Rainbow Chills

Indiana Avenue

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 129 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

When I saw this little box on Sandy's blog I had to click through to find out how many people in the US have my name. I believe there are at least three of us in Philadelphia.

For the past several months, I have been getting phone calls from collection agencies looking for someone with my name.  The conversations are always the same and I am so tired of saying the same things.

Angry Collection Dude: Is this Rainbow Chills?

Me: Yes, that is my name.

ACD: I'm calling about a debt.

Me: I think you're looking for someone else. I think you are looking for a Rainbow Chills who lives on Indiana Avenue.

ACD: This is Rainbow Chills in Philadelphia?

Me: Yes, but I don't live on Indiana Avenue.

ACD: But your ssn ends with: ****

Me: No it doesn't. You are looking for a different Rainbow Chills.

There have been times when I have come home to phone messages from men who are practically screaming into my machine about how I MUST CALL THEM BACK. VERY IMPORTANT. NEED TO SPEAK TO ME TODAY! And then I call them and they start to get nasty and ask me how I plan to pay off the eleventy three kajillion dollars that I owe on my CitiBank card. And I tell each one THAT I DON"T HAVE A CITIBANK CARD. And by the way, I have excellent credit!

Every time the calls stop, I forget about them and get lulled into a false sense of financial security. And then a few weeks later, a new collection company will call and the process begins anew. Good grief!

A few weeks ago, I was paying for pizza delivery with my debit card and when I told the girl who was taking my order what my name was, she said, "I have a niece named Rainbow Chills." It took everything in me not to ask, "Does your niece live on Indiana Avenue?"

If I made the time time blog...

I would blog about these things:

• the joint birthday party for my nieces Abby and Evie was wonderful. Abby turned 2 and Evie is a few weeks away from being 3. They are both adorable and total princesses.
• the mystery shawl with finished pictures. I was very tempted to wear it today with my black short sleeved top, gray pants, black heels. It's too damned hot here.
• the Barry Manilow concert on Saturday night. It was a hoot, I tell ya. Both of my parents, my siblings, and I had a great time singing along. Our tickets cost $13. You can't beat that!
• the Bruce Springsteen concert I bought tickets for on Saturday morning. I'll be at the second Philly show- the one on 10/6. After I see Bruce, there will only be two people/groups I've never seen in concert that I would really like to see-- U2 and Barbra Streisand. I have made my peace with the fact that I may never see Barbra if her most recent farewell tour was for keeps. You never know.
• my love of watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD. For years, people have been telling me that I would love this show. Michelle and I are on the 3rd disc of season 2. We love it.
• I'm at my highest weight ever. I need to lose 20-30 lbs, 20 just to be at a healthy weight for my height. I'm torn between wanting to go on Weight Watchers today and wanting to eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream. Ya think that's how I got this way?
• Rhinebeck is less than 6 weeks away. I knit a sleeve last week for an Aran sweater. Last night I started sleeve 2. I like knitting sleeves first. I'm weird that way.
• I held my friend's baby, Rolo (or so we like to call him) for two hours last Thursday. It was likely the highlight of my week.

Too bad I never make time to blog anymore!

Pop Culture update

I heard the song Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston in the Psychiatrist's office yesterday (coming from the gym next door).

You're way too beautiful girl
That's why it'll never work
You'll have me suicidal, suicidal
When you say it's over
Damn all these beautiful girls
They only wanna do your dirt
They'll have you suicidal, suicidal
When they say it's over

It was slightly uncomfortable. 

I was at McDonalds for lunch yesterday. A man shuffled to the counter with a cup asking for more soda. The cashier said, "No free refills. God is good." Seriously? Is God going to give that thirsty man a Hi-C?

I went to see Ratatouille on Monday. I was afraid of the rats. I wish I was kidding. I had to keep looking away from the screen. Alot. The animation was very good and rats are disgusting. I'm a mess.

Michelle and I did finish reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Sunday night around 10:30. So as not to spoil any readers who have not finished, my thoughts are in the comments section of this post.

The Clouds Part

"I can see clearly now, the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun shiny day

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I've been prayin' for
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun shiny day

Look all around, there's nothin' but blue skies
Look straight ahead, nothin' but blue skies

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun shiny day"

Johnny Nash, I Can See Clearly Now

It's a new day, one with beautiful, clear skies. I will be sitting outside this afternoon, reading, knitting, and enjoying this beautiful day. I'm praying for peace, internal and otherwise, and thanking God for each of you.

                                     

At Home with the Homos, day 2470

Sunday morning. Michelle is applying make-up while I iron a white button down shirt. I'm wearing a pair of jeans and a pink camisole.

M: You do realize that you are wearing a hot pink top, right?

me: Yep, it's all part of my plan to de-butch the outfit.

M: De-butch? You are crazy!

me: I know but seriously, no one does the jeans and white button down like a butch lesbian. I'm just trying to girl it up a little. I'm just not butch.

M: Sometimes I just wish I could pull off a button down, cargo pants and a pair of sandals. I still wish I could be more butch, it just that...

me: Just that you spend 20 minutes a day putting on makeup!

Blues

I have cramps. I want to stay home, in my pajamas, knitting these and watching movies all day. Meet Me in St. Louis, Philadelphia Story, Pride and Prejudice. Are there even enough hours in the day?

This past weekend, the universe was intent on teaching me a lesson. I experienced something that I haven't in years. My therapist said it was as if "the goddess was taking you by the shoulders and shaking you." She makes me smile with her terminology but the message is always pure. When you are ready to learn it, the lesson comes again and again. Knocking on the door until you let it in.

The media is reporting that my girl Rosie is in treatment for depression. Duh. I can't wait to see The View tomorrow- an hour on depression. I am not staying quiet anymore. The stigma is too much. I laugh at work and tell my coworkers that I'm mentally ill. I told my mother this weekend that she's costing me too much in therapy bills. I laugh about it and it makes me feel better. I don't want it to be a secret. I am a person. I feel sad. Alot. Often. I feel like I can't move. I can barely sort out how I feel, let alone talk about it. I don't want the weight of the secret. 

But the meds are working. And the therapy is helping. And I've been doing my homework after weeks of refusing to do so and my therapist of 18 months telling me that she has never seen me dig in and resist something in that way. Progress. Baby steps. Healing.

I still wish I could stay home today.

Tuesday Randoms

• I have dubbed Tuesday as "Danish Day." For the past three weeks, I've gone to Bonte' on Tuesday morning for a cup of coffee and a cherry danish. I love cherry danish and I picked Tuesday because it's the day when new episodes of Gilmore Girls air. In an episode of the Gilmore Girls from season 2, Rory said to Luke:

Okay, this is insane. So you guys had a fight, big deal. You know you're gonna make up anyway, and what better day to make up than Danish Day, the happiest of all days. The day when we all say, 'hey, let's forgive and forget over a nice Danish and a cup coffee.

• I've also identified Monday as the day I buy a 20 oz Diet Coke before I teach class and Friday as the day I buy my lunch. Monday diet coke has been happening for a few months. This Friday lunch thing is new this week though. I'm hoping that I'll eat in all week and treat myself by buying lunch on Friday. I'm hoping this will help me spend less money.
• It's only a little over 2 months until Maryland Sheep and Wool. I need to do a bunch of stash knitting to feel like I can buy without guilt, otherwise, I'm going to be buying very little.
• I am obsessed with my iPod nano. I listen to it way too much and find that I create situations in which I can listen to it.
• I am a girl who doesn't just like things. I LOVE THEM! This is not news to anyone who has been reading for awhile but the newest example is Grey's Anatomy. I have watched Grey's since the first episode but my appreciation for it has escalated to an obsession in the past few months. Now, I watch the episode and the next day, read the Writers' Blog, listen to the Podcast, and download the music from the episode on iTunes. I am not a well person.
• Recently someone bragged to me that she knew every word to every song from the Sound of Music. It took everything in me not to laugh at her. Come back to me when you also know every word to every song in the Wizard of Oz, Mary Martin's Peter Pan, Oliver!, South Pacific, Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, RENT, Chicago, My Fair Lady, A Chorus Line, Mary Poppins, Annie, Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, White Christmas, Grease, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and West Side Story. And that doesn't include other musicals that I know some of the words but all of them like West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Anything Goes...I could go on and on.

I have no knitting news to share. Still working on blanket #1 for the twins. God save me from never-ending garter stitch.

Full weekend

Friday night, Michelle and I took my youngest sister, Angie, out to dinner to celebrate her 21st birthday.

Photo booth picture!

Saturday, we spent the day watching 80s movies with my brother, Bobby. I also took the opportunity to create a login for him at the College Board website, explain what his PSAT scores mean, and show him all of the resources that are available for him to prep for the SAT this Spring. Having an older sister who is a college access administrator (I prepare and help get kids into college, namely poor and underprepared kids) can be a pain on a Saturday afternoon but hopefully will pay off for him.

Yesterday was a total weekend day- brunch, Borders, Macy's (where I was told that I have the wrong idea about patent leather by a kind sales guy), gelato, and dinner out.

The shoe thing was funny actually. I got these shoes in black and while I was trying them on, Michelle pointed out a pair of Mary Jane heels that were black with white edging. They were adorable but when I saw that they were patent leather, I exclaimed that I would not wear them to work and that, generally, I didn't think I should wear patent leather because I am not 7 years old and it isn't Christmas. The sales guy thought I was crazy, I think.

Shopping with Michelle is always a trip. That girl knows how to work a sale. Yesterday, I got a pants suit, a pair of grey pants, and a cute top (this style but with small pink polka dots) for $119. That's insane, people! Even though I love to witness Michelle's mastery of shopping and sales, I really abhor shopping. I hate carrying bags around the store. I hate getting overheated. I just generally hate shopping. When we were paying, we bought a bottle of water at the counter and I drank the entire 20 oz standing right there. Shopping stresses me out and always dehydrates me. I much prefer online shopping!

Valentine's/ Snow Day

We've been getting snow and freezing rain in Philly for the past 24 hours. My office is closed so I'll be at home, drinking coffee, eating cookies and wearing sweatpants while doing work instead of sitting in my office in a dress and heels.

Know what else I'll be doing while I work? Watching the yummy Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice and singing along to the Everwood soundtrack. Michelle and I always exchange gifts in the morning (v-day, anniversaries, birthdays) so I was pleasantly surprised this morning by the dvd, an iTunes gift certificate, and a box of chocolates from my favorite place.

Hope you are having a good day.

2007

if i should buy jellybeans
have to eat them all in just one sitting
everything it seems i like's a little bit sweeter
a little bit fatter
a little bit harmful for me
    Rufus Wainwright, Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

I was listening to this song last night and it made me think about the concept of resolutions. I sometimes make goals rather than resolutions (semantics but it makes me feel better). This year, the ones in my head sound something like this:

• Know where my money goes. ( I haven't balanced my check book in about three months.)
• Be more physically active. (Put to use those $80 running shoes I bought at a specialty store a few months ago-- oh wait, that's where my money went.)
• Read more. I read 17 books in 2006. I read 65 in 2005. Clearly a bad reading year for me.
• Eat better. Michelle's goal is for me to eat one serving of fresh fruit/vegetables a day. That's only 8 servings fewer than the FDA's recommendation. I didn't make this one on January 1 (unless chocolate covered cherries count) but I did eat a salad with dinner yesterday.
• Knit from stash as much as possible. This is not a tough one for me as I tend to only buy yarn at festivals and when I need it for gifts.
• Take time for me- warm baths, a lunch hour spent reading in a coffee shop, etc. These things do wonders for my sanity and I didn't do enough of this in '06.

About knitting:
My only real knitting goal, aside from the Pact that Jody and I made after Rhinebeck, is to finish a sweater for myself. I haven't finished one since 2004-- Rogue, the only sweater I've ever knit myself.
I've already made progress towards this goal since the start of 2007.

Okay, fine, you got me-- I started this sweater in 2004! I finished the body in 2005.

I started the sleeve immediately and then put it away for nearly two years. I picked it up again on New Year's Eve and finished the sleeve last night.

Love that lacy bell sleeve:

As ridiculous as it is that the body of this sweater has been sitting for two years, it would be even more absurd to put it away unfinished at this point. I'm casting on for the second sleeve today. My one knitting goal should be achieved by the end of the month. That was easy.