This past week I actually managed to workout six days, do my laundry, clean the apartment, and make a couple of meals that didn't involve sliced bread or the microwave. This is all stuff that typically happens in a normal week around here but hasn't happened all in one week since April. I mean, I'd done laundry since then and spot-cleaned parts of the apartment and worked out, but none of it happened as much as I needed and wanted it to, so it's really nice to start to recall what life was like before this job. The job ends on Sunday, by the way. But I started my new job today, a job that involves teaching 11 and 12 year olds for eight hours a day Monday through Friday. Actually, the first day went really well and overall I think (I hope) it's going to be fun. But if you're reading closely you'll see that I'm working eight hour days Monday through Friday this week and then working all weekend as well. Oh, and tonight I had to go to a CPR class and I have to do the same thing tomorrow. My only moment of time off this entire week is Thursday night. I can't wait until the 4th of July, which is the next time I will have a full day off. But hey, at least these jobs are fun, for the most part, and I'm getting paid to do something I enjoy, which is really amazingly lucky.

Anyway, how about some bullet points? Cool.

-Here are some things I learned at CPR class tonight:
1. Before you give someone CPR, make sure they're not just sleeping.
2. Every single time you demonstrate CPR on the training video, EVERY SINGLE TIME, and you're going to do it at least TWO DOZEN TIMES, you have to demonstrate ALL THIRTY FREAKIN' CHEST COMPRESSIONS.
3. Apparently it is necessary to differentiate between "floor" and "ground," as in "lie the victim flat on the floor or ground."
4. Speaking of "victim", after hearing that word repeated about sixty times Nicole and I realized that "victim" is a very fun word to say in our Expressway voice. (Incidentally, I'm really glad that coincidentally Nicole has been my companion in all-things-tedious lately)
5. Because of the anatomy of the human body, you're much less likely to throw up if you're lying on your left side than on your right. This is perhaps the most useful fact I learned today, other than all that life-saving stuff, of course. I'm just wishing I'd known this fact during the mornings I was hungover in college.

-Here is the best text message conversation I've had today:
My Brother: Remember the scooter I had when I was younger? What did I name it?
Me: Brunhilde!
My Brother: Haha. Yeah, that's it! Why do you remember that?
Me: Because it was hilarious!
My Brother: And I had that stupid song I would sing when I was riding it around the house! Brunhilde my love!
Me: No, that wasn't about the scooter. The song you sang was "Doorstop my Love," which was even worse!
My Brother: Oh shit, you're right! That doorstop was the shit! I still have that thing, too! I think I got it when we were in Europe.
Me: You did. At that castle in Germany. Of all the things you could have picked at the gift shop that day you chose a doorstop shaped like a hedgehog.
My Brother: That's probably the best decision I ever made...
Me: Yeah. Probably so.

-I'm meeting Penn's family on the 4th of July. Like, the whole family: Mom, stepdad, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephews, grandparents...Tonight he was giving me the rundown on what to expect and it led to this, my favorite non-text message conversation of the day:
Me: I just want your mom to like me. It will be awkward if she doesn't...On that note, is there anything I shouldn't mention in front of her, besides obvious things I'd never bring up anyway?
Penn: Well, I wouldn't tell her we have sex.
Me: That definitely falls under the category of "obvious things I'd never bring up anyway."
Penn: Yeah, but she might bring it up.
Me: Really?
Penn: Maybe. You never know with my mom.
Me: So what do I tell her if she brings it up?
Penn: Well, hopefully she won't. But don't lie to her. She'll know. She already asked me if you're on the Pill.
Me: So she already knows we're sleeping together?
Penn: Not exactly.
Me: We're 25 and we have our own apartments and she's asking you if I'm on the Pill, you don't think she assumes?
Penn: She does...
Me: So what do I say if she asks if we're sleeping together?
Penn: Hmmm...I'd make a BIG point of emphasizing that you're on the Pill.

Good lord. Maybe I should just wear a t-shirt like those patriotic numbers that they sell at Old Navy that says something like "Happy Independence Day! I Promise Your Son Won't Accidentally Impregnate Me!"

-Kiki came to visit this weekend since she had to go to a wedding in a nearby town, so she came to my work event on Thursday night and then we went out for drinks with some of my friends. On Friday morning we got to hang out by the pool for a while (my first time this summer!) before I had to go to work. It was great, I just wish we could have spent more time together. Do you know that last week was the seven year anniversary of our friendship? Well, it was. We met at college orientation, which apparently was seven whole years ago. Anyway, I'm pretty sure my favorite moment of the weekend was when I realized that Kiki was wearing her white tank top--Kiki always lounges in white tanks--inside out because something was written on the inside of it. So I asked what was on her tank and she said, "Oh, I wrote on it with marker, I was bored the other night." And I said, "What does it say?" and what it said was, "Kiki is Awesome at Piano." Kiki, who is Awesome at Piano, is actually Awesome at Keyboard, and since she just bought the keyboard a week and a half ago I'm pretty sure the only song she can play so far is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. But, you know, it's Awesomeness in progress.

-And now for a serious note, I got one of the best compliments of my life last week. I'd taken Penn with me to a work cocktail party so I was introducing him to all of the friends I've made this summer and I introduced him to the man in charge of the project I'm working on. This man is quite honestly one of the most amazing people I've ever met. He's seventy years old and I swear he has lived twenty lives. He's a scientist and a writer and I'm insanely jealous that he can use his whole brain like that when I can't even use half of mine effectively. He's articulate, elegant, fascinating, friendly, generous...I can't say enough about him and how much I admire him. Anyway, I introduced him to Penn and I wish I could remember what he said verbatim because everything the man says is poetry, but basically he told Penn that he should feel lucky that he found me because I am "tremendously attractive," competent, and charming. I was so momentarily overwhelmed that I couldn't respond, I just said, "P..." and smiled in a way that I hope expressed my gratitude. It was so nice because when I think about how I want to be perceived by the world at large, that's exactly what I would ideally like to be: good at whatever work I choose to do, charming, and attractive. To me, that sounds like the whole picture. It's everything I want to be. And to have someone I admire so incredibly much say that about me...it was a proud moment.

Alright, I'm off to bed. Hope you all are having as nice a summer as I am, busy schedule and all.