My Fat Dog And Other Things

I returned to London refreshed and ready to attack life with all the energy I could muster. I felt really relaxed and energized, which was weird since I wasn’t working full time anymore, so what could I possibly need a break from?

Psycho Boss called me five times in the past two days. I had to sooth all of his obsessive compulsive habits (like reminding me fifty bajillion times to skip a row in the time log and mail the damn check). I think they had been building up while I was on vacation. Then I remembered what I needed a break from.

The first thing that I thought about when I got off the plane from London was the doggy and how much I missed cuddling her little piglet shaped body at night. Because even though my dog is fat, it makes her really cute and cuddly. However, yesterday I came back home and Nina the roommate informed me that the dog had managed to knock over the kitchen trash can and eat pretty much everything in there, including some take out I had thrown away. My dog is a ten pound chihuahua (that’s pretty fat for a chihuahua). Even though she’s overweight, the amount of food she managed to eat probably was about 1/10 of her actual weight, which is insane. I picked her up and her stomach was distended and ROCK HARD. She was SO FAT.

I don’t think I can properly convey how rotund she had become after swallowing what must have been at least a pound of food without a picture.

Dog’s stomaches are not supposed to larger than their chests. I mean, that’s just not okay.

So the result of all of this is the dog is now officially on a diet. Only dry food, twice a day, two spoonfuls. Plus daily trips to the park so she can work out a little. I walked her today and she was slower than usual, waddling behind me and panting as if she was running a marathon. I have no idea how she got this fat. No wait, I do. His name is J and he is a big sucker and gives the dog food when I’m not looking.

In other news, J and I are buying a condo. Yes, that’s right, we’ve decided to buy a condo in Chicago. Because when I think about how I could either throw away 50,000+ dollars in rent over four years or use a small inheritance I have to invest into a condo and keep the 50,000+ dollars, the latter option just seems so much better. Unfortunately, this is yet another thing I must accomplish in the 10 short weeks I have left in New York. Just to remind you, I’m also flying to China for two weeks, throwing an engagement party, subletting my place, and finding J a studio apartment in New York. By the end of the year, I will probably never want to meet another realtor again. Ever.

I also vow to post more on this blog. I’ve been slacking a lot lately and my reasons for this will be detailed in the next post, but please know that I am renewing my love for this blog and blogs I read (see side bar) in general. I really need to update that blog roll.

I shall end this post with this wonderful image, which I captured while roaming around London’s Museum of Natural History (they have a section on human biology). It is a picture I fully intend to use on my future children when I must give them “the talk”. After all, it is a rather educational photo. I wish someone had showed this to me - I would have been way less confused as a little girl.

Good night, bloggyland.

Things I’ve Learned In London

1. When in London, LOOK RIGHT before crossing the street.
2. Even taking the tube is incredibly expensive. You buy tickets based on what zone you are traveling in. If you travel within a zone, it still costs 4 pounds one way. That’s EIGHT US DOLLARS. I can’t believe I used to complain about the fact that it costs $2 to take the subway in New York and that gets you ANYWHERE YOU WANT NO MATTER WHAT FOR JUST $2.
3. The weather gods must love me. It’s been 70 degrees and sunny since J and I landed on Tuesday morning. Apparently, according to locals, this never happens, and London is usually drenched in rain, fog, or darkness, just to make sure everyone in London stays miserable. 
4. Fortnum and Mason (a department store) serves the best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had in my entire life. I’m pretty sure whoever cooks those scrambled eggs sold their soul to the devil in return for the perfect scrambled egg recipe. And also having four cups of tea in a row can actually get your really caffeinated.
5. In London, a burger can cost up to 14 pounds, while a glass of wine (and they don’t joke around, the wine glass is filled to the brim) usually costs more like 3.50 pounds. How is it that food here is three times as expensive as New York, and yet alcohol is nearly half the price?
6. Even the most expensive city in the world cannot stop me from buying things - I discovered TopShop (yes that store owned by Kate Moss). It’s sort of like UK’s version of Forever 21 or H&M. Except better, Forever 21 could learn a thing or two from TopShop. Not only where there FOUR flours of clothes (including one floor that was devoted to SHOES), but there was a nail salon, a hair salon and a cafe inside. Oh, and I could actually afford the clothes because they were cheap by London standards (therefore reasonable by my standards).
7. Never travel with a laptop without a laptop sleeve. Otherwise a penny might lodge itself into the cd/dvd drive of your brand new macbook, rendering the drive useless and causing you to make an appointment with the genius bar at the awful 5th avenue Mac store the day you return home.
8. British accents never get boring.
9. Some banks charge a ridiculous fee to withdraw money or charge to your debit card while in a foreign country. Thank god I had sense to look that up and find the only branch in London where I can withdraw money for free. 
10. I think I kind of love London.

To Share Or Not To Share

I’ve been debating whether or not to try and room with another student next year.

My med school has set up an online housing information website where I can find information on renting apartments and also potentially find a roommate. There are a couple of people who said they wouldn’t mind living with dogs and after researching the housing prices in my area it would be significantly cheaper to room with someone.

I visited Chicago a little while ago to attend a revisit weekend with a bunch of other accepted students. I tried to meet up with one girl who I’d emailed about possibly rooming together but I think I might have been a little to overeager to get to know each other. She had emailed back telling me we should definitely talk when we were both in Chicago. When I got to the school, I recognized her name on her tag. The first couple times I approached her we both kept getting sidetracked into other conversations with other prospective students and after that I kind of gave up - she never tried to approach me even though there were several times when we could have talked. I feel stupid and self conscious about the whole thing. Now I feel like I can’t even be friends with that girl because I’ve made such a fool of myself trying to hard to connect. Why am I so socially inept? But, anyway, that’s besides the point.

I also went to a couple of open houses at high rises nearby to look at studio apartments. After my failed attempt at connecting with a possible roommate, I resigned myself to the idea that no one will want to room with me and even if I do find someone it’ll probably end terribly. First of all, I have a dog. Secondly, I have a fiance who will be a frequent visitor. Two things that would completely interfere with my roommate’s living situation. I also don’t think I can live with someone I barely know. Last time I did that, I was a freshman in college, and I was lucky that even worked out. 

The problem is the price of studios that allow pets is still really expensive - like 1200-1300 dollars expensive. That’s about the price of a studio in New York, but you usually end up in a terrible area, with an apartment the size of a closet, whereas in Chicago I’m in a really desirable area and the studio is also four times the size of one I’d get in New York, with a walk in closet, a giant wall closet, a dishwasher and several windows. Also, the building has a doorman, a 24 hour gym, and a pool. It’s so crazy to me how much you can get when you pay that much in other places. I’ve obviously been living in New York too long.

However, beyond all those advantages, as a student, I don’t know how I’m going to afford a high rent like that. I’m sure I can find something cheaper, but it probably won’t be as close to campus or it might not allow pets. So I’m back to seriously considering trying to find a roommate, but it’s a huge risk. I’ve had my fair share of great and awful roommates, and things can go either way. At the same time, it’s been years since I’ve lived alone and I’m kind of eager to have my own place. I know if I say that, when it comes time to live alone, I won’t be able to fall asleep without J at my side. 

Ugh, decisions, decisions. To share or not to share?!?!?!

Where Did All Of My Time Go?

Before, when I was applying to all those schools, things moved at a snail’s pace. It took FOREVER for them to process my applications, decide on whether or not I was worthy of an interview, and then accept or reject me.

Now that I’m in, suddenly I realize I only have 3.5 months left in New York. And during that time, I will be traveling for about 7.5 weeks (though those travels will be interspersed amongst the time I have left), and between the traveling I need to sublet my room to someone who fits my roommate’s description of the perfect replacement, find a new apartment for both me and J, make sure my dog is taken care of while I’m away, and plan all those trips I’m taking. 

Shit.

Those are just the BIG things I must do - there are a million little things I also have to do, like get a visa to China or apply for that credit card that gives all the great mileage. I feel like I have been running around in a blind panic trying to get everything done and on top of that I got really sick last week (seriously, what is up with that, Miriam’s body? WE AREN’T EVEN WORKING FULL TIME. Why are we sick all the time now?). And since all the high schoolers are nearing finals and SATs, my tutoring has doubled (though I have to say I like the money). Psycho Boss is getting on my nerves more than usual (and I thought he had hit the top). He sent me a photocopy of some form I had to fill out for him (because he is insane and needs everything annotated/filled in/noted JUST IN CASE I DIE AND HE DOESN’T REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED) to criticize me on how I should write the last name of students in CAPITAL LETTERS LIKE THIS. HE IS INSANE.

So the point of this post is just to explain why I’ve been MIA the past couple of weeks. Because my life is crumbling down on top of me. Not in a bad, terrible way. It’s sort of like my life is this old building. And the lot just got bought out to put a nice, new building into it. But first we must destroy the old building. See, right now that old building IS FALLING ON TOP OF ME.

I can’t wait until it gets rebuilt. 

Oh yeah, I’m heading to London next week - tagging along on a business trip of J’s, since the hotel is free. I will attempt to enjoy London without spending ANY money because damn that place is expensive.