Today's rambling: Light my fire
Written on Friday, Jun. 21, 2002 at 8:58 p.m.
while feeling a bit

Mom opened the mailbox today, and a smallish package in a yellow bubble-lined envelope was waiting for me. I frowned in bewilderment, wondering who it could be from. It was too small to be the two items I'd bought from the online Sanrio store (*grins guiltily at Laura*), so I knew it couldn't be that. There was a green customs sticker in the upper lefthand corner, so then I thought maybe it was from Jam. But the sticker said "Old Book", so I knew it couldn't be from her, either.

Then it hit me.

That book by Rosamond du Jardin that I'd ordered a week or so ago!!! Eagerly, I ripped the envelope open, then brandished the book in front of Mom (who was the one that had gotten me reading these books in the first place). It's called One of the Crowd, which is a sequel to Wedding in the Family. I'm over halfway through it now, and while it doesn't really compare with the first book, it's nice to FINALLY find out what happens to the main character!

Rosamond du Jardin's books are so neat. They all take place in the 50's and 60's, so the girls get to wear neat dresses and skirts and things, tie their hair back with colorful scarves, and dates are as simple as going down to the drugstore for a soda. Totally different from nowadays, but that's what I love about them! Sometimes, I wish I could live in the past rather than the present. Things are so unromantic nowadays.

The orientation office at Clarion called me today, and left a message saying that I needed to register for an orientation session. "It's very important that you do so soon," the woman told me, to which I tetchily replied (into dead air), "I would have, if I'd gotten the letter sooner!"

They closed at 4:30, and it was 5:30 by the time I was able to call back, but I left a message and said that the only session I was available for was the 27-28 one. I said that I'd sent the letter out on Wednesday, blah blah blah...but I always make such an idiot out of myself when I'm talking to answering machines! At the end, I was like, "Uh, I guess that's everything! Thanks for calling!" and I was stuttering a couple of times throughout the message. I just don't get along well with phones.

Geoff came in today (on his day off) to attend that meeting I think I spoke of in my last entry. He was wearing those ubiquitous khaki pants (which are a part of our uniform), and a brown, long-sleeved, Oxford-style sort of shirt. Verrrrrrry nice. *ducks head in embarrassment* I realize I sound silly talking about his clothes, but this is probably only the third or fourth time I've seen him wearing regular clothing!

As luck would have it, I was taking my break when he first came in, and then I was just about to end my lunch break when their meeting let out. As Geoff walked out, he blinked in surprise at me, and I giggled, already guessing what he was thinking. It looked like I'd been sitting there the entire time he'd been in that meeting. At any rate, he walked over and stood there talking to me for a minute, and I finally got up the courage to say, "You look very nice today!" (with as much sincerity as I could put into it without sounding silly.)

Kay happened to be nearby (though I didn't think she'd been listening in), and she cooed, "Aww!" (she's an older woman, by the way, sort of grandmotherly but also a little nosy at times.)

Positive I was probably turning red, I gave a defensive, "What? He does!"

Kay looked at Geoff and said, "Well, aren't you going to say 'thank you'?" (I wished she'd just shut up.) Geoff replied that he had...which Kay and I both would have known if she hadn't opened her big mouth! Bah. Oh well, she does, generally, mean well.

She left a moment later, and without any prompting whatsoever, Geoff said, "The cake you made was really good." Of course, I beamed. ;) I wasn't even sure he'd remember to get it, but apparently he grabbed it just before he left..and then ate it with his fingers on the way home. :oP I have to chuckle at that thought, because this cake is so soft and moist that you can't really eat it without some sort of utensil...and not make a mess, that is. Hehe...

Anyway, now that I've bored everyone...

It's odd how, even being to a place once, you feel some sort of connection to it. On Good Morning America today, they mentioned a forest fire that's raging through Arizona. They mentioned Show Low, and I leapt away from the bathroom sink, still in the process of brushing my teeth. A few video clips were being played, and I exclaimed (to no one), "Oh my gosh! I've been there!"

Not that my feelings are anywhere close to what the people actually living in Show Low are experiencing. I just hope all these fires stop soon!

Alright, I didn't get on here 'til fairly late--I'd been PLANNING to go to bed at 8, and it's already past 9:30!--and I'm beat! So I'm going to go to bed. I hope tomorrow turns out better than today did! :oP