What a day...

Today has sucked. Seriously. Sucked. And I'd love to vent and just get it all off my chest but while this whole blog started as a way to vent and also keep everyone informed on the going on's of my life, it's turned into a way to keep everyone nosy and overly involved. I feel like if I put on here that I got abducted by aliens and they cut off my nose, then I would start getting calls/texts/emails asking about the aliens and would i get my nose back and are the aliens coming back? Where did they take me? And really...all I wanted to do was put on here that the aliens took me and my nose. If I wanted to talk about it off the blog, I'd bring it up...but if I blog about it, chances are I don't want to talk about it.
So, I can't blog, I've probably overburdened my neighbor with complaints and my normal soundboard isn't talking to me. Grrr...nothing like bottling it all up!

Three Cups Of Tea

I'm almost finished with Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. Have you read it? It's amazing! The foreward warns that there are very few people who encounter Greg Mortenson who don't fall under his spell and it is so true. I'm not quite finished and already, I want to help! And all I did was read the book, imagine if I actually met him! It tells the story of an American climber who is in Pakistan to climb a mountain. He fails his attempt at the climb but encounters a village of people that change the course of his life. The children want to learn so badly, they sit out on a cold rock, scratching multiplication tables into the dirt without a teacher. He sets out to build them a school and that is where his adventure really began. He completed one school and decided to do more. He builds school throughout rural Pakistan and Afghanistan. His main goal is to make sure that girls have a place to receive an education. According to the book, if you give the poor a chance to become literate, they are much less likely to join the Taliban and the whole anti-American bandwagon. Also, I like that the curriculum is not western based and trying to teach the students things that are relevent in America.
I strongly suggest you read the book. It makes me realize how lucky I really am and how much I have in my life. Also, if you read (or don't read) the book and are interested in contributing, did you know it takes only $1 a month for a childs education? Or for $1 a day you can pay a teacher's salary? (and American teachers thought they were underpaid!!) It seems like such a small amount that would mean so little to us, but it could change a child's life! Also, if you decide to buy the book, if you buy it through the website 7% of the purchase price is donated toward a girl's education fund.

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. - Persian proverb

Talk about Anticlimactic

So here it is, the big birthday day...remember when these used to be so much fun? I did have a good night tonight (last night)...I went out for all-you-can-eat crab legs with Amy and I did. Yes, I did. Well, I tried at least. I made it through 3 baskets of 2 claws and 8 legs a basket, took a little breather and went back for 2 more claws and another 8 legs. I was stuffed. The Miami Vice's I was drinking didn't help the fullness (1/2 pina colada, 1/2 strawberry daquiri, full delicious)...I had 2 of them and was halfway thru the second when I saw a friend I hadn't seen in forever. Oh, right - we can't forget about the Fun Dip shot that BooBoo bought me (more on him later). I did turn down the tequila shot. Anyways, the friend's husband bought me another Miami Vice and I probably should have called it a night. I didn't however, and went on down to Wet Willie's (no good can ever happen there) for Metal Monday Karaoke. Now anyone who knows me KNOWS if it's not by Britney Spears...I probably don't know it. So Metal Monday was a far cry from my comfort zone but there were a couple train wrecks (myself not included) that made it amusing.
Back to BooBoo - some random guy from Redneck, SC who said we were gonna get married. Then decided we would just date until we got tired of each other. He also decided that we were going to go on a date on Thursday - he decided this 7 times within a 30 minute window. I'm pretty sure he was far drunker than I was. I did get his number but I have no intention of calling him. He irritated me before leaving the bar, which cannot be a good sign. Plus, toward the end of the evening, he decided smoking would look super cool, which didn't work out so well for him.
We'll see what tomorrow holds in store - hopefully not a hangover!

I'm Hungry but Feel Bad For It!

I just finished watching a Dateline show about poor people in Southeast Ohio. Most of them are unable to put food on their tables and don't have work. The work they do have is minimum wage and they are lucky to make $200/week.
Here I am...thinking how hungry I am and how I wish I had some Taco Bell. I feel a little bad, so I just ate food I had at home...despite the fact that I REALLY did not want it! Now I'm still hungry. I'm glad I don't live in Southeast Ohio.

Stuck At Home

Here it is, the weekend and I'm stuck at home. My car has a leaking radiator and so it's been in the shop. It's fixed but unfortunately I don't have a way to get to the car to pick it up. So here I am, sitting at home with lots to think about.
As my birthday approaches, I can't help but think of past birthdays. There are a couple that stand out in my mind - one where a boyfriend made eclairs that I swore I had eaten previously (but could have made up some of the details!). He did his best to make eclairs from scratch and they were incredibly delicious. Last year, when I had just graduated and seemed to have so much in front of me, so many possibilities. Plus a lot of my friends were there and there was an amazing dinner. This year...well...it's not looking so good. But, hey....I'm (almost) 28, shouldn't I be done getting excited about birthdays?

I Really Don't Like You

I'm watching Dear John and I can't seem to even try to like the main character (aptly named John). He's Special Forces....and a total douche. Ok, maybe he's not....but there are similarities between him and BD and I really really dislike him. I'm just waiting for him to break the girl's heart - even though I've read the book and I know what happens.
I did get some good advice from Last Comic Standing tonight - if you go crazy after a breakup, tell everyone. You're bound to find someone who did something crazier than you!

avoidance is always the key!

You know how there are conversations you really don't want to have so you avoid having them...and then suddenly it's too late and the issue has turned into a whole other issue? I'm there now...pretty sure I avoided the conversation I should have had a week ago too long and now it's too late for any conversation. Lame me.

I WILL NOT Put On My Pants!

The mayor of James Island is refusing to participate in a debate for the candidates. She says her record stands for itself. The news tried to interview her to discuss why she feels she doesn't need to debate the issues but she declined the interview because she'd have to put on clothes.

Yummy Yummy in my Tummy

I made some risotto today that was pretty tasty - Risotto with Intricately Layered Hearts....or risotto with artichoke hearts & taleggio. It was a lot of stirring and there was some unattended burnt butter but in the end it was deliciousness.
In other news, I almost got eaten by a crab in the parking lot at work today. We spent all that time last week (by we, I mean everyone else) trying to catch crabs with chicken legs and all we had to do is go to work. Who woulda thunk it?
Now onto my cupcake....

Who Wants To Know??

I just ate a whole pizza by myself. And drank a 20 oz orange soda with it. My stomach is protuding like I'm 3 months pregnant....but I'm not. It's just pizza and soda and fat :)

Well, Smack Me Upside the Head...

I feel like reality has done just that - smacked me in the face. I didn't want to come back to real life. I don't want to face everything that I just spent the past week avoiding or pretending it wasn't real. Fantasy life is so much better...
In other news, I'm getting bored with my life. It just feels so...stagnant. I am thinking of moving. I probably won't follow thru with it but just tossing ideas around. Here are my thoughts:
1) Stay in Charleston - find some new exciting thing to jump start my life. I've been here for 9 years, my life is here and I would really miss my cheerleaders if I left...plus I have friends and all here...though those seem to be disappearing slowly but surely.
2) Go back home - to Fayetteville home. It's familiar, it seems like an easy place to go back to. I worry I'd fall back into old routines though and that's not exactly what I want to do.
3) Move somewhere new and exciting - I'm leaning towards Chicago or Colorado. I don't know why, those places just seem like good places to go. I know, they get cold...but if you can acclimate to the hot, surely you can acclimate to the cold too!

I can't move anywhere until next June because of cheer but I'm going to be tossing ideas around and trying to firm something up. I figure if I can get my credit card paid off by January, that will give me 4 months to save up money and I can take a month to move and find a new job....that's a no fail plan, right?

And It All Comes To An End

Vacation ends tomorrow....it's been a good week! There were Sm'oreos (yes they are as good as they sound), I stood on the surfboard and rode it in to the shore (picture to follow), and I am the world DonkeyBall champion. I don't see how you could fit much more in a week.

I Need a Vacation...

I need a vacation from my vacation! Who knew it could be so exhausting? I'm sitting here half awake and it's only 4 pm! I've really enjoyed sleeping in every day and aside from a minor blip from the real world....this has been the most relaxing week ever! Today, for once, the sand wasn't blindingly hot and the water was warm. I know, it sounds crazy but the water has been FREEZING all week but you got 3rd degree burns from walking on the sand. It was not a good mixture. I ended up burning my feet on the sand each day as I went to leave that I refused to go back! But today, ah sweet today, the sand was touchable! And I swam out to the sand bar...it took 3 tries and a stranger's hand to get me out there but I finally made it! Tomorrow - surfing! Yes, that's right...surfing! I've never tried but really, how hard can surfing be??? *yes, I know, those are famous last words*

Neverending Week

I'm never rejoining real life. I'm going to stay in vacation mode for the rest of my life! Here's how it goes:
8:30 - wake up, lay in bed lazily
9:30- get out of bed, shower, eat breakfast
10:30 - head to beach w/a good book
1:00 - return from beach, eat lunch that someone else prepared
2:00 - sit around house, read, snack, read, snack
3:00 - DONKEY BALLS!
4:00 - go to un-rented house down the street to use their pool
6:00 - shower, eat, play games
11:30 - bed

I love this week and it's only just started. Oh plus I got 30 Rock for my birthday and that rocks! haha...get it? 30 Rock rocks :)

Going Off The Grid

I've been off Facebook for something like a month now. I thought it would be hard and I would miss it but overall I haven't. I realize how much time I spent just browsing and being nosy...I got nothing else done. Now, the getting nothing else done part hasn't changed - but at least I'm not sitting at a computer all evening. Now I'm in front of the tv! Or a puzzle...or book...but it's better than in front of Facebook!
My (and other people's) cell phone is my latest annoyance. I would love to just get rid of it and have a landline only. If you want to reach me, you can do it the old fashioned way! Call my house or send me an email! Logistically I know it won't work but it'd be nice. I realize how rude it is to be on your phone non stop when other people are around - it totally sends the message "I would rather have ____ around than you. Since they aren't here, I'll just talk to them instead of you. Thanks for hanging out while I ignore you!" ok....maybe it doesn't say quite all that but close enough! And yes, I know - I have been horrible about texting all the time. It's really only one person that the above statement applies and I'd rather have them around...but that's a whole other story.

Um, I'm Busy - I'll Be Washing My Hair

So I went out with the Slashie (whose real name I have forgotten...oops!) last night - I know! I said I wasn't going to waste my time but I beat off all the other guys who were knocking down my door and met up with him for Happy Hour. Now he quasi asked me out last week...but not really. He asked what I was up to that night and I said the gym but not much else. Apparently that was my invite? This time he asked if I still wanted to meet up. If I was totally pumped to go to the gym he'd understand. This guy has A LOT to learn if he thinks I'm ever pumped to go to the gym! Back to the invite - he wanted to meet up at the Recovery Room....yeah from what I understand it's about as dirty as it sounds. I had my heart set on some Mexican though so I texted him asking to get Mexican first, then maybe we can go to the Rec Room afterwards. Seemed like a good compromise to me and he said that sounded good.
I arrive at Santi's 20 minutes late - not my fault! I forgot there would be so much traffic at that time and I got lost (What? It's confusing coming from that direction!). He was sitting at the bar so I joined him there and ordered a drink. It came and The Slashie asked if I wanted to stay sitting there or move to a table or outdoors. I didn't much care one way or the other so when he said he wanted to go outside I was fine with it. It was surprisingly not THAT hot (maybe like 90) so we get out there and get a table in the corner...unfortunately it was the corner that EVERY FLY IN THE WORLD LIVED IN! Seriously...there were too many to count. It was horrible. Now I will recognize that the fly problem was not his fault - I'll admit that...but that's the end of what is not his fault! So the conversation was a little forced but overall not that bad. He got up to go to "the little boy's room" (I HATE when people say that.). Then he ordered a ginormous beer, quite possibly the largest beer I've ever seen. *side note - the largest beer ever didn't bother me but I felt it deserved a mention in that it was like the size of a roll of paper towels w/a handle on it!* He then got up again to go to "the little boy's room" (ugh!) and I realized...he is SO bowlegged. Like, he was wearing shorts and had really skinny legs and they were so bowed I could throw a basketball through them. Dude! Oh yeah and he's wearing gym shoes. With a non-matching outfit. Like he tried to match it but it really didn't...maybe if you squinted it matched? I didn't try that. To make matters worse, on this second trip to the restroom, he turned, pointed, & winked saying "Can I get you another drink?" I'm pretty sure he made the clicker noise with the point/wink move but he was far enough away I didn't get to hear it. Not to mention we had a server at our table who could bring me another drink. Maybe it's hard to shake the waiter out of him??
Shortly after all this I go to the restroom and when I get back he has gotten our checks. Yes, plural. He got us seperate checks. Really? I mean, I kinda figured going into this that it was going to happen but I really hoped for his sake that he wasn't going to go down like that...but he did. We paid and sat there for a few more minutes talking and...wait for it..here it comes...he said he had to go home so he wouldn't be up all night doing laundry. I got dissed for laundry! On a side note I think that may actually have been true since he texted me about an hour later and said he had a really good time.
I feel bad for the guy because my last first date was so exceptionally good(amazing dinner, conversation, really bad pool, probable drug funding, Hell's Angel's...sounds bad, surprisingly good) that this guy had some stiff competition....but he failed miserably. This was exceptionally bad! And even worse - he caters (by caters I mean delivers) food to 2 of the offices I work in on a fairly regular basis so I will be seeing him again.