Strawberry Shortfuse

2009-09-13T20:47:00.003-04:00

So I just remembered I have one of these. Not that I ever really forgot. I just haven't made it a priority, apparently since December. It's partly Emily's fault - she set up a Facebook for me recently, and it slowly just took over my internet. But it's mostly my fault. I think I've run out of things to talk about. I mean, until the beginning of May, all I had to relate was Amber's wedding details, etc. And I can only talk so much about the farm, which dominates my weekends. Sure, we did a wagon train/trail ride over Memorial Day weekend and we were invited to take part in the Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee, WI, but it's mostly the same routine - worked some horses, cleaned some stalls, went to a County fair and participated in the all day show - lather, rinse and repeat. It's now September and nothing new is going on for me. I'm sure I could fix this, but I'm not exciting and I'm not really looking for excitement. I think I've settled for the status quo.

things

2008-12-27T22:08:00.004-05:00

Just after midnight last night, there was a loud bang - like an explosion - and the walls and floor shook for less than a minute. It sounded like it came from next door, upstairs. They have a habit of slamming doors hard enough to shake our wall. Only it didn't come from next door, it came from the ground. There was an earthquake in Lancaster County, 3.4 magnitude. And the strange part is that I was relieved to learn this. I say relieved because my first thought was "oh my god, a meth lab just exploded!" And even then it was more of a "thank god that wasn't an explosion - now there won't be a fire" kind of relieved.

thanksgiving

2008-12-06T19:35:00.003-05:00

Fred's family came up for Thanksgiving. It was the first time the families have met. It went well - no awkward moments or uncomfortable silences. They fit in with our family just fine - kinda scary.

Emily's coming up for New Year's Eve. This works out well because work is giving us the 2nd off in addition to the 1st, since the company is turning 90 in January. Pretty sweet - a long long (birthday) weekend.

Bah, I need a new template.

engage - v. to bind, as by pledge, promise or oath

2008-05-10T13:42:00.003-04:00

Amber and Fred are officially engaged as of Sunday night. He asked and she said yes (this was just a formality) and she finally has the ring. I say the proposal was just a formality because they've been planning their wedding for the last three weeks. But it was surprise that he was coming up on Sunday and she was really surprised. She actually said "what the hell are you doing here?" when she saw him. And then she said, after looking back and forth between Fred and me several times, "I don't know which of you I should throw off the balcony first!" The only thing that would have made it better was if I had my camera or video camera ready. But I didn't and the reasons for the lack of planning are too many and too involved to make me want to actually sit here and write them out. The important thing is that they are engaged now and will be married at the end of next April.

Amber made me the MOH and I'm probably going to have an ulcer by the end of this.

clean up

2008-05-10T13:27:00.002-04:00

At the beginning of April, Amber and I started "spring cleaning." As a result, our apartment is still cluttered, only now it's cluttered with boxes and bags of stuff we are going to (eventually) give away. About halfway through the cleaning, I lost momentum and haven't felt like starting again, even though I really should. Instead of cleaning one night, I went through and cleaned up the archives here. It came down to either deleting the entire blog or just certain entries and I chose the latter. While I was going through deciding which ones to delete (which was most of them) I realized that 2003 was a horrible year for me. I don't know what was going on in my head, whether it was the stress of having a full time job, just being out of school and on my own, or both. Whatever the reason, I am formally apologizing for my behavior in the year 2003 - I was a moody bitch.

favorite things

2008-03-20T20:31:00.002-04:00

Outdoor concerts are the best because of the bass. At one point during one of the sets, the cuffs of my jeans were vibrating - and that is awesome.

beware the tards...I mean, IDES of March

2008-03-16T13:01:00.005-04:00

Shamrockfest is over and I don't think Emily or I will be attending next year's or any other. (The only way I will go is if Scythian opens the festival and then I'll leave after their set is finished.)

The day started out ok. We got up, grabbed some breakfast and got to the Stadium around 11. We figured that because the festival began at 12 and bands were scheduled to start playing at 12:10 the gates would open by 11:30 to let people get through the bag checkpoints and ID checks (if you wanted beer). We figured wrong. They didn't let any regular/general admission ticket holders through until 11:50. I don't think that the VIP ticket holders were let in until that time either but they were allowed to go line up outside the VIP entrance. When we got through to the entrance where they would take our tickets, the ticket takers/scanners were still being instructed on how to use the equipment. How efficient. I understand that events like this rely on volunteers but if I were in charge, the volunteers would have been given instructions hours before the event was scheduled to begin. But I'm not in charge, so my opinion doesn't matter.

There were only 3 bands we wanted to see. Scythian was the main opener although there were other groups playing at the same time. They always put on a good show, but this one was awesome. At one point, Leks jumped off the stage, over the barrier in front of the stage and ran into and around the crowd playing the fiddle the entire time. It was an awesome spectacle. They only had one set because they were playing at the World Cafe in Philly that evening. They are truly great performers. I'm always looking forward to the next time I get to see them.

After the Scythian set, we wandered around for a bit and then just sat around and people watched. It's kind of disturbing/alarming to realize that the vast majority of people who came out planned the bizarre outfits they wore - and some of these "ensembles" were interesting.

Ceann was the next band we watched. They are funny and their songs are inappropriate. It makes me wonder what kind of performances they did at the Celtic Fling last year. They must have cleaned it up quite a bit because they'll be back at the Fling this year. It was a fun set, except for the stupid skanks that came on stage and danced around, rubbed up against band members and groped each other during "The Worst Pirate Song."

Icewagon Flu played on a different stage 1/2 an hour after Ceann's set ended. When we walked over to the stage, there were very few people standing around. By the time their set was finished there was a large crowd. They always get a crap time and stage. By 5:30, Emily and I were tired and had enough of the Spring Break antics that were going on around us. I had to move three times to get away from these three stupid bitches that wouldn't stop dancing into our space or turning around. I don't care that these people were dancing. A lot of people were dancing and that's fine. But quit dancing around with your beer because you are spilling it everywhere. I will not find it funny if I end up wearing your drink. And being drunk is no excuse for not respecting someone else's personal space. I'm not asking for a 6 foot radius - I just don't want you, your purse, your hair or your face right up in or against my face and body.

We left as soon as the set ended. A lot of people were leaving actually. We witnessed the druken crying outside the gates and some chick being supported by two guys because she was so drunk she couldn't walk or stand by herself. That kind of stuff pisses me off. A festival or event where alcohol is served is truly the wrong place to get wasted. Not to mention it's irresponsible for everyone involved. I understand that there is no easy way to control the consumption of alcohol but at least higher real bartenders or people with bartending experience/knowledge. Anyhow, as we were entering the metro I noticed two Metro Police and a guy in handcuffs. While we were waiting for our train, six police officers ran across the platform and a few moments later returned with two men in handcuffs. The one guy wasn't too tall, average build but the other guy was all muscle (think body builder) and huge. He put up some kind of fight and he was sprayed with pepper spray or mace. The spray lingered in the area for some time I'm sure. Fortunately, our train arrived soon after so our exposure to the spray was brief.

The rest of the evening was spent eating Chinese food and drinking wine while sitting on her balcony probably distracting the neighbor (we must've since he closed the blinds after we'd been out there for at least an hour).

I'm either forgetting a lot of stuff now or I'm just running out of steam typing this. We saw "Horton Hears a Who" this morning and then I had to get ready to leave.

Two months until vacation now!

vacations

2008-02-23T15:56:00.003-05:00

Emily and I are going on vacation in May - our lodging accommodations are final. Now we just have to make our lists of things we need.

She suggested Ireland first, but I don't have anywhere near the money needed for a trip like that. I'll get there eventually, I just need to start saving some serious cash.

I need a better paying job; there are just too many places that I want to visit.

Shamrockfest is next month (3 weeks)! Then Emily will come up for Easter. This vacation will be here sooner than I think.

I am a nerd

2008-01-01T21:29:00.001-05:00

I received Cranium and Scrabble from Fred for Christmas and my birthday (I only got my birthday present early because Fred wanted to see my reaction). We don't have enough people here to play Cranium so tonight we played Scrabble. It was excellent. I'm going to take a picture of the board every time just to see if we get better. In the pic, the word at the bottom of ethanol is palm and the word above wigs is locate.

In about one hour, we completed the game and all tiles were played.
Final scores: Amber, 138; Charity, 121; Me, 210.

Amber called me "an evil genius" and said that we'll probably never play a game like this again. She's probably right - my first draw gave me the word "covens." I'll never be that lucky again

Edit:

The dictionary was out because we had to check something. Charity picked it up and found a new word for us to learn:

Mahout - noun (muh-hout) - the keeper or driver of an elephant, especially in India and the East Indies.

today's dilbert comic

2007-10-16T17:44:00.000-04:00

Dear Scott Adams,
This is scary. It's almost like you visited my office last week. How did you know?
Sincerely,
Office Girl

signs point to go?

2007-09-11T19:30:00.000-04:00

Amber's been thinking about applying for jobs in or near Richmond. I've also considered moving back to Virginia. I was thinking about it this afternoon. I got up to get something and came back and found a quarter on the floor of my cube. It was a Virginia quarter.

Could this be a sign or just a freaky coincidence?

DBF: Arlington - Days 2 & 3

2007-09-03T08:45:00.000-04:00

Saturday was Zoo and shoes day!

We surprised ourselves by actually getting up, getting ready and leaving for the zoo by 7:00. Go us. It actually worked out really well for us. We got to the zoo a little before or a little after 8:00, I can't remember now. But getting there early was the best thing ever. We saw the Panda Exhibit with only a few other onlookers. By the time we started to head out, there were so many people trying to crowd their way to the exhibit - it was madness. And they were going crazy over the dumbest things. The male was stretched out in a tree, scratching himself, and everyone was like "aw, he's scratching his foot." Um, no he wasn't. When we came back down, I was in a better position to take pictures so we stopped. I'm trying to focus on him and his head is moving up and down. He was humping the tree branch and everyone was just going crazy. I think the male panda has been over here too long; he's picking up our rude and obnoxious habits.

We had a good time and I got quite a few pictures. The flamingos were hilarious, especially because they were sleeping. I think that we pretty much saw all the animals, except the orangutans (but we heard them almost on the other side of the zoo, it was kind of scary). Next time Emily comes up, we're going to the zoo in Philadelphia and then probably Zoo America in Hershey. She's on a zoo kick.

We left the zoo, went back to the apartment and had lunch and then went shopping. I got my shoes and found a pair of boots! Then we went to the mall, which was a mistake. There were so many people at the mall which made me start to wonder if there really isn't anything to do around here. I mean, why else would there be SO many people at the mall? And really, who wants to just hang out at a mall? Kids are so weird.

After the mall we decided it was time for dinner and then we'd watch movies. We went to Chili's because Emily wanted Dessert Shots. These were not alcoholic shots made to taste like desserts. I was a little bit disappointed. I guess it just means that I can start working on making those.

On Sunday, we went to the National Gallery to see the exhibit Foto: Modernity in Central Europe, 1918 - 1945. The exhibit closes today, so I don't know how long the link will be relevant. It was an interesting exhibit. And it was more crowded than I expected. I thought that because the exhibit was in it's final days that it would be less empty. I guess I was wrong.

On the walk back to the Metro, we realized that we were overambitious in deciding to go to the Musuems. We were too tired to want to do anything else. We decided to watch more movies and order Chinese food and then be lazy for the rest of the day. So we did. And it was good.

Searching for the Fruit Snack Bandit

2007-09-02T09:39:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I reached between the cushions of the couch. I wasn't looking for anything, I was actually trying to annoy my sister. So I reached in between the cushions and felt something. I pulled it out. It was Fruit by the Foot. What the hell? Amber, Charity and I were all at a loss. I reached back in and pulled out a bag of Gushers. Still confused, I reached in a third time and pulled out TWO Fruit Roll Ups.

No one has owned up to this and it's starting to drive me nuts. Emily thinks it is the best practical joke EVER. She totally wishes she had thought of it. She was laughing so hard when I told her, we almost got on the wrong Metro train and then missed the one we needed. I'm going to have to check my couch now any time she comes to visit.

But most importantly, why are there fruit snacks in my couch?!?

DBF: Arlington - the beginning

2007-08-31T19:38:00.002-04:00

I made it to Arlington!

I went shoe shopping. I didn't buy anything today, but I did put a pair on hold for tomorrow - brown with tiny polka dots. I looked for them online to show my sister, but can't find them, so she'll just have to be surprised. And then she'll probably say, "where are you going to wear them?" I don't know. Maybe to church, maybe to work, or maybe just around the apartment.

I'm going shoe shopping tomorrow - to buy the shoes I didn't buy today!

I'm still looking for boots. I did find a pair that I loved, which I may or may not purchase, though I'm strongly in favor of buying them. It's a personal dilemma.

We went and saw "Stardust," which we ultimately loved after having a few moments of intense panic and dismay during the opening scenes.

On our way in we were asked if we wanted to review a movie trailer. We had time to kill, so we said "why the hell not, it couldn't possibly make anything worse." Emily did all the commenting because she was in THE PREVIEW CHAIR. Sounds like fun, right? I stood behind Emily while she answered the survey questions. I figured out what trailer we were going to see - there was a list of five names and Emily was asked if she'd heard of them and what her opinion was on each that she knew. I recognized all of the names, but it was the actors/director combo just gave it away.

We watched the trailer twice and then there were more survey questions. Emily kept looking at me while she was talking - I felt like she was asking me for answers to a test. She said that it was too much pressure and she was looking to me for help completing her thoughts. She muddled through it.

Tomorrow, we finish shoe shopping and conquer the zoo!

Dirty Bad Fun: the Celtic Fling edition

2007-06-24T18:40:00.001-04:00

The Fling this year was fun and the weather was gorgeous - breezy and warm. Not a cloud in the sky until the evening. I managed to not get a ridiculous sunburn. I even managed to not be wearing the same outfit as anyone else (as far as I know). And it's weird because I saw not one, but two shirts I own and seriously considered wearing.

We all get a pat on the back because we stayed until just before the end of the Ceilidh, which was 9:30. I don't think we've ever made it past 5:30 and there was lots of dirty bad fun all day. That's probably because we are all nuts and when you put us all together, we get more nuts. For example, Andy kept poking my boobs all day. Seriously, he did it ALL day and he doesn't even like girl boobs! He is so inappropriate...I can't believe it's been three years since I last saw him.

We started the day with Andy getting out of my car to do a jig while we were stopped just down the road from the fairgrounds. When we got inside, we went to see Icewagon Flu and then Scythian (I love them bunches!). I think there were several people sitting around us that were already three sheets to the wind and it was only 11:30. They made both shows...interesting, but we ignored them and the shows got better. New cds were purchased - definitely money well spent.

Turkey legs were consumed and alcohol imbibed. An hour long rest was taken. Andy bought a dragon and I bought a ring. We watched the Caber Toss competition and sheep herding demonstration for a little bit. Amber tried on a pair of horns. I had the best hair day EVER! Sean played a rigged "test your strength" game. It was determined that poking anywhere was acceptable as long as it was with one finger. Two fingers would be illegal and three fingered touches are now considered gropes. We decided that if you, male or female, are going to wear a mini or shorter kilt of any kind, some form of underwear is required.

There were a lot more people in kilts this year than at last year's fling - that's always nice to see. I also know that there were a lot more people at the Fling this year than the year before.

all tuckered out

Dirty Bad Fun, the weekend edition

2007-06-17T22:18:00.000-04:00

Tyrone and Fred spent the weekend up here. It was hysterical, it was ridiculous, and sometimes it was real diculous. We crammed a lot into Saturday. We went to Longwood Gardens, went home because I'm a tard, had dinner at Lancaster Arts Hotel, and went to the after-wedding party at the restaurant (and got to see the essentially finished addition). Sunday was less hectic but we still spent a good part of the day in the car. We went to Spyglass Ridge Winery in Sunbury. Of course we took the most backward way, but we had fun in spite of that. I think the next time they come up (we'll probably go to the winery again, especially if they have raspberry wine in stock) we'll go the same way because there are pictures I want.

I'm already starting to forget what happened, but what I do remember is passing a billboard that advertised "America's Best Roadfood." It sounds gross. And we passed it on our way up 61, which leads to Centralia. The first/last time they were here, they went to see Centralia and I joked that they should find a metal grate so they could throw it over a pit and grill. Mmm sulfur flavored meat. So the joke about roadfood, a la Amber, is "Roadfood: killed on the road, cooked on the road." The phrase "objects in the mirror are closer than they appear" now grosses me out after Sunday's trip. We did pass an old restaurant of sorts that had a huge clown painted on/next to the entrance to the drive thru. We DID NOT see an exit. This worries us.

Things we learned (that I can remember):

The "Illinoise" album by Sufjan Stevens makes Tyrone want to take a roadtrip to Illinois. We fear for the state if it is nothing like the album. Suffice it to say, fire will be involved.
I wear black because "it matches my soul."
http://www.notyourmothersmammogram.com/ is not as exciting as we thought it would be.
SPAM© makes for an extremely entertaining dinner conversation, especially during dinner at a fine dining establishment - we discussed many hilarious ways to present and serve this meaty, gelatinous substance.

The century plant has not really bloomed yet. The flower stalk is huge and it has started to branch out, but no blossoms. They have 3 or 4 other century plants throughout the Conservatory getting ready to flower this year too. It's a little bizarre how it's turning out, but also remarkable. Go here to follow the progress.

I wish I had known this sooner

2007-05-30T21:33:00.000-04:00

It's going to be hard, at least for a little bit, to not get melancholy when something reminds me of Mandy's wedding and the reception. We made some great memories that day. But now I'll always remember how that day was the last day I saw him alive. At one point we started talking about funerals (we were in the buffet line and it was a long line), maybe we had been talking about Ben, and he said that when it's his time to go, he doesn't want any tears, no crying, nothing sad because that's not how he lived. It's completely crazy that this even came up, and it's taking me some time, but I'm trying to get there.

I pulled this from Amber's Myspace blog about Joe:

"He loved his life, he loved his friends, no one could question that. At one
point he was sitting next to me, and we were laughing at some of our friends
dancing. He looked at me and said, "they're some crazy motherf***ers, but I
love them. God, I really do.""

That's classic Joe. I'm really glad to know he said that of us.

this isn't supposed to happen

2007-05-30T09:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was craptastic as days go and I was fully prepared to discuss my displeasure here, but then something came up that made everything seem less important. This isn't the first time that this has happened, it's probably not even the second time. And it seems that it will always be Tyrone to call me with the bad news. He's a good friend like that because it's hard hearing bad news, but it's just as difficult, maybe even more so, to give bad news.

Tyrone called me after I didn't respond to his IM. He said "Joe is either a bigger bastard than I thought or he's dead." All anyone knew when he called me was that there was a fatal motorcycle accident on Monday and that Joe wasn't answering his phone. {Of course, Joe also told Tyrone, Suzanne and Mandy that he was tired of everyone calling him anytime there was a fatal motorcycle accident between West Point and Hampton. He said he wouldn't answer his phone for four days the next time there was a motorcycle accident. That was Joe. He was loud and obnoxious and a jackass, but Joe is Joe and that's why everyone liked him.} Shortly after his call Emily called me. I thought she was calling about this because I forgot she was out of town. He called back while I was on the phone with Emily and confirmed that Joe died.

It's too strange, like a bad joke. He was at Mandy's wedding (it was 9 days ago!) and we all had a good time. We were probably the loudest at the table. We laughed at inappropriate moments throughout the course of the reception. He was sitting next to me, telling me about the first time he met Mandy's husband (then fiance) Mike and he made this face and I totally spit the iced tea I was drinking all over the place. Joe, of course, found this to be hysterical, and it really was. We toasted Ben, who died in 2005, and danced to "Sweet Home Alabama" knowing that he would have been at the wedding were he still alive today.

The below picture is from the wedding. The DJ played the Electric Slide. Joe was doing a much better job dancing to it than I was - I can't even remember the last time I danced this dance. Tyrone is in the foreground, I don't know why he wasn't dancing at this point. At one point, "Super Freak" was played and all of us who had seen Little Miss Sunshine (which I think was everyone but Suzanne) started dancing like the end of the movie. At that point, everyone around us gave us strange looks, danced away and gave us space.

The crazy thing about all of this is that we were all together very recently. Joe was very much alive. He loved riding his motorcycle. And let's face it, you absolutely have to love your life if you own/ride motorcycles. Motorcycles are not for the faint of heart, or life for that matter.

I didn't go to work today because I'm still trying to deal with this. I didn't really sleep well and my entire head hurts. When I called in to ask for a personal day, my supervisor asked if we were close friends. We really weren't close, but we were still friends.

But now I'm starting to wonder what "close" means? Is a "close" friend someone you call everyday, once a week, twice a month?

Or does "close" mean that you are affected in some way when you learn that something tragic has happened to that friend?

all growed up

2007-05-22T21:47:00.000-04:00

The girl everyone (including herself) thought would be the last to tie the knot is now a Mrs. Yes, Mandy is married now. It was a lovely wedding - the weather was gorgeous and it was full of good times. She's all growed up now!

I'm sure she's wishing she had made a seating chart. All of us friends sat together. We were the loudest table in the room, mostly because we are loud people, partly because we met up with people we haven't seen since high school and a wee bit of alcohol was involved.

We tried to have a bachelorette party for her on Friday but there was so much going on that we couldn't steal her away. We decided we would have a post-wedding bachelorette party when they move to Maryland before the go to Germany. I have decided that I don't want a bachelorette party should I ever end up tying the knot. It's a lot of work - too much work. Emily, on the other hand, wants a party and wants strippers. I'll have my work cut out for me when it's time for me to plan this for her.

Longwood Gardens - 5/6/07

2007-05-22T21:00:00.000-04:00

Amber had an unexpected Sunday off 2 weeks ago, so we went to Longwood Gardens. I've had these pictures sitting here in this draft since last Sunday and just now remembered them. The top two pictures below are pictures of the very large Century plant. Read the sign in the third picture, it will blow your mind! The last picture is a tiny Century plant, but one with a flower stalk. I'm very confused but plan to do some research on this plant. I dream about this plant and now it's going to die. It makes me sad.

we call him Zesty for a reason

2007-04-22T20:40:00.000-04:00

So Tyrone and his friend/roommate/coworker Fred stopped over Friday night. They have been planing a trip to Berwick to visit a former coworker for a few months now. It was good to catch up with Tyrone - the last time I saw him was two years ago when the family went to VA for vacation - and Fred is really cool. They got here at midnight (they got started later than they wanted to) and we sat up and talked until 4 - 4:30. I'm still exhausted from the weekend, I can only imagine how tired they are after driving across the state and back.

from the deck

2007-04-20T19:58:00.000-04:00

The birds were out in full force this afternoon. There are several types of finches (including gold finches), cardinals (male and female), at least one bluejay, and a woodpecker with a red head, just to name a few.

a tip

2007-04-10T21:35:00.000-04:00

For those that plan on going to the Celtic Fling in a kilt this year, a reminder:

Those who plan to wear the kilt should recognize that a kilted man inevitably attracts attention, However, to avoid inadvertently offending spectators, men should observe the following rules of kilt etiquette:
1. Never lift your kilt (except for obvious reasons!) Never lift your kilt in public, and never allow anyone else to lift your kilt. If you believe that you may breach this clause please tie the kilt to your socks or shoes, preferable using fishing line or very strong cotton.
2.Walk, do not run, when departing train or buses, etc. If you must walk quickly, then keep both hands on your sporran.
3. Do not go upstairs, avoid open balconies and glass fronted elevators. Neither should you go downstairs.
4. Do not stoop, crouch, or squat to pick up anything from the ground, have a friend to pick up the object for you. If your friends will not oblige, kick the object to a secluded place before you retrieve it. If you have no friends, then stooping, crouching or squatting in a kilt may only worsen your condition.
5. Do not wear shiny new shoes. Dull them a little. (Shiny shoes can act as mirrors)
6. Do not stand at the edge of reflective pools, unrippled ponds, or mirror-like puddles. On those formal events where you must wear silver buckles on your shoes, do not stand still for longer than five seconds at a time. Dance instead.
7. Dance nothing more boisterous that a slow waltz. Limbo dancing in a kilt at any time definitely breaches kilt etiquette.
8. Respond only with an enigmatic smile to any questions about what is worn under your kilt. Avoid responding at all similarly, do not offer any demonstrations of what is worn under your kilt; an offer such as "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" can be misconstrued as the opening salvo in an ever escalating series of challenges and exhibitions which might be illegal.
9. Shaving of one's legs is unnecessary. Also, it is considered in poor taste to suggest private viewings of your "kilt-line."
10. Do not sit with one leg crossed over the other. This position requires you to un-cross your legs later, a tricky maneuver mastered by only a select few after years of training. Avoid soft recliners, swings or rocking chairs where the sitter's knees may move above shoulder level.

public service announcement

2007-03-11T11:52:00.000-04:00

For those couples who feel the need to be all up in each other's space, please save yourself some time and laundry by wearing the same pair of jeans.

Also please go somewhere less public if you start to feel amorous; no one wants to see you thisclose to having sex in the middle of a crowd. Or again, wear the same pair of jeans, and no one will have to see you groping and grabbing each other.

Or as Amber suggested, instead of a VIP area full of beer tents, etc. designate an area where a Sex Tent could be erected for those that start to experience a similar sensation.

the morning after

2007-03-11T09:39:00.000-04:00

I'm still a little tired, mabye I'll sleep on the train. Amber and Emily are still asleep. Well, they were up and then they rolled over and went to sleep again.

It looks like all our devices updated for Daylight Savings, so all we need to do when we get back is turn the clocks ahead because I forgot to do that before we left.

It was raining last night when we left the lounge. It had started to rain a little at the concert, but managed to hold off. This morning, the weather is gorgeous. Spring is coming to Arlington. I hope it feels like this at home. I'm so ready for spring.

liquid bread (the narrative)

2007-03-11T01:26:00.000-05:00

Q: How many days until St. Patrick's Day?
A (the crowd): Seven.

Q: How many hangovers until St. Patrick's Day?
A (the crowd): Seven.
~Icewagon Flu performance

Today was a pretty good day. Beautiful weather and good music. We now know that for next year we don't have to spend extra money for VIP tickets because the VIP tickets weren't so great. Though the amenities listed sounded good when we bought the tickets, we didn't really need to or feel inclined to take advantage of them. Yes, the beer was free all day for VIPs and they had an "upscale bar service area," but it was just beer - and we don't like beer. We didn't get the complimentary limited edition mug (probably because we didn't drink any beer) and the bathrooms we already in sad condition before we arrived. Also, we didn't really want to see any of the groups scheduled for the VIP performances. So next year we can save $50+ and get regular tickets and know that we'll still have a great time.

I was surprised by the number of people who "Irished-it-up." We got off the metro, following the crowd and this young guy stopped me and asked when St. Patrick's Day was and why was everyone wearing shirts of that nature. It was funny but I reassured him that St. Patrick's Day was next weekend. Coming home tonight, another guy asked what was going on that everyone was wearing green. But anyways some of the t-shirts were really funny, others were, as expected, wrong and not so funny. Examples of the first kind: Kiss me, I'm shit-faced; I came, I saw, I can't remember; Consider yourself WARNED, uniquely designed to attract the ladies. Examples of the second: Kiss the Blarney Stone (with an arrow pointing down); Thrust! Thrust! Thrust! (I have no idea what that's about...there was stuff on the back, but I still didn't get it or who they were); several variations of the "Have any Irish in you? Do you want some?"; Drunk Chicks Dig Me.

Scythian rocked hardcore today. I mean, F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C! I love them, and they are coming back (along with Icewagon Flu) to PA for the Celtic Fling in June. We were in a great spot to see them and they were on early enough that not everyone was wasted or acted like a jerk. Icewagon Flu was good too. Unfortunately, they put them on the small stage and people were so wasted by the time they started to play. But they did sing "Nudity" and the tall guy is really, really good at moving his hips all over the place. I'm sure he'd make an excellent lover (I already tried to convince Emily and Amber that this statement was simply alcohol talking - they didn't buy it).

Flogging Molly was worth the wait (they played last). Even before they were scheduled to perform, the area was packed tight so we just headed toward the fence and chilled. It was less crowded and we could still see the stage and hear clearly. I recorded "Screaming at the the Wailing Wall" and wanted to record "Within a Mile of Home" but we were too busy singing at that point. They played from 8:00 to 9:30 and came back for an encore.

Emily and Amber are surprised I didn't get pissed off today. We did get weirded out several times, and irritated too, but nothing really pushed me over the edge. Well maybe that's not true. Things upset me, but I didn't bring them up or let them get to me. Some highlights of the things I never want to happen again:

little drunk dude pushing up in front of me, and then beside me and then behind me and touching my ass (it wasn't a full-on ass grab, I think he was trying to get my wrist - he was dancing with anyone that would let him - and missed);
creepy dude in a leather jacket that came up to us really close and said to Amber "I don't mean to freak you out but I just wanted to tell you the color of your hair was beautiful." It was dark when he came up to us! How long had he been staring at Amber? Adding to the creepiness was his attire - really ripped/torn jeans with black leggings underneath;
dudes coming over to the fence to take a piss, totally ignorant of/to the people sitting against the fence. It was ridiculous. I wanted to step closer to one and say something like "that's what you're rolling with? Damn" and start laughing. It's not like there weren't TONS of Don's Johns lining the grounds, this was just laziness.

I don't know how many people attended this thing, but it was crazy and a large portion of the crowd used the Metro. We decided to sit and wait for a bit outside the stadium so we wouldn't be crammed in at the station (with drunk people), and then we waited again once we got to the station. After we got back, we went to the bar/lounge in the hotel at the Metro stop. They were rude to us, which pissed Emily off (rightly so), but we got our drinks and had a chance to just relax. It was the right way to end the day - the drinks, not the rudeness.

I'm still looking for an inappropriate t-shirt for Paula, but I did manage to find her a pin that reads "Irish whiskey makes me frisky!"

Time for bed now.

letter to oscar

2007-02-26T21:28:00.000-05:00

Dear nominators,

I am very saddened to learn that I did not receive a nomination for Best Actress in an Office Setting (Drama). The person I go into work as every day is an act, an illusion. This person, this role in the workplace, is Office Girl. Office Girl puts up with a lot of stupid crap. For example, I may say "ok" when you tell me that I don't need x of something because y, even though you are the one who told me how to do x in the first place. I may say ok, but it's really not, because I'm not the one who got it wrong. I'm the one who did the task the way you asked me to from the beginning. Don't come to me and make it sound like I'm stupid for doing it the way you wanted it in the first place. But I'll say "ok" and move on. I'll even thank you for letting me know, but inside I'm annoyed. And you'll never see that annoyance because I'm acting a part.

It is both a little bit funny and little bit scary how easy it has become to switch faces for moments like that. It has become second nature to be two-faced in these situations because, perhaps if I did not pause before reacting with/to certain people, I would explode all over the place-a verbal vomitting, if you will. And although it would be satisfying to a certain degree to just let it happen, I won't because Office Girl knows that those certain people just won't understand.

And for the record, if I happen to be laughing-no, not laughing-chuckling at the end of the day, it's not because I find you or something you said funny; it's because you make me insane and I've reached the breaking point at the end of the day.

This is my greatest role and performance up to this point in my life. And the reality of this is it shouldn't have to be like this.

Sincerely,
Office Girl

the goat fairy hath been to my house

2007-02-10T11:25:00.001-05:00

(not bad for a camera phone photo - I'll have better photos when I take my camera down later)

Yes, goats - tiny, widdle, only a few days old - baby goats. There are four right now and soon to be more as soon as the other nanny goat delivers. They wouldn't even be in our basement but for the stupid billy goat and the stupid new moms. But they are cute and spindly and they wag their tails when anyone comes down to the basement.

so sleepy

2007-01-10T19:54:00.000-05:00

The Farm Show opened over the weekend and opening weekend is when the draft horse events take place. Mom and the girls asked if I would help back in October so I'd been planning on using vacation days for Friday and Monday (despite the fact that I'm doing the work of two people at work). It was a busy weekend, but I think it helped get me out of the mood I had been in for most of last week (the fact that my birthday sucked didn't really help either).

I did take pictures at the Farm Show, but I'm not happy with a lot of them. The light was really weird in the arenas. Most of the horses have red eye, which is funny since they were all acting up Saturday morning for the halter classes. I fell asleep briefly both times I went to the arena to get pictures. I was dead on my feet by Sunday night and had been hoping to sleep in on Monday, but that didn't happen. So now I'm exhausted. I've been in bed early every night. I haven't seen Amber since my birthday and we live in the same apartment. Perhaps this weekend I'll be able to sleep as long as I want.

Christmas in review

2006-12-25T20:07:00.000-05:00

We had Christmas at the apartment this year. It was mostly because Charity's work schedule was (intentionally) screwed up (and partly because Amber works tomorrow). Instead of working in the morning so she could go home in the afternoon, she didn't start until 3 this afternoon and won't get to leave work before 9, at the very earliest. We didn't want her to be alone today, mostly because we wouldn't want to spend Christmas alone.

So the family came over around 1 and we ate and once we were finished it was present time. I got some cool stuff, but the big present from the family was a signed, limited edition (author's preferred) copy of American Gods, my most favorite book ever. It's super awesome and I'm anxious to read the 40 (12,000 additional words) extra pages included in this edition.

fun-with-camera time!

2006-12-24T00:52:00.000-05:00

This is what I did today. Isn't it pretty?

for your holiday viewing pleasure...

2006-12-09T19:41:00.000-05:00

"What is life but the angle of vision?"

2006-10-31T21:44:00.000-05:00

"What is life but the angle of vision? A man is measured by the angle at which he looks at objects. What is life but what a man is thinking all day? This is his fate and employer. Knowing is the measure of the man. By how much we know, so much we are." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I attended the funeral of my former employer's husband today. Actually, the rest of the family and I worked for both of them when the tea room was still open, but that's neither here nor there. As I sat through the service I thought about mortality. Does anyone really think about it on a regular basis? I know that I bleed when I get a cut, and beyond that it never crosses my mind.

The pastor shared some memories during the service and the memorial "brochure," if you will, included stories and memories from family members. If it were my time to go, what kind of things would people remember about me? And would everyone know how much they meant to me?

"Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry." ~Mark Twain

funny story time

2006-10-22T22:34:00.000-04:00

We were dancing and several times this guy (he was cute) came up and started dancing next to/with us. This is the conversation, Amber and Emily will probably chime in and tell me if I got something wrong.

Dude to Amber: Say "Off with his head!" (I'm impressed that he knew who she was, I don't think many other people did.)
Amber: after hesitating OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!
Dude: Say it again.
But she didn't. More dancing.
Dude to Emily: How'd you get that snake?
Emily: I bought it. It's amazing what money can buy.
Dude: Fortunately, the best things in life are free.
I started laughing at this point-I couldn't stop laughing. I was laughing so hard I didn't hear exactly what he said next, but I think I got the gist of it.
Dude, before Emily can respond: I can show you a live snake. Oh my god, I didn't not mean it that way. Apologies for the next minute or so. I have to leave now.
And he left. He came up again a little bit later and left again and came back once more, this time with a beer.
Dude to Amber: Tap this with your wand. (I don't remember if he said wand or if he said something else.)
Amber something along the lines of : I'm not a fairy, it won't work.

I love it. I think it was the best part of last night.

"fortunately, the best things in life are free"

2006-10-22T22:32:00.000-04:00

The Strawberry Ball - It's over now. It was an experience. We all wanted to back out of going at the last minute, which is usually what we tend to do, but we forced each other to go. When we arrived, we seemed to be the only people in costume, but that changed. I guess maybe between 1/4 and 1/3 of all people in attendance were in some kind of costume. Costumes included a safari hunter/lion tamer and his date dressed a lion; Willy Wonka and his Oompa Loompa date, Thing 1 and Thing 2; a group of ninjas (with dance choreography); a guy dressed as a showgirl (he won the Ms. Red Hot and Grand Berry costume contests); a guy dressed as Daisy Duke; and girl Elvis (she took our picture, who knows where any of these pictures will show up). Amber ultimately decided to go as the Queen of Hearts, Emily went as Eve-complete with snake and apple, and I went as "Lady Luck" even though there is nothing lucky about me and my (mis)fortune cookie told me I would be showered with good luch. I'm not going to get into what I didn't like, because apparently the list is long, and it's not like we had a horrible time. We did have fun, it was a good time. There are just things that I would and would not have done if I had planned this party. We ordered pizza once we got back to our room. I still had my costume on, and Amber's crown, when the delivery guy arrived. I think he was startled, at the very least.

Oh, my Trick or Treat package arrived last week from BPTP! They have determined I am a Treat, and included in my package scent Treat #2, a Dracula finger puppet, a kazoo, and two tiny bumper stickers. Yay for goodies.

The above picture isn't very clear, but the gist of the document says that the employees (of the Bob Evans we ate at for breakfast/lunch) will every day give the "special Bob Evans touch" to both customers and fellow employees. That just sounds wrong.

And speaking of things that sound wrong, I wish the word "penetration" would not be used in any form by the commentators to describe any type of play/action during a football game. Amber giggled every time we heard it on the way home today, and now I'm laughing when I hear it too.

corporate cow

2006-10-10T21:41:00.000-04:00

As I was trolling the internet last night, I came across something someone had posted. I don't know where they found it, but simply put, it's just a list of types of government explained using two cows. I was reading throught the list and came across this for corporate politics:

Corporate Politics: You have two cows. One cow is sold, the other cow is expected to produce the milk of four cows; you are suprprised when it drops dead from exhaustion.

Wonder why this reminds me of something...

pictures

2006-10-01T18:06:00.000-04:00

At the request of Darcy, I uploaded the pictures I took from 9/17/06. Click here.

Also, the tickets for the Strawberry Ball were mailed on Saturday...hooray!

vegas or bust

2006-09-24T14:41:00.000-04:00

Plans have been made for The Red Hot Strawberry Ball 2006. Yay! It's going to be me, Amber and Emily. Amber already has her costume idea worked out, my sister doesn't like my costume idea, and we have to come up with one for Emily. Everything will come together. We have our room already booked and I will order tickets this week.

2006-09-12T22:03:00.000-04:00

Photo by candlelight

picture post

2006-09-12T21:02:00.000-04:00

book recommendation

2006-09-09T21:52:00.000-04:00

I finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife this morning. Emily, you were right, it was an excellent book. It was incredibly sad, but very good. I'm still sad and it's been 9 hours since I finished the book.

And my fortune from dinner tonight is as follows:
"An admirer is too shy to meet you. Be on the look out and make the first move!"

Um, ok. Now I have a cookie telling me what to do.

Yay for weekends with Emily!!

2006-08-27T16:50:00.000-04:00

Emily and I went to the renfaire on Saturday. She bought a corset...she's both happy and mad at me (happy because it's really awesome and from the best costume shop at the faire, and mad because it was a wee bit pricey). We stayed until almost 4, then came home, changed and went to the restaurant, which was very busy when we got there. Then we came home and had MARGARITAS! and our leftovers.

Here's Emily, modeling her newly discovered cleavage, wait, I mean her new corset :)
© 2006

concert

2006-07-28T19:23:00.000-04:00

Last night Amber and I went to the Counting Crows - Goo Goo Dolls concert in Hershey. It was fun. We liked the Goo Goo Dolls best, but that's only because we knew more of their music. The opening act The Working Title is very very good. The audio post that was on here earlier (it's gone now because it was way crappy - who'd have thought that turning speaker phone on to record would diminish the recording?) was one of their songs. The Giant Center was packed more or less, although the Club Seat section where we were was very vacant. We were just above the halfway point of the section (midway and down was more crowded) and there were six people in our row and no one in the rows around us until Counting Crows came out. And even then maybe 10 people filled in those two rows. Last night was the first time Amber or I had ever seen somebody rock out on an accordion, let alone a mandolin. We had a good time.

pics from the weekend

2006-07-26T21:42:00.000-04:00

We were in Aaronsburg for the weekend; Leiren spent 3 days driving horses. Mom and I dropped her off on Friday and then did our own thing. I'm always amazed that tiny tiny towns (the blink and you miss it kind of town) have at least 2 antique stores. But that's what we did. Then we went to the local pottery shop. This stuff is the shit - microwave AND dishwasher safe.

When we woke up Saturday it was raining. We headed out for the farm. After about an hour, the rain stopped and they started hitching horses. Mom and I stayed so I could get some pictures. And then we just ended up staying all day. I have a sunburn across my face because we stayed and never put on sunscreen.

On Sunday, they had "class" until 1. Mom and I just missed (by 5 minutes) seeing Leiren drive the hitch of eight(!) back to the farm. Then they practiced tandem and random driving.

Pictures from top to bottom: driving a hitch of four; driving a hitch of six; practicing random (3 or more horses one in front of the other); driving tandem; harnessing.

aww how cute

2006-07-04T18:00:00.000-04:00

searching for an escape route

favorite photos from monday (longwood gardens)

2006-06-01T19:01:00.000-04:00

azalea

waterlilies yay!

Multimedia message

2006-05-20T19:47:00.000-04:00

Picked Amber up after work and we went to see "The Da Vinci Code." It was pretty good. The novel is a good read too. The above is from the car in the space beside us. It caught my eye as I was getting out. Out the cameras came then. We both think that the owner of the car edited the above as a teenager and is now a 30-something, embarrassed by this deed from the past. The car was gone by the time our movie was over.

prom

2006-05-06T19:10:00.000-04:00

Betsy and Darcy, all set to make an entrance.

Longwood Gardens, again

2006-04-18T21:55:00.000-04:00

I only worked a half day today. And luckily today was beautiful. Amber had the day off as well. The fountains were turned on, and the majority of the gardens were open to the public. And it wasn't so crowded that you couldn't get a photo without people standing in your way. It was all good. It was all good, that is, until my camera battery died (again!), even after I charged it. I guess I should get a new battery, but I don't want to, especially since I want a new camera as well. Not that there is anything wrong with the one I have now - I just want the new one. Anyways, we had a good day. I'll go back again in June or July, when the Water Lily display is open, and at least once more for the Christmas display.

Seriously, I don't know what my problem is. I usually don't go crazy for places like this. I usually stomp around and huff and puff until we leave because I'm bored to tears. But this place, I don't know how or why, has me completely.

Just 3 of the 100+ pictures I took today.

Tulips!

Bird of Paradise

Italian Water Garden

warm fuzzies

2006-04-13T22:19:00.000-04:00

It's been about two months since my angry post about asshats. As I was surfing around the 'net the other day, I discovered this word is popping up all over the place. So I can't help but feel sort of responsbile for this word. It's a fun word. Go on, say it. (Not you, Darcy). It's super descriptive and conjures funny images. I laugh everytime I see and hear it.

Have I contributed to society? (I like to think so.)

"'I told you so' has a brother - 'Shut the HELL up!'"

2006-04-09T20:13:00.000-04:00

Because I love Neil Gaiman and the Gorillaz, here's an interesting read.

Also, because I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, see below:

You're a 90's kid if:
You've ever ended a sentence with the word "SIKE!"
You can sing the rap to "The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air"
You remember when Kurt Cobain, Tu Pac, River Phoenix, and Selena died.
You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey from "Blossom" and that "How Rude!" comes from Stephanie from "Full House."
You remember when it was actually worth getting up earlyon a Saturday to watch cartoons.
You got super excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
You remember reading "Goosebumps"
You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, wax off"
You have pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes to school.
You danced to "wannabe" by the Spice Girls, Females: had a new motto, Males: got a whole lot gay-er. (so tell me what you want, what you really really want.)
You remember the craze then the banning of slap bracelets and slam books.
You still get the urge to say "NOT" after (almost) every sentence.
Where in the world is Carmen San Diego? was both a game and a TV game show.
Captain Planet.
You knew that Kimberly, the pink ranger, and Tommy, the red* Ranger were meant to be together. To the last sentence you said.....hey...Tommy was the green* ranger!!!!*later to be white.
When playing power rangers with friends you fought over who got to be who...and still all ended up being tommy.
You remember when super nintendo's became popular.
You remember watching home alone 1, 2 , and 3...and tried to pull the pranks on "intruders."
"I've fallen and I can't get up."
You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
Two words... Trapper Keeper.
You ever got injured on a Slip 'n' Slide.
You wore socks over leggings scrunched down.
"Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack, all dressed in black, black, black,...
You remember boom boxes vs. cd players.
You remember New Kids on The Block when they were cool.
You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell".
You played and or collected "Pogs".
You had at least one Tamagotchi, GigaPet or Nano and brought it everywhere.
You watched the original Care Bears, My Little Pony, and Ninja Turtles.
NANCY DREW AND THE HARDY BOYS WERE THE BEST MYSTERY BOOKS.
Yikes pencils and erasers were the stuff!
All your school supplies were "Lisa Frank" brand.(pencils.notebooks.binders.etc.)
You remember when the new Beanie Babies were always sold out.
You used to wear those stick on earings, not only on your ears, but at the corners of your eyes.
You remember a time before the WB.
You've gotten creeped out by "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"
You know the Macarena by heart.
"Talk to the hand" ... enough said.
You thought Brain woud finally take over the world.
You always said, "Then why don't you marry it!"
You remember when everyone went slinky crazy.
You remember when razor scooters were cool.
When we were younger:
Before the MySpace frenzy.
Before the Internet & text messaging.
Before Sidekicks & iPods.
Before MIKE JONES.
Before PlayStation2 or X-BOX.
Back when you put off the 5 hours of homework you had every night.
WHEN LIGHT UP SNEAKERS WERE COOL.
When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs.
When gas was $0.95 a gallon & Caller ID was a new thing.
When we recorded stuff on VCRs & paid $3.50 for a movie.
When we called the radio station to request songs to hear off our walkmans.
When 2Pac and Biggie where alive.
When the Chicago Bulls were the best team ever.
Way back:
Tag (the game).
Get Over Here!!!! means something to you.
Hide-n-Go Seek at dusk.
Red Light, Green Light.
Heads Up 7 Up.
Playing Kickball & Dodgeball until your porch light came on.
Hopskotch.
Slip-n-Slides.
Tree Houses.
Hula Hoops.
Reading R.L. Stine's Goose Bumps.
HELLO....HOT WHEELS!!!!!
"POWER OF LOVE" BY CELINE DION..ONLY COUPLES COULD SKATE TO THIS.
The annoying Nano Pets & Furbies.
Running through the sprinklers.
That "Little Mermaid."
Crying when Mufasa died in the Lion King.
Happy Meals where you chose a Barbie or a Hot Wheels car.
Getting the privilage to sit in the front seat of the car.
Drinking Sqeeze It "Squeeze The Fun Out Of It."
CAPRI SUN.
Watching Saturday Morning Cartoons in your PJ's still wrapped up in your TMNT, Power Rangers, Barbie, Fairy Princess comforter.
Hey Arnold, Doug, Rugrats.
The original Power Rangers.
The Secret Life of Alex Mac.
Ren & Stimpy.
Double Dare.
Rocco's Modern Life.
AAAHH!! REAL MONSTERS.
Wild & Crazy Kids.
Clarissa Explains it All.
CAMP NOWHERE.
Salute your shorts(CAMP ANAWANA)
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
The original cast members of all that.
Kenan & Kel.
"CITY GUYS"...ROLL W/ THE CITY GUYS
Magic School Bus.
Nick Arcade.
Flash Forward.
Pete and Pete.
legends of the hidden temple.
hey dude.
dinosaurs.
pinky and the brain.
Sailor Moon.
blossom.
hangin with mr.copper.
wishbone.
bill-nye the science guy.
MR RODGERS!!!!
Who could forget Snick? & Nick @ Nite with Bewitched, I Dream of Jenie, The Facts of Life & I Love Lucy.
Where everyone wanted to be in love after watching The Wonder Years.
Nick jr. with facegulah gulah island,little bear, under the unbrella tree.
PEE-WEE!!!
The Big Comfy Couch.
Kool-Aid was the drink of choice.
When Toys R Us overuled the mall.
Go back to the time when:
Decisions were made by going 'eeny-meeny-miney-moe'.
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming 'do over!'
'Race issue' ment arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whoever was banker in 'Monopoly'.
It wasn't odd to have two or three 'best' friends.
Being old referred to anyone over 20.
A chance to skate as a couple at the local roller rink was like winning the lottery.
Scrapes & bruises were kissed & made better.
It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the 'big people' rides at the fair.
When playing Nintendo was the hardest thing ever.
When Ninja Turtles ruled the world.
DID I DO THAAAAAAAAAT???
smud and yak back.
skip it and bop it.
Before we realized all this would eventually disappear, who would have thought you'd miss the 90's so much!

wedding bells are gonna chime

2006-03-24T14:47:00.001-05:00

On Sunday Emily called to give me some news. When she called she told me "I have news. You'd better sit down." Firstly, she cut her hair (I've yet to see a picture) and donated it to Locks of Love. I'm sure she is super-cute now. Secondly, Mandy is getting married next May. Yay for Mandy. I'm happy for her. But I've never met her boyfriend. I'll feel better about everything once I meet him. I'm going to plan a weekend sometime this summer to go down and visit.

It's funny. Of all of us, Mandy was always the one who said she wouldn't get married. But if she would ever tie the knot, she'd do it wearing a black outfit - no dress, and certainly not a white one. I have to ask her about that now - see if she remembers.

ass-hats are all the rage

2006-02-18T17:03:00.000-05:00

After witnessing an end of the week peak of stupidity among drivers, I' ve decided that I need to start paying more attention to the license plates.

To the woman and her companion that cut me off not once, but twice on Wednesday, consider yourself lucky. I was thisclose to calling the police, giving them your license plate number and telling them that I thought you were drunk the way you were swerving all over the road and cutting me off. Pay the hell attention when you are driving. Don't wave to me all cheerfully, like I let you over into my lane to be nice. You almost hit me broadside. You moved over because I had to step on my brakes to avoid your incoming vehicle.

To the woman putting on her mascara while she is driving. Yes, I saw you. Your tinted windows obviously cannot prevent people from witnessing this act of stupidty. You were all over the road and driving almost 10 mph under the posted limit. What freaks me out the most is that I think you continued to put on your makeup while you made a turn. I don't care if you put makeup on in the car. Just do it when you are stopped and are not hugging and crossing the yellow line.

I know that I am not a perfect driver. I'm really not trying to come off like a bitch, but come on, can't everyone pay just a little more attention? Please?

Bird of Paradise

2006-02-03T12:22:00.000-05:00

Longwood Gardens

2006-02-02T20:16:00.000-05:00

I was up at 3:30 this morning so Amber and I could take Charity to the airport today. We made this arrangement about a week ago and I decided to take today off. I did not feel like leaving at 4:00 am, only to turn around and get back to the apartment by 5:00 am, and then sleep for an hour and a half before I would need to leave for work. This arrangement was much nicer.

Anyways, we decided to go to Longwood Gardens because it's what I wanted to do. Mom and Leiren came out and we all went together. The trip was mainly uneventful, at least until we tried to find the place. We did not see any kind of sign indicating we were going in the right direction, nor did we see any signs indicating which exit to take. Nevertheless we found it. I had my camera with me, but I did not charge the battery. I should have started charging it when I thought about it, but I didn't. It's the story of my life.

We walked around outside for a bit, but there wasn't much outside as it is still the winter season. Although there were some nice trees that I'm sure would have been excellent for climbing. We then headed up to the Conservatory. This place is huge and fantastic. There are plants from all over the world in this place (and not just in the Conservatory - I saw a tree that originated in North Africa!) So I pull out my camera and start snapping pictures. I was going crazy! I cannot believe some of the plants they have. The Conservatory houses a Growing House, an Estate Fruit House (there were kumquats), a Mediterranean Garden, a Rose House, Orchid and Banana areas, an Orangery (there were so many tulips I thought I was in Amsterdam!), and and Outdoor Waterlily Display, which unfortunately will not be open until June.

I was taking pictures left and right. I made it all the way to the Orangery and was about to get a picture of a Bird of Paradise in full bloom when my camera battery finally died. I was upset and I really didn't want to pay $12+ for a disposable camera, so I was just going to use my camera phone. And then Leiren remembered she always carries her camera with her. And it was a new roll of film! 24 pictures...all for me to take! I had to pace myself. I'm going to get them developed tomorrow, mainly because I refuse to wait several days for them. I want them now, but I digress. Long story short, I'm very pleased with the pictures I took. 3 of them are below. Eventually I'll get around to removing the 15 or so I took with my phone.

I think I'm going away this weekend, so Emily if you need to call me at any point I probably won't have service. Leave a message, or six if your heart so desires, and I'll call you back at some point on Sunday. Probably during half-time because I don't really care about the Rolling Stones.

This bonsai tree has been "training" since 1906 (100 years - wow!).
I think it deserves a black belt :)

I have never smelled roses sweeter than these roses...

One of several "living wreaths" in the Conservatory.

blast from the past

2006-01-29T21:35:00.000-05:00

Over the course of this month, I've been finding things I had forgotten about and things I just never got around to unpacking. At the beginning of the month I found my 11th grade English binder. It was an AP class and I wondered just how much I remembered from the course. I kept all the stuff from that class - the notes, my papers, the vocabulary. Apparently I kept some stuff of my friends as well. Notes from Mandy (which I know realize are the notes she took for me while I missed a week of school due to a family funeral) and a rough draft of some sort that belonged to Ben (oddly enough I found this almost a year to the day Tyrone sent me a message with that news).

Yesterday I went through one of the boxes that has obviously sat for 5 years gathering dust in my closet. I found all my graduation cards, but also the going away gift my friends worked so hard to keep a secret from me. As I looked at everything they wrote I laughed. We were so stupid. And I don't mean stupid in a dumb way, just naive of the real world. Of all the people in that book, I regularly only talk to 3 or 4 of them. It makes me sad sometimes, but as we grew up, we grew apart which is just how life goes I suppose.

I also found a few pictures, including the one below. Don't worry Emily, I won't post those other pictures. And you're lucky too, that I don't have the one picture that still makes me laugh hysterically. Remember our history with pizza delivery guys? Does that jog your memory? :)
Anyways, the below picture was the result of me having to hand out candy for Halloween while Amber was at a party, and mom was out taking the girls around the neighborhood. I think all my mom did was shake her head when they got back. Crazy times.

Halloween - 9th grade (I think)

dirty bad fun 2006

2006-01-02T21:07:00.000-05:00

We finally got Paula all dressed up for the occasion.

I look stupid, but the New Year's hat is bitchin'.

Amber with balloon fingers.

Amber being a spaz.

property of emily

2005-11-28T19:36:00.000-05:00

That's what my arm has written on it. And I've showered 3 times since Friday night when she marked me. It won't come off!

This past weekend was a riot. Thanksgiving was fun. Got to see the latest Harry Potter, on the IMAX no less. Friday night was an experience, in oh so many ways. Emily experienced Chocolate World on Saturday. That was hell with all the people carrying on and blocking the flow of traffic just to stop and see some overpriced merchandise. Then we went bowling later that night. Amber met us there.

We are so horrible at bowling (maybe not Emily) that it's not even about winning. It's just about being the person who doesn't suck the most at the end of each game. Neither of us broke 100. I came close at 99, but still. Emily and Amber were pissed that game because at that point, I had completely stopped trying each time it was my turn. I'd just grab the ball, walk to the lane, and sort of lob the ball down in the general direction of the pins. It was so cool.

Emily had to leave yesterday, and she made it home in good time. I ended up taking some of the stuff home that mom let me borrow for Thanksgiving. I put the tree up and slooooowly but surely finished stringing the lights. I started decorating it today, but I don't know where Amber put the other ornaments.

December will be here at the end of the week. I can't believe the year is gone; it's all a blur in my mind. Anyone have New Year's ideas yet?

gobble gobble

2005-11-24T09:56:00.000-05:00

Everyone will be here around noon. Chaos and hilarity will ensue. It will be fun.

Emily made it here without incident. Google maps, MSN maps, and MapQuest all agreed that the trip, made on a normal day, would take about 2 1/2 hours. Emily made it in about 3 1/2 hours, which is really good considering she had to take all the I-95s just to get to I-83. She said she's going to live here now, because there is no way she wants to make the drive back home.

Amber S. has a veggie tray for the ages. I'm hungry and she's not here yet with the tray.

boo

2005-10-31T19:19:00.000-05:00

We've never had so many trick-or-treaters as those that have stopped by tonight. In fact, we've never had any in the 3 or 4 Halloweens that we've lived here. But fortunately I stopped at the store tonight and picked up a huge bag of candy. There is only one piece - a lonley little Butterfinger - left from the bag. I turned the outside light out now, but if anyone else comes, they're getting popcorn, or fat-free popcicles. I haven't decided which it will be yet.

Anyways, little kids are just the cutest when they dress up. For one of the kids tonight (he must have been 3), it was his first "actual" trick-or-treat. He was adorable and he practically came running inside the doorway to get his candy.

The best times I can recall having at Halloween are the ones after I was too old to go out. One year I sat outside, next to our van, with my face painted white and my lips and eyes blue. I scared more adults than children. That's funny. Then in 9th grade, I had my friends come over with sheets and while my mom took Leiren and Darcy out, we created makeshift togas. Mom just laughed at us and shook her head. Emily has that picture. We are so strange, and when I look at the picture, I realize how young we were - we were babies.

In 10th grade, when Amber's and my groups started merging, we had more fun. For that year, and the following year, we dressed as witches and had our own little "coven" for the night. Crazy, silly stuff. And they mostly involved way too much sugar.

And then, in the homestretch of our college career, during our little makeshift party, Paula went and TP'd my car and pissed me off. I'm glad you still find it funny Paula, because it was SO NOT funny.

If we knew more people and had a venue, we should have had a party. I bet it would have kicked ass.

Signing Photos

2005-09-24T16:24:00.001-04:00

Amber - always the intellectual - comments on his reading (which only she got to see of the three of us)

Emily being a TOTAL SPAZ (she's blushing, but you can't tell).

I forgot how to talk.

addendum

2005-09-24T14:26:00.001-04:00

Yes, Neil Gaiman is damn fine. It was a good day. :)

Signing photos to come later.

after the wait

2005-09-24T14:23:00.000-04:00

I couldn't get mom's book signed because the line was too long. It was so long by the time I got down to the signing area (which happened to be on the opposite side of where we entered) they had to close the line. But it was understandable - she was only signing books for an hour. I found the line for Neil Gaiman - it wasn't very long at this point because he wouldn't start signing books until 2, but I decided I was going to get in line immediately. So I just waited in line for Amber and Emily to finish buying my books and come get in line with me.

We decided that since Amber really didn't have to be in line to get anything signed, she would go and listen to Neil's presentation. But she would call us so we could listen because Emily's phone has speaker phone. Well, that didn't work. All we heard was Neil saying "...VERY serious..." and Amber laughing. So we gave up on that. When she came back, we found out that not only did he answer questions, he did a reading from his new book. I'm still pouting about not getting to see him. But the pavillion for the Fiction & Fantasy authors was on the other side of the field.

Amber said right away that he answered the question that has been driving me nuts - how did he and Terry Pratchett co-author Good Omens? And he answered this way - "So I sat down to write what was in reality a very serious story, while Terry [Pratchett] danced around behind me, like a pixie, dropping jokes and footnotes." (It's a funny story, you should read it.) He also said eventually he'll get a sequel to Neverwhere done, but he doesn't know when. That excites me. Yay!

The best part was that we were only in line for 20 minutes after he started signing. It was most excellent.

And thankfully, it didn't rain.

arrival

2005-09-24T11:18:00.001-04:00

We waited for a good bit of time this morning when we left, but the trip didn't take too long. However every stop was filled with protesters, and they just kept piling on with their posters and signs. Sheesh. And then when we finally got to the Smithsonian stop, just about everyone got up to exit the train. At the top of the escalators, people (mostly protesters) kept stopping and milling about, not going anywhere. Hence, Emily's little announcement. [If you want to be enlightened, go to your right. If you want to be an asshole, go to the left.]

Also, who brings their children to protests? Honestly, it is beyond me. There were families with little children and babies in strollers going to the protest. I just don't get it.

Scott Adams is my hero

2005-09-08T19:23:00.000-04:00

Current mood of the accounting aisle (and by "aisle", I mean the three of us) at work:

Copyright of Scott Adams, naturally

i'm a nerd

2005-08-31T22:47:00.000-04:00

So I'm checking Neil Gaiman's journal tonight, and I stumble across a link for the National Book Festival. And guess who's going to be there...ME! I'm so planning a trip now. And I can stay with Emily at her new place. It will be so freaking awesome if I get a plan together.

Two of my favorite authors, signing books and answering questions! YAY!

I am the biggest nerd ever.

I'm not alone

2005-06-28T21:06:00.001-04:00

The latest cover of People magazine (for the week of June 27, 2005) does not initially convey the message it intended.

And I'm not the only person to make a comment about it. This sums it up EXACTLY!

wish you were here

2005-06-16T13:01:00.000-04:00

The ride was awesome. The wait was not. But I made it through the line without assaulting the 2 dimwits behind me.

dust in the wind

2005-01-20T21:19:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow night is the memorial service for Ben, and I really did want to go. For closure. But I'm five hours away, if I'm at home, if traffic is trouble free, and my coworker has tomorrow (and Monday) off. I really tried to find a way to go. Even if I only worked a half day, I still wouldn't make it in time. And the weather was a factor as well. So I'm just a bit disappointed that I won't be making the trek for the service. Like I said, it would have offered some needed closure.

I'm not going to lie. Earlier this week, I felt so sad and melancholy. I'd cry when my mom asked me how I was doing. I couldn't sleep. And when I'd wake up, I'd be disoriented and, in the back of my mind, I would be trying to remember what I was supposed to tell Tyrone. I don't know that there really was anything to tell him, as I haven't been able to figure out what I was dreaming of that left me with that feeling.

But now I feel better. The feeling of overwhelming sadness, NOT depression, has left me and I feel calmer. I don't know why I feel this way or what it means. I'm still bummed, for lack of a proper word, about Ben's death. And I think I'm still a bit angry too. I guess what it comes down to is that I've not just been grieving for Ben. I've been grieving for my past as well.

I realized the other day that this is just another lost opportunity to reconnect with old friends, even current friends, and tell he/she/them how much their friendship has meant or still means to me. I've been wanting for a while now, to go back to Virginia to visit with everyone. To catch up and find out what has happened in their lives in the past five years. And I definitely know "you can't go home again," but I'm not going back to try and save anything.

I know who we were then; I just want to find out who we are NOW. I don't want this chance to pass me by again.

A Moment of Silence

2005-01-16T21:14:00.000-05:00

I was in the middle of a new post about nothing in particular on Thursday. I haven't finished it yet because it just wasn't (and hasn't been) important to me right now. One of my friends from Virginia contacted me Thursday night with some bad news. A friend of ours, Ben Allen, died of heart failure on Sunday, the 9th.

As of when he told me that night, all we knew was that he'd died. No one else had any more information. The obituary wasn't online or in the paper for any day between the 9th and 13th. My friends let me know they'd be in touch with more details.

You never think you're going to outlive your friends. And I keep asking "why?" We're all so young yet. And he was so athletic. And the more I think of it, the worse I feel, as when I was told, I couldn't remember his last name for a full minute. I haven't seen him in five years. Mainly because I haven't gone down there to visit everyone since I graduated. But it is funny the things I do remember. Little things often get pushed aside and out of your memory. He listened to Queen and Iron Maiden. He was a Star Wars fan-he had tickets for the first showing at midnight of Star Wars Episode I.

I have two pictures with him in it (actually, it's my sister's-I don't have those pictures anymore). They're practically the same though. It's the day before we finally finished packing and loading for our move. He and my friend Dustin were helping us to shift boxes. I think maybe five or six of our other friends were there too. Not helping too much, just chilling with me before I left. The pictures are of all of us (those that were there anyways). And half of us are looking one way, and the other half are laughing. I wish I could remember why now.

He's actually the one I talked to about moving. He's from a small town in Alabama. I moved to a freaking small town in Pennsylvania. He understood what it was like or what it would be like to go from big city to small village. It's still hard to fathom that he's gone. I can't say that I knew what or how he was doing, but I still thought about my past, and he is apart of my past.

You'll be missed, Ben.

::sniffle::

2005-01-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

Recovering from a cold that I thought ended over the past weekend. I guess not. Or rather, I guess the super nice weather we had on Monday didn't mean that I was supposed to walk around DC without a jacket. But in any case, the cold is leaving me. Why else would my nose continually run and cause me to sneeze all day?

So I did spend all day in DC on Monday, with my aunt, uncle, and cousins (and my sister as well). It was nice. I had the day off for the holiday, and they wanted to spend time with me, so I went along. I forgot my camera, but had my phone. Only I keep hitting the wrong button to save the picture, so I only ended up with one. We saw a lot of the monuments and did a tour of Arlington Cemetary, and then we got lost walking to the Smithsonian. I know. You say, "how can you get lost?" It was far too easy, especially since they weren't really walking to find it, more like walking to find a food vendor. So we ended up 5 blocks from where we needed to be. We made it to the museums about an hour and a half before they closed, so we just went to the Natural History museum. I want to go back later this spring, on a bus trip, to hit up the art museums, which is what I really wanted to see in the first place. Those and the Native American Museum.

I think the really super part about the day was that we ate at IHOP on the way home. It was late when we finally made it out of the city and we weren't going to make it home for leftovers. My uncle said to shout if we saw some place we wanted to eat. My aunt was reading off signs as we went up the highway. And then both my sister and I shouted. I hadn't been to an IHOP in two years. So it was super awesome that we found one. They (the family) made me birthday hats out of a napkin and a coffee filter.

We made it home, and there was a surprise. Baby guinea pigs. Only the one I picked died five minutes after I got done holding it and naming it. Bad sign and a sure fire way to ruin my birthday.

Tuesday the family had to leave. They wanted to eat at El Serrano's one more time (like they can't get authentic Mexican food out where they live) because they really really liked it. Mom and I went along (I took the day off). It wasn't very busy, which was good and the server was hot! But then at dessert, Amber decided to be funny and get me back (another birthday story) by sending mine out with a sparkler. She wanted Brian, our server, to make a big deal but he said he doesn't sing or dance. Fine with me. Besides, like I said, he's a hottie.

Now if only this freaking cold would die for good...because I've got things to do this weekend.

Hauntings

2004-10-27T21:42:00.001-04:00

We watched "What Lies Beneath" two weekends ago. I had seen it once before, but Leiren and my dad hadn't. I like the movie; it has some really excellent freaky scenes. And it was especially funny to hear my dad at different times. But that's another topic all together. After the movie was finished, I commented on how I liked it and how I would never have been able to watch it if we still lived in Virginia.

The house we lived in for eleven years is haunted.

Actually, I knew of another one in the neighborhood that was as well. One of my friend's lived there with her aunt and uncle. They were actually the ones to fill me in on the history of the area. The entire neighborhood area (Fox Bridge, I believe was used to refer to the whole area) was built on the Phillips plantation. The elementary school was named for the owner. There was even a little family cemetary between two houses across the street, or thereabout, from my friend's place.

In their house, when they'd be upstairs, kitchen cabinets would slam repeatedly, and touch lamps in the living room would turn on. Even upstairs, we'd be chiling in my friend's room, the door would either mysteriously slam or slowly open. It was only after we'd talked about the goings-on at their home that I started to realize things about my home. And it's not like all of a sudden, because I knew her house was haunted, that I decided mine was too. I hated being alone in that house or even upstairs by myself because it just felt creepy.

After the house was bought, my dad was out at sea and my mom was unpacking and arranging things. She hung some pictures up in the living room. When she went back downstairs the next day, the pictures were switched around. So she left them alone. When I'd be downstairs, it would sound like people were walking around upstairs. I remember when I was maybe 7 or 8 that I went to bed with the closet door shut, but it was open when I woke up.

There are times that I know I'd go to bed with one radio station playing (usually rock) and wake up with a soft rock station playing. I once left a book on the hamper in the bathroom and two days later, when I went to get it, it was nowhere to be found. I looked in the hamper, in the baskets with our combs, under the sink, in the drawers under the sink, in my room, in my sisters' room, all over the house and it wasn't to be found. Two days later, I'm still looking for it and I looked in the drawers under the sink again. And there it was.

I asked Darcy if she knew about the house and she said no one ever told her, but she knew. She was in the bathroom one morning and the door opened slightly. She said she saw a foot in the doorway and a hand, wearing rings, on the knob. Mom wears a lot of rings, so she said "mom?" and the hand and foot vanished. Freaky. Then I remember waking up one morning with Darcy sitting on the end of my bed, crying. It was early Saturday morning, and she was usually watching cartoons. But I asked her what was wrong and she said she was sitting in the recliner and she heard someone sneeze behind her, even though she was the only one awake.

I've seen what looked like mom quickly walking down the hallway after we were in bed. When I'd ask mom what she was doing, she'd say she'd been downstairs or in the bathroom. I think for me though, the freakiest thing happened when I was in my room alone. The door was slightly open and from where I was, usually I could look right into the bathroom. Well this time, sitting with my back to the door, all of a sudden the hair on my arms and back of my neck stand up, literally. I turn around and I can't see into the bathroom. Just a whitish something-not the sink in the bathroom. I sat for a moment or two, and then decided to run (RUN!) downstairs with the rest of the family.

Just writing this gives me the creeps. And that's just a few things that has happened at the home while we lived there. There are a lot of places in Hampton with ghosts of their own. Fort Monroe actually has quite a few homes, and even a hotel, with stories. Mom went on a ghost tour with a friend once. It was actually a parade of historic homes, but this was a Civil War base, so naturally it would be give to supernatural occurences. But that's just what I think. I'd like to go on the ghost tours in Gettysburg at some point. It would be so awesome.

2004-08-23T21:52:00.000-04:00

Me 'n Em

Wedding Review

2003-12-16T22:00:00.001-05:00

Day before the wedding:
-Arrived at Amber's on Friday at 11:30
-Left for the church at 2:30
-Arrived at the church at 4:00 (after getting separated and checking into the motel)
-Finally rehearsed at 9:00
-Didn't leave the church until 11:00
-Had to go to Wal-Mart, didn't get back to the motel until 12:30

Day of the wedding, lots of pictures were taken. Once those were finished, we entered the reception. The reception was nice, the kids were content (happy with their kazoos and the gingerbread house), and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Amber and Sean danced to "Come What May" from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, and then the bridal party danced to "From This Moment" by Shania Twain. Anyways, I reluctantly caught the bouquet; no one else really wanted to either. Secretly I wanted it because it is pretty.

The reception ended by 6:30, so we spent the rest of the time cleaning. We (Paula, sister Amber, Charity, and I) made it out of there at ten after eight. We followed Clint and his mom down routes 11 and 15 until we found our exit. We arrived back here at ten. Not too bad. And thankfully it didn't snow, at least not until the wee hours of the morning.

Bachelorette trickery

2003-11-23T20:18:00.001-05:00

This weekend I met with Amber and her mom for a "bachelorette" party. In reality, it was Amber's bridal shower. This was the only way we could think of to get all of us together and still surprise her. And yes, she was surprised. But only after I had to yell at her. Her mom was giving her the run-around about what was going to happen on Saturday. As we drove past Sean's sister's house (on the way to an imaginary craft store), Amber wondered out loud if they were having a party. She got really suspicious when her mom turned down in the direction. I guess suspicious is the wrong word; she actually was pissed. I'm trying to keep a straight face but it's not working. She's fuming about her mom and how she's going to turn around if her mom pulls into the driveway (she's still thinking they are having a family party--she didn't want to drop by unannounced). She was going to turn around and I was saying just go on, it's ok, go on. She was going to hit me, so I started to yell at her. I didn't want to spoil the surprise by telling her what was going on, so I just screamed "think about it!" As soon as she realized, she started laughing and said "you little bitches. I hate you." :) But I still had to take her car keys away from her because she was going to leave.

Good times this weekend.

Here's some of the funny things that were said this weekend:

-"Dinner AND a show!" ~Amber (my sister), commenting while Amber G is yelling about her mom.
-"Can I go home now?" "ME TOO!" ~Paula, asking to leave, while Amber G is yelling (she meant she wished she could go home, not Paula).
-"For your ankles AND wrists" ~Someone at the bridal shower, commenting on the gummy handcuffs I found for a gag gift.
-"I'm younger than you, yet more mature" ~Amber (my sister) to Paula.
-Skanky ~Amber G's nickname at the bowling alley, lighting up the scoreboards when she got a strike.

Isabel

2003-09-17T22:23:00.001-04:00

Yes, Isabel. The hurricane everyone along the East Coast is following. As of 2 pm today, she was only 350 miles from Cape Hatteras. As of right now, she's 280 miles SSE of Hatteras and moving 14 mph, blowing 105 mph winds (sustained). She's definitely going to thump the East Coast a good one, knocking the snot out of us. But she won't last too long hopefully. She should be out of the area by early Saturday.

I checked up on some friends of mine in Virginia yesterday, to see how things were going in the face of this threat. Amber got ahold of our friend 'Rissa. She's in Norfolk now and said that the Navy shipped out all the carriers and subs. And the Air Force has sent out the planes. But that's really nothing new. Anytime there was a threat like this, the ships and submarines always left port. I don't ever recall the planes leaving though. Tyrone informed me, from Mary Washington College (hiding out), that Hampton Roads was going to be evacuated. In the eleven years we were there, it never reached such an extreme.

We moved to Virginia in October 1989. Hugo must have happened sometime during the August/September because I remember the effects of it up at my grandparents' home. Strange as this may sound, after eleven years of hurricanes, to say I'd miss it would be wrong. But it was normal, at least for me. Hurricanes are a fact of life on the shore. In spite of that, I never did, and still don't know why people are compelled to build their homes so close or on the beach. They know the risks and hazards of the weather and you definitely don't get good insurance coverage unless you are willing to pay through the nose for it.

I'll miss the beach combing though. After a hurricane, the beaches are awesome. I guess they are awesome before if you are into surfing because the swells are huge. But after is good. There is a beach/nature preserve about 20 minutes from where we use to live. It wouldn't always smell nice after the storm, mainly because hundreds of (dead) horseshoe crabs were littered across the beach, but the shells are awesome. You just have to know where to look and to have patience to sift through storm debris: seaweed, trash that washes up, etc.

***** ***** *****

So now there are states of emergency all up the East Coast. I can understand Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina's decisions. What I don't understand is why Pennsylvania is making a bigger deal out of this. Yes, I understand that with an already saturated ground, flooding and rising water levels is inevitable. But I don't understand why this is different from some of the storms we had several weeks ago with the high winds and the rain. It seems to me that up here, hurricanes send people into the same kind of frenzy people go into down south, when they see ONE snowflake. Yep, in the South one snowflake is all it takes for traffic to back up for hours. Hell, I don't even think snow shovels are sold down there. :) So now I'm seeing that hurricanes do that here. They are prediciting that the rain will only be in PA for a day, from early Friday morning to early Friday evening. It's a fact of life. It's just how the weather is and how the world works.

Being prepared is always a good thing. Having mob and doomsday mentality only makes things worse. Everyone always rushes to the store for bread and milk and batteries. I still don't understand the bread and milk thing. Batteries, yes-for flashlights. Bread and other food, that's a given. Milk, I dunno. If "they" have to remind you to have a manual can opener, you shouldn't be buying milk. If the power goes out, you can't keep opening and shutting the fridge and still expect the food to stay cold. But that's just something I learned in eleven years. You should be prepared in advance, that way you don't rush around frantically when there is no more time left to prepare.

Isabel doesn't scare me. Perhaps if I was on the coast still, and had to evacuate I would be. But now, all we'll get is her remnants. Hurricanes usually don't last long once they hit land, and she's now a Category 2.

I guess we'll see how this turns out.

Called to the "Highest Command"

2003-09-08T22:15:00.000-04:00

I was at a funeral today. Mom's uncle died at the end of last week. She had already decided that she was going to go to the funeral, but we didn't want her to drive alone. So, since the funeral was today, I called work and took a personal day, and we went up to my grandparents' home Sunday afternoon. We got there, changed, and then went to the viewing. I guess mom being there surprised everyone (all her cousins and her aunt). Aunt Anna asked what I was doing there. But I think everyone, for the most part was happy that mom made it. And Pap and Gram were especially glad that I came up with mom.

I didn't know Uncle Tom (he was my great uncle on mom's side) at all I think. I knew who he was, but I've only really ever known Aunt Anna. But it really does suck that you only learn certain things about a person only after they have passed on. It was a military funeral. Why? Because he served in the Korean War (I think in the Army). I didn't know that. And because of that time in Korea, after he returned to the States, he would NEVER again eat rice. But then again, who could blame him if he had to be over there for three years, seeing how life is over there.

The Veterans (all on volunteer basis) came out and did a service for him. At the end of the service, in the graveyard, they presented Aunt Anna with an American Flag and did a 21-gun salute. Then they played Taps. That's when you really get choked up. I don't know if it's because I was a Navy brat and have been around military bases or that I'm just a softie. But Taps has always and still does and probably still will make me tear up. It gives me goosebumps.

I haven't been to a funeral in a while, which is good, in a way. Funerals are for the living, not the dead. I guess how else or where else can you see and find out how so many people have been afftected and touched by one person. It truly is amazing. But sad at the same time. I always realize my own mortality at that point. Sure, I'm not going to live forever. But I've got so much to live for right now, even if I don't know exactly what it is yet.

Death is certain. I fear what I'm not quite sure of, but I guess this is where faith comes in. At least I've got my faith.

August has come and is almost gone

2003-08-15T21:52:00.001-04:00

Up at my grandparents' home, at this time of year, you can hear the katydids chirping away. That's how we knew when we would have to leave and go back home and back to school.

My sisters and I would go up and stay with our grandparents for the summer. It's something we've done just about every year (at least until I started college) since I was three. It was nice for all parties involved: me and my sisters, my parents, and my grandparents. It used to be a bigger deal, distance wise because we lived in Idaho for four years and then in Virginia for eleven years, but that was only a nine hour drive comparted to a 36 hour drive from Idaho. So usually from some point in early June until mid to late August, we could be found in the little town our parents grew up in.

Down here, I don't hear katydids. Maybe they are found down here, but sometimes I miss that symphony of chirps of "katy did did did did..." That being said, it's kind of funny to think that the end of this August marks our third year leaving here, in the middle of a cornfield, in Pennsylvania. We officially owned the house on the 25th, but actually moved into it on the 27th and then started hell, um, I mean school, on the 28th. I wonder what I'd be doing and where'd I be right now if we hadn't moved when we did.

After dad got out of the Navy, we were settled for a bit. We didn't have to pack up and move whenever the Navy said so. Mom didn't like it too much in VA, but I miss it now and again. So, several attempts were made to get out of there and back up here, towards home. The first attempt was almost set in stone. Dad had just interviewed and was basically guaranteed a job at a plant in Massachusettes (can you imagine me with a Boston accent? ick). That was cool. Mom and Dad have friends up there. I remember having a realtor come in and appraise the house, but before we put it on the market, we found out that the plant in MA was shutting down in 6 months to a year. So there really was no point to move then if we'd have to do it so soon afterwards. For awhile, I don't think we talked about moving. Dad found a job, then left for another one across the river, but the management wasn't so good, so he got his old job back. One night mom and I talked about moving, even if it was only as far as Williamsburg. I was cool with it. Williamsburg wasn't so far away that I couldn't ever see any of my friends. But then that fell through and all of a sudden, dad got a job with a company in Maryland. This company did business with the plant in VA and I guess once before asked if my dad would ever leave to work for them.

We found out right before Thanksgiving. We went out for dinner after church on a Saturday. Dad asked us how many of us were ready to move. We all were in a way, so then he told us that we were moving north because he found a job in Maryland. Then Darcy started crying. She cried for the rest of the meal, but the owners felt bad and didn't charge her. Then I told two of my friends, Mandy and Kira. I didn't cry when I told Mandy, probably because we didn't talk for too long. But Kira came over and I bawled. It's ironic at the point, because I always joked around and said I wouldn't graduate with them, because the class was too big and the ceremony too long. Well, all of a sudden I was right. Maybe because I always knew it was true. I don't know.

We left in June. We packed ourselves. Two of my friends helped us. The rest of them helped out too...but just with little things. My grandfather drove the moving van, my dad-his truck, Wendy-Dan's truck, and mom-the van. We had our own little convoy and a passenger for each vehicle. It's funny how that worked out. That started out our "road trip from hell," but that's another story.

Wow. Three years here. Come and gone, just like nothing. It's not as bad as I sometimes think it is, living up here in a cornfield. In spite of all the things I don't like, this works though. I'll always be a city chick, like it or lump it. But at least I've got somewhere to go to get away from it all.

British Cousins

2003-07-29T22:04:00.001-04:00

I took Friday off thinking we would be leaving relatively early and avoid traffic. Amber went to class and Dad was going to work a half day and leave for home at noon. So that's good. I'm thinking that we would leave by 3, but nope, didn't happen. We left at 4:30.

We made it up there around 7:30. We did make good time, conisdering traffic was kind of heavy. Alan, Hazel, and Zheta, along with Vern and Trish (other cousins) came over around 8:30. They kept pushing back the time they would get there because they got lost once. They put 300 miles on their rental car on Friday, driving across the western part of the state all day. They are all such wonderful people. Pleasant and accepting. They hugged all of us right away when they met us.

Alan is incredible; he has so much knowledge of the family from all the research. He travels a lot, all around the world, so he definitely has a good idea of how things work. But I don't know exactly what he does. Hazel is a nurse, Zheta is a teacher of some kind, and I don't remember what Tanith does. By the way, I saw the pic of Alan and Tony Blair (now I'm only one person (think 6 degrees of separation) from knowing Tony Blair; two from knowing the President, even though it is sad that I have to go outside the country to find someone).

This is how we are related:
Bernard (one of many in the family) and Patrick are brothers. Bernard is my grandfather's great-grandfather (why do we use that term "great" to describe distance in relations?), so Patrick would be my grandfather's great-uncle. Patrick is Alan's great-grandfather, and thus we are cousins. You know how in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" how all the kids are named Anita, Diane and Nick? Well, in our family, at least in the beginning, it goes: Bernard, Daniel, Mary (or Francis/Frances).

Here's the story, or what I know of it:

Bernard (the first) brought his family to Durham County, England from Ireland. [Insert a lot of family happenings and lots of years....I don't remember how it all works out). During this time, the name McGlynn changes to McGlen and so on. Bernard (now this one is my Pap's great-grandfather) is a miner. He comes over here to PA to mine. He's a sinker, meaning he opens all new mines all over the state. He sends Patrick some money so he could come over and work too. But that means he has to leave his family (wife Anne, several sons, and daughter Anne) until he can make enough money. But he comes over and he works the mines. (Important note here! Patrick's family shared a home with another family and Anne cannot read.)

Patrick sent money over so that his family could save up and come over. The other family, however (from what we gather), always got the mail, so the money never reached Anne. A few years after Patrick left, this other family had enough to buy the house and they kicked Patrick's family out. So both Anne and Patrick died thinking that the other wanted nothing to do with the other.

How sad is that?

So Anne, the daughter, is Alan's grandmother. He promised her that he would find out the truth about Patrick (because of some rumors that he started a new family over here and never intended to see his other family again). But Patrick did NOT start another family. He lived with my grandfather's family until his death. Aunt Anna and Aunt Mary (my mom's aunts) were over on Sunday, talking about their memories. They were the oldest children, so they remember a little bit more, like how Patrick was a very sad man (but I'd be too if I thought my family didn't want to be reunited). Mary said she was in 2nd grade when he died (I think). It was right before Christmas (he was burried on Christmas Eve). They said he never usually slept in a bed, just in an armchair and he only read two books (that they can recall).

Mary gave both of these to Alan. He asked if he could have them when she "was finished" with them because they (in England) don't have ANYTHING of his back in the UK. She said sure, but later on, she said he could have them now, if he found her a copy to replace the one book. As he was looking at the book, you could tell he was choking up. Especially when he identified the smudges as thumbprints.....when Patrick held the book.

All in all, it was a wonderful time. They said they'll be back next year. Maybe one day I'll even plan a little trip to London...

2003-06-11T18:53:00.001-04:00

It's funny how certain things will hit you, even thought you don't think about them. I just realized the other night that this seems like a time for "anniversaries." First, I had to deal with the one month aftermath of the fire. That's not such a big deal anymore. But then I realized that it's all a one year anniversary, as of May 24th. One year ago, a guy I went to school with in Virginia died, after being shot as he drove away from two guys attempting to rob him at a drive up ATM.

I'm surprised that I remembered this, as I don't think too often of living in Virginia or the friends there that I once had. My friend Tyrone is my biggest source of gossip. It is he that gives me the scoop on who's dating who and who hates who every week. Or at least he did until everyone went to college. I guess it's much easier that way. There always was WAY too much stuff to keep up with in that group.

Anyways, after we moved, it was Tyrone who kept me most up to date. So I checked my email between classes on May 23, 2002 and I got one from him. I opened it and this is what it said:

Hey,
What I was going to say was: I was about to write you a little update about what's been going on but there's bad news that just came up so I'll have to get to that later.
The news is that Chris Tromly got robbed and shot on Tuesday. I knew that three people were robbed in Willow Oaks this week but I didn't know that Chris got robbed and shot till today. Write back soon. I'll talk to you later.

Zesty

It's like, whoa. What the hell...There was an article he attached, but at this point, it's no longer on display (you can, however, buy the archive, but no). I read the article and it really made me think. Like, how many times could that have been someone in my family? That was a popular shopping center. Sure, it was a little shady, but it was getting better. And as for Chris...well, I hoped that everything would be ok for him and his family.

I hadn't really thought about Chris after I left. You see, there is a history behind this. In the 8th grade, I had the unfortunate luck to be in a class with all of my (least) favorite people. I didn't know Chris personally, but I knew who he hung out with, and how they acted when they got together. One day, Chris got all "googly-eyed" with me. It was really weird. He said he was in love with me and followed me around every morning before class started telling me this. It was stopped after a week. Some of my teachers heard him and said something to him. And then he stopped.

So then we moved. I didn't think about those people again until last May (and most recently this weekend). So Tyrone sent me that horrible email and I was upset, because you just don't think that things like that happen to people you know. Unfortunately, this is not EVER the case. So, I checked my email on the 24th, before class (I had a test) and the subject read "bad news got worse" and this is what it said:

Hey,
We don't have everything together yet but Chris is dead...
I can't really say anything else now. I'll talk to you later.

Tyrone

I felt like I had been punched in the face. It was one of the most shocking things he could have ever told me. I mean, sure, I still didn't know him personally, I didn't even know him socially. But still..it brought back all those feelings and memories. And more importantly, questions. All the what ifs and maybes...What if he really did like me? and Maybe I shouldn't have been so mean... Those thoughts are the ones that hurt the most.

So anyways, it's been a year. I hope his family is well. I found out, after searching for the article, that his liver was donated to a 50 year old man, who is still alive because of it. I don't know much more about that, the site was only showing the first few lines of each archived article. I hope that his friends remember him everyday, that's how we live on when we are gone. And much more than that, I hope they found the people that did this. No one should have to deal with what his family had to handle.

I don't know why I've posted all of this. This is way too personal, but...now it's out there.

I guess it is a time for anniversaries....