rebecca_in_blue | Entries tagged with pictures

For the most part, I had a very lazy weekend off, but I did do a few things. On Friday night, there was a beautiful Tu Bish'vat seder at the temple after services. We had one of these last year, but I don't think I ever blogged about. The social hall looked as amazing as I'd ever seen it, with rows of tables laid out with seder plates, all complete with personal name places and fancy folded napkins.

This picture of the seder table does it no justice. Jewish Grandmother #1 practically lived at temple all last week, setting everything up. I wish I could've gotten a picture of her, but she was at the front of the hall with the rabbi. I sat with Paul, Sassy Jewish Grandfather #2, and I overheard someone ask him, "Rebecca's your daughter, isn't she?" I've heard him get asked this at least once before. I was tempted to say (but I didn't), "Yeah, Paul, you lost a child, and I lost a parent -- we're made for each other!" Wait, that's actually kinda sad.

Tu Bish'vat is the Jewish New Year of the Trees, so we ate foods that grow on trees. Here's a picture of my seder plate, with bits of cranberries, blueberries, grapes, cherries, olives, coconut, banana, pineapple, apple, orange, grapefruit, almond, walnut, pecan, and more! Yum!

The weather here has been very nasty this weekend. It was raining so hard on Saturday morning that I practically had to swim to Torah study. Rabbi W must not have brought his umbrella, because he walked in soaking wet, and somebody said, "Does that count as a mikvah, Rabbi?" Haha. It hasn't stopped raining since then, and now it's cold, too! Ugh! I had to crank up the heater when I woke up this morning, which was no fun. I really don't want to go out in this weather, but I need to go grocery shopping, and it's a nice day to curl up and watch a child actress movie, so maybe I'll pick one up while I'm out.

On the art calendar, I'm looking at Lady of the Lake, a 1936 oil painting by Horace Pippin. The Met website claims it's a literal take on Arthurian legend, but Rebecca doesn't see it.

TWO ... DAYS ... LEFT until NCIS's 200th episode!

Current Mood: hopeful
Current Music: So Damn Beautiful, Akon

All hail Rebecca, who actually did something with her day off! First, I woke up way too early this morning and had coffee with Sassy Jewish #1. He's in another play, The Odd Couple this time, and I read through Acts I and II with him to help him learn his lines. He's playing Oscar (the slobby one) and only has about half his lines memorized with three weeks till opening night!

After that, Sara and I drove downtown to the park. Remember when I spent a day helping rebuild a playground that burnt down? Well, it's finally finished and open to the public! Since I'd seen some of the under-construction phase, I couldn't wait to see the finished product. The new playground is massive and so cool. Heck, I'm glad the old one burnt down because this one is even better! I played on the spinner and see-saw that I'd worked on, and it was sweet to be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. After the spinner made me dizzy enough to puke, Sara and I walked over the lake and fed some stale bread to the ducks and seagulls.

Me on the spinner. Sara spun me around so hard that I flew off, and now I have bruises on my arm and hip.

Me lying across the tire swing. Like my hair?

And now, about last night's new NCIS episode. I'm still watching one old Season 8 episode for every week that we don't get a new one. Since I began writing these episode notes (my first one was for Restless), I've been under assault from fanfic plot bunnies! I've never really lacked plot bunnies, I've only lacked the time and talent to turn them into good fics. But now, this one particular bunny refuses to leave me alone, and it's for a very uncanon pairing that I would never ordinarily write -- Zibbs! Yeah, as in Ziva/Gibbs! And heaven help me, I think I might actually end up writing the story!

( Observations on 9x13 "A Desperate Man" )

Go, fanfiction writers! To your keyboards! A new world of possibilities awaits you!

Random P.S. On Sara's page-a-day art calendar, I'm currently looking at Surf, Isles of Shoals, a 1913 oil painting by Childe Hassam. It's quite lovely.

Current Mood: anxious
Current Music: Someone Like You, Adele

Here's my sporadic but thankful Thursday for today:

~ Real music from a real radio station at work! Hallelujah! (We'll see how long this lasts.)

~ Even Sara had to admit that Sable's bladder-control pills seem to be working. He's still not quite 100% accident-free, but he's been having them a lot less.

~ I finally bought a bike light and a mezuzah for myself. They were both more expensive than I would've liked, but I feel like I've been putting off buying them for forever, so it's good to finally have them. My mezuzah is rosewood, has a shin (ש) and a nun (נ) on it, and came with a scroll. Hanging a mezuzah is one of the mitzvot commanded in Deuteronomy, and while I have no intention of following all 613 of them, it felt good to do this one. My bike light is very bright (I almost feel like I'll need sunglasses!) and has strobe and solid options.

/\ My mezuzah. (Update: My mezuzah on the doorframe of our new apartment.)

~ And just look at what I came home to yesterday!!! \/

It was such a beautiful surprise. One of my neighbors put up this stained-glass in the stairwell window right outside our door. It's really dazzling when the sun is out, and I love looking at the colored light shining through onto my mezuzah. :)

Current Mood: content
Current Music: Gloria, Laura Branigan

My first High Holy Days as an official Jew are still rolling on. After the Rosh Hashanah morning services, a very small group of us met at the lake for a tashlich, a Jewish ritual of going to a body of water and throwing bread to the ducks or seagulls. (That's right, the Jews have a name for that.) We couldn't stay for long before a fierce thunderstorm blew in, but Mrs. D had an entire loaf of rye bread -- left over from the corned beef sandwich sale back in March! -- and we threw the whole thing to the gulls. My arm was really sore afterwards because I didn't throw to the gulls but at them. I tried to time my throwing to their flying so they could catch the bread in their mouths.

Maggie throwing bread to the ducks while her mom reads the tashlich blessing. Look at how rough the water was!

Just as we were finishing off the bread, we felt the first splatters of raindrops. I took this photo in a hurry just before jumping on my bike and heading home. Look at how dark those clouds were!

Yesterday evening was the Shabbat Shuva service (and my third consecutive day at the temple), and it was followed by a delicious, free spaghetti dinner! I honestly didn't expect to like it because I was raised on Grandma's spaghetti, the best in the world. This wasn't as good as Grandma's, but it was very good. I would've gotten seconds, but it didn't last long. I sat with Maggie and all four C. boys. The oldest one had a conversation with me in French (his family was in France around the same time I was) and the youngest one said as soon as I sat down, "Hey, you've got silly bands! I've got silly bands too, see? Wanna swap silly bands with me?" He also told me Maggie was his "girlfriend." She got spaghetti sauce all over her face and kinda reminded me of a young me. :)

I almost made four days in a row at the temple, but this morning I was stuck at work and missed Torah study. Normally I wouldn't mind too much, but today I was a bit bummed because, I have to say, Rabbi Z. (our guest for the High Holy Days) is a lot more engaging and interesting than old Rabbi W.

Happy October!

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Fire and Rain, James Taylor

Sunday (September 11) was a bit of a strange day. It was Grandma's birthday, and a bunch of us headed over to her new house for as much of a birthday party as you can have at 82. She took the day off from cooking since it was her birthday, but there was a pineapple cake and two yellow cakes, one with chocolate and vanilla frosting and one with a coconut topping (which was actually pretty yummy).

After that, I biked downtown for the 9-11 memorial ceremony. Our city's local 9-11 memorial was designed by a woman from my temple, and several members of the congregation were there. The ceremony was actually very lovely. The weather was cool and perfect - just like it was on September 11, 2001, a Tuesday - and it was held on the lakefront. I could hear the wind blowing in the palm trees and the water lapping against the pier the entire time. It made for the most peaceful background music.

( Photos from the ceremony behind this frustrating LJ cut. These things USED to be easy! )

I woke up at seven this morning and just could not go back to bed! Too worried over stupid stuff again. Blegh.

P.S. 500th LJ entry! How sad that this milestone comes at a time when LJ has apparently stopped caring about its users. I honestly suspect that they're making things this difficult on purpose, and sitting back and laughing evilly at all the frustration they're causing us.

Current Mood: blah
Current Music: Rolling in the Deep, Adele

I've kinda been looking forward to this day for a while. It's my anniversary with the temple! Exactly one year ago today - Friday, August 27, 2010 - I rode my bike and attended services there for the first time. It's so strange to think that it's already been a year, when I still remember my first visit so well. Mostly I remember how nervous I was. I had never attended any sort of Jewish service before, never walked through those doors before, and even though I'd done a lot of research into Judaism, I didn't know anyone there and really had no idea what to expect.

It's hard to write about how much it's changed my life. One year later, I've officially converted. I'm a first-name basis with a whole group of people that I didn't know before. It's given me a sense of peace that I've never found anywhere else, and I like to think it's made me a better, happier, less selfish person. To put it simply, I have a family and a life now that I didn't have a year ago. It's almost hard to remember what I did before I had Judaism, and this temple. I mean, how bored and lonely was I?

I didn't have anything exciting planned for today, but almost as if they knew it was my anniversary, two members of our congregation - Cheryl and her little girl, Maggie - swooped by and picked me up. Maggie is the sweetest kid, and for some strange reason, she really likes me and thinks I'm so cool. (Eva thought the same thing for a long time. She'll be 14 at the end of the month, and I think she's finally starting to realize how lame I really am.) First we had lunch at Burger King, and then we went to a family fun day downtown. There was face-painting, balloon animals, games, door prizes, etc. - fun, but so exhausting that I conked out as soon as I got home.

More cool stuff for today - back in October, our temple was visited by a camera crew from the History Channel. We're featured for about five minutes in a two-hour long program called "You Don't Know Dixie," that tries to debunk stereotypes about the south. It's on TV tonight, and although the History Channel's played it before, this will be my first time to see it. Lots of faces from the temple are in it, including Rebecca! (When Jacob told me, my first response was, "What was I wearing that day?")

( Screencaps from our part of the show! )

I almost ended this entry with a nice verse from the Torah, but if you know me, you won't be surprised that I went with The Beatles instead.
Man, we was lonely, yes, we was lonely
And we was hard-pressed to find a smile
Man, we was lonely, yes, we was lonely
But now we're fine all the while

Current Mood: grateful
Current Music: Man, We Was Lonely, Paul McCartney & Wings

Rebecca had a good 4th of July this year, even though Little Caesar's was closed for the holiday. I was pissed to no end when I saw that. Most businesses in our strip mall were open, but not them. Where do they get off? I had to drive down to the gas station for some pizza during my lunch break.

Josh and I both worked most of the day, which I really didn't mind (we were pretty steady, and it didn't feel like a holiday). After he got off, we drove to the park to go swinging, and even though swinging tends to make me nauseous lately, it didn't this time. We had the park all to ourselves, and we kept flinging our shoes off our feet to see whose shoe went the farthest (Josh won). When it got darker, we drove down to the lake to watch the fireworks. Josh got hold of my camera while we were waiting for the show to start, and he kinda went crazy taking pictures. I had made a playlist of good 4th of July songs on my iPod - Born in the USA, Firework, Party in the USA, Saturday in the Park - and made him listen to it.

Me eating Lay's potato chips in Josh's car. I brought a bag and munched on them all evening. I have an incurable addiction to junk food.

Josh found it necessary to make obscene faces for the camera. He cracks me up. Notice all Maggie's rubber bands on my wrist.

The fireworks show was spectacular, even though it was short and traffic was impossible afterwards. Also, year after year, they always close with "Stars and Stripes Forever," which irks me. I hate that song! There are so many better songs about America out there. Between waking up early and staying out late, I was exhausted when I finally got home. I could barely even summon the energy to walk Sable, and I came as close as I've ever been to pulling a Sara by falling asleep in the bathtub.

Inventory at work this weekend. Blegh!

Current Mood: yawn
Current Music: Saturday in the Park, Chicago

After work today, Sara and I went for a walk in the cemetery, then I rode my bike over to Grandma's to pick tomatoes for her. (That's what I love about summer. The days are long enough to pack a lot into them.) Grandma seems to have given up on watering and/or picking from her garden since she's about to move, so I spent about five minutes just sitting on the grass picking all the cherry tomatoes in reach. The bellpepper and cucumber plants both looked so withered and sad, and as I was watering them, it occurred to me that by this time next month, Grandma will probably be completely moved out of that house. She's lived there for 47 years! It doesn't seem possible.

I've been meaning to post these photos for a while. They're not great, because I used the GE rather than the Kodak. (The Kodak has better picture quality, but the GE has way more storage space and its batteries last longer.) I took them over the last month or so. They make me think of the June words of my Emily Dickinson calendar:

A sepal, petal, and a thorn
Upon a common summer's morn -
A flask of Dew - a Bee or two -
A Breeze - a caper in the trees -
And I'm a Rose!

( Louisiana Flowers and Fresh Produce of Rebecca's Neighborhood (Lots of Photos) )

I took a few good photos in the cemetery today, but I will share those later. (Update: Well, I only ever got around to posting one, but you can see it here.)

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Let It Be Me, The Indigo Girls

I recently provoked a jaw-drop out of one of my cowokers just by saying "what the hell." She stared at me and said, "Rebecca, that's the closest I've ever come to hearing you curse." So apparently the people I work with don't know me at all. One of them thought I was a Mormon, and now another one thinks I never curse. Ha, they couldn't be further from the truth.

And now, some photos from the cemetery that Athena and I visited in Little Rock. It was a huge cemetery, with lots of crypts and statues, a fountain, a cottage (probably no one lived there and it was just used for storage, but it was definitely a little house in the middle of the cemetery). We spent all afternoon there and still didn't see it all. You all know how much I love cemeteries, and I took lots of pictures. Unfortunately, none of them do justice to the place!

( Mount Holly Cemetery )

And that's the end of my photos from Little Rock. We left the next day, and just before we left, we saw Central High School. It was the biggest, most beautiful school. I read Warriors Don't Cry, the memoir of one of the Little Rock Nine, back when I was in middle school, and it really stuck with me. And Mom could remember seeing the school on coverage on the integration crisis on the news.

This was not a good week, for various different reasons. But here's hoping that next week will be better. I wasn't crazy about this week's new NCIS episode (as much as it pains me to say that), so I never did get around to posting my notes on it. Anyway, here they are now:

( Hmm... notes on 8x23 "Swan Song" )

Current Mood: blegh...
Current Music: Push, Matchbox 20

A few tidbits of my week so far:

~ One of my managers in the habit of telling me all about his farm, lawn, goats, etc., even though I couldn't care less. One day he was showing me the callouses on his hands and said, "Look at my hands, Rebecca. See, I have a working man's hands." I said, "Well, I think that working man wants his hands back." He glared at me for a minute, then laughed.

~ So, Osama bin Laden is finally dead. I'm just glad that he wasn't killed under the Bush Administration; I can only imagine how crudley Shrub would've celebrated. Our Rabbi directed us to a line from the Passover liturgy: when the Israelites saw the Egyptians drowning in the sea, they started to celebrate, but G-d scolded them, "How can you celebrate when my creatures are dying?"

~ Shabbat services at the temple tonight were really lovely. The Rabbi was in town, there was music, and for some reason, Maggie (she's five or six, one of the few kids in our congregation) left her seat next to her mom and spent the entire service right next to me. I'm not someone who's ever been good with kids, and at first, I was tempted to ask her what the hell she was doing. But then she kept leaning against me, holding my hand, and at one point, laid down on the pew and put her head in my lap. I felt like the grouchy old man who gets his heart melted in every Shirley Temple movie.

( The Baker House and Downtown Little Rock )

I still have not bought Mom a gift for Mother's Day, and I'm not sure what to get her. Hm.

Current Mood: touched
Current Music: Glory of Love, Peter Cetera (ultimate '80s cheesiness!)

I woke up in the early a.m. this morning with a terrible stomachache. It was the worst I'd had in a long time. Pepto-Bismal and a hot bath didn't help, and I didn't get to sleep for a few hours, until I finally made myself throw up, something I hate to do. Sara was still awake, and she snarkily told me I'd better wash out the bowl I'd thrown up in, because she wasn't going to. (I hope I can remember to be just as bitchy the next time she's sick.) I was so tired when I woke up this morning.

Anyway, onto some more about our trip to Little Rock:

( The Rosemont and James Taylor )

A cold front rolled in with the rain last night, and today was almost as cold as winter! (Which translates to, Rebecca had to wear a light jacket.) I throw up my hands at this!

Only one hour to go until the Tony origins episode of NCIS (Baltimore)! Can you smell the excitement?

Later: Updated to add my notes on the new episode, which run long because honestly, I could not find one thing to dislike about this episode. Michael Weatherly knocked it out of the park!

( Lots of gushing and squeeing on 8x22 "Baltimore" )

Current Mood: can't wait!!
Current Music: birds singing

A few photos from our trip to Hodges Gardens yesterday. My mom and I left around ten and biked for what felt like twelve hours!

We started out here, in front of the lake. The gardens were full of people strolling and taking pictures, but once we got into forest, there was no one. Obviously not many people were tough enough to venture that far.

Me before we started biking -- smiling and ready to go! That didn't last long.

A beautiful grove of pine trees where we stopped for lunch; it made me think of the Six Pine Trees in the Hundred Acre Wood. The trees were so slender, and I loved watching them sway in the wind. Also, PineSol has nothing on the real thing.

Biking up one of many steep hills. (My mom doesn't like having her picture taken.)

Me after we'd been biking for a while. After going up that last hill, I pulled over and collapsed on a bed of pine needles. My mom said, "Rebecca, you're so white!" Yeah, and I stayed that way because I wore lots of sunscreen.

The gardens were beautiful, full of streams, waterfalls, bridges, and flowers. Walking through it made me think of the Torah passage, "G-d was walking about the Garden [of Eden] in the cool of evening" (Genesis 3:08). I'm reading a book right now that discusses biblical passages that anthropomorphize G-d. But I better knuckle down on my studies if I'm going to get converted by fall.

As an aside, Mom had to struggle to get on and off her bike whenever we stopped. I would've felt sorry for her, but it's her own fault because she lets my brother ride her bike but doesn't make him lower the seat. I suspect letting him ride it is also the reason why her bike's framework is coming loose. Frankly, it disgusts me that she doesn't make him buy his own bike, but I can't say I'm surprised, since this brother still lives with Mom but doesn't pay rent and doesn't have his own cell phone or car, even though he's 31 and has a job! Sara and I pay our own rent and bills, she's putting herself through school, and this year alone, we've bought a car and a computer. Did we ask Mom for any help? No! It's called being an adult.

Today, April 10, is the 100th day of the year.

Current Mood: I hate tax season!
Current Music: I'm Looking Through You, The Wallflowers

My brother called me at 7:30 this morning (twice!) because he thought I needed a ride to work. Um, if I needed a ride to work, don't you think I would've called you? But no, I couldn't have done that, because every time I try to get in touch with him, he's completely and totally unreachable.

Sara has said that the front of our refrigerator is too crowded. I disagree, and to prove my point, I present this photo essay of freezer doors.

Exhibit #1: Mom's Freezer Door. Five magnets (three of them from New York, White Sands, and London), a clutch of coupons that Mom will almost certainly never use, and lots of empty white space. Grade: Too Bare!

Exhibit #2: Grandma's Freezer Door. At first glance, you might think she's the most well-traveled Grandma in the world. Her magnets hail from Disney World, Hot Springs, Crystal Beach, Las Cruces, Lake Tahoe, Yellowstone Park, San Francisco, Guam, London, and Amsterdam. (I gave her the magnet from London but never got her one from Paris, which I can't believe! I went to Paris a lot more than I went to London.) It suits Grandma, but it's all a bit too much for me. Grade: Too Cluttered!

Exhibit #3: Our Freezer Door. Most of it is pictures of Sable, but we also have... 1) a reproduction of Renoir's Girl With Jumping Rope; 2) a photo of me on a street in Paris, next to a sign for Marine Le Pen with the word pute graffitied over her face; 3) the "O! Yes, we did!" magnet we got after the election; 4) a bear and butterfly I cross-stitched back in 1998; 5) a Care Bear that dates back to the '80s; and 6) souvenirs from White Sands and St. Paul's. Grade: Just Right!

I had so much fun posting these photos. I have no life, I know. But it's interesting what a person's freezer front says about them. Our store carries a lot of magnets, including a new set of very tiny, adorable cupcake magnets that I've been resisting the urge to buy.

And Last:

Writing fanfiction is very draining.
Mom and Adam and I might (key word being might) make a trip to Texas on Wednesday. We'll see.
If you recognize where the title of this journal entry comes from, then congratulations, you're as obsessed with NCIS as I am! And that's saying something.

Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: Impossible, Shontelle

What a hot summer day it is. Some would say it's too hot to drop your truck off for an oil change and ride home on your bike, which I just did. But I've had hotter. I also went by the bank: I love you, tax refund check! Most of it is going towards a second car, but I told Sara I wanted to take us out to dinner. Sara: "Really? Where?" Me: "Um, Cici's?" Sara: "Ooh, big spender!" Me: "It's not about the amount of money spent on the meal, but the amount of joy taken from it."

This morning I ~~overslept till 9:30~~ woke up early to attend this free watercoloring class at the library. I haven't taken an art class since the fifth grade -- which was about, oh, fourteen years ago -- so everything was very strange and new to me. But the lady who taught it was very nice. She gave us each a copy of watercolor she'd painted of three magnolia blossoms, and went through step by step how to paint our own version of it. (FYI: Magnolia blossoms are not solid white; look closer, and you'll see various different shades of off-white, pink, yellow, and blue.) I enjoyed it, and even though I didn't get to finish my painting, it may have come out better than I expected. The instructor seemed genuinely impressed -- although that was probably just a charade she puts on for everyone who takes her class -- asked if I took art lessons, and held my painting up to show everyone else in class. Everyone in class, by the way? That's right, all old ladies. But that's usually the case with events I go to at the library.

I've been meaning to post these for a while. Pictures!

The worst sunburn ever? - You tell me:

Check me out, representing with my lobster leg! This is what it looked like immediately after the canoe trip, when the sunburn was at its worst. I love how you can see exactly where my capris ended. Somebody get me an ice-pack!

Check me out wearing shorts! This is the next day, at my aunt's house. My arms got sunburnt too (not as badly as my legs), even though you can't really see it here. My face is so pale in comparison.

My watercolor. Be honest - can you tell it's supposed to be a magnolia? It looks better when not viewed so close-up. I plan to finish it eventually, just as soon as I find a paintbrush.

Current Mood: creative
Current Music: Sing a Song, The Carpenters

There are several songs that would be fitting to accompany this entry. But I'll go with "In My Life," by The Beatles. John Lennon once said that it was the first song he consciously wrote about his own life.

There are places I remember
All my life, though same have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone, and some remain

Which brings us to:

Me (dramatically posing!), Bunny the Horse, Sara, Patrick, & Matthew, 1991. Bunny is an old horse-head hitching post that has stood in front of a house in our neighborhood for as long as I can remember. Athena named it Bunny when she little.

( The same spot, revisited earlier today. )

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: The Lobster Quadrille, Tina Majorino

This afternoon I went to the library and came home with a huge armful of books, more than I'm actually going to read, I'm sure. I haven't been reading as much lately, probably because the weather's so much nicer and I haven't been stuck inside. No, not because I've been wasting all my time on YouTube. Of course not. There was a booksale at the library, and I found a VHS episode of the old '90s ('80s?) Baby-Sitters Club TV show. I'm going to show it to Sara as soon as she wakes up. I also got a collection of 20th-century ghost stories (I'd checked it out once before but never finished reading it) and one of 17th-century poetry. One of my new year resolutions for 2009 was to read one poem a day, but I haven't been living up to it. Older poems are some of my favorite ones to read aloud. Grammar, style, and everything else was so different back then, it's almost like reading in a different language.

From the library I went straight to another fantastic visit to a cemetery. It reminded me of this day last spring when I spent hours wandering around the Pere Lachaise in Paris. This cemetery wasn't as big or as famous, but the weather was just as nice, and while the Pere Lachaise was crowded, today I didn't see another single person in the cemetery the entire time I was there. I wandered around, took pictures, and read from my poetry book. Folks in the 17th-century seriously loved to write about death. I could open the book to a random page and almost always find something about dying.

( Lots of cemetery pictures here... )

A few more cemetery pictures to come. I'd post them now, but I should be going to bed. Check back to this post.

Current Mood: crazy
Current Music: silence

So I was off this weekend (hooray!) and yesterday I finally got around to something I've been meaning to do. In my otherwise lovely neighborhood, on my block, right outside my door, there's this stretch of sidewalk that's fallen into a serious state of neglect. It's covered with bricks and bottles, and weeds have sprouted up through cracks in the pavement and grown as high as my knee in some places. It's impossible to walk on it, which has always annoyed me, because Sable and I have to walk in the street. Ever since we moved in, I've been meaning to take pictures of it and send them in to the local paper as the "outrage of the week," in hopes that Somebody would Do Something about it.

But yesterday it occured to me that that's the only way that sidewalk will ever improve: Somebody has to Do Something. And I realized that I probably used that sidewalk more than anybody, and that I had the next day off. And I know it sounds stupid, but it made me think about Obama, and how he says that change will never come if we wait for Somebody to make the change for us. We have to make the change.

So this afternoon, after it stopped raining, I went out with two pruning sheers, gloves, trash bags, a broom, my iPod, sunglasses, and a water bottle. I don't know how long it took me, but I hacked back branches, ripped out weeds, swept away dust, and finally managed to clean the entire stretch of sidewalk. It was hard work, especially since there's virtually no muscle on my puny arms, but it gave me a great sense of fulfillment. A surprising number of the weeds turned out to be wild onions. I even pulled out a few tiny, marble-sized onions that had been growing in a large crack in the pavement, and the smell of them was so strong that it took me straight back to the lycee kitchen and Marlene chopping onions and crying.

The difference in the sidewalk is seriously amazing. Bear in mind that it was so bad that nobody had been able to walk on it for at least a decade, and I know because I've lived in this neighborhood for most of my life. But so you can see the difference for yourself, I took before and after pictures. When I look at these, I can't believe how much I accomplished.

I swear this is the same sidewalk.

( More Before Pictures )

( More After Pictures )

And guess what else I did today? Made two YouTube videos!

Current Mood: impressed
Current Music: Yes We Can, will.i.am

I am finally all finished with my Christmas shopping! I bought the last few gifts Friday evening, after I got off work, and I wrapped everything yesterday. All I have left to do is mail Mom's gift to her in North Carolina. I had really wanted to give it to her while she was here in town, but I just wasn't able to.

It was so foggy on Friday night. I was working a close, and when I went outside to put away a shopping cart, it was so windy and foggy that it looked like the entire strip mall had gotten lost inside a cloud. The fog was rolling thick and fast across the parking lot, glowing orange in the lights. I could've stood and stared at it for long time, but I had to do recovery in the store.

Sara and I are both working on Christmas Eve, which especially sucks because my family has always celebrated on Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day. But I'm hoping that I'll be able to spend at least a little time at Grandma's, and I guess Sara and Sable and I will just have to come up with a new tradition for Christmas Day, since we're both off then.

We stayed up late last night watching Matilda and Adventures in Baby-sitting. Good times.

And now, as promised, some pictures of our Christmas tree. Which happens to be the most kick-ass tree ever!

( That's right, bitches! )

I just finished typing this entry when in walks the Grinch who hates Christmas. She says mean things about your friend even though you've asked her to stop, and then she pushes you so hard she almost knocks you over.

Current Mood: geeky
Current Music: That's What I Want for Christmas, Shirley Temple

Travel back in time to 1992, and meet 8-year-old Rebecca, courtesy of "My Story," a gem I saved from Mrs. Leonard's second grade class.

Me:

My family:

My hero:

My favorite food:

My favorite thing to do:

My favorite game:

My favorite toy:

I hope you enjoyed meeting 8-year-old Rebecca. Now, please leave. She does not like you.

I also have the "My Story" that my sister made in second grade. It's the same list of favorites, but I put much more time into my drawings than she did, so I think mine is better. But isn't it interesting how in my drawings, everyone from me to Bill Clinton looks almost exactly the same?

Current Mood: lazy
Current Music: Oh My Goodness, Shirley Temple

My birthday this year was pretty awesome. Grandma and Aunt Carla threw a big dinner for me and treated everyone who came to food from wherever they wanted. Adam got Subway, Eva got Burger King, I got Buffalo Wild Wings, and everyone else got Chinese food. And on top of that, Grandma also baked me a double-layered yellow cake. (I told you it was awesome.) Buffalo chicken with celery sticks and blue cheese sauce is one of my very favorite meals in the world, and the ones from Buffalo Wild Wings are among the best. That was an entire present by itself. I also got a toaster from Grandma and Aunt Carla, as a birthday/housewarming gift, and two nice shirts from Aunt Connie. I haven't gotten anything from Sara or Adam yet, but I know that Sara's present is in the mail, and Adam might get me something eventually too.

( Scenes From Rebecca's Birthday )

Connie and John also came over to see our apartment this afternoon and were very impressed with it. (They had considered living in this same apartment building when they were first married, and so did Mom when she was in college.) Grandma and Aunt Carla will probably come to see it tomorrow. I might use some of my birthday money to buy a few picture frames for our walls -- or I might not, because I shouldn't be spending my money -- but I really want to frame some pictures of Sara and me in Europe and the rubbing I made of George Llewelyn Davies's grave in Voormezele.

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Little Lamb, Natalie Wood

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rebecca_in_blue

March 2013

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Page Summary

Which child actress movie should Rebecca watch next?
The plot bunnies are attacking Rebecca! Help!
Rebecca almost forgot what the radio sounds like!
Who's participated in a Jewish ritual and didn't even know it?
Rebecca turns her sorrow into treasured gold...
How do you measure, measure a year?
Another day in the park, I think it was the 4th of July...
But she wasn't supposed to move until the fall!
Rebecca, I don't recall seeing you anywhere after dinner.
Ain't it a fine life, writin' in your LJ through it all?
Rebecca's blowin' her dough and goin' deluxe!
Rebecca's groovin' (and doin' her taxes) on a Sunday afternoon...
Rebecca has an unorthodox but highly effective running style.
When a Pop-Tart looks like dinner, Rebecca has no business buying tabacco!
Rebecca's going back to May 1937 with Sharon Olds.
Rebecca lost her sunglasses but found $20.
What did Rebecca do today? She got things DONE!
If only it didn't hurt to type. And write. And etc.
Meet Me! 8-year-old Rebecca.
Little lamb, a birthday goes by so fast...

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on your journey, i will bless you...

...and you will be a blessing

Entries tagged with pictures

Which child actress movie should Rebecca watch next?

The plot bunnies are attacking Rebecca! Help!

Rebecca almost forgot what the radio sounds like!

Who's participated in a Jewish ritual and didn't even know it?

Rebecca turns her sorrow into treasured gold...

How do you measure, measure a year?

Another day in the park, I think it was the 4th of July...

But she wasn't supposed to move until the fall!

Rebecca, I don't recall seeing you anywhere after dinner.

Ain't it a fine life, writin' in your LJ through it all?

Rebecca's blowin' her dough and goin' deluxe!

Rebecca's groovin' (and doin' her taxes) on a Sunday afternoon...

Rebecca has an unorthodox but highly effective running style.

When a Pop-Tart looks like dinner, Rebecca has no business buying tabacco!

Rebecca's going back to May 1937 with Sharon Olds.

Rebecca lost her sunglasses but found $20.

What did Rebecca do today? She got things DONE!

If only it didn't hurt to type. And write. And etc.

Meet Me! 8-year-old Rebecca.

Little lamb, a birthday goes by so fast...