A List of Ramblings

I have been meaning to post posts. Lots of posts. Some post - ok only one - have written in my Blogger app but never posted. Laziness, forgetfulness, busy-ness, distractibility and so on has prevented me from posting. I always feel like there's something better to do! But I do wanna post and because I have left it so long... I'll just make a list of things that occurred last week........

But it's hard to make a list of mundane yet important things. Like how to obtain a social security number the right way. Or just obtaining a social security number. Like how everything important requires me to have a social security number. Like how I need a dental appointment. Like how to get registered with a family physician to look after me the next time I get septic from a urinary tract infection. Like how to cash a cheque even without having a bank account.

Ah yes, I bet you wanted to know the thing about the cheque. Americans get paid every two weeks to keep the motivation up. So, I got paid by a cheque. Firstly, I didn't think I would have gotten paid. Secondly, I didn't know you could cash a cheque without a bank account until I randomly rambled about it and friends told me I could sign it away to someone I trusted to cash it for me. Wow. Talk about being held at gun point to sign away a cheque.. or check as the Americans call it. Of course I wasn't held at gun point, though. However, I think having a check in my possession isn't a great idea at all...

Fine, I will use some brain power to conjure up a fairly interesting list:

1) On Monday, I bought a bicycle! A Jamis Citizen in lovely blue. Accompanied by my friends CV and PS.

I love my JC!

1) On Thursday, I made fish curry for the family I live with. The sambal egg killed me and I think they all (yeah, they all) didn't dare touch it. The fish curry was super watery and after troubleshooting with CV, we figured it was the 5 large tomatoes I put in that was culprit. Plus Madras curry powder isn't a good idea.

2) On Thursday, my first baseball game and watched ZP play the last 30 minutes lol.

ZP batting for the team

After the game, the smooth the sand.. So smooth

3) On Friday, helped my landlady with home improvements in the basement and I now have a plastic wardrobe in my room and my room is much better but still work in progress. I need to say that it is funny how all my colleagues are living in nice apartments by themselves or with their partners and seriously embracing the move away from student and communal living... When I graduated, communal/student living continued amongst a lot of us. I still am doing communal living although a little less communal as it is only with one family. In some ways, I feel like I am living the dream of being an au pair or being part of a cultural exchange program which I totally missed out on cos I never knew it existed! Opportunities present themselves in strange was. I think this requires a full post on: my room; communal living; and my American family.

2) On Saturday, I cycled my new shiny blue bicycle all the way from home to town. It takes 45 minutes by bus plus 15 minutes of tapping me feet at the bus stop. Google maps says riding a bicycle should take 45 minutes. Considering it was scorching hot and I wasn't entirely sure where I was going and frightful of the cars travelling at 45mph (I remained mostly on the pedestrian walkway), I give myself an awkward and painful pat smack in the middle of my back. Well done self, well done even if I say so myself.

3) On Saturday, I still love my bicycle but it was a hassle when it didn't fit my friend's cars. Vermont is super bicycle friendly though. They supply bike lockers for 25 cents for a whole day.. maybe several days cos they are so laid back. Now people don't seem to get the concept of a bike locker when I tell them because they say something about chains to me and I go, "No, no, it is actually a locker like a super big case you enclose your bike in"

4) On Saturday, I helped my friend set up her table and bed and we did it without men. I am not a feminist but I am a believer of, 'If you want something done, do it yourself'.

5) On Saturday, we visited a local microbrewery and well, 25mls of local beer is good enough to cause me to be tipsy

Magic Hat Microbrewery
Free tour and free beer tasting of four samples after

6) On Saturday, we visited another friend's house and it was set within a lot of greenery it reminded me of chalets. Blue wooden and modern chalets.

7) On Sunday, I made amends for all my mistakes.

8) On Sunday, we went to Plattsburgh, NY via ferry and across Lake Champlain to go to Target and I spent a bomb on 24 double rolls of toilet roll, litres of detergent, shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen lotion and you get it.. household items which I hope but I know will not last me four years. I am paralyzed with fear if I run out of toilet roll. What would I wipe my bum with??? Oh the thought fills me with dread. I also did buy Jalapenos Cheetos and Golden Oreos on a lighter note.

Getting off the ferry onto Plattsburgh. NY
It was an immediate change. More cars and shops in New York  with less trees, no wildflowers, insects and animals..
I love Vermont!

Target. I have always read about Target especially on fashion blogs about the clothes at Target. I thought Target was a fashion store but no, they sell EVERYTHING.

9) On Sunday, we celebrated ZP's belated birthday and I met family friends and other family members and was my usual awkward self around all these nice people.

10) Today, I cycled to the dentist who spent 2 minutes with me so he could refer me on to the oral surgery to drain my mucocele. And because I haven't scaled in 2 years, I needed to be scheduled back for two appointments..... I'm pretty sure eight years ago when I hadn't seen a dentist for almost never I only spent 1-2 hrs with my super hot fittie dentist.

11) On my way home, I saw a house-cum-yarn-shop and bought a roll of yarn to crochet me a nice blankie to go with my new bed sheets. Yes, I forgot to mention my bed sheets that came last week! *squeals*

I liked the colour of the yarn when I saw it but I'm not so sure if I like that effect on my blanket.. And I was forced to by a metal crochet hook in a tacky bright colour although the blue is similar to that of my bicycle, JC so maybe that's ok.
85% wool and 15% mohair in preparation for winter

I love my pillow cases and duvet cover which came at a discount from Macy's but still pricey.. Since I fell in love with them, I couldn't let go.
The same couldn't be said for the red bed sheet and red pillow cases. It is 100% polyesther and comes with a tacky sheen to it. Worse, it is thin. And I feel like a prostitute just owning it.
I bought a new blue cotton mix polyesther sheet from Target on Sunday so I feel decent again.

My room is still work-in-progress and well, will never be design savvy  because I am essentially practising semi-student living.
But my bed is my kingdom and sanctuary. It will look nice! Will hopefully buy some decorative pilllows too.

And this is what happens when one tries to condense and fit too many things into one post. Argh! And, well, I have been using facebook more often to post stuff..