i love days off.

So this last week has been pretty crazy. I've worked a ton, not slept enough, been yelled at (and in turn physically shaken from the experience), and been a bit stressed by the dog (but that was mostly today). I also got a new cell phone which I am SO stoked about. I think I'll talk about that first.

I've pretty much been wanting a new cell phone since I got my Nokia. I had a Motorola v400 (or something like that) before it, and loved it but when the speaker broke and I couldn't hear anyone I had to get a new one and the Nokia was free. While I truely hated my scratched and cracked Nokia phone it was a really durable phone, and was good for me. Someone pointed out to me last week that I should be glad that it lasted as long as it did with all that it went through and was still working. I hadn't really thought of it like that before. Anyway, last weekend my mom and I decided that it was time to get new phones. Since I had to be prepared before I got the new phone I went to AT&T last monday to check out all the phones that they had. I wasn't super crazy about any of them - well, except for one. The iPhone. I knew that I wanted one but was unsure about getting it. After I looked at all the others I realized that it was the only one I wanted. So, I sucked it up, drove down to Thousand Oaks to the Apple store and spent pretty much all of my first pay check from the farm on an iPhone. I'm so glad I did. I absolutely love it. It's better than sliced bread. I think that everyone should get one, although I like that not everyone has one.

Other than that the next cool moment from my week came on Saturday at the farm. After a really rough morning I was waiting on people and doing the usual pumpkin selling stuff. I had this couple come up and buy a whole bunch of stuff. I mainly only saw the husband and delt with him because the wife was shopping in the country store for stuff and bringing it over before going back to get more. Finally when they were all done they loaded up their kids into the respective wheelbarrows and I looked up at both of them and realized that the woman was Amy Brenneman from Judging Amy and Private Practice. I didn't say anything and at first I just stared with my mouth open a bit. I felt like a bit of an idiot but that's okay. So they went on their way and I went on mine but it was a little amusing.

Speaking of amusing yesterday at work, about a third through the day I was handing a guy back his credit card and said "Here's your pumpkin" instead of "Here's your card." All I could do there was laugh at myself. I don't know whats up with me. Starting about friday evening I've been a little more forgetful than normal and getting more things confused than normal. I think it's because I haven't been getting enough sleep.

I tried to make up for that last night. I think it ended up being a good start. I slept for 12 hours last night. I went to bed a little before 10 and my alarm woke me up a little after 9, then I of course hit snooze for quite a while.

This weekend was hard because I became "the one who needed to be micromanaged" and it was not plesant. In fact around 11 on Saturday I was ready to go home and not come back. It was not worth it and it was not called for. If you want to know more I'll be glad to tell you in person. Then on Sunday I got yelled at and by the same person and was literaly shaking afterward. Too much sometimes. I'd much rather be the person who just comes and works and can only do a couple of things right now than the person who can do pretty much everything and is pretty involved in what is going on. Oh well. I'm just stoked that I have another day off before I go back.

This week was also fun because I had lunch with Danielle at San-Sai on monday, dinner with Danielle and Jordan at BJ's on friday and coffee with Laura at Starbucks saturday night. Good times with friends. It's pretty much exactly what I need.

early to bed.

So it's only 9:05 as i write this, and I'm pretty much ready to go to sleep. I am so tired from work and such, and today wasn't even that bad. Most people were pretty chill at the farm and easy to deal with but I'm beginning to lose patience with my coworkers more quickly than I ever have before. Today by 12:30 I was sick of some of them and just wanted to get away. I don't know why it was all bothering me so bad but I was having a hard time taking it. Actually, I was hungry and didn't get lunch until 2:30 so now that I think about it it could have played a role.

Although I was annoyed there was one really fun part. This year for the first time we are having a story time. Actually we're having three story times and today I read the books for one of them. It was awkward at first because there wasn't really anyone there except for two girls who were playing on the hay stacks and I wasn't entirely sure how to get going. I ended up asking them if they minded if I read a story while they played and they said it was fine. By the end of the first story they had sat down and were listening intently and some more people had come to join. I read 4 stories and had a decent group of kids by the end. Like I said, it was fun and I'm looking forward to doing it at least once again tomorrow.

In other amusing news I had a coworked not so subtly introduce me to her son with more in mind than just saying hi. I really didn't mind too much, but found it amusing. Within about the first 30 seconds of introductions it was obvious to him, and his two sisters, one of whom I know. This coworker used to attend my church and her youngest daughter was one of my middle schoolers. She's a great person and fun to be around so I really don't mind what she did. I knew quickly what was going on though. She was telling me that her kids were over and I should go say hi to her daughter and then she goes "have you met my son?" and I say that I hadn't and she says "you should go meet him." That's pretty much it though I may be able to tell it a little more amusingly in person so ask me about it if you want to hear more.

Well, I guess it's early to bed and unfortunetly early to rise. I hate early mornings. Actually mornings in general.

october sun.

I don't know if you've ever experinced this but some days during fall the sun seems huge and is a beautiful orange and fills up the whole sky, or so it feels. It gets this exact way as it is setting and when you drive down Telephone Rd. in Ventura as it sets you can't see where you're going because it's so bright. It's pretty much amazing and I think it was like that today. I say I think because by the time we left work it was below the hills and we couldn't see it, but I'm sure if I'd been driving down Telephone Rd around 6 I might have run a red light or something.

Overall today was a good day. It was a cooler day than we had been experienced lately. Somehow when I got up this morning, before I'd even talked to anyone or looked outside, I could tell that it was going to be cooler. I was looking forward to it. What I wasn't looking forward to and ended up happening was the wind blowing like crazy. It was crazy for a number of reasons. The first is that it was blowing out of the west, which is not typical for this time of year. It usually blows out of the east (i.e. east winds, or santa ana's). The second was the speed at which it was blowing. I heard that it was gusting up to 40mph at times. I ended up being cold most of the day and my face now feels a little wind burned. Oh, also, what made it worse was the fact that we were outside at the farm all day and had dirt, straw, and whatever other crap was around blowing all over us. Some of the cardboard trash cans got blown into the parking lot.

The best part of the day (aside from getting to go home, and in the very least be in my truck) was lunch. My mom wanted San Sai, but I hadn't eaten there before and was unsure about trying something new. I'm like that with different places than the average, but once I eat there I generally love it. That was the case today. I got some wonderful California Rolls, and chicken with an oriental salad and sticky rice. So good. I'm looking forward to eating there again soon. And I'm sure it will be soon because there really isn't that much out there (though more than there used to be), and we have one here in a food court we eat in often. Actually the food court that it's in is pretty much the best overall in town. It's got Sharky's Mexican Grill, San Sai, Urban Cafe, Marble Slab Creamery, Starbucks, and Red Brick Pizza. The one black mark on it's list is that it has Tacone, blech. Sure they have sweet potato fries, and their quesadillas aren't bad but they're not that good either.

My "straight out of a movie moment" today occured when I was fixing this stool that we have. It's an older stool and the owner's wife (Sara Jane) found it in a container and brought it for us to use. The problem with it is that all the pieces have decided that they don't want to stay in place and after being sat on for a while they start to come apart. Last weekend I did some repairs on it with a hammer getting it all back in place. It lasted until today when one of the pegs actually fell out completely. So after hammering the legs back together I notice that the seat could use a couple of whacks to be more secure. I hit the first spot a couple of times and then it bounces off where I hit and part of the seat breaks off. Clean off. My jaw hit the floor. I couldn't believe what had just happened and Sara Jane was still around, and coming back over. Without knowing what to do I threw the broken piece behind a set of drawers and sat down on the stool to cover it up. I don't think that she notices (she didn't say anything), but I felt bad, and I'm sure that tomorrow she'll ask what happened. So awkward and while maybe not funny here I'm sure that it would have been funny at some point in a movie that is different from my life.

More to come in the next couple of days. The weekend is now here, and that's when all the real crazy people come out in mass.

CHP officer & starbucks.

After an annoying and slightly stressfully late drive to work this morning and a stop at Starbucks to get coffee (a triple venti nonfat latte in case you were wondering) I was trying to turn left out of the parking lot. This isn't a difficult thing but making it onto this particular street gets problematic. So after the guy behind me honked at me I decided to go. I ended up behind a CHP officer and next to another one. I was cool with this and honestly preoccupied about getting to work on time. So the left turn light changes, everyone starts to move and so do I. At the same time that I move the officer next to me starts to go too and pull in front of me (he was in a straight ahead lane). Luckily I notice and stop as does he and he shoots me this mean look. I was furious. Sure once he got in front of me I could see that he had his lights on, but he was driving a car that has the lights in the back window and from where I was I couldn't see them. I couldn't believe that he thought I was in the wrong when he wasn't careful enough. He went on with what he was doing and didn't give me any more trouble which is good for me because I probably would have been a little more exuberant than is appropriate when pulled over.

Once I arrived at work (right on time thank you very much!) I found out that I was going to be working somewhere different than i was previously informed. I was irritated about that too. I like the fact that I know how to work most everywhere at the farm however it gets annoying because I can get thrown into anything. I had to work in the office answering phones, and selling tickets, and bagging carrots. It ended up being pretty good. I almost always had something to do (until the last 50 minutes), and I had my first "hey aren't you...?" moment.

I was minding my own business bagging carrots as the first tours began to finish, and I looked out the window and saw this guy who looked kind of familiar. I thought that he kinda looked like the guy who hosts The Bachelor, but I wasn't sure it was him so I discarded it. Then 20 minutes later he comes up to the window to buy tickets from me and sure enough it was him. I think that his name is Chris. I don't know his last name but I've now met him and sold him 11 tickets.

It wasn't much but it was something, and I said that I'd report on it all.
The encounters can only get better from here right?

OCTOBER HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!!

In honor of my favorite month of the year I am vowing to blog more. I've been a real slacker over the last month and a half or so, and i feel somewhat lost without it. I suppose part of that lost feeling has something to do with a number of things. 1. I don't journal much anymore; 2. I've not got many friends left in the area; 3. until recently I haven't had much in general to do; and 4. I still don't have a job or any leads. But enough of that.

I'm really excited that it's October. Anything can happen in October. I was thinking the other day about the weather in October and how it can be anything. It can be cold, hot, windy (Santa Ana winds are wild), rainy, dry, or fire filled (not exactly weather but I think it counts). I think that in the same way that the weather is undecided and potential filled so can everything else.

This is what my October is looking like. I will be working 5 days a week at Underwood Family Farms 10th annual Fall Harvest Festival. I'm working in the mornings wednesday and thursday, and all day friday, saturday and sunday so come out and see me if you're in the area. I really love the festival. I started working it when I was in 8th grade and it was the first time that Underwoods had a Harvest Festival, and with the exception of the two years I spent in Illinois I've worked all of them. Along with that I will be heading to Illinois and back to Greenville for Homecoming weekend. That should be a good time. I'll get to see all of my friends who I miss so much, have a sleepover with my floormates from junior year, go to the football game (go panthers!), maybe to the Panther 5k, maybe eat at Applebee's with Mandi & Brad and his friends, and go to Six Flags for the third year in a row. All should be good. Really that's all I have planned. I may go up to SLO for my days off sometime. I may also be doing Never Ending Night 11 with the middle school kids from church. I've got to see if I can get off work for that.

In other random music news I am listening to a lot of country. I don't know what triggered it but about 2 weeks ago I had the urge to listen to country music and not much else. I think that it has to do with October. I associate the two. Plus I have stints where I listen to pretty much only country and I haven't had one in a while so now is appropriate. Also, I'm in the midst of trying to listen to all of the songs in on my computer at least once. Since I've gotten the new computer and not transfered all of my other music over it's not as much of a daunting task as it would have been on my old laptop. So far I have listened to 820 of the 1360 songs. To help narrow it down I've been making playlists and deleting the song from it when listened to. Right now that list consists of music from the Concert for George ("Honey Don't" performed by Ringo Starr just finished), Danielson, Regina Spektor, Missy Higgins, and Badly Drawn Boy. It's kind of lame but I'm actually enjoying it.

Well considering I haven't written in a while I think that I have made up for it somewhat here. More to come about October, the farm (and the crazy/psycho/rude/celebrities from there), music, and life. Stay tuned.