junior chief intern meteorologist

i love the weather. i gave myself the name of jcim (see above). weather.com is one of my favorite websites. i text message google for the weather. and i usually know what's happening.

friday afternoon i we heard the sirens go off. we were about fifteen minutes away from the end of the day. the news stations made it sound like it was just strong winds, but there was no tornado. daphne leaves and i follow her. if she can make it, surely i can. as i'm driving the wind picks up and it begins to hail like i've never seen it before. all i can do is pull over near a grocery store and put my blinkers on. i call the office and tell them to stay put, it was a ridiculous idea for us to drive home int his storm! so, the storm sounds like it's resting a bit...so i try to drive back to the office to park under the bridge.

i'm going down leaveworth and see water POURING from the tops of buildings and in gutters. this isn't looking good. a car passes me and makes it to a parking lot and my car stops.

stops in the middle of leavenworth river. i crack my door open to see if i can get out, no, water begins to come in the car. i sit in the passenger seat, flip through the owners manual and debate what to do. i see people at the bemis watching me. i frantically dial phone numbers. no hope. all the lines are busy. i even tried calling 911. no luck.

i roll down my window, hike up my cute old navy short dress to show off my cute leggings and crawl out of the window and put my legs in cold, dirty, hail filled water. (we saw a mattress, port-a-pottie and bowling pin go down this water/river)

i wade in mid-thigh deep water and climb to the bemis. they give me a little blanket and i just look at my car. i realize i didn't slam my door well enough. i wade back out, slam the door and shake my head. after several phone calls, i get in touch with friends and they make it to where i'm standing. mandy takes pictures...with a lot of other people. pictures will soon come.

so. yeah. my car was totally a boat. a sweet police officer pushed my car to a parking lot. and two sweet men shop-vacced it for me. my friends went to town trying to pick up tree limbs and clean my car.

we leave the car. marcia and brittany take me to bakers. i kind of check out. i get icecream and pizza bites. really. icecream and pizza bites. i just wanted sushi but they didnt have any veggie. :(.

so. i went by a house i was watching, a tree is basically resting on their roof. they will need a new roof.

there were bright spots in my day. i met a lot of my apartment neighbors. they were outside drinking beer, cleaning up and eating food. they are sweet friends. i even got someone to drive me to marcia and brittany's.

they were my roommates last night. and today. i'm totally a lemming. and marcia is letting me borrow her car. i'm not sure what i would do without them. i owe them something.

so. my car is at the dealership. it got towed. water POURED out of the exhaust. and now i'm back home to power.

note to self. just stay put at work or wherever you are. don't think you can outrun a storm.

sweet things that are magic this week

mandy: her laughter, editing and wordsmithing skills and smiles. we were sitting by the con agra lake and i just watched her for awhile. not a long time. just a moment. just enough to brighten my day.

daphne: her greaaaaaaat laughter and insight and amazingly clear skin. yesterday during staff meeting, i was paying attention, i couldn't help but just stare at her skin. it's so beautiful.

marcia: her depth of knowledge and wisdom in the midst of a smiley laughterful woman. sometimes you'll hear someone humming. and it's her. i like it. today at lunch she was humming and i was happy.

hilary: her bright attitude and presence. and cooking skills. she and her cooking spoke right to my heart and stomach.

kenley: his perspective on life and intuitive way to make me laugh. a lot. this week i fell asleep a couple of times laughing after a conversation we had. that's the best way to fall asleep.

there are lots of people who feed my soul in ways i didn't know i needed it. i'm sure i'll write more.

im-ing

i like to IM.
and i like to IM people who i can hear typing messages to me, sighing about something else, laughing because i'm so funny or breathing. yes, we sit kind of close. well not that close.

it's funny. imagine if every time i wanted to IM something to someone i actually got up and said it. i would waste a lot of time and look really awkward.

so uh mandy, uh, do you think that we should eat lunch now?

or

marcia do you have soand so's number?

or

daphne, want a ride home?

i would lose friends and productivity. quickly.

ha. happy friday people.

running errands

today i miss the days of college when you could walk out of your dorm room and find someone, anyone to run an errand with.

i loved the spontaneity of college. maybe it was the interruptibility or maybe some of the irresponsibility. ofcourse i'd pick a walmart run over studying in the library.

i would get in trouble for encouraging others to skip a class or a whole day of class...because i was an r.a. i would just say 'it's all about the fellowship' as i'd convince a friend to skip class with me to go to sonic. those were the days. sweet sonic runs in the afternoon and a drive (with cheap gas) through the rolling hills of kentucky.


i feel like my spontaneity is being sucked dry these days. i'm always planning something to do something with someone. because really, if i don't, i'm not on a person's schedule or radar. at work we take this strength finders test...it's one of those feel good about what your strengths are tests. it's a nice pat on the back test. so, one of my strengths is individuality. i enjoy celebrating and affirming the uniqueness of each of my friends. sometimes, yes, it gets kind of tiring. i will usually know who likes what for their birthday. or who likes a certain event. or who likes or doesn't like food. i have a mental rolodex of what makes my friends tick and what makes them feel adored.

ask me about someone you know and i'll tell you the following: what their favorite music is, what the perfect gift would be for them in this moment, if they enjoy letters/verbal affirmations/quality time, if they are an introvert/extrovert, what makes them the saddest or the happiest. i thought everyone was like that. in case you are not. here are some interesting things about me.

- i will always love receiving letters in the mail
- i don't like to plan things or pull out my calendar
- i crave random phone calls to do things
- i'm an extroverted introvert - which means i'll be sad when i'm spending time that i need to by myself
- i love love quality time
- i love homecooked meals and hospitality - given and taken
- and i will sometimes keep a running tally of things. this is a bad, bad habit. but i know who i need to invite over for dinner or coffee. or who drove last. or who invited who out last. it's all about equality and justice people. ;)

anyway. i'm looking forward to having my parents in town next week and then visiting k in new york. that will be fun.

oh. and i like homemade chocolate chip cookies.

9:38 am + 5218 capitol ave

i was kind of confused this morning. actually really confused.

so at 9:38 i thought, wow, i'm so hungry. why? i just ate breakfast.

i couldn't ignore it so i ate carrots. at 9:38.

then i hear someone ask, when are we meeting? i looked at my clock and thought, hmm, weird. it's only 9:38.

i asked, isn't our meeting at 10:30?

answer. yes.

then. i asked, what time is it?

answer, uh 10:40.

uh. time warp? i look at my mac clock and see the little rainbow pinwheel hovering over the clock.

restart.
normal time.
__________________

wow. there's a house for rent for $725 in dundee...four bedrooms, fireplace!!!! okay. where is it.
5218 capitol.

that's so close to my apartment. let's google map it. hmm. no such address.

is this an alternate universe?

so. i receive an email response about this house after work. so it does exist. marcia walks over and we are determined to find the house.

nope. we ask some neighbors and they look at us like we've walked out of our alternate universe. i mean, ofcourse there's no 5218 capitol.

we never found it. i'm still waiting on an email with some directions.

twilight zone day. and now i'm watching the outsiders on the amish community.
wow.

why yes, i do love the earth

quick note on our earth.

i've seen how we've made some slight changes to our habits. some of us don't use plastic bags. some of us carry cute little canvas bags. we've changed our light bulbs to be those good ones.
those are great steps. and i love my i am not a plastic bag bag.

but here's something i need to try: watch my consumption of water.

from my recent women's health magazine:
if you take a 15 minute shower you use about 60 gallons of water....which is a daily drink for 95 people. you can install a low-flow showerhead to go from about four gallons a minute to just over two.


more info later.

what are processed foods?

i kind of freaked out today because i couldn't figure out what was considered a processed food.

i looked it up. i found this on about.com.

Processed foods have been altered from their natural state for safety reasons and for convenience. The methods used for processing foods include canning, freezing, refrigeration, dehydration and aseptic processing.

We tend to think of processed foods as bad, but it turns out that many processed foods are not unhealthy. For example, milk would be considered a processed food because it is pasteurized to kill bacteria and homogenized to keep fats from separating. While some people prefer to drink raw milk, most of us should consume the "processed" version we find in our grocery stores.

Another healthy example of food processing is frozen vegetables. While fresh may be best, freezing vegetables preserves vitamins and minerals and makes them convenient to cook and eat all year around. Fruit and vegetable juice is also an example of a healthy processed food. In fact, some orange juice is fortified with calcium to make it even more nutritious.

Of course, there are a lot of processed foods that aren't good for you. Many processed foods are made with trans fats, saturated fats, and large amounts of sodium and sugar. These types of foods should be avoided, or at least eaten sparingly.

Processed foods that may not be as healthy as fresh foods include:

• canned foods with lots of sodium
• white breads and pastas made with refined white flour, which are not as healthy as those made with whole grains
• packaged high-calorie snack foods, like chips and cheese snacks
• high-fat convenience foods, like cans of ravioli
• frozen fish sticks and frozen dinners
• packaged cakes and cookies
• boxed meal mixes
• sugary breakfast cereals
• processed meats

Processed meats might be some of the worst of these foods. Eating these meats may increase your risk of colorectal, kidney and stomach cancer. Processed meats include hot dogs, bologna, sausage, ham and other packaged lunch meats.

These processed foods and prepackaged meals are very convenient and popular. If you do shop for these foods, be sure to look for products that are made with whole grains, low in sodium and calories, and free of trans fats. Make sure you pay attention to serving size, too, and balance out the processed foods you eat with a delicious fresh salad and some whole grain bread.

so. i think i know what is a processed food. a little. and im realizing that it's going to be a little bit harder to cut it out. i'd like to do it in stages. i have food in my kitchen that is processed and i'll get through that, but after that, i want to make an effort to try and eat food that is closest to its natural stage and obviously avoid food that is processed.

so my first step will be eating less of:
- 100 calorie packs. dangit, they are just so good but offer no nutritional value and are incredibly processed. whom whomp.
- alcohol. i had a spell of drinking a little more than usual. i'll def. still enjoy my occasional white/red wine
- prepackaged frozen meals. i love me some convenient weight watchers meals. lots of added salt blah blah blah. i have prepared meals and frozen them before, i'd like to start doing that some more.
- sugar sugar sugar. sugar is the devil apparently. well. not it's not. but, i thikn i have to stop eating so much icecream and candy candy candy. it's so good though. no it's not. yes it is. no it's not. it is good. but maybe not good for me.

we'll leave it at that. lots of food is good to eat. but it's not necessarily good for our bodies, the earth and others around the world. so. i'll try and stick with that one today - putting good things in my body. holla.