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Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
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Well, it's expected that I write a little blurb now that the election is over and I did so much to support a failed candidate. Chris is still mourning McCain's loss, but he was so optimistic where I think I was a little more realistic about the expected outcome, and I have already moved on to embrace this new president elect and pray that he does good things for our country.
John McCain's concession speech was the best speech I think I've ever heard from a politician. He executed it gracefully and what he said was absolute truth. Of course both McCain and Obama love our country and want what's best for it. Now that the election is over, we must embrace this future and do our best to work together to, in the words of President Bush, form a more perfect union. And I look forward to what Obama has to offer, even though I'll admit I am also nervous about what may come.
I know it was a big day for our country. It's hard to believe that just 40, 50 years ago, the civil rights movement was in full swing. It's amazing that our country has come so far in so short of time--that there are people who lived to see white and black people segregated and then integrated and now to see that once oppressed race succeeding and leading. I know what a monumental moment in history that is and I think it's wonderful. While I know it must be talked about and recognized, I really am uncomfortable, though, with what emphasis is being placed on race. Just this morning, someone posted on their facebook status that he was proud of America for electing a black president. Really, it seems like it should have read he was proud of America for electing a GOOD president. And while Obama may very well end up being both, I don't see why someone would be proud of their country, a country that has come so far in the past half-century, for doing something that, at least to me, isn't so shocking. I really don't feel like color was a factor in this presidential race at all. And now that he's won, it seems to have been the most important factor. I know it has to be talked about, and I'm just as happy and proud as any other American citizen. I would just prefer that Americans be proud that they elected a man fit for the position and not a man of a different color than all of the other presidents who went before him.
But that's neither here nor there. It's not his color that will make him a good president. It's his intelligence and heart and work ethic. And I truly look forward to seeing what he's capable of. And I truly hope that I was wrong and Obama will prove to be just what this country needs. If ever America needed prayers, the time is now, so I suppose I best be getting on knees.
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Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
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Now I'm not interested in stepping on anyone's toes or starting any debates. If people read this and they want to talk more about it calmly and RATIONALLY, that is totally fine with me. I'm simply doing this for myself to outline and organize my thoughts and I'm doing it a little bit for you in case I spark any thoughts you may not have considered up till now.
I have never been more interested in any other presidential campaign before. I'm actually doing my reading and I check the news daily for people's opinions and new information. I'm not basing any of my judgements on whether or not a candidate has a good "vibe" or is a good public speaker. Obviously, they're good public speakers... they're in politics. And I think a lot of people get moved by the speech and don't listen to the words.
I am a John McCain supporter. I know he's a Republican. I know he's on the same "side" as Bush. I know he's old as dirt. None of those are important, though. What's important is what he's going to do for the country.
We've heard about John McCain's "experience" as much as we've heard about Obama's "need for change," but McCain's experience is actually something that holds water, where Obama's change is merely a word. John McCain knows our country and he know war and he'd dealt with everything his country has dealt with for the last 70 years... and it's been through a lot. In his speech, he mentioned his plans on how he was to deal with Russia as to prevent another Cold War, which he should know how to do considering he was here for the last one! Now that's saying something. He's seen what works and what doesn't work. And I can only hope that he'll take these experiences and put them to good use when he's in office.
John McCain knows war. He knows what it's like to defend his country. He knows what it's like to see his friends die. He knows what it's like for the American people to have their sons and daughters gone with the possibly of never returning. War sucks. We all know this. But you can't escape war. World peace is impossible. It just is. There are still countries out there that are too backward or too violent or not yet advanced as we are and they still depend on war and aren't willing to talk it out, so we have to be prepared for that. John McCain still wants to get us out of Iraq, but he knows you can't just pull the troops out. It has to be done moderately and carefully. And we still have a goal... we want to make sure they've establish government before we leave, and if we just pull out all our troops and leave them to fend for themselves, things will go back to the way they were and all of it will have been for nothing. And if Obama just pulls everyone out because he's pro-peace, terrorists may seem him as weak and attempt to harm our country again. And I really really don't want to go through that again. I mean, do you see a man worth being feared when you look at little skinny young Barack Obama?
Now I know the economy sucks and that a lot of Americans don't have health care and that college is getting more expensive by the semester. But I'm not sure how much of that is the president's responsibility. Yes, he should help the economy in ways that he can. Definitely. But the Michigan economy is so much worse than some other states. Some states aren't having any economy problems. Which leads me to believe that the states should be doing more for themselves. Where is Jennifer Granholm? Why isn't she coming up with any bright ideas? When the economy in my state sucks, the president is not the first person I'd think to go to. If my state sucks more than others, then I want to know what my state is doing wrong.
I haven't had health care for going on three years now. Yes, it's expensive for people who don't have the opportunity. But to be honest, I don't feel like my country is to blame for my not having health care. I don't feel that health care is a right, really. I mean, if I'm bleeding profusely out of my abdomen and I get myself to a hospital, yes, I expect that I would be treated there, is anything, just out of the goodness of the doctor's hearts. But the every day health care of doctor's checkup, dentist appointments... those aren't things I expect for free. They aren't critical. I feel like if health care is universalized, than it will be like how there's only one cable company allowed--you have to pay an arm and a leg and all for crappy service. But it's all the upper middle class people who will have to pay, which makes it worse, because then it's only a select group paying as opposed to everyone. And living around three charities, I see that there are plenty of people that just milk the government giveaways for everything they can instead of going out and getting a job that offers them health care. I think that's the problem, really. People need to get off their butts and find a job that includes health care if they want health care. Me, I'm just too lazy to find a job like that, and I blame myself and no one else, certainly not the government. Obama's idea about universal health care just echoes communism to me.
As does his policies on education. Personally, I don't want everyone going to college. I want people to be smart, but already I have a degree that doesn't get me anywhere, because so many people have the same degree as me. A college degree is like a diamond. It's valuable because it's not easy to get. But nowadays, ANYONE can get a college degree if you have the time and the money. Now if you want to get anywhere in life, you need a master's or a PhD. So what are we gonna do when everyone is going to college? We're gonna have all these over-qualified people doing crappy jobs, because you know there aren't enough professional jobs available. Yes, everyone DOES deserve the same opportunites, but life isn't fair and this isn't a utopian society. Not everyone can have the same opportunities as everyone else, but that builds character and that makes heroes. No, people shouldn't HAVE to struggle, but life shouldn't be made cushy for them either. They should have to work for what they want. It shouldn't be handed to them on a plate.
What I liked best about John McCain's speech is that he motivated the people to take things into their own hands. You aren't satisfied with the education our children are getting? Become a teacher. You think we need better policies? Become a politician. THAT is the American Dream. If you don't like it, change it. America is what it is because people explored and ventured forth and fought for what they believed in and what they wanted and worked hard. We're not a bunch of charity cases. We don't want to get handed our lives on a plate. We want to make something of ourselves and be better than we've been. And I feel that John McCain can lead us in that direction.
Also, as far as Sarah Palin in concerned, I know she was kind of a crazy choice for a VP. And yes, she runs a state that America sometimes forgets it owns, but it's a very important state that has very delicate needs. She has to deal with things that only a few select states have to deal with and that's nature. I can't imagine Alaska is an easy state to run, especially with half its people gone in the winter and many of them spread about and in the wilderness. I give her great respect for taking care of a state like that. Not to mention, she has great experience in dealing with oil companies, and we need someone like that on our side. She knows how that industry works and who to talk to and how to talk to them, and in a time when our country is still so dependant on oil, I think that's of great importance. Not to mention she has five kids and she still manages to be a mom and run a state and run for VP. I give her big props for all of that. Yeah, her family isn't perfect. Mine isn't either. But judging by the way they acted during the convention, I'd say she raised well-behaved respectable children, and I applaud her on that, because from what I've seen out of America's parents, apparently, that's not easy to do. So go, Sarah Palin. I have faith in you.
In the last election, I was mostly worried about the candidates stand on gay rights and abortion, because I was a democrat and that's all I cared about. And I believe in my heart I still am a democrat and I still care about those issues, but those issues aren't going to be solved in the next four years. People still have too strong of opinions for them. And while I know putting McCain and Palin in office aren't going to make those issues any better, there are still going to be people there to fight for them. I have faith that the American people will fight for their right to love people of their own sex and fight for their right to choose. But we need someone bigger than the American people to fight the war on terrorism and to put us back on track, and I believe that person is John McCain.
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Happy Easter, friends, wherever you may be this holiday. One thing's for sure--you'll all be in my heart.
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Last night Jessie had said something to the effect of March coming in like a lion. I had completely forgotten about that saying...in like a lion, out like a lamb. I remember in elementary school when the announcement boards used to be filled with construction cutouts of lambs and lions and clouds and sunshines. I really don't know what to think about this March. March 1st was a beautiful day full of sun, still cold, but awfully nice. The 2nd was cloudy and rainy but mild, and there was even a few bursts of springtime lightning. Today, however, is dark and gloomy, and although it is supposedly mild out today, by nightfall, all will freeze again and when tomorrow comes, we're supposed to have accumulated yet another inch of wintery snow. I'm hoping that Mother Nature discounts those first two days and that things get better from here on out instead of worse. It's funny because it seems like just yesterday I was clinging onto summer for dear life not to leave me, and yet, it's presence is but a mere distance away, only a few months away from knocking on my door. I just can't believe it's March already. I still forget to write '08 on my checks when I pay my bills and here it's almost a fourth over already.
The weekend was great. Saturday morning I was up by 8:30am and in the kitchen making a cheesecake. I baked it all from scratch, including the crust, which I was worried about, because it didn't seem to be "setting" as it said it should in my recipe book. Plus, I ran out of vanilla and didn't have nearly the amount that the recipe called for. But somehow, I got the batter in the pan without the crust dispersing to the sides and it baked up perfectly and beautiful. I was quite satisfied with myself. I also made another attempt at making hummus and this round turned out much better than my first...olive oil makes a big difference. Still, I don't think I'm really much of a hummus person. It tasted okay, but it's not like I could sit there all day with a box of crackers and eat a whole tub of it.
Mom got here at the perfect time...I had everything prepared that I needed to get done that morning and had gotten the entire kitchen cleaned. We talked for a bit and then walked down to XO since that's the mainstay for Mom visits. After lunch, we ventured to the zoo. Now my mom must not have been to a zoo for a long time, because even though half the exhibits were missing because of the cold weather, she was just absolutely amazed by everything she saw. I think she could have watched the penguins for hours (well, who couldn't really?) and actually made us visit them a second time before we left. She got scared that the bear was going to jump from his ledge over the 15 foot moat and attack her, which was really funny. She took pictures of nearly every animal. It was like having a little kid along. It was way cute.
When we got back home, we played a few rounds of Buzzword and then started making dinner. I felt bad because Mom didn't really have anything to do...there wasn't much with dinner for her to help with, and I think she didn't really know what to do with herself because she's the one normally running around the kitchen making US food. She insisted that it was a treat to not have anything to do. Dinner turned out delicious and the cheesecake was...not to toot my own horn, but holy crap it was so effin' good. After dinner, went to Bar Divani and sat at one of Tory's tables. We didn't even bother looking at drink menus...Tory just said he'd bring us out some tasters and lo and behold, he came back with nine glasses of wine, all from different regions and countries and all different colors. He had us give him our impressions and then told us all about what we were drinking. It was way fun.
When we got back home, we started watching Juno since mom hadn't seen it, but with all that wine, Mom had nodded off before the movie was even half over.
In the morning, we got up and went to church and then went out to breakfast at New Beginnings. She left for home before noon. It was so nice having her. I miss my mom like whoa.
The rest of the afternoon, Chris and I decided to go shop around and stopped at a few more jewelers to get some ideas on rings. Later, we went over to Jessie's and got pizza with her and Justin and Liz and Dan, and then Jessie, Justin, Chris and I played a couple rounds of Buzzword before calling it a night. When we got home, Chris and I put on pjs and started watching Enchanted but were exhausted from the weekend so WE only made it halfway through. Chris did say that we should have a big dance number at our wedding, so Jen and Jessie, be ready...I'm already working out the choreography. HAHAHA AWESOME.
So yeah, today's nasty and rainy and I don't feel like doing anything, which is good because I wasted nearly two hours finding a new myspace background when I only intended on spending 15 minutes, so most of my morning is shot anyhow. And the special K diet idea? I should just give up now. I totally didn't even attempt to stick to it last week. Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to figure something else out.
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Monday, February 25th, 2008
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I had such a WONDERFUL weekend. I was so sad to wake up this morning and find it was Monday and gloomy and icy outside when for the past two days it's been sunny and borderline-spring-ish and dry. Oh, well. I suppose the weather suits the Monday following such a great weekend.
Truly, there isn't much to report. Just a series of little events that made the weekend relaxing and enjoyable. Friday when I got home from work, we made some caprese and poured some wine and watched the first episode of "Blue Planet." It's quite the mesmerizing show. We kept getting hypnotized by the large whales and the splashing waters that we basically forgot to eat our delicious mozzarella and tomatoes. It was a good show. It kind of freaks me out what with the huge animals and the weird animals and the dark bottom of the ocean and the whole I'm-further-up-the-food-chain-than-you, but even so, it's extremely interesting. Still, it all seems so arbitrary, too. I mean, some animal all swarm together to breed and three different animals bigger than them come and eat them all. What's the point of it all? I mean, I know it's all part of one big process that our earth needs to survive, but it all just seems so pointless. I mean, all these years I've been trying to find out why WE are here on this earth, because our existence has always seemed so arbitrary to me (you're born, you live, you die with very few people ever knowing you ever existed), and we're so much more complex than any sea animal. That question remains even more unanswered now.
On a lighter note, Saturday was very relaxing. Once we got ourselves around, we went shopping like we always tend to do, only this time we went out to 28th to avoid the annoying Grandville crowds. While we were bopping around Woodland, we decided to stop at our favorite jewelers to just get an idea about engagement rings...I mean, it doesn't hurt to be prepared, right? I was actually surprised how hard I was to please with rings. I put on a good handful of them before I found one I deemed tolerable. The one I did pick out was about $2,800...ouch! The saleswoman was really nice, though, and took us back to the "diamond" room to show us the ring under a microscope. It was pretty cool to see how clear it was and where they put the teeny-tiny serial number on it. Even though I didn't find too many I liked, it was still REALLY REALLY FUN. And to see Chris try on rings, when I've never seen him ever wear a piece of jewelry, and imagining him wearing it every day was a lovely thought.
We stopped and got groceries on the way home and I made tandoori chicken for dinner which was pretty delicious even though it was kind of a mess to clean up. Then we walked to the Griffin's game, which of course was a good old time, only I was sitting next to a very large person so I was kind of scrunched. The Griffin's won, too, but the score was only 1-0 so it wasn't an extremely eventful game. We did see three fights, though, and of course, Chris was all for that. We stopped in at Bar Divani afterwards to say hello to Tory, but he had a huge party of 30 so he only got to say hello and tell me what wine to drink. And by the time we had finished our drink, it had gotten extremely busy, so we left, came home and put on pjs, and watched "Hitch."
Sunday we got up and went to church, which was good for us. I'm glad we've been going every week since it's Lent. I don't feel like I've been giving up enough for the season, so it's good that we at least sacrifice our Sunday morning. We got a quick breakfast at New Beginnings after. I love doing that...sipping coffee and being out among other people and reading newspaper ads. It's nice. Chris had been researching Tungston rings as a wedding band for him, but the jewelry store we went to on Saturday didn't carry those rings, so after breakfast, we ventured back out to 28th to try a different jewelry store. I had MUCH better luck there. The first ring Chris saw, he pointed out to me and I fell in love with it. The lady that helped us was way cute and I tried on many rings after that first one but was stuck on the first one. Plus, it was $2,000 less than the one I looked at the day before, which was a huge bonus. And I love that it caught Chris' eye first and that he picked out something that was pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Maybe it was a sign. It was wonderful and I was happy and I wish we had bought it that day because it was just absolutely beautiful. Take a look. The P-P-F in the band stands for "past, present, and future," which I really liked...and it COMES with that. How awesome is that? Seriously.
Now don't be jumping to conclusions. Chris and I aren't engaged nor will we be for some time. Chris can't afford a ring like that until he's found himself a teaching job and we can't get married until I know we'll be able to afford a wedding, so we've got plenty of time. Makes me wish I had done things right though and gotten my life in order earlier instead of all the shenanigans I've been pulling these past two years. I guess I didn't realize how grown up I actually was until this weekend and how ready I am to start acting like an adult and leading an adult's life. And just because it's time to be an adult doesn't mean I can't learn things or go places. In fact, if I had a career right now, I could probably afford to do those things more than I can now. I know you shouldn't live with regret, but I could be halfway through grad school had I done things right. Oh, well, nothing I can do to change that now.
After ring shopping on Sunday, we went to Sands (or what was Sands) to shoot some pool, but Chris actually kicked the pants off of me. It was so wonderful to play, though. I should go there sometimes in the afternoon before work with my ipod and just shoot some pool by myself. I think it would be therapeutic. I really miss playing pool on a regular basis. I really miss doing a lot of things I used to do on a regular basis.
That evening I made a steak and potatoes dinner with the help of my sous-chef Chris, and after a long telephone call with my cousin, we watched "Superbad" in our pjs. I actually found that movie mildly entertaining. I mean, it was immature and about a bunch of horny teenagers, but I found the dialogue quite witty (if you overlook all the f-words) and the acting was actually pretty phenomenal. I think both main actors did a really good job of portraying the awkwardness of being high school boys. And it wasn't like the plot didn't have ANY content. So for a mindless Sunday night flick, it suited me just fine.
And so there you have it, the wonderful weekend of Jenny and Chris. And now it's Monday and gloomy and I think I'll stay in my pjs until work because I'm not feeling much like doing anything. Not until the sun comes out again.
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Thursday, February 7th, 2008
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I'm having a real hard time keeping my days straight. I can't believe today is Thursday. I worked Monday, I got another "weekend" because I took Tuesday off for Chris' birthday and I didn't go in yesterday because of the snow; I work today and tomorrow and then I work Saturday morning, as well. I'm all messed up.
Chris' birthday went REALLY well. He was STILL thanking me for it this morning and he'll probably keep bringing it up the rest of the week because he's a sweetheart. He had to work really early on Tuesday morning so I made him coffee before he left and then went back to bed for a little bit. I had bought him some gifts already but didn't like them so I went to the mall to return them and get better ones and also got pazckis and a teeny-tiny cake for him. I made signs and bought him "Happy Birthday" balloons and I had lunch cooking when he walked through the door. We went to Oasis hottubs at 3pm (a gift I was planning to give him anyhow, but that his mother offered to pay for) and had the Nantucket room which was SO pretty. Seriously, that was so much fun and so relaxing and so beautiful. The deck and the walls were made from cedar and there was what looked like a window-wall only there was no glass in it so the breeze kept blowing over us and the tub and there was steam everywhere. We listened to the "easy instrumental" station and just kicked back and relaxed and made out and it was very romantic. If we had more money, I think we'd go every weekend.
Going with the relaxation theme, when we got home we snuggled up in bed and watched a movie. Then Jen, Keith, and Mike came over and we went out to sushi. Oh, boy, the sushi was good and the company was great. We came back home and I attempted to fit 24 candles on his itty-bitty cake which was a very bad idea, and then we all gorged on the deliciousness and then sat around and talked for a bit. They all had morning commitments and such so left early, but then Jessie came over and the party started again haha. We went to Sararac and had some drinks and talked for a while. It was way nice.
That night wasn't way nice though. I swear I only had a margarita and a half (although I felt a lot more drunk than that for some reason). I don't know what happened but 6am came and I was on the bathroom floor puking my guts out. I felt like I was gonna die. After two hours, I somehow got back to sleep and when I woke up I felt fine besides being weak and tired. And I've been fine ever since. I can't imagine it was the alcohol...I didn't have that much of it and I drink margaritas all the time. It could have been the combination of weird foods I ate but I didn't barf them up, so I'm think it's not. Chris just thinks I need to take better care of my body, and he could be right. I bought veggies yesterday and I gave up pop for Lent and I attempted to make hummus last night but I forgot an ingredient or two so it's not that great. The next batch'll better.
After I stopped feeling so woozy, Chris and I braved the snow and went for ashes before he had class. That was good. I'm glad we went. I sat on the couch until I got a call from my boss saying that the office was open but that I could stay home if I wanted to take a vacation day or a sick day (we got paid for the snow day we had last week) and that everyone she had talked to from 2nd shift wasn't coming in, so I decided to stay home as well. The roads WERE really terrible and only getting worse and I didn't want to be the only one to come in, so I went back to the couch to rest some more until Chris got out of class. He drove us to Meijer and I got stuff to make a delicious baked fish dish with mushrooms and scallions. We attempted the British version of The Office, but it was pretty much the exact same show as the American version only not funny, so instead, we watched four hours of Office reruns until we were tired and then went to bed. I was so tired, I actually left the dishes in the sink (GASP!). That was not a happy sight this morning.
Today I was still feeling lazy, but had told myself that this Lent I was going to make myself a better person by going to the gym every day, eating better, studying every day, say my rosary every day, and so on. I hadn't actually announced that I was going to do those things...I had just kind of told myself I should. And so it's been hard to motivate myself to do any of it. At the last minute I decided to walk with Chris to school and I felt much better after I did. I took pictures of the frozen river and listened to my ipod and jumped around in the slushy snow. It was nice. I remember when I used to take walks all the time. Now I'm usually too lazy or it's "too cold" or I don't feel like dealing with the people I'll pass on the street. Which is stupid. I wonder why it doesn't appeal to me like it used to.
I was thinking about a lot of things as I was walking today, but since have forgotten them, which makes me sad. It's been a while since I've written a pensive entry. Maybe I'll find some inspiration tomorrow. Besides, I've written enough for now.
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Monday, February 4th, 2008
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Well, this is gonna have to be a fast entry because I only have a half-hour before work and I still have to eat lunch. This week is gonna be so crazy because Chris' bday is tomorrow and we've been away all weekend, not to mention Ash Wednesday is on Wednesday and before we know it, it'll be St. Patrick's Day, my dad's birthday, and Easter all in the same week. I'm tired just thinking about it. Why does it all have to come at once?!?!
The weekend was good. Luckily, there isn't too much to report so this shouldn't take me too long. Going down to see Chris' family always involves a lot of couch, a lot of driving, a lot of shopping, a lot of eating and not much else. I swear I've gained ten pound in three days. We went late on Friday after work, so we were there to welcome the weekend come Saturday morning. I never sleep well at his parents house because I'm so worried about oversleeping and then everyone waiting on me to get ready. So I was up at like 8am on Saturday. We had a big breakfast and then rode with his mom to Niles to pick up flowers for Grandma's mass. When we got back, it was time to get in the car again so we could make it to the casino before they changed the prices for dinner at the big buffet there. We ate for like two hours at that buffet. And we had to stick around for them to wheel out the crab leg cart at 4pm. I have never seen my boyfriend eat so much damn crab. He must have filled his plate three times with crab legs. And this was after he had already had four platefuls before. Where he put all the food is a mystery. It wasn't as good of food as I expecting, but that didn't stop me from eating lots of it. The gelato they had was amazing though and we all went up for seconds of that.
Chris' dad was sick with a cold all weekend, so we dropped him off at home before going shopping for Chris' birthday printer that his mom wanted to buy for him. So after driving all the way out to New Buffalo and back, we then drove out to Benton Harbor. We didn't find anything at Best Buy except for a very friendly guy who decided to tell us his whole life story over flash drives. We found what we wanted to Staples, but since they close earlier than expected on Saturday they weren't very helpful when we were still deciding after closing time. And then they had put up Sunday's sale signs already so when we bought the printer, they didn't give us the rebate the sign had promised us. Chris kinda made a stink about it, but there was nothing they could do besides telling us to come back the next day. So that was kind of a pain.
When we got back to the house, the family watched 3:10 to Yuma, but Joe had said it was bloody so I went upstairs to read. Not two minutes later Chris was up there with me because he didn't want me to sit up there by myself and because he wanted to spend time with me and we watched Gone in 60 Seconds on his brother's futon. That was really nice.
Sunday we got up rather early to go to church. When the collection came, Chris and his family got up to take up the gifts and Chris kept telling me to come with them. I didn't feel right doing that... while I love Chris and will probably marry him in the future and while his family treats me like I'm already a part of them, I just didn't feel like it was my place to take up the gifts with them. I used to take up the gifts at the masses dedicated to my grandmother and while that role never seems like that big of deal, it is a really important thing and I would have felt intrusive joining them. It warmed my heart that his mother was even waving me to come up with them, just I stayed in my seat and watched on. I tried to make up for it after mass when I helped Chris' mom set up coffee, juice and donuts. I felt like a real church lady then. it was fun and cute though and felt nice to belong. A friend of the family asked me what I do and when I told her she said, "Oh, wow. I always put my fingers over those dots in elevators and try and read them but they all feel the same to me" and then walked away. Something got lost in translation there and she ended up thinking I was a braille reader. ???
When we got back from that, we all piled in the car again to go to South Bend this time to shop for boots for Joey. We went all over that city trying to find boots that would appease him. But Chris and I kinda wandered on our own and bought delicious pretzels so we didn't mind. We ended up getting some really messy gyros (that Chris' mom kept mispronouncing) in the back of her car, too, but boy they were delicious. When we returned after our long journey, we sang to Chris and ate some cake and ice cream. So much eating I swear! Chris and I then went back to Staples to clear up the rebate thing, came back and pick up his mom, went to see his grandma in Buchanan (she showed me a picture of Grandpa Furner in his postal uniform and told me some cute stories about him which was precious) and then went back and watched bits and pieces of the Superbowl. Everyone went to bed afterwards, but we stayed up and watched an episode of "Ace of Cakes" so Chris could see how truly spectacular it was.
We got up this morning and came back to GR and I've been cleaning and unpacking and bday planning since the second we unlocked out apartment. Whew I'm tired. And that took longer than I thought it would. And there's actually more I could talk about if I wanted to. Some other time, I suppose. I have to eat something before work and I'll be sorry. Hope everyone's weekend was great!
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Thursday, January 31st, 2008
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So yeah, yesterday was definitely a good day. I couldn't believe that my boss called me and told me not to come in to work. I mean, of course I had hoped that would happen, but I didn't actually believe it. So when my phone rang at 1pm and I saw it was a (616) number, I thought could this be? And it was a dream come true.
Instead of staying home like we should have and I was planning on doing, Chris kept listing off all sorts of things we should do with the day. We ended up driving to grandville in 4-wheel drive the entire way and I was so glad that work was called off because the roads were atrocious and I don't think my little car could have pulled it off. I think I would have gotten on the expressway and gotten right back off again.
We went to American Eagle because Chris had seen they were having monster sales and he got 5 shirts...each of them less than $10. It was quite a find and I was so happy that he found so many clothes for so cheap. We also went to Meijer and got groceries so I could cook dinner. Afterwards, we came home, made hot chocolate and sat on the couch for 1.5 hours reading. I finished "My Antonia" (FINALLY) and it was very bittersweet and I liked it very much. I plan on starting "Jane Eyre" next. I made maple-glazed pork chops with brussels sprouts (which I have never liked, but are pretty tasty when covered in maple syrup) which turned out quite satisfactory, then we put on pjs and had some wine and watched "Oceans 13." It was pretty much the most perfect day ever and much needed since last weekend we forfeited to my family and next weekend we're giving to his family. I miss my weekends so much, especially since that's the prime time I get to spend with my friends. And Jen is leaving next week and I feel like I haven't been able to make the most out of the time we had left. I miss my friends.
In fact, I had a dream about you all actually. Jen, Jessie and Keith were gonna have a game night and you didn't invite me. And I found it out from Jen as she was leaving for Keith's (which didn't make any sense since Keith lives in MY building) and I got really really upset because even though I knew about it, Jen actually REFUSED to let me come. And I was bawling all over the place and Jen was just laughing at me. It was actually really really terrible. I think I woke up in a sweat.
For all of you who had a crappy day, I don't mean to gloat about my day off. You can take comfort in the fact that I will for sure have a littered desk of WOFs and Bowling tournaments to make up for a day missed. I'm sure my luck is changing as we speak.
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Friday, January 25th, 2008
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So I had told Chris that if I got everything packed for tonight in time, I'd walk him to school. Well, at the last minute, I was feeling extremely lazy and so I offered to drive him instead. Now I wish I had walked and taken my camera because the river is frozen over and covered in snow. It looks so cool! Oh, well...it's my punishment for being lazy. I only hope it's still frozen on Monday!
Now I'm gonna go sit on the couch, watch Mad About You on DVD, and eat until work. I guess being lazy isn't ALL bad.
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Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
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So yesterday was more rough on me than I expected. Connie had been telling me for the past two business days that there were "Jeopardys!" to do and that I should be expecting them soon. Instead, I've been getting cooking shows and design shows which was fine and easy. Yesterday, after I finished my episode of Robin Miller, I was handed a 4-hour television movie in parts to start captioning...that was due the next day.
I've never captioned such a thing at work before. And the last time we got a movie, Laurie captioned it and it was full of blood and gore. So naturally, my first question was "is it bloody?" and of course, my boss didn't have a sound answer for that, but assured me it was a sci-fi and made for television, so I shouldn't be worried. Lo and behold, it turns out it's a remake or an extension or something off an old '70s movie with some famous people in it and Brenda, my deskmate had actually seen it advertised and was somewhat interested in watching it. She should have been more careful of what she wished for because my boss ended up giving her a chunk of it later to help me along.
At any rate, it was kind of interesting and mildly entertaining, but it was all about bioterrorism and an outbreak epidemic and all sorts of shady things going on with the government and top secret stuff and bodies lying all over the ground being pecked at by buzzards. To sum up, although I didn't mind it, it wasn't exactly comfortable, and by the end of the night, I was feeling a little paranoid and worried, as well.
Then I get home and I haven't even taken off my scarf yet when Chris tells me Heath Ledger died. And I thought he was joking. How random and awful that he's dead. And if that wasn't enough, Chris dragged me into the study to show me this which makes it look like there's someone just hanging out on a crater in Mars. Apparently, that's a well-known and trustworthy source, but I was skeptical when no one news web sites were making any mention of it. But then Chris went to nasa's site and used his zoom on his tool bar to look at the picture they had posted and found the same image. So then, as if I didn't have enough to worry about already with bioterrorism and hollywood stars dropping dead out of nowhere, I now had to worry about extraterrestrial life. I swear, the whole apolocalypse was happening all at once.
I did have crazy dreams that I was in a movie with Heath Ledger and at first we were all ballerinas and then we went driving and got eaten by coyotes, but that was only in the movie we were filming, so next I knew it we were eating burgers on the beach. And this morning I'm feeling better about the whole life on Mars thing. I'm not taking it as seriously as I did last night. And I had to remind myself a few times, but of course the show I'm captioning is fictional, so there's no need to let that worry me right now. So I'm feeling a little bit better but still uncomfortable. It was just all a little too heavy for a Tuesday.
In other news, Chris and I finished our puzzle and it's humongous and glorious. I have no idea what we'll do now.
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Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
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My brother's a star! I know many GR-ers may not have believed me when I said my brother was in a commercial, but now it's posted on Safe Auto's web site so I can prove it! To see his hilarious 30 seconds of fame, go here and click the "Vending" commercial.
Friday, even though I was dreading every second of work, actually turned out to be quite enjoyable. I mean, we got an hour of free work while they were trying to recover the files that were lost. And my Wheel wasn't terrible...it was funny to listen to the high schoolers during their interviews. Ahh, life seemed so simple back then. Once I finished that show, I got an episode of "Ace of Cakes" which is my new favorite show. I wish I could caption it everyday. The cakes they make are amazing and if I had the money, I'd absolutely have them make every cake for me...actually, I'd probably try to get a job there. I mean, what more could you ask for than to work with all your artsy friends and make fabulous creative confections? I don't think I'd need any more out of life than that.
The weekend was good. Jessie's bday party went off nearly perfectly. Keith didn't start cooking his turkey until about an hour before we left and then Jen ended up cooling her turkey on Jessie's porch and then had to reheat it and I'm not sure what was going on with the gravy, but it seemed like a fiasco in the kitchen at the time. But our make-shift Thanksgiving dinner turned out delicious and Jessie was absolutely surprised. She was supposed to call Liz when she was on her way home because she believed Liz to be at Dan's and Liz wanted to make sure to "meet" her at the apartment. Well, of course, she didn't do that, so we were all sitting in the living room talking when the key turned in the door, so we all did a quick turn and a shout of "Surprise" and Jess was still taken aback, so that worked out. My cake turned out pretty good and Jessie liked the little elephant that I attempted to outline in frosting. Boy, that was an adventure...I was cutting out pictures and tracing them on parchment paper and all sorts of shenanigans to get that elephant on there in decent condition. But it actually turned out really nice and I was pretty proud of myself. We played so many games over the course of the night and we were there for over 7 hours. It was a really fun time. I hope Jessie feels the same way.
Nothing to new to report besides that. I tried a new dish on Sunday night...baked mac and cheese...and it's not gourmet in the least, but it was rather tasty. Chris and I are are addicted to this new puzzle we started last week and we've come a long way on mostly because once we start on it, we can't pull ourselves away...which is kinda pathetic actually but fun nonetheless. We watched the third movie in the Bourne trilogy, too, and it was just as good and enjoyable as the first two. If that man was actually real and not fictional, I think he would be the smartest man ever. It kind of freaks me out that the government might actually be like that...and Chris assured me it wasn't too far out of the realm of possibility...sometimes, when it comes to things like that, I think I'd rather not know if it's true.
I'm still sleeping in way too late in the mornings. I have a feeling it's because we don't turn on our heat at night, so no matter how alarms I set to get myself up earlier, under the covers is always warmer than any other option and so I just keep sleeping. I'm sick of winter already. It's really starting to get at me because even more than ever I feel like I have no time to do the things I set out to do this winter. We're already three weeks into the new year and I haven't even cracked any books to study for my GRE. I'm starting to get very nervous again. It's my last chance, so I've got to do something and I've got to do something fast.
I can't believe Jen is leaving in three weeks. Keith said something on Saturday about how he plans on being out of the country by next new year. I still plan on being here until August 2009 because I'll wait for Chris to graduate and then I'm sure we'll have a lease until then. But after that, I plan on heading out somewhere else. It's weird to think of our little GR family splitting up. It's like high school graduation all over again...everyone is leaving the nest to go off and do bigger and better things. Makes me a little sad even though I know it's inevitable. I wonder if we'll all stay close. I hope so. It'll be interesting to see where we all are three years from now. Haha maybe we'll have to throw "family reunions" every year or something. I'd like that.
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Friday, January 18th, 2008
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This week at work has been absolutely nutzo-skitzo. My boss has been gone at a family reunion. The WOF's for last week weren't taped until the weekend so we've had double the WOFs to do this week. Yesterday someone on first accidentally erased all the caption files, so I thought the hour-long bowling match I captioned was kaput and that I'd have to redo it, but luckily we were able to recover all the missing files. Then halfway through the night, everyone's video froze up. It's been the longest week ever for work. I've felt like doing nothing but watching movies and drinking tea when I get home. But tonight, I think I'm going to feel like drinking alcohol because I just opened my WOF and found out it's Teen Best Friends Week on WOF. I'm 30 seconds in and my head already hurts from all the adolescent screaming I've endured. This is gonna be one hell of a long Friday.
Thank God for the weekend.
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Monday, January 14th, 2008
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It was a good weekend and even though it was really lazy, it was very relaxing and I felt very happy. Saturday we slept in late, as tends to be our regular routine lately, and then took down the Christmas tree (finally) and cleaned up the apartment. We went to Grandville to get some groceries for cooking and then came home and played a few rounds of Battleship and made Tuscan Chicken. We attempted a new tv series since we've watched all the old "Office" episodes, so per Tory's suggestion, we downloaded "Extras," a british comedy about these two people who are extras on movie sets (also by the maker of "the Office") and neither of us really had an opinion about it. It does remind us a lot of "the Office" and we did chuckle quite a few times, but I know there are a lot more funny lines that we missed out on because we were unable to understand them through the really really thick accents. So I don't think the series will stick with us, but if anyone else wants to give it a try, let us know.
We picked up Jen and met Keith and his sister at the movie theater to finally see "Juno." The movie was completely sold out, so that added an extra fun element to hear such a large crowd laughing and for people to actually clap at the end. The movie was cute and the dialogue was fantastic (livejournal is trying to tell me that I spelled dialogue wrong--how stupid). It made me miss high school a little bit where you could talk like an idiot and that was cool and you could wear goofy things and say you were being individualistic and you could eat six feet worth of licorice whenever you wanted. And the protagonist was super strong and cool and self-assured which is a refreshing change for a female lead. And it almost made me cry, which is saying a lot because movies hardly ever make me cry. But maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age.
It seems like I've been surrounded with pregnancy lately. Movies about it, friends who are...personally, pregnancy freaks me out. It sounds absolutely horrible and I don't know why so many people have so many kids because you'd think once someone goes through that once it would be enough to want to never do it again. But maybe it's not as bad as it seems. I guess it can't be since people just love to it nowadays.
Yesterday wasn't much to write home about either. Chris and I slept in, laid in bed for a long while and ended up going to Grandville yet again in the afternoon to do some exchanging in the mall and spend my Olive Garden gift card. I had a really hard time at the mall. I had to exchange a book my brother got me for Christmas but since I have so many books to read right now if ever I start studying for my GRE, I didn't want to get anything fiction. Chris picked out a cool book but it was $10 more than my exchange. So we spent a good half hour in the cookbook section trying to find something we'd end up using. In the end I made a good purchase and we've already started planning dinner parties based on recipes in that cookbook. So all is well with that. But then we went to NY and Co to exchange a sweater and I found absolutely nothing I liked to exchange it with. I was so disgusted.
Then we went to Olive Garden for dinner at 4pm (we hadn't had lunch so we were starving) and it was absolutely packed which was completely uncalled for. Chris Morin's sister was there and waiting for a table as well so that was funny. Chris and I got a glass of wine at the bar to help ease our shopping tensions while waiting for a table. Once we were seated though, the meal was absolutely fabulous. We went all out and got an appetizer and dessert. It was way super fun and it was so nice to go out on a date.
We came home and watched Austin Powers 3 because we had been making jokes from it the day before and then watched The Princess Bride because it was still too early to go to bed.
Boy, for a boring weekend, I sure found ways to run my mouth and my fingers, didn't I? Today I'm not quite as perky as you'd expect after such a relaxing weekend. I'm crampy, it's cold and they waited until yesterday to tape THIS WEEK'S "wheels" so I'll have a bunch of those sitting on my desk, I just know it. I thought the fact that I had no wheels and 4 Jeopardys last week was a late Christmas miracle...when really I should know by now that if something seems to good to be true, it probably is.
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Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
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Okay, I really shouldn't be updating right now because I've already slacked off enough tonight at work and I do feel a little guilty after my boss went out of her way yesterday to complement what a good job I'm doing, but I was in an easily irrated mood when I got to work and then she gave me a Tyler Florence show to do, so that didn't help any. Has anyone ever watched this man? He's a bigger mush mouth than Pat Sajak himself and talks twice as fast. Lucky for me, I don't have California guidelines breathing down my neck, so I can be a little more lienent with the timing, but still, talk about annoyance. And that probably didn't make any sense to anyone.
So Hilary Clinton cried at a presidental rally the other day. And that really upsets me. Not too much, but I wasn't planning on voting for her anyhow so I don't mind that she basically just committed campaign suicide, but I really hate that she's the only woman running for president and she let herself cry in front of a large group of people. I mean, that's the reason all these years men said women couldn't be presidents...they were too emotional which apparently leads to irrational thinking and impulsive decisions, with the help of menstral cycles and god knows what else. Still, Hilary has been such a tough old bird since the beginning and it really sucks that she cried. I understand why she did and I probably wouldn't have been able to hold back either, but I have a feeling this is only going to fuel all those age-old accusations about why women can never be in power. Stupid men.
Here's something strange. I used to take walks around the city all the time by myself, but since we've moved back downtown, I've been with Chris 24/7 that today when I walked him to class, I was pretty nervous to be walking home by myself. In fact, I was really dreading it, but knew I needed the exercise. I really don't like that I've lost a little bit of my bravery. I really don't like that I feel safer with Chris than I do with myself. It's not one's fault...but I think it's something I need to pay attention to. I wish I had more time and money...I think I need to invest in a self-defense class or something.
The whole reason I'm writing is because I have something that is REALLY REALLY bugging me but I can't talk about it here because it will really hurt people's feelings or make me out to be such a bad guy. And that sucks, because the topic I have in mind I could talk about for a long, long time and because I feel like no one feels the same way I do. It's driving me crazy, really, but I'm trying to calm down about it. Thank goodness for Chris...he always listens to my enraged babblings no matter how crazy they may be. And I love him for it.
He's been volunteering at a middle school all week and he's way cute in his dress shirts and ties. Tee hee.
Ha! Now that I think of it, there are TWO such things that are bugging me and I can't talk about. The other one I might talk about on a locked entry at later date. We shall see. Well, time to punch out and head home.
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Monday, January 7th, 2008
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It's really amazing how much I am like my mother. My brother told a humorous story about how my mom called him in tears because she could only find a prep bowl set with four bowls as opposed to the 9-bowl set I asked for for Christmas and didn't receive. Brad did a very good impression of her tearful, "But there's only FOUR bowls!" when it turned out that those four bowls were absolutely perfect for me.
I feel so silly for getting so frustrated and so upset and so angry last week over how much of a hassle it was to get everyone together for my birthday. I mean, I had every right to get frustrated because no one made it an easy task to come up here, but in the end, they did all get here and the day was fabulous and it was definitely one of my greatest birthdays ever, so really, everything worked out all right as it tends to do.
True, the day itself got off to a rocky start. Mom got driving late, and then her and Malgosia and Crazy Dave decided to stop in Lansing to say hello to my brother and of course stayed longer than planned. So while they were supposed to get here at noon, they didn't arrive until just sometime after 1:30pm. My dad got to a late start because he got into a huge fight with his wife that resulted in him traveling alone. When I told mom my stepmom was not coming, all she could say was "Oh, my God" slowly and with disbelief. Had my stepmom decided earlier that she wasn't going to come to my birthday come hell or high water, then Mom didn't have to bring Crazy Dave, they all could have driven up together and saved their gas and mileage, and they probably all could have arrived on time. But such is life.
The important thing was that everyone eventually made it up. Dad was a little more shaken up and uncomfortable than normal what with all the going ons in his house and with having to drive by himself and having to put up with mom's friend, but he was still good company and I'm glad at least he could make it. Surprisingly, too, the conversation wasn't too awkward while we waited for Brad to get off work. There was definitely too much food, but I'm glad we had more than enough than too little and everyone seemed really impressed with our efforts and our set ups. Dad seemed to really like our place, Malgosia wanted to move in, and my brother I think was more shocked than anything, not having any expectations whatsoever.
Brad sang a really wonderful birthday song for me, I got lots of wonderful heartfelt gifts, and Brad and I battled each other in a couple rounds of Buzzword. Everyone made fun of my warrior stance which I assumed, thinking it would help me shout out answers faster than my brother. We went for a walk through the city and the weather permitted thank goodness. We ate the Bull's Head and the food was great and everyone seemed to really enjoy the restaurant.
On the way back from dinner, we peeked into Bar Divani to see if Tory was working and all of us stood at the window waving at him. Later I found out that him and his fellow waiters had no idea who we were and were kinda freaked out by us. Once back at my apartment, Dad had to make his way home, but everyone stayed just a little longer to choke down some cake. Brad accidentally turned on Gestures and I shouted at him to quickly act out the word on the game and thus started another spout of competition between us. He kept telling me I sucked at guessing, but I assured him it was his fault for sucking at acting. Haha. I love my brother.
They left about 8pm and we had an hour to get ready before my friends came over. Keith and Dan came early and we all tried to do shots of citris vodka. Once we were all assembled, we did some shots and had some drinks at Gardella's which wasn't too busy as of yet. We started on the main floor, then went up to the top floor and then found a booth on the bottom floor. It was the easiest bar hopping I ever did. Haha. It seemed like we got more rowdy with each floor we visited. Dan knew the owner of Moxie's and so we got in for free and danced around for an hour or two. I love the way Dan dances. I could watch him for hours. But the highlight of the night, the icing on the cake, was dancing with KEITH all night long. Yes, I'm not sure what happened to him, but he came out of his shell and danced in all his glory all night long. It was the best thing I had ever seen. As Jessie put it, "it made my entire life."
Yesterday was a nice quiet day. Chris and I cleaned the apartment, put away all my gifts, played some good old fashioned Battleship and watched more of "The Office." Later, Keith, Dan, Chris and I picked up "Stardust" from Blockbuster, grabbed some Hungry Howie's pizza and went over for Jessie's for dinner and a movie. Jen joined us for a movie and we also met Jessie's new friend Justin who seems like a nice guy. The pizza was delicious, the movie was fantastic in every sense of the word, and then afterwards we played Tribond and Life. It was just a nice night with friends.
Today is like my New Year's Day. All the shenanigans are done for a while. It's time for normal life to resume. Time to start working on all my new years resolutions like getting in shape, studying for my GRE, and getting my finances in order. I took out a loan and will be working on paying off my credit cards so that should be coming in by the end of the week. I look forward to it but I am also sweating bullets over the idea of having another loan. Money sucks the big one. This morning I went down to the gym for a while and did some much needed stretching. Chris joined me which wasn't what I was expecting, but was fine. Chris worked out his class schedule so he's gone at the same time I am. No more mornings to myself this semester. I told him I'll miss the time to myself and I also told him that I have a lot I need to do in the next couple of months, but I have a feeling that still won't make any of this any easier. I love living with Chris and if anything, everyday makes me more sure that he's the one for me, but when he's home so much, it makes it really hard to get anything done. So this will be an interesting challenge for me the next few months. Still, I have high hopes that I can get my life in order this year and finally accomplish the things I've been dreaming of. I REALLY hope I'm right about that.
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Friday, January 4th, 2008
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I really hate that I didn't get a chance to get my life caught up before the new year came. It's not a good sign to start 2008 playing catch up...sends a bad message to the lifestyle set for the upcoming year. Besides, I also didn't like how my last entry was a negative one...I had really hoped to start the year off with an optimistic attitude and the fact that I couldn't "find time" to perhaps could explain why the first week of 2008 hasn't quite been going my way as of yet. But more of that to come. I only have a half-hour of the age of 23 left and I am bound and determined to get caught up on my life before I hit yet another milestone. I'll do my best to keep my life synopses as brief as possible. It's not like I remember them that well anyhow.
Christmas, despite my last stressful entry, was practically perfect in every way. Chris followed me home on Saturday morning which was an adventure because unbeknownst to either of us, his speedometer was off by a good 6 miles. So I was accusing him of driving like a grandma and he was accusing me of being a speed demon. When I told him I said I had my cruise set at 75 mph, he said his car told him I was going 81.
When we got home, Mom took us out to lunch and we made a few pit stops to pick up some last minute gifts. We got pizza that night and watched "the Preacher's Wife," a Christmas classic in the Hicks household. Later on, a bunch of old friends came over to my mom's house and she got a kick out of seeing how grown up we all were. It was strange because it felt like few things had changed besides that Aaron had a career teaching and Steve was starting to bald a little bit (hee hee!). I hadn't seen Molly probably since close to graduation from high school but she has changed little. I missed her a lot. We went out for dinner and then went to the old Ida Tavern which took so coaxing from Vanessa because the tavern had a reputation when we were growing up as kind of a tough place for alcoholics, plant workers and white trash. But someone bought it and made it nicer and it was nice enough for being the Ida Tavern, but that's about all I have to say about it. We ran into more high school acquaintances which was a fun time and I beat Steve at a game of pool by distracting him with my boobs while he shot at the eight ball, so that was good. We went to another old restaurant I grew up with that had been bought out and changed into a bar and there we saw even more high school friends. So it was a good night. Sometimes I miss home and high school friends so much I can't stand it.
Mom's birthday was good. It had a bump or two, but she liked all her gifts and Brad made it down and we had a really nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Christmas Eve was nice as well. Mom and did some cooking and watched more movies and got all dressed up to go to Grandpa's and midnight mass. Grandpa's was fine...the food was good...the company was more sparse than normal and it was sad that Chris and Brad weren't there. But it's always nice to be with family. And mass was nice, too; the guitar choir was there and I got to see Dave for a very abbreviated time after mass.
Christmas was great, too. I helped Mom with breakfast in the morning and Brad and Malgosia got there at a relatively early time. The presents were a big to-do and no one stuck to the "let's cut down this year" promise. There were presents everywhere! They were never-ending. Everyone seemed to like all of their gifts from me so that warmed my heart. The jessie spano shirt and tod's picture for my brother both left him speechless. I got lots of fun and fancy things, too...lots of kitchen stuff, some knitting stuff, an ipod stereo, a big robe, lots of clothes and the like. When that was finished, we went Dad's for lots of yummy food and the annual Bradley's improv Christmas song. Aunt Linda was there and she brought her 85-year-old German neighbor who wasn't nice at all and kept picking on my brother. But luckily after dinner they left and we got to open presents in peace. It was another parade of presents and I got pillows and clothes and a beautiful ring and other goodies. It was a nice evening.
The rest of the week is a blur. All I remember is work was only three days long that week and I got a "Wheel of Fortune" for every day. Saturday was an easy day...we made chicken really late at night and finished the puzzle we had been working on since Thursday. That was quite an accomplishment. Then we watched a Bourne movie I believe...the second one. Just as good as the first in my opinion. I just hate that I get so nervous during those movies that my knees shake. I guess that's a sign of a good movie.
Sunday Chris' parents came up and took us to lunch and to Costco for some shopping. I had made cookies and they ate those up pretty quickly which made me happy. I sent a box home with Joe and then Chris' mom called me the next day asking for the recipe because Joe had eaten them all and wanted more. Haha.
Sunday night was Jen's game night and it was super fun. She had a delicious crab dip thing and we played a rousing game of pictionary which my team one and then tried our hand at balderdash which I especially sucked at, but was complemented for my "narrator" voice. Sadly, we couldn't stay too late because I had to wake up at 5:30am the next morning for work.
Once I got out of work on New Years Eve, Chris and I lounged (I didn't feel capable of doing much else) and watched "Night at the Museum" and then made a little pork chop new years dinner which turned out pretty tasty. I didn't know I was going to have the night off until the Friday before when my boss offered that option, so plans for the night's festivities were somewhat limited. We new Jen's friend Mike was having a party so decided to check it out and actually ended up having a lot of fun. He made some delicious dips and we all attempted to drink his mysterious slushy mix and we played a really fun round of cranium which made me happy. We had a nice champagne toast at midnight, but by then I was pretty beat so we made it an early night.
New Years day Chris and I sat on the couch all day long and watched the entire season three of "the Office," stopping only to visit the grocery store and to make walking tacos for dinner. It was absolutely glorious to sit with him all day and laugh. Holy cow, I love him so much.
Which bring us to this week, and it's been a tough one, as I've said already. It's officially 12:00 now so it is actually my birthday as I write that, and that has been the cause of most of my distress this week. My parents decided to grant my birthday wish of them coming to Grand Rapids instead of me having to drive home, but it's turned out more to be a nightmare than anything. My stepmom wouldn't come unless my mom brought a date because she doesn't feel comfortable socializing with her apparently when she's by herself...something I still haven't been able to work out in my head. So mom was going to bring her non-boyfriend Crazy Dave with her which made me kinda upset because I just wanted to spend time with my family and not worry about entertaining "an outsider." Then Brad got scheduled to work that day last minute so he'll be here late. And then no one could come until he got here because goodness know we all can't socialize without him. It was just a big mess and a big pain in my butt. It was to the point where I almost told them not to come at all and I would just stay in bed for my entire birthday. Not to mention, the same day this all happened my insurance came through and my premium for it was TWICE the price I thought it would be. So I losing HUNDREDS of dollars a month for stupid insurance that I probably won't ever use. Not to mention I got a loan this week to pay off all of my credit cards and the idea of a loan and all the crap that goes with applying for one and all the stress about getting it in order didn't help. PLUS, I tried to make cookies the other day for my family and my batter turned into crumbs and I had to throw it all a way. And then I went to work and had awful shows. And then I came home and found out that all my friends went to the movies together and forgot to invite me.
So it was a bad week. But I'm doing better now. I've kind of forgotten about worrying about tomorrow. I've decided to have no expectations for it so whatever happens will be fine. It does kind of disappoint me because this birthday isn't going to be at all as special as I was hoping it would be...I kind of had big hopes for it. But oh, well. There's always next year. And it'll be nice to be with family and friends. I don't really feel any different being 24 now...just as I didn't feel different at any birthday before. It's just weird to think about. Hopefully this year I'll be more motivated, more determined, and more mature. Last year was an insane roller coaster and when I think of how far I've come since this time 2007, I'm amazed of how much I've done...what with the crazy law office and then getting fired, living in that crazy old house with the crazy heat and my crazy (loveable) roommates, learning how to be a server, moving in Chris and Shannon, freaking out on Shannon, making good friends at Boston's, moving in with Chris and realizing how special he is to me, getting this job with CCS...it's been quite a year. As crazy as it was, I'm almost sad to see it go.
In other news, I tried on a $5,000 emerald cut engagement ring today. I could barely breathe while it was on my finger.
So thus concludes my life as a 23 year old. I'm a littler nervous for this next year...mostly because I'm scared it will be full of craziness like last year. But then again, aren't they all filled with craziness? It's funny because every year on New Years Eve, my brother and I text each other: "This is the year of the Hickses!" And I think that's where all this trouble starts.
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Monday, December 17th, 2007
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So I am a loser. I have officially reached that stage where I can walk into the Panera across from my office and they know my name and can take a good guess at what I'm going to order. It's kinda fun, but it's also kinda pathetic, as well.
I thought for sure I'd walk into work tonight and there would be a "Wheel" on my desk, but instead I had a Lee Greenwood Christmas special for an obscure country music channel. It seems I've been deemed the Christmas Special Queen because I think I've gotten every single special this holiday season. I've captioned a lot of Christmas carols these last couple of weeks which actually makes my job really easy since I already know the words.
This morning, though, I talked to my mom and she was extremely down about the season, about not having any time or money and not having any luck shopping. I felt horrible afterwards and wanted to give her a Christmas present that would really bring back the meaning of Christmas for her or something that would remind her that there are so many more important things out there than money, which seems to be the easiest thing for ANYONE to forget.
Well, as I was captioning this special tonight and typing along to the carols I know so well, I realized that Christmas is going to be over in less than a week. I'm lucky this year because I got into the holiday season early and stayed organized and got things done in a timely manner so I could savor them and cherish them. But I still feel like I haven't had enough time with the holiday season. I'm not ready for it all to be over and to let go of all the wonderful things this holiday brings to the world. Especially, because after it's over, there's nothing to look forward to and the world will be gloomy (as will the people on it) and dark until spring comes again. Why doesn't Christmas last all winter long? I think it would make the season that much more bearable if it did.
So as I was captioning this special and thinking about all this, I almost wanted to cry. And then they sang this song and I almost did a cry. Because it's a good representation of how I feel about all of it and how I so desperately wish I could get my mom to feel about it. And with us all getting older, it's hard to know exactly how much longer we'll all have each other to celebrate with:
Come gather around at the table
In the spirit of family and friends
And we'll all join hands and remember this moment
Till the season comes around again
Lets all try and smile for the picture
And we'll hold it as long as we can
May it carry us through, should we ever get lonely
Till the season comes around again
One night, holy and bright
Shining with love from our hearts
By a warm fire, lets lift our hands high
And be thankful we're here, till this time next year
May the new year be blessed with good tidings
Till the next time I see you again
And we'll all join hands, and remember this moment
And we'll love and we'll laugh, in the times that we have
Till the season comes around again
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This was definitely one of my more busier weekends, but to be honest, I'm not sure how much there is to report. I'll give it a try and we'll see where we end up.
The sickness left me on the couch watching movies the rest of the week when I was not at work. I didn't end us missing any work, even though Friday I thought I was going to die if I left the couch. Chris drove me to work that day since I didn't even feel capable of doing that. Chris took such amazing care of me all week, I can't even begin to explain to you. I only hope that if he gets sick this winter, I'll have the time to devote to helping him feel better so I can pay him back properly.
Lucky for me, Saturday I woke up feeling much better. We had a relatively easy morning, only going out to get decorations for Chris' sweater and ingredients for the food I was making for Keith's party. I spent so much time on the phone with my family, trying to work out details for the holiday and trying to figure out what everyone should get everyone else. I loved every second of it. I've been missing my family so much. Four days home is not going to be nearly enough.
An hour before Keith's Christmas party got a little hectic, with me trying to bake and cook and Keith calling me every five minutes to borrow something or ask an opinion about something. We went to the party early because we could and Keith made us grasshoppers off the bat which were absolutely delicious. His apartment was GORGEOUS. He made extremely elaborate snowflakes out of shiny wrapping paper and had arranged perfect 5-point stars on his ceiling with blue twinkle lights. The food spread was absolutely lovely, too, with Jen's pretty Christmas tree veggie pizza and Jessie's delicious ham roll-ups. The ugly sweaters were fabulously entertaining and were the best idea ever, in my opinion. Chris' sweater turned out wonderfully, I thought...looked like a very talented 5 year old made it. Haha. It was strange that there were so many people there I didn't know well or at all, since most of our parties seem to revolve around the same people, but once we all had a few drinks, that didn't really matter anyhow and we were all up and dancing around with each other (some without pants on) in no time. Some more highlights...Keith changing his sweater a bazillion times, the many conversations I had about gay sex (which lead to horrible nightmares that night), placing bets on who Jen was going to make out with and how quickly, and singing songs from Sister Act very loud and terribly. I thought for sure I would lose my voice. Another successful party for the books.
Sunday, Tod, Emily, Chris, Keith, the Wisconsin people and I went to Wolfgangs. It was my first experience and what a delicious experience it was. I had the Baker which was crab, egg whites, and cream cheese on an English muffin which was delicious and I also had a few bites of Chris' Missad. A place I don't think I could frequent often, but definitely worth the visit and I look forward to the next excuse I have to go there.
Later that evening, Chris and I went to Tory's to help him cook for his cocktail party which is always a lot of fun. Tory ordered us around and had us cooking up stuff that we couldn't pronounce and didn't understand, but of course, in the end it all turned out delicious because Tory's some kind of cooking magician. He loved my graduation/christmas gift, so that warmed my heart. Brian, his old boyfriend, showed up and it was so nice to see him. It'd been a year since I had. And Tory's younger sister Caitlin was there as well, but that's all in attendance that I knew. So Chris and I had a glass or two of wine, ate our fill of the fantastic food we had helped to prepared, mingled for about an hour and then bid everyone good night. We came home, put on our pajamas, and watched the first Bourne movie since I never had never seen it. A good movie for sure, but my knees were shaking so hard the whole movie because I was so nervous for whatever was going to happen next. I think I'll need a few days to recoup before I watch the second.
I very much enjoyed our evening at home last night. Lately, our weekends are spent with just us usually the entire time. But this weekend we were so social, had places to go, people to see, and I actually did my hair and makeup both days of the weekend which is something I haven't done in a while. And while it was nice to have a change, to have an excuse to get dressed up and go out and be amongst other people, I think I took for granted how much I enjoy spending the weekends in my pajamas cuddled close to my boyfriend on the couch without anywhere to go or anything to do.
And now ensues Christmas madness...the rush to get everything done and organized before the weekend. Shouldn't be too chaotic because I have most of my shopping done, but I still have a good chunk of chores to do and the sooner I get them done, the better.
Again, I amaze myself at how much I can run my mouth...or my fingers, as the case may be.
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Thursday, December 13th, 2007
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It's official. I'm sick. My nose is stuffed up and yet running like a river and my head feels like a basketball. I woke up at 6am unable to clear my nose and get back to bed, so I slept on the couch, which helped but now my neck is sore.
Chris says I'm lucky for getting it out of the way before the holidays, but I still have way to much to do to afford to be sick now. I wanted to bake Christmas treats for everyone, but I don't think I should be baking when I can't keep my snot in my nose. We still have to make Chris' ugly sweater for Saturday and although I'm certain I'll feel better by then, there's still that nag that maybe I won't be. I wanted to go to McFadden's tonight...get all dolled up and take Chris out--something we've never done--but if I feel like this after work, I have a feeling I'll wanna go right to bed. I guess there's just no convenient time for a cold. Work is going to be a very long eight hours tonight.
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Tuesday, December 11th, 2007
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So I bought a parking space in the garage of my apartment complex to last me through the winter. Yay for no more ice-scraping my windshield and waiting for my heat to kick in while I turn into a Jenny Popsicle. However, the spots are extremely small and the driveway is very narrow. My first night parking down there after a long workday ended in tears. Firstly, someone had parked in my spot and then every other spot I tried to get into I ended up ramming my front bumper into the many posts that outline the spaces. Chris came down and wiped my tears and worked his magic on my car to maneuver it into a spot. Ever since then he's been giving me tips on how to move my car in easier ways. It's funny...I feel like I'm in drivers ed all over again. Even more funny, I don't even remember drivers ed even touching on these kinds of situations. I felt like I was 15, just learning how to move my car about, which was kind of frustrating seeing as how I've been driving for nearly 9 years now. Ugh. I'm old. At any rate, I'm improving with each day and tonight I pulled into my spot all by myself, without having to call Chris down to act as another set of mirrors for me.
When Tory and I went up north, I told him my idea about wanting to have a prom for my birthday. It was just a silly idea...I knew it wouldn't go anywhere because my apartment is way too small to hold a proper prom. But then he had to encourage me and say that we could have an joint birthday (his is only 4 days after mine) and maybe he could talk his boss into letting us use Drink for a cheap venue. And lately, that's all I can think about. I can't even tell you how much I want this to happen. I've been playing the whole night over and over in my head of how I can imagine it going and how much fun it would be and who all would be there. It would hands down be the best birthday bash ever. I tried to bring it up to Tory last night but he's been somewhat avoiding the subject which makes me think that he's not as devoted to it as I am. But I'm almost to the point where I'm ready to pull out the stops...to rent a hall, find a dj, and find some cheap way to get lots of booze. I really want this to happen.
My boss told me that we're having a Christmas party next Thursday in between the shifts with lots of free food and booze. We're allowed two drinks for free, but us second-shifters have to keep in mind that we have to be able to function productively since we have to come to work right after. Haha, I can absolutely see it now. Laurie and I will be giggling all night and no work will get done whatsoever. I cannot wait.
In other news, I left Mike a voicemail tonight. The first time since Halloween. I don't think he'll call me back. I'd really like to see him, though. I doubt I'll hear from him.
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