Hmmm

You Belong in New York City

You are an energetic, ambitious woman.
And only NYC is fast enough for you.
Maybe you'll set yourself up with a killer career
Or simply take in all the city has to offer


What City Do You Belong in?

My College Years

Due to a very strange dream I had a couple nights ago that involved my nemesis from college - I have been thinking about those four years and decided to tell my story for those of you who have never heard it. Ready?

Year 1
My first few weeks at MSU were spent in dorm room with two roommates that I did not know. I can't recall where they were from, but they were a little more on the snooty side. I did think they were nice at first, but after a few days we had decided that I would move out into another room because we were provided the option. Unfortunately, I could not move out right away so I was stuck there for a few more days. During these days, the "nice" girls turned on me and suddenly treated me as an outcast. One day I come home from class and they had started packing my things already! Needless to say, when I moved out I was relieved.
I was lucky enough to get a room with a roommate who was never there. The only thing she had in the room was a hairpiece in her desk (which scared me when I found it). She didn't have any clothes there because she lived with her boyfriend in another dorm. It was wonderful to have my own space and not have to pay for it. During the weeks to come I ended up spending a lot of time with a girl I had graduated high school with (Lisa). She hated her roomie situation as well. So at the end of the first semester when my roommate officially moved into her boyfriend's dorm, Lisa moved in with me. Everything was ok at first, but half way through the semester something happened. I became friends with girls on my floor who apparently were not friends with another girl on our floor (Bobbi). Bobbi and Lisa had become friends and they shunned me for hanging with the other girls. Although they remained somewhat friendly to me for the rest of the year, it was awkward. When we discussed the living arrangement for the next year, Bobbi and Lisa decided to live together and I was once again on my own.

Year 2
I had a new roommate who was a freshman, I forget her name even though she was a good roommate. She was from Grosse Ile and she hung out with her friends a lot and wasn't home much. I was good friends with the same girls as the year before with Bobbi and Lisa as my neighbors. We never spoke. Year 2 was a fun year. I had finally found good friends, we partied and played cards. We hung out with the guys on our brother floor a lot also. I had a big crush (Ron). He was a great guy, nice and funny. I didn't make a move but he knew I liked him. We just were always friends. I had a crush of my own, my friend Chris asked me out, but I didn't feel that way so we just stayed friends. During year 2 I got a job working at the various parking lots as a booth attendant. It was a good job being able to study during the late shifts. The only draw back was my ex from high school (Tim) happened to work as a "team leader". We really didn't have any hard feeling against each other, that again, was just another awkward situation. At the end of year 2 I had convinced my parents to let me move off campus. I signed to live in a house with 8 other people. I had no idea what I was getting myself into :)

Year 3
Our house was perfect. 6 bedrooms, four kitchens, 4 bathrooms. I lived upstairs in a room with Lora. We had our own mini-apartment with one of the kitchens and a bathroom. Across the hall lived Ron (yes, my crush) and Stephanie. On the main floor was Chris, Scott and Julie. In the basement Dan and his girlfriend, Roz. We all got along very well. We had several parties. This was the year that I got Lora a job working as a booth attendant as well. Chris still had a crush on me, and I was teased by my other roomies because I did get special treatment even though I never asked for anything. Since Dan and Roz wanted their own place and Julie and Chris were getting different arrangements, Lora, Ron, Scott and myself got a different house for year 4.

Year 4
This year started out ok. But about half way through the first semester things took a turn for the worst. Lora had a cousin who liked me. He was nice, but I liked this other guy from work. One night we had a party and Lora's cousin was there, but I ended up leaving the party to go be with the guy I liked. Apparently, that was totally unacceptable and I was instantly branded as a bitch by Lora. She made my life a living hell. Since she worked with the same people I did, she would tell untrue stories about me behind my back and make people loathe me without ever even meeting me. She also got in good with my ex from high school who then also decided it would be fun to smear my reputation for no reason at all. It was the worst year of my life, every weekend I would drive home so I didn't have to be in that house. Even my other roommates would ignore me if Lora was in the room. They never stood up for me and that hurt really bad too. To this day I have no clue what I did to deserve the horrible treatment...I find it hard to believe that not liking someone as more then a friend is such a horrible, bitchy thing.

Needless to say I do not talk to anybody I went to college with. I did talk to Ron once about a year later, but we did not keep in touch. Never saw Scott or Lora again. But strangely, she was the one in my dream the other night. She is the one person I can say I hate. Hate is a strong word and I do not use it lightly - but for her I mean it (oh, and Tim too, he's an ass). I would probably even run them over if I ever saw them again...well, not really, but the thought would enter cross my mind.

So, the only thing I learned in college - people can be evil. That is probably why my list of friends is small. It is very hard to find truly honest/kind/caring people. I thank all of you that care about me and support me.

Hangovers Are Bad

Thursday night Tap Room was fun. Even though my arm hurt for two days from playing darts.

Friday I didn't have to work. I got up at 9:00 and finished packing and headed to the airport. Flew to Minneapolis to visit Jess (best friend from high school). We ate lunch at Red Lobster and she took me on a tour of her office (Best Buy headquarters). Not sure why, but it's always cool to see where your friends work. Then we went to the movies to see The 40 Year Old Virgin. It was quite funny if you want my opinion.

Saturday we went to the Minnesota Zoo. We saw many cute animals. The prairie dogs were my favorite. They are really just large hamsters, but they we doing this cute "jump and yip" that we thought was adorable. I don't think it was a mating call because it seemed random and they'd just run around and stop and do this thing. Anyway, on our way home we bought groceries for dinner. We watched Garden State and ate taco salad and rice krispy treats.

Sunday I had to head to the airport to come home. My flight was listed as on-time online, but that changed when I got there. The NWA strike is really annoying. My flight ended up being 1 1/2 hours delayed waiting for maintenance to give their OK. My parents picked me up when I landed and we went to my brother's for dinner. I got home at 8:00. All day I was in the mood to go dancing so when Devin came home and said they wanted go to the bar I was all for it. We talked Sarah into coming with us even though she was tired. Darren also went and we met a few of his friends at Wild Woody's. I went with the intention of dancing not drinking, but somehow my plan did not work. I ended up very drunk and ended up vomiting in every trash can in our house. Sarah and I even shared the bathroom because we both had to make ourselves sick. Needless to say it was a rough night and I did not go to work today. I was able to roll out of bed at 12:30 but not able to eat food until 5:30. I am still tired and should go to bed early tonight, but I still need to shower.

I plan to take easy this weekend. No drinking at the wedding on Friday and no drinking at my friend's housewarming party Saturday. I'm too old for that crap.

Puppy Love

Here's my baby, isn't he cute?

Louie.

The cutest Italian Greyhound on the planet!!

Swedish Anyone?

No, I didn't forget the word meatballs. I cannot seem to find a good Swedish to English translator online. Any help with this is appreciated. I need to know what the following note says (I can guess it has something to do with an address):

Subject: FW: medlemstidning

Hej Jackie!

Vi är på väg och skicka ut medlemstidningen Servicetalk till dig, men saknar adress. Kan du ge mig en adress så kan jag skicka den till dig.

Med vänliga hälsningar

Marcus Aveholt
itSMF Sweden

Procrastination

I don't want to work anymore. I'm tired and bored and have things to do but I just don't want to. So I starting thinking about things I could do after work. Not just tonight, but something that could help occupy my time, a hobby. I hate the gym, well hate is a strong word. I'm not a big fan of the gym. I know it is good for you, but I just don't like to go. I do enjoy working out once I get there though. Does that make any sense? Anyway, I thought about going back to school, but that's a whole other thought battle. Aside from it being too late to go back for this semester, I have no idea where I would go, what I would go for or how I would afford it. There's always the business avenue, how dull would that be? Then I always think about going back into Surgical Technology. Or maybe for Radiology. But those programs have strict schedules and I could not work full-time and do that. That is my dilemma. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. What do I do with myself after work? What other classes could I take that are not necessarily part of a specific program. Perhaps another language. I started French, but never really learned it, maybe now is my chance. Or maybe Italian or Spanish or all of them. Ooh, how about sign language, I've always wanted to learn that and I already know the alphabet... Do I need to go to a community college for something like that? How much would it cost? These are the things that bring me down. Why does everything have to cost money? Is nothing in this world free anymore (besides my plane ticket to MN after 12 years of saving airline miles)? Does anybody else have any cool clubs or groups to recommend? I'm getting tired of sitting on my couch every night. I've already watched every season of Sex and the City over again. What's next?

Yours truly,
Lonely and bored

Memories

I'm sitting in bed looking at pictures from my trip to Europe (less then a year ago). So many memories packed into just three weeks of my life. Whenever I feel sad, I just have to look at these pics and remember the good things in life:

• Pistachio gelato
• Trevi Fountain (I threw my coin in...just waiting for my return to Rome)
• The Sistine Chapel
• My 28th b-day (bar run in Rome...no scarpa, grazie)
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa
• The David
• My future wedding ring (can be found on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence)
• Venice (all of it)
• Cinderella's castle (aka Neuschwanstein)
• U.S. Air Force Dentists
• After visiting a concentration camp...knowing that evil never wins
• The Eiffel Tower (at night)
• Moulin Rouge
• And never last, the friends you make memories with

I highly recommend Italy. It was the best. I loved the food and the people and the sights and the weather. If I won the lottery tomorrow (which reminds me, I have to buy my ticket) I would go in a heartbeat and take all my friends and family with me. Even my dad, whose idea of ruins can be found by touring Downtown Detroit.

But for now, I will settle for good, ol' Minneapolis. I know I won't find anything there as old as the Colosseum, but hey, a best friend and the Mall of America are reasons enough for me.

Slyders

What is in a White Castle? They would say it's 100% beef, but is it really? I have searched and found several websites that describe the history of the greasy burgers, aka slyders, as well as a couple recipes in the event you'd like to make them in the comfort of your own home.

http://www.foodreference.com/html/fwhitecastle.html
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1726,149170-242196,00.html
http://www.batemania.com/recipes/061200.html
http://www.whitecastle.com/_pages/secret.asp

Enjoy!

Spin-off

I am writing this as a spin-off to a recent post by my friend, Ryan. He spoke of things that I have been thinking for quite some time now. Why are relationships so hard? Why do we prevent ourselves from being happy? My thoughts are due to my recent break-up, which was followed by meeting someone else that I thought could help me be happy for a change. But this new person is so messed up and afraid of relationships that he's not even allowing for the possibility of a good thing. "He doesn't want to get hurt"...well, no kidding. Does he think I do? I am just picking up the pieces from having my heart broken; does he think I want to be hurt all over again so soon? Maybe that is a good reason for me to not see someone right away - I need to give myself time to heal and remember what it is that I want out of life. But then I can't help but think that is just an excuse to not move on. We are only getting older. Life is all about chances, what good is it if we don't take any? And the older we get, I feel there will be less chances for us to be able to take. You only live once, and that one lifetime should be full of risks which I feel ultimately would lead to happiness. No more excuses.

somniferous: Dictionary.com Word of the Day

I signed up to receive the word of the day over a year ago, and I have never made an attempt to actually use them. Feel free to try it as well.

Word of the Day for Monday August 8, 2005
somniferous \som-NIF-uhr-uhs\, adjective:
Causing or inducing sleep.

Somniferous comes from Latin somnifer, "sleep-bringing," from
somnus, "sleep" + ferre, "to bring."

Since I never paid attention to the somniferous lectures in my accounting classes, I find the financial reports I must complete during work are quite difficult.

Decisions, Decisions

How hard can it be to make a simple decision? Apparently very hard for my manager. I had to spend 2 and 1/2 hours on the phone with our corporate travel agency trying to find her flight home from London. How many choices did she have?? TWO - flight A or flight B. And the flights times were only one hour apart. Seriously, does it take 2 hours to just pick one?? Obviously because she still has not confirmed! She is on a waitlist for a sold-out flight instead and I still have to call travel again later today... These are the days that I just do not understand my job and wonder if there is a better purpose in life for me. I really don't think I can book travel for someone else for the next 20 years of my life. Gotta go, the phone is ringing...oh joy.

Man Thongs

Male strippers - hot or not? Well, that depends. Those who who bare it all - not. Leave a little to the imagination please. This thought is in light of a recent bachelorette party. Three strippers in all - one cute, one so-so and one had very beautiful eyes. But once the man thong came off, the only distraction was the flip-flopping of his man part. Even more disturbing was the making out. Why would one kiss a naked stranger...merely because he is good-looking? Not a good enough reason for me. I did find myself slightly jealous for about 30 seconds, but I think that was just the alochol. I then felt creepy-crawlies all over my skin and couldn't watch anymore. Maybe I'm a prude. I have been accused of that before. But I don't think so. I enjoy the occassional hot man lap dance...but please don't lose the thong.

There's No Crying ....

How does one pick up the pieces and move on? 2 and 1/2 years of emotional trauma, a bad relationship that everyone tells you is wrong and your logical side agrees, but you hold on, never letting go, unable to let go. Now it is finally over and you are still unable to let go, move on. Although, it doesn't make it any easier knowing they are happy without you. They have moved on, and there you sit on the couch, alone every night watching Sex and the City with your dog. But what else is there to do? Every where you turn is a dead end, no where no meet a new person, the rebound person, that desperately needed rebound person. There's that word...Desperate. How did this happen to you? Thought you were strong, thought this would never happen to you, always telling other people how to be strong and then not being able to do it yourself. Then there's the good friends - "It's not you" "You deserve better". Do you? You'd like to think so but everything is makes you feel otherwise. Do you change something - get a new job...move...? What will make it easier, anything? "Give it time" they say...how much time? Why can't we wake up and use our logic to convince our heart to let go and move on? Why be granted the ability to rationalize if you can't really put it to good use.
This is the rambling of a recently single 29-year-old who knows better. I'm smart and know good things come to those who wait...but I don't want to. Damn it, I'm selfish. And yes, I do deserve better.

First Timer

I am new to this blog world. I'm not sure what I plan to accomplish with this as I don't think I'm as interesting as I used to be. I guess ending a long, emotionally draining relationship can do that to a person...