For Brandy

{Please repost if you care to...}

My name is Brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He’s a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He’s the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He’s the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He’s a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He’s made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He’s listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He’s recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He’s the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I’m overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren’t sure what’s happening. He’ll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what’s going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as ‘brandy’s hot awesome dude’). If you don’t pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven’t seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I’m throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn’t a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It’s just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven’t already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

Oh Be Joyful

Yesterday I about had it with people. At one point, I actually told my coworker that I wanted to throw people out of the window. Oops. But I had valid reasons. I had stupid coworkers urgently emailing me saying they needed my help--only when I called to help them, they said they "weren't ready for me." Um. Not. Cool. Then I had a lady email saying she couldn't find herself on our website. I literally did a Google search, and what do I find? HER FREAKIN' ARTICLE. How people do not know how to use Google is beyond me. Then I totally forgot I was meeting an alum who found me on Twitter for coffee, and I wore jeans and a hoodie. Classy, and professional. I know. And then I was supposed to interview an artist, only I misplaced her phone number. And then I finally found it, only to have her not be at home.

But it actually all ended up okay. I interviewed the artist later. I got a free hot chocolate out of the alum. And finished all of the work I had to do.

Today I am literally the only person in the office today. And it's snowing. I had the bus all to myself this morning. Earlier I hated myself for not applying for this job I really wanted but I emailed them my resume and cover letter anyways. And I proved to myself that I can write a cover letter, which I thought was nearly impossible for me to do. And now I'm going to hunt down some last minute gift for my brother so that he has something to open on Christmas because I couldn't get my act together and spend hordes of money on framing his soccer jersey for him. Should be fantastic. At least I'm going home early today. And tomorrow I'm off, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day....Sweet.

How's your week going?

Tis The Season

I had an average weekend---called a few friends from college that I have been meaning to call for months. Hung around the house. Wrapped some Christmas gifts. Our tree still isn't decorated. Slept okay, and babysat my 'lil cousin. And then went to church but left after communion. I know, typical Catholic.

Then today I read Du Wax Loolu, and decided to fill out this meme or whatever you call it. You should do if you're avoiding doing any sort of work like I am right now.

Eggnog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate all the way. I think I'd die if I drank eggnog.

Does Santa wrap the presents or leave them open under the tree? Of course he wraps them! If he left them open, there would be no surprises, and you all know how much I love surprises!

Colored lights on a tree or white? I love colored ones but I do have to admit that white ones look so classy.

Do you hang mistletoe? No, but I've always wanted to be kissed underneath one. Any takers?

When do you put your decorations up? At the last minute. That's how my family rolls. Whereas I'm sure normal people put it up like after Thanksgiving or at least the beginning of December.

What is your favorite holiday dish? Anything with meat and potatoes. And cookies or pie or cake. If you couldn't tell, I'm not really picky.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I'm not sure. I guess it depends on how many presents you have under the tree for everyone. Like if I only had one or two presents, I'd rather just wait till Christmas day. That way I'll have more stuff to open.


How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With Christmas ornaments from my childhood and from places I've traveled.We do the colored lights, with strings of pearls and then have a fancy purple cloth that the tree sits on.

Snow: love it or hate it?Of course I have two answers for this one. I love the snow when I have no where to be, am by the fireplace, or under some warm blankets in bed. I hate the snow when I have to drive in it because I turn into a big baby and drive 20 mph.

Can you ice skate? Nope. Ever since a mean boy in middle school hit me on the rink and made me fall on my butt and bruise my tailbone, I've never really recovered. Now I'm that girl that holds on the railing the entire time. Funzies!

What is your favorite holiday dessert? Chocolate sugar cookies or sugar cookies with lemon icing. They are to die for people. Seriously.

What is your favorite holiday tradition? Probably sleeping together with my brothers the night before Christmas and then waking each other up on Christmas day to shouts of excitement that Santa came and seeing the tree with presents.

Candy canes: yum or yuck? Yum. I don't really partake in candy canes but I don't think they are gross.

Favorite Christmas show? It's a Wonderful Life. It's a classic.

TGIF

Whew, we made it through the work week. Thank God. Seriously, this week lasted forever! Today I slept in, came into work late, and have a Christmas lunch to attend in 20 minutes. See, since my office consists of only 5 people (the rest were all laid off this year), instead of a party, we get a special lunch. Whatever. I like anything free. We're going to this cafe nearby that I haven't eaten at for like two years because I'm too poor.

After the lunch, I intend to do a little work here and there to make the time pass. And then most likely I'll leave work 15 minutes early, and go home and sleep spend time with my family. Other than that, I don't have any real concrete plans for the weekend. I might go to some church thing with M tomorrow, and most likely attend church on Sunday, and sleep a lot. Oh, right, and buy all the Christmas gifts that I'm already supposed to have wrapped.


Do you have all your shopping done?

p.s. I came home last night to a real tree. That's about as tall as I am because my dad cut off too much. It was 6 feet tall and now it's like 5 feet. Classic.

Sprinter or Marathoner?

As I was walking to the library today on my lunch hour, I saw a bunch of people on the creek's path. Some where running, others were walking. And it made me think--am I a marathoner or a sprinter?

I always wanted to be a sprinter and run really fast and just be able to turn on the juice and blow everyone away during soccer practice in high school. But I couldn't do that. Maybe it's because my legs are short so I have to take double the steps a normal person would. Or maybe I was just too lazy. I'm not sure. Nowadays, sometimes I think I could be sprinter. Like when I'm impatient, I could just run away from the situation or problem and be done with it. Or I could run and figure out a solution. But either way I could figure it out FAST.

But it's pretty clear to me that I'm a marathoner.

I'm a marathoner when I'm drinking because I'm more of the slow & steady type. I'm in for the long haul. Same with friendships. I may take my time building them, but once your my bff, I won't leave you. It will be forevah.

Are you a sprinter or a marathoner?

An Update

• Remember Alex? Well, before Thanksgiving we got together for a cup of hot chocolate. And I have to say that I was seriously so bored. All he did was kept talking about random things, and I didn't really get a word in edgewise. And at one point in the conversation I'm pretty sure I heard him say he dated a man after college. Meaning, that he could be gay. But of course I didnt' clarify because we were in a public coffee shop. But now I'm wondering. A few days later, he sent me a message on Facebook saying it was great hanging out and that I was beautiful. And since then we've exchanged a few e-mails, but that's about it. Until yesterday he emailed me, asking me if I was okay because he hadn't heard from me. I assured him I've just been busy and am fine. 
• I'm going to cook and have dinner with M tonight and I'm excited. 
• I found out today that at work, we're moving again. Apparently the company we share our space with wants our offices and is willing to pay for it. So that means I have to pack everything up again. Oh joy. Not to mention that it's likely we won't be downtown anymore. Obviously there's pros and cons to this, but I rather like being downtown.
• My dad comes back today but there's rumor that he won't be officially released from his contract until the end of January. I'll have to ask him about it today, but I hope that it isn't true, because I wanted to move out next month.

What's new with you?

Weekend Recap

I love the mountains. Like forever.

This weekend I went on a young adults retreat in Allenspark, CO, where there was no cell phone reception, lots of hiking trails, and really cold wind. I met alot of awesome people whom I hope to keep in touch with, but most of all, I got away for the weekend.

Do you have any idea how nice it feels to get away? To literally not have to check Twitter, and Facebook, and e-mail, and return phone calls? It.was.heaven. I got away from my family, and just had time for me. Kinda of how Katie was talking about how she needs "me time."

I am officially back into the "real world," but I feel different. I feel refreshed. I feel happy. I swear I haven't laughed as hard as I did this weekend, nor as much, since college. It was awesome. Not to mention that it began to snow yesterday. And instead of freaking out about the snow and complaining about how much I hate to drive in it, I literally sat by the fire in a really comfy old chair, and stared out the window. I watched it fall on the trees, and it was so serene. It was so peaceful.

And then I drove in it without fear, and took a newly acquired friend from the retreat to the mall, where it was insane. Like, people ALL over the place. It makes me glad I don't have to buy anything from the mall. But I digress. M and I took this new found friend around the mall, so he could buy Broncos apparel. Then we dropped him off at his other newly acquired friend's house where we ended up having wine, cheese, pumpkin mousse, and pizza. And we played cards, and laughed some more. It was definitely a surreal weekend, but one I needed. One I am happy to have had, and one I hope to remember.

How was your weekend?

TMI Thursday: I'm Bleeding!

***Alright, folks, you know the rules. Join us all in humiliating the crap out of yourself every Thursday by sharing some completely tasteless, wholly unclassy, “how many readers can I estrange THIS week??” TMI story about your life. Or hell, about someone else’s!

This month has reminded me of a TMI story from last year, around this same time. It was New Years Eve, and I was in the kitchen baking cookies from scratch when I got an invite from a guy I know to go to see the Flobots in concert. I had already made plans but I figured, for a free night out on the town, I should go. So I quickly showered and got dressed in a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt with my new white puffer vest. I was feeling good.

The previous week, I had noticed a huge bump underneath my armpit. Now, this has happened before, so I wasn't alarmed. Until it really started to hurt. So on the advice of my mom, I went to the doctors. They numbed me and spliced it open and let it all drain out, and then put this packing stuff inside it and gave me a bunch of gauze and medical tape and said it'd close up on its own.

So keep in mind I have my gauze taped onto my armpit. We got to the concert, where there's a ton of people, and it was pretty dark in there. It got pretty hot in there, but I figured I was just sweating because I had so many layers of clothes on. At midnight we did the whole kissing thing, and afterward he drove me to my car. I gave him a hug goodbye and drove home. The entire time I just thought I was really sweaty. Until I got home.

When I got home and took off my vest in my brightly lit bedroom, I noticed red all over the armhole of my vest. Curious, I took it off, and saw blood and clear residue all over the entire left side of the WHITE vest. Apparently my bump didn't close up on its own and proceeded to drain itself complete with blood and pus all throughout the night. Guess I wasn't sweaty after all!

Happy TMI Thursday!

Weekend Recap

Let's get to it.


Friday- After making last minute plans, I left work and came home. I cooked grilled chicken and noodles for my family. I felt all domestic, and I liked it. I miss cooking. My brat of a 9-year-old brother hated my chicken, but all he needed was bbq sauce to dip it in and then he was satisfied. After cooking and actually cleaning the pans and putting them away (my mom was happy), I threw together an overnight bag, and headed over to my friend's house for a girls sleepover! Yayy! After getting there by 8, we went to Old Navy where I scored a new pair of jeans, and my friend bought some sweaters and a pair of jeans too. Then we went to the store, where we bought Christmas cookie cutters, construction paper, staples, and breakfast items.

When we got back to the house, we played the most fabulous Christmas mix cd ever (compliments of M), while cutting, stapling and making paper chains. This year we made one featuring Christmas colors--red and green--and another featuring an off white color, light blue, dark blue, and a gray. We did that for quite awhile, and did a great job. Both chains were the length of my friend's place and then some. While M and my friend hung the paper chains around the apartment, I started rolling out the sugar cookie dough, and used the different cookie cutter shapes. It was fun. By 3 a.m., we the entire apartment sufficiently smelling like cookies and paper chains abounded. Then we crashed and went to sleep.


Saturday- We woke up and made waffles with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream (with a touch of amaretto) and watched an old season of America's Top Model. Then we all parted ways. It was definitely a fun sleepover, and I feel so much more like it is the Christmas season. When I got home, I hung around the house for a bit and then grabbed Snarf's for lunch with the family. Then lounged around some more until I went out to Boulder and had dinner with friends. I tried a pomegranate margarita--it was really good, not too sour or sweet! And the food was good too, just huge portions. Needless to say I had leftovers. After dinner, I came home and watched Inkheart with my little brother until my mom kicked me out of her room. Then I snuggled with our dog and fell asleep.


Sunday- I slept in, played Wii Fit with my brother, watched a really boring episode of SNL, and then headed to Boulder to watch the CU Women's basketball game. We got free tickets. We being my family. And they actually won, and I saw an old man with a Syracuse hoodie on. It was nice. After the game, my mom and I went to Costco where we did some shopping and ended up buying a huge Christmas wreath for the front door. Then we watched The Amazing Race finale and went to bed.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

I do have one question for ya'll: Should we get a real tree or a fake tree this year? We've always had a real one but it's also alot of work to buy it and dispose of it and water it. What do you think?

The Dangers of the Microwave

So today I learned first hand about the dangers of the microwave. While at work, a friendly neighbor asked me if I wanted a cookie. Apparently they had a whole tin full of homemade goodies. That they froze to keep fresh. Of course me being a fat kid, I pounced on the opportunity to spoil my lunch and said yes. I chose a huge oatmeal raisin pecan one. "Just nuke it in the microwave," said the nice neighbor. "Ok, will do." She left the kitchen and I promptly put the frozen cookie on a plate and hit 30 seconds. The center of the cookie was inflated and warm but the rest of it was cold as a rock. So I figured, ok 2 minutes. Then the entire cookie should be warm and gooey and yummy. Right?


Wrong. About halfway into my allotted time, I noticed "steam" coming from the cookie. So I stopped the time at after a minute, thinking it probably just needed to air out. Nope. Apparently one of the raisins in the center of the cookie decided to burn. I literally had a smoke signal coming out of the center of my cookie. Panicked, because I didn't want anyone to see or smell my burning cookie, I blew as fast as I could, thinking it would just stop smoking. No such luck. Then I decided to stick my finger on top of the burnt raisin. And promptly learned that it was too hot and burned my index finger. Finally, I decided to just run out of the front doors, cookie and plate in hand, and wait outside for it to cool off. After all, it was only like oh, 15 degrees out. After standing outside freezing for what seemed like forever, but in reality was only two minutes, I snuck back into the office. I didn't even smell any smoke.

I congratulated myself on a job well done. That is until lunchtime came around and I needed to heat up my soup. When I opened the microwave door, I totally smelled my burnt cookie. Oops.

Because I don't wanna think...

We all know how much I don't like thinking. So that's why you're getting bullets today. Deal with it.

• Since my last post about my lack of holiday spirit, M came up with the idea to have a girls sleepover filled with holiday cheer. It's happening tonight, and I actually have to say, I'm excited. 
• Because a ton of my FB friends were commenting on Jersey Shore, I watched it online today. And I laughed at all of them the entire time. Seriously, I can't believe these people actually exist. And no, I won't be watching it again. Unless I need a laugh.
• I've had two alums from my program find me either on Twitter or through e-mail. They all want advice on how I got my job and blah blah blah. I really have no idea what to tell them. I don't even like my job anymore. But I'll try my best to come up with something.
• I'm going to the mountains next weekend for a retreat and I'm excited!
• My dad is coming home from China forever in like less than two weeks.

What's new with you?

Wait, it's Christmas?

Not to seem all Bah Humbug or anything, but am I the only one out there who isn't listening to Christmas music, decorating the tree, and sending out cards? Anyone? Anyone?

It's not like I don't appreciate Christmas, because I do. And with the heap of snow we got today, it feels like winter. That and the subfreezing temperatures, but who's complaining? And it is December now, so I guess that means we have 3 weeks or so to celebrate the season. But I'm just not feeling it. Probably because this year is a little different than last year was in that I'm living at home. I don't really have free range of the kitchen to bake (because I know my mom will just criticize me in some way or another), nor do I really want to send out Christmas cards from myself. And my ipod is dying so I haven't reloaded its music in forever. And I'm sure if we do get a tree, it will be at the last minute and then we'll be forced into decorating it. It's just not carefree. I should enjoy doing all these things, not feel like it's an obligation. So instead of forcing myself to get in the holiday spirit, I'm just gonna ride it out and wait. Maybe by December 24th I will be so full of the spirit that I'll move to the North Pole and become a full-time Santa's helper.

What about you? Are you in the Christmas spirit?

Random Thoughts Tuesday

Over the weekend, I figured out a few things about life and things. Allow me to share....

#1. I don't want to be a pirate as a living. I mean, I would get seasick, and it's gotta be lonely out on the water all the time. Not to mention that you really have to LOVE water to consider that as a career. And ever since I almost drowned in Mexico, well, I have a hate relationship with the ocean. So that's definitely out. At least I've figured out what I don't want to be. That's gotta count for something, right?

#2. I wish I could be a dog. Like my dog, who is a golden retriever mixed with border collie. Sure it would suck to have to go outside to do your business, but how cool would it be to be able to listen to humans talk all the time and know everyone's secrets? And you would be able to tell all of your doggie friends via the twilight bark, but the humans would never know, because only you would be able to understand them.

#3. Lately I've been freaking out about the whole 20-something crisis, but when I was at church this weekend, the priest explained how there's hope that whatever you're going through you can survive it. That makes me think that everytime I'm freaking out about if I'll ever get married, or find a job I love, he's laughing at me. He's laughing at me and shaking his head saying to himself, that I'll be okay. That it will all work out. I have hope right now that it will be okay and that one of these days I will think back to how I was in my 20s and have a huge laugh and shake my head too.

What's on your mind today?