New Projects!

After talking it over with my husband, and then reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Children that the Poor and Middle Class Don't, I have decided to put some extra effort into independent forms of income (i.e. working for myself). I have not quit my job teaching and have no plans to do so in the near future, but I am attempting to develop more "passive" income (i.e. money I earn without having to work for it in a conventional sense).

I currently have two projects underway, but this one is ready for public viewing:

Makeover Me

Basically, I am going through all the trouble of learning how to grow healthy hair, I might as well try to help others and make some money doing it!

Let me know what you think :D

Love from Kiev.

Spent an hour in the subgarage. . .

Last night, while watching the Fantastiks on hulu.com, I heard a strange sound. It was an unusual sound a kind of whiney wail that alternated in long waves. At first I just dismissed it as a creak of a home running the Central Air, but by the end of the movie, after about a half hour, the sound was still whining. THEN it dawned on me, it was the tornado alarm. I hurried onto weather.com and, sure enough, there was a large TORNADO WARNING banner and the radar map could not have been clear --- a dark red blob hovering over the Anoka, Coon Rapids, Andover area. I felt foolish for ignoring the siren, but I hurried myself with my phone, a blanket, my laptop and a half pint of Stoneyfield Organic Chocolate Choco chip Mint frozen yogurt to the subgarage. The internet stopped working and the power flicked off, then on. I ended up calling my mother so she might listen to the radio for updates (I couldn't figure out how to bring the antiquated panasonic in the subgarage to life). In the end I spent about an hour waiting for the storm to pass. In that time I found some of Rick's old papers from school. They were a hoot. Most were about space, one was about greek mythology, and one about saying no to drugs.

Aside from this, I have only been in one other tornado situation, of which I am not entirely certain that it was a tornado. I was traveling home by car from Florida, through Georgia, with my friends after an early spring break vacation. It was storming very badly and we decided to stop under an overpass to wait. While waiting, the car began moving and an orange road marker barrel blew across the road. When the storm passed we were forced to take a detour because our freeway was closed. We found out later that the freeway was closed because, some of you might remember this, a bus of softball players had been blown off the freeway during a tornado. That was a fairly scary experience.

Have any of you been in a tornado?

A job, Free food. And the best deal of my life.

Hey everyone!

Last week, as I was finishing my classes, I started training for my new job at Panera Bread. Many of you may not be familiar with Panera Bread. It is a franchised bakery-café. The food is great, fresh, and healthy, maybe except for some of the pastries, which--by nature--are sinfully delicious and fattening. :D The people seem quite friendly and I am, so far, very impressed with the company, how it treats customers, and how it treats employees. When I went for my training sessions last week, the manager was very accommodating to my schedule and sent me home with a BIG bag full of free samples and a sincere "welcome!"

Imagine this, times 2 and plus 4 items more. That is what I got in free samples!

So, yesterday I went to the Goodwill nearby to buy some work clothes. (This is where the best deal of my life comes in. . .). I wanted to get something sorta nice so that I could wear these clothes for more than just work at the café. So, I looked for button down shirts rather than polos. I have wanted a red blouse, so I looked there first. "hmmm, what´s this iridescent one here?" It was a 100% silk Ann Taylor bouse, my size. $4.99. I could not pass it up. I wondered if they might have anything like it in blue. Well, what did I find? A blue 100% silk Ann Taylor blouse, $4.99. Wow, what luck! But it was not too uncommon to find, so I wondered about a bouse in purple. Holy moley. A 100% silk Ann Taylor bouse in rose purple, $4.99. I got them all. So, I am demoting my other bouses to work blouses and these are my new daywear and officewear bouses. Aren´t they beautiful? (Sorry the picture isn't better, but I had to use my webcam).

In all, I am well. Happier everyday as my life begins to settle here in Minnesota. Last night, I went with Pete and Angie to see Les Miserables in concert, a production by local high school students. It was extremely well done -- and I am not just being nice. Some of the performers seemed like they were, in fact, from Broadway. In particular the girl playing Fantina (I Dreamed A Dream), the young man playing Jean Valjean (Bring Him Home) and the couple playing the Thenardiers (Master of the House and Beggars at the Feast). Bravo!

Also, I have included this, for fun. . .
"Who Am I"

1. What time did you get up this morning? 12 pm (I was up late reading/finishing We the Living, Ayn Rand)

2. How do you like your steak? Well

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The New Star Trek

4. What is your favorite TV show? I don't watch enough tv to make a fair judgement. Maybe Discovery, History documentaries?

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Right now, the Oregon-California border.

6. What did you have for breakfast? Left-over Chinese haystacks. It was lunch-time afterall.

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Mexican

8. What foods do you dislike? I sorta don't like olives, but they are growing on me.

9. Favorite Place to Eat? El Rancho

10. Favorite dressing? Italian

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? My bike. :D

12. What are your favorite clothes? My white pencil skirt a button-down shirt and my oxford flats.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Antarctica or Tierra del Fuego

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Depends on the beverage really.

15. Where would you want to retire? Retire-what? Not for me.

16. Favorite time of day? Dawn

17. Where were you born? University of Utah Children's Hospital, Salt Lake City, UT.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football, soccer not American football

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? Irrelevant.

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? " "

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? This is for me. . .out of boredom

22. Bird watcher? Not formally.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Morning if I have work, night if I am left to my own devices.

24. Do you have any pets? Yes. Sort of, but not really. They are at my parents' house, where I will not likely live again.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I got the fabric for my wedding dress! ivory silk dupoini.

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A singer, an artist, President.

27. What is your best childhood memory? Playing with fluffy cattails on the railroad tracks with my Dad.

28. Are you a cat or dog person? Dogs. Always dogs. I sincerely dislike felines.

29. Are you married? Emotionally. Legally, not quite yet.

30. Always wear your seat belt? Yes.

31. Been in a car accident? Yes. . .Craig Lake roll-over

32. Any pet peeves? Fewer and fewer.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? broccoli and tomato with white sauce

34. Favorite Flower? Sunflower.

35. Favorite ice cream? Vanilla with Rick's cocoa sauce and strawberries.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Subway

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Not once.

38. From whom did you get your last email? Mom, I was pinked.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Probably more likely to happen at REI or backcountry outlet, but I do like Victoria's Secret and Anthropologie a lot.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? Gave some bread to the street musicians in Minneapolis.

41. Like your job? Yes.

42. Broccoli? Yum.

43. What was your favorite vacation? Hiawatha Music Fest./ Craig Lake or Continental Divide Trail

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Mom and Dad.

45. What are you listening to right now? ClassicalMusicAmerica.com

46. What is your favorite color? Green

47. How many are you tagging for this quiz? No one prolly.

48. Coffee Drinker? sometimes

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 15.28