Month: March 2008

CRAZY DAY! (Pictures)

/ adam, friends, pictures, ronni, work

Wednesday was my last day at ZB. It was weird because I still had a lot of work to do, but it was hard to concentrate for obvious reasons. Once I finished the vocabulary, I started making the rounds, saying goodbyes, and getting lots of hugs! 🙂 I cried when I hugged Heather. I’m really going to miss some of those people. It’s always bittersweet, no matter what.

After work, Chris came over with Aidan, and Aidan and I got some quality time together! He was being so cute. I was showing him all the cool stuff he’s going to see in Chicago when he comes out to stay with me for the summer. He cracked up at the picture of the giant bean. He’s really healing nicely.

Aidan 03.12.2008

Then Chris came back and Matt was with him, and he took us out to eat at one of my favorite Columbus places: Morone’s Italian Villa. Mmmmmmmmmmm. After that, they dropped off a great deal of the stuff I was going to donate into a Planet Aid drop box. That was a huge help! Then, we all came back to my place where Chris and Matt took out all my trash! Another big help. Aidan’s toys are sorted, I sent some stuff home with Chris, and that’s one less thing I need to worry about. After they left, I found myself finishing up Aidan’s room, and I managed to generate four new bags of trash! Eeek! I went to bed late, but feeling OK that I didn’t have to get up at the buttcrack of dawn for work.

I rolled out of bed about 10:15 a.m.

My first day of not working ended up being insanely busy!

First, I got up, showered, and did some administrative stuff. Arranged for disconnect of electric and gas and stuff like that. THEN I went to the post office, the UPS store, and to have lunch with tamirabeth at b-dubs. Yum and great, wonderful company. *kisses to Tami*

Then I hit Half-Price Books where I sold a laundry basket full of CDs, cassette tapes, and books and got $44 for it! I was expecting like… $15 or $20, and hoping for $30. YAY.

Ronni with Decent Hair

Today, I finally broke down and went to the salon. I went to the Aveda Institute. There, students work on your hair and the cost of services is greatly reduced. It also takes a lot longer because the students are learning and the instructors come and consult with you and quiz then and kind of grade them. But my sister used to be in cosmetology school and I used to let her practice on me all the time, so I had no problem having a newbie (to relaxing) work on me. And again, there’s the cost factor. For example, what I spent today for service, a mini-facial (included), and two products is what a single service would have cost in any other salon. In addition, you can get your shampoo lying down OR sitting in a traditional chair. It was amazing. I wish I’d found this place sooner than four days before I leave the city! However, I do have her name and number, and there are institutes in Chicago.

Wheww Hewww. My hair looks and feels nice again!

After that, Tamera came over to give me boxes and to take some of the free furniture I’m giving away, and then I headed over to the Grafner’s for dinner and to do laundry. It was nice to be there and unwind and relax, eat good food, watch TV on a huge awesome flatscreen, and talk and talk and talk with Sarah until late (for her, anyway!).

Tomorrow, I need to:
– visit rental office
– take stuff to Goodwill
– finish packing part 1
– set up disconnect with at&t
– send out new contact info emails

Whew. Crazy, huh? And today was so pretty too. Sunny with temps near the 70s. I LOVED it. Not too hot, not too cold, and I only got annoyed at traffic from the salon to home. So it was a good day. Busy, but good. Now it’s time to eat some cake, read a bit, and take it easy. I’m sore and I know it won’t end for at least a week!

Til next time! 🙂

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Counting Down & Stuff…. (Pictures)

/ chicago-bound 2008, pictures, ronni, work

People like to feed you for special occasions or life changes, etc. I guess it makes sense. Breaking bread together is such a time of fellowship and togetherness. And fulfillment in more ways than one.

Yesterday, Dawn and Wanita took me to Bob Evans for lunch. I ate like a little piggy, but it was awesome. Today, I had a farewell party at La Chatelaine. It was awesome! Some of my favorite people came, and . For lunch, Karen and Sarah took me to China Dynasty, which was also yummy. I ate way too much today, but it was worth it. That’s me, trying to hit all my Columbus haunts before I head out to Chicago.

Various pictures of me and my co-workers from Zaner-Bloser.

Ronni's Good-bye (Goodbye?) Party
Me, Michelle, and Rebecca

Ronni's Good-bye (Goodbye?) Party
Me and Janet

Ronni's Good-bye (Goodbye?) Party
Me and Heather

Ronni's Good-bye (Goodbye?) Party
Jay, me (looking 12), and John

Ronni's Good-bye (Goodbye?) Party
Me and Tony (who is really broken up about my leaving, incidentally *giggle*)

Ronni's Good-bye (Goodbye?) Party
Sarah and me

Ronni's Good-bye (Goodbye?) Party
Laura and me

——————-

This picture of from China Dynasty this afternoon:

China Dynasty Buddha!
Karen (my Columbus mommy), me, Sarah ♥

So, how many days now? Tuesday is almost over, so five? Holy crap. Everytime a neighbor does something obnoxious (and believe me, it happens all the time), I just keep remembering how it’ll be over soon.

I’m eager to be there. To have all my stuff unloaded and in the apartment. But there are things I need to do here still, so it’s good I have those five days. I can’t believe it. It’s here!

Tomorrow’s my last day at ZB. Work has been insanely busy. Correlations, deadlines, adoptions. The days have been going quickly, but it’s been stressful. I did what I could, though, so I can leave feeling okay about that.

Been listening to my old House Blend CD. It’s good old Chicago house music. Totally getting me in the mood. That, some Bad Boy Bill, I should be good to GO.

Now I should GO TO BED. I’m sleepy.

XOXO

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Cold Hands…Yours, Too.

/ blizzard, car, chicago-bound 2008

So, armed with a broom, a windshield brush/scraper, and a dustpan, I went outside faced with the task of digging out my car. It wasn’t so bad at first, and I was moving within 20 minutes or so. THEN I got stuck. Couldn’t figure out WHY I was getting stuck. All the stuff was dug from under my car. But my wheels were spinning. Was thinking of why I didn’t have a shovel, and then realizing “Wait! There is an emergency kit in my trunk! I bet there’s a shovel in there!” Sure enough, there was a shovel in there. I put it together and was able to reach farther under the car to dig out crap. But my wheels were still spinning and the slush was packed hard under my tires. I figured the slush was what had the wheels spinning.

I sat glaring at the minivan that was parked too close to me, then felt bad when the minivan owner came out and gave me a push. YAY I was free. I went to the overflow lot, hoping for a cleared out spot back there, but there were none. There were, however, possible Places To Get Stuck, so I did a 34489549 point turn to avoid them, came out, started shoveling out my own spot, glanced at some spots closer to the front of the building, thought “screw all this shoveling” and went and took a nice, cleared out spot. I should be fine and dandy tomorrow, and I am not going ANYWHERE tonight! Don’t want to lose that spot!

All in all, the whole thing took about two hours, which isn’t too bad, and hey, I got excercise. And learned to shovel snow. Definite practice for when I move to Chicago in 8 (!!) days.

In addition, I packed up some of my kitchen, all of my jewelry, all of my underwear and socks (except for what I’ll need the next several days), talked to my mom (omg my phone bill will be ugly. Thank God it’ll be my last one, I can take my time paying it), and everything on my dresser top and some nightstand stuff too. I also cleaned my stove and washed the dishes. 🙂

Things to do this week:
– call rental office about furniture disposal
– call and arrange for transfer of gas and electric bills back to Clintonville Commons
– finish packing kitchen
– pack computer stuff
– pack important papers
– take loads of stuff to Goodwill
– take out buttloads of trash
– call Dr. Passias and Dr. Kowalewsky for medical records
– deposit checks and transfer money to main bank account
– send-off dinner at La Chatelaine with co-workers (and I am GETTING a dessert this time!)

Anything else? Those of you have have relocated, what kinds of things did you need to do/wrap up? My credit union is already aware that my car title will need to be re-registered. (ETA: Mail forwarding order already put in.)

I have 3485489375 pounds of laundry to do. I wonder if there is a laundry service I could use just this once. I am going to look into it, seriously. Or I could hit the place that has free wi-fi and a bar. I’m also willing to drop it off and pick it up later that day while I do what other stuff I need to do before I move out of town. Bwah. So, let me add to the list:

– call a laundry service; one that does pick up and delivery for price quote. Thank God I have Thursday and Friday off, that’s all I’m saying.

Lucy is acclimated to her carrier and often goes in there just to relax. That makes me very happy. It’ll be somewhat easy to get her in there in moving day, I hope.

Eeek!

By Tuesday, temps are supposed to be in the mid-40s. YAY get rid of all the icky slushy snow, please! How many times can I say I’m looking forward to spring?

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Blizzard Pix (Pictures)

/ blizzard, pictures, weekend

We got about 16 inches of snow in 24 hours. Snow drifts are about 30 inches high–up to my waist. I have no clue how I’m going to get to work on Monday, as the stuff is all around my poor car.

The Blizzard of 2008
Tree

The Blizzard of 2008
Tree

The Blizzard of 2008
Tree

The Blizzard of 2008
My friend Sarah had to work today at a place located about 3/4ths of a mile from where I live. Instead of her driving all the way home in this crazy weather, she came over and hung out with me. It was the fastest six hours ever. Such a fun time. 🙂

The Blizzard of 2008
My car

The Blizzard of 2008
A tire. Not sure how I’m going to make it to work Monday. I don’t have a shovel. But I do have hands and a broom, so it looks like I’m going to be digging instead of packing tomorrow. *sigh* I did a bit of digging today, and I cleaned off my car. My shoulders are totally aching.

The Blizzard of 2008
Another tire. *cries*

I really, really, really hope this is the end of this stuff. It took me an hour to get home (8.8 miles) yesterday, and I was scared and tense the whole time. I know, I’m moving to Chicago where I am pretty much guaranteed to have this junk dumped on me on a bi-weekly basis, but at least there are trains in Chicago and I shouldn’t have to drive all the time or scrape my car or dig myself out of two-foot drifts on a weekly basis.

And tamirabeth and zenosidal were supposed to come over today just to hang out and help me pack stuff, but nope. They got snowed in as well. I’m going to have to make up for it this week and DEFINITELY do the kitchen tomorrow! I did manage to pack up some of my bedroom today. Not much more to go in there, it’s probably about 93% done. Aidan’s room is 100% done except for the toys that zenosidal is supposed to help me sort (so he can take some and I can take some and some can go to Goodwill or trash).

Temps are going down to the teens tonight. It’s still snowing. I’m worried all that stuff around my car will turn into ICE and really freeze me in!

And OH MY, I don’t have milk. (Not that it matters. I don’t like milk!) I do have bread though, and Cool Splashers (LOL), and stuff to make cupcakes. I was supposed to make them when Sarah was here, but time really ran away from us. Boo. I also have a kitchen full of stinky trash. Gotta love that.

I am REALLY grateful it wasn’t a workday for me. I hate feeling like I HAVE to go out in this stuff, I feel like I’m putting my life in jeopardy when I have to drive in weather like this.

Seriously, I hope winter’s DONE for now. I’m more than ready for spring.

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BLIZZARD!

/ blizzard, weekend

http://www.10tv.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The following counties in the 10TV viewing area are under snow emergencies as of 11:00 a.m. Saturday:

Level 3: Crawford, Delaware, Fayette, Hancock, Hocking, Knox, Madison, Morrow, Muskingum, Perry, Union, Vinton

Level 2: Athens, Champaign, Clark, Coshocton, Fairfield, Franklin, Greene, Hardin, Licking, Logan, Marion, Pickaway, Pike, Richland, Ross, Wyandot

Level 1: No counties are under Level 1 snow emergencies.

Snow Emergency Explanation

Level 1 Snow Emergency: Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Roads are also icy; drive carefully.

Level 2 Snow Emergency: Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Only those who believe it is necessary to drive should be out on the roadways. Contact your employer to see if you should report to work.

Level 3 Snow Emergency: All roadways are closed to non-emergency personnel. No one else should be out during these conditions unless it is absolutely necessary to travel. All employees should contact their employers to see if they should report to work. Those traveling on the roadways may be subject to arrest.

kpluta, this is all your fault. The heavenly weather controller TOTALLY got the O states mixed up. Although how s/he could have confused Oklahoma with Ohio is beyond me.

I should go out and take pictures. I don’t have to drive in this crap today, so it’ll make for some pretty photos. It hasn’t snowed like this since Aidan was a new little baby, back in 2004. Thank God it’s happening over a weekend.

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