May 28, 2008

Besides a (very) long and uneventful day at work, today was pretty nice. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, Alex's baseball practice went well, I had a delicious blackened salmon salad for dinner, and we finished the evening hitting balls at the driving range. It was pretty fun- I think Alex and I will start going on a regular basis so we can actually start to improve. Alex and I (sadly) are on about the same skill level, so we have some work to do. I guess I wasn't so bad, considering I haven't hit a golf ball since I was 12. (The infamous day in which I went golfing with my aunt and uncle and completely annihilated the landscaping of their country club with the golf cart). Anyway, I was by no means good, but some of my hits were fairly decent. I think I'll take this up as a hobby for the summer and try to get a bit better. That way, if I ever go to Pebble Beach with my family, I won't be a complete embarrassment.

Speaking of balls, this girl from work is forming a volleyball team to play every week at the Stratford. That should be alot of fun, so I'm definitely looking forward to that. Good thing the league isn't all that competitive, because I haven't played volleyball since high school. I was on the volleyball team in 8th grade, but considering that was a LONG time ago, I think my skills have pretty much dissipated. Also, considering I'm only five feet tall, I'm not exactly a star player. Oh well, it'll be fun anyway.

Wow- this day went by really fast. The past few days have been so busy; I'm looking forward to spending a nice evening at home tomorrow, getting my schedule back on track. I was doing awesome with the whole working out thing, but it's hard to stick to a routine when I've had all this stuff going on- it'll be nice to get back on track tomorrow...

Deliciousness

Alex and I had Red Lobster tonight. Vince gave me a gift card for my birthday, knowing how much I adore shrimp, so we thought we'd get out of the house for a nice dinner. I wanted to order something new; never once in my life have I ordered fish in a restaurant (I'm not a huge fan), but the older I get, the different flavors I used to despise are actually becoming quite good. So I ordered salmon, which came with shrimp, broccoli, and wild rice pilaf. I was in heaven- quite possibly one of the best meals I've ever had. Seriously. It was good enough to write a blog about, so that's gotta say something. I even took a picture of it, that's how tasty it was. :)

My "To Do" List

I've always considered making my "Life's To Do List". Back in senior year, my friend Jon Hensley and I each made one, but I didn't put a whole lot of thought or energy into it. Well, now that I am 8 years older and wiser, I'm going to try again. I've lived, loved, learned, and I think I now know what I truly want to accomplish before I die.

1. I want to meet and marry someone wonderful. Someone with an incredibly witty, sweet, charming, laidback personality, a sense of humor, a strong work ethic, and the desire to be a wonderful husband and father. I want to fall madly in love and stay that way for the rest of my life. I want to have the "white picket fence" kind of life, and someone to share that same dream with.

2. I want to go to Africa. I want to lounge on the coast of Egypt, visit the pyramids, see wild animals roaming free as God intended, and explore the exotic wilderness.

3. Speaking of vacationing, I want to go on a cruise. I've always fantasized about setting out to sea, exploring foreign islands, and sunbathing next to the pool by day and partying it up by night. I want to go on one of those all inclusive cruises through the Caribbean or Mediterranean, with someone special, of course. Maybe on my honeymoon?

4. This one is pretty simple, but I would love to be able to return library books on time. No matter what I get, how long I have, or how many times I drive past the library, I never return them on time, and I always have the fines to prove it.

5. I've never had a professional pedicure or massage...and I want them!!! I want to set aside one entire day to pamper myself. I also want to try this aromatherapy thing. I just want one day- just for me- to devote to complete and utter relaxation.

6. I want to get a really nice telescope. Alex dreams of being an astronaut, and I've always been totally fascinated by the night sky, so I would love to explore space through the lens of a really good telescope.

7. I want to sit in the front row of a late night talk show- preferably Leno or Conan. (The icing on the cake would be on a night when Denzel Washington was the guest).....

8. I want to own a sailboat. Growing up, my parents had a really nice sailboat- a 20 footer maybe- that we would take to Carlyle Lake every summer. I want to give my kids these same memories.

9. I want to buy a weekend/summer/beach house; just somewhere I can go to escape. Whether it's a house in Florida or on Myrtle Beach, or even a cabin at Innsbrook, I would love to have the opportunity to enjoy quiet weekends or summers away from the noisy, smoggy city.

10. This one is a given, but I want to meet Denzel Washington- somehow, some way.

11. I want to live on the edge a little more; I want to work up the nerve to go skydiving. I want to learn to waterski, and even parasail. I just want to get out and feel the adrenaline rushing a little more often.

12. I want (at least) one future student of mine to come back years after graduation, a successful member of society, and have me to thank for it. Without being the kind of teacher who inspires and changes lives, what's the point?

13. I want to reconnect with my father. We haven't spoken in 8 years, and I would love to soon be able to re-establish a relationship and meet my new family- stepmom, and little stepbrother and stepsister, Seth and Zoey. I feel that part of me is missing when I don't have contact with that entire half of my family. I want to do this before it's too late; my Grandma Jewel was always there for me while I was growing up, and I want to be there for her before it's too late.

14. I want to run a marathon.

15. I want to take a pottery class.

16. I want to learn to ballroom dance, salsa, tango... any dance that would be fun and different.

17. I want to learn how to play tennis or golf. Technically, I already know how to play, but I suck.

18. When the Titans make the superbowl, I want to be there cheering them on.

19. I want to go to L.A. and visit the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I want to place my hands inside the prints of Denzel's.

20. I want to join the Mile-High Club, a.k.a. have sex on an airplane.

21. Speaking of clubs, I want to start a book club, where other people with similar interests and I can gather once a month and discuss good literature over a few bottles of wine.

22. I would love to actually, fairly and squarely, beat someone in a game of pool.

23. My teeth are pretty white, but I'd like to get them professionally whitened. I've just never done it and always wanted to.

24. I really have no desire to go to Paris, but I would love to visit the Louvre and have my picture taken in front of the Eiffel Tower.

25. Last, but not least, (for now), I want to have one of those seemingly perfect houses, like the ones from the pages of "Better Homes & Gardens"- beautifully decorated, a massive backyard with a pool and fountain, surrounded by flowers and flawless landscaping.

Blog time!

It has recently been brought to my attention that, once again, I'm starting to slip on the whole blogging thing. I'm trying to be as consistent as possible, so I'm going to take a few moments just to reflect on the past week.

First of all, including tonight, I've worked 40 hours this week at Hollywood Tan. Ok, I understand that most people work that much every week, but I'm just not used to it! I guess if you added up all my time at school with my part time status at HT, it was equivalent to 40 hours per week, but actually working there all week has me exhausted! Keep in mind, I don't sit down for a single second while I'm working- not once. (Well, except when I have to pee, of course). So my feet are aching and I really need a massage on these little feeties of mine! So anyway, besides that, I've just been doing the usual: watching my shows (the season finales of all my favorites- American Idol, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives). Well, I wouldn't say Desperate Housewives is one of my favorite shows, but I recently got back into it, and I have to admit, it is pretty entertaining. I particularly like how Tom's psychotic daughter Kayla called DFS on Lynnette, and how Susan and Mike named their baby Maynard. So yeah- American Idol. It was down to the two Davids- Cook and Archuleta. I've loved D.C. since the auditions, but D.A. didn't impress me all that much until Tuesday night when he sang Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and on the finale when he sang "Apologize" with One Republic. After those two performances, I gained an entirely new respect for him. David Cook won, and I'm glad that someone with so much genuine talent and originality finally won this glorified karaoke contest.

Let's see....what else has been going on? Oh! I played a Wii for the first time the other night- it was pretty fun. Alex is getting one for his birthday next week, so I have a feeling mommy will be just as entertained as he will be!

Hmm...I'm sure there's more I could blab about, but it's been a looong day and I'm tired. I'm at Brian and Janet's right now, so I can't go to sleep quite yet. :( I found out they're taking a cab home, so that's not a good sign for me....they'll be out until the crack of dawn, I'm sure. Oh well, I need the money.

Alright, well, good night!
xoxo

Lifetime Movies

Ok, so the movies on the Lifetime network are not exactly Oscar-worthy, but they always seem to capture my interest, and now that I think about it, they really lift my spirits. No matter what's going on in my life, and no matter how stressed I feel or how down I am, they always make me feel better and realize that my life isn't so bad. I mean, after all, I'm not dying of anorexia, my baby wasn't stolen by some psychotic nurse, my mother wasn't murdered by her husband living a double life, and my house isn't haunted with evil spirits. These movies help me realize that things could always be worse!

Attack on Hollywood Tan!

Today at work, Lindsay and I spotted the most gigantic, grotesque spider we've ever seen in our entire lives! One minute, we're just going about our business- waiting on customers, selling lotion, sanitizing the beds...the usual. We were both standing at the counter creating a daily cleaning list for everyone when she says, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." So she turns to the left to head down the hallway to the bathroom. All of a sudden, she screams, saying, "Oh my God, oh my God!!!" She was totally freaking out, so I turned to her and said, "what? what happened?" She's only six months pregnant, but from the way she was acting- in total shock and fear- I thought maybe her water broke or something. She told me to look on the ground by the wall, which I did, and then I saw the gargantuan beast. So then I began freaking out. We were like, "it has flourescent legs and shit!" We thought it was some weird, poisonous breed of killer spiders. We didn't know what to do! Neither one of us was going to go within 10 feet of the thing, so we thought one of us should go next door and ask one of the guys working at Papa John's if they would come kill this humongous spider for us. While she's gone, I stood back, not taking my eyes of this thing, for fear that it would scurry away and hide somewhere. So the guy comes in, takes one look at it, and says, "oh, that's not real," then goes and picks it up off the floor. It was a fake spider. We felt kind of retarded, but it looked so real! And it just appeared seemingly from nowhere, so the thought of it being fake never even crossed our minds! The only customer that had the opportunity to plant this thing there was a really nice, sweet, middle-aged woman who I seriously doubt would be immature enough to plant a fake spider in a tanning salon merely for the purpose of freaking out the employees. We still don't know how the hell it got there, but after the fact, it was pretty damn funny.

Breaking Molds

Tonight, a "full-figured" or "plus-size" girl was crowned "America's Next Top Model"! In the real world, Whitney would probably be considered about average, but in the world of modeling, when women are expected to look more like little boys, with stick thin bodies and legs like toothpicks, no boobs, and size zero jeans, she's considered "plus-size". How sad and pathetic is that? I was so excited (and quite surprised) that this beautiful, curvacious girl actually won. It's about damn time, that's all I have to say. I am so sick of women killing themselves (literally and figuratively) because of their desire to fit into this ridiculously unrealistic, unhealthy mold. A few decades ago, soft, healthy, curvy bodies with a little meat on the bones were admired; now they get ridiculed. It's insanity. For those of us who aren't (and don't want to be) little tiny stick figures, this is a step in the right direction. I'm glad that the standard of "beauty" might become a little more flexible, like in the good old days.

Moment of Weakness

So, I'm attempting to detoxify my body. I'm not talking drastic (and quite sick) shit like cleansing my colon and drinking seaweed or whatever, but just by eating only natural foods and good-for-you stuff like chicken and rice. I've been doing really good the past couple of days. Today for breakfast, I had some blackberries and strawberries, for lunch I had salad (just lettuce, spinach leaves, and tomatoes), and for dinner I had a delicious chicken breast cooked on my George Foreman. Alex wanted macaroni and cheese, however, so I grabbed a box from the cabinet and cooked it for him. As I was stirring in the cheese, it looked so good! Warm and steamy, cheesy and gooey. I had three bites...and now I feel bad about it...Talk about horrible food! I mean, tons of carbs, not to mention the extremely unnatural processed orange substance they refer to as "cheese". I wanted to not put a morsel of crap into my mouth for awhile, but then again, I suppose three bites of crap over the course of three days isn't that bad. I need more self-control.

Bless the Broken Road

I'm such a sappy, romantic person at heart, so it's no surprise that love songs are my absolute favorites. Well, I've known of this song for awhile now, but I heard Rascal Flatt's "Bless the Broken Road" on the radio both yesterday and today (on 98.1 and 102.5, I believe). Well, if you have ever felt God's hand, then you understand what it's like to feel that you're getting a sign directly from Him. Unless you don't know me at all, you know that I'm a little bummed about being without "the one" at the moment. I get frustrated, but I felt a sign from God both times I heard this song. First of all, the lyrics seem to define my life and my voyage to my one true love. Now I just need to find the "you" the song refers to!

I want to....

...go hiking through a beautiful forest, one with sun-drenched leaves, dew covered grass, a rainbow of colorful wild flowers, and the sounds of birds singing and insects buzzing all around me. I want to explore nature and enjoy a day away from the bustling city. I want to lay (or is it lie?) beneath the canopy of trees, becoming one with Earth. I want eat some juicy watermelon, close my eyes, and drift to sleep with the peaceful, serene noises of nature as my lullaby.
It's been so long since I've done something like this. My day, like most others I'm sure, consists of ringing alarm clocks, traffic jams, long days at work, and the monotonous duties of daily life. I want to escape. Just for awhile.

English, motherfucker!

I just checked my grades online- I ended up with a 98.3% in my History of the English Language class. That's freaking awesome because I worked my ass off in that class, and it paid off. Although, I must admit, I'm so glad it's over and I never ever ever have to study the Great Vowel Shift of Early Modern English or diphthongy functional loads or the morphological characteristics of Old English. NEVER again!!! Woo hoo! After learning all this bullshit, it'll be a piece of cake to teach subject/verb agreement and prepositional phrases to a bunch of high school kids. I was a little nervous about that before, but now that I know way more than I ever wanted to know about the English language, I'm not worried at all. I'm excited. No, ecstatic! I feel relieved, accomplished, happy- all that good stuff.

Addicted

Well, I went about 15 hours or so without a sip of Diet Coke. I think I'm addicted, but hey, it's better than some things I can think of. At least I'm not an alcoholic, drug addict, or chain smoker. I've smoked maybe 20 cigarettes in the past 2 months, which is definite progress. And the only reason I ever smoked those was because I was drinking (it's still hard not to smoke when I drink), and a couple times at work with my co-workers. That's more of a social thing, though, not a need to feed my addiction. I'm definitely not addicted to nicotine; I never was actually, so I'm not sure why I ever smoked to begin with. Maybe I'll just cut back on the soda. A little bit never hurt anybody.

Detox Time

I decided today that I'm going to stop eating all unhealthy foods for awhile. Fast food, candy, processed foods, and even my beloved Diet Coke are now things of the past...at least for the next couple of months. I'm not going to go crazy and eat soy and tofu and all that nonsense, but I just want to detox my body for awhile. I don't know if I can do without the Diet Coke- that's the only part I'm having trouble with. I'll see how it goes with that, I guess, but I'll try! I've been drinking Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi One, and every other calorie-free cola you can imagine since I was about 12. The longest I've gone without it in those (almost) 14 years is 3 days- and that was just about 2 months ago. I know I could do it if I absolutely had to, but why deprive myself of something that I love so dearly?
It's so complicated making the right food choices sometimes. I wish I just had a private chef who would just cook all my meals for me. Why can't life be that simple?

"Welcome to the Dollhouse"

If you have not seen this movie, do yourself a favor: drive to Blockbuster, rent this movie, and microwave yourself a big bag of buttery popcorn. This movie is a bit Indie, pretty funny, and just all-around strange.

Heaven...

Summer is coming. I can't wait to sit beside Creve Coeur lake, drinking margaritas, eating some raspberries, and playing the guitar. Add parasailing to that and I'd be in heaven...

Dating Sites?

I've been wondering: do all those dating websites work? It seems like every five seconds I see a commercial for Match.com, eharmony, or those pathetic local "dating" sites and toll free numbers that show some hot chick rolling around on her couch having the best phone conversation of her life with a complete stranger. I'm just wondering who has actually had real success with any of those personals sites? I'm just curious. Apparently this one couple from an episode of "Trading Spouses" met on match.com, so I guess there are some success stories.

Anyway, I'm afraid I'm starting to sound really freaking pathetic, but I swear I'm not! I'm just lonely...and frustrated...and wondering when I'm going to meet him! I miss the simple things a relationship has to offer, like cuddling up with someone to watch a movie, holding hands, doing sweet, considerate things for someone I care about. A huge part of who I am consists of what I'm able to do for other people. I feel incomplete when I don't have someone special in my life to do things for, even simple things like make dinner or comfort him after a long day at work.

Oh well. Enough of that talk. I'm starting to annoy myself. I guess whatever's meant to be, will be, and that's it.