An Early Birthday Party

My roommate is from Sterling, Kansas (which is about a two-hour drive from my hometown), and she will be flying there tomorrow to spend a week with her family, so she will miss my birthday.

This evening when I came home, I had birthday greetings posted on our doors from the previous and current presidents of the United States, a birthday banner (with some Christmas tinsel) over our dining room table, fresh flowers and an American flag in the vase, birthday rubber ducks, a card, cupcakes and food on the table, and a birthday greeting on our chalkboard wall (which reads "Happy Birthday Matthew and America!"). It really made my night. For supper it was cheese doodles and fruit salad, washed down with hard cider. The salad had pears chopped up in it. I rarely eat pears, but when I do, I always remember my late Great-Grandmother P, who had a pear tree in her yard.


While we ate, we watched the first four episodes of "Greensburg: A Story of Community Rebuilding". This is a series about Greensburg, Kansas trying to become a "green" city as it rebuilds from a tornado that almost completely destroyed the town in May of 2007. It was nice to see scenes from a familiar part of the country with a fellow Kansan (even if she did go to that other Kansas university).


For dessert we split three different types of vegan cupcakes. Sterling said they're supposed to be the best vegan cupcakes in town.


I had a good early birthday party. Thanks, Sterling!

I Need a Job

I am looking for a job and I am about to go stir-crazy from staring at employment-related documents and websites for days. My brain feels lazy and doesn't want to concentrate for very long, even though I have given myself plenty of breaks. I will be so glad for the search to be over.

I have applied for support positions at two local universities (which shall remain nameless, pending successful employment), and I think they would be great employers. Hopefully they will respond positively in the next day or two. I've also registered with two temp agencies in the City. It's not the best time for temp work, but we'll see what happens.

Tuesday morning I found myself talking to a few men who were representing one of the jobs I applied for at a university. While they were standing and talking around me, a sturdy and stern-looking woman in a woman's business suit came riding up to us on a horse. As she approached, the men cowered a little and backed up. She was holding a collection of papers, and as she briefly and nonchalantly glanced through them, she said to me, "I see you applied for these positions. I am the Dean of Academic Excellence at [Such-and-Such University] and I want you to accept my position." After that announcement, she promptly turned her proud steed around and rode away, leaving me with a great sense of excitement at the offer, and apprehension as well, wondering if I would have what it takes to assist a woman of such caliber.

Then I woke up.

I think I may be losing my mind. Man was not made for unemployment.

I am, however, still waiting with anticipation for a horse and rider to show up at my door. I don't know how she will get the horse up to the third floor. I guess she'll just have to ring the buzzer and wait for me to come down.

I'm gonna take a break now and go to the beach for a little while. Maybe the fresh air will do me some good.

Biking Again

I finally took my bike out for a ride after months of watching it sit idly in my apartment. I've been building up to this for a few weeks now and finally decided it was time. Two weeks ago I went on two short runs and afterwards my left heel was in quite a bit of pain. My heel is better now, but I know that biking doesn't hurt my heel, so it seems like that's a good alternative for exercise.

Last night I came home exhausted from the day and sat down in the living room where my roommate was watching TV. Without much warning I fell asleep on the couch. My roommate put a blanket on me and left me alone, and a thunderstorm woke me up a little before 5:00 a.m. Since I was up I decided to check a few things online (I am currently job-hunting) and by 5:45 the rain had stopped and it looked like it would stay dry for awhile. That was when I decided to grab the bike and head out.

Fortunately, Prospect Park is a short bike ride from my apartment and there are beautiful paths that pass through trees and around a large meadow and lake, so I decided to try that and I loved it. It was beautiful and quiet, and traffic was light so early in the morning. I hope this will be the re-start of habitual biking for me.