cbus baptism by fire

warning: this is going to be a long post, but there are some funny stories and i hope they translate well in written form…

first of all, today is my 27th birthday and anyone that really knows me, knows that i LOVE my birthday. it is the one day of the year that i unashamedly do whatever i want and don’t feel bad about making other people do whatever i want with me. but, i must start the story with last night. dan (my ever tolerant husband) and i drove home from vacation in duck, nc (yes, that’s really the town name). it was a long and crazy 12 hour drive through the middle of god knows where west virginia. we drove straight to columbus and unloaded the car. we only had a little more than what we took on vacation, so we were basically camping in our new apartment until we officially move this coming weekend (can’t wait, by the way). anyway, dan had a few things that he needed at home in cincinnati, so he decided to go ahead and make the trek down. he left and i was left alone to get the house settled and scope out my new school. after an awesome meal at my new favorite restaurant northstar (crappiest website ever), i took a jog down to ramseyer hall. it’s 1.6 miles away, so i figured i could kill two birds with one stone. i don’t know if you’ve ever run down a busy street before (if you are female) and had stupid guys yell stupid things. well, i HATE that and i have a whole theory about it that i will spare you for the moment. regardless, i was running down the street and some guy yells out the window, “you run funny!” wow. never heard that one. my ego took a little beating, but i have to say it was a refreshing change from “hey, baby” or the classic “wooo.” so after that i found the building i was looking for and came back home. dan’s trip took a little longer than expected, so he didn’t get home until about 11 at which time it promptly started to thunderstorm. it was awesome timing, since we were both exhausted and dan had decided to bring his bajillion dollar tv with him.

so fast forward to today. today, my birthday! i get to do whatever i want! so, i get up early and decide to go back to my new favorite restaurant (northstar, a mere stone’s throw from the new digs) and i also decide to drag dan with me (not a morning person). he was a good sport though and the breakfast was even better than last night’s dinner (and part of me was really glad that the same crew doesn’t work nights and then open in the morning). after that, it was time to gear up and head to my first class. i had my bookbag and i had my bike.

yes, i rode it with a skirt on, but i promise you, everything was covered. so, i hop on and head down high street. i’m a little anxious about my class and the last thing i need is something stressful to deal with. so i’m stopping at a stoplight, like a good biker and some scraggly looking guy comes out of one of the storefronts. i assumed he worked there, but i was wrong. suddenly, he starts to ask me about a restaurant in grandview, but he is looking all around (like a crazy person) and then starts talking about something else. i was going to tell him that i just moved here, but then i figured that there was no need as he was… crazy. so, the light turns green and i pedal away without saying a word to him and i turn my head to look back and he is… running after my bike! i shout, “what are you doing?” as i quickly pedal away. i lost him, but my heart was racing so fast that i thought i was going to puke. then, of course i had to call dan and tell him. that sucked because he’s the paranoid one, so this did not go my way. it was a little bit of a wake up call though, to be cautious and buy mace! does anyone know where you can buy that stuff?

so, i finally made it to class safely, locked my bike up and was even early (marcy, are you proud?). the class was awesome! everyone was nice and down to earth. the class was larger than i anticipated (about 20) and it was nice to be able to listen and blend in for awhile. i was afraid these classes would all have 5 students and be high pressure, but that wasn’t the case today anyway. my professor is an old hilarious tenured professor that assured us that he didn’t give a crap about grade inflation. the conversation today was on how technology is changing american schooling (good and bad). later on in the quarter, we will be discussing how spirituality plays a role in education. i am so excited! the professor told us that we could pick up our textbooks at sbx, which i had to write down, since i had no idea what it was. during a break, i had to ask another student, who knew it was a book store but only sort of knew where it was and then another girl chimed in that she didn’t know, but she would come with me to try to find it. word spread and soon, about 8 of us were going to look for the place, when a super nice and excited asian guy with a heavy accent informed us that he knew where the book store was and he would lead us all there! so, after class, here were 8 american girls following a non-american (no idea what country) to the ohio state book store. alas, when we got there, there were no copies of the book, so our new friend sung yu declared, “i know another bookstore!” so we followed him a few blocks further to another place where there were only two copies of the book and somehow i ended up with one. sweet.

finally, back home to my new apartment (no crazy incidents on the way this time) and dan and i decide to walk to the north market. dan, being mr. gadget that he is, times the walk on his nifty watch and we find out that it’s only 18 minutes away. how cool is that? we both get japanese food and all is well. we get back home and dan goes back to “work” (the spare bedroom) and i get to calling everyone that so nicely had already left me a message or sent a gift for my special day. it was very great to talk to everyone. after “work,” dan took me too look at a used scooter that he found on craigslist. it was a 2004 TNG Venice and it was a great deal… and we saw why. it was really dirty. well, dan won’t have his woman driving an icky scooter, so we lit on outta there.

THEN, since we had no shower curtain at the apartment and had been either bathing (me) or showering with the head pointed in the corner (dan), we decided to make a quick trip to target to get one. it was a nice target, but they didn’t carry mace, so i was very disappointed. the employee that i asked also informed us that someone else had just asked him that and he had no idea where to get it either. i am both worried and perplexed. after target, since it was my birthday and dan is a good sport, we went to this granola-y hippie-ish cafe and got healthy dinners, followed by a trip to the clintonville community market, another granola-y place where i went nuts buying bulk spices and grains (i’ve been pretty into cooking lately). it was fun for me, but we were there FOREVER. however, dan remained an okay sport (i could hear him gritting his teeth). THEN, i decided that i really needed to go get ice cream since it was my birthday and all (even though i celebrated it in duck with the fam). we went to a place called jeni’s splendid ice creams. oh my god, it was better than splendid. it was the best ice cream in the world and they have the coolest flavors. i got a cone with three different flavors: gravel road, thai chili (way better than it sounds) and pistachios and honey (full list in the link). i

was sad when it was over, but i did get a pint of salty caramel to take home because dan said “whatever you want baby.” he only calls me baby when he’s about had it. if you made it this far, i thank you for taking enough interest. i am hoping to update this at least once a week to keep all my pals, heritage friends and family up to date on my new life, since a little piece of me is with all of you.