The Joys of Closing

Pets on delivery - The First

I love when I get a warning at the door!

While on delivery I never know what's going to happen at the door.  It could be anything.  Small children screaming, adults screaming, music blasting, the disgusting smells of the pack-rat, the delicious smells of the baker, etc. But I know what to prepare for when I hear one thing: I walk up to the door and all is quiet.  I reach out my hand to knock when suddenly, upon the first touch of knuckle to door, there is a massive explosion of barking on the other side.  I've heard so many different kinds: the hound dog, the ankle biter, the excited, and the protective.

When I hear this explosion, I know that I need to be prepared for whatever is going to shoot out that door and I tighten my grip on my pizza bag in preparation.  Twice, so far, I've been left standing at the door holding pizzas, completely dumbfounded as dog took off running down the street.  The owner shoots out the door running after the dog cussing up an angry storm, leaving me behind wondering what I should do next.

Not all dogs are bad, though.  I see so many that are so well behaved.  Some of them simply crack me up. There are many dogs that will remain in my memory for a very long time.

One of them is an English Bulldog.  I've delivered to his home about three times now.  As soon as I knock on the door I can hear him on the other side.  He doesn't bark, though.  He snorts.  This dog is so excited when the door opens.  He doesn't run and jump on me or anything (I think he might be too fat), he paces around the door snorting like a hungry piggy, almost to the point of hyperventilation.  I just want to cuddle him and give him loves.  His owners laugh at my reaction to him every time.  And tip pretty well, too!

Dogs make great conversation pieces at the door.  I delivered to a house that had a Boston Terrier who was missing an eye.  I made a comment about it and got a story about how one of the bigger dogs hit him and it took his eye out. They're waiting for doggy goggles to come in the mail.  Apparently this is something that people commonly use for dogs like the Boston Terrier.  Since he's got buggy eyes, they're in more danger of injury, so they get doggy goggles to protect the eyeballs.  I learned something new that day.

So this will be my first of my "Pets on Delivery" series.  As my stories come, I will continue to post them here.  Hopefully I can get some good ones to provide a little bit of entertainment for you.

I will simply leave you today with word of advice, my friends - If you have a runner and you order pizza, prepare for my arrival! You know I'm coming.  Put your dog in the back room when I knock on the door.  It would make our transaction so much easier in the end.  And you don't have to stand at the door kicking your dog back.

Until next time!

Do Not Feed Banana

On our delivery tags we have a section for special directions to assist the driver to arrive in a timely manner. There are notes like "second house on the left" or "walk path to side of house." When customers order online, they have control over what is written in that section. More and more customers have been finding this feature and have been writing some interesting directions. We consider ourselves to be a fun bunch, so we try to humor them whenever we can. Most of the time the directions will tell us to draw something on the pizza box. A few weeks ago I drew a pretty rockin' T-Rex with a jet pack. I was proud of it, anyway.

Just the other day, one of my coworkers came up to me and asked me an interesting question. He says, "Have you ever delivered to the banana?" My immediate response was a gasp of surprise accompanied by, "Yes! Did you deliver to the banana?"

A couple months ago I picked up my delivery to put in the bag and the directions on the tag said, "Do not feed banana." I stared at it for a few seconds, wondering if I had read it right.  I asked around to see if this was a phone order and what anyone thought of the directions.  Finally, I just decided I would see what it meant when I got there.  That sort of thing happens a lot.  I'll get directions on a delivery tag that make no sense whatsoever - until I arrive on location and everything becomes clear.  So I take the banana delivery.

This was at a house I've delivered to several times before.  I think it's just a bunch of college kids who live there.  So I knocked on the door and upon the door opening, I found myself face to face with a grown man (young adult, I suppose) in a child's banana costume.  There was a short moment of us just looking at each other.  He then reaches his arms out excitedly for the food, expecting me to give it to him.  Of course, I have been directed to not feed the banana, so I told him so.  His eyes went down and he slumped in sadness but then perked up and tried reaching for the food again.  As he did so, someone else came running around the corner screaming, "NO! No, Banana!  No food for you!  You do not get pizza.  NO! Get back! Go away!"  The banana man then runs away in terror and I complete the transaction with the mostly normal man, receiving a five dollar tip for playing along.

Moral of the story?  Have fun! Be silly! Give big tips!  JK on the last part. Kinda.  But really, the whole experience was a lot of fun, made my night, and gave me a great story to tell.  So thank you, Anderson House.  I appreciate you guys.

The Summer of All Summers - The Process

This summer will be the most epic, most amazing, most exciting summer ever to be had.  Brandon and I have been married for almost seven years now and ever since the beginning he's been saying he wanted to travel Europe.  We've been saying over and over again, "Next year will be the year.  We'll have enough money by then."  (Ever seen Up?) Well, honestly, we're never going to have enough money.  That's how it is for big life decisions.  Unless you somehow run into a million dollars, or you live in a box for fifteen years while saving whatever you make, you're just not going to have enough.  You're never stable enough for children.  You're never wealthy enough for a new house.  And you won't have enough for a European tour.  I know, I'm speaking in absolutes right now.  It's not always that way.  But it's often enough.  This year we've decided (or, he decided and I agreed) that we're going where we want to go - no matter what.

For the last few years we've been building up a vacation fund and we've finally both committed to contributing to it.  We're now adding in leftover student loans, tax refunds, and gifts.  I think we're at a few thousand dollars now.  Pretty good, right?  Well, the plan we have right now is going to cost quite a bit more.  Now, I know the immediate reaction to this: "Holy frick; what are you doing?!" That quote is not only for the travel, but any extra expenses.  We'll have bills here at home while we're gone, along with the supplies we need to get, flights, travel between countries, food, housing, phones, etc.  So all that to say this: We're going into debt for this trip.  It's been decided.  So there.


The original plan was just to go to Europe and to see as many sights as possible in the span of one month.  We figure we would use this time we have when we're young, have jobs we can leave behind, and have no kids, to see the big stuff.  Then, when our kids are grown and moved out we can go back and see the smaller things we missed.  While we were moving forward with that plan, a woman came into my Spanish class to tell us about a study abroad program in Mexico.  This is a six week program and it would cover my entire second year of Spanish.  Again - I would not have to take Spanish at all next year or ever again!  We'll take it!  The program supports families, so Brandon can come along and it would be part vacation part accomplishing things!  So now our Europe trip has turned into a Mexico and Europe summer vacation.


Brandon has been able to do a lot of research in regards to where to go, how to get there, and how much everything will cost.  I think we've got a pretty legit plan going on.  It isn't set in stone or anything.  Right now we're discussing switching Mexico and Europe.  If we do the last session of Mexico, then we could have an extra week in Europe.  The only downside with that plan is that I would be spending ten days there by myself and would have to fly home alone.  Brandon's master's program starts at the end of August and he needs to be back home in time.  I think this is the direction we're going to end up taking anyway.


So, this is going to be part travel blog.  As we make progress in planning our trip of a lifetime I will make updates on what is going on.  Just yesterday I ordered my passport.  When that arrives I have an update in mind, so keep an eye out for it.  I should be getting it in four to six weeks.  Tomorrow, I should be getting my backpack and walking shoes so I can break them in in time.
So there it is, my friends. Until next week!


Europe
Amsterdam (1 night)

The map my amazing husband created

• Tour with Marc and Rimalda

Prague (2 nights)

• Traditional pub?
• Bunkr Parukarka (night club)

Munich (2 nights)

• Memmingen (1.5 hour bus ride away)

Venice (2 nights)

• Gondolae

Rome (4 nights)

• Colosseum
• Vatican
• St. Peter’s

Barcelona (2 nights)

Paris (4 nights)

• Lourve
• Eiffel tower,
• Arc de triomphe
• Beaches of Normandy?

London (3 nights)

• Palace
• Bath, stonehenge day trip

Dublin (2 nights)

• Ancient tombs and junk
• Pubs

Fly back to Amsterdam and then to home!

The Life of a Journalism Student

Notes, pizza, energy drink, purple earbuds and
Final Cut Pro.  My best friends for the night.

It's 2:30 Friday morning and where am I? Not at home snuggling with my husband and kitties. No matter how much I dream of that, I'm at school. Putting together a video for a group project. I think I'm going to go home soon. I've done what my brain can handle. But first thing in the morning I'm going to come back and do some more!

This seems to happen quite frequently as a journalism student. And I'm not the only one. There are at least three other students in this building working on their projects. I remember last term there were a few nights when I stayed very very late.

So this is how it is in the world of journalism. Lonely late nights in a scary dark building. My career plan is to be a copy editor. I chose this career because it is something that I can do from home when I have a family. At least when it gets to that point I will be working late in my warm bed with my kitties at my feet and my husband at my side. Cute vision right? Think it will really work out that way? I don't know. But I don't really want any more of this 2:30 in the morning cold, dark lonely building crap.

I just keep reminding myself - One more year. One more year. One more year. You can do it, Jessica! I have faith in you!

Well, until next time, my friends.

A New Beginning

Hey Blogger world! I'm restarting this blog. All sorts of fresh. Eventually, it will be my travel blog because my husband and I have some pretty rockin' plans for this summer. But right now, this is where I will cover plans for travel and my experiences working through my last couple years of college. Speaking of which, this post won't be very long because I now have to go to school and work on a video I'm editing. I'm pretty sure the video is going to turn out awesome. We'll see how that works out. New post to come soon. I would like to post at least once a week and get things rolling. Have a rockin' day, my friends!