questions i have for myself...

• why did i think it would be a good idea to eat one of those green peppers in the teachers lounge? 
• this reminds me of the time Richie, my brother, offered me a nickel if i could eat a green pepper from the papa john's pizza box.  only this morning was different because 
• i didn't get a nickel for eating this one
• i was all alone laughing at myself when my mouth was on fire
• what would the world be life if we could see inside people's dreams?
• i don't usually remember my dreams but if people could see my one from last night, i think i'd be in trouble
• why is my supervisor SO good at talking in a quiet voice?
• seriously the three of us share an open office and she is incredible at talking at such a low volume yet still being audible. she can call me and tell me secrets and no one else would know! maybe it is her secret power.
• how come i cannot figure out the proper route to drive to work?
• i have driven to and from work three days now.  however, i have yet to take the same route. i need to pay better attention of my course. and maybe stop listening to ke$ha so intently. 
• is it bad that i pre-gamed in college to the same music i now listen to on the way to work?
• answer: no.
• does your chewing gum lose it's flavor on the bed post overnight?
• this isn't a questions i have for myself rather the song that is stuck in my head at the current moment. "can you catch it on your tonsils, can you heave it left or right, does your chewing gum lose it's flavor on the bed post overnight"

may the road rise to meet you...

the roads of Texas will now have a new car in town! as my parents brought in my little red car to aid in my adventures in Houston.. 

• practical jokes are weird/ineffective when EVERYONE is in on it. 
• so my mom spent all of Saturday looking around her brother's house in Austin for the car keys (of the car they had just brought down for me). She looked everywhere and spent a good part of the day doing so.  My dad started to retrace her steps and serve as a second set of eyes for the keys... no such luck.... until hours later my dad find the keys in.... his pockets! my uncle steve pointed out that it wasn't a very effective practical joke if it had my dad crawling around in search of the keys.
• Where does one find the best pizza in Houston? 
• With my parents in town and NOT on the JVC stipend/simple living, they were able to treat me and my roommates to Pizza... but having lived here a month on a budget where going out for pizza doesn't rank high on the list, I had no clue where to order from.  The solution... I walked into a gas station and asked the clerk where I could find the best pizza.... well he was REALLY confused my by question... BUT a friendly fellow costumer chimed in and sent us to Gotham Pizza.... it was great (but to be honest any Pizza would have ranked highly on my list since I hadn't had it in so long)!
• Arguments with furniture are rarely productive
• this morning as I walk about our house in pitch black circa 5:45, I hit my leg into our hallway cupboard.  This is a daily occurrence in which I am reminded that though arguments with furniture are rarely productive, they can produce bruises.
• And I leave you today with some office ongoings/ shenanigans.... following, let's just say an incident, that happened this morning, I sent out the following email...

"I wanted to bring to everyone's attention an urgent facilities matter.

It appears that sometime during this morning someone came into the Corporate Work Study office and littered my desk and trashed my computer.  I am appalled that this would happened at such a fine institution. 

I have cleaned up the garbage but please see the attached image as a record of the event."

ruminations...

A lazy days weekend went by (with no complaints from me as I certainly needed a break)... Some updates and thoughts are as follows....

-back seat drivers are greatly appreciated when driving for the first time in a new city.... in a GIANT 15 person van

-JVC loves to BBQ
-a corner couch (you know one with two sides that you put in a tv) can be converted into a super long couch!
-the butt of that corner couch can turn into the perfect addition to a room as a reading chair

-the people of houston really love vince flynn (this is in reference to the author of the book that was purchased for me at half priced books) I had a training on Sunday and TWO different people commented on how great an author he is
- the only thing more fantastic than southwest airlines is my PARENTS... I LOVE southwest's cheap airfare (cough cough friends in Boston, Milwaukee elsewhere who want to visit me) and I love that it is enabling my parents to come down THIS WEEKEND for a visit. They are the best. In an effort to make my work hours/transportation either they are driving down my car! and then flying out of Austin (following what will be a GREAT visit with family there). I cannot wait to see them and show them toe wonders of Houston!
- the students always ask me if I play video games... do I come off as a gamer? Please let me know what I can change as this is certainly not my intention. 

My final rumination is a comment a student randomly made to me when I was chaperoning the bus on Monday....


"you are only as old as you think"

wise words.

good things come in threes...

or maybe I should rewrite that as "free things come in threes"... as this weekend has been speckled with some FREE blessings

1. I really wanted to go on this adventure to this place I had heard of called "Texas Junk Company" known for their vast selection of cowboy boots and only open on Saturdays... naturally not the Saturday that my roommate Alex and I attempted to go but our 5 mile walk (2.5 there and back) in the blazing heat was not done without reward. On our return we stopped in a shoe and accessory shop... where we were greeted with not only air conditioning but also MIMOSAS! I don't totally understand why they had a pitcher of the delicious drank but I wasn't going to question. Cheers to Karen and Yolanda for being so generous with your Saturday merriment.

2. coming from the city of festivals (milwaukee!) the Houston Oktoberfest hosted by the Muesuem of Fine Arts pales in comparison to the vast Summerfest grounds of Milwaukee's lakefront... however watch out Milwaukee, this tiny festival located in the outside walkway to the museum has got you beat in terms of free beverages.  All the free beer and wine you can drink from tiny cups that you are willing to wait in line for... Needless to say the afternoon ended in my roommate Emily and I dancing an Australian dance with 5-9 year olds. 

 This is my roommate Emily and I with our tiny glasses of champagne (pre-dancing with the children).

3. Ok so now for a free thing that does NOT involved alcohol... and this one is the goofiest of the three...So on Sunday I went on another sweaty adventure this time to Half Priced Books... where the most colorful of people are often present.. I was searching around the bookshelves (definitely not looking for the last book in the Twilight series) when I came across a man (lets say in his late 50s) who was sitting on the floor looking through a shelf of books.  I chuckled as I overheard him talking to himself as he was trying to find a novel. He responded asking my if I was laughing at him because a grown man was sitting on the ground (well, really I was laughing at him because he was talking to himself). He went on to explain he was trying to determine the book of this favorite mystery author of his he had yet to read.  We talked about mysteries (which I explained I do not usually read) and then I went along my search (certainly not for Breaking Dawn) Maybe ten minutes later, my old friend joins me once again with a proposition... He said he would buy me a book if in exchange I would email him and tell him what I thought. I gladly accepted.


Alas, I am one happy (mimosa, beer and wine drinking, Vince Flynn novel reading) girl.

That's all she wrote.

(until I send my book review).

are we there yet?

Today I find myself riding along with 20 of Cristo Rey Jesuits finest as we transport them by big yellow school bus to their work placements. As I sit for a total of two hours bumping around and weaving through the streets of downtown Houston I am surprised that the 14 and 15 year old students still feel the need to ask the nagging car trip question "Are we there yet."  Inevitably we are not... such is the day in life of me. Please note I would love additional witty responses beyond my current "what do you think" "yes we are" (when we clearly are no where near their destination)...

with that I realize I may have never explained my school slash placement...

I work at Cristo Rey Jesuit of Houston which is part of the whole Cristo Rey Network.  We are the youngest/ most recent school and are only in our second year. Thus we only have freshman and sophomores.

Our students come from various backgrounds which inhibit them to afford private/catholic high school but the Cristo Rey model solves this with a unique approach of integrating class room learning and real life job experience.  Thus the students attend school 4 days a week and work 1 day a week.  Each job or sponsor holds one full time job for our students and each day a new student comes into work.  Thus there is a Monday work crew, Tuesday work crew etc... (the students rotate who works on Friday and thus one week a month the students work two days).

I work in the office that coordinates the job placements/ transporation/ billing etc. Our office is basically its own temp agency for our students who do basic jobs at white collar placements such as filing, coping, faxing and answering the phones etc.

As this was our first week of actual classes and work our office has spent its time fine tuning our transportation (hence me riding to the bus to both supervise and time how long it takes us to get from job to job). 

It really is a pretty exciting (and busy) place. But a lot of cool things happen here and it's awesome to hear about the work lives of our students.

Working in a high school isn't too bad either! It brings me back to my good old days at DSHA. The dicotomy of my days is quite funny to me, I spent part of my day in contact with one of our sponsors in the Energy Sector smoothing out a new student who will be working there (ah the corporate world) and later I gave my first "pep" talk to a student who was frustrated about his soccer practice. Board room to soccer field this place is quite interesting. 

Happiness only real when shared..

This is a phrase I always love and think of and it's funny the way its relevance has changed since I have moved from my two different homes of Boston and Milwaukee to this brand new, blisteringly hot, devoutly southern place known as Houston.

In moving to a new city I find that I obviously know less people. So who am I supposed to "share" in this "happiness" with.  My world at this time is a bit smaller than it used to be.  I live with 5 other people (ah I miss the 12 of Edmonds 2nd floor) and I work in an office in which I spend most my times with 2 other people!

But though my world might be smaller I find that happiness is still only found when shared (even if it's with the same people or strangers/ acquaintances).  I find I participate more fully in conversations and interactions with all people I meet from bus drivers, to principal, to student running late (which today the dean of students told me that I have a great "mean" voice).  At times I miss the depth of my relationships from the people I would see every day (my longest friend here I have known for 28 days) but it's a fun adventure I am embarking upon.  Sharing in happiness with the beautiful people who cross my path in Houston!

  I find  that there is a special beauty in being removed from my closest most important people and jumping into a new place with so much potential for new friends.

Houston... the city the never sleeps... (isn't that what they call it)

Well, this is where I sleep!

We were originally told that our house had 4 bedrooms for the 6 people.  But when we got here there was an extra room to the side of the house that the air conditioning does not reach. Last year the house used it to hang dry their laundry so it was a big muggy/hot but with a few fans and some candle it became my room. It must have been an addition to the house or an old porch that was remodeled so I have tile floor and a brick on one side! And the room gets a ton of natural light which I think is pretty cool.

Here is a view of where all the magic happens... well actually just where the small amount of sleep I do get happens.

Above is my bed with my Boston College T-Shirt Blanket! We had to move the bed in from a different room since this wasn't originally a bedroom.  Thus all my furniture is a bit goofy.

Goofy furniture= I use a filing cabinet and bookshelf to store my clothing! 

In for a penny... in for a pound....

Idiom: In for a penny, in for a pound

---

If something is worth doing then it is a case of in for a penny, in for a pound, which means that when gambling or taking a chance, you might as well go the whole way and take all the risks, not just some.

 

 

Now.... I was just told I embody this expression? Yet, I dont fully understand what it means.... and Im wishing it meant something more along the lines of... "Gee Kate, We'd like to give you some time off"  But for some reason. And while I don't fully understand what it means.... Im guessing my latter hope is not the case. 

Alas, that's all she wrote as I await our "Mass of the Holy Spirit"... I hope I don't fall asleep!