1. YOUR REAL NAME: Katherine Marie Budirs

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 4 letters of real name plus izzle.)
Kathiizzle

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Green Zebra

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (ur middle name and street u live on)
Marie Winnemac

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name.)
Budka

6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (Your 2nd favorite color, and favorite drink).
Maroon Wine

7. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, 1st letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, and last letter of your moms middle name)
Admably

8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (parents middle names)
Mary Robert

9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Bob

10. YOUR PORN STAR NAME: (first pet's name, and name of the street you grew up on).
Sparky Dawes

packing packing packing...

i like how i've hired movers, and yet.... by my rough count i will be taking approximately 8-10 trips up and down the stairs by myself to carry cleaning supplies so i can prep the place, and fragile items like frames to hang on the wall and dishes and such that i didn't want to properly pack.

hm.

something about the way the rain and the grass and the temperature are all mixing together is producing the most wonderful smell.... and it's unmistakably the scent of camp ondessonk. and it's making me incredibly excited to spend a week there in july. last summer, my week volunteering at camp was the BEST, most relaxing, most enjoyable, most real week i'd had in a very, very long time. and i have a feeling this year's trip will NOT disappoint.

new job

why oh why am i not sleeping in right now? i woke up this morning around 6:15, 8:00, and finally 9:30 when i gave up cause it's so hot and sticky in my room. i think without teaching i'm finally on some sort of regular schedule. i go to bed around midnight (wha?? so early!) and get up around 7:15 so i can leave for work by 8. this is going to have to change once my real work schedule kicks in, which includes a few 4pm-11pm shifts...

meanwhile, it feels fabulous not to be stuck in an office. the cultural center and cafe are not open yet, because construction is not finished yet. but it's coming alone. they are working on the last room of the building (the cafe seating area) and yesterday put in the ceiling and almost all the windows. so i guess once that room is sealed off, we're down to paint, wood finish, dusting, flooring in the cafe seating, cleaning and finishing the floor everywhere else.... little things, but alot of them. HOPEFULLY that all gets accomplished next week so the cafe crew can stop pretending we know how to help with construction, and we can actually set up the cafe equipment and get to some training. i've literally spent my week climbing up and down ladders to dust the rafters and then to stain them. oh, except for yesterday when i was outside cleaning the giant grill that belongs to our funder. i am very sunburned.

it's also really wonderful to be working with people under age 30. i don't even know how old all my coworkers are, but i know we have no high schoolers, and everyone seems very young and vibrant and diverse and cool. i don't know that i'll end up with any lifelong friends out of this, like i did with working at the pool. but it's just nice to be around passionate people and not stuck in an office with people over 40 all day.

i feel like i had more to say about other things in my life. but now i've either forgotten them or don't know how to put them into words. so instead i think i'll get on with my day of making phone calls and packing and getting ready for the big move. yay chicago in a week!

my life is becoming

i quit my job yesterday. (gave 2 weeks notice). cannot even begin to express how good it felt.

and of course, i have some mixed emotions. they've been unbelievably flexible with me for the last 3 years as i went through grad school and started applying for teaching jobs. i've taken vacations and days off and set my own hours. i'm certainly going to miss that. and we frequently order out for lunch, and end up drinking wine at the office on special occasions, and laugh and have a good time. we gossip a little and poke fun at one another. a few coworkers in particular i will miss.

but overall, it's time to move on. it's BEEN time. i officially have 6 more scheduled days at the office. and then...

i've been hired as an assistant cafe manager at boocoo (www.boocoo.org) where i'm already scheduled to teach tap and poetry classes a few nights a week. although this means working some nights and weekends, i'll never have to work before 10am. which means i can be the night owl that i am. and with 3 managers, there is some flexibility. and it's all organic and fair trade. it's all affordable. it's a good organzation with good people. (and health insurance!) it's good for me AND good for the community.

and so i'm spending my summer living in chicago, working for a nonprofit organization where i will be making coffee, dancing, and writing.... this is my life. i mean, MY life. the life i've been looking for since partway through college, back when i started joking about how i just wanted to be a barista and an artist all the time. and now i'm doing it. in the fall, i'll start up again teaching at harper college, and my cafe hours will cut back. it's all just falling into place. all of a sudden.

it's a little surreal, watching your life actually BECOME your life, right before your eyes...

check me out!

http://boocoo.org/katie_b_w.php
http://boocoo.org/katie_b.php

i've had 3 people ask me in the last two weeks if i've been losing weight.

heck yes, i have.

:)