Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Wednesday Five

It's early, but I'm already feeling jumbled today, which means that obviously it's about time for a list. Lists are the best way to sort through jumbles, are they not? So, how about a Wednesday Five for a brief change of pace?
  • I know that my post yesterday made it sound like my year abroad in France was wretched, at least from a social perspective. And while it's true that I struggled a lot with making friends while I was there, I ended up extremely close with my host family. It's been six years since I lived there and I'm still in touch with them regularly. My host brother was just here to visit in October and the whole family is planning to come over for the wedding. They helped make my experience great. Although they were also crazy and I had some adjustment issues when I first lived with them, as well. But that's a story for a whole separate post.
  • Torsten and I watched the season debut of American Idol last night. Well, I should say that I watched it and Torsten watched part of it, until he couldn't take it anymore. I don't like the mean ones. I don't like watching the bad singers. I know they get great ratings on those shows but I don't understand why. I like to see the good singers and try to guess which ones of them are going to get far. And just a couple of righteous, country girls with good voices does not fill that void for me. At all.
  • We have found a florist for our wedding. I met with her on Monday and she was so great and her prices so reasonable that I'm going to cancel the meeting I had set up with a second florist. I know it couldn't hurt to look, but that meeting with the first florist? It was exhausting. She literally walked me through every step of the ceremony and reception, and made an extensive list of acceptable flowers. She nailed down details that I hadn't even thought of. And we have a really cool and affordable concept for the centerpieces, and she is going to make me an amazing purple bouquet. The best part is that she totally got my love of purple, and my insistence on the need for it to be pure and not at all pink or blue. She said that she has never met somebody with such a narrow definition of purple before, but I think she's up for the task. And I couldn't believe how low her price was. Including delivery!
  • Yesterday was a day of much praise for me at work, from a variety of different sources. The best, for me at least, was that the client was extremely pleased with the first draft of the website that I wrote for them, which was the huge project that was killing me back in December. They're talking about trying to submit it for some web awards once the site goes live. So that is a huge relief and some serious validation.
  • It's Wednesday, and I have Friday off this week. So that means my week is halfway over! And I am extremely happy about that.

42 comments:

  1. That's excellent news about the florist - it amazes me how expensive flowers are. I mean, they grow in the ground, for crying out loud! They should be free!

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  2. Yay for a good florist. I decided to forgo that route and made my own arrangements with silk flowers. It was so easy and beautiful and much cheaper!

    And jealous that you have Friday off, but I have Monday off! Yay!

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  3. Congrats on getting so much praise and recognition at work! I hope it made you feel like all the hard work you put in last month was worth it.

    That's also very exciting about the florist.

    I wish I had something more interesting to say but I'm really, really tired.

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  4. Nice work on the website. Validation makes work all the nicer to perform.

    Also, I think the less work you can do for the wedding is best, so by all means, do not feel bad cancelling the other appointment. Sometimes you just know.

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  5. oooh I loved the flower thing. i love my florist and im so excited to see what he comes up with *and nervous* Congrats on work praise, i love that! american idol = annoying right now.

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  6. I think the bad singers on American Idol get good ratings cuz people enjoy the poor performance. It makes them feel good to see somebody not doing so well, so they can look down on someone.

    Congratulations for the praise in work. Well done and also congrats on possibly finding "your" florist.

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  7. hooray for flowers. i love flowers, though i have never received them from a boy, which i consider tragic.

    narrowest definition of purple - hilarious. what are your favorite purple flowers? like stephanie i am ridiculously tired and making little sense as a result. apologies.

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  8. Sounds like things are great. Yay for finding a florist, and double yay for Fridays off!!!

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  9. I agree with you about the american idol auditions. I was really psyched about watching them, and last year the mean comments didn't bother me as mcuh, buti just felt really bad for people last night. thank god i had it on dvr, so i could just fast forward through them...

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  10. That sounds like a great claim to fame: I have the narrowest definition of purple of anyone you've ever met. Maybe a tag line?

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  11. I like Idol but I hate the audition shows. They make me so sad, especially the ones where the contestant has some hard luck story and then they let them through KNOWING they're not going to make it. ARGG. I'd just as soon tune in when they've picked the final 12. Of course, I watched anyway. SIGH.

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  12. Congratulations on finding a great florist and about the website!! Must feel great :)

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  13. Yay for the short weeks! And 3 day weekends!

    Oh, I happened to be flipping through last night and I stopped at American Idol. Some of those people are SO awful. I saw that woman who was dressed kind of 60s era and she did NOT taking losing well. They definitely get ratings from the freakshows; I kind of feel bad for them.

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  14. Congrats on finding a good, cheap florist! Yay
    As for France- I think most exchange students struggle with the social aspect. I guess its a part of being thrown into a totally different culture.
    Oh and YaY! on getting validation at work and a day off. Great combination.

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  15. Hi, can I have Friday off with you? That would be great.

    And that's awesome you found a florist!

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  16. I agree with you about Idol. I hate it when they let in the crazies. Just let the good singers through so we can get psyched for the real competition. Congratulations on your success at work!

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  17. I want Friday off!

    Enjoy your day off and whoo hoo about the work praise. Always nice.

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  18. That's AWESOME about the florist. I totally have to get on that. I keep putting it off.

    And yay to your week being half over!

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  19. I love that the florist commented on your definition of purple. I second the question about your favorite purple flower?

    I wish I had Friday off. One less day working in the psych hospital would be appreciated.

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  20. Violet and TTCMB--I don't exactly have a favorite purple flower as the color matters to me much more than the flower. But I do love Vanda orchids and also purple irises (specifically the truly purple ones as opposed to the deep blue ones that a lot of people call purple--which is an example of my narrow definition).

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  21. Hooray for days off! Our florist kicked ass too, but he was the family of my best friend.

    I am so with you on Idol, too.

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  22. Hurray for the website! And the having friday off... I love long weekends/short work-weeks!

    xox

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  23. You lucky thing - I wish I had Friday off! I'm exhausted.

    The wedding flower deal is fantastic, I've heard flowers can be crazy expensive, so good for you.

    My cousin's wedding flowers were a HUGE deal, because she was so specific with her shade of purple - and wouldn't you know, it wasn't exactly what she had ordered that arrived on the day. All hell broke loose!

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  24. Wait until it is time to do the menu for the food, and the cake. The tastings are fun, but oh the little things you will get caught up in. And if you like the first person you meet- stick with it. All those meetings get so exhausting.

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  25. Good to hear someone who agrees about American Idol, thats the subject of todays blog I think....I havent written it yet, but I was seriously upset watching the show last night.

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  26. Congrats on the website - that is fantastic!

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  27. I'm just skipping the rest of American Idol, until they get to Hollywood. It makes me sad when they exploit people who clearly need some mental help.

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  28. I watched American Idol too, and I couldn't agree more with you. Although honestly I watch the first few episodes just for the laughs, like the chest hair guy, the star wars girl...man people are hilarious.

    Good news about finding a florist you like. Cheap flowers are hard to find unless you go out picking them in the wild, which clearly is not a great idea.

    and a loud woo hoo on the work front. you go girl...

    Friday off *I'm jealous*

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  29. I went with my best friend when I was her maid of honor to her florist appointment and you're right, it was exhausting.

    Also, I usually really dislike watching the AI auditions. The judges are just cruel. Laughing at contestants and insulting them... it's really just rude. And what is the point of going to their hometowns? Who cares, really? We can invest in them later if they're worth investing in.

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  30. Congratulations on your website! It always feels so great to get that kind of validation at work. Also, awesome news about an affordable florist. You should hold on tight and don't let go of that one - florists are usually the biggest price gougers.

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  31. i can't get over how jealous i am that you have friday off. therefore i can't think of anything else to comment on ;) lol

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  32. GREAT news about the florist--check check another item off the list!!

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  33. Watching American Idol makes me cringe. I just can't figure out how some of those people think they can even remotely sing. It makes my ears bleed.

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  34. Three things, in no particular order:

    1) Lists are definitely the best way to sort through jumbles.

    2) I say a "narrow" definition of purple sounds like an ACCURATE definition of purple. Care to guess what my favorite color is?

    3) I turned on American Idol last night for the first time in years. I couldn't make it through the whole thing. I just found most of it to be too cruel.

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  35. I have Friday off too. Since it is already Thursday here I've only 1 day to go before the weekend. Then I have Monday off as well! :)

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  36. I'm glad to hear that cheap florists still exist, because I am a die-hard traditionalist and plan to have oodles and oodles of gorgeous flowers at my wedding, no matter the cost. (Not that I'm engaged, or dating, or even having casual sex or anything. Ahem).

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  37. We're meeting with a florist on Friday. Thanks for giving me some ideas about what to discuss!

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  38. Congrats on the kudos at work! That's awesome.. and on finding a florist.

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  39. Yay! Wedding!
    (I'm a little late on this one, since I've just discovered you and all...)
    And yay for deserved praise!
    (so this is pretty much the comment with the least depth ever, I admit...)

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  40. That's great news about your web project....but even better news about your flowers! With planning the perfect wedding as stressful as it is, it's so wonderful when things like that happen, so hooray for you!
    I didn't have all purple flowers, but I did have some purple tulips in my bouquet....my favourite flowers ever!
    Your wedding may be a little ways off, but I can't wait to see pictures!

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