Sham-bam-a-lam...

My birthday was fan-tabulous, as always. I've been secretly afraid of turning 25... but I am. It's really weird now. I don't know how the days make a difference, but they do.

School is nearing end... I've only got 2 1/2 weeks left of class, essentially. That's with the 1/2 being the two days I have to go for a presentation and an exam. This semester has flown by, and I'm excited about that.

I leave for Italy/Paris on the 15th of May (only a little over a month away!) and I'm super excited. I have a lot of things to plan (a hotel or something in Paris) Oh, before I forget - Odette, I really would LOVE some pointers from you on what to do there... so send them my way!

Michael got the job promotion and will be moving to DC at the end of May/beginning of June as well. I'm really sad about this because I have to be here for ONE stupid class this summer :( Which means I won't get to move there until the beginning of August. That's two WHOLE months without him!

Speaking of - we've had some crazy times these past few weeks - but everything is somehow working out just perfectly. I suppose that's what is supposed to happen when God's the center of your relationship. He has been the sweetest bf ever :)

Carrie is in NOLA for the weekend and as happy as a pea in a pod... Blaire arranged a little surprise thing for me on my birthday with Michael. We had SO Much fun and I love her for it!!!

I'll be so excited when all of the craziness is over and I can feel normal again. I've got the itch to buy a Wii and Wii Fit. An itch that's lasted at least a few weeks (that's how I know I REALLY want something...) It's only $350 for everything... but then again, I AM going to my favorite city in the world in just a month and am going to need all the funds I've got to make it happen. Ohhhhh how I just loooove being responsible.

Hope you guys are doing well. Hell, maybe some of you have stopped reading because I write so infrequently. Please bear with me, I PROMISE it'll get interesting again!!!

Clever...

Tonight, walking to school, I passed a homeless guy sitting on the footsteps of a small shop.

The sign in front of him read:

"The US banks are failing. Your money is safe with me."

Hahahaha! He is so clever! If I had a dollar on me, I'd give it to him. (And I don't usually do that!)

Bizarre train ride...

In my city, we have a form of public transit that moves homeless people rapidly through the city. Working people use it if it's convenient... I use it to get back and forth to school. Usually, when I ride the train, I just keep to myself - don't talk to anyone - just sit there and listen to my ipod or check up on things on my blackberry. It's a short, 20 minute (max) ride.

This evening, while riding the train home from school, staring off in to space, I start to hear something like a pouring sound coming from behind me. I glance over my shoulder and there's a homeless man sitting there. Penis out. Pissing all over the seat and wall.

Seriously?

I jumped up and ran toward the front of the train car and at the next stop got on the car ahead of the one I was on. I seriously could not believe he whipped it out in front of everyone and just started pissing all over himself like it was a good idea.

Yeesh. I wonder what happened in his brain to make him think that it was alright to do that. Was it like Britney and her head-shaving incident. One day, she went into the hair dresser thinking she's just going to do a few highlights here and there. She sits down and starts telling the lady what she wants and something just snaps... "you know what, just shave it all off."

Could he have been thinking that he needed to go to the bathroom or go get something to eat - then he just snaps and says "What the hell, I'll just whip it out right here and take care of it. Who gives a fuck if it's all over me, too"

Bizarre, bizarre world we live in.

**warning - those with sensitive stomachs should not read**

First - I just took the most ridiculously easy test in my life. If I don't make at least a 95, I'm an idiot :)

Second - I MUST tell you what I witnessed today. I almost vomited on myself. Literally.

On my 8-block walk between classes, you have to pass through a particular park where homeless people gather to spend their days. Not the best college environment, by any means, but it works for what I'm trying to get accomplished. Anyway, as I'm trekking past the park and on to the street where there's any kind of food you could imagine... I see a homeless lady digging through the trash. She's found a few items and collected them in one hand, while she continues to dig with the other hand.

I shit you not, she straight picks up a styrofoam cup (lid and straw attached and all) and DRINKS from it. Doesn't open the lid to see what's in it first, doesn't shake it to see if what's in it is liquid... straight puts the straw to her lips and sucks it up.



I literally almost lost my cookies. The thought of what could have been in that cup disgusts me. It could have been anything from spoiled milk to someone's tobacco spit-cup to other unimaginable things. I just don't even know.

Thought I would share that incredibly gross moment with you :)

Bums

Before I write about my FABULOUS trip to Hawaii with Michael to see Carrie and her husband, I must show you THIS:



Not an incredibly funny shirt in itself... but when you consider the source (the 'wear-ee' in this case), it's the funniest thing I've seen in quite some time.

I was walking downtown yesterday (going between classes) and passed the park where all the bums hang out. I shit you not... a bum was wearing this shirt. I CRACKED up. I guess they've gotta wear whatever they can get. Haha! Sure, I'll trust you ;) RIGHT!

Ok - more about Hawaii soon, I promise!!

Bitchy Behavior

Today fucking blows. Yesterday was worse, but today there are the lingering feelings left over from last night's "adventures" (if you will). Let's chat, shall we?

Last week, Girl number 1 called me and asked if Michael and I wanted to go see Nelly at a private event on Tuesday night. They'd won some tickets to the event and since I'd shared my free tickets to Linkin Park with her and her husband, I assumed that's why she wanted me to come.

I've written about these bitches before. And yes, they are in fact bitches. Might I remind you of this, where there was only a small excerpt towards the bottom... You certainly haven't heard about the full extent of their capabilities until this very post.

Since then, some new developments have ensued. Girl number 2 has been broken up with and is very bitter about it. She was with Michael's roommate for four years. She was one of the bitches going with us since she and Girl number 1 are best friends - along with Michael's ex. These girls are fucking crazy. In everything they do, they're crazy. They throw things, make public disturbances when they're angry, talk about their best friends behind their backs... defined as 'crazy' in every book i've known.

This starts my situation last night. I decided to make the best of it, even though I've never liked these girls and have tried my damndest to try to befriend them only to be shit on in the end.

Bitchy behavior number 1: Girl number 2 calls me to arrange where we're going to meet because we were all going to ride together. She tells me she's going to wear jeans and a cute top, so I should do the same. We show up, they're all three in mini dresses. I looked hot in my jeans and cute top. Michael's the only one I care about and he thought I looked hot, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Bitchy behavior number 2: All three girls (Girl number 3 was alright, didn't cause any drama and I actually like her...) shared a bottle of Jager on the way downtown. Needless to say, they were walking sideways by the time we got there 20 minutes later. They're not nice drunks, either. They're obnoxious, bitchy-biatches that you don't want to be around. Even when we got inside after standing in the ridiculously long line... the girls behind us said, "oh look, there are the dumb bitches from outside"... hah! Nice!

Bitchy behavior number 3: All three girls leave to go get (more) drinks, flirt, do whatever... so I'm left holding our space in the crowd with Michael and his friend (who happens to be Girl number 1's husband). I think that's great, because I didn't want to associate myself with them anyway... except Girl number 1 and her husband start bickering in the middle of the crowd. Girl number 1 starts yelling at him and he threatens to leave... and he does. She stays back for a while and watches the very beginning of the concert, and then leaves to go find him.

We're in the middle of this great big city, here, people... Many bars, restaurants, alleys, and other places he could have ducked into. You might as well just enjoy the concert and deal with the bullshit later. That's what i'd do... but nope. Had to go find him.

Literally, Michael and I went to the concert with six people and were the only two watching it. I found that slightly amusing.

Bitchy behavior number 4: I receive a phone call from Girl number 2 asking me to come outside. It's been an hour and a half, concert's almost over... not a big deal. So we leave and go outside to do some damage control. Little did I know the night would end up THIS shitty. We walk outside and Girl number 1's husband is nowhere to be found. I've known him longer than I've known Michael, so I'd say we're friends. I call and call and finally start to text him when he eventually calls me back. (he's got the keys to the car, might I add) Girl number 3 is FURIOUS that Girl number 1's husband has left them stuck downtown in mini dresses. Me, being the calm and sober one, I have to regulate. Michael just stayed out of the way (good for him!).

We finally make it to the car and Girl number 2 is egging both Girl number 1 and Girl number 3 on... saying how horrible Girl number 1's husband is for walking out and making them think they were stranded down there with no way to get home... coaxing Girl number 1 into whatever she wanted her to think... lots of things. Bitterness is in the air.

Girl number 2 and 3 call some guy and get him to come pick them up. Everyone wanted to leave them since their ride was on the way. Let me just say, dispite thinking these girls are bitches... I got the keys and I made everyone wait until their ride got there. There's no way in hell I'm going to leave some bitches downtown in mini dresses with the homeless people at midnight on the corner... no matter how much I may or may not like them. Please note that Girl number 1, who happens to be Girl number 2 and 3's BEST friend, wanted to leave them. I'm just sayin.

Bitchy behavior number 5: The four of us get in the car and I'm driving. I've already had to look Girl number 1 in the face and tell her that she needs to shut the fuck up numerous times - that these problems should be worked out in the privacy of her own home, not for the world to see. We ride home with Michael and the husband making small talk. Husband missed the show... and we had to tell him all about it. We arrive back at our car and let Husband drive them the rest of the way home. Michael gets a call from his roommate, who also happens to be Girl number 2's ex boyfriend.

At this point, neither Michael or I want to associate ourselves with these people anymore. I have tried pretending to be their friends just so we can all go out and have fun.... that philosophy actually doesn't work. Never again will I endure the night that I endured last night.

Bitchy behavior number 6: Girl number 2 called my phone and had the audacity to blame me for talking shit about her to her ex boyfriend. Who the fuck does she think she is? First, I don't have his phone number... and second, I don't go that low. She continued to go as low as she possibly could and make up shit that has to do with my relationship.

You have no idea how pissed off I am about the situation. My friends don't act like that - or if they do, they're not my friends for very long. I'm older than that... I deal with situations MUCH differently than these bitches do... and I don't have time for their petty bullshit.

Thanks for letting me vent. I'm still pretty heated about all of it - and it doesn't end where I ended it here... there's more laundry but I'm not sure it's right to air it. C'est la fuckin vie.

Shenanigans...

We all know I drive fast. (I was even referred to as "Danika Patrick" last night, you know, the female race car driver?... anyway...) Last night was no exception.

Michael and I met up with some friends at a mexican restaurant in the city. Had a few drinks making it difficult not to visit the bathroom at least once. I waited until we were about to leave... went the the bathroom and then retrieved my car from the valet. We were on our way halfway across town and to have another drink at the bar watching Michael Phelps win his 6th gold medal. (hooray!)

Upon the realization I didn't have a cell phone anymore and it wasn't in the car... I remember putting it on the bathroom counter as I washed my hands and happened to leave it there.

On my drive back across the city to the mexican restaurant, I was incredibly distracted by anything and everything. Music, other cars, etc. and forgot how fast I'm driving.

Until I look in the rear view mirror and there's a cop back there.

Lovely.

He doesn't pull me over, but guaranteed he ran my tag. Of course he didn't find anything on there and didn't feel like pulling me over. I stop at the next light and he gets on his intercom:

"ma'am... speed limit on [road] is 35, mmmkay?"

I look over at him and say "Sure thing!"

Hahaha. It was definitely an experience. C'mon... I was in a hurry because the restaurant was about to close, I needed my cell phone, ANNNNnnnndddd.... there were pricks driving incredibly slow. :)

So there's my funny for the day. I'm gonna get in some real trouble one of these days. Hehe... until then...!

Shitacular Day

Let's talk about this. Today has been quite shitty thus far...and it's only 11:30 am.

- I woke up from a dream where a fat man kept hugging me and wouldn't let me go. It was annoying. And weird.
- I get up, get my shower, get ready... all that good stuff. And take Rae's dog out. (well, I kinda just let him out so he could go to the bathroom and then come back... I didn't actually walk him because I didn't have time)This lady starts honking her horn outside of my house because a little weiner dog is loose in my yard. My front door is open. I'm watching him. He's only in my yard. I don't see the problem here.
- I leave for the train station. I was walking there - but it's so freakin hot that I just drive the 1/2 mile there and back - not a big deal. There's a train at 10:15 (optimal for me to catch) and one at 10:30. If I don't catch the 10:30 one, I'm screwed and not going to make it on time for my class. I run up the stairs as the train is closing its doors. The operater looks straight at me and pulls away from the station. Yep. I missed it. Not a big deal... I'll just drive to school and pay the 6$ parking.
- I drive down the highway... a 55mph speed limit... a 14 lane highway... that everyone goes 80 on a normal day. Today it was 65. Even in the left lane. Irritating.
- I finally made it but reached into my purse to pull out some cash - to find none. I needed to find an ATM. So I pull out my GPS and type in for the nearest ATM. 2 miles away, sweet!
- I drive there. This particular location is now closed. FUCK. I had to drive another few miles to another ATM. All the ATM's in the city are walk-up with no parking. Kinda funny cause to park, you have to have some cash but to get some cash you have to be able to park. Ridiculous.
- I finally get some money and drive ALLLLLllllll the way back to school. I had to park on the 6th level. It's already 20 minutes into class at this point. I contemplate just not going but decided I need to.
- As I'm walking to class, the "red bull" car pulls up and asks me if I want a red bull.

Now let's talk about this. A red bull. I have only put such toxins in my body while it's mixed with Jager and in the form of a shot. I don't consume things with High Fructose Corn Syrup, anything "enriched", or anything hydrogenated/partially hydrogenated. It's bad for your body.

- As I stare at the ingredients of this red bull and think about my morning thus far... I say "fuck it" and pop the top... drinking about 1/4 of the can. I left it on the top of a trash can because I'm sure some homeless person is gonna want it later.

- I get to class... a whole 35 minutes late (thankfully someone else was just as late as I was and was walking in at the same time)... and find that we're doing some equation bullshit. That's just great.
- At the break, this guy who is in several of my classes turns around and says "how'd you do on the homework?" HOMEWORK? FUCK. What homework?? Ugh. So now i've gotta fill out this sheet and hope she'll accept it at the end of class.

Let's hope today gets somewhat better. It just has to. I get to see Lifehouse and Matt Nathanson tonight with Rae. Should be splendid. And then Michael comes back on Saturday. Huzzah!

(oh, and did I mention that I'm about to start my girl stuff for the week??)

a little bit of this... a little bit of that...

It feels somewhat good to get back on here and talk about the things that are going on. It's overwhelming to have everything uprooted for a few months (chaos everywhere) and then plop yourself back down into a normal reality again. Eh, whatever.

I started school this week. Poor me, I know! Four classes this semester... 3 hours each class, twice a week... you do the math... 6 hours a day for 4 days of the week. It's not so bad. I get to do the following every day:

- wake up at 8:30 am
- walk to the transit train (it's only about a 10 min walk) 1/2 mile [this is the part where I get honked at most often]
- ride the transit train for 8 stops (about 25 minutes)
- walk another 1/2 mile to class
- scarf some food down in the 7 minutes between my two 3-hour classes of the day
- learn something (wooh!)
- walk 1/2 mile back to the transit train
- ride my 8 stops
- and walk home again - another 1/2 mile.

As you could imagine, I'm beat. Between the listening and the carrying a huge back pack around and all the walking (especially in the heat)... I'm over it :) But I'll continue to do it - because that's what I've gotta do. I could drive the 1/2 mile to the transit train but then my precious car would sit in the hot sun all day instead of in my carport. Hrm...

About these "job offers".... I knew I remained anonymous on this blog for a reason! You never know who your clients are and what they're going to be capable of. Now, there's no worry that they might stumble onto this blog and know it's me :)

I was offered a position from a client of my old company's to get their promotional products up and running. Apparently, what the guy chose before wasn't what the CEO had in mind and they'd seen my work at my company and thought I'd be perfect for the job. So I'm running this small project for them at a pretty steep contractor-esque price. Oh yes... it's gonna be good.

The other position is with a sister-company to the one I used to work for. It's about getting their offices up and running across the US. Since I already know everyone in my old company's offices across the US and this is where they want to open THEIR offices... this should be a breeze. Again, another part-time project manager position but I'm certainly up for the challenge.

Tonight, I've got a bunch of homework, some errands to run, some moving to finish up, and some work to do from client number 1. :)

A nice little update on Michael and I:
Things were rocky for a minute... well, for over a month they've been pretty crazy. Things are slightly settling down and getting back to some sort of normal state of affairs. (You can't have the PERFECT boyfriend 24/7!!) Last night, he came and hooked up my washer and dryer (and went to great lengths to do so) and followed that up with saying "I want to get a place with you someday..." :) Of course it didn't end there. His comments throughout the night meant that in his head - he was looking down the road for us. I asked him what he was thinking about that made him start talking about these things and his reply was "less than 3" (which is a heart, <3, an inside thing for us which means love...) and that meant so much to me (given our 'space' thing that's been going on).

So last night I stayed at his house (which wasn't planned, by the way) and this morning as we parted ways, those three words left his mouth as I was walking across the parking lot from his car to mine. It caught me off guard because it has certainly been a while since those words have landed on my ears from him. Sure, his actions show it more than any words could ever describe, but it's still nice to hear sometimes.

So that's that. I don't know what that means, but I do know that I'm really happy right now. About a lot of things. :) I do have a lot to catch you guys up on... crazy crazy roommate story (you'll die when you hear about what happened to me!) and stuff like that. So stay tuned!!

Crazy Construction Workers

The universal hand sign for "stop" is to stand with your feet planted firmly and your hand stretched out in the direction of the person you're stopping. I don't know why this message is so hard to understand.

On my way to work this morning, I turned down a street where there is a bit of construction going on [seems to be the norm around here]. Driving slowly down the road, there was a construction worker with a "SLOW" sign in her hand. She's looking at me and waving her hand furiously in the air. Meanwhile, there's a semi with a gazillion foot long beam on it's trailer trying to turn in the middle of the road.

As a cautious driver, I understand that I should stop to let the truck do its thing before I can proceed. Ms. Construction worker gives me the evil eye (like she wasn't waving me along with the "slow" side of the stop sign shown) cause she's an idiot. She couldn't understand why I didn't stop where she wanted me to... but I just chuckled. Perhaps if she'd shoved her hand out in the air and held up the CORRECT side of the sign, I would have stopped where she wanted me to.

Crazies out there. :)

Some days...

The day started with me being 10 minutes late to a meeting... and getting a boot on my car during lunch.

At least it'll end better!

Oh, it most certainly happens in real life...

A few mornings ago, I splurged (on my "diet", that is) and went for a bagel at Einstein's on 14th street. A rare place for me to be on a working morning, but that's not the subject at hand ;)

Apparently, the night before it had rained a little so there were a few puddles around. In the farthest right hand lane, I was passing a few other cars to catch the light when I slammed through a puddle.

It wouldn't have been all that bad if there weren't three ladies walking to the train station on their way to work... on my account all three became soaking wet.

Yah... I thought that kind of thing only happened in movies. Oh, it most certainly happens in real life. And I felt terrible. What was even worse, I got stopped at the light and it felt like everyone was looking at me. I'm not quite sure I could have done anything at that point anyway.

I felt so bad. And while the picture isn't exactly of my little incident... it does represent what happened extremely well :)

10 Things that happened to me today.

1. My brother totalled his brand new Infiniti G35 Coupe. It was a thing of beauty, too. I felt bad for him.
2. My roommate brought home some people in the wee hours of the morning. (2 girls, 1 guy) One of which was puking her brains out. Literally.
3. I wrote a letter to my neighbor (we have a shared wall) who doesn't know what it means to have respect for neighbors and not blast her rap music and she placed it on top of our trash can. I laughed. Next time it'll be the po-lice. Biatch!
4. A friend of "ours" is MIA. He hasn't logged in to his myspace account since December 23rd and his best friend (with whom he is usually attached at the hip) hasn't heard from him since then either. I hope he's alright.
5. I bought a new camera today. I did tons of research before trodding to the store with my top two choices in hand. When I got home, I looked it up - $30 less online from the same store. I'll gather my refund tomorrow.
6. My mother is making a quilt for me. Full of all of my high school band and guard t-shirts. I got to see the pieces of it today. It's going to look fab.
7. I got a phone call in the middle of a movie. I silenced it. A few seconds later a text came through saying "Call me!!!".... so I did. There wasn't an emergency.
8. I got a mani/pedi today. It was refreshing.
9. I talked to a few people I hadn't talked to in a while today. I think i've decided what i'm going to do for New Year's. Being that it's tomorrow night and all...
10. I slept until 1. Hmm.

Rude-ness

So... tonight, I had a drink with my roommate. (not going to even TRY to create a pseudonym for him) We went to a local bar-place and had some chips and a beer or so. Some of his co-workers (from the restaurant he works at down the street) happened to come in. He told the server to take care of their first round on him. Not a big deal. We didn't even talk with them.

As we were leaving, we walked past them and he patted both of them on the shoulder and said "I hope you have a good night" and then walked away. I made [the mistake of] a comment about it and said "well, that was rude" because he didn't introduce me.

From where I come from (normal America), you introduce people you're with to people you run in to as a courtesy. It's just the polite thing to do and a great way of networking, etc. Maybe that's just the southern in me - or maybe it's the corporate world in me. Who knows?

We launched into this HUGE blown up conversation about being rude - that he didn't think it was necessary to introduce me and he didn't think I should have said anything about it and blah blah. Then he told me that it hurt his feelings when I picked on him about anything (something about my personality that I can't fix).

My jokes are in jest - no harm, no foul. I'll make fun of your shoes even if I like them secretly. I'm not really making fun of you - I just have nothing else to say and that's what comes to mind.

He made me fully aware this evening that he's "sensitive" and I should be careful what I say to him.

Haha. Right.

All in all, I've come to the conclusion that the city I live in, as wonderful as it may be, is just one big fucked up place. Yep. That's right. Psycho people everywhere.

Maybe I'm just having a bad day.

10 Things you might find on a trip to a Pro-Basketball game.

1. A marta po-lice officer exercised his "authority" and asked me to "pull further into the parking spot". There was maybe 8 inches between my car and the car in front of me. I pulled forward an inch and asked him if it was ok. He said it was.
2. A man of "hispanic" origin was on the marta train with Heather and I. He felt the need to belt out his "mexi-music" on certain verses.
3. Upon arrival at the arena for the game, we realized we were the minority.
4. The nuts they sell are sugar-coated and fattening.
5. The guy sitting next to me got "wild and crazy" and purchased a double-shot of Jack and coke.
6. He was also wearing "womanizer" shoes complete with spikes on the toe. Creepy.
7. If you sit on the mascot's lap and ask for a "Dancer" for Christmas - he'll pull one out of his wagon for you. Even if you're only 7.
8. This dancer will be dressed in a Santa Suit you'd find on the pages of a Fredrick's of Hollywood catalog.
9. Tall men. :)
10. Hot guys at the bar and grill up the street. Tables, and tables of them.

Decisions for a changing plan

Oh... how hard it is to change your mind...

I told Sam I wouldn't mind living in a "cold" place. If he were sitting next to me, he'd surely feel my forehead to see what had gotten in to me. But he wasn't, so I got a text saying "ummm you've been acting very strange lately. What do you mean you wouldn't mind living in the cold??"

He says this because I so adamantly am against the cold. In every shape and form. He isn't aware that I was in New York recently and might have changed my mind about it.

This new-found acceptance of the cold weather has led me to a search for a new city. Chicago came up first on the list... then DC... and New York followed suit shortly after. The cost of living, alone, is exponentially higher.

You see, I've decided that I just can't do it anymore. Not here, anyway. School, along with work, and all these other pressures of life are burning me out. Quickly.

After a lengthy conversation with Trent and weighing my options, I have come to the conclusion that I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing for the next few years. I can finish school in one solid year - and do it at a school that doesn't constantly screw you over. Who would have ever thought that?!

We'll see where it all goes.

As for my plans to not travel as much next year, I've already got two flights booked... one to Orlando the first week in January, and one to New Orleans the first week in February. Looks like I'm not meant to be tied here!

10 reasons I love my city

1. I know where everything is. I've lived in the outskirts almost my entire life - and moved "ITP" (inside the perimeter) after graduating high school.
2. My family lives near. It's nice to be able to see anyone whenever I want. My brother actually only lives about 3 miles away. Crazy!
3. I love love love city life. Everything stays open late, you get a taste of any kind of food you want, and tons of nightlife. (can you tell I'm a night person?)
4. I can maneuver my way around traffic (sometimes) and know what time to avoid certain places.
5. I know where to go to get the good deals on whatever I need.
6. My school, job, and friends are all here.
7. It takes 30 minutes to be in a remote area if I need to get away.
8. All of my favorite Dance/Trance DJ's come here...
9. We really get a good taste of all seasons, but it never gets too cold (like snow) and that makes me EXTREMELY happy.
10. A 4-6 hour drive from many many beaches (makes for easy beach weekend trips!)