Unexpected Fun

Okay okay okay...I know I wrote that I was done blogging for '09 on my post yesterday, but the rest of my friday was SO fantastical that I had to share it while it was still fresh in my mind.

My first pleasant surprise was when I got back from lunch my boss told me he was shutting down the office early so I got to leave work at 2pm which was sweet. Since I had planned to go to the protein store to get protein to get me set for January and me being super strict with my diet that I figured I'd go now and then to the gym. I didn't know if the people hanging out at the protein place would be as fun since it was like 2:30 in the afternoon, but to my surprise it was packed - will people I knew...sorta. The first person I see is my trainer Danielle and then I saw 2 other guy trainers and Will - the guy who owns it. So I walk in and everyone is like heeeeeeeeeeeey and they offer me a tailgate chair to sit in. So there I was back in the protein store, but this time I was there shooting the shit for AN HOUR AND A HALF! Out of control, but it was really fun and don't worry I remembered to get my protein. SO yeah I'm like officially part of the protein cool kid club and I am even going to go with Danielle (and the rest of the meatheads) to a boxing match when I get back.

Before heading to the gym I text my new friend Kristen about how I got out of work early because we had talked about getting drinks that night to celebrate the end of the semester. So I go and get my "swell on" at the gym (if you don't know what that is then I suggest you youtubing "my new haircut." I like kicked my own ass at the gym, but in a good way. I have been doing the stairmaster and damnnn that bitch makes you sweat, but I always feel so accomplished when I'm done...even though the last 2 minutes are usually spent with my cursing to myself!

So since I went to the gym early Kristen and I decided to grab dinner and drinks and over dinner we were talking about the Supper Club (you should be familiar from older posts - but it is a legendary bar/concert place that open past 4am). Then we got to talking about our mutual love for the Velcro Pygmies - an 80s rock coverband that I LOVED when I did my internship in 2006 - yet I haven't seen the since. Kristen tells me that the Pygmies are playing Supper Club tonight - which I had read, but didn't realize it, so we decided to go. AWESOME! Since Supper Club doesn't get busy til midnight we decided to kill time by drinking beers at her apartment and watching Don't Forget the Lyrics - I had never seen the show, but the people on it was strange and it was HIGHLARIOUS. Then we RANDOMLY watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Hot Damn I forgot how crazy that movie is, yet I love it and totally sang along to most of it.

So we finally head over to Supper Club and were able to get a great parking spot and head in. We hung out with some people outside before the Pygmies played - then at midnight the show starts. WOW. I forgot how intense the beginning of their show is. Oh Cameron and his wife's pants and Depp and the crazy drummer...plus there is a new guitar player named Angel that has been with them since Delicious left to do his own thing....yes THAT Delicious. Angel was okay, but he was for sure not Delicious. Their first set was awesome and of course me and the rest of the place went crazy when they played "Sweet Home Alabama" - tear. So at around 2am the band took a break and we went outside and immediately I hear "JENNNNNTERNNN" which was my nickname from summer 06 and I look and see 3 Camp Counselors I used to work with who graduated earlier that day. It was nice to see them and catch up for a bit. Then we headed back in for the 2nd set and we were waaaay in front. I'm not gonna lie I rocked out and had so much fun. I was sad to see their set come to a close at 4am.

I think yesterday was so awesome because so much of it was unexpected. Like if I would have hyped myself up all week for the Pygmies show I don't know if I would have had as much fun, but since it was a last minute decision it was awesome. Today I was a laaaazzzy bum and actually need to pack because I am headed to New York tomorrow and I'm pumped because there will be snow on the ground!

My Christmas Wish(es)

I am in a New York State of Mind...too bad I won't actually be in the State of New York until Sunday...God willing. I am scheduled to fly out Sunday afternoon, but there are crazy snowstorms in the northeast right now and Sunday it should still be slushy there, plus there may be some rain in Atlanta on Sunday. I just hope if there are delays that they aren't too terrible - for both my sake and Freddie's sake.
-Not having travel days from hell are my first wish.
-My second wish is that I get to the beach when I'm home...even if only to sit on the sand in a winter coat and watch the waves crash.
-I hope to see as many friends as possible when I'm home
-I hope I don't have any car drama
-I REALLY hope new years doesn't suck - my new years always suck, but I'm going back to Baltimore with Sara and Saben to celebrate
-I hope I get practical gifts - my mom never asks my what I want and even if I told her she wouldn't buy it
- I hope between christmas or christmas $$$ I can get that orange ipod I've been eyeing as well as some itunes purchases
-I also really really would love to see it snow - there should be snow on the ground while I home, but watching the snow flakes dance through the sky is magical
-I also fully intend on drinking my bodyweight in Dunkin Donuts iced coffee
-Finally I hope to have some boy adventures - be it seeing people I used to know or meeting new ones.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!!!

See you fools in 2009 :P

P.S. - I can't believe I've been living in Alabama for 6 months...crazy how time flies!

Muscle Milk

So Friday I went to buy protein shake mix from a nutrition place in town that my trainer at the gym recommended. Well the shop is part nutrition store/part lounge/part boxing facility which equals a lot of dudes and meat heads. So I go in and to my surprise the guy who owns it was super chill and fun as well as a few of the other guys in the shop who were just hanging out. So I ended up in there for like 45 minutes shooting the shit and on top of it the owner made me a protein shake there, gave me the protein packs for as well as a shake bottle. All and all it was a good time. My plan is to befriend these guys because they were so not "Alabama" they were very laid back and fun. My trainer says she is even now a regular who hangs out at the shop.

I had a session with my trainer yesterday and I wanted to tell her all about my protein pans, but she had heard about my visit from them! Fun. So now I feel like a meathead for drinking protein shakes, but oh well - gotta boost my metabolism.

Oh a side note a bought Freddie a tshirt that says "I've Been Naughty" it is toooo cute. Nothing like buying an XS dos tshirt that looks like it could fit a newborn.

Missed Opportunities

Yesterday evening I was at Panera using their Internet and drinking my body weight in coffee when I see a guy and a girl sit down at the table behind me. Let me try and illustrate how we were sitting

guy
table
girl
empty chair
table
me

So essentially me and the guy were facing each other with the girl facing him between us. I noticed that the guy was cute, but I wasn't paying too much attention..especially since he was with a girl. The girl gets up to go to the bathroom or whatnot and so I'm literally facing the guy and I'm watching up like unwrap his muffin and he is like watching me watch him, but don't think twice about it. A bit later I look up at him even though the girl is back and I think to myself hmm this guy looks familiar, but how on earth would I know him. I overhear them talking and it sounds more "classmate" convo than "boy/girlfriend" convo. Then it dawns on me, he was the cute guy I talked to when I was in line to vote on election day!

DAMNIT DAMNIT

Why did I not realize it sooner, I totally would have been like you look super familiar blah blah. I'm so pissed because I totally thought about after election day posting like a "missed connection" on craigslist. Okay I don't know if I'd actually post a missed connection, but still...it's the thought that counts.

So then I was gonna strut by to get more coffee... even though I didn't need it. I am ready to make move and flash him a smile when he and that girl get up to leave. DAMNIT AGAIN!


I actually met some interesting dudes on Friday,but I will wait til tomorrow to post about that.


I will leave you with a oldie, but goodie that I temporarily forgot about until today. Enjoy!

Come fly with me

Since my ticket for my flight home for Christmas was cheaper than I expected I was able to buy a ticket to see my friends in Texas. I'm excited to see my friends and enjoy the town as a person who doesn't live there - does that sound weird - I mean it like I can be a visitor. I am already on planning to visit the people I used to work with and go out with the ladies from the sorority I joined while I was there and go out on the town..oh and eat FANTASTIC Mexican food!

I also still need to reserve Freddie's flight for Christmas. 70 bucks each way for a dog to sit in his carrier and count as a carry on...evil, but I don't want to board him while I'm home/away for so long. I will board him for the long weekend when I go to Texas and even then I'm not thrilled about it.

Also my college Alumni weekend is in late February and I need to book a flight for that as well. I am still working on logistics, but since I missed last year I really want to go this year.

I really need a pilots license...I fly SO MUCH, but I guess when you live in Alabama you need to do that.

Missing Piece

After an interesting phone conversation with a friend last night about not understanding people - especially those of the opposite sex. We talked about the common phrase of some one "mind fucking" you and how I now believe that more than half the time it may not be intentional. I think it's human nature or at least for women to try and analyze people and figure out what makes the tick and why they do what they do (again especially if it's a guy you are interested in). However after all the hours and hours of analyzing a person both yourself and among close friends it can be frustrating when things don't add up. Two of the reasons things could not add up is 1. a person is intentionally lying to you, but it could also be the other reason 2. omission, failing to tell you something. I think we all omit parts of our lives, especially to people we don't know well, but if you ever do own up to your omission that person may get to understand you better and the same if true for when another person tells you something they omitted and suddenly everything makes sense.

So after hearing a friend's story about how she hear someone's omission and then how everything made perfect sense after month and months of things because so confusing, it got me thinking. Thinking back to those people in my life that I never understood or where things didn't add up. Especially when relationships didn't work out and you spent so much time blaming yourself or thinking about what you could have done differently. I think that maybe with some people I couldn't have changes things or done things differently - I think there was a missing piece of them that they never let me know about and therefore kept an distance between us that only increased. As sad as that notion is I also take comfort in it and perhaps you may too.

Sorry for being so lofty/inner monologue-ish today, but I was in one of those moods so what you see if what you get.

My Soundtrack

First I want to wish my younger sister a happy 23rd birthday!

I think if my life had a soundtrack it would be a really interesting mix of songs that already exist and songs yet to be written. I bet the songs that would be written for the backdrop of my life would be stellar. But I guess until that happens I have to stick to listening to soundtracks that already exist. My newest soundtrack obsession (have no fear I am still lovin' on the Twilight soundtrack) but last night I watched Once which I got on netflix due the suggestion of my fabulous friend Kelly. I knew Once was this foreign independent movie that won an Oscar for the song and the sountrack was a big sensation, but I never heard the music until last night.

I must admit the movie was strange, but a good strange. It felt like a documentary, even though it wasn't and the two main characters aren't named. They are referred to as "guy" and "girl" in the credits. The characters are both musicans hence why the mvoie was dubbed a modern day musical. The "guy" played by an Irish rocker named Glen Hansard has a really awesome and interesting voice all while toting an acoustic guitar. The "girl" is a Czech musican named Markéta Irglová who plays some awesome piano in the movie and has a really nice soft vocal. They wrote and performed all the songs, songs that I really liked from the moment I heard them and therefore I have been listening to all day today.

Here is the song that won the oscar and if you click on it and go to youtube and look at the right column under "related videos" you can find the whole soundtrack!



I also listened to/watched some Christmas tunes sung by my David Cook. He perfomed 2 songs during the Rcokefeller Center Tree Lighting yesterday "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" and "Happy Christmas (the war is over)" they were both awesome depsite the fact my little Cookie had a chest cold.

What music would be on your life's soundtrack???

David Patrick Cullen

I can't remember if I already blogged about, but so what he's too perfect to not blog about and he is just about the only thing that can cheer me up on a regular basis...David Patrick Cullen.

David Patrick Cullen is my hybrid named obsession for David Cook, Neil Patrick Harris and Edward Cullen. Pretty much the past few months have been a blur of David Cook, How I Met Your Mother and Twilight so none of you should be all that surprised. I know my life is sad, but I don't care they make me happy.

I have been listening to David Cook's new cd and the Twilight Soundtrack like whoa lately in addition to watching seasons 1-3 of How I Met Your Mother in addition to the current season so much that I know most of the words by heart.

Sidenote: I do plan on getting cable come January..although after being at my mom's for Thanksgiving and having cable I really wasn't missing much - except for the Project Runway mini-marathon that was on and I was thrilled!

I did get to see the Twilight movie twice over Thanksgiving break. I had no idea what to expect I heard a lot of mixed reviews. I loved the look and feel of the movie right off the bat, I thought the story moved too fast and somethings weren't how I imagined it, but overall I liked it. I went a few days later to see it again and I enjoyed it a lot more. The music was awesome - both the score and the contemporary music and really helped tell the story, which isn't surprising since Stephanie Meyer is a big music fan and like I mentioned earlier had playlists for her book.

I suppose since I'm talking about Thanksgiving I should give a run down of my break. I spent a fabulous long weekend in Baltimore visiting Sara and SABEN. Baltimore was really young and fun. I loved being near the water - that was for sure a highlight, but my other favorite was going to this place called Little Havanna for Brunch. 1. it was really cute inside despite it being a warehouse 2. they had YUMMY food 3. they served bottomless mimosas/bloody marys/coffee. Nothing like starting off your day with alcohol...fantastic. Speaking of alcohol after went out Saturday night after the bars closed we got a pizza pretzel...yup a soft pretzel covered in sauce and cheese. TASTY! It was great staying with Sara - it was like living with a roommate again! It was also great to catch up with Saben who I havent seen in ages and see his kick ass apartment!

Sara, Freddie and I roadtripped it up to NY on Tuesday, which was good overall..until we hit New York and it took 90 minutes to go 25 miles yuck!

Home was okay - I had to stay in my sisters room because my grandmother was staying in my room. I wasn't feeling super well most of the time I was home so I laid low and barely got to eat Thankgiving dinner :(

I did get to catch up with my bestie Christine. I finally got to try this Thai place at home I always wanted to eat at and Chrisitine was a Thai virgin, but she liked it. Speaking of Asian cuisine...when I was in Baltmire Sara and I went to a sushi place since I was able to handle eating it when she came to visit me. I ate a few with fish, mostly I stuck to the veggie ones, but all and all I don't think sushi is for me, but I'm glad I tried it.

I gotta go...off to the gym for the first time in too long...I hope I don't collapse on the elliptical haha.

Callouts

Yesterday was by far one of my favorite days of work in a looong while. I am so not the sit behind a desk and stare at a computer type, but parts of my job require that. The past 2 weeks we have has Camp Counselor(orientation leaders) selections so I sat in over 150 interviews and then we had a 10 hour selection meeting on Wednesday that went til 2am (but it was fun for the most part and well worth it). Last night was "call outs" aka when we announce who was hired as a Camp Counselor. Call outs is a big production where last year's CCs each get to announce a new person on the back steps of an historic building on campus. It's high spirited and exciting, I loved every second. It was great to have the 36 newbies in the same room as the 36 has beens haha. After call outs we meet for a few hours - which mostly consists of the old CCs being rowdy and out of control, while the new people are a mix of scared and excited. I'm so happy we have our Camp 2009 staff - it feels real again. The office is not a fun when there aren't as many crazy students everywhere. We have some Camp 08 and 09 Christmas parties in December and then we start training the day before school starts and meet every week for the whole semester! I can't wait to get to know each of them :)

Today is my last day in the office before Thanksgiving - I'm taking off Monday and Tuesday! Tomorrow I fly out (with Freddie of course) to Baltimore to see my Sara. I get to spend a few days with her in Baltimore before we road trip up to NY/NJ to our varies parents houses. Sara and I always have great times - and I'm sure you can recall the list I made of crazy times we had the last time I saw here when she was down here.

Not sure when I'll get a chance to post next, I'm not bringing my laptop home with me and lord knows how well the dinosaur of a computer at my mom's is working.

Gobble Gobble

Love you Daddy 4.25.49-11.18.07

Yesterday marked 1 year since my dad passed away. It was a hard day, but I think the night before was harder because it was the last time I could be like..."1 year ago my dad was alive." I had a busy day at work so I was able to keep my mind from only thinking about him. Plus when I got home from work my David Cook CD was waiting for me in the mail - so that was a nice release. Thanks for those who shared kind words with me yesterday or send along thoughts and prayers.

Oh and my sister got a little memorial tattoo yesterday - which is awesome since I have one, but I was surprised she got a tattoo. I thought if she didn't pierce or tattoo is college she wasn't gonna, but she proved me wrong. Her tat is sweet and part of an inside joke between me, her and my dad. I can't wait to see it in person.

Farewell TRL

Today is a day for the history books, TRL's grand finale episode. I was a HUGE Carson Daly fan back in the day and I remember vividly his shows MTV Live (which was awesome and I miss terribly) and Total Request - which then were combined into Total Request Live. TRL premiered in September of my sophomore year of high school, aka I was their target audience and I largely reaped the benefits of it. I watched the show everyday for Carson - I thought he was so cute and funny. I got into the TRL battles for top spot - although I don't think I ever voted.

I actually had the pleasure of being on TRL twice. I was on nearly 7 years ago to the day...I believe it was November 12 of 2001 - my freshman year of college. I went as part of a trip since NYC was only about 1.5 hours away. I got to see my hottie Carson in the flesh - he was MUCH MUCH cuter in person. I got a nice amount of camera time and even got to be one of the screaming teens "requesting the video" in the little pop up box while the video was playing - for the record it was POD's Alive. The guests that day were Martin Lawrence and Daniel Radcliffe - it was right before the first Harry Potter came out and Daniel was so NERVOUS...it was precious.

The second time I was on the show was when Maroon5 made their TRL debut and since I was a hardcore Maroon5 fan from back in the day I was invited to the show. This was January 2003. I can't remember now if Carson was the host at the time or not, I'll have to look at the tape, yes the VHS tape I have with both episodes on it. It was cool because I has been to enough Maroon5 shows from when they were still playing smokey bars that I "knew" them. I remember I was near Adam Levine's bro in the audience and one of the guys girlfriends. Adam has just cut his hair and I remember telling him I liked it. This taping of TRL was different because Maroon5 played 2 songs so between commercials we'd have to move around from our seats to standing for the concert.

FYI the TRL studio is TINY...it seems bigger on TV, but it really is like someone's living room. The view of Times Square from there is pretty sweet. It's been a long while since I've sat down to watch TRL... as I was reading about tonight TRL finale one report wrote that perhaps TRL is going off the air because "Internet killed the Video Star." I thought that was clever and true. I must admit that I STILL don't have cable in my apartment and I really don't miss it all that much. I see about 90% of what I want to see on-line anyway. God bless youtube - although I have watched a lot on youtube even before I didn't have cable. So the 15 year old girl inside me is sad to not watch the TRL finale tonight, but I also know that I will be able to watch parts of it online tomorrow.

Carson Daly much love to you and the original "Dog and Pony Show"


P.S. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that today is Freddie's first birthday!!!!!!!! For those of you out of the loop Freddie is my cute little Pomeranian.

My Strongest Suit

Today is a hard day...today marks 1 year since the last time I saw my dad. He came up for a visit on Sunday November 11, 2007 - exactly a week before he died. I was glad to see him because even though I had seen him 2 weeks prior when I was in Dallas for a conference I wanted some quality time with my dad, especially before he was to have surgery - I had a bad feeling about the surgery and I really wanted to see him. I remember him calling me saying he was outside...I was still sleeping then, so I greeted him in my PJs, just when he was about to knock on the door next to mine thinking it was my apartment - he always forgot. He put my dining room chair together that I had trouble with - I couldn't get the seats on the frame of the chair - I remember he referred to them as potty chairs...typical silly daddy humor. We had lunch at McAllisters, went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and then up to a casino in Oklahoma to play Mr. Moneybags slots. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we were singing out hearts out to the Aida soundtrack - a tradition we had - and we must have been so into singing our favorite song "My Strongest Suit" that I wasn't paying attention to my speed. I ended up getting pulled over less than a mile from the exit I was going to take. I was so upset about my ticket and I knew my dad felt bad about it too. We ended up going to the casino and didn't really win, but we always had fun playing. I loved when we would push the button together on the slot machines. We always had so much fun together despite me being upset from the ticket. I remember I drove back and we stopped at Sonic and I got us a snack before heading back to my apartment. I didn't want him to leave. I remember we cuddled on the couch as he tried to console me as I talked about a bunch of the drama that was going on in my life - he was so good at knowing what to say to make me feel better. I remember not wanting him to leave, I even asked him to stay the night, but he couldn't. I walked him down to his car because I needed to put my car in my spot which he was parked in. We hugged and kissed goodbye our by our cars. I remember watching him walk to the car get in and than wave at me as he drove passed me. I watched his car turn to leave the lot. I soaked every moment of that in...as much as I didn't want that to be the last time I saw him I had a strange feeling it might just be.

Enjoy some Aida - Love you dad and miss you more!

No I didn't fall off the face of the earth

Wow it's almost been 2 weeks since I posted...shame on me

Since I anticipate this being a long blog may I start you off with some background reading music...a preview of David Cook's debut cd that comes out it 2 weeks...it has 30 second clips of each of his songs and I must say they are all good, but I have some favs already I think. So enjoy some "Cookie" while you read




Shockingly I had a easy travel day to Boston and even saw Hildi from Trading Spaces in the airport...random I know. It was fab to be in Boston, I love cities. I only sorta know Boston, but it's funny how certain things you will remember even years later. I tried to go to sleep early, but I was SO into the book I was reading on the plane, it about a murder of a baby in am Amish community, it's called Plain Truth and it's by Jodi Piccoult...really good book.

I went to Boston for a national Orientation conference and a pre-conference for new professionals. I love conferences - it's nice to meet new people, exchange ideas, learn and be inspired. I met some really awesome people at the pre-conference and I can't wait to continue to expand my "network." Whenever I meet new people I am always wary of people who "remember me" from prior conferences. I'm like do they remember me because I'm loud? annoying? hot? funny? all 4? There were a fee people who remembered me and then people during the conference who would talk to my coworkers and say they met me. Whatever I guess I make an impression wherever I go!

In addition to seeing my Kelly Duncan who asked for a room 2 doors down for me, I got to see people at the conference I knew from grad school or just from meeting them at prior conferences or when you have mutual friends and can connect that way. However since the conference was in Boston I also got to see a TON of friends who live in the area. Whatever downtime I had I tried to fill with seeing college friends. I'm so thrilled that I got to see everyone I hoped to see and had soo much fun with them. Some nights it was almost too much fun, I forgot how expensive alcohol could be up north...but regardless good times were had.

The location of the hotel was great...I did a lot of walking in Boston, but it was so crisp and beautiful there the whole time and I got to eat some really yummy stuff! Oh and I forgot to mention I presented at conference as well with 2 peeps from grad school which went well. I was really happy with the amount of people that not only came to our session, but stayed after to talk to us. I also drank my body weight in Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee while I was there...I just took Dunkin Donuts for granted for some many years...now it's such a rare treat.

As energized as I was by the conference I was also WORN out. I was away from 7 days, 6 nights and I came back soooo tired. I also was away from my doggie Freddie who was at the kennel in the vet for a week. I woke up super early on Tuesday to get him because I didn't want to be away from him for a second longer than I had too. Despite some vet techs that adore him, Freddie was happy to be home. We cuddled for a bit before I had to head to work. I like walk in the office and my boss tells me to go and vote...okkkkaaay. I was actually glad he told me to go then because I was worried about going at lunch or after work. So I get to the polling place and get a spot and see the line isn't outside which is great. So I walk in and go to the A-L line and end up standing behind a cute guy. I had my voter registration card out and my work ID and my license out (yes I still have a NY license...I need to get on that) which I see him take note of. Then he says he didn't bring his registration card do I think he needs it so one thing leads to another and we have ourself a nice 5 minute chat before he has to split into more lines...so he goes off to the A-B line while I go to the J-K-L line. I couldn't complain though, talking to a cute boys is never a bad way to start the day. I was disappointed that the polling place had paper ballots, when I voted in college for president and for another local election we had the voting machines! I always get misty eyed when I vote, I guess because it's so great that we get a say in who out leader is and despite electoral votes our voice is heard. I did indeed vote for Obama incase you were wondering, but I'm not gonna get all political in the blog. I wore my "I voted" sticker proudly all day.

When I got back to the office and we had a meeting to talk about the stuff we had missed and talk about the conference my boss says towards the end of the meeting "Not that I'm complaining, but Jenn who have been really quiet today." haha it was true because normally I am a talker, but I told him that I was all talked out, I think I hit my word quota for the year. While I was at the conference I talked so much, which was awesome, but I really had nothing else to say!

After work that night I went to a election results viewing party at the Lee County Democrats Headquarters. I was invited by this girl I met who is trying to start up a Lee County Young Democrats group. It was really interesting too see these people get so excited a electoral votes rolled in and then when all of a sudden at 10pm central time the special report broke and we saw a logo that Obama was elected the 44th president. CRAZY. I can't believe it, the coolest things are how many red states went blue this year. I thought McCain gave a really classy speech, but I loved Obama gave a really great speech as well. It was great to watch history be made that night and to be a apart of it.

So clearly I didn't go to bed at a decent hour after election night craziness plus the fact that I had SO much work and e-mail to catch up on it was crazy. We had a transfer orientation on Friday and I had so much last minute stuff to do for it. I was waaaaaaay stressed out, not good. Wednesday and Thursday were really a blur, except for the fact that I went to the gym on Wednesday after a hiatus from being away and my training kicked my ass. I did however get to see my 2 "gym boyfriends" at the same time as well as this 3rd hottie that just came on my radar.

Friday I was up at like 5:30am and was on the go til 5pm. Orientation went well, there were some kinks, but we were in a new building, it was raining, I had a head OL on crutches, but it went smoother than I thought. I spent this weekend being a couch potato as well as sleep as much as humanly possible. I caught up on a bunch of shows online - How I Met Your Mother, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Grey's (Denny and that new doctor Own Hunt...yum) as well as caught up on my David Cook. He was on SNL last week and debuted his band as well as a new song off his cd. I watched most of David's idol performances yesterday and I'm not gonna lie I enjoyed every freakin second of it, I was a giddy as a school girl! I plan to watch some more performances tonight...God Bless You Tube.

Bosto-ween

Hey Hey Hey...although it's Monday today is a great day for a number of reasons:
1. It's Star's Birthday! Happy Birthday to you!!!
2. We got our offices painted this weekend...so I am no longer looking at prison grey, instead I am looking at "Bagel" on three walls and the wall behind me is "Knockout Orange" it's lover-ly.
3. I leave for Boston tomorrow for an orientation conference/see tons of my friends, therefore I won't post for a week or so, but when I do it's sure to be chuck full of entertainment.
4. Despite always getting stressed out and last minute about Halloween costumes I have two "homemade" awesome one. Friday night my costume is part of a trio and Saturday it's just a random funny costume. I had too much fun putting things together last night...too bad I won't give you the details until after Halloween!
5. I only have a 1.5 day work week which means I have TONS to do, so I gotta run!

Puppydate

Yesterday 2 of my coworkers and I had a puppy play date. We all brought out dogs to a local park that had a dog run and to my surprise there were a TON of dogs there. It's funny because my little 5 pound Pom, Freddie, thinks he is SUCH a tough guy and likes to bark and growl at other dogs, but as soon as he saw about 30 other dogs he got a little scared. I held him for a bit, then I let him down on his lease while giant dogs got their SNIFF on...if you know what I mean. Freddie could handle it for a minute or two they run between my legs and want me to pick him up...which was quite a change of pace because I can rarely get him to come to me outside. There was this one poodle who was quite fond of both me and Freddie, luckily the poodle's owner was a cute guy so I couldn't get too mad. At one point I was down the other end of the dog run with Freddie and let him down without his lease and he was running like a little bunny, but soon other dogs saw him and were running after him like dogs in a race running after the mechanical bunny. The dogs were pretty nice to him, one one nipped at his tail. Mostly the dogs like jumping over him, it was pretty funny.

One of our former Camp Counselors was there too with his dog and told us how it's a pretty regular crowd...although they don't really know each other they know each other's dogs. So I'm thinking I'm gonna jump on this puppy park thing and see if both Freddie and I can make some friends! I hope to get out a bit more to the puppy park before it gets too cold. I used my heated seats for the first time this week and I even wore boots yesterday. Granted it's chilly in the morning it tends to warm up nicely during the day, but the problem is that our office is a icebox! This weekend though our offices will be getting "warmed up" to a degree - we are getting our offices painted. Three of my walls are going to be painted a neutral that is actually called "Bagel" and then my back wall is going to an accent wall in "Knockout Orange" which is a bright orange, but has a lot of coral in it, either way I am PUMPED!

Autumn

Autumn is here...I had to use my heater this morning on my drive to work. At the moment I am wrapped in a blanket and have heater on at my desk because somehow the air conditioner is STILL ON...oh the south. This weekend we did have an office retreat up at one of our student's lakehouse on lake Logan Martin, it was BEAUTIFUL up there. We don't have lakes on Long Island, so I never understood all of the excitement of a lake. Don't get me wrong I still would prefer the ocean ANY day of the week, but when your pretty much landlocked I guess I should take what I can get.

Speaking of the retreat this weekend, it was SO much fun. We took our 10 student staffers, our GA and the 4 pro staffers 2 hours away to the lake for the day. The car rides themselves were fun for the various groups, but all being in a living room being silly was fun too. We actually did a bunch of activities, icebreakers, brainstorming etc. It was great. I lead a selections activity where I wrote the profiles for 10 people up for a job as an orientation leader and only 6 could get hired. Now each of them had their quirks, but the funnest part was that I named the characters after people I knew and even gave them at least one attribute of them to the character fun times!

My students are awesome and it def motivated me and pumped me up for the rest of the year. Another thing that will really evergize and excite me will be going to NODAC in Boston next week. NODAC is the National Orienation Directors Association Conference. I love conferences because it's a time to learn and network. I am presenting this year with two ladies from grad school which will be fun. Plus I am going to a preconference that is just for New Orientation Professionals called OPI and I've heard so many great things about it and how helpful and motivating it is. I can't wait! In addition to the fact that I'll be back in the Northeast in BOSTON where I have a bunch of college friends who I hope to see while I'm there.

Well let me get back to work and drinking my tea which will hopefully warm me up!

Rrrrring Rrrrring

I had not one, but two pretty interesting phone conversations this week. So three months later I finally had a "wrap up/final evaluation" with my former supervisor. Right after I left the job I was ready to give him a real piece of my mind...but I guess time heals most wounds because I was very calm and it was ALMOST a pleasant convo. I got to FINALLY hear some praise from him, which was something I never got. I also got to give him some feedback, which I was able to do nicely and constructively - who would have thought! Overall it was a good convo and I'm glad to have had some closure.

My other phone call was yesterday. So I met a boy this weekend - a verrrrry cute boy -who is not only cute, but really freakin funny. Now I understand that I was being coy or a little hard to get, but that's how I roll. So we exchanged numbers and he essentially told me to call him. Me call HIM oh my. So after consulting a number of people I decided to call him Thursday (Oh the games we play, but you gotta sometimes). So I did, I called. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to answer or voicemail. Well after a few rings it went to voicemail - okay. I start to leave my rehearsed, but breezy message when I hear someone beep in. It's him - yay! He seemed rather excited that I called him, which is presh. Let me note that I HATE talking to people on the phone that I don't know really well (I could be ordering pizza or calling across campus and still HATE calling) so obviously calling a hot guy is even MORE stressful. After being and awkward school girl for a minute I got a grip and the convo went smooth. So he's so freakin funny and and easy target to crack on. So yeah we talked for a bit and then his cell was dying so he said to call him over the next few days. DAMNIT...so here I am with the pressure to call him again. I'm am gonna damn well make sure I tell him to call me next. At least when you are the caller you know when the call is happening, the receiver of the call has to deal with the not knowing/element of surprise. It's a tough break either way. So we shall see...

Why this weekend was re-damn-diculous

My friend Sara came in for the weekend which was OUT OF CONTROL. All I can really share with you are random quotes/happenings from this weekend that Sara and I put together.

THE List
-Dirty republicans
-I’m married but I took my wedding ring off in the weight room
-How about you take my buddies back to our hotel room and we’ll give you some redbull vodka
-HELLO...Hello
-100% alcohol cosmos
-I’m not some perv I have references
-Do you have your resume now or do you need to print it
-Are you from Minnesota x 2
-Are you wiccan x 2
-You sound like Sarah Palin
-I’m a nice guy...
-Blonde headed slut...there may or may not be jaeger in here
-Brain hangover
-We took pictures driving the shot bus...that sounded bad
-I have to change my underwear x5
-Dangerzone
-Hot pockets
-25 birthday licks
-No balls Freddie
-I have cotton mouth
-Sara you were really hungry
-Loafers...bangs...crokeys
-Falling up the stairs
-Shaker whistling
-Aisle roamers
-Super Mario Brothers - correction hot Super Mario Brothers
-Toit pants, tiot shots
-Fashion police
-Taking obvious pictures of people and things
-...all for you
-Thai lezbos
-Sushi feeding
-Hand measuring
-Stale fortune cookies
-Crazy change crack whore
-Spiffy lip balm holder
-I’m gonna drop my keys and see of he picks them up
-Wing woman
-Arm wrestling
-Dane-ish not Danish
-Polygamy
-Pinkies up
-We’re married in my mind
-Dave your crotch smelled so bad you almost made a dog puke
-Shit eater
-Wheezing
-Making out in the parking lot
-Jenn should we not go to bed
-Freddie’s afraid of you he doesn’t want you to in here
-No I didn’t open the door
-Making out on the oven
-Prop cigarette
-Thumbs up thumbs down
-Investigating his wallet
-Showing up at supper club...OMFG
-Stalking us
-Towed car...expletives
-I already know the answer to this but, can me and 5 friends can crash at your place
-I’m sleeping on a dog pillow
-Coffee and ice cream sandwiches
-Smiley face mug
-Skim milk...half and half...did you say you wanted skim milk
-Your dog is queer
-Sara she locked the door
-Can you drop me off first at the Best Western???
-You dance like a stripper
-SNAPS
-Girlie man beer
-Wal-mart the one stop shop
-Where are you guys??
-Creepy candid camera
-Mouthwash.
-Furry teeth
-He couldn’t come upstairs I had to take my eyelashes off
-Were u sitting on the floor making out with him????????
-There were too many hot men here...all the electronics went on the fritz
-I’d rather take a drug dealer over someone who lives at home
-Babygirl
-Do not go in there
-It doesn’t sound as good when we say it out loud
-I didn’t touch his junk...hand raise...I did
-As pushy as he was he was respectful
-This is a courtesy message from...
-Bad accents
-Ignorance is bliss...in the south
-Message on Colleen’s voicemail
-Channing Tatum and Adam Pascal
-I forgot to close my tab x2
-I can't get over how those really look like daisies
-Dave is it ok if I look at her trampstamp
-Ink on my body has nothing to do with how sexually active I am...look at all that shit on your arms
-Adam sit down..sit..where are you going to go
-Snoring x2
-Unconscious in the kitchen/living room
-Adam wake up!
-We’re on the couch 96ing
-No Jenn a 69 would look like this...no don't show me
-2 hours of sleep total between us
-Talking about armpit hair x2
-butt crack
-I know everything about you except you blood type, your shoe size,and your name
-He looks like a cat...who Freddie or Adam
-I don’t want to wake him up because he’ll relize his car is towed
-It’s quiet hours guys
-Did you know your car was towed x2 or 3
-Take one last minute to let it all out
-Freddie photoshoot
-Shuttlecock - literally shuttling cock
-Can you send a picture of that Tator guy?
-OMG my blog from Thursday like came true!

And finally...

Bad Boys

I still sometimes surprise myself with my taste in guys, but one "trend" that hasn't seemed to go away is my "bad boy complex." Bad boys. I just can't get enough. And then put an instrument and/or microphone in their hands...hot damn. I don't know what it is and I am well aware I am not alone in liking bad boys. Maybe because it's dangerous or it spices up the chase I don't know. Now don't confuse bad boys with jerks...yes there is some overlap, but I don't think they should be grouped together. Don't get me wrong I've dealt with my fair share of jerks. I've also dealt with my least favorite group of them all "nice guys." Nice...kiss of death. If the number one way someone describes you is as nice...then move along. I'd rather be called ugly than nice...I really mean that. It's my blog, If I can't be honest here than where can I be. Nice is so boring and safe. At least jerks and bad boys have some mystic or personality. Plus I'm not a nice person...I'm generally sarcastic, mean, funny, even weird at times. Can I treat people nicely...yes, but I'm not nice and I wouldn't want to be. Now before you think I'm either a liar or crazy, let me explain. I am approachable, generous, thoughtful, helpful and many other things along those lines. I just have never liked the word nice or the "blah-ness" associated with it. I like having a little edge and I like guys with a little edge.

Now don't get me wrong, a police record is not the number 1 thing I look for in a guys, but a guy who has gotten into a few fights in his life. Hot. Drinking brown liquors. Hot. Being tormented and brooding. Insanely hot.I love guys with tattoos, eye liner, piercings, necklaces, painted nails and those guys are generally rocker guys. I also like guys who are musical, play an instrument or sing. So you put them together and I'm in heaven. Now you may know me and look and me and say I'm not a rocker chick and I somewhat agree. However in addition for my love of music, concerts, lyrics, guitars despite the fact that I am not musically gifted at all I also have some subtle rocker qualities. I have a few strategically placed tattoos, I keep my finger nail polish colors interesting (currently they are sparkly pink with black tips), I regularly wear jewelry with stars on it (or handcuffs haha), I have some black streaks in my hair (I even had the bottom few inches hot pink for a few weeks in college, I am actually considering putting some subtle pink streaks back in my hair), I love dramatic eye makeup (especially fake eyelashes, black eye liner, smokey eyes and glitter). So no I'm not a blatant rocker chick, but it's also because I am too multifaceted to commit, however I strongly believe a person's subtleties say a lot about them.

So would I love to date an actual rockstar...yes, yes I would. But I would just a much love to date to lawyer who moonlights a rocker by night. Plus I just really want someone to write a song about me. Sadly there aren't too many rocker types in eastern Alabama, but I'm keeping my eyes open and my hopes up (and yes this includes Delicious).

In Repair

I really might start carrying a motion sickness bag around with me. Why you ask...because this roller coaster that is my life is starting to make me sick at times. It's so crazy how one day I can be fine and the next I'm miserable....sometime it even happens in the same day. I need a steady patch, my emotions are exhausting me. The folks who have seen the brunt of my nasty streak have been the people in my writing class, mostly because the class isn't what I wanted it to be, needed it to be. These people already wrote nearly complete books and basically want us to proof read it, so I've gone on a few tirades in class, but I don't care....yelling makes me feel better. For an exercise in class yesterday I wrote something really dark and morbid just to freak them out for the fun of it. I'm sure they think I'm a headcase, but maybe I am and I don't care. One thing I wrote in the writing exercise between a character and her therapist was a quote a heard once and keeps me from giving up, "the children the world almost break become the adults who save it."

So yeah, I'm broken....big shock there. But to quote John Mayer who I was just listening to and inspired me to take a minute and write this blog, "I'm in repair, I'm not together, but I'm getting there."

A short story entitled "Why this past weekend was awesome"

Colleen, aka my other half, came to visit for a best friend weekend extravaganza. Clearly Colleen charmed everyone in my office - even when she first met them 2 years ago they referred to her (lovingly) as the better version of me. Clearly one of the first things on the to do list was get Colleen some world famous Toomer’s Lemonade followed by mani/pedis. Colleen went for a dark purple while I went for the orange tipped French mani, it’s FIERECE...it may be my new trademark! We went to eat a Locos which is a yummy bar/grill place where we had a cheesy, potatoe explosion aka heaven in my mouth as an appetizer.

Then it was time to get gorgeous, well MORE gorgeous for a night out. We totally did it was college style with music playing and drinking beers as we got ready together. Love it! So I decided to try out 2 news places with Colleen, the first being Bar 51 which took us like 20 minutes to find...oh what it’s the place with the loud music right off the exit where it said it would be...gotcha. Anyway it was a very chill lounge/martini bar that boasted an "ice bar" that gave you fur coats to wear as you drank out of ice cups, but it looked more like a closet. The crowd, band and drinks were all good times. We moved onto this new posh ultra lounge called In Italy where apparently the only guidos in Alabama go, but it was really snazzy in there. The strangest part of the night was when we were dancing to hip/hop in the back room (note I am a TERRIBLE dancer) and a big tall black guy even says in passing that I’m a bad dancer, yet later he comes up and dances with me which is HILARIOUS because he would have fared better with Colleen who can dance and likes the dark chocolate from time to time. The best part was the meaner I was to him the more he seemed to like me go figure.

Saturday was GAMEDAY baby! Some of my fab CWE 06/08 friends saved us awesome student sections seats, plus we got there in time to see the video I made on the jumbotron...HOLLER! Plus I got on the jumbotron in the 3rd quarter thanks to these 2 guys dressed as Auburn’s version of Mario and Luigi. After a narrow Auburn victory went to Roll Toomer’s corner (an Auburn tradition of toilet papering trees after any sports victory). Then I took Colleen to Cock of the Walk for dinner where we got to eat off of tin places and drink out of tin cups and eat deep fried EVERYTHING, plus we had a waiter throw cornbread. However the best part was discovering the new and meaningless word - CHUNCUI!!!! I found the word hilarious even though it’s really the name of an old timey sport or something. By the time dinner was over it was like 9pm and we were beat, so we took a power nap/rest before rallying to go bar hopping.

To my surprise we made it to 3 different bars Saturday night. The first bar we went to was just too packed, so after one drink (which I ordered like an idiot to a cute bartender) we left. Our next stop was less crazy and we had a funny bartender who made the MOST yummy Razz and Diets. At one point after not that many drinks I nearly bit it going downstairs to use the potty, but no one saw...THANK GOD. Luckily on a more success trip to the potty I found a badass star ring that now has found its home onmy left middle finger...SCORE! Later we were hit on by a Master P impersonator and his pretend 21 year old son. Then we got mediocre pizza and we kept telling people it tasted like a paper plate, but it was 2am and out night was not over yet!

Colleen drove to Supper Club, since I was on the road to intoxication. However although Colleen had only 2 drinks she managed to nearly kill us. She was going to make a left and thought the road split in the road left to a suicide lane (the middle lane where you can turn either direction) well it was not, it was a lane of traffic going the opposite direction. Luckily no one was on the road and Colleen made the left turn anyway from the HOMICIDE LANE (we’re gonna copyright that) and drove to supper club where we watched a Delicious. Now keep in mind Colleen has never driven in Auburn before so she didn’t know the roads and luckily we can look back and laugh.

Anyway we made it to Supper Club in one piece to see Delicious play. You read that right D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. It’s the name of an area cover band fronted by a hottie rightfully nicknamed named Delicious who used to be in the Velro Pygmies (another area cover band who I adore). Well since my 2006 Auburn days Delicious left Velvro Pygmies, put together his own band, and cut his hair. Delicious had the long rocker hair with pink streaks in it. He has a thing for pink, which I think is HOTTT. Sadly now he’s wearing less eyeliner, but still has pink in his short rocker ‘do. Well Delicious put on a fab show playing covers from the 80s-now. We luckily caught the 2nd set from about 2:30am-4am. Confession: I have a MAJOR weakness for rocker guys. The tight jeans, crazy multicolored hair, stage antics, piercings, tattoos, guitars, singing-agh I’m losing self control even as I type this. Colleen and I made it to the front of the stage and rocked the f*ck out. And the culmination of the evening's fun was when Delicious-the lead singer-paused after a song to say and I quote "You guys in the back are ok, but up here in the front row these girls are on trampolines...with huge tits. Let's just say if my mom had tits that big I would still be breast feeding-Jesus."
And yes he was talking about me :)

Colleen swears I was dreaming about Delicious that night...I plead the fifth; I was enjoying an alcohol induced semi-coma from about 5am-11am. I woke up with a little headache, but nothing too bad considering the day we had had. We then went to get massive fully loaded baked potatoes for lunch and people watched folks in all their "Sunday Best." Then we made it to the pool at my apartment complex - yes on September 28 we were at the pool and we even went down the water slide a few times-while laughing hysterically. Then we went to dinner where we ate and drank the world to the point we couldn’t move. We ended the night watching the 1991 smash hit "Ladybugs" with the late Jonathan Brandis because Colleen couldn’t believe I actually had it on dvd (thanks sister). We the passed out only to wake up eat some greasy southern breakfast at my favorite place and then drop Colleen off at the shuttle back to the airport.

This brings me to the end of my tale of the best weekend there ever was. I wish you too had been there to enjoy this magical time, but hopefully you felt like you were there.

What a Weekend

I seriously had the BEST WEEKEND EVER this past weekend. It's too much to type while I'm at work, so look for it at some point tonight or tomorrow.

But while I have you attention I'd like to note that I think I fly waaaay too often because I took this quiz today and scored 100%

Lunchtime Quiz: Let’s go to the SkyMall
The products gracing the pages of the SkyMall Magazine provide guaranteed laughter, disbelief and audible exclamations of "Who would buy that?" In each question in today’s quiz, one product is actually for sale in SkyMall Magazine; the other is an invention that failed to secure a patent. Can you tell the difference?

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18792


Let's see how you do.

Mondays are the Devil

I had a terrible day yesterday which is sad because I spent the weekend with my sister who came to visit and it was great to see her. I even scored awesome tickets to the Auburn vs. LSU game (4th row in the endzone) and even though Auburn lost it was a fantastic game. The weekend overall was veyr exhausting which didn't help that on Thursday I was up late cleaning and doing laundry only to wake up at 5am for a conference across the state. So clearly I expected Monday to be terrible because I was very tired.Monday also sucked because I was going to miss the How I Met Your Mother premiere due to writing class. Not that I could have watched it at my house since I still don't have cable, but I would have least went to the gym or something to watch it. Plus my writing class pissed me off, but I don't want to talk about it. They are all old people who write boring crap and can't related to me. Luckily I know other fabulous writers like my dearest Star to give me some relevant feedback.

So since I missed How I Met Your Mother last night I wanted to look online today for a synopsis when I found the whole episode on the CBS website! How NPH - Neil Patrick Harris, it was glorious to have you back in my life. Between watching the first 3 seasons of How I Met Your Mother recently, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, and Harold and Kumar you have made me very happy.

My other obsession besides NPH is...(say it with me folks because you should all know by now) Americal Idol Winner DAVID COOK! After listening to every song he ever released from back in til now CONSTANTLY I've really been craving new DC music. Well luckily his new single "Light On" is being released tomorrow! Sadly DC didn't write it, but instead Chris Cornell (Soundgarden and Audioslave...who also re-arranged Michael Jackson's Billie Jean which Cook later performed on Idol) and some other rock writer wrote the song. I'm not surprised they want a radio friendly smash hit, so I'll have to wait til November for his stuff when his cd is released. Sadly it's going to be released on the 18th of November, but at least it can be something positive on that otherwise terrible day.

Also the only other thing keeping me sane this week (I figured I'd stick to the few good things in my life right now, than harp on the rest of the miserable things I've got going on) is that Colleen is coming to visit me this weekend and I just got us tickets in the student section for the Auburn vs. Tennessee game!

Budding Novelist

So last night was my first novel writing class. The class was great! The only downside is that the other members of the class are all 40 years old or older, but it's all good I think I'll be less hesitant to be honest in my writing since there won't be some hot 30 year old in class to intimidate me. The class is really fast paced. We spent the first 30-40 minutes learning about a particular aspect of novel writing then we do a quick writing activity and then the rest of the class we'll be reading pages from our novel for others to critique (anywhere from 1pg to 10 pgs). I was nervous when he said up to ten pages, I didn't think I could possibily write 10 pages a week. Plus I have so many ideas and didn't know where to start.

Luckily our writing activity got me started. So much so that when I went home I wrote about 3 pages and started an overall chapter/section outline. I think my genre is going to be autobiographical, but with creative freedoms.

Our writing activity last night was to take one of two infamous opening lines and put on our twists on it without using the words "was" or "it."
The two choices were:
- It was a dark and stormy night.
- It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

So basically we needed to craft an opening sectence/ first few paragraphs that would draw people in. It didn't have to reflect the novel we wanted to write, but I figured these exercises would help me focus so I chose to use my ideas for my novel I hope to write.

Please remember this is a rough draft, but enjoy!

4:58PM on August 4th officially marked my 24th birthday. I spent the night with friends in New York City, quite possibly the best night I’d had in a while. Little did I know my 24th year would be full of some of the worst times in my life as well. Looking back I should have known better. In the first few hours of my 24th birthday I had been running extremely late, got a train’s door closed on me (which left bruises by the way), practically missed my birthday dinner all together, broke my friend’s bed and had a hang over from hell the next morning thanks to free box wine at the Chinese restaurant we ate at. Usually my life is chaotic and most of the time I can handle the chaos, but when I couldn’t on stressful days like my birthday that year I had my dad to always calm me down and know what to say to make me feel better. However I didn’t know that by the time I reached my 25th birthday I wouldn’t have my dad anymore to help me sort through life’s ups and downs. My name is XXX, welcome to my quarter life catharsis.


As you can see I haven't chose a name for my main character yet. The character will basically be me, but I want to use different names for most people and places. So I want you to help me name my main character. Post comments with your ideas please!

Oh and I plan on also calling my novel, My Quarter Life Catharsis, which hopefully I can tie the blog in a some point. We'll see.


PS - on a random site note: parking on campus has got waaaay better since it is now a few weeks into the semester. I'm able to park in the lot I had been parking in all summer which is a quick walk and out the outskirts of campus so I don't have to sit in traffic in the morning :)

Rock the Vote

One of the things on my mental to do list was register to Vote in Alabama since I was registered in Connecticut for the last election. For some reason I had it in my head I needed an Alabama license to vote, so I had been planning to get my Alabama license this month. Well this weekend I went to Woofstock with Freddie - a dog festival if you will in a town park. It was cute, but Freddie mostly barked at all the dogs. At Woofstock there was the League of Alabama Women Voters and they were registering people to vote so I asked them about not having my license yet and they said as long as I had an address here and a social security number I didn't need an Alabama license. Which by the way all makes sense because I had a New York License when I voted in Connecticut - I just happened to be living in Connecticut at the time. So yay I registered to vote! Voting is such an important right to take advantage of - despite the mess of the electoral colleges. However I still plan to get an Alabama license this month so I am less "illegal" even thought I still have Texas plates on my car and it's registered in Texas...opps!

9.11.01 Always Remember

My thoughts and prayers to all those who lost their lives or their loved ones 7 years ago today. September 11, 2001 I was 3 weeks into my freshmen year of college. I still remember my dad picking coming to get me to take me home that weekend and when we crossed the Throgs Neck Bridge I saw the gaping hole is the skyline still smoking.

La Vie Boheme

After 12 wonderful years RENT will be closing on broadway THIS Sunday September 7. I love RENT...the music, the story, the characters and Jonathan Larson. Larson wrote RENT and died the night before it went into off broadway previews in January 1996. I first saw RENT in high school, I believe in January of my sophomore year. I had actually gotten the tickets and the sountrack from christmas from my aunt and listened to the soundtrack prior to seeing the show (which is something I RARELY do). Even though I was slightly familiar with the music I had no idea what to expect and I was blown away (I still have much love for Manly Pope and Trey Ellot who were the Roger and Mark the first few times I saw the show). Amazingly the last few times I saw the show had Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp as Roger and Mark (the original Roger and Mark). In total I'm pretty sure I saw the show about 14 times over the course of 10 years (one time I saw it twice in a week because I already had tickets and then I got tickets as a gift and then the last time I saw the show September 29, 2007 I saw it twice in one day). I had flown to NYC with 2 girls I worked with in Texas to see Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp back in RENT (they were only in the show for 10 weeks and I auctualy had seen then on my birthday back in August of that year). Clearly I couldnt resist a 48 hour NYC adventure to see RENT. That day was pretty magical and I got both Adam and Anthony to sign my playbill which I now have framed. That day back in Septemeber of last year I told myself would be the last time I'd go see RENT on broadway for a long long time because it was just such a perfect high that I knew it couldn't be beaten.

So when I heard earlier this year that RENT was going to close I was sad, but I was also okay because I knew I had seen it plenty. Plus there is the RENT movie which is good, not the same as live, but good (minus Adam's Bon Jovi mullet). Plus I had had the chance to see Anthony Rapp speak twice and have him sign my copy of his book AND I met Adam Pascal at a conference and got a picture with him and to talk to him (I sounded like a Tenny Bopper moron) as well as get him to sign his CDs. My insane obsession with all thing Adam Pascal could be a whole 'nother blog post

The powers that be are actually going to film RENT's final performance on Sunday and it will be on 500 screens for abot 5 days for RENT fans all over the country to say goodbye which I think is really amazing. Shockingly one of Auburn's movie theatre's is one of the 500 that will have the movie so I plan on going to say goodbye...I'll be curious to see what special things happen during the show - especially since I knew every beat and action of the show by heart. RENT always did special anniversary shows in April (when it opened on broadway) which were a spectacular from what I've read/seen clips of.

For over 10 years RENT has had a very special place in my heart, but even though it won't be housed at the Nederlander Theatre anymore it's music and impact will forver be alive.

No Day But Today!


here is a video of Adam and Anthony performing "What You Own" at a benefit concert


Here is an OOOOLLLD video of Adam Pascal singing my favorite song of the show "One Song Glory"


And obviously "Season of Love" mixed with another favorite "La Vie Boheme" from this year's Tony Awards

Election Season!

Clearly this year's election has been on everyone's mind for a while, if we're being honest probably since Bush was re-elected in 2004. I must say that the contest between Obama and Clinton was insanely exciting this Spring...I serious loved watched votes roll in and see who would nab the most delegates. I just find it to be an exciting time in politics now. Women and African Americans are finally being taken seriously in the race for Presidency or Vice Presidency.

Even with Palin, it's exciting that she's on the Republican ticket...I have lots of concerns about Palin herself, but at the same time a woman or an African American is going to be in office.

I'm honestly sick of the good ol' boys system and look where it's gotten us. The economy is in the garbage, education is a mess, unnecessary wars, and don't get me started on health care.

Back when I was in college one of the paths I seriously considered was political focused journalism. I'm very wary of politics and I truly believe the media does play an important role in the checks and balances system of the government.

I'm seriously such a news junkie...which has proven difficult since I still haven't gotten around to getting cable yet, but God bless the Internet and youtube. Also in iTunes you can subscribe for free to the DNC and RNC channels to see all the speeches.

I am so excited to vote, I voted in 2004 although I really think that election was choosing between the lesser or two evils. I refer to myself of Liberally Independent. I have some traditional Republican views and some Democratic views. So I really want to do my best to make an informed decision and what I do want is change - and just Bush leaving the White House will help a lot, but is McCain more of the same or can Obama deliver this "change" he keeps talking about...I'm not sure.

Almost 2 months exactly 'til election day...it should be an exciting. I do enjoy the skeletons in the politician's closets (an boy have there been some doozy's lately), but I really look forward to being further educated (hopefully) about what they can do for me.

80 Years Young

Today is my Grandmother's 80th Birthday...80 how crazy is that. That's over 3 times my age. I just talked to her on the phone and we were joking that it was like her 69th birthday or something, but then I remember a little mnemonic device from 3rd grade when I was learning times tables. I will forever remember my Grandmother was 63 when I was in 3rd grade because 9 times 7 is 63 and that was how old she was.

It's crazy how many changes she's seen in her 80 years...I'd be willing to bet it's been the 80 most evolutionary years to date. The technology, medical advances, the tragedies, the war, the peace.

I don't know if I'd want to live to be 80 or not. Part of me would rather not to live long enough to watch everyone around me die. Sorry for being morbid, but it's true. At the same time I wouldn't want to die prematurely like my dad did at 58. So where does that leave me...I guess with a 22 year window, but then again I truly believe everything happens for a reason and you go when your supposed to go. I think that everyone has a fated day they die, but what you ultimately die from more circumstantial.

Ok I'll stop being depressing, but it's not my fault I've been reading a book my secretary gave me about a school shooting - Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult - that is told from like 6 different perspectives. It's healthy to talk and think about death because it is the only certain in life. I remember in college some of my friends were taking a Death and Dying class, I think it was a Sociology class. My friends always interviewed me for class assignments, I was fascinated. I was actually looking up Spring Courses in the online course catalog for a Death and Dying and/or Bereavement class, but I couldn't find any. I think it would not only but interesting, but also helpful. Again sorry for being Debbie Downer, but I just can't get past how close November is. It doesn't feel real that only last September my dad was alive. Everyone says the first year is the hardest...we'll see.

I'll try and have a more positive post next time, but I did warn you that this blog would be full of ups AND downs. Such is life.

Wake Me Up When September Ends...

I'm really not a fan of September...I've had a bunch of terrible Septembers over the past few years. November is quickly catching up to be more awful. I used to think I liked Fall, but now I find it mostly depressing. The vibrancy of summer is over (yes I know technically Fall starts near the end of September, but for those of us in school or who work at schools - summer ends in late August/Early Sept.

I guess the only good thing about the fall is college football...and I guess working at a Division I SEC school doesn't hurt. I actually went to the game this weekend and it was very exciting. I love all the tradition Auburn has - the eagle circling the stadium, Aubie, tiger walk, Toomer's Corner etc. However tailgating wasn't as fun...mostly because after driving around for an hour looking to park anywhere remotely close to campus I decided to park practically back at my apartment and walk. Luckily as a New Yorker I don't mind walking blocks at a time - but doing it in 95 degree weather was less fun. Despite the parking debacle (what else is new) it was good times. We shut out the other other team and did I mention I sat in the front row...so basically my view was of all the backs of the Auburn football players, but nonetheless good times.

I just really hope my September isn't as terrible as it usually is. At least I have visitors coming for 2 games in September which will be excellent.

Well since I have yet another 4 day work week I better get crackin'!

A Little Perspective

Granted as my parking record for this week is:
traffic/ being late - 3
Jenn - 0

BUT while venting to my friend who that works at UNC Chapel Hill he told me that his yearly parking permit is $700!!!!! WHAT. So for $60 I'll sit in traffic and walk miles a little less bitter now.

If I Could Turn Back Time

I thought of a really good blog post title last night, but this morning I have forgotten it...sad. OHHHHHH I just thought of it as I sat here staring at the screen so there we go we have a title.

Why is "If I Could Turn Back Time" a fitting blog title. Well for 3 reasons. First I went on a trip down TV show memory lane and secondly because today is Monday-take 2 and thirdly, now that classes have started back at MSU (where I used to work) I wanted to give a little shout out to my fabulous office ladies who I miss dearly.

This weekend I finished reading the last book in the Twilight series (all 750+ pages of it). Overall I really enjoyed the series...especially the first book, but I found the series to get a bit predictable...I saw "twists" coming from over 100 pages away. I always love a good twist to catch you off guard, not the case here. But then again maybe it's my journalism background and I'm really good a putting pieces together.

SIDENOTE: I totally deleted my post by accident, but luckily it "autosaved" so I didn't have to rewrite it. I always find when I rewrite things they are never quite as good as what I originally said, maybe because of the "spur of the moment" nature of my usual writing.

Anyway so after finishing Twilight I was going through vampire withdrawals (is that weird?) so I managed to find the Buffy the Musical episode on tape. It was a major score because there were 3 episodes on Buffy on the tape. a Nice one featuring Angel from like season 2, then the musical and then the "Hush" episode that scared the crap out of me back in the day. And while watching these taped versions of Buffy I saw commercials for other WB shows and it made me nostalgic for all of them. I loved Buffy obviously and later Angel (especially the crossover episodes), as well as Roswell, and the first few seasons of 7th Heaven. I remember watching Dawson's Creek when it premiered and all the scandal around it because it was so "sexually charged."
Oh WB shows of the past I miss you. However I did find out that you can buy TONS of TV shows on itunes (I usually stick to music) and I found out you can also "rent" movies on itunes (I plan on trying it tonight). What I did buy off itunes yesterday was the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget....oh Saget I love you, I love Stamos more, but who doesn't. I love Full House, it's no secret. I have very fond childhood memories of watching Full House...the Tanner house is my "safe place" haha. So even though during the roast Saget and Stamos were being filthy they will ALWAYS be Danny Tanner and Uncle Jesse.


Now getting back to why today is Monday take 2. Well thanks to hurricane Fay...the Southeast has taken a beating. I was at the gym Saturday when there was the first Tornado Warning (a tornado has been sighted or the conditions are good for a tornado to develop). Great I was trapped at the gym and then later at Wal-Mart when I was going to buy flashlights and an emergency radio - EXCEPT they didn't have emergency radios because they are "seasonal items." WOULDN'T TORNADO SEASON BE THE BEST SEASON TO HAVE THE FREAKIN' RADIOS! I yelled at 2 different Wal-Mart employees about that. I yelled at a 3rd Wal-Mart employee because the flashlights were in a part of the store we weren't allowed to go to because of the Tornado Warning (we had to stay in the center of the store and the flashlights were int he back corner) so I yelled that WOULDN'T IT BE A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE ITEMS ONE MIGHT NEED IN CASE OF A TORNADO IN A PART OF THE STORE PEOPLE COULD GO TO (They employee event said that was a great idea...idiots run wal-mart). I am actually embarrassed I shop at Wal-mart because I always feel like 1. White Trash or 2. a poor college student. But it is too damn cheap. As it turns out there were like 5 Tornado warnings on Saturday (these really loud scary sirens go off when there is a Tornado warning). Well after another siren or 2 Sunday night I woke up Monday to more gross rainy weather and I was running late and I got caught by a train (the trains that carry 100 things of cargo) and off course traffic on campus continues to be the BANE OF MY EXISTENCE as well as PARKING. I swear one of the few things I miss about Res Life is living where you work and not having to deal with driving/parking. So I had to park in Guadalajara or so it seems and then walk a mile to my building...I was like 40 minutes late to work by the time I go there (luckily my boss is cool and says traffic/parking will get better after the first few weeks). But seriously why did I bother doing my hair or make up or showering because I was sweaty and gross and in a BAD MOOD. And for those of you who know how I get when I am in a bad mood, stay away. I did my best to stay in my office and not talk to anyone for fear of yelling or biting someone's head off. Then at 10:30 (I've barely been at work 2 hours) yet ANOTHER tornado siren goes off and our office is FLOODED with calls about if classes are cancelled/what to do. Well the university decided to cancelled classes and close the university at 11am which was cool/scary (and since I don;t working in housing anymore I wasn't "emergency personnel" and got to go home!), but I was worried the weather was gonna be super serious for them to close school. Well it turns out that as of Noon it turned into a lovely day, barely raining. So I got to do some shopping and cleaning and forgetting about my crappy morning. So in my mind today is "Monday." I'm still cranky because I was ON CAMPUS at 7:35am and I couldn't even get a close spot. And between driving on campus at this hour I didn't get to a spot until 7:50 and then make it into the office at like 7:58am. I am determined to get a grip on this parking drama because starting a day angry isn't good and again MANY of you know how out of control my road rage gets. I swear though typing this was more for me than for you...I needed to get it out and vent a bit.

It's funny while working in North Texas, just south of Tornado Alley I never had to deal with tornado warnings and sirens, just tornado watches (less serious) and now I'm in AL for about a month and am knee deep in tornado sirens with more to come most likely because of Hurricane Gustav!

I figure if I am gonna post long posts, I won't write as frequently...but as we all know I get on a roll at times. So I will try and get a grip on the length!

New Music: Check out Jared Lee (Shout out to Drew for introducing him to me)
http://www.myspace.com/jaredlee

To-Do(ne)

I had a rather productive weekend I must admit. I would say the highlight was washing, waxing and detailing my car for like 3 hours on Sunday. I'm not gonna lie it was like the hardest I've ever worked, but also really rewarding. My car looks bangin'. I even bought all kinds of special cleaning things for it. I've had my car for over a year now and this was the first time I really cleaned it - not that my car is ever a mess, but I love it looking brand new.

I also did some shopping this weekend for a "Back to School" outfit. Yes I know I am no longer in school and that I haven been working for a while, but yesterday was the first day for students. I ended up getting an awesome 9 West separates from TJMaxx for cheap. $40 for a BEAUTIFUL jacket that retailed at $160 and sweet wide leg trousers for $30 which retailed at $70. I heart TJMaxx...I didn't have one nearby in Texas and it was torture. Now if only I could find a home goods.

I also was a machine going to the gym Fri, Sat and Sun...my goal is to go 4 days a week so Fri and Sat counted toward last week and Sun counts towards this week. I am really enjoying my gym and my trainer. I am feeling stronger already and I'm starting to lost some weight as well! The cool thing has been changing up my diet and how I pair food groups together as well as eating more frequently. My sister has been super helpful with recipes and ideas as well.

I also got a mani/pedi FINALLY. The last one I had was in Mid-June...horrifying I know. I was just so busy I never got around to it. For the record I love pedicures...I like my feet so I like them to look cute, plus I like open toe shoes. Getting manicures helps me from biting my nails, a habit I had for a loooong time that I've been pretty sucessful as breaking the past few years as long as I keep them manicured. I like "long nails" not claws, but I like when the tip of my figernail can like touch the desk is I put my fingers against it (does that make sense or do I just sound crazy...which is also true). The best part of the mani/pedi was that it was only $25 and I was in and out in under 45 minutes. In CT and TX I had a hard time finding mani/pedis for under like $35 which is strange because in NY I could get them for $20 or $15 if it was Mon-Wed. So at the moment my fingers and toes are a purple-y magenta.

Also this weekend I got back into the the "hunt for a new denomination" I woke up at ::gasp:: 10:15am on Sunday (consider the fact that I slept til 1pm on Saturday) to go to a Presbyterian service. I really enjoyed it...one of the pastors (a woman) was really cool and it seems there is a lot of leadership opportunities there. I think I would like to get involved with a church that would let me work with young people in some sort of leadership role. I think once I do a go round of all the churches and I narrow it down a bit I might set up a meeting with the pastor/reverend/etc to further explore things so I know I am making the right decision.

Speaking of decisions I've come to a new one. Improv. I still very much want to take a class, but I really don't think the Fall is the best time for me. I have my sister and my friend coming back to back weekends in Sept plus I have a conference in Oct...all of which would cause me to miss Improv class. Plus I am serious about this church thing and I don't want to commit to an Improv class that would interfere with Church. I was really torn about Improv because it will be a nice outlet and a way to meet people, BUT today in one of the daily university new updates we get via e-mail I saw Community Courses sponsored through the University Outreach Program and looked at the offerings. I was drawn to a dog obedience class and some writing courses. Based on time the classes are offered and some other factors I ended up signing up for a Novel writing class. The description is "Join a constructive, fun-filled forum that will stimulate creativity. Organize that great novel that has been running around in your head and put it on paper. Learn about plot, style, mechanics, and other essentials. Peer critique and encouragement are wonderful features of the class. A published novelist who is an award-winning author teaches this class." The class meets for 8 sessions on Mondays from 6pm-8pm starting Sept 15. I have NO idea who is going to be in the class or if I will be able to organize my thoughts enough for this class, but I have been writing for a loooong time. Ideally I'd like to write a play, so I think this course would give me a good jumping off point. So between the journals I've been keeping for over 10 years and my various blogs I think I will have plenty of fodder I just don't know what direction to go in...hopefully this class can help me. Who knows maybe I can add NY Times Best Seller to my list of accomplishments one day haha. I'm just happy I can find creative outlets that I've been so desperate for, but in the spring I realllly want to take Improv classes and hope it all works out.

One thing I was trying to add to my blog posts were "currently listening" updates like they have on myspace...but I can't find a setting to do that, so I guess I'll do it old fashion way.

Currently Listening to:
Brooke White(Yes from American Idol) who I was never a fan of but her covers of "Yellow", "Love is a Battlefield" and "Let it Be" are great...so I suggest taking a listen:
http://www.myspace.com/brookewhite

Also I have been listening to the UK band Muse. As I've written I've been reading the Twilight Saga and the authors constantly mentions in her "Thank Yous" Muse for being exactly that a sort of muse for her and her writing. So check out Muse:
http://www.myspace.com/muse

Below are also Stephenie Meyer - the author of Twilight's playlist for each of the books...they set the mood for each chapter for the most part. There is a TON of great music on all those playlists which I have been listening to constantly since I found them this weekend:

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight_playlist.html
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/nm_playlist.html
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/ecl_playlist.html
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/bd_playlist.html

It's funny that Radiohead's Creep is on the first playlist...that song has been popping up left and right since I first got into it a few months ago(so what if it was a decade after it was released). My favorite lines from that song are:
"I don't care if it hurts,
I wanna have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul"

Maybe because I'm on that quest for gain control of my life after feeling I lost control in the months follow my dad's death (it was 9 months yesterday - it feels like just yesterday and like 100 years ago at the same time). I just want to be healthy physically and spiritually...I don't need perfection like the song state per say, I just want what's right for me. I should also mention that David Cook's old bank Axium does an phenomenal cover of "Creep" and that's actually how I first got into it.
Below is a montage to David Cook's version of Creep. I adore his version.



Well I have rambled on enough for today.

Leave some comments though...I'm an insecure writer who wants to feel loved!

Let the Sunshine In

I think I totally would have been a hippie in the 60s.

As mentioned on my "Constant Interests" list I love Broadway musicals. While at work today I had the craving to listen to music from "Hair" especially "Let the Sunshine in." I've always loved and been moved by both the song and the scene in the movie version. Below I found a clip on that scene if you are not familiar.



I have such a clear memory of my dad singing songs from hair, especially this one. My dad loved to sing in the car or around the house - and he voice wasn't half bad. The music from "Hair" was one of his favorites, probably because he WAS a hippie in the 60s. Bell bottoms, long hair, love beads, tie dye...etc. He even took off time from college to live in California and bum around. Luckily he wasn't drafted...I believe his number may have even been called, but the Vietnam ended before was scheduled to report.

But here we are 2008 and again we are in the middle of a war that we should have not gotten involved with to begin with. Yet there isn't a superstrong youth movement. Don't get me wrong it seems the twenty-somethings are more into politics and voting than ever before, but at the same time when it comes to politicans...it's the same crap just presented in different bags. Don't get me wrong I fully intend on voting int his year's election...mostly since it will give me to the right to complain about whoever is president. I just want my generation to not be as apathetic as the generations prior...we have been through a lot as a generation. I just hope when the people from my generation are old enough to be major players in the government they will be able to make some changes for the better.

Thinking Quick on My Feet

As I do every morning I read cnn.com - I will forever be a news junky even if I'm not working in journalism - when I came across this article:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/08/12/rs.how.to.think.on.feet/index.html

The article talks about improv. I have been thinking about improv for a little bit these days mostly because I have an itch to get back on the stage (I have a theatre minor and enjoy acting/directing/writing) and also because my sister has been taking improv classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC - which is funny because right before she signed up for classes I went to a campus programming conference and made friends with some Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) folks and I ended up going to a UCB show in March. I am still trying to make it home one of these days for my sister's "class final performances. Anyway I've heard so much about how much my sister is enjoying improv and clearly we are both awesomely funny, plus it's a great way to meet people who are also funny. So today after reading that CNN article I decided to google improv classes in or around Atlanta. I found quite a few, but due to the drive and time zone changes it really limited what classes I would be able to take. However, I did find one on Sunday afternoons which could work. So I am going to sign up to "audit" one class and see how it goes. My only real hesitation is the drive because its nearly 2 hours each way (although it's a straight shot the whole way), but I do have tons of friends in ATL and it would be nice to seem them regularly. Plus it would only be like a 2 month commitment at first. I think I would be great at improv - I've a little bit of it in the past, but I am already quick on my feet and funny so I really can't lose. Plus again meeting people is always a good thing since there aren't too many options in town that I've seen, but I haven't given up hope of community involvement, volunteering etc. Plus I am actually looking into getting more involved with Greek Life here as well as the campus radio station - whose slogan - which I think is insanely clever is "A Rare Medium Well Done."

And most importantly I think all these things would give me amazing fodder for the blog....which is probably what most of you care about anyway!

After work today I am going grocery shopping, but I'm only buying things on a list that my trainer at the gym gave me. Which funny enough is mostly things I like anyway, but I need to get in the habit of eating more frequently, but with smaller servings to get my metabolism going. I am serious about this health kick/change of lifestyle and after 2 weeks of a vacation from my church exploration I need to get back on track this week. I think I might go to a different episcopal church this week - I think it's called Holy Trinity...so we shall see.

Making a Splash

I spent the weekend in Atlanta visiting friends. Friday night we went to a fancy expensive dinner in Buckhead because one of my friends had gift cards which was awesome then proceeded to go out to a few places. Saturday a bunch of us went to float the Chatahoochee River in Atlanta. I knew the float would be a while and we all brought beer and sunscreen, but it was 7 plus hours! It was fun, but sadly we all ran out of beer the last hour or so. The real highlight was there rocks that jutted out into the river that people jumped off of and when I saw people I mean mostly guys. One of my friends really wanted to go so I was feeling adventerous and decided to go with her. It was quite the challenge just clumbing the rocks to the get to the top all while drunk people are floating by. I would say it was like a 15-20ft jump into the water. Well we made it to the top and she jumped first then I did. It was really scary, yet exhilarating. Despite a mother of all wedgies from the jump it was awesome.

Speaking of water sports. It seems like most of the world has a severe case of Olympics Fever...yours truly including. I'm not gonna lie I didn't really think much about the Olympics not plan on watching them since I haven't connected my cable yet, but I was sucked in anyway. After the fateful day on the river, which was extremely draining despite the fat that all we did was float, tan and drink beer. We ended up staying in and watching the Olympics Saturday night and I got hooked. Clearly the big talk of the Olympics is Swimming and Michael Phelps. It was really exciting to watch, plus there were a bunch of swimmers who swam at Auburn which was cool (some were swimming for the US and some for other Countries - most notably Kirsty Covenry of Zim was an AU swimmer as well as Frederick Bousquet of France who was on the relay team. Speaking of the Relay...yesterday was crazy. I was so glad I saw it live since everyone is talking about it. I actually stayed in Atlanta last night to watch it and then woke up hella early this morning to drive back and go to work. So now I don't have cable and am addicted to swimming. I'll be the creeper in the sports bar... sitting alone....in nothing but a bathing suit haha!

1 weeks til the kiddies are all back for classes :)

08-08-08

I love cool dates like today is. I was also a big fan of 9-9-99. I wish my birthday was cooler 8-4-83 is okay but 8-3-83 would have been better. Anyway moving along, I must finally blog about my latest obsession. Twilight. Twilight is a book series geared to young adults about vampries and other strange happenings. I'm almost mad that Twilight is so cool, because I didn't hear about the books til this summer and the first one was published in 2005. The 4th and final book in the series was released last week and they already filmed a movie based the first book (I think only the first book) that will be out in Decemeber. I hate jumping on the bandwagon along with everyone else. Critics call Twilight the Harry Potter and I REFUSE to read/watch/care about Harry Potter because it was such a "to do." Same thing with getting Ice Cream from Cold Stone Creamery...I vow never to eat it because it was too trendy. Here I am thought a Twilight fan without even knowing it was cool. I've finished 2 of the 4 book and mind you each book is over 500 pages long. Oh and did I mention I bought all 4 books at one time without knowing very much about it. I do enjoy reading book series though. I hate getting "involved" with a character only for them to abandon you after 300 or so pages. I love the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich and a few smaller series written by Meg Cabot. I really do enjoy reading. Most people in my family were/are big readers and it wasn't something I really picked up until late in grad school. Back to Twilight...despite it being about a 17 year old girl and vampires for the most part it is very interesting. I'm quite excited for the movie...although the few movies that I've seen where I read the book first were always disappointing. I am gonna hold off for a few days to read the last 2 books considering I read the first 2 books in under a week (and that included the 4 nights I was in NY and didn't have time to read). I am actually reading a book for a book group at work right now about using your "strengths" at work and improving your strengths as opposed to focusing on you weaknesses. Plus I have the book I am Charlotte Simmons sitting on my desk at work. I started the book MONTHS ago and couldn't get into it. I'm gonna try reading it during lunch when it gets too busy to leave campus. I hate not finishing books I've started (I think it's only happened once or twice where I didn't finish a book).

So if you have any interesting reads....suggest away. Not having homework or late night work responsibilities definately gives me more time to read, plus I haven't hooked up my cable yet and I can only watch seasons 1 and 2 of How I Met Your Mother so many times.

Have a good weekend. I know I will. I'm headed to Atlanta tonight to go out for dinner and drinks in Buckhead (ohlala) then tomorrow a bunch of us are floating some river somewhere in Georgia which involves beer and inner tubes :)