The Classic “Thanksgiving Post”

I’d like to give a shout-out to Hayley Goff for creating my new banner J

Well you all saw it coming… the “Thanksgiving post”. Everyone who’s anyone in the blogging world features Thanksgiving and lists the beautiful things they are thankful for and posts amazing pictures of the Martha Stewart-like meals they strategically planned and created from scratch. This… is not one of those posts.

I did not take joy and pleasure in cooking the Thanksgiving meal this year. It hasn’t always been my dream to do so and although I love any excuse to spend time with my family (especially out-of-staters;)), my preparing ANYTHING that another human is going to eat is scary and stressful for everyone involved. When people found out I was cooking the meal everyone they started giving me tips (clearly worried and rightfully so) - “well put butter in that” and “keep a little water in before you mix it” and “pull the bag off the turkey a half hour before it’s done so it can brown” and “you’re going to want to put lemon on that so they don’t brown”… it’s like… HOW THE HECK DO YOU ALL KNOW THESE THINGS?! Did I miss that part of childhood? Was I absent that day in school when they were teaching people how to plan/prepare and time a hugely important meal? Thank goodness for wonderful friends!

However petrified I was, I did (of course) plan everything I could ahead of time. I made a test apple pie, which I was told was good, although I’m sure Hayley wouldn’t have wanted to take the wind out of my sails if it wasn’t. I shopped, planned, crossed off my lists and kept myself hydrated (with something alcoholic of course).  When all was said and done, we did NOT end up ordering take out and whether it was the truth or not, everyone said they enjoyed everything, which I appreciate. Although my dad could have done without the pre-cut cheese I bought. Evidently it wasn’t the smash hit I thought it would be, although I thought it was genius and saved a ton of time. Plus they taste better all cut straight and everything.

We did of course; miss my sister, who is somewhere praying that child out of her. Hopefully he comes soon. I’ve never seen her so impatient in my lifeJ Clearly he’s making a statement, which I am familiar with and support, since I am not the one doing the work to get him out here to all of us.

This brings me to the cheesy part of this where I just can’t help but share all I’m thankful for this year… it just wouldn’t be a “Thanksgiving post” without it –

1. I am thankful for the family that was able to be together this holiday, since it’s been years since we’ve been together for the holidays. Even though it was for a sad but glorious reason, it was lovely to see everyone pull together.

2. I am thankful for the family that God has created for me here in Boston. I couldn’t be more blessed to have found these people. Even when things are at their worst, it’s hard to lose sight when you have a wonderful support system willing to carry you until you can stand again. I would do anything for these women.

3. I am thankful for my independence and my home and my things. Working with students in Boston does nothing but remind you how much you have; how little my struggle is compared to theirs. I never take my apartment for granted and wouldn’t dream of trading roommates!

4. I am thankful for the opportunity to go the Women’s Conference in NY, with mom and Shauna. It was a wonderful reminder of why we are all here and what the possibilities are within each of us and I value them all. (Now if I could just decide which of the 17 paths I would like to go down from here….)

5. I am thankful for my two nephews who remind me how much fun it is… to just be alive and enjoy the little things. Such simple minds are such a refreshing thing to be a part of. They love simply, they forgive simply, they enjoy simply and it’s important to remember those things are what matter most – and who better to remind us than kids who mispronounce words with a huge food-stained grin on their face?

6. I am thankful for Charlotte. Let’s face it. She puts up with me daily. She makes me laugh even when I want to strangle her. She understands my food rules and doesn’t judge. She is constantly supplying me with ammo to pick on her. But most importantly, she works really hard and I’m thankful she lets me be a part of all she is becoming and capable of.

7. I am thankful for Hayley. She basically is the reason I make it from year to year as sane (that’s debatable I suppose) as I am. Although, when I’m being crazy she makes me feel I’m the most normal person in the world. She understands me before I even say/type something. She has memorized my food rules as well and in addition to working around them, she challenges me to expand myself in a great way. She keeps me grateful, honest and accountable. She joins me when I’m in my boring sweat-pants mood and accompanies me when I’m in my let’s make some bad decisions mood. She’s the cause of many tears (in wonderful ways) and many buzzes. I’ll never be able to thank her enough for being a part of my life. Although being one of her MOH’s, might make us even ;)

8. I’m thankful for the opportunity to be getting my Masters for free… or at all really. For as much as I have dreaded my classes and the work and struggled, at the core I really am grateful for the opportunity to have met the people through my courses that I’ve met. They’re great people to be learning from and they’ve made my experience what it is.

9. I’m thankful for the next season that awaits us, although it doesn’t quite feel like it, since the weather has been so great! I love everything about the Christmas season and hope it doesn’t go by as fast as it normally does. I guess I’ll have to take a lot more mental pictures of the picturesque moments that seem to happen this time of year.

So with Thanksgiving over, this means I get to start concentrating on CHRISTMAS! The GREATEST time of the year! I have completely decorated my office so it looks like you stepped RIGHT into the North Pole and have all of my decorations out and ready to be put up at home. I cannot WAIT for our traditions to start. Hayley, Tyler, Charlotte and I will go get a tree together, drink hot chocolate, buy holiday decorations…. (although this year it might include sweating if I’m carrying my tree around in 60 degree weather) Mmmmm – I can smell the pine just thinking about it. I will tackle the rest of my Christmas shopping slowly but surely. Hayley and I need to sit down and make plans for our Winter Walking in the common with all the lights, dinners, scarves and coats and hats… I cannot wait! (Please all be prepared that by February I will be condemning the snow and cold, so take this while it lasts).

On the more depressing side of things. I have 14 days to finish a whole crap load of work for school that I am no way near finishing. Everything about class and grad school and everything related to it is making me nauseous. I just need the semester to be over so I can be a sane person again! It’s taken over my life. All I do is work/study/write and sleep. It’s getting old. BUTTT on the bright side, I have 4 more classes and 1 semester left and I CANNOT wait for June 1!

I suppose on that note I should really start tackling a paper or two.

I hope you all enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday and were grateful to be with your families!

I’ll leave you with a life lesson: Life is short… buy pre-cut cheese to save  the time you could be spending with your families.

xoxo

Attention All: I've Changed My Sheets!

That's right! I am back on the productive train and the first stop was changing my sheets! We will not go into how overdue that was, but will skip to the fact that having new, soft, wonderful sheets have brought me to a very happy place. Also, given the fact that I am mostly in my apartment JUST to sleep, it's very important that I am in love with my sheets, which I am:)

I should be ashamed about the mood it put me in and the inspiration it gave me to keep checking things off my list, but... it worked! I FINALLY moved the cats litter to a different closet, cleaned out two other closets, put my clothes away, cleaned the fridge out, went grocery shopping, re-filed and shredded my papers and ran some errands. It was a great weekend.

I should go back to the now catS thing. Yup. It's plural. I am one cat and one ugly dress away from being labeled "crazy cat lady". (Charlotte already holds this wonderful title. Just the sheer number of pictures she has of them is enough to add her to a very sad, unfortunate club of cat ladies). ANYWAYYY, her name is Lily and she is extremely cuddly and adorable. I inherited her from my Nana, which Charlotte and I were happy to do. She's a little heavier than Jacoby, but a lot more friendly. She is also very high maintenance. She can only eat a certain type of food (which I am inclined to search for since my carpet is not supposed to be the color it now is), she tends to leave her mouth open and drool at random times and talks constantly. I'm also pretty sure she's the one who ruined my brand new, fabulous bath mat. But Jacoby has been really testing Lily's limits. We are sure to referee the disagreements, but Jacoby really pushes her around and since she can run faster, tends to always get the best of Lily. I'm sure they'll be on the same page soon. (Thank goodness neither of them have front claws). Their attitudes with each other come and go. So we are now a 2-cat household.

School this semester has been on another level of difficulty. My days of breezing by and half-assing my way through... pretty much everything, is over. It's taken a lot to get by thus far and the semester is only halfway through. Working full time and going to school full time is not ideal. Which is probably the reason SO FEW people do it! I love learning things the hard way.

In other news:

Traffic report:

Car: Red JAG - top down. Driver: Older man. Balding. Adding to the humor: he's blaring Journey and it's foggy and cool out.

Incident: See above. Enough said. 

Mom and I had a chance to spend some time together which always leads to some sort of strangeness. We were busy! We made friends at a Jiffy-Lube, watched the fate of a seagull we were waiting to be eaten by the "shark" we saw, shopped so much the card company called (*mucho sarcasm), watched a strange alien cartoon movie (which I'm blaming mom for), ate snacks for meals and pretended to be able to handle an endless pasta bowl.

The first weekend of October marked the first annual girls-getaway weekend in Maine. Hayley and I left Friday night for Kennebunkport, ME. Even though we were both dreading spending THAT much time together and were thinking of ways to prevent the awkwardness of being stuck together for that long, we managed to have a FANTASTIC time. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard or had such a good time in the rain.

Tips we took away from that weekend:

Just because a store is called "The Best of Everything" does NOT mean that "everything" is in the store OR that it is the "best".

Free wine ALWAYS tastes better than wine you have to pay for.

One can have MUCH MORE fun in a place that is club-sized, more so than if you went to a normal-sized venue for dinner.

Kennebunk, is in fact, NOT close enough to Kennebunkport to prevent a $20 cab ride that lasts 90 seconds.

When a resort posts quiet hours on their walls, that is really a threat that they will send a Grampa-looking man up to your room should you be laughing past those hours.

Foxy-moxy's are NOT appropriate attire to go out for drinks in.

Onine degrees from fake online colleges will ALWAYS lead to a singing career.

(Thanks Hayl for my bday present. Best. Time. Ever.)

I also spent a great weekend at home with the family a few weeks ago. Blane's putting together longer sentences and remembering and understanding so much! It's amazing to watch him and listen to him. He cracks me up. I even shared a couple popsicles with him, which is a pretty big deal... since, I'm not a big sharer. Caitlin came up too, which was fun! We decorated pumpkins, made homemade cupcakes together (well, mostly me... she knows extremely little about baking, I had to be patient with her :p) and we also... oh yeah, chased pigs. It was a great weekend.

Charlotte, Tyler, Hayley and I are planning on carving pumpkins tonight and making soup, which I'm sure will turn into some sort of story, so... to be continued.

xoxo-

 

I laughed out loud...

So even though not much has changed with my demeanor and I have nothing very positive to report in the area of my productivity (although I DID read on my porch for a couple hours this weekend!) I have quite a few random incidents/thoughts that I would like to share, because 1) I can't keep anything in 2) I would like to waste your time reading this, since my life was wasted experiencing these things and 3) my last post was a bit deep and I would like to return to my shallow world of laughter.

*Side note: every time I ever write laughed out loud (or LOL for you cooler folks)... I am literally laughing out loud. I'm not that person who is like really actually sitting somewhere un-enthused writing LOL. I'm actually doing it.

My wandering thought-process (I apologize for taking you to the scary place in my head):
I was walking to my car after class the other night and could see my shadow in front of me because of the way the outdoor lights were and I saw my ponytail swinging rapidly from side to side and was immediately annoyed by myself and grabbed it to stop the swaying. But then I laughed out loud thinking back to when I was little and WANTED my ponytail to do that! I used to see other girls walk by with their pony tails swinging and I just really wanted my ponytail to swing. So I used to tilt my head from side to side while I was walking to get it to swing until my sister caught me and told me how annoying and uncool it was. She would be so proud that I stopped it the other day.

A site to see:
There is a man that works here that I do NOT like. He is ALWAYS cranky, NEVER willing to help, dislikes students even more than I do but CANNOT hide it (the way I can), and was always trying to put roadblocks up to prevent progress when we were FORCED to work together. (Joyce can attest to the anger this man created in me). Well the other day on my way to class I was walking behind him and all of a sudden noticed HOW MUCH OF HIS LEGS I could see! I mean, he was wearing light blue (khaki material) colored shorts and they were probably 6 inches ABOVE his knee. Not only that but they were probably 1-2 sizes too small for him! AND he had on leather high top shoes. I WISH I was making this up folks. True story. I laughed out loud again and ran (as fast as I could behind a REALLY tall man who took up a strangely large amount of the catwalk) to Joyce's office to tell her that God was throwing us a little bone by letting us witness the fact that NO ONE exists in that man's life to prevent the catastrophe that was his outfit.

My regret of the past week:
Watching Save the Last Dance 2. I know what you're thinking... they made a SECOND one? Yup they did. And as much as I hated watching those less-than-attractive people act and then bring down the only other decent actor in the movie... I couldn't/didn't turn it off. Yes, that's about 2 hours of my life wasted because I could not turn away from the train wreck that is that movie. Hopefully this can serve as a cautionary tale to people to not watch sequels to movies that were perfectly good the first time. Honestly, I'm annoyed just thinking about this. I was NOT laughing this time.

I would also like to start a new segment entitled: Traffic Report. Too often I encounter entertaining things in traffic, which, lets be honest, makes it more tolerable to be sitting there. To look over to the car next to you, know that that person thinks they're invisible and doing something embarrassing is... well... worth writing about and passing on!

Traffic report:

Car: Black Lexus. Driver: Girl. Accessories: Blackberry covered in pink glittery stones. Adding to the humor: Her long nails painted red.

Incident: So I'm at a red light with this girl to my right in her car... I keep seeing her holding out her phone and it's almost touching her windshield. First I think "Is she trying to squash a bug or something with her phone?" Lol... NOPE. I drive forward a little so I can see her face and she's trying to take a picture of herself. Does she take just one? NOPE. She takes like 6 and all in different poses. I was literally staring at her the whole time and she's all: pouty face, tilted head, kissy face, looking cool... lol. I really wanted to get out of the car and offer to take it for her. She looked ridiculous holding her phone out in front of her and then examining each picture. I hope whoever received the picture appreciated how many attempts it took to get there.

Car: Gross pick up truck. Driver: Young guy. Adding to the humor: Tons of tattoos.

Incident: I was just looking in my rearview mirror, seeing who was back there and just making sure they were stopping behind me at the light. (I have OCD about watching people behind me stop once I put on my breaks. My worst fear is someone not paying attention and rear-ending me). So I'm looking back and he seems like a scrawny tough-guy. You know the type. Little guy, but overcompensating with tattoos... and while I'm looking he yawns. I know what you're thinking... "so what?" Well his yawn lasted like 35 seconds! That is a LONG time for a yawn. (if you dont believe me, count to yourself right now!) Plus it looked like he unhinged his jaw to yawn. His mouth was so big and it lasted forever. Of course I laughed out loud. That was the biggest/longest yawn EVER. It's the little things....

Last thought for the day:

I REALLY wish my phone would STOP auto-correcting. Everytime I try to write "yeah" it spells out "utah". I have literally NEVER typed Utah. I don't know anyone in Utah and I couldn't even point to it on a map. So if any of you have received a text from me saying Utah... it is the equivalent of yeah.

xo

I Hate Secrets!

… so I’m SO glad I don’t need to keep one anymore! The anniversary party of the century is complete and I can NOW release all I’ve been keeping in and keeping busy with since February! You have no idea how much of a blabbermouth you are until you have to keep something from your Mommy! This has consumed me… so I’m so happy that it was a huge success and (hopefully) everyone had a great time. They were so shocked! It was the first time I’ve seen them that shocked and VERY proud that we pulled one over on dad. Sorry mom, but it’s usually pretty easy to pull things on herJ

I will be uploading pictures shortly once I have compiled more.

First day of school was yesterday. How ironic is it that I hate crowds, kids and lazy people and I work at an over-crowded university with 16,000 students who aren’t responsible for anything and staff/faculty that realized the lazier they are, the more they’ll get paid and the more secure their job is here? If you cannot tell already, my grouchy pants are on and in full effect. My classes actually start tonight, which will be really interesting. Considering my energy level is currently around negative 100%  so, I’m not quite sure how these classes will fit into my busy schedule of sitting and avoiding things.

I swear I’m in a funk. I’ve never not been able to pull myself out of it until now. Of course because I’m neurotic, I made a list of things that would make me feel better that I am simply not doing and have no energy/desire/drive to do. Smart, huh?

Things I could do that would make me feel better, but I’m avoiding like the plague:

- Cancelling my Planet Fitness and joining Curves

- Actually going to Curves

- Cleaning the bathroom… thoroughly

- Renting a carpet cleaner/cleaning the rug

- Buying new clothes

- Changing the oil in the car (yup, still haven’t done it mom)

- Replacing the battery in the car (yup, still haven’t done it dad)

- Saving money for Christmas/joining the Christmas save program at a bank (obviously for next year since I missed the boat)

- Find outfits that I would like to buy

- Preparing my lunches/outfits the night before

- Buying new mascara that doesn’t sting my eyes

- Using my coupon at the kickboxing class

- Cleaning the stand under the tv

- Finding/installing something to hold wine glasses

- Updating my ipod

- Dying/cutting my hair

- Putting my pictures online and linking them to my blog

-Updating my blog more regularly

- Taking more pictures in general

- Actually doing the readings for my classes

- Finding/killing the smell in my house

- Use my balcony more before it starts snowing

Although, as a VERY wise friend once told me: I should just be in whatever mood I’m in and stop judging myself and making it harder. One day I will wake up and WANT to clean the bathroom and can go from there. There is no point sitting around judging myself and being harsh and it is certainly NOT motivating. (Thanks Ana). So THAT is my new plan. To just be and keep this list for a time that I actually just end up doing these things.

Moving on… one of my favorite people in the world is having her birthday tomorrow and I’m so happy that we can celebrate it this year! She hid it last year until it was too late. This year, she isn’t getting by so easilyJ

I probably should attempt to do work or at least get up to go to the bathroom now.

xo

We Don't Have Enough Family Photographs...

Well Melissa is now a married woman! She looked BEAUTIFUL and it was a perfect day. Getting there had its ups and downs though.

On the way there we drove through Vermont where I saw the Von Trapp family! It was awesome- They were riding their bikes in white shirts and khaki bottoms. Just like the movie! Vermont was beautiful. THENNN we got to the ferry where we had to cross Lake Champlain to get into New York. NOT beautiful.

Not only was I stuck hyperventilating in my car, but it was POURING and that was the most stressful 12 minutes of my life. I really should have done more research before going on that. However, it DID prepare me more for the way back and I learned my lesson.

SO MUCH ANXIETY on the wedding  day! I woke up and just wanted to throw up. I was SO nervous. I’m not sure if Melissa was, but I was enough for the both of us. Everything was perfect and it was SO nice outside! Plus- the food and entire reception was wonderful. It was so nice to see her so happy and actually have a day devoted to her, even though she tried to serve people… honestly. We also had plenty of time to bond as a group at the hotel over cheese and crackers (which I just yesterday could stand to eat again… holy dairy!!) On the way back it was actually good weather and Joyce rode with me so I would calm down. But because it was so nice we got to leave our cars, which actually helped a lot!

Hmmm what else significant happened that weekend? OH YEAH I FORGOT JOYCE’S FREAKIN BIRTHDAY! I could’ve just died right then and there. The ONE person who is sure to remember everyone else’s birthday got NOTHING on hers. Literally nothing. I even spoke to her on the day! Had it on my calendar! I’m going to just start believing that someone else inhabited my body for the day and it wasn’t me who forgot. So… Ana and I enacted an emergency birthday plan and threw her a little get together in their office early the next week. Honestly. Worst-friend-of-the-year award… right HERE people. I’ve totally gotten over it (as you can tell).

The next weekend after that I made a trip to PA to see those strange people I like to spend time with. The drive actually went a lot quicker than it normally does.

Shauna and I had a sleepover like the old days… except for right now she takes up A LOT more of the bed than she used to. It’s always nice to catch up, considering no amount of my prodding her to participate in this decade’s technology actually gets her to return a phone call or email.

Saturday was dad’s work get-together at Knoebel’s (amusement park). We brought two kids that help mom and dad around the farm – which after a long debate, we all decided was a VERY nice thing to do… (insert sarcastic laugh here).  They were really nice and grateful to be there. It was cute.

The food was good, the company was good, we bought stock in anti-bacterial gel, but… IT POURED THE ENTIRE TIME DAD WAS OUTSIDE.

We finally sent dad to the car to take a nap so we could all go on rides. We started with the water rides since we were inevitably going to get wet again when dad decided to leave the car. Blane enjoyed the beginning and endings of the water rides but DID NOT appreciate the water part in the middle. He also rode the STUPID yellow antique car a trillion times before I was about to assault someone to get him a different colored car. Blane just ended up thinking it was HIS car. Anywayyyy good times.

Sunday morning came fast. Or so I thought. Evidently while I was trying to catch up on sleep my LOVING family was downstairs plotting a very RUDE awakening for me. Dad came up and pulled my out of bed by my feet and harassed me for like 15 minutes until I got up. It seems having not been there for a while they ALL forgot I am NOT a morning person. Mom had the bright idea to video tape my torture, like any loving mother would. THANKFULLY I can count on Shauna for not doing it right and there turned out to be no video. As I woke up and got around my mechanic lectured me about the upkeep of my car, Blane went down for a nap and Mom tried to poison dad via a runny sandwich.

All in all it was a great weekend, but was SO short. Shauna ended up escaping out of the car despite my best efforts to lock her in and take her with me, but hopefully they will be visiting soon.

I will leave you all with some of my favorite quotes of the weekend:

 “What’s that other word for a mule?”

 “Thank you. Can I have my tractor now??”

“It’s raining… I bet Rick got out of the car.”

“Is that mayonnaise or cheese?” … “I don’t know. I’M not tasting it.”

“Beautiful boiled ham.”

I'm Baaaccckkk!

So I apologize to my (2) followers who have been missing my posts. I have actually been unusually busy for a change and haven’t been keeping up with this as much as I would like to have.

Once I catch you up on what you’ve missed I promise I will be better about updating this! I certainly don’t want anyone losing track of my exciting and hilarious life experiences J

I believe I left off in June.

The first weekend in June, I went with Ellen and Ginny to Pennsylvania. This was their first trip and I think I can call it a success! I hope they are able to go again soon. Ginny took amazing pictures and although it’s a long drive… it was beautifulJ

The next weekend was Melissa’s wedding shower! Joyce and I threw it for her, even though Joyce was the brains behind the operation, as she is the brain behind most operations- So many showed up and Melissa was surprised and really grateful to everyone for being there. She’s adorable. Plus- the breakfast was really good! (Album to come - but here’s a teaser).












I went right from Melissa’s shower to Connecticut to spend time with Mom, Shauna, Blane and the rest of my family that came from all over for a change. It was nice to see everyone and reminded me of how strange we all are… at least you walk away with a lot of laughsJ Shauna, Mom and I stayed in a hotel and had a lot of fun on our own… per usual. Good snacks, good laughs. That’s what’s importantJ We even got around to discussing the elephant in the room… Shauna’s weight gain. SHE’S PREGNANT people. I’m not an a-hole. Well I am sometimes, but this time she IS pregnant and it’s a BOY!!!!!! YAYYYYY!! Why are her babies so adorable???  If she keeps popping out kids I’ll go broke.

The last weekend in June I went to a DISPATCH concert with Hayley. IT WAS AMAZING! By far the best concert I have ever been to. Plus it made me feel really cool. I went out for drinks first… I was out late… I didn’t fall asleep there… good timesJ

In July I won some free training sessions in Newton. It was a struggle getting myself started, but it was so nice learning what I should be doing and how I should be doing it at the gym so I feel I’m wasting less time and actually getting results. I am hopeful that I can continue to use what I learned but have had trouble getting into a good routine. Plus, I am NOT pregnant and would rather avoid that awkward discussion of people wondering if I am or not.

I have been trying to catch up on doctor’s visits since I have just got around to getting my insurance. I hate all forms of the doctor. I’m pretty sure I get this from my dad. He has NEVER willingly gone to a doctor for any reason and even forced, has only been a hand full of times. The dentist didn’t even go well. That woman HATES gums. Or she just hates mine. I have bled less donating to the Red Cross! It was NOT a good experience and 20 x-rays and 2 liters of blood later… my first check-up was done. Evidently flossing these days, entails shredding your gums to pieces. Great. Next, I went to the family doctor to get a check-up (I won’t tell you how long it’s been). These days, however, no one will have the weight conversation with you face to face. Oh no. NOW they print out a sheet that categorizes your weight and then gives you a full page of suggestions of how to go about losing the weight they suggest to make you “ideal”. So instead of having to hear it from the nurse, I get to read the sheet about how overweight I am in the waiting area before I go in to discuss the other issues that are genetically pre-determined (thanks mom and dad).  I even appreciated the list of links they gave that have suggestions for how to lose weight. Like THAT’S the problem. I just don’t know how to get skinny. Aren’t they helpful! – 2 down, 1 to go.

On a happier more delightful note… Charlotte and I just returned from our week in Key West! It was amazingggg and totally worth the wait. Neither of us have been on a vacation in years… well, charlotte hasn’t been on one like – ever. So that was fun. But it was BEAUTIFUL out.  (I will be adding pictures soon!)
We had SUCH a good time. They have great drinks there (very strong) and I’m proud to say I had something different to eat every meal while I was there. Which, if you know me well, is really hard! The pool was awesome too. It was salt water and about 85 degrees. The plane ride was not ideal either way. I almost committed a few crimes, but all in all everyone lived through that experience. I am determined to maintain my vacation state of mind… and so far have lasted two whole days at work without flipping out or getting angry! Which again… if you know me… is a big dealJ I know I can AT LEAST last until Friday, since I have the day off to travel to Melissa’s wedding in upstate New York!! Considering who I will be traveling with, I can already see having quite a few stories to tell when I get back.

I should probably be working right now… so I hope this satisfied the void I left with my hiatus:)

xo

Chaos and Mother Nature

Helloooo Lovies-
It has been NUTSO around here! So much to do, too much time at work, not enough time for play!
I’m trying to continue “spring cleaning” the apartment. There is a strange smell that I cannot seem to get out. No matter how many times we clean out the fridge, throw out the trash, open windows or light candles.. it won’t go away. I think next I’m literally going to empty the fridge and then scrub it down. We’re beginning to be those people that don’t smell their filth because they live in it. But when Charlotte and I walk in and catch a whif we both look at each other and say “gross”. Then open a window, light a candle and then sit in it. Yucko. It’s in my future plans to get rid of it. It will not overcome me!
Just got back from a Memorial weekend away with friends. Besides the fact that we just missed the tornado that hit there and were without electricity for a few days, we made do with what we had and got to walk away with some laughs, a tan and a few good memories and pictures. It was also our celebration for mom’s birthday. Who is 45 this year. I know… she had me SOO young. ;) Anyways… it’s always quite the experience going home and dealing with whatever chaos and disaster is happening there. Blane has learned everyone’s names and now officially likes to provide updates constantly with where everyone is and what they’re doing. He’s still at the age where that’s adorable and I’ll do anything for him when he asks me. I’m assuming he’ll grow out of that, but I’m not rushing it. I entertained him during lunch with my makeup, which, much to Poppa and Daddy’s dismay, he loved and was VERY good at putting on. His color tastes mirror mine and he has a great sense for what look goes with what season. Ok JK. But he did have a lot of fun and it was VERY funny.
Charlotte had her first physical encounter with a cow, which was DEFINITELY worth watching. The calf pretty much walked her to the tree. But not bad for her first time leading a cow:)
Hayley and Tyler came! I’m glad they got to come and relax, but I’m sure it’s quite the culture shock for anyone to come to PA. Time literally stops and the options of activities are VERY slim. It’s a lot to get used to.
I returned to Boston with a cold though, that is now slowly killing my energy and putting me to sleep. Of course we also just had our own tornado scares here. I really think the world may be ending. I should probably start being a lot nicer pretty soon. At least other than those little twisters, the weather here has been nice enough to go outside a lot this week.
I’m leaving for home again this weekend with more family. It’s their first time there, so I am definitely bringing my camera. It’s never what people expect:) It’s also the reason I have another day off from work, which is really needed!
Yesterday I watched a marathon of Police Women of Browder County… or something along those lines. Anyway, time for a career change. I could DEFINITELY be a detective. So now I want to be a Police Officer. I swear I’m 12. I change what I want to do everyday. I am really actually qualified for very little, but I know with my competitiveness and energy I could pretty much handle everything they were doing. That’s easy to say form my couch. I would probably pee my pants… but I’d still like to try it!
One day, when I actually don’t have plans for the weekend, etc. I’m really going to tackle cleaning the apartment and updating it to Spring and fumigating in whatever way possible. It should be pretty interesting. I’m going to try to post more pictures on here, so stay tuned if you have an interest in looking at cleaning-in-progress:)
Much love.
xo

Goodbye Winter, Hello Monsoon Season

Sorry for the gap… I guess you can say I wasn’t feeling “bloggy”. I’m an awful person-
Moving on… Blane’s birthday weekend proved to be just as entertaining as anticipated. Shauna did a great job of enlisting superior help:) If I may say so myself, we did a wonderful job. Blane perhaps is now the boy with the most toys in the world and will need to ask his Papa to make him an extension to the house to store all of his trucks and tractors. He’s growing up so fast! But I supposed soon we’ll have another little one and the cycle will continue.
I’m so glad winter is over, but can’t say much for the amount of rain we are getting. It’s really negatively affecting my life. I’m ready for the sun. I’ve swapped my wardrobe, bought my sunglasses - it is now officially Spring, thankyouverymuch.
I am currently battling my ridiculous cold that will not leave. Although it did allow for a day off this week, I’m SO tired! I took Tuesday off to rest and catch up on sleep and attempt to not spread this to others. It was very relaxing, aside from Charlotte’s obsession with Jacoby. She is officially the cat lady. She talks to her constantly, takes pictures of every move she makes and goes over and bugs her until Jacoby needs to bite her to kick her out of her space. This, coming from the girl who was TERRIFIED of cats. Cracks me up.
Last weekend I began Spring cleaning. Although I cannot find anything that I was looking for, which means I have to postpone half of my spring cleaning ideas. Which will also have to wait until after this weekend, which is the celebration of Charlotte’s birthday!!
As hard as she is trying to avoid it (I will keep her age a secret, even though everyone knows it anyway), it is coming and will hopefully turn out equally as memorable as the last few years. She is constantly reminding me of why I find such joy in planning these: competition against myself. The BEST kind. I ALWAYS outdo myself from the previous year. This year, I’m kicking last year me’s butt. Different scale, but equally intense. More to come when things aren’t still top-secret. I’m sure I’ll be sharing pictures everyone wishes I wouldn’t. I love the planning and organizing and… cleaning part. She loves the ACTUAL party part. We’re a good team.
Classes are over, besides one paper that I am procrastinating on (what’s new). Then I begin my summer course which should be really interesting. Hopefully the summer session will give me enough time to recover from the AWFUL professors from this semester that I have again NEXT semester.
I am also currently counting down to each of my trips that are coming up. A few to PA, the big one to Key West… at least it’s giving me something to look forward to constantly! This 9-5 desk job stuff is just not cutting it for me. I feel like I understand those people who quit their jobs with no money in their pocket and search for their passion outdoors. Tan=happiness.
I suppose this is the point where I should get back to doing something remotely related to my job. It would be hard to argue how necessary blogging is for students who are demanding money from the University…
xo

Maria and Martha

What a great, productive weekend!
This past Friday was taken up with helping Joyce and another friend from work move their office. I’m totally jealous of their new space. Not that they don’t deserve it… they do! And actually now they are closer to me and it’s easier for me to distract them from their jobs- We also got to meet Melissa’s mother who is absolutely ADORABLE and VERY funny. All around it was a great day of work… or lack thereof… which is perhaps why I enjoyed it so much.
Then I got my nails done with another friend. It was quite the experience. Of course in Boston you always need quarters to park. Well, I only had two. So I run to a store to get change and run into a LARGE poster that says “we do not supply change for the parking meters”. CRAP. Seriously? A SIGN? Was that necessary? It seems to me you’d be doing a community service to keep more quarters in the drawer to be helpful to those of us who ONLY HAVE DOLLAR BILLS. So I think I’ll outsmart him and buy a water that’s probably like $1.35, leaving the change to equal at least two quarters and an additional 24 minutes on my meter. I put the bottle on the counter and show him my $2.00. He says it’s just $1. Now I have a bottle of water I didn’t want, a dollar bill and no quarters. So I walk to Starbucks and BEG the guy to give me 4 quarters for my dollar. I said thank you like 15 times. Little does he know his neighbor isn’t so free-spirited with the change-making.
So I FINALLY get to the nail salon… It’s always such a struggle to convince yourself to go do something for yourself when you know you’re walking into the judgment zone. Why do salons ALWAYS try to sell you more than what you are there for?? Do NOT ask me if I need my eyebrows waxed when I JUST did them myself the night before. Or stare at my feet in judgment, discuss them with your co-workers and then insist I should be getting pedicures. It’s like… REALLY?? I’m in here. Isn’t that enough? So she gets done with my nails and I stick them in the dryer for TWO drying rounds. That’s TWO. ONE is supposed to DEFINITELY dry your nails, so I stayed even longer than it’s recommended on the machine. Of course it’s freezing outside so when I get in the car I sit on my hands to warm them up. And… yup, you guessed it- my nails are now TEXTURED with the imprint of my jeans. Goodbye $25. I get home and have to put 4 coats (sp?) over the one I paid for and I STILL can see the faint lines under it. I am a genius.
Saturday was equally if not more eventful. I was under the impression Hayley was letting me tag along to a work event that she had planned. It occurs to me before she picks me up that I should probably be dressing nicer than normal to go to this thing, as to not embarrass her and possibly be invited to future events. I do my best to be as presentable as possible. Little do I know we are going to a CELEBRITY-STYLE event, hosted by Maria Menounos. I suppose it’s a good thing she didn’t tell me ahead of time or I wouldn’t have gone at ALL. It turned out not to be as bad as I thought… red carpet, cameras and stick-figured girls aside. We got free drinks, a “swag bag” FULL of awesome gifts and discounts and the once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing girls try WAYYY too hard to be noticed at an event in the GALLERIA MALL. The drinks though DID make the rest of the shopping day interesting. After spending far too much on far too little, we made our way to the Cheesecake with Mr.Denker in tow. One day I will need to thank him for putting up with the two of us. Especially when I’m sure the day will come when he stops finding us entertainingly charming. Hayley - he’s tied to, I… just come with the package. After, we roamed through the mall to Target, but not without passing the frightening, hollow-eyed, life-size rabbit letting little kids take pictures with it. Well… this is how Hayl sees it. I saw him as a character doing his job during Easter… a job that HAYLEY herself did in Disney. That girl cracks me up and is a walking anomaly. So.. we tortured Charlotte at her job for a little while and called it quits.
Sunday was a day of more shopping for a top-secret project. It was very overwhelming, but SO MUCH FUN. I cleaned the house until it was immaculate and then crafted while Charlotte and her friends created a drinking challenge from the Celtics game that was on. I must say I am turning into QUITE the crafter. Much of it has to do with inspiration and strict instruction from Hayley, but part of it could be due to my need to prove you don’t have to be as strange as Martha Stewart to make nice, normal crafts that are actually useful and don’t require a book of instructions.
I have tomorrow off, which I choose to believe is a reward for my good behavior and not the fact that I work for a school that gets Patriots day off. This makes for a 4-day work week, which is VERY helpful as I count down the days until I get to go home and celebrate Blane’s 2nd birthday and Baptism. The weekend should bring with it a lot of interesting stories and hopefully even more interesting pictures.
Until next time…
xo

Stupid Woodchuck

I feel like I need to start by saying that it is very important to me to NOT be thought of as a crazy cat lady. I realize that by featuring my cat in an entry it gives the impression that I’m more obsessed with her than I should be. This is not the case.

Moving onJ It’s been a slow week. I have this habit of not enjoying my weekends enough and dreading Monday every Fri-Sun that I end up missing the fact that I even had a weekend. I will need to work on this.

This Saturday, however, I worked for F.U.N  Enterprises in Salem, MA. Normally I dread working Bar Mitzvah’s because I despise the rich teenie-boppers who walk around in WAY too skimpy outfits, being WAY too entitled to everything and anything and NEVER listening. Because why listen to the pretty lady yelling “Those tee-shirts are drying! Hence, why they are being kept above your heads. Don’t touch them or  you’ll get paint on your skanky dress!” Okay… so I didn’t say that verbatim, but seriously. Like – common sense kids. Common sense. Anyway- I got through that without getting kicked out of the hotel, or kicking a Jewish kid - so all is well.

I spent a large part of Sunday watching JAG reruns. I have fallen back in love with Harm. I feel so foolish for having left him for so long. What was I thinking?? Looking back to how badly I wanted to go into the Navy, makes me feel SO OLD. Scary.

Later, Charlotte, Hayley and I watched (from our respective homes) a VERY inappropriate show on TLC. I have never been more hysterical, uncomfortable and hilariously entertained in my life. Of course we all spent the entire show texting/voice messaging each other about the absurdity of it all. Which only led to personal questions about each other and other people we know; probably one of the best spent hours of my life.

I can’t believe it’s only Tuesday. Plus it’s raining. Although yesterday went by better than I thought it would. Hayley renamed it Moonday which just completely changed my outlook on the day. Partly because I’m 9 and picture a butt during it and partly because I can literally trick myself into believing that it’s not Monday. The number of times we email/tweet/facebook each other during the day is absurd in a wonderful way. I literally think it helps me get through my day. Thank the Lord we both have the attention span of a flea and can distract ourselves from work long enough to get in a good laugh or new crafting objective. What will we do/discuss when there is no wedding to plan?? I’m sure we’ll think of something.

I wore my sandals today. I refuse to accept that that stupid woodchuck lied and we aren’t getting a Spring, so I’m dressing like we are and I don’t care anymore. My spring clothes are coming out and I’m only acknowledging the days that are going to be sunny.

I have my mentally challenged challenging Professor’s course tomorrow. I have already done my homework. Thank goodness I’m prepared and already completed the 3 whole slides we were to turn in. One with bullets, one with a graph and one title page. Whoa. I feel like at this point my graduation should be held at Chuck E Cheese.

I suppose I should get some work done before I leave today so no one notices how useless I can be.

xo

The Sleep Terrorist

There she is. The Devil’s cat…aka Jacoby. You think she looks sweet and innocent and cuddly…. but you’re wrong. She has prevented me from HOURS upon HOURS of sleep. And most recently last night decided at 4:00am, she would like to attack my hands while I was sleeping and then hide under the bed where I can’t find her. It took 20 minutes and a VERY angry Meghan to get her out of the room.
Now, normally, I’m not a cat person. I love dogs. But in the city it just isn’t realistic to have a dog. Plus, at the time, we had mice. Common logic = get a cat. Plus I’m too selfish at this point in my life to get my butt out of bed in 10 degree weather to walk a dog though-
This cat not only ruins puzzles that I am working on, but she gets into EVERYTHING. Dumps her water CONSTANTLY, sticks her butt in your face while you’re watching tv, hates every wet cat food known to man, jumps into every crevice the moment it reveals itself and body slams closed doors that she would like to be on the other side of.
Bottom line: I do not recommend cats and am holding everyone who reads this responsible if they ever allow me to get another. What was I thinking? On the other hand people tell me if she had a friend, she would exert more energy during the day and not get her 3rd wind while I’m trying to get in some REM. Either way, she’s getting locked out of the room until further notice or my next post will be her as a slipper.
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Moving on…. this weekend was actually eventful and relaxing, which is rare. Friday I got 4 (yes 4) puzzles done. It was very fulfilling (besides the fact that one had to be restarted twice due to my little friend above). Saturday was a friend’s retirement party, which I was so grateful to be at. Wonderful people having a wonderful time. PLUS I actually liked every course that was served to us. It was practically a miracle. Joyce and Melissa went and so did their significants. It was really nice to see everyone smiling. Normally one of us is having a meltdown at work. Although we do try to rotate them so there are always 2 of us trying to pick the other one up:)
Later Saturday night around 1am the birthday party for our 80 year old neighbor finally ended. Good for her, if at 80 she’s still partying hard at all hours of the night. It’s hard to be mad at that-
Sunday was crafting with some favorites! (I posted the 2 pics below). It’s a new craft Hayley… found ;) The Easter one I made for Shauna and the beach themed one I made for mom. Hopefully I can get more creative and make them for every season and occasion they are so much fun! Hayley’s great to have around during a crafting-crisis. There was a whole seashell meltdown… anyway, she saved the day:)
At this point I’m depending on the weather to lift my mood and motivate me to stick with it until a possible vacation in June! More on that later… duty calls. (Hayley if you are reading this, I don’t mean #2, I mean I have a meeting and I’m still at work:))
xo

Grouchy Pants

Welll… I’ve officially had my grouchy pants on for two days now. I created this page to be uplifting and happy and enjoyable and figured I couldn’t add an entry in the foul mood I’m in. However, what I realized is how in the midst of my sheer poopiness, those around me find multiple ways to put a smile on my face.
Joyce offered the wonderful suggestion of a drink last night. Which I was cursing her for this morning.
Melissa got  me the sweetest bottle of seashell and sand (that she brought back from her service trip).
Hayley sent me a few inappropriate texts that made me laugh. Texts which I will not put on here, but suffice it to say “TMI” is not in her vocabulary.
Mom managed to distract me with all of the craziness that makes up her life and sent me a funny forward about a pissed off bird that I TOTALLY identify with.
You may ask yourself, why, with all of these wonderful people do I still find the ability to be in a crappy mood?
Work and school. I will never come around to the fact that working is a necessary part of life. I would very EASILY be able to fill each day with things I love to do and want to do and never be bored. I WOULD however, be homeless. So the dream ends there.
You would think Grad school would keep me on my feet. At this point, with the two courses I’m in, a monkey could pass these and get its degree. I can’t help but feel like I’m not earning it when Professors say things like “So… like… what else did you guys want to say tonight?” *Silence*… “Okay, well if no one is feeling jipped, we can go home”. So an hour and a half early I bolt from the class before she changes her mind.
Last night I got 13 Easy-Level Sudokus done in 75 minutes. It’s a new record. In my other class (Ethics in Social Work), we discussed what exactly was wrong with the following situation… (I WISH I was lying. This is literally the case.)
 “A social worker decides she is going to take a group of clients from the group home she works in, to the movies on her own accord. Beatrice, a client at a group home that has been diagnosed as schizophrenic, is a member of the group going to the movie. While buckling everyone in, she hears Beatrice complain that she cannot get her seat belt to clasp correctly. The worker yells ‘Well, it’s because you ate so much at dinner, Beatrice. It’s because you are ALWAYS over-eating and you’re fat. Look, now you’re too fat to go to the movies. I guess you and your fat butt will have to stay here!’”
Besides the obvious you REALLY CANT TALK TO CLIENTS AT A HOME LIKE THAT… class discussion ended pretty quickly.
On a less weird note, my sister got me an AWESOME spice rack for my birthday that I hope to use. It has taken two people to go through each spice with me to explain it and tell me if I’ll ever need it for anything. As you can tell, I’m an amazing chef, with a very diverse pallet. NOT.
I am currently looking forward to Friday (which I am taking off of work) to sit with my puzzle (dont judge) and my comfy bed and do NOTHING. Until then, I will continue to bite my tongue through my work day for the sake of keeping my job.
AT LEAST IT’S NOT SNOWING TODAY!
Ooh! And I saw the CUTEST sign at the CUTEST store that Hayley and I found this weekend that said “It’s never too late to start the day over”. I should’ve bought it-