rebecca_in_blue | Entries tagged with back-to-school woes

Sara, Tovah, and I have been watching the London Olympics every day this week. (Even though I still haven't gotten around to watching the Opening Ceremony, which I missed while at camp. And I hear JK Rowling read from Peter Pan!) We've seen swimming, diving, gymnastics, rowing, and bits of a few other things. We scratched our heads trying to figure out which country RSA was; it turned out to be the Republic of South Africa. It's kinda fun getting into the medal count and the "Go USA!" feeling. I was watching when Michael Phelps won his 20th medal. I say this because it's newsworthy, not because I'm a fan. I found him overexposed and unattractive (although, admittedly, neither is really his fault) in 2004 and he's only gotten more so. I try to crochet on my plarn whenever I watch the Olympics, and it's coming along well.

In other, worse news, Back-to-School is here again, as God-awful as ever. I promised that I wouldn't let all the stress get to me this year, and guess what? I totally am! I'm scheduled to close three nights this week, and all of them have been/will be late nights. Ugh! Going on vacation for a week of it did help, but I wish my managers would all get on the same darn page about things. On top of that, our neighbors have caused us a few stressful moments that almost made me wish I was back in Smallpartment. Yes, it was the size of a shoebox, but the neighborhood was so quiet and familiar; it almost felt like an extension of Grandma's house.

On top of that, at services tonight, Jewish Grandmother #1 asked me to come to a meeting next week to put the lesson plans for this year's religious school in order. I told myself when last year's session ended that I wouldn't volunteer to teach again, but I also wouldn't say no if asked. But Holy Moses, I do not want to go through this again. I just don't understand why she asked me back -- doesn't she know how monumentally bad at it I was? Ugh.

53 DAYS LEFT UNTIL SEASON 10 OF NCIS!

Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Adam watching TV

I have to admit that this year, Back-to-School wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. I did have a few days when I thought my voice was going to give out, though. To celebrate it being on its way out, I went to Little Caesar's last night (for the first time in almost two weeks!) and rented Let Me In. I've made a goal to try to watch one child actress movie every month.

Our laptop is running a bit faster now, thanks to me for buying a new splitter for our cables. Who knew splitters could go bad? The drive to the mall had me in tears because I was stupid enough to go on a long western drive at sunset without my sunglasses, and Muse Watson doesn't have a drivers-side visor. But once there, I got a free sandwich from Chick-a-Fil and found greeting cards for Rosh Hashanah in the Hallmark store! They made this newly-Jewish girl go SQUEE! (Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. It falls at the end of September this year.)

I still haven't seen my story for the ficathon yet. I know my prompts were hard to work with, but I'm starting to get a bit impatient here. Even more aggravating, I've yet to here back from the person I'm writing for. Hmph. But I do have some good news:

32 DAYS LEFT until the Season 9 premiere of NCIS! And judging from recent spoilers, it's going to be a juicy one!

Current Mood: mixed emotions
Current Music: New Soul, Yael Naim

By some miracle, junk-food-loving Rebecca got tired of Little Caesar's greasy pizzas today and got lunch from Subway instead. The sandwich artist behind the counter recognized me as Adam's sister! Actually, he just asked me if I had a brother with really long hair who ate sandwiches with lots of mustard and onions on them. (Adam goes to Subway all time and gets foot-longs with big piles of spinach, onions, cheese, and mustard. Blegh. I almost can't be in the same room when he eats them.)

This means that the guy at Subway, the lady at the sno-cone stand, and one of my coworkers have all pegged us as siblings without ever seeing us together. What the hell? Do I really look that much like Adam? *depressed sigh*

THREE DAYS LEFT until Baton Rouge, interview with the beit din, having a mikvah, and officially becoming Jewish. I'm so nervous, and it doesn't help my nerves that work has been stressful as hell lately. And it doesn't help work that people have been quitting/calling in like crazy during Back-to-School, which is by far our busiest time of the year! I had to work late again today. But I am trying to stay focused and just get through the next two weeks. Then it will be over, and fall, cool weather, and Season 9 of NCIS will be right around the corner.

This is a parody of The Empire Strikes Back that I wrote a while ago. I cast Jacob (Sassy Jewish Grandfather #3) as Obi-Wan Kenobi because he has been such a big support to me. Our rabbi is Yoda [although he is not quite as old], and yours truly is Luke Skywalker.

Rabbi W: Why wish you become Jew? Hm?
Rebecca: Mostly because I hear there's money in it, I guess.
Rabbi W: I cannot convert her. The girl has no patience.
Jacob: She will learn patience. Was I any different when you converted me?
Rabbi W: Hm... no, she is not ready.
Rebecca: Jacob! I am ready! I can be a Jew! Jacob! Jacob, tell him I'm r -
Rabbi W: Ready, are you? What know you ready? For eight hundred years have I converted gentiles. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be converted. A Jew must have the deepest committment, the most serious mind. Jew gold. Ha. Bagels and lox. Ha. A Jew craves not these things. You are reckless.
Jacob: So was I, if you remember.
Rabbi W: She is too old. Yes, too old to begin converting.
Rebecca: But I've learned so much.
Rabbi W: Will she finish what she begins?
Rebecca: I won't go off the derech. I'm not afraid.
Rabbi W: You will be. You will be.

( George Lucas's Version Under the Cut )

A few final things:
     ~ A few days ago, Sara was playing the song "Most Bamboozling Thing" (from The Sword in the Stone) on the computer and I tweaked the lyrics and sang, "They're wasting time resisting / They'll find the more they do / The more I'll keep insisting / That I have got to be a Jew!" Sara just about died laughing.
     ~ My rabbi called me yesterday to discuss a few more details about what'll happen in Baton Rouge. "Don't be nervous," he said. And later, "And bring a bath towel." Yeah, that helped. My Jewish grandparents are giving me and another lady who's converting a ride there.
     ~ The last time I saw my bad-ass Cajun grandma, I said as I was leaving her house, "Nex time you see me, I'll be Jewish!" Grandma: "That's all right, that's fine."

Current Mood: impatient
Current Music: Shipoopi, The Music Man

Adam, Eva, and I went to the (small) local water park this week; we had sunscreen, but I didn't apply it thoroughly enough and got a little burnt. It wasn't the worst sunburn ever, though. Then we went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. I hadn't really wanted to see it in theater because I hated the second part of the last book so much; you can read my review here, but it doesn't even begin to cover all the problems I had with it. Literally, "The Prince's Tale" chapter and the epilogue left a bad taste in my mouth that I still haven't gotten rid of almost four years later. Ugh!

But I went to see it because it's the last HP movie, and I've seen every other one in theater, so I felt I had to. Fortunately, it was a lot better than I had expected. The movie made a few much-needed changes/omissions and actually came out better than the book. Since it's the last movie, I decided to make it last and sat through the credits. (I like sitting through the credits but rarely get to because I usually go to the movies with People Who Rush Me. This time I was the one with the car so I made everyone else wait on me.) And guess what I spotted in the credits?

Why was the "Louisiana Entertainment" logo given a prominent place in the credits of Harry Potter? Answer here, from Nola.com.

Adam, Eva, and I saw The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 on July 20, 2011. Eva and I saw The Half-Blood Prince on July 21, 2009. Sara, Adam, and I saw The Order of the Phoenix on July 21, 2007. All in the same movie theater! (No, my memory isn't that good. I made a list here.)

We had a fun time, and I'm glad, because I suspect that fun times might be a while in coming back. The insanity of Back-to-School has returned, right on schedule. It's such a busy time for our store that we refer to it as "our Christmas." But Rebecca sure confused the heck out of her sassy Jewish grandfather when she tried explaining that to him. On a similar note, one of Sara's coworkers (and babygoose85's sister) asked her whether I was married or engaged. Sara: "She's neither." Sara's Coworker: "But I thought she was converting to Judaism?" She assumed that I must be converting because I was marrying a Jewish guy. I've had one or two other people make this assumption too. Sigh...

P.S. I've loved Harry Potter since 1999. It's so weird that there are no more new books or movies. What is Rebecca going to look forward to now? Oh, yeah:
58 DAYS LEFT until the Season 9 premiere of NCIS!

Current Mood: muddled
Current Music: Landslide, Stevie Nicks

Back-to-School Week was about as hellish as I expected, but at least I survived. And it's over now, much to the relief of me and pretty much every parent I checked out. We got pizza on Friday to celebrate it being over, and I dug uneaten crusts out of the garbage and brought them home to Sable, so everyone was happy. (Wtf is up with people who don't eat their pizza crusts? I love the crusts!) Anyway, some ~~important~~ lessons I learned this week:

The most boring TV show in the world can be made amusing by Sara's sarcastic comments.
Grits are an excellent before-bedtime snack. I finally got sick of oatmeal, so I've gone back to grits.
Encounters with your former high school teachers don't have to be awkward... but more often than not, they are.
Wealth is measured in more than just money... right?

I've been collecting cans as much as I can lately to help with the costs of getting my name changed. I dropped three bags off at my mom's yesterday and accidentally forgot to bring them to Grandma's house later (I store the cans in her garage between cashing them in). Today Mom collected said bags, drove them over to my apartment, and left them outside the door. Wtf? Even though I put them on the back of an outdoor shelf that she never uses, apparently seeing any sign of my existence is offensive to her. This after I found out a few days ago that my 30-year-old brother who still lives with her doesn't have a valid driver's liscense or car insurance, pays no rent or bills, and uses my brother's phone and my mom's bike because he doesn't want to buy ones of his own. (Mom is apparently okay with all this, since she's allowed it to go on for years.) In what universe does that make sense? My life might not be perfect, but at least I have a concept of responsibility.

I had a dream about said brother a few days ago in which he was siphoning gas out of my truck into his car (which is non-existent in real life, since he doesn't know how to buy car insurance). I found out about it and got so mad that I took a bite out of his arm. Literally, I bit out a big chunk and my mouth came away full of arm guts.

And oh yeah, so excited over this...

Less than a month to go, people!!

Current Mood: Is it September 21 yet?!
Current Music: Down to the River to Pray, Selena Gomez & Joey King

When I logged into LiveJournal yesterday, I found 24 new items in my inbox. And that's a lot for me, since my inbox is usually empty. I didn't know what was up (and thought for a fleeting moment that my young actress community had gotten featured) until I went to the homepage and saw...

As a child, did you feel like you were you expected to pursue a certain type of career? How did this make you feel? Did you wind up choosing a different profession or path?

Submitted By

rebecca_in_blue

<input ... > View 811 Answers

...one of my suggestion questions got featured for Writer's Block! I am so geekily excited by this. I got about eighteen new friend requests (most of them from people in Russia, for some odd reason) but no new members at my young actress community. *sigh*

We did inventory last Saturday at work; I'm glad that's over, but now we're officially in the Back-to-School season. The store was so packed today that when Boss Man asked Josh to stay late, he literally turned and ran. It sucked for me, but I couldn't say anything because I probably would've done the exact same thing. (Probably? Okay, definitely.) And it's not even August yet! The only light at the end of the tunnel is the Season 8 premiere of NCIS.

A few days ago, Sable dug up this old piece of rawhide he had buried against the back fence. I was there when he buried it, otherwise I wouldn't have known what it was, because it was no longer identifiable as rawhide. It had turned solid black and had the foulest, nastiest stench you could possibly imagine. I've smelt my share of stinkiness (I pick up dog shit regularly and have eaten a variety of smelly French cheeses) but nothing even compared to this. And Sable acted like it was manna from Heaven! He would've brought it inside, but I couldn't take the looming odor of death, so I threw it away. I had to wrench the disgusting thing out of his mouth, which made me very nervous because he doesn't have many teeth left. He was so pissed at me after I threw it away. Crazy dog.

Current Mood: hating Back to School
Current Music: Short People, Randy Newman

There are few things I hate more at work then opening the day after I've closed. Yesterday we didn't get out of the store until 11, and this morning I had to be there at nine. Back to school... well, words can't even describe how bad it was. Yesterday and Tuesday, I seriously considered quitting. At least it will all be over by the end of this week. That is the only thought that's kept me sane.

Luckily, after the insanity of yesterday, I got just the pick-me-up I needed when Sara came home from work.
Sara: Guess what this is?
[Sara holds up some book. There is no title on it, and I couldn't read it anyway because I'd taken my contacts out.]
Me: What is it?
Sara: It's Catching Fire!
I almost grabbed it right out of her hand. Catching Fire is the sequel to The Hunger Games; I read it last year and from the very first page, I literally could not put the thing down. Sara and I have been waiting for Catching Fire all year. It hasn't even been released yet, but she got an advanced copy because she has Power. I have not been this excited about a book since Harry Potter! I'm signing out right now to go read it.

Current Mood: What happens to Katniss next?
Current Music: Sara watching Project Runway

Well, Adam and I drove to Houston on Wednesday, and I finally found Roger's grave! The cemetery where he's buried is massive: over 45,000 graves! But it's very organized, divided into sections with each plot labeled and numbered, so finding his grave wasn't hard at all. I took some pictures and wanted to stay longer, like I usually do in cemeteries, but this one had almost no shade at all, and it was so hot that we soon left. Afterwards we browsed around some places and had dinner with Mark and Vickie at Prego's in the Village. I had goat cheese pizza, for the first time since I left France! It wasn't as good as what I ate in France, or what I would've eaten if we'd gone to Star Pizza instead, but I can't complain.

I made a super delicious cake as a welcome-home present for Sara. It was a double-layer yellow cake with chocolate icing, decorated with Reese's Pieces candies. It was really quite pretty and not hard to make at all. (I borrowed some excellent cake pans from Grandma. She bought them sometime during the 1950s. I was surprised she couldn't remember the exact year.) Perhaps I'll get into the habit of making cakes.

And now for some bad news. Instead of listening to the radio at work, we now have to listen to elevator muzak. It's awful; I told Tracey yesterday it reminded me of that joke on Family Guy: "You know that mediocre, generic sound you've been looking for? Well, listen to this!" And next week, we're expanding our store hours to ten. Boss Man said when he announced the news, "Corporate is making all the stores do this, but do not tell the customers! Maybe we can keep them from finding out." The back-to-school season is more hectic than ever, and they're saying this week will be even worse!

I would post pictures of the cemetery and my cake, but I'm too tired right now. In fact I've felt tired for days (on reason I haven't posted in a while). There's a sinkful of dirty dishes to wash, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow. This is Rebecca signing off, walking her dog, and going to bed.

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: Sara watching TV, Sable whining

I woke up at 5:30 yesterday morning to take Sara to the airport. She's on vacation this week, visiting Mom in North Carolina. She had said that she would set her alarm for five, but when mine when off at 5:30, she was still sleeping and probably would've missed her flight if I hadn't woken her up. Anyway, I went back to bed around seven and woke back up at noon to go to work.

I worked a close last night, something I haven't done in a while. Our store closes at nine, and we're usually out by 9:15, but the back-to-school season is our Christmas, so last night we weren't done until about 10:30. But I'm not closing at all this week, so I can't complain. School supplies have changed a lot since my day. On a lot of school supply lists now teachers specify everything - size, brand, color, amount, etc. I lost count of how many moms finally said, "Well, if your teacher wants you to have this, she can go out and find it for you."

Tired as I was when I got home, I stayed really late and then got up early this morning because Sable was whining to go out. I figured as long as I was walking him, I might as well give him his flea powder and fish oil. Then I figured as long as I was doing that, I might as well brush him. And by then I was so wide awake that I couldn't go back to bed, so I made a YouTube video instead. I like to make them when the ideas are still fresh in my mind.

We have a box of yellow cake mix in the cabinet that has, alarming, learned to speak French. "Rebecca, mange-moi, mange-moi!" I have been looking for an excuse to bake it, and I think August 15 is as good as any. (See The Secret Life of Bees for explanation.) That's also the day that Sara comes home from North Carolina, so it can be a welcome back present for her.

Oh yeah, and Sara's store carries a kids book about the human body that comes with a life-size replica of a human tongue. Sara, for some reason that only she knows, cut the tongue out of one of the books and brought it home; now it's sitting on our coffee table. It really looks and feels like a real tongue. It creeps me out to look at it, so I put a magazine on top of it.

Things to do today: go to the library, go grocery shopping, do my laundry.

Current Mood: messed up sleeping schedule
Current Music: The World Will Know, Newsies

Rebecca hasn't barfed since June 17 -- over three weeks! And I haven't eaten out since June 30, which is probably a new record for me in abstaining from fast food.

We're having a meeting at work on Sunday morning, and today I asked Nice Manager about it. I'd assumed it would be about Back-to-School, since that season is our Christmas and is nearly upon us, but she said it was to address "the corruption that's been going on up here." And believe me, I pressed her for more details, but that was all she'd tell me. So I asked a different manager, but he just said, "Uh... it's about... stuff we need to improve upon," and changed the subject. I haven't been doing anything wrong, but I'm still worried. People at work have seemed tenser lately. Maybe it's my imagination, or maybe it's from getting ready for Back-to-School, which I've heard is going to be crazy-busy and stressful. Plus I've found out that I don't get vacation time until I've worked there for a year, which is disappointing. We'll just have to wait and see what happens on Sunday morning.

For some reason, writing about this has made me feel worse, not better. Isn't writing about something supposed to make it better? Sometimes I feel like I've spending my whole life going without, like that's supposed to make me a better person or something. Like the mayor in Chocolat, who was always fasting and abstaining from anything fun or enjoyable, only to go crazy and gorge himself on chocolate in the end. Maybe I need to better appreciate the things I do have, and stop feeling like I'm doing something wrong whenever I treat myself to something.

If I can, I'm taking Eva to the water park this weekend. It had better not rain.

Current Mood: sigh...
Current Music: The Freshman, Verve Pipe

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rebecca_in_blue

March 2013

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Rebecca should be doing her laundry!
Rebecca needs to get back to basics and bike-riding.
Rebecca throws up her hands at this!
Time makes you bolder. Children get older. Rebecca's getting older too.
Albuterol is Rebecca's oldest, dearest friend.
Back-to-School is enough to make Rebecca never want kids.
Rebecca's post-Harry Potter series isn't Twilight! It's The Hunger Games!
Rebecca hopes she's not coming down with something.
Rebecca ain't quite as dumb as she seems.
For the life of me, I cannot remember...

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on your journey, i will bless you...

...and you will be a blessing

Entries tagged with back-to-school woes

Rebecca should be doing her laundry!

Rebecca needs to get back to basics and bike-riding.

Rebecca throws up her hands at this!

Time makes you bolder. Children get older. Rebecca's getting older too.

Albuterol is Rebecca's oldest, dearest friend.

Back-to-School is enough to make Rebecca never want kids.

Rebecca's post-Harry Potter series isn't Twilight! It's The Hunger Games!

Rebecca hopes she's not coming down with something.

Rebecca ain't quite as dumb as she seems.

For the life of me, I cannot remember...