I won't break your heart shaped glasses

Though I might break my new reading glasses. Yes, dear readers, you heard right. My reading glasses. That I'm wearing. In addition to my contacts.

Do you see why this is so distressing!?

I've had trouble with my dry and sensitive eyes for several years now. I've tried quite a few different brands of contacts and solutions and nothing seemed to help for long. Since my prescription had expired and I couldn't get new contacts without it, I went in for an exam two weeks ago and mentioned the dryness. The doctor asked how long I spent in front of a computer everyday. I was hesitant to admit it was somewhere between 7-9 hours, and then realized I was forgetting the hours of studying I do every week. 7-9 hours was long enough, however, for her to give me a disappointed look and tell me I needed "computer glasses". Which is code for "reading glasses". The girl who helped me pick frames didn't even try to hide it.

READING GLASSES!?

My mom has to wear reading glasses, and our prescription is almost exactly mine (which, by the way, was tweaked yet again). The kicker? She got the reading glasses sometime the last few years, and is in her late forties. I'm only in my mid-twenties! Why are my eyes already trying to catch up to hers?

Someone reminded me that I get to rock the sexy librarian look now, which is pretty much every guy's fantasy. Been there. Done that. Was Miss November 2006.


It took me a week to accept my fate and actually order them. I suppose that I really do only have one pair of eyes, and I don't want them to shrivel up like raisins. Also, I did notice that my eyes felt worse on days I was at the computer, comparatively to days I wasn't.

They came in yesterday, and I wore them whilst coding my new website and watching TV. It was the weirdest thing to take off my glasses and still be able to see across the room. I've been wearing them pretty much all day at work today, and yes, my eyes do feel better than they usually do at this time of day. I guess the doctor was right, and I have a third pair of glasses to add to my collection.

What do you think?

You're a rich girl

I knew going into being a librarian that I will likely never make loads of money, but I'll be secure and happy. That's good enough to me. In a discussion with a law student today the difference between our potential incomes came up.

Future Lawyer: Well, if it makes you feel better, look at this way, a first-year associate at big deal firm will probably make about $125,000 per year.

Me: Uh-huh.

FL: But they have to have about 2000-2500 hours to bill.

Me: Yeah.

FL: Which, since one billable hour equals about 1.5 hours of actual work, means about 3000 hours per year.

Me: So, 60 hours a week.

FL: Right. So, it works out to about $42/hr.

Me: Right.

FL: But the firm bills about $500/hr.

Me: It pays to be a partner.

FL: Literally.

Me: Yeah, between my work, freelance, and school, I'm working about much per week already, and I'm paying for one of those three.

FL: Um, but you're prettier.

And he's going to be a lawyer.

It's Raining Men

And I'm not shouting "Hallelujah!" about it. Not this week anyway. If things continue like this, I really will end up being a crazy cat lady. Here's a list, in no particular order, of the guys I've had to deal with this week.

• The guy with whom I shared sudden and unexpected mutual interest, but after a month of uncertainty finally revealed his girlfriend had come back around.
  
• An extremely nice guy with whom I have a lot things in common, but so far I don't feel a spark with. Granted, lots of IMs and one phone conversation are no indication of true feelings, so I'm not giving up on this yet.
• The guy who seems it's appropriate to expect physical intimacy after only a few nice dinners. "i used to date a girl like that....kissing was it. and after a few dates i was thinking "ok so...im spending money, taking you out, etc etc...and all u wanna do is kiss? yeah....no i dont think its gonna work" When he asked if I was a "romantic", I said yes. I didn't realize that "romantic" now means "promiscuous and easy".
• The guy who was offended by my admission that I was physically uncomfortable (aka in pain) with the way we were sitting.
  
• An old friend from high school who is stationed near here, with whom I was planning to spend my Saturday, who completely stood me up and has yet to contact me with any sort of explanation. (No reports of "training accidents" from Ft. Meade. I've checked.)
• The guy who invited me to play tennis with him and in the course of scheduling our game revealed he has a fiancee. That's inappropriate and uncomfortable for me. It would be social event, outside of our current professional relationship, and there is no pre-existing friendship. This is the first week we've even talked about anything more than music. I wonder how his fiancee would feel about this?
• The guy who has once again postponed our date for another week. Since being on-call at the hospital (did I mention he's a doctor?) and going home to visit family are legitimate reasons that I was warned might happen, this is another one I'm not completely giving up on.
  

I really hope things turn around soon! Even Eilonwy admitted that I "have a very interesting social life." I like interesting good. Interesting awkward and bad are just that.

Straighten up and fly right

And now! I bring you the exciting conclusion to The Trip That Almost Wasn't:

Ms. [Armstrong]:

Thanks for sharing your recent experience flying with Frontier. It’s very easy to let stress build when you know you are running late and may not make your flight; our agents are unfortunately used to dealing with that stress that boils over when a passenger is told that they are too late to make the flight. At least you were offered the option of flying without your luggage or waiting. Most of the emails I get are from passengers who were told the only option was the next flight.

The reason for the 45 minute cutoff is twofold: (1) to make sure that the passenger has enough time to clear Security (even with a line delay) and reach the boarding area on time and (2) to make sure that the airline staff has enough time to load and balance the luggage; prepare the necessary paperwork such as passenger manifest, boarding list, and other FAA mandated documentation; board the passengers in an orderly fashion; and complete the pilot's check list prior to departure. At 45 minutes, the baggage cart leaves the bottom of the conveyor belt and heads out to the aircraft to commence loading; the computer closes the flight and begin to create the passenger boarding list; and, in most stations, the ticket counter is closed down so that the personnel can complete the other tasks that need to be done to get the flight in the air.

I will forward your remarks to the Washington Station Manager and to the In-Flight Supervisors office for their internal review and resolution. There is no excuse for rudeness – but I feel absolutely sure that the flight attendant was trying to make a joke . . . . one that in a more relaxed state of mind, you might have found amusing. Because of your experiences with our personnel, we will provide a $50 transportation voucher for use on a future Frontier flight. This will be sent via US mail to the address listed in your email, along with instruction for using it.

Thanks for visiting us at frontierairlines.com.

Customer Relations

Not bad. I'm glad they responded so quickly, though I could have done without the part of why they have their policy. I'd mentioned at least twice that I understood that. Oh well. My trip home for Christmas just got $50 cheaper!

Summer time, and the living is easy

It's officially summer! Okay, so the summer solstice isn't until June 20 at 23:59, but I don't care.

Here are some the things that make it officially summer to me:

• Duck Beach
• Sunday Night on the Mall
• Warm, violent thunderstorms (nature is so cool)
• Barbecue
• Flip-flops and shorts
• Star gazing
  
• Sunsets after 8 PM

Since I've now enjoyed all these things, I officially consider it be summer now, which makes me very happy.

Another one of my favorite things is the influx of "summer songs" - the songs that just mean good times with good friends and beautiful weather. They aren't the most amazing, critically, and I certainly don't "smoke funny things", nor endorse such behavior, or Kid Rock in general, but here are a couple of songs for Summer 2008:

New Kids on the Block - Summertime - Jordan Knight looks like a former bishop of mine, which is a little unnerving.

Kid Rock - All Summer Long - Don't judge me. I could do without the video and about half the lyrics, but the rest just begs for cruisin' down the street.

And a few from years past:

LFO - Summer Girls - The lyrics are just awful (When you take a sip, you buzz like a hornet / Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole bunch of sonnets), but the music is fun!

Len - Steal My Sunshine - How can you not love this song?

Tommy Lee - Good Times - Drummer turned vocalist? Why not!

Have a great summer! And don't forget the sunscreen!!

Hello new shoes

Hello, my name is Amanda Stretch, and I'm a shoe-aholic. Yesterday, I bought my (unless I missed some) 70th pair of shoes. They were the fourth pair I've acquired in the last week. (Two were because I had no luggage, and one were my mom's old hiking boots.)

Would you pass those sweet things up at $7? I don't think so. Cute, yes?

I looked at my shoes as I was counting them and putting them all away and came to the conclusion that I really do wear all these shoes in a year's time. A lot of them are dance shoes, so I can't wear them regularly, but even my silver boots made an appearance this year.

As you can see, I'm out of shoe storage space, but that's not likely to stop me. I'll just figure something out. The best part is that I do it on the cheap, and if I keep rotating like I do, they won't wear out very quickly. Rock on.

See? Lots of shoes!


A cute pair of shoes I found at Unique with Fergie.


The pair I'm wearing right now

Also, I apologize that my pictures are often grainy. I'm, obviously, using my camera phone because it's what I have on me and it's easy to email pictures to myself, plus my actual camera is on its last legs and wouldn't look much bettter.

I love shoes!

Wild, Wild West

(I apologize in retrospect for my recent silence and boring-ness. I apologize in advance for the length of this blog post.)

I love going home. I love being with my family and friends and being back in the mountains. What I do not love is having trouble getting there.

Approximately one minute before I was to leave my office to meet my ride for the airport, the entire district received an email that we were on lockdown due to the tornado warning. We were not allowed to leave our buildings at all. I waited for an hour before the weather cleared and my building supervisor more or less said "It's your life. Good luck." I navigated the out of order street lights and moron drivers, grabbed my luggage, and jumped in my friend's car, only to get stuck in rush hour traffic to the airport. Lovely.

With 26 minutes before I flight took off, I arrived at the airport and had an experience that inspired this nastygram:

To whom it may concern,

I was completely dissatisfied with the customer service I received on my most recent trip. I was running late due to a bad storm and terrible traffic, and I arrived with about 26 minutes before my flight. I understand that there needs to be enough time for my luggage to get on my flight with me, and the need to adhere to policy. What I do not understand, nor tolerate, is being treated with disregard and rudeness.

The first agent at the desk said, curtly, there was absolutely nothing she could do. Either I go without my luggage, I fly out in the morning, or I shop around with the other airlines. In my experience with other airlines, this is a service they have done for me, in order to get me to my destination as soon as possible. Then, while looking up my information, she abruptly left and handed me off to another agent, who stayed on his cell phone for a minute before finally ending his conversation. I had to repeat my story, and he was equally rude about his inability to help me. Once again, I understand policy, but their tone, which was short, annoyed, and demeaning was absolutely uncalled for. I was clearly upset and there was no attempt or to do anything to help calm me down.

Once the decision to fly without my luggage was made, I had less than twenty minutes to get to my plane. I asked if the agent could alert the gate that I was coming as fast as possible and hold the doors as long as they could, to which he said, without apology, "No." I left my bag with a friend and literally ran through security and to my gate.

Once seated, the head attendant got on the intercom and said in a "hypnotizing" tone: "You will all sleep until Denver. You will not bother the flight attendants", emphasis on the word "bother". Now, I won't ask one to shine my shoes, but their job is to make sure we have a pleasant, safe flight. I was not amused.

I do not appreciate such treatment, and will be reluctant to fly with your carrier again.

I was not happy, but I was fairly sure that I had everything with me that I absolutely needed. That is, until I was talking to my seatmate about it and suddenly gasped.

18-year-old Jewish kid: What?

Me: Do you know about Mormons?

18YOJK: Yes.

Me: You know our big white buildings? Temples?

18YOJK: Yes.

Me: Well, we have to be a member in good standing to enter, and we have to have sort of a card that says we are.

18YOJK: Oh, so a "Good Mormon Card"?

Me: Yes. My "Good Mormon Card" is in my luggage.

At least that made me laugh, and I've learned that there are ways (and phone calls to bishops) to get around it if it's not on your person.

The rest of my flights were fine, both there and back. I feel like I know Terminal A of the Denver airport like nobody's business though. I know only London-Stansted, UK, and Hamburg- Lubeck, Germany, better.

I also found that if there's anywhere to go without your luggage and "Good Mormon" paraphenalia, it's Utah and your parents' house. Thursday afternoon, I got to go shopping with my mom and grandma for enough new clothes and toiletries to last through the weekend, on my parents' dime. It was awesome!

That same evening, after some difficulty of getting my parents out of the house (totally raising my mother's suspicions), my siblings and I threw a well attended and happily received surprise 25th anniversary party. Their anniversary was in April, but since we'd been planning this since January, we didn't really do anything then, and my dad had been a little miffed. Not so, now! Everyone had a great time, and my parents were thrilled.

Just after we cleaned up, my brother went to say farewell to a friend who was leaving for a long vacation and lives a block from our house. He took his longboard. It was dark. There was a pothole. The longboard stopped. My brother didn't. Not surprisingly, his collarbone didn't get along with the pavement and quickly became Z-shaped, broken in two places. For those of you who know, this is the same brother (well, my only brother) who shattered his elbow in a bike accident, and had to go home from his mission. Many people haven't been surprised to see him in a crazy sling contraption again, until they realize it's on the right side this time. He should be waking up from surgery right about now. Silly boy. Trumped me for recent trauma tales at the family reunion. However, it is highly entertaining to walk by his bathroom and realize he's stuck getting out of his shirt.


The rest of the weekend went pretty much without incident. Friday was the celebration of my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, which we spent in the Logan temple and Bluebird restaurant. My brother, being on the Lortab, couldn't be there with us, and I was sad, but I was also overwhelmingly happy that I have the kind of family I would be in the temple with. Saturday afternoon was a family reunion and Saturday evening was a wedding reception for some friends. There I ran into both an old friend from high school and a guy I took on a date here in December who almost immediately left the ward as soon as he'd arrived. Apparently, he moved to Arlington, then back to Utah to date the girl he was at the reception with. High school friend? Super fun! Date with new girlfriend? Not so much. Also weird was the 20 year old sister of the groom and her 60 year old boyfriend (the wedding photographer).

Sunday, we celebrated both my birthday (late) and Father's Day (early) and took family pictures. It was a really chill day, which was extremely nice. Monday was back to DC.

Overall, it was a great time, just maybe a little too adventurous than necessary.

We spotted the ocean

For Memorial Day, I took my car on its maiden voyage down to the Outer Banks, NC, to join a thousand of my closest LDS single friends for our annual trip. It seems that most of the singles on the East Coast are there, and a handful come from the rest of the country. It really is great fun. A lot of new friends are made, it's culturally acceptable to run around half-naked, and nothing beats relaxing on the beach for three days, unless you're one of the lucky people who can stay the whole week.

For the first time since 2004, I had an excellent birthday. Birthday wishes, hugs, spanks, and love galore! It's great fun to have 60 people sing "Happy Birthday" to you. Thanks to Gonzo for letting me hint heavily for three weeks that my birthday was going to happen at the beach, and to Smash for letting me steal the extra frosting. Also, if one must go to church on their birthday, it's great to have just one meeting. And, if there is a fireside later, it's best when it's brief, on the beach facing the surf, and in one's swimsuit. Technically, I was in a skirt. Finally, I started winning matches on "Guitar Hero" on this day and it was suggested that I start playing on Medium. Then, I failed miserably on another song, and it was agreed I could play on Easy for a bit longer.

I also realized that being the birthday girl, and being on the beach, allows one to be unabashed flirt. I flirted like crazy this weekend. Moreso than I've felt up to in a long time. Usually, I tire of it if there is no reciprocation and others are competing for the same person's attention. Neither problem really occurred. Most of those I flirted with flirted back, and I really wasn't competing with anyone, at least at the same time. It was great fun! I even scored some hammock time with someone. Woohoo!

The weather was perfect, my friends (both old and new) are amazing, and I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I got tons of compliments on my car, and I love it even more than I did last week. We all secretly (or not-so-secretly) hope that we won't be there next year, because we'll be engaged or married. There are 361 days before the next Memorial Day, so it's entirely possible. Still, if I'm not married, spending another birthday and a long weekend on the beach with people I love sounds like a great alternative.

All this and more before 24

To add to the list of things I've accomplished thus far in my life, I have now successfully purchased my very own car! My poor VW was, technically, my first car, but my dad helped me buy it and co-signed on the loan. This one I, ultimately, did on my own, and I got a GREAT deal. There were lots of phone calls to my parents and Jane was with me as a sounding board the entire time, but it was my decision, and I'm so excited!!

Sunday night, I was considering the merits of buying v. fixing, and mentioned, to my roommates and parents, that I was interested in a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. Monday morning, I started getting phone calls and emails from local Honda and Toyota dealerships. I thought my house/phone was bugged until I realized that my dad had requested internet quotes on my behalf. Thanks Dad!

After two days of test driving, six days of freaking out, a lot of prayer, and remembering how to drive stick, I finally signed on my car last night! I now drive a 2008 Honda Civic LX, manual transmission.

Isn't it a sexy car?




And just in time for a road trip and a weekend on the beach! Outer Banks, here I come!

This weekend also marks the end of this nifty little giveaway at Project Domestication! Check it out!

Nobody likes you when you're 23

I'm turning 24 on Sunday. I actually really like birthdays, despite the fact that my last three all have very negative associations with them (breaking up, losing a job, car breaking down during a rush hour), and I'm looking forward to this one. I can't think of a single thing that could go wrong on that day, and what can beat a birthday with great friends on the beach?

Still, it does bring a change, of sorts. I will be in my mid-twenties, instead of my early twenties. This a marker that I'm inching ever closer to 30. Also, being young as I am and accomplishing the things that I am has always been a source of pride. This won't suddenly change when I'm 24, but, in my mind, it's not as impressive. Other people still think it is. I was talking to an auto insurance agent today and he was really amazed at everything I was doing/have done, especially compared to my peers. I love hearing that.

I do look a lot older than I did just a few years ago. To me, my face has aged quite a lot in the last five years. This could be from some of the stress I've dealt with, free radicals in the air, and just generally getting older. It's not like I look like I'm 50, but I certainly think I look more mature than I used to.

Surprisingly enough, just two weeks ago, I was asked if I was a student at the high school this person and I were at. Then, the very next day, find out that another friend thought I was closer to his age, which is 30. It's actually kind of fun.

So, not much is going to change when I can flip another year on my personal calendar, but it does require a certain amount of reflection. This last year has been really good for me, and I can only expect more great things in the year to come!