Weekend Update

I am sadly stranded here in the apartment (the car that was getting worked on last week? yeah, it's making scary noises now and chugging along in an alarming way, so I'm going to take it in tomorrow), so I figured I might as well write up an update, typically done in my favorite format: that of the list.

HOUSE

Last Friday we met with the contractor who is doing renovations on the house. I might as well say *our* house, though we haven't put any money down yet, but we're all pretty much acting like this will be our house. When we arrived at the house last week, the contractor, J., said he wanted to walk through the house with us to get a feel for our "style." I shot Cody a look of panic, since I have a vague notion that I like "modern" things, and this one time, my mom said my style could (maybe? possibly?) be described as "metropolitan." But, I mean, that's a tough statement to make, since up until this point, our method of choosing an apartment has been whatever we could afford (not much) that was near a BART station, and the furniture we would choose for said crappy apartment always involved choosing the cheapest model at IKEA. Anyways, we started walking through the house, and J. would ask questions, and Cody would look at me hopefully while I cast about wildly for an answer.

Example #1:

J: So, what do you think about opening up the kitchen to the living room?
C: [blank look]
K: Oh, wow, yes -- that sounds great!

Example #2:

J: What do you think about painting this wood-paneled wall white?
C: ...
K: ... Well, I don't know...
J: I think it would look cool. It would give it some nice texture.
C: [obviously relieved] Yes, I think so too -- could we see a sample?
K: Yes, yes, let's see an example.
J: [unfortunately not letting this go] Why did you say you weren't sure? What is it about it that you're wary of?
C: ...
K: ... [lamely] Maybe I just need to visualize it...

So anyways, that was how the majority of the conversations went. Really, I fully grasp that this opportunity is just being wasted on us, and those of you who would love to design a house but are currently living in an apartment in San Francisco (Kate) are probably dying as you read this right now, but the prospect of getting this house exactly the way we want it (once we figure out what that is) is super exciting and I'm SO anxious for the house to get done! Unfortunately, it probably won't be until April at the very earliest, so we'll just have to settle in and wait, which is something we unfortunately do very, very well.

ALSO, we found out that the schizophrenic's house has officially been bought, so by the time we move in, he should be gone!

Sidenote: If you like this kind of stuff, please PLEASE feel free to send me kitchen/bathroom pictures that fit my vague "modern" and "metropolitan" descriptors.

SCHOOL

So I finished writing my email appeals for Letters of Recommendation last week, and then I was unable to send them until I made Cody look over my shoulder and force me to hit "Send." But I did, and I've heard back from two of them already! I'm fearful that the third has NO idea who I am anymore, as he is, like, super old (he was old when I graduated a gazillion years ago), but I don't have a replacement for him, so I'm hoping that duty will prevail, and that eventually he'll agree to write an ambiguous recommendation. The other big news is that I signed up to take the GRE December 10, which gives me as much time as possible to study, and zero room for error.

This weekend also yielded the first GRE-induced breakdown, brought about by the fact that I apparently don't remember how to do algebra anymore. FML.

GEORGIA

We went for a hike in Tallulah Gorge State Park this weekend (beautiful! will post pics to Facebook eventually!), and the hike required climbing 1099 stairs. I felt really badass about it until we saw that a bunch of little kids were doing it too.

RUNNING

Running is over, you guys. I ran again last week and my hip continued to feel like it was going to fall off. I told my mom this weekend that running "just isn't fun" and she laughed at me, as though, DUH, EXERCISE IS NOT FUN, but I mean, I'm a very anxious type of person, and I feel that the running was just adding MORE anxiety, and that can't be good, right? Isn't that the OPPOSITE point of exercising? So, I'm going to run one last time this week and see how things go, but I'm pretty sure I'm going back to the elliptical and that I'm going to start up yoga. I am apparently a very delicate flower, and I need gentle, soothing exercises. Also, I haven't lost ANY weight running (I have in fact gained weight! How is this possible?), and my legs are now huge and my jeans barely fit over my thighs (ugh). Other evidence that I need to switch from running to the elliptical is that I had Jersey Shore on in the background (yeah yeah...don't judge), and The Situation rudely told Angelina that she should use the elliptical instead of the treadmill because it's a better workout, and any man who has coined the term "Gym, Tan, Laundry" clearly knows what he's talking about.

OTHER

I want a dog. I think I will DESERVE a dog after I take the GRE and successfully get my grad school application in. I have been hinting not very subtly to Cody that a puppy would be an awesome Christmas present, but I am a little scared about what our violent, mean cat, KittyMan, will do to a cute unsuspecting puppy.

I think that's it. Send me pics of bathrooms/kitchens and cute dogs!