does this hula skirt make my ass look fat?

given the current nature of my role at the radio station, which basically entails making sure commercials run during prerecorded programs and hoping we don't experience any natural disasters or child snatchings, i'm generally able to multitask on weekends.

last weekend, i was able to scribble on a pile of avon brochures and submit 200+ medicaid claims while at work, and i figured today would be another superproductive one.....but then i got sidetracked.

as you know (i know it make the holiday letter, and i'm pretty sure i made passing mention of it on here at least once), on my last birthday, i scribbled a list of thirty things (29, actually- i'm still trying to narrow down item #30) that i wanted to accomplish before my 30th birthday. as it stands right now, i have just under six months left, and about 20 items still to check off. (i'm estimating here- perhaps item #30 should be "put journal containing "to do" list in a good hiding place, but not so good that i can't remember its location".) i've finally been kissed under mistletoe (thank goodness i thought to add the "cheek counts" modifier), learned how to make a pot of coffee, found at least 3 old friends (thank you, myspace), and read god bless you, dr. kevorkian by vonnegut.

however, with so many goals left on my list, i found myself obsessing yesterday over items #2 (hawaii- i've got that one memorized) and #twentysomething (travel alone to someplace new).

yes- despite all the travelling i've done over the years, i've never travelled all by myself to someplace where i didn't know someone who'd be waiting for me at the airport or providing a place for me to crash or whatever. i'm thinking of this as an exercise in independence. besides, i can't afford to pay for anyone else to go (and you have no idea how many times i've bought tickets for travel companions), and i don't know anyone off the top of my head with a spare thousand bucks for such endeavors.

so, my saturday morning shift was spent playing with dates on expedia, calling my parents to inform them of my intentions to flee the mainland in mid-february, trying to figure out the logistics of flying into one airport on the big island, picking up a rental car (another thing i've never had to do), and driving to my hotel on the other side of the island, and trying to figure out how to sneak in an overnight trip to volcanoes nationl park. (i may have to give in and haul all of my little notes to AAA and have a travel agent help sort it all out.)

since i have to send my credit card company another donation before i can whip out the plastic (yet another call i made yesterday), i've got about a week to think, and i'm sincerely hoping the rate i found ($1400 for 7 nights and airfare) holds until i'm ready to get my ticket.

which, i suppose, gives me plenty of time to catch up on all that work-type stuff, as well as some hula lessons......

put away the g string, there, buddy

it's that time of year again.

i'm not referring to new years' resolutions.

i'm not going to tell you all about how i'm writing this while bouncing around on a treadmill, trying to undo the damage the holidays did to my thighs. (mostly because i'd be lying. my appetite actually decreased somehow, and i eschew the traditional grub in favor of lobster at christmas, which is not only lower in calories, but i know i also burned a few beating the crud out of that crustacean in order to strip it of all of its meat. but i digress.....)

since i paid for most of my holiday purchases with my checking account, i've saved myself yet another shocking credit card balance. (i learn...eventually.)

and all of my holiday cards were out before new years' day, although i was going to send a copy of the infamous letter to my long-lost cousin in california. i mean, i can't catch her up on the past 25 years in one fell swoop, but i hate to deprive her of the joy of seeing that leggy lamp i found in ireland.

actually, this evening i've got rent on my mind, and not the musical.*

i've lived in my current apartment for nearly 5 years- the past 4 years and 10 months with SO, who now resides in charleston, an hour and a half away. (however, i still have the bed, the washer, and the dryer, which works out well, as he doesn't do laundry and he's usually too busy working to sleep.)

a little love note appeared on my door about a month ago- something about having to verify my income. apparently, apartment management is required to check the financial situations of the residents every three years, and by their calculations, it's been three years since the last time mine was checked, which i believe was 2006. (yes, i know how to subtract. i'm not so sure about apartment management, though.)

normally, this would not have warranted a second thought. i mean, between SO's job and my jobs, we clear $60,000 a year. however, since he no longer lives with me (which is why he would appreciate it if i'd change the name on the phone/cable/internet bill, despite the fact that the only time the cable is used is when he visits and the phone and internet get minimal use, since i'm always at work), the household income had been drastically reduced. this makes me a wee bit nervous. i mean, if they decide i don't make enough money, they could kick me out, which means that not only would i have to find a new place for my stuff, which is a very un-lazy thing to do, i would have to actually haul everything down two flights of stairs (thankfully the only heavyish piece of furniture in the apartment that's actually mine is my futon), and i'd be doing this around the end of the month, when i'll be staying with my six year old sidekick and her ten year old brother while their parents are out of town....

oh, i thought about how i'd manage if worse came to worse. i mean, doesn't forcing children to work build character? (that's what my parents always said, anyway.) aside from that futon, i'm pretty sure the kids could haul my crap up and down stairs, though i'm not sure the six year old could get my 21" tv downstairs without just giving it a good shove outside my front door.

anyway, after putting off my paperwork for a month, mostly out of fear and laziness (fear that i'd have to actually move, which i'm really too lazy to do right now), i finally bit the bullet and tackled it today.

i called the office to point out their mathematical error, to no avail.

mildly daunted, i proceeded with plan b, which was to ask what the income requirement for my $725/month apartment would be.

i was a little concerned, since it took the girl on the other end of the line a little while to get back to me, so i asked if she was trying to figure out how to break it to me that i'd have to take up stripping to pay the rent. **

thankfully, i seem to have avoided that fate thus far, as i cleared the minimum income level by $2000.

which is almost enough to cover a year's worth of cable/internet/phone service, come to think of it........

*however, i'm noticing that sentence actually combined two pet shop boys tunes. how often does that happen? ok, how often does that happen to people who are musically nerdy enough to appreciate it?

**of course, if this were the case, i'd tell people i was doing it to put myself through college. since i was mistaken at a local mexican restaurant for a "little girl" earlier this week, it could work....and it sounds so much better than "i'm taking off my clothes here so i'll be able to afford an apartment in which i can take my clothes off"...which sounds like one half of a vicious cycle, but maybe it's just me