Megon's Xanga

Run

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:41:15 GMT

In my ballet class, I found that I am in the acceptable height range for a ballerina. I also would need to lose around 30 pounds (hit around 110-115) to be a "serious" one. Out of the 8 of us in class using the standards it was found none of us would pass, even the extremely skinny high schoolers because they had a "long neck" and "too big of feet". Even our gorgeous teacher didn't pass. But seriously, I haven't weighed 115 since seventh grade. She had us do it to realize we aren't perfect and just have fun with the class. It's making me relax a bit and helping with the daily stress that we call work. Last week we almost shut down the engine assembly plant because everything got messed up at once. It's starting to become a joke around there. One of my buddies is having an affair, with someone else I used to work with. That's bugging me because I'm trying to stay on neutral ground with them but really I just want to tell them they're throwing away a 10+ year marriage for a fling that won't last until Christmas. Usually I can get out for a 3 mile run at lunch and that helps me chill if needed. Last week I had time to do a two miler and the rest I hardly got a full lunch in. Toyota's "respect for people" is starting to look like a bunch of crap to me. The whole "work life" balance doesn't mean anything to them. I'm still glad to have a job and love the people I work with but we're all burned out and ready to snap with all the stuff going on.

Andy and I are in week 6 of marathon training. We did a 6 miler yesterday and the dog got home as full of energy as before. I don't know what it takes to tire her out. April 11 is the race. We registered yesterday, $70 each so no backing out now. I'm starting to enjoy it a bit. Having someone to run with helps me push myself more and makes it a little less dull.

Tapping Tuesdays

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:16:22 GMT

Tuesday nights: Tap class
Wednesday nights: Ballet
At the ripe age of 25, I'm taking my first dance classes. The tap one is cool. We learned a Grits song over the summer. I'm the only one who couldn't really walk in heels (they all get to dress cute for their days, I get to wear steel toes).

We got a house last month. It's ridiculous for just the two of us. It was either over pay for a fixer upper, or just pay for a decent sized one that we can "grow" into in the future. Assuming we stay here for the next 30 years. I'm getting used to the area but it's still a little...country. No phone, no TV/cable, just internet. I've watched the first season of The OC, keeping current on Psych and all those shows....starting Lost over....thanks to Hulu I seriously don't see the point in ever paying for cable.

I've started running barefoot. Before you start thinking I'm a tree hugging hippie or anything...try it. The last mile of my runs I've been taking my shoes off and just running in socks and it feels great. All the reading I've done people say they're sore at first, but have been injury free since they started it. BUT today as I did it, I started noticing all the glass shards and rusty nails. The only way to dodge these are to run in the middle of the road.

I got my own line at work. I'm now the engineer for the Corolla cylinder heads. In a few weeks I train people on die coating...something I'm just now learning myself. Work is meh, just counting down the days until the weekend most the time. The people make it bearable though. I'm still grateful to have a job though. Best of luck to all the people who just graduated and are looking.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Sun, 24 May 2009 19:15:25 GMT

The past few weeks we've been house hunting. Last week we decided to put an offer in on one we checked out a few times. Andy liked it, I was...ok with it. It didn't feel like THE one, but I couldn't find anything wrong with it. We call our agent to put an offer in and she calls back saying it went under contract the day before. We both were a bit...relieved. It's like we were buying the house just to get one and have it by the time we move out of the apartment in June.

So we looked at a few more. I'm a fan of the old ones, like 1920's old. We found one from 1960 and it has that feel but they wanted 160 grand for it. It was nice, but there was a lot of cosmetic things that needed to be fixed. The front step was all concrete and dipped when you stepped on it. The basement was damp and leaked. I wouldn't pay more than 80,000 with all the fixing up it needed. The 1903 one we wanted to buy was sold three days before we found we were staying here. After being on the market for 5 months.

Fate likes to kick you in the face sometimes.

After all this, we looked at one yesterday and it is definitely the one. It has the right size and amount of rooms. Back yard for Yosh. Upstairs loft is amazing. Can house the 2.5 kids whenever they come along. It's the house we plan to own until we decide to retire and blow one of our 401Ks on a house in San Fran. The problem? It's a short sale. With Countrywide (I knew I hated them from working at the Mortgage company a while back, but I couldn't remember why. Now I do. The leader of the giving out sub prime loans). A year ago it was 275,000. It was built in '08. Now the owner is wanting to sell it for 180,000. We're lowballing and waiting. It'll probably be a 4-6 month wait. I think if we buy a house, I'll be one step closer to adulthood. I'm not sure what the final step is. Getting a second dog? Having a kid? Attending kid's graduation?

What better way to spend the rest of your Sunday before Memorial day than to snuggle with your husband and watch Arrested Development on hulu? Yeah I can't think of any either.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Sat, 09 May 2009 15:36:31 GMT

Me: MMM these sugar pumped nitrogen frozen strawberries are so tasty. Yoshi you should try one.
Him: WHAT? You're eating my cereal?
Me: Yep and it's delicious.
He throws a pen at me.
I throw a magazine at him.
He picks up Yoshi and throws her at me on the couch. She lands on the cushion next to me.
Me: Did you just throw the DOG at me??? You did...you threw a dog at me. WTF

This is the extent of our fights.
We're house hunting. The houses we're looking at are too...new. We wanted this one from 1903, somewhat updated with wiring and such just needed things like the wood paneling on the wall updated, the sea green carpeting taken out and junk like that. 50 grand. Sold last week. On the market since November, and the week we're able to start seriously looking for a place it sells. Fate sucks.
In other news...is it the time of year for everyone to get pregnant?? I signed on facebook last week and three friends are again. One complains about how they can't afford the others they have. Why, if you can't afford two of something, would you get a third? I mean we plan on having kids eventually, but we're saving every dollar we can so that when it does happen we're not freaking out about money. There's enough stuff to worry about when that happens.

44 cupcakes later...

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 01:11:05 GMT

Andy's bday is tomorrow, so I made cupcakes to take to work. Kevin's bringing Krispy Kreme, so we'll all be in a sugar coma most the day. I'm making him steak and potatoes tomorrow night...I've never cooked a steak so uhm...hope he doesn't get sick.
I'm doing with 7 months of training what it took 4 years in high school. On my own. Without a coach. Injury free. Running up to 6 miles, next week is easy then I build a little more. I'm learning more of what you need to do to improve...build up slowly and all that stuff. Before I was super impatient and either hit a wall or got burned out before I could get anywhere. There's a group of us at work that run at lunch and not to be a tool, but they're slower than me. That's perfect. First time I ran with them I thought holy cow, what am I getting myself into. Then I realized hey at this pace I can actually finish without walking. Now I'm a little faster just because I run on weekends but it's just a good time.
There's a 90% chance we'll be moving in June...bummer. I was hoping for a position at Troy but they "would love to hire us as long as they don't have to pay us". Toyota's paying me now instead of them, but once I get permanently placed the plant pays for me. A third of the plant is leaving, but no they aren't hiring. Looks like we'll be going to either Alabama or Kentucky. I'd be cool with either. Bama because it's "near" an ocean, works with machining and engines and a bigger city. KY because most the EiTs will be going to one of those places so lots of people to hang with. I'll be doing quality for V8 engines or programming body weld robots. Either way, Andy's found some awesome houses. Older ones that need fixing. It's frustrating not knowing what side of the country you'll be on in two months but good to have a job at this time.
Yoshi just ate 5 pieces of our leftover sushi (homemade sushi=amazing). What the heck. She even licked my wasabi up...it's like we suddenly got a kid.

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:12:11 GMT

I'm actually enjoying my job. Never knew that was possible. I'm at the point where I've gotten into the swing of things and can take on projects by myself. I've spent the last 4 days drawing machine operation drawings. None of us have done this before, so I'm the grunt learning it from scratch. I have two more days to go of this stuff, then I start it all again next week for a new part. I'm learning all I can about casting and I'm never going back to assembly. It's weird actually having responsibility, but I love it. We want to stay here for our permanent location, but they aren't going to hire 2-3 engineers when they're begging for any chance possible to save money-see buyouts. Vancouver was a possibility, but now it's looking more like alabama is our next location. Alabama, the state of 3 million people 7 last names, to quote a guy in my group. After the buyouts start, hopefully some openings show up and maybe we can stay here or go to Canada. Things are getting a bit scary, but I'm not worried about losing my job-Toyota is good at reminding us that they don't do layoffs. Not to say it could never happen, but for now they're proving that while you will make sacrifices-no raise, bonus, etc-we will at least keep you employed.
The people are pretty cool, a few just annoy me-the louder you talk, the more you look like you have no idea what you're talking about. It just warps my mind how different this place is from nummi. They fix stuff instead of bandaging it. Overall the engineering group is a tight knit bunch of people. At first I think most were a little afraid of me because I'm a girl...as in what they could say around me. Once they realized I laugh at the jokes like everyone else...no holds barred now. To quote the 59 year old guy one night we all went out..."So wait, you just got married, you went to Rolla, and you aren't drinking? Is it a boy or a girl?" As to why he has a 12 year old, "What can I say, I sleep on my back".
Marriage is still great. It's nice waking up next to someone every day. It's nice not having to cook dinner every night. Oh yeah we got the equivalent of a kid-a little whippet named Yoshi. She is the most hyper dog I've ever seen. And she's kinda adorable, and surprisingly smart.

ps I love craigslist. I already knew it was awesome, but I'm putting up junk and people are buying it. The pink floyd flag I got for $6 in 10th grade? Sold for 10. The mood lamp I got for Christmas 8 years ago? Sold for $10. Hey it pays the bills.

pps. bought another, nicer bike. It's freakishly light, blue, and fast.

ppps. California's handing out IOUs for tax refunds. An IOU is pointless from a state about to go bankrupt.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:30:17 GMT

I know I've kind of fallen off the face of the earth...I'm still here...just a little secluded. I don't have any way of contacting people once I get off the highway to get home other than texting and if lucky, a bar of cell phone usage. In a few months I move back to civilization but until then...the best way to get ahold of me is to text/aim me, attempt calling, or email my work addy. To my friends I'm neglecting...sorry for being a bum. Next time I'm in st louis next month I'll see about meeting up...or if you're near Wentzville just stop by...I welcome the company. We can sit by the lake and sip our drinks while watching the sun set, and killing mosquitos.

I love my husband...he makes me happy with life :) And we're still eating wedding cake...when they say it'll feed 150 people, it really means 250 people.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:15:33 GMT

As I type this, I’m staring out the window of my new place. Half an hour ago I was outside, weeding, watching a beautiful black cloud come my way. I could somewhat see the lightening over the trees and hear the thunder. The temperature got around 80, perfect after spending the day in 97 degree heat-outside. Going from cali, who hasn’t had rain since march, to here, where the first rain I saw was on our wedding day. I forgot what a real thunderstorm was. My new place is a huge change. I went from a tiny one bedroom apartment with digital cable and internet to a four bedroom house with a basement, 25 acres, and no internet, no tv, and if you’re lucky, one bar of cell phone service. I’m worried about getting bored, but in a way it’s nice to be away from everything. Think about the last time you went without any of that stuff. I bought a book and I’m hoping that will keep me occupied the next few days. I’ve made an effort to cut down on the junk in my life. We were able to load the subie up and drive it across the country with all my “necessities” in it. Now I’m living from two boxes and a laptop. I have the house to myself this week and next, then a mom and her daughter move in. I’m almost welcoming the company. Sitting here during a thunderstorm just feels so lonely.

I keep saying we, yes we. I am now a Clawson. The week up to the wedding just flat out sucked, but once the wedding started, everything for the next seven days was perfect. Really it was. We got to play our Living Sacrifice song during the ceremony, he made me cry, I almost made him cry, we danced the whole night and got to see all of our families and friends. It’s just amazing how everything came together so perfectly. We went to florida for the honeymoon. Pretty much just spent days on the beach (and got my first sunburn since I can remember), lots of good quality hotel time, and ate some amazing sushi. I’m a sushi whore now. Flew home Thursday only to find the husband got tickets to Cornerstone, because he is just that amazing. We drove to the corn field Friday, saw living sacrifice (!!) and Blaster the Rocketman (twice) and a million other bands. Goooood stuff. Parted ways Sunday, and am counting down the 12 weeks.

I also started the new location yesterday. No more nummi, and this place has actually made an effort to help us. It’s been boring but they acknowledge we exist, don’t cram us in another room to forget us, and already have our next few months of training planned out. Simply put, we cast engines. Inside the actual casting part of the plant it’s around 120 in some places. Just standing in it hearing the morning updates everyone has sweat dripping down their back. It’s pretty miserable and you have to wear long sleeves if you work online. Luckily it’s air conditioned but standing in front of liquid aluminum that doesn’t do squat. I’m a little nervous about all the stuff I have to learn-going from assembly line to casting is a huge change. Everyone’s pretty cool and seems laid back. In a few weeks we do our line training which consists of casting parts. And molten aluminum looks kind of cool.

This Time in a Week I'll be Laying on a Beach...

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:20:13 GMT

In five days we're going to be married. It'll feel so weird, OLD, calling him my husband. I said we still should call each other bf and gf, to maintain our youth. I think the fact that we look like we're about 18 does that for us though. A few people at work still don't believe I'm over the age of 19, which in a way is a little creepy. There's still so many little things to do, I have to bustle my dress, make my veil, figure out hair and make up (wtf?!)...all these girlish things that I was supposed to have planned since I was five.

How have things been? Well, this rotation is almost done, thankfully. Love the area, work with (mostly) awesome people, the Union is just a pain in the @$$ and the fact that I had absolutely no important work evens it out. A temp engineer was more of my boss than my actual supervisor ever was. Out of four EiTs in assembly engineering, the three others quit. Supercube is dwindling little by little. I'll be in charge of sand reclamation at Bodine...that's all I know. And that I show up sometime in two weeks.

Then we have moving. Originally, we ordered a hitch and box for the WRX, or Rex as it's now affectionately called. Plan was it arrives Friday, we load up and Andy leaves Saturday. According to UPS, it was delayed due to "Adverse Weather". They scanned it in to Cali, but tried blaming the flooding 2,000 miles away as the reason it was delayed. That put them on the crap list right there. So Andy decides to wait until today to see if it's delivered. 730 rolls around and it is. Start bolting it on, only to find hey it's an inch too short and not physically possible to install. Now I have 75 pounds of steel in my awesome PT Cruiser rental (Biggest piece of junk ever. Going from rex to this...omg...) that I'm going to try and send back to them tomorrow. And I have to convince them that yes, they will be reimbursing me for shipping since they effed it up. Finally, 72 hours later, Andy leaves for Reno.

Oh and my bike was stolen. Friday night they took bolt cutters snipped right through the lock, set my car alarm off, and got away. In a way, I'm meh about it because it's one less thing to haul back. On the other hand, I'm pissed at the ass holes that stole it. I keep hoping karma kicks in. Stuff happens for a reason, it's just a material object so I'm moving on. To be positive, I'll buy a much nicer one when I get settled in MO in a few more months.

It's like all this stuff is happening, one right after the other is going wrong, and yet I still don't really care. We're pulling each other through it little by little...maybe it's just a pre-marriage test or something. Nice try life, you still lose.

A Pic's Worth...

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 21:19:04 GMT

These will say it all.