Saturday, June 30, 2007 

The other day (that rainy day we had - Wednesday?) Waterside left a note on everyone's door in my section of the complex notifying us that they were going to be tearing up the parking lot Friday (in order to resurface it, even though they just did it last summer) so everyone who wanted to be able to get in and out of the parking lot had to move their cars Thursday night. I read it, then showed it to Dan, who crumpled it up and threw it somewhere (evidently he had plans for the weekend anyway, as I haven't seen him since Thursday).

Fast forward to Friday morning at 715am. Do you think I remembered to move my car out of the way? No. I wake up to the sound of trucks, tractors, etc. and once I realize what's going on, I jump out of bed and look out the windows toward the ruckus, trying to assess the situation while mumbling various obscenities (actually, mostly just the word "fuck") because I had to be to work at 830am. Lucky for me by then they'd only torn up one side of the narrowest part of the driveway, and they let me drive through the other side.

They were still at it when I got home from work that night (Friday night); wouldn't you know they'd pick the weekend that I'm trying to move out to tear up the parking lot and keep me from parking in front of the apartment. So I'm a little behind schedule on the whole moving thing and it's making me a little anxious, especially now that it's Saturday afternoon and they've still got the lot blocked off.

But in other news, Jake and I are officially... uh... official now (why are all the terms for "in a relationship" so retarded-sounding?), and despite all the stress from moving, I'm happier than I've been in a long time.

Posted by Rachel at 12:20 PM |

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 

Update: WE GOT OUR APARTMENT!!

Apparently after I talked to the lady, they started calling my references and they "spoke very highly" of me, so she called me back a couple hours later and said that they were going to give us a chance. I'm going to drop off the deposit tomorrow. I'm very excited now.

Everything is going so well!

Posted by Rachel at 1:38 AM |

Monday, June 25, 2007 

under pressure!

The wait continues on the apartment; I didn't hear from the lady all weekend so I called this morning, and she said that they haven't called references yet and she's going to start doing that Thursday, so she'll let me know one way or the other by this weekend. It makes me fairly anxious; I really don't want another confrontation with Dan come July 1st over the rent. I've packed a few more boxes and am strongly considering calling my dad and seeing if he'd come get my stuff and let me stay out there for a little while. I'm sure he'd be thrilled about having such short notice (Sunday will be July 1st already), if he hasn't already got plans for the weekend. I was really hoping the apartment lady would have made a decision by now (in our favor, of course) so that we could start moving this week.

Meanwhile I have found a couple more prospects (one for the same price but a little closer by, which is definitely worth looking into) and so now I'm just waiting to hear from Liz so we can make plans to go look.

In other news the weekend was once again excellent. Friday night my mom had a birthday party for my little sister (I still need to get her a present...) and I ended up staying the night out there. Haha, I helped my mom redo her homework for her statistics class to get more points on it (mind you, I've never taken a statistics class in my life) and the problem I helped her with ended up being right. Admittedly I'm fairly impressed with myself, as that crap is complicated.

But anyway, I left Owosso around 7am to come back to Saginaw so that Jake and I could leave for Ohio. Which was also a blast. Turns out Cleveland is a bit more of a business city than a tourist/recreation city (aside from the museums and stadiums) but we found stuff to do anyway, like we usually do. We had dinner at the House of Blues (which I was particularly excited about, since both times I've tried to go to the one in Chicago, it was closed for shows or something) then walked to a pub next door where I proceeded to get fairly smashed off of a whole three whiskey sours (in my defense, they were much more whiskey than sour) which (in part with other occurances) made the long walk back to the hotel much more interesting.

Sunday morning we got up early and drove back to Sandusky to go to Cedar Point, where we spent pretty much all day riding roller coasters, since we've been wanting to for awhile. We got all the big ones (and a few mediocre ones) - the Raptor (four times, actually; we finished the night with three rides in a row), the Mantis, the Magnum, the Millennium Force, the Corkscrew, Top Thrill Dragster (which I was a little reluctant about, but it turned out to be worth the wait), the Gemini, the Mean Streak, Disaster Transport, the Iron Dragon, and of course the new one, The Maverick, which as Jake pointed out isn't the new tallest or fastest coaster, but was still pretty awesome nonetheless. I'd rank it in my top 3 favorites easily. If the line hadn't been so long, we would've rode it again.

We left the park around 1030, and despite a couple unintentional detours (and one which was intentional - dinner at Taco Bell) we made it back into Saginaw by 230am, exhausted and a little sunburnt. Despite that I was still awake at 930am, and now here I am.

Posted by Rachel at 2:21 PM |

Wednesday, June 20, 2007 

Liz and I just got back from looking at that apartment on State Street, and it's pretty much perfect...we were both really excited. The woman took down our names and some references and she said they've got a couple other people coming to look at it, but that she'll call us by this weekend. So here's praying that she liked us as much as we liked the apartment... It's a first-level two bedroom, it has a utility room (washer and dryer, woo!) and a shared back yard with fruit trees and a garden and a porch swing.

And Dan has a new girlfriend apparently, as probably most people who'd read this already know. I'm a little baffled, as last I knew he wasn't a fan of this particular girl, to say the least, but if it makes him happy...

Cleveland/Cedar Point is in fact a go this weekend; the hotel was reserved as of this morning. We've still got room for two more if anyone's interested.

I'm actually pretty excited about how things are looking right now. In pretty much every aspect of my life. There are just a few loose ends to tie up...

Posted by Rachel at 4:02 PM |

Sunday, June 17, 2007 

Life is continuing to progress. I found an apartment in the paper which sounds pretty much perfect; it's just off of State Street, a 2 br for $400 a month, and you don't have to sign a lease. I've just got to get in touch with Liz D. and see if she's still interested in being my roomie. It's kind of a last-minute goal, but I'm really hoping to be out of here by July, even if it means moving back home... things are starting to get a little rockier with Dan, mostly because I think he's found a potential girl to date and he can't bring her here (I guess it is a little awkward, explaining to a potential love interest that you still live with your ex... though people don't seem to care as much as I think I would).

He came home the other night and told me to "plan on splitting all the bills down the middle for July," even though he knows full well I can't afford half the rent for this place - he knew that when we moved in. So I got pretty upset, and we argued some, and I told him I'd do my best to be out of here before then. He apologized and said he didn't want me to be mad at him. I'm not mad though, because what he said was justified, even if I didn't think it was fair. He said he didn't think I was making moving out as much of a priority as I should since I go out and "party" a lot (at least as far as he can tell), even though last time we talked he told me to stay as long as I needed to... I told him, they only list so many new ads online and in the paper in a week. He ended up telling me again that he wasn't going to kick me out, because he couldn't morally (I don't think he can legally either, seeing as I'm a leaseholder too) but I'm still going to try. He'll just end up having to pay everything (I take care of electricity and cable plus my $175 in rent every month) then buy furniture, a microwave, pots and pans, etc. besides. And I'm going to have to figure out how to get all MY stuff out of here.

I've been single for a month now. I think this is the longest I've been single since my junior year in high school. There is a boy that I really like, but he frustrates me, so I don't know what's going to happen there.

Last weekend Jake and I drove up to Mt Pleasant and hung out with Jeff and Anna for a couple days. That was a lot of fun. Then Jeff came back down with us Monday night and joined us for Jedi Mind Trip at the Pub, which was once again a blast. My trip to Canada next weekend has once again been canceled; I'm debating what to do instead now. So far I've contemplated 1)going to Canada anyway, 2) driving to someplace like Cleveland for the weekend, or 3)making another Mt Pleasant trip. So far option 2 is the most appealing, though I don't really know if I have the nerve to attempt it on my own. I could go to Mt P on my own. Oh yeah, Alex's b-day is next weekend. I guess that too is another option, though I think it'd be awkward for me since I know Dan is going...

Anyone up for a trip to Cleveland next weekend?

Posted by Rachel at 3:43 PM |

Thursday, June 07, 2007 

As much as I like Firefox better than IE, it still messes up the layout of this here site a little bit (FYI - it's a little prettier in IE 7 or whatever version is out now). Firefox is still better though.

My summer is still continuing in the same general direction, whatever direction that may be. I've been hanging out with new friends a lot more than old ones; whether this is a testimony to how much I've changed or just evidence of how bad my old friends and I are at keeping in touch with one another, I don't know. Jeff has taken it upon himself to plot a trip for Los Angelos right after New Year's and you know, it's nice not to be the one in charge of planning and booking everything for once. I've never been to L.A., so I'm all for taking a trip there.

To kind of pick up where I left off last time, I did end up going with Dan H. to see Pirates 3 last Saturday night; he even bought my ticket for me. I have to admit it wasn't as good as I or II, but I would watch it again.

And I did end up meeting the boy who greeted me outside the Red Eye the day I found Dippy and John; turns out he has apparently been going there on a fairly regular basis for the last couple years. I don't recall ever seeing him before, but I've only been a "regular" myself for the past couple weeks. Anyway, we've hung out a couple times, just as friends in my mind but I'm starting to suspect that he may be interested in more. I don't think I am though. Plus I rather enjoy being single, at least for the time being...

Yesterday evening I went out to this festival in old town called Jazz on Jefferson; apparently it's an annual thing but this was the first I'd ever heard of it. My friends Scott and Dan (yet another Dan - Scott's roommate) did some improv on saxophone and drums for a few hours, so I went and listened. I also ran into Gavin (whom I see every now and then in old town) and we wandered up and down the rest of the street to see what else was going on, around which time Jake showed up too. There were a couple other good ensembles going on, though only one that I'd really call "jazz." There was also a group of harmonica players and a band doing covers of somewhat-but-not-quite blues songs.

Speaking of cover bands, Jake and I happened to go into the Hamilton St. Pub Tuesday night (my first time being there, which is largely why we went) and discovered Jedi Mind Trip, who put on a pretty good show in my opinion. I had a little too much to drink and sang along little too loudly (read: at the top of my lungs) but it was well worth the $3 cover and the scratchy throat I had the next day.

Posted by Rachel at 4:26 PM |