Novembrrrr

You should definitely turn on Christmas music to read this because Christmas is amazing and less than a month away.

I can’t believe how quickly November has flown by. It’s been full for me but you wouldn’t know that because I haven’t written for super long.  I hope my absence hasn’t caused you to fall into depression. 

The first weekend in November I learned how to compost and make Chilean food and got food poisoning.  I hadn’t really eaten out so evidently I poisoned myself, but I learned one of two lessons either that pasta sauce doesn’t keep forever in the fridge or don’t buy meat at WalMart.  It only took me a day and a half to work my way up to saltine crackers and I went on a walk with my friend down by the Rio Grande, I took some pictures because Albuquerque makes a beautiful fall.

The second weekend I got to go on a surprise trip home to meet my newest niece, Stella, and see the rest of my family too.  It was grand.  Because grad school is like a legitimized extended vacation I was able to be home for almost an entire week with no academic repercussions.  

The third weekend I pretended to do homework.  Which means I did anything I could think of other than homework.  I did get a free meal at Sizzler on Sunday after church, O the memories. 

The fourth weekend started early in honor of Thanksgiving.  My roommate’s family was staying with us so we were fed constantly and it really did feel like a holiday.  One day we took the longest aerial tram ride in the world to the top of Albuquerque’s Sandia Mountains.  It rises almost 4,000 feet but we didn’t die.  I got invited to like six Thanksgiving dinners and I opted for one Thanksgiving breakfast with the group I usually have a Thursday night Bible study with and a dinner cooked by my roommate’s mom at our house.  

That covers the weekends but there has been all sorts of other excitement too:

• I’m really New Mexican now, I got one of their really cool turquoise license plates for my car. It is strange to no longer be a Californian but the plate was voted best in America by “The Automobile License Plate Collectors Association (we take what we can get).
• My friend Morgan discovered this super cheap Goodwill reject store.  We went last week and I got books, clothes, a board game and a cool wall hanging for $3.60.  You fight through mobs of people and fill your cart and then they weigh your stuff and you pay $.40/pound.  Except for heavy stuff they price cheaper. 
• Along those lines of me being super cheap I’ve decided to stop grocery shopping.  This actually doesn’t have to do as much with being poor as me trying to be less wasteful.  Since I’m leaving for Christmas on the 9^th I figured I could probably get by with just what is in my cupboards.  It’s been excellent.  Last week I got like 11 free meals and mostly from legitimate sources.   This week has been progressing nicely as well, tonight I’m going to eat free salmon and mystery squash (thank you Morgan).  I have some things lined up for next week too.  I volunteered to wrap presents for the Rescue Mission’s Christmas party three days next week and they’ll feed me lunch.  Some people might think it’s weird I eat lunch at the homeless shelter but I did it once before and it was pretty good.   The only problem that has arisen is I’m out of eggs and I’m supposed to bring cookies to a thing on Saturday night, maybe I’ll meet someone with chickens.
• I have my first final tomorrow and I think I’m getting more or less into the swing of school.  Evidently I’m not all the way accustomed, last night I didn’t have a pen and had to take notes with a blue highlighter.  I borrowed a pen before the quiz portion of the night; I thought the professor might appreciate it.  I should be all the way done with finals by next Thursday!  And am flying back to California next Friday for five weeks.
• I got a job.  Evidently Dowd and Guild has really been lacking in the ambassador of goodwill department so they hired me back.  I don’t know what that actually means, but I figured since I am an expert procrastinator already I might as well get paid for it.
• It might SNOW this weekend.