Day in the Life of Manda (before work)

5:00 AM- Alarm rudely decides to go off.

5:01 AM- still in bed whining in head about rude alarm. Cats have now jumped up on bed and demanding Iget up.

5:05AM- Have stumbled into and out of the bathroom and gathering up clothing for the day. Good lord, I need some new clothes..so sick of the same ones every week, but that's what I get for getting fat. No new clothes for me. I'm my own clothes Nazi. Guess i better stay motivated.

5:10 AM- Dressed. Have now turned on News and checking email on phone. Damn, My Facebook gets a lot of action AFTER I go to bed. WTH?

5:15AM- gathering up lunch. Bitchy cats meowing and demanding food. Look down at them smile and say, "not until your Dad gets up" and walk out...I usually pay for this when I get home.

5:20 AM- Walking down the hall towards the elevator. Neighbor is also leaving for work for the day. Small talk while waiting for the elevator.

5:21 AM- Downstairs and walking towards the car. Oh hell, where did I freaking park yesterday?

5:25AM- Located car parked on opposite side of apartment that I went out. FML.

5:30 Am- On the way to work. Merging onto I-395. Why the hell are all these cars already on the road? Slam on brakes as dumb ass cabbie cuts me off to get over in lane. Sigh, Where is the NIS when you need them. They seriously need to start checking for green cards.

5:35 AM- Slamming brakes again as idiots who CLEARLY know that they have to get into the far left lane to exit towards Pentagon, come across 4 lanes of traffic.

5:35 AM-5:37 AM drive across 14th Street bridge, still cussing about idiot drivers. If my car could speak, I'd be in serious trouble with the things I shout out.

5:40 AM- Pull into Parking Garage. Oh dammit, wtf is my badge. Dump purse in seat to locate said badge. Find badge and wave to Security Guard. Person in car behind honks horn. I slam on brakes and sit.

5:42 AM- Finally decide to move after the car behind me has throughly had their day ruined. I smile and wave.

5:45 Am- Walk up the ramp and across the street to work after parking.

5:50AM- Computer has finally logged in (damn Federal comps) and open email.

5:50-6:00AM- Check and answer email, read news and obtain coffee.

Current Jam for the week.

Had this on the Ipod for a long time...and I still love it.

Eff you Roberta!

I was cleaning out my closet this evening and I pulled out my huge art portfolio that had been collecting dust for the past 8 years. I kind of sat there on the floor looking at it. I never realized that I had blocked most of my time in the MSU Interior Design program from my mind (It was hell, sheer hell) but tonight, I was sitting there looking at the huge black mass and, hey, since I'm glutton for punishment, decided to open it up.

Dammit. That was stupid. Floods of memories came back instantly and as I flipped through the decaying presentation boards. I suddenly had visions of each class and all the emotions of doing each of these projects overwhelmed me as they came rushing back. I remembered every single night sitting until 2 am in the Human Ecology building hunched over a drafting table and the tears shed from misery as if I had done it yesterday. I recalled the day I was rushing for Roberta's class in the rain and the project I had worked on for TWO MONTHS, falling out of it's plastic into a huge puddle (which subsequently had me on my knees in the puddle cradling the mushy pulp that had once been a house

plan, crying hysterically, screaming, "why God!?") On a separate note, I still extremely dislike Roberta- I won't say hate as it's a strong word, but if I were to see her today, I'd probably trip her snooty artistic ass down some stairs.

Well, there is the saying misery loves company. So please allow me to share with you the wasted 2 years of my life, I'll never get back.

This was a project on different floor finishes. My partner and I drew Tile. As the different types of tile is an immense catalog, we decided to focus on Quarry and Resilent Tile. We spent quite a bit of time coordinating work and school schedules to work on this project but ultimately it ended up being done at midnight the day before it was due with help from several cans of Bud Light.

The awesome thing about summer classes is they are usually taught by a grad student and they usually are just there for the credit and don't give rat's ass so you get pretty good grades. We did pretty well on this one.

The next project was in Roberta's class. The concept was to take a letter of the alphabet and create a business utilizing only x amount of floor space. My concept (which, I still think is awesome since the witch nixed my gentlemen's club

using the letter "B"The concept would have been the round parts of the B would be the stage and the in the center would be strategically placed poles, which would have great creative innuendo on the plan view) was to have a travel agency. The main part of it was the buiding was located in Las Vegas, and in Vegas, it's go big or go home. So, since it was a travel agency, I concocted the idea of a huge globe that actually mimicked a puzzle since most people had no idea where they wanted to go on vacation to "Find their Peace" (ha! get it?) The globe sat on top of a circular building ( "O"). I thought it was

pretty damn creative. But not for the Nazi, Roberta.

The 3rd project was actually my very first project. We had to take a building and design a fountain in front of it. I choose the Walt Disney theater in Los Angeles ( the epitomy of modern theater architecture) The building is sleek and shiny steel flowing as if it had music coursing through it.

My fountain was a silver steel fountain, polished to stainless perfection, with abstract Mickey Ears in the centerpiece. Quite clever and the first teacher absolutely loved my concept. Too bad she didn't teach HED 242.

I was and still am proud of this presentation board.

The 4th and actually the final project was a FOUR MONTH undertaking. I worked hard and in the last week, spent 56 hours on the finishing touches with only maybe 8 hours of sleep. I was proud. All the lettering was by hand. I spent days working out the fabulous concept and the color scheme was freaking amazing and had I been an male Interior Designer looking at the boards, I totally would have done me. (I kind of have a high opinion of my work and genius...until Aaron knocks me down off my pedestal...he keeps me humble) This project was also what culminated in my tearful throwing of the white towel and jumping ship to Construction Management...I literally had a nervous breakdown due to lack of sleep and since I've gone back to this dark place, I would like to ask forgiveness to the poor souls along Grand River I might have viciously lashed verbally. Also I ask forgiveness from the Beaners chicks (and yes I'm saying Beaners, eff Bigby's, it will always be Beaners..PC Police be damned) who I might have thrown coffee at across the counter. Kind of poetic that this project was for Roberta's class. She was the final straw. As you will see in the following pictures, a lot of yellow post it notes from her...and after all the time, tears, hard work over the last two years.....bitch gave me a 2.5.

Let's Get Physical

So, just to give you a small history of my gym goings, I could never do beyond 1 minute on the elliptical. I had given up that I would never be able to do it.

Well with my new fitness mindset and being close to my 5% goal already, I decided to try it today. I made it 10 minutes regular and then 5 minutes backward. Since I'm writing this blog, it's proof I did not die..Yay!

Hoping I keep up the momentum this week. Don't have any money so I won't be eating out so thats a bonus and will help leep me on track. Hope everyone has a good week!

The adventures of Cleo and Daria, Pt1

I love my kittehs. Extremely entertaining and straight up full on bitch, they keep life interesting. I think why we get along is because I respect them. In saying respect, I'm not saying I hold them in high regard but more like, I respect the fact that they can kill me at anytime should I piss them off at just the right moment.

Cleo came first. I was on orientation in Dulles for my job. Now,Dulles is 35 minutes away from where I lived at the time. I honestly wanted to drive there everyday, but they demanded that I stay in this hotel. I thought I would get out of it because I had a dog, but nope- They paid for me to keep my dog there for the entire week. I know you are asking, why would I not want to stay in a hotel. Well, many reasons. The biggest is because of the comforter. In high school I was a Dateline fanatic. One night they had a special where they took black lights into hotels and the comforters and walls were covered in old DNA. This led to the adventures of the

"Penis blanket" in Florida and I'm still scarred.

Anyways, I had to stay in this hotel and it was pretty nice, so I figured it would be safe to sleep in the bed. Flash (dog) made himself right at home and enjoyed hotel living. Of course he was a spoiled fat hot dog so only the best for my Puppin. (spolied brat in the picture to the right)

Well, I knew no one, and I'm not really a people person, so I decided to stay in my room for most of the orientation evenings..I did get drawn out by the promise of dinner and beer but other than that, most of these people were boring as hell so I laid in bed and watched my favorite trashy MTV shows and surfed Facebook before facebook was cool. (oh yes, I was one of the first to join after it became available to MSU- I clearly had no life back then either)

I had gotten it into my mind a few weeks prior I wanted a cat. I didn't want to deal with a kitten because I didn't have the time to train so I decided to see what the local shelters had. On the website, they had featured a cat. She was pretty but looked like a super bitch. I have yet to figure out what it was but I decided right away I wanted that cat. I went down the next day and was introduced. They pulled her out of the cage and she immediately starting hissing at the other cats...anti-social, no? There was just something about this cat, so I adopted her and brought her home. Where Flash was waiting. Yeah, that introduction

did not go well. The dog was more than accommodating but the cat was not having it. She was acting like a super biotch, Queen of the nile, hence her new name, Cleo.

(Cleo's first day in the apartment)

Life was good for Miss Cleo. Until 2 years later when my husband joined me. Now the main difference between Aaron and me, is that Aaron LOVES cats. I like cats but every stray he sees he wants to take home, and probably would if we had a house (thank you Caylor Gardens for your 2 (3) pet limit- The 3 refers to the fact that Daria was technically illegal since we already had a cat and dog) His cousin Robin came out for a visit (our graduation present to her) and we were shopping at Potomac Yards and went into Petsmart. We looked at the cats and there in the cage was a gorgeous gray, long haired cat. Upon closer inspection I determined that she also had a bitchy look. Aaron fell in love and we decided to adopt her. Oh great, I already live in fear of death by one, backup is all she needs......

Daria joined us that afternoon. Cleo was unhappy....no..unhappy is not the right word to describe it...extremely pissed would be more accurate. They did not get along. It was a constant cat battle for supremacy in the apartment. At one point we figured we should be prepared for the Nazis to come storming through our door at the command of Cleo Hitler. We were ready to give up and get rid of one of them but we moved out of "Mexico" and uptown into the "Landmark". New territory calmed them down. When Daria originally joined us, the apartment was already Cleo's castle. Here they were both paupers on equal footing. They quickly made themselves at home.

Unfortunately, this led to a new chapter that was even worse than Cat War 2. They get along. While this was thrilling at first, it began to dawn on me. Oh my God, Cleo now has willing back up.......

To be Continued

I love my city!

For the last (almost) 4 years, I have lived outside of DC in the gorgeous city of Alexandria. I love living here. It's an eclectic mix of the modern and historical. I love spending my summer nights walking around Old Town, on the same streets George Washington used to frequent, long before DC was our capital. In fact, Alexandria thrived while DC was still a huge swamp called Federal City. It's a great place for me, being the Colonial history nut that I am. It also has Beautiful architecture and interesting charm.

I also have a very nice camera. So I tend to take a lot of pictures. So the following are from some of my walks.

Wilson Bridge from the Ferry to National Harbor. A graceful piece of modern bridge building and a truly interesting project ( I am extremely glad I was not the Project Manager considering the many problems during Construction :) )

Old Town from the boat. ( I'm on a boat! with my flippy floppies)

Market Square, The site of the longest running and one of the oldest farmers markets in the country. The building is City Hall.

Mt Vernon- Washington's place. I love it here.

The walkway into the Old Presbyterian Cemetary...pretty scary stuff at night with only a lantern and a bunch of freaked out kids behind you.

The Old Presbyterian Meeting House where George Washington's memorial was held. Also home to the most gorgeous pipe organ.

The waterfront. A perfect place to read a book or enjoy your Starbucks and people watch.

Most of Old Town does not have street lamps, but instead they use these lanterns.

World War II Memorial. Ok it's in DC but I absolutely love this memorial. Lincoln memorial is way in the back there.

Duke Street Townhomes.

Il Porto- Great Italian and haunted to boot.

Words that should not be allowed to be used anymore

Snowmageddon. That is all