Oh, The Irony!

As you full well know from looking at this site, posting in a timely manner has not worked out well for me. Well, at least I am posting. Right? If it is any consolation, while I wasn’t posting I was having a wonderful, restful two-weeks with friends and family in Bend. Tea dates, sushi, shopping, sitting on rocks in rivers, bars and scrabble with friends as well as many meals with the family made for a great break. Other than my terrible last minute re-packing the night before I left for Portland and the killer heat in the valley the day before I left, my time in Oregon was wonderful and made me remember what I always seem to forget –– I love the Pacific Northwest.

Despite my re-affirmed affection for the Deschutes, Pilot Butte and the Cascades, I left Oregon without kicking and screaming (however, there was a bit of whining and tears, I’m not going to lie) and started my voyage to our nation’s capitol, the bustling District of Columbia.

Getting up early wasn’t easy but there I was, finally on the plane to DC. I was having a nice conversation with the Sudanese man sitting next to me when the voice of a small child practicing her spelling rang in my ears. I said to myself, “oh how cute, a little girl doing her homework on her vacation to DC”. My thought was then cut short by the rapid-fire sequence of the words “glockenspiel”, “beguile” and “chicanery. And yes, she spelt them all correctly while only half paying attention to her persistent mother quizzing her. I felt impressed and a little sorry for the little girl who was straining so hard to both appease her mother and watch the in-flight movie “Racing Stripes” out of the corner of her eye. What appeared to be a sick case of a child being pushed to hard in school, turned out to be a mother’s rigorous training for her daughter who I later found out is a contestant in the National Spelling Bee to be held this week in DC. Does this justify the rigidity of this 7-year olds vocabulary drill schedule? Who knows. What I do know is after listening to this child spell ridiculous words for six hours straight I have a newfound desire to broaden my vocabulary and to rent the documentary “Spellbound”.

Despite my embarrassment at the lack of words that I knew from this child’s lexicon, I made it off the plane alive and into the home of my hosts for the summer. I was greeted in the airport by a printed sign with my name and in greeted in their home by a snotting, slobbering puppy. It was love at first site for Leo, the 57 lb English bull dog who has refused to let me out of his site. I can already tell that the end of the summer will only be filled with heart-break.

As I sit here in Starbucks and re-count my past few days I’d like to leave you with a little quiz. As some of you know, I have been job-hunting for a money making job to supplement my non-income from the Carnegie Endowment. And so here it is, a true test of your psychic abilities. I was finally hired and …

Which one of these IRONIC side jobs do I now hold?

A. A butcher in a Whole Foods Supermarket
B. A salesperson in “plus-size” women’s clothing store
C. A bartender in a little restaurant in the city
D. A receptionist at the local tanning salon

I will leave you with that and will begin working on a post with my observations of this funky little place called DC. In the mean time, leave a message with your guess on my new gig and in the mean while, be in touch with me! I have internet all the time and would love the electronic company.

Love and Politics,

Jessie

My Adventures With Lumpy and Pete- Part I

Yes, I know what you are saying. "Jessie is sure getting a slow start to this whole blogging thing. She is going to be one of those quitters." Well, you are right on the first part, I am getting a slow start. But I will not quit! I will get better, but let me explain my dilema. At first I was hesitating to post because everytime I had something to post I thought to myself, "Wow, you will really sound like a whiney bitch if you post THAT" and then I realized, I have fun ranting and it is one way of capturing how I see the world. Really, I just need to come to terms with the fact that my posts will usually consist of me ranting (a.k.a. bitching) about every little pathetic thing that I encounter big or small, you may very well hear about it. I mean, Also, ranting is sort of my type of humor. I'm only half serious when I do it and usually don't REALLY care- but it is fun to pretend that I do...and on the rare occasion that something is really bothering me well, I get a chance to vent.

So, because I have delayed posting, this entry may be a bit incongruent as I try to share all the tid-bits that have been boucing around in my head. Let's see. Maybe it will be easiest to type about my past few days.

I FINALLY went to the doctor after a few months of having a suspicious little friend (that we will call "Lumpy") hangin' out on my throat, specifically on what Emmons thought was my larynx and what later turned out to be my thyroid. So in this last week I learned this lump was on my thyroid and that the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor I saw was not very nice. After hearing I was going to need to have a bunch of tests (tests. ugh. just the world is ugly) and surgery to follow. Because of this we ( we being my parents, Peter (because he was involved on the whole driving up to Oregon thing) and I) decided it would be best to come home. Needless to say I was entirely packed and in Oregon 72 hours after the decision was made to come home.

Good things that came out of this:
1.) I learned that my life can be packed up, boxed and put into storage in a matter of about 7 hours.
2.) I got to make play lists and burn CD's as we drove, talk about on demand!
3.)Lumpy's exact size, consistancy and location will be determined on Wednesday morning. It is looking like surgery next Monday, but maybe this doctor will have a different plan. Good thing is just that progress will be made to get rid of my little friend.

I have more to write about my adventures, but I am tired. I will post more ASAP. Maybe add to my "good things" list and tell you about the horror that is shoe shopping.

Be Well,

Jessie