Travels · with · Janey

WHEN: TODAY, well kinda like really late so really TOMORROW!
UNTIL: SATURDAY REALLY EARLY, so more like Friday!

I get to take my dog home, finally!!!! Hooray!

Friday afternoon we are having an "open house" sort of thing for everyone to come say hi and chill out with food and stuff.

:) My honey is coming, too!

For everyone else, Happy Thanksgiving!

Lots of thoughts.
_Used to think, "Man, I can't stand it that people my age stay in Renton, grow up, go to school in Seattle, meet someone from Seattle, get married have babies buy houses in Renton, live happily ever after in freakin' Renton."
_Now I think, "I miss my family and friends."
_Yesterday I was trying to get into my car and missed. I whacked my head so hard I went black for a minute. When I regained my senses, I put my stuff down and sat in my car, holding my head for like ten minutes.
_I drove to work, even though I was nauseous and the road lines were kinda going together. When I got there, I went to check with the school nurse who sent me to the ER.
_Yes, the freakin' ER.
_I got a CT scan and some xrays done... I do not have a concussion, but my brain is swollen and I tore a muscle in my neck.
_Today, I took the day off (due to a massive headache). I spent the day focusing on my post-this job life (aka, January).
_I am accepted to the Masters of Music in Conducting program at UNO. I will be going there full time (and they are working on getting me an assistantship, until then I have 75% of my tuition covered), and going to SouthEastern Louisiana University two nights a week to work on becoming a certified teacher. The teacher certification will be three semesters (Spring, Summer and Fall) and that's it... the Masters will be two years (spring, fall, spring, fall).
_THEN I will look into getting a teaching job.
_Happy pre-Halloween.

I was reading through my old journal on Xanga recently, kinda sorting through memories, kinda re-living Katrina, kinda just reading. My voice back then was SO different. I actually found, even through the Katrina times, that I had a lot more humor in my blogs, they were more well-researched, used links and sometimes even had a self-made photoshopped image to complement and solidify my point.
_These blogs are much more factual, to the point. Today, this happened. Then I did this, and she said this!
_Hmm. I think I understand why I had so many more subscribers to my Xanga. I'm also not changing anything, so there. Well... not drastically, anyway. Maybe I'll try to be funnier.
_But first a brief hesaidshesaid story.
_Today on Wife Swap (yes, Wife Swap) two of the children I teach (and their younger brother, who goes to a different school) had their mom swapped to California. It was pretty wild... these young rough and tumble bayou boys got switched out with a family of ballerinas. I was laughing the WHOLE TIME. My favorite part had to be when the third grader I teach, Gaven, was given a ballet lesson from his new mom... it was HILARIOUS. The fifth grader I teach, Dallon, didn't even deal with it. He ran away and hid in the bathtub.
_The show made me really proud to be living in Louisiana. It was also neat to see how these kids that I teach live outside of school.
_Anyway, it's Friday, and here's something I am not thinking about right now: school.

School update:
_TECHNICALLY schools are to start next Monday. However, the Parish isn't sure if power will be restored by then. The most recent advisory says 7-14 days before power may be restored in the Parish.
_I may have to go wait tables for a couple weeks. No, as a long-term sub, I am not getting paid for the days I'm out of work.
_::sigh::

Bumped into a couple friends from New Orleans on the streets of Memphis.
_Looking for coffee.
_Keep forgetting my ID... and the fact that I need to bring it with me if I expect to get into a bar or even have a drink (not in New Orleans anymore).
_St. Tammany (where Doug works), Orleans (New Orleans), Jefferson (where I live) Parishes are not allowing re-entry tomorrow. Will be going back Wednesday, unless the stupid levees break, which they won't.
_Still no word on my schools in St. Charles Parish.
_<3s

Soooo.
_Here we are, staying at the Budget Inn in West Memphis, Arkansas.
_It is JUST as classy as it sounds.
_Yesterday, we managed to get all the way to 80 miles out of Jackson, MS without any traffic. At about 4:30, we slowed to 20 mph and STAYED THAT WAY until about 10 miles OUT of Jackson, making that trek a grueling 4 1/2 hours long.
_We were still about 150 miles from Memphis, so we decided to just stop when we got there.
_Calling ahead to find a hotel was a good idea, as there were NO HOTELS IN MEMPHIS with a single room available. I had to give my credit card over the phone and get charged for the room sight unseen in order to reserve one.
_I mean, I guess it's not unreasonable considering 2 MILLION PEOPLE were evacuated from the Gulf Coast.
_We pull into the Budget Inn at 12:30. A 10-hour drive. To Memphis.
_I, once again, find myself at the Quetzal's on Union Ave. THIS time with my wonderful honey, Doug :)
_The storm is down to a 2. It moved West. I may go strangle someone for calling the mandatory evacs.
_However, my schools are still too close to the eye to not be a little nervous about my job.
_So, as my mother says, we shall see said the blind man (as he picked up his hammer and saw...)
_<3s

The path for Gustav has not changed, but for some silly reason Orleans Parish (county) has called a mandatory evac AND, for the first time in history (not even during Katrina), MY Parish, Jefferson, has also called for a mandatory evac. Both start at noon today. We are leaving around three or four ish to try and avoid traffic, heading to a friend's family's house an hour north of Little Rock.
_Looks like at my apartment we can expect hurricane strength winds (in the 90's, maybe). If that happens, the lake may surge, so we also might get a foot of freshwater. This isn't very likely, but just in case, I'm driving my car up to Doug's school where we will leave it, safely, and drive Doug's car up to Memphis for dinner and then through to Judsonia, AR.
_We'll be fine, I promise.
_However, if I lose ONE FREAKIN BOOK to any sort of water, I'm out of here.
_So, New Orleans, if you want me to stick around, be good to me. Ya heard?

Everything is fine, at least for my living situation. The storm continues to turn away from New Orleans/Metairie, and my parish (county) hasn't even called a VOLUNTARY evacuation yet. If they decide to do so, we will still stick around because it means we are in no danger (except of a little rain). If they call a MANDATORY evacuation, which I believe they will only do if the storm turns easterly (it's actually predicted to take a last minute turn westerly toward Texas), we will leave. A good friend of mine has family in Little Rock, AR, and that's where we will spend the weekend.
_My school, on the other hand, is in St. Charles Parish in South Louisiana. They have called a mandatory evacuation to start at noon today. Both schools are right on the projected track (currently, anyway).
_So, after Gustav I will definitely have a place to live, but a job? We'll see.
_Will keep you updated on my hurrication.
_<3 me.

In the general music class, we've been interviewing each other (this is grades 3, 4, 5, and 6)...
_Generally, I let the kids pick their own partners. That worked out fine until one third grade class just couldn't get it together. I asked everyone without a partner to come up front, and then just picked partners for them and said 'go.'
_This girl and this boy were partnered up and she was just upset. The boy came over to me and said she wasn't answering him or paying attention to him. I walked over to her and asked what was wrong (she was crossing her arms and her face was all twisted). She said she absolutely could NOT be partnered with a boy. Boys are silly, and he will act silly. I looked at her and said that the only person I saw that was acting silly right then was her. She uncrossed her arms, but was still upset.
_I told her she would have to give him a chance before she simply decides he will act silly. I then asked her the first question on the list, she answered it, and I asked him the first question on the list, he answered it. I made sure they remembered the answers, and they did. I told them that if EITHER of them acted silly, to come and let me know, and to finish the interview.
_Right before I called the class together, the little girl ran up to me and said, "Ms. Sandor! He and I like the exact same band, the exact same song and want to play the exact same instrument!"
_For the rest of the class period I could not get them to stop talking.
_I saw them playing at recess when I left.
_I guess boys aren't so silly, right?
_(Don't tell her parents that was my fault. God only knows what sort of can of worms I have opened up! ha!)

Shawn Johnson is 16.
_When I was 16, I slammed a door in my English teacher's face. He gave his first detention in 17 years out to me. Because of this, I had to switch high schools (I wasn't TECHNICALLY expelled, but I may as well have been). My gpa dropped from a 3.8 to a 2.0. I graduated.
_Shawn Johnson has a gold Olympic medal.
_::sigh::
_I am SSOOO lazy.

With all this talk of the Olympics, I, of course, have some comments.

First of all, here's something I bet you didn't know about me (well, okay, my family):
In 1956, my dad was chosen to do a dual-kayak 1000 meter race with his friend for the Hungarian Olympic kayaking team (a summer event). The Olympics this year took place in Melbourne, so the summer was actually the winter. In September, Hungary started churning, and my dad was required to join the Hungarian army. In October, the Hungarian revolution started and my father became a freedom fighter... and quickly evacuated to Austria (meaning, no Olympics for him).

From there, he was transferred to Italy, where a wealthy family paid for his schooling at the Politechnico di Milano. While studying, he contacted the Italian Kayaking Team, who immediately accepted him for training on THEIR Olympic team based out of Naples, and he commenced training for the 1960 Olympics which took place in Rome. In 1958, my father was offered a position with NASA in the United States. He took the position (eventually not working for them, anyway, for some reason and I will get back to you on that?) and passed off his Olympic spot to a former coach. My dad was now too old to compete in the Olympics, but not to coach, and was offered a job at UC-Davis. Unfortunately, another fellow kayaker got the job instead, but then my dad moved up to Seattle and had me, so hooray!

Both the former coach and his partner from the Hungarian Olympics went on to compete in the Olympics. My dad laughed when I asked him about this and said he has no idea how they did, and reminisced a little, "I wonder where I would be now if I had stayed in Hungary to compete in Melbourne."

Anyway, other comments include, but are not limited to:

1- I can't believe China is cheating. And because they are cheating, USA got a silver medal. At the same time, that 12-year old girl (who, if you haven't been watching, is 4'9" and weighs 68 pounds, and I'm not exaggerating.. except they think she's 14) kicked some serious ass. I mean, who wouldn't after training since they were taken from their crying mother's arms at the tender age of 3 years old? Oh, dictatorships.

2- Speaking of dictatorships, China is pretty much kicking ass all the way around. Way to go China.

3- Except in swimming, right? Holy shit! What is going on with that water, is it lighter? Is it their swimsuits? How many world records have we broken?? How many world records has Michael Phelps broken? How many MORE? Maybe it has something to do with the depth of the pool, or the new swimsuits, but if that's the case I guess it's fine. I mean, technology has been advancing sports almost as much as it's advancing medicine, right? Still, that 4x100 meter yesterday with Phelps leading and the US team 9 seconds ahead of the world record line the whole time was a bit intense, don't you think?

I never thought I'd have this much to say on the Olympics. Ha!
<3
me

In high school, the day before graduation, my last English assignment was to write a letter to my four-year away self (I guess my teacher sent it a year late on accident) and put an address on an envelope at a place I could be reached at that time.

_I received this letter today.

_Before I write it up here, I want it noted that:
_1. I was 18 years old.
_2. Mindy and I hadn't talked all school year because we were going to different schools.
_3. Dave Orendorff and I had been dating for nearly a year at this point.
_4. I am really glad I didn't get this when I was working at Blockbuster last November!
_5. I was 18 years old.

...

Dear Myself: 6/19/2003

_Two days ago I turned the big 1-8!!! 18 years! That's a long time. 18 years of heartache, happiness and memories. All to be summed up on this little sheet of paper?! This'll be one tough yearbook entry.
_Well, I'll start with what my future looks like from here. Dave means the world to me, & we've already discussed marriage (& me keeping my name, even though I probably won't). I love him so much (I feel really immature saying that to my 21... no, 22-year-old self!!!) (LOL I was never good at math). I hope that my wandering heart won't mess things up between the two of us. Next year Im headed off to Western. I'm not sure if I want to go or not- & I can't decide if that's because I don't feel ready for college. To live on my own, with some random person I've never met before?! ...But another part of me just wants me to grab life by the horns & enjoy every minute (which I know I will). As far as what I want to do... well, the choices are few, & as a music teacher my future looks bleak. I hope new doors and opportunities will be opened up to me in college.
_What about these last few years?! Where did they go?! Every year gets shorter and shorter. I miss Lindbergh, and all my friends there (every time I went back to visit, I turned invisible). Changing schools was (to THIS point) the biggest mistake I've made. The kids here at Liberty are friendly enough, but they're just not my peers. I graduate tomorrow from a foreign school, surrounded by foreign students.
_Katie Caldwell & I are still best friends, I know it. (I mean YOU, @ 22). Her & I (right now) are inseperable- even though we haven't talked for a while, I know & feel that she will always be there for me. Mindy, my best friend throughout high school... I bet 20$ we're not talking. I love her... but, ya know. Katie Corman?! Of Course- we've lasted 16 years, I'm sure a few more won't kill us.
_I don't know who you are, or what you're doing (still at Western? Still working at Blockbuster? LOL- I hope not)... but whatever it is, I hope you're happy. I hope you're with who you want to be with (even if it's not Dave anymore), & I hope you've found a career path that makes you happy every day. I hope you've quit contemplating suicide. I hope your breathing gets better, and your arthiritis doesn't get worse. I hope you've learned how to cook, do your laundry, and balance your budget.
_Jacqui, WOW! You've already lived 18 + 4 years of your life!! I can't even imagine... Congratulations on everything you've accomplished! Don't give up on your dreams- they're all you've got that can never be taken away from you.

_Jacqui Sandor
_18 yrs., 0 months, 2 days, 7 hrs., 2 minutes

Science experiments in my car:
1. The month-old banana in a bag on the floor. An experiment in decomposition.
2. The syrup leftover in my cup holder. An experiment in evaporation (the paper cup melted and soaked through, the water evaporated leaving the sticky syrup).
3. How long can a car run while still needing: a) a new transmission, b) a new cv joint, c) a new tire and d) gas. An experiment in stupidity and finances.

Entities currently supporting me:
1. FEMA
2. DHAP-HUD
3. New Orleans Musician's Clinic

Doctors currently being seen:
1. Physical therapist
2. Psychologist
3. Dentist
4. Surgeon
5. Rheumatologist
6. General Physician
oy vey

Bills that are overdue:
1. Energy, three months.
2. Washington Mutual, one month.
3. Geico, two months.

Um, yeah, so I'm really tired of doing the FAFSA.
_I have a Bachelor's Degree, right. I'm done. I work for myself, live by myself and pay my own stupid annoying terrible bills.
_I am still a dependant of my parents until I turn 24.
_My parents sold their house last year, making their income SKYROCKET.
_The EFC this year is $99,999.
_Me = Fucked

Katie Caldwell is in town, meaning nobody is getting enough sleep right now. It doesn't help that we're now staying out in Metairie, a good half hour drive to anything exciting. We are having a really good time, though..
_The first night Katie came in town, we went out to the Circle Bar to see a band called Country Fried. The Circle Bar is on Lee Circle, and is the only building within a good five block radius that is older than five years old. Much older, actually. It is such a weird place. The walls are all blood red and the accents are black. The front looks like a bar, but the side room where the musicians play has some strange decorations. There is a huge (like 7 or 8 feet across) clock on the ceiling that tells the wrong time. Above the fireplace are three African-inspired wooden monkeys (speak, hear and see no evil). On the left side are three beautiful Japanese paintings of cherry blossoms. On the back wall is a painting of a Tiki doll. The bands that play here range from heavy rock to jazz to French folk to country, which is what Country Fried is (think Johnny Cash and Neil Young).
_While we were out, Rachel, my beautiful and hilarious and marvelous neighbor, asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. That was really great :) :)
_Two nights ago, hindered by getting out at 11 from Cabaret, we went to Reginelli's for pizza and headed over to Tipitina's uptown to see an amazing local group, Good Enough for Good Times. And they are, let me tell you. This band is comprised of some of the best jazz musicians in the city, and they play rockish music. I guess you could call them a jam band. We were out until 3 a.m.
_Last night, again hindered by Cabaret, we went out for some beignets at Cafe du Monde and headed over to Frenchman Street. There were a lot of people out there last night, I think there was some kind of after party for some wedding or something. It's when I go down there with other people that I realize how many people I know. Doug even said something ("When we get down here it's always crazy to see the sheer volume of people that Jacqui knows that I just don't"). I ended up sitting in with a band at the Spotted Cat and playing a bass solo, if you'll believe that, though it was a little rusty and makes me laugh every time I think about it.
_We got home late again last night, bleh. I woke up this morning because my brain won't let me sleep. I have to go get a job, I can't believe how broke I am again.
_::sigh:: Waiting tables: here I come.
_Oh, one last thing: Doug and I have found a place together. It's a town house out in Metairie, and it's so big and wonderful and affordable and they have no problem with Miss Janey!!! HOOORRRAAAYYYYY!!!

So the past three weekends of my life (next weekend is the last weekend) have been spent in the musical throes of Cabaret, the musical. As a bass player, let me assure you, this is nothing exciting. At all.
_However, upon YouTubing it (man, all these new twentieth-century words: googling, youtubing, truthiness) I came to a new (or finally just came to an) appreciation of the musical itself.
_For those of you who don't know the story behind Cabaret... or for those of you who have only seen the movie, I'll make some clarifications here:
_Cabaret is set in 1930s Berlin. Basically it's about how three or four different lives are tossed about in the upcoming political party's ideals (yes, the Nazis)... so, pretty heavy material, actually.
_The emcee and Sally Bowles and her friends work at the Cabaret at night... in the musical she actually gets fired after her first scene (so, our musical lovingly put in the original "Don't Tell Mama" as WELL as "Mein Herr" from the movie... we did this a couple times making for an excrutiatingly 2-hour long first act. We're always there from 8-11 or from 2-5. Yup.), but in the movie she works there the entire time. She's actually the British one and Cliff, her lovable homosexual male friend who actually turns out to be BIsexual, is the American, but for the movie they switched roles so Liza Minelli, who does a fanTAStic job, could be the American (so they got Michael York to be Cliff. Yes, Austin Power's boss).
_Cliff and Sally live in a residence owned by Freulein (sp? I'm not German...) Schneider and her boyfriend-turned-fiancee Frau (again, sp?) Schultz, yes, a Jew. At the end of the musical she decides to break the engagement because the Nazis are coming in a wonderful soliloquy:
"All my life I have managed for myself. And it is too old a habit to change. I have battled alone - and I have survived. There was a war - and I survived. There was a revolution - and I survived. There was an inflation - billions of marks for one loaf of bread - and I survived! And if the Nazis come - I will survive. And if the Communists come, I will still be here - renting these rooms! For in the end, what other choice have I? This...is my world! (softly) I regret very much returning the fruit bowl. It is truly magnificant. I regret...everything
_Usually gets some applause.
_Enough of the review. If you want to come see it, do, it's the last weekend, we put on a hell of a show, and I'm really proud to be a part of this production, no matter how boring the bass parts may be.
_It's just really interesting being a part of this now, with what's going on HERE, in the US, today...
_Really, really, really, really, really interesting.
_What have we got now? Another Bush, or the next Julius Caesar.
_Maybe it's time to "leave Berlin."
_"But we love it here!"
_"Sally, wake up, the party's over! It was fun, but now... it's over."

_"I love this place! It's so tacky and terrible and everyone's having such a great time! If this was a movie, you know what would happen? A volcano would explode, or a tornado would hit..."
(or a hurricane?...)

Okay, this may be a little gross, but it's sooo funny I had to say something.
_So, I have a UTI (I get them rather too frequently for my taste...), and am on those silly little red pills that make your pee reddish orange. This is background information.
_At the musical, I had to go to the bathroom before the show started, so I started walking over to the backstage bathroom. As I'm ALMOST there, one of the cast members runs in front of me, snickering and waving, and takes the bathroom first. I rolled my eyes (I mean, I did have to play before he had to be on stage, after all)... and started pacing.
_One of the main characters pssted at me and opened a dressing room (the other main character's) for me to use his toilet. I smiled and thanked him and went in.
_I peed and flushed the toilet. And it didn't flush.
_This is a private dressing room; there is no disguising whose pee this was. I was mortified as I looked at my bright orange pee and opened the back of the toilet (sho nuff, no water)... thinking about what the cast would be whispering about 'the bass player' later.
_I dashed into the dressing room and began searching for ANYTHING that could help me out.
_Then, seriously, as my eyes ran over the garbage can, the Mentos song ran through my head. I grabbed the plastic bag (because the can was too big to fit under the faucet) and filled it up with water. It was slow, and I only managed to flush it a half time and dilute the rest of the pee to a normal color before I had to get back on stage... but, Jesus Christ.
_Anyway, I alerted the man that his dressing room's toilet didn't work and he told me he was already aware of that.
_::sigh::

So.
_As of the 2008-2009 school year, I will be the ONLY string director for the archdiocese (which runs over 40 schools in the Greater New Orleans Area)... and the FIRST string director since 1973.
_Sister Hillary told me that people have brought her proposals to bring strings back to the youth of the New Orleans area before, but she's turned them down, thinking they couldn't handle it. "For some reason," she says, "I think you can."
_Handshake, and I'm in.
_Other great karmic things ensued during our discussion... unfortunately, since this is the internet and people who may know said karmic entity may read this blog (well, maybe!)...... All I'm going to say is I am VERY excited.
_Also, health insurance is included.
_Hooray!

We welcomed him into our circle and after high school all split up. Yesterday, he brought us all back together.
The service was... okay, I guess. The parents and family spoke, and I was able to hug them and catch up a little afterwards... and offer my condolences.
How wild.
It's a reality check, really. One day, it will be all of us.
"Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?"

Don't think of him as gone away--
his journey's just begun,
life holds so many facets--
this earth is only one.
Just think of him as resting
from the sorrows and the tears
in a place of warmth and comfort
where there are no days and years.
Think how he must be wishing
that we could know today
how nothing but our sadness
can really pass away.
And think of him as living
in the hearts of those he touched...
for nothing loved is ever lost--
and he was loved so much.
-E. Brenneman

Oh. My. God.

http://www.komotv.com/news/18401469.html

I'll be home this weekend/next week for the funeral.

::is in total shock::

R.I.P. Gus and Sydney. You're already missed.

edit:
I can't wrap my mind around this, like at all. Maybe it's because I haven't talked to Gus in a couple years, or maybe it's because I live so far away, but I just don't believe myself.
There's no way he's REALLY gone.
I can't even imagine what his family must be going through right now.
I don't know, I thought I'd have more to say on the matter but... what is there to say, I guess. I'm waiting on word for when the service is going to be held and as soon as I know I'm heading to the airport on standby.
::sigh:: I wonder how pet travel works with standby flying.
I am s.o. tired and feel soooo far removed from this whole thing. It's unbelievable.......