glad im here. but it was a little fun there, too

i finally made it home. about two weeks ago...

no work... its about time. ive gotten to see some friends, and have yet to catch up with a few more, but oh, its so sweet to be back.

school starts in like 3 weeks, and i do not want to go. not knowing when graduation will get here is such a non-motivator... 

vacation

my moose and i got to sneak in a little vacation last week. we flew (direct) to newark, nj ("nastiest city on the face of the planet," --stepher) and took a little shuttle into the city.

now, ive never been to NYC, and the only time i ever see "real city" is when im downtown at home, like to catch a game at the local pro sports arena, or like that time we went to st louis for the first "family vacation" and got that promise to one day see real skyscrapers in NYC... needless to say, that was 10 years ago, and this is the first time ive been.

we walked through central park, saw some real shopping on 5th ave., climbed (from floor 80- floor 86) to the top of the empire state building. saw time square ("you should see it at night," --everyone), rockefeller center, NBC studios (brian williams= LOML). you know, the typical tourist day in manhattan. and took in a little baseball at ye ol' yankee stadium.

the trip back (also from newark) was by far one of the worst days of my life. 7 hours in the grossest airport in the world, and ive been to eastern europe... who ever thought that putting all the food and shops outside security does not like his job, or other people for that matter. there were these two nasty looking (and tasting) "restaurants" and one souvenir/book "shop".

if i had $300 more, we could have been waiting in JFK with computer-related luggage-checking issues for our carry on size vacation... i guess the trade off isnt really noticeable until you are right up on it.

so, after a chipotle chicken sandwich (haha) we waited like 4 more hours before we were actually in the air. that includes the additional hour on the tarmac. american airlines did not give me a free voucher, or meal ticket, or even a complimentary cocktail on this flight. ooh, they owe me... they just dont know it yet. (the letter is still in the pre-drafting stages...)

on the other hand...

so, my sister is a fan of a local university sports program, and there is a mall store that has started carrying merchandise for this, and other, major universities with powerhouse sports. i go to the local store (and this team is only in stores, otherwise she would be ordering it online) and i dig through their entire stock only to find they have every size but the on i need. in both colors... annoying. i gave her the number and told her to call herself and put them on hold, but ill still pick them up... will she call? who knows... all i know is i got mine in a different team, and thats all i care about.

like i said before, school starts in a few weeks. i swear, the fall semester is ridiculous. it should only count for half of what it does, that way its easier to make up the terrible 3.5 months of hell.

oh, and one of my friends is making the newsletter for a bunch of us who used to work together, but have mostly all parted ways for whatever reason. so last month was the first issue, and it went pretty well, with a few stragglers. but this month, its like everyone who was on board before suddenly jumped ship on the idea and totally blew her off. bitches, i told her, theyre all bitches.

the waiting game...

im still working a crap job. ugh. minimum wage is about to go up, so that means a "raise", but im about to go home (finally) and wont really be working at all under the new pay rate... what a bummer.

but, i get to go home finally! im so excited. my moose and i are getting to go see a game in yankee stadium the first weekend of august, it will be like a mini vacation for both of us. i wont really be working while im there, so plenty of free time, which im not sure i know what to do with anymore since i work all day and read at night... i've read 7 books this summer so far... i strongly recommend the glass castle by jeannette walls

im sure ill find something on the movie channels or the tivo.

though its been a while, theres not much to report... but, im trying to get a job at my apartment, and if i get it, i hope to start a recycling program there.

just trying to make it one day at a time, and survive...

i want to patrol the borders

im watching the evening news (the 10:00 broadcast) and i remember why i stopped watching local news... the border patrol is in nashville recruiting... and this girl said she didnt realize there was a 55 day training period. she said she didnt want to be away from her family for that long... that begs the question, what will she do when she hits the border? i dont think she can commute from nashville to the mexico/U.S. border...

the mariners are the worst team in baseball right now. and if not, they are the worst in the american league... ugh, its so frustrating. it was just 7 years ago they won 116 games. they have barely won 16 this season. the rangers and royals are doing better right now, imagine that!

gas is $3.77 here. two weeks ago, i filled up for $3.57, and just over two weeks before that, $3.19... i just cant wait until it hits $5 later this summer. it was just 10 years ago when a gallon was under $1, remember? in saudi arabia, it is $.45... but in the netherlands, its $10+. its disgusting. im glad i have a honda, but i wish it were a hybrid or i had a bike i could ride to work. i just cant stand it.

im so excited for minimum wage to go up $.70 this summer, oh, it will make my life so much easier. ha, not. i can barely even afford beer, what am i supposed to do this summer when i cant afford to go out anymore because i cant afford the gas, much less the food.

have i mentioned the pool at the apartment? and that it should be done by the end of june? and that they havent been out there in 3 weeks? im so excited to be paying to have a huge hole in the ground with nothing in it, much less the water to swim in.

i was hoping to visit my sister and her family this weekend, but again, wages and gas, well, need i say more?

some good news, maybe not for you: american is charging for checked bags. starting next month, $15 for the first bag (one way) and $25 for the second (again one way). but, its still free for me, and anyone traveling on my itinerary.

happy flying.

you call that entertaining?

my boyfriend (some of you out there may know him as his alter ego: moose) and his friends have a hockey blog. so, he and one of the guys (greener) decided they wanted to start podcasting. haha. the f-word flowed from greener's mouth like water from a well. any other day, id say clean it up, but hey, like they said, its what they do all the time, and that just wouldnt be them...

so far, work is ok. the pool opened last monday, but its supposed to rain for the next week, and the new pool at the apartment wont be done until the end of june... then why even plan for it to exist this summer? ugh.

life around here is pretty plain. a baseball game here, and a trip to the market there.

im tired of everyone saying big brown this and big brown that. some of my friends and i are hoping he wins in 3 weeks so the next few years are free of coulda, woulda, shouldas. either way, congratulations to the connections.

i hope the weather will clear up more this week so i can enjoy the pool...

shady-pi

friends come and go, but sisters are forever... i am really feeling that one right now...

oh, and boys worry me. especially one in particular. (thanks for being so understanding... you can still send me flowers though...)

i went out the other night to world beer tour and i had lots of fun. one of my neighbors ended up leaving with two italian guys' numbers. then she has to pay 25 cents to send and 15 to receive their texts... haha..

and, i havent watched any baseball all season so far. depressing. maybe that would help my quality of life. too bad i work every night or have class or another obligation... but at least half of the games start at like 9 my time...

oh, the invitations git rave reviews. yeah!

ps. im over you.

ugh! im over it...

my brain is gone! i had to do about 60 pages of paperwork for my organization that was due yesterday. it took me about 4 straight days, but i finally got it finished. i got to the point where i started having dreams about it! then, yesterday i started losing my mind! haha.

i left my purse at work...

my e-mail wouldnt send... then i was up all night trying to get it to work...

my phone woke me up this morning, but it was more welcome than the alarm that went off about 2 minutes later...

the smoke alarms in my apartment are going out, so they are starting to beep randomly. ugh, its annoying.

i was in a bad mood and mean to my boyfriend last night...

but i will say, i was laughing, then i took a drink, and started laughing again... newcastle almost came out my nose! ooh, it burned...

the good thing is that my university inaugurated its new president so classes were canceled this morning. so, i did get to sleep in a little... until the phone rang...

i did get to climb the other day. it was a really good time. my friends took some pictures to send to a magazine im going to be in this summer. yeah!

tonight my intramural softball team has a double header! we are 2-0 right now, undefeated! unlike my favorite MLB team... 1-1...

its been a pretty hectic last week or so. i hope i can get some real relaxing time pretty soon...