OMG we should totally be friends

Remember how I gushed about going on that young adult retreat awhile back? And how I was SO excited to meet people my own age that were so cool??

Well, I ended up emailing a couple of the people to keep in touch with them. One happened to be a boy named Sean. We hadn't really talked much throughout the weekend, but on the last night, we hit it off, and figured we should hang out sometime. So I eventually e-mailed him and we exchanged numbers.

Then nothing happened for awhile. Until right after New Years. He formally invited me to the white elephant party. On the day that the retreat ended, a group of us went to lunch at Oskar Blues in Lyons, and that's where I heard about the white elephant party, and of course they were all like, yea, if you and M want to come, we'll let you know! So I kept that in mind, and then during an email exchange with Sean, he forwarded a couple of e-mails from this girl Wendy, who organized the party, asking me if I wanted to attend.

I did go, and it was okay. I mean, I wasn't entirely comfortable with everyone--even though most of the people there were I had met before on the retreat--but I still went. We went out to mexican food, and then went back to Sean's apartment to have cake and exchange white elephant gifts. No big deal, right? Right. And at the end of the night, it was kind of like, "thanks for coming/good to see you/if I don't see you for a long time that's okay with me." At least that's how I felt.

Since then, I haven't had anything particularly exciting coming up, so I haven't returned the favor and invited Sean to anything. Until last week, when I read that one of the local cafe's was going to host a game nite on Friday. This Friday mind you. So I emailed Sean last week giving a quick explanation about the cafe's mission (they are one of those that are pay-what-you-can) and invited him. I even emailed him the link to register for game nite.

And then I waited, and waited, and waited. Last night over dinner with M, I told her how I haven't heard from him at all. We agreed that it wouldn't hurt to email him again to see if he was interested in going. So I did that, I simply asked, "hey, did you have a chance to decide if you wanna go to game nite on Friday?" And he just responded:

Wonderful,

I'm sorry that I didn't get back to you earlier.  I had made plans to go to a fondue dipping party with the same group of people as before at the Mexican place we went to.  You are more that welcome to join us at my buddies place.

Let me know if your interested, I will give you the address.

Thanks,

Sean

Did he really just write "the same group of people as before?" It's not like I haven't met THOSE people. I freakin' spent hours with them the day of the white elephant party. But what gets me is that a) Wendy can send me tons of generic "oh I'm so super catholic" e-mails, but she can't invite me to their fondue party. I know she is organizing it due to Facebook. b) If he had other plans, why didn't he say something? c) This just reinforces my opinion that THESE people are seriously in a clique. And frankly, I'm disappointed that they aren't open to new members.

I am so not that person that sticks to just one set of friends. I have friends in all different circles, and even when I'm going to something cool, I usually extend the invite, even if I know that person won't come. I do it because I like my friends, and more importantly, I enjoy meeting new people. I know, what a concept!!!!

Am I overreacting? Or can you all relate? 

I love being a kid

So, last night was very entertaining last night at home. I helped make dinner, put away the dishes, took out the trash, and set the table. Yes, I know, I'm so helpful around the house. We ate grilled salmon with oven roasted potatoes. It was super yummy.

After dinner, I cleaned up the table, and put the leftovers away. My little brother was definitely hyper, so I promised him that if he would leave me alone for 30 minutes, I would have "tea" with him. Of course he asked me what "tea" was, but I told him he couldn't find out unless he left me alone. (Which actually worked.)

Half an hour later, as if on cue, he met me in the kitchen and said he was ready for "tea." And it was a very fun time. When I was little, my other brother and I would take out these small tea cups and fill them with water and sit at the table slurping our "tea" while talking in a British accent. We had a lot of fun doing that.

So my little brother and I had "tea" last night, and it was a hit. He loved it. A couple of times we laughed so hard that I couldn't swallow my "tea" and neither could he. It was definitely fun. After "tea," we played a long game of Uno. While I was putting away the cards, my brother decided it would be funny to tackle me and see how many times he could jump on my back. At first I was not amused at all, but eventually I gave into him, and fought him off, laughing hard and screaming for my mom to make him stop. I felt like a kid again. And let me just tell you, I got a major ab workout fighting him off. I mean, he's only 9, but he's already almost as tall as me. Finally, he stopped and I re-did my ponytail.

In the mean time, our dog had come upstairs to see if there were any food scraps leftover from dinner. I thought I did a pretty good job of cleaning up, but apparently I didn't, because you'll never believe what happened. First, she spied a scrap of salmon leftover on the middle of the table, so while my brother and I watched, she placed both her paws on the table, leaned her face to the side, and licked what she could of it before we told her to stop. But she didn't eat all of it yet. So, my brother had the brilliant idea of pointing to the bit of salmon and telling her to eat it. And this is what she did:

 Of course she jumped onto the table and ate the remaining salmon.

 Then checked all around the table to make sure she got it all.

I was laughing so hard when she literally jumped onto the table. I mean, as you can see, she's a big girl, I mean, she's not a limber cat or anything. She's a huge lug of a dog. And she just jumped up there like it was nothing. I ran upstairs to get my camera so I could document this. I know, my life is so cool. Afterward, she wasn't sure about getting down, so I carried her to the floor, and learned first hand how freakin' heavy she really is. She's gotta be at least 50 pounds. But seriously, who does this? I tried to show my mom the pictures, but she was upset that she climbed onto the table. She didn't really think it was funny. Sheesh... parents are so serious.

What did you do last night?

Weekend Recap

Friday- Took the new drugs for my head cold. Learned that Sudafed makes me jittery and insecure. I was invited to Brinner aka breakfast for dinner at a friend's house. I proceeded to freak out about going there alone, and was dramatically indecisive. I told my mom this, to which she replied, "this is how meth makes people feel." Um, okay. Guess I'll stay away from meth too. I didn't end up going. Instead I hung around the house and then went to bed early. I was super tired anyways.

Saturday- Slept in, hid out from my family aka I didn't go to my uncle's birthday party. I just didn't feel like it. Now that I think of it, I really didn't leave the house much that day either. I spent most of the day in bed, reading. And then I moved to the couch and watched Project Runway. But finally I did go for a drive around the neighborhood, and then actually showered and did my hair and makeup and actually looked presentable because my good friend Jen and her husband were in town. I took them to the Cherry Cricket, where we had rounds of beer and yummy food. It was definitely a good night. And in true Wonderful style, I got lost on the way taking them back to their hotel. But I didn't use my GPS either, so maybe that's where I went wrong.

Sunday- Woke up surprisingly early, and bought breakfast from Atlanta Bread Company for the fam. I totally had a dream about Jay, the winner from last week's Project Runway challenge. In my dream, he was my hairstylist, and he cut my hair and we talked like we were bffs. Yeah, it was strange.

After breakfast, I drove to Lafayette to check out a place that was listed on craigslist. Basically, the rent was super cheap, the people seemed nice, and I had already blown the girl off the day before, so I went. And, well, the room was definitely small. Like the girl now has a twin bed in there and a small dresser. But my bed is a full, and i have a huge dresser. I'm pretty sure there's no way I could get it to fit, even though I did send her the measurements and she thinks it will work out. Besides that, I realized I have alot of stuff. And their lease ends July 31, so I'm not sure if it's worth it to move now and then have to move again in a few months. So I left confused, but by the end of the day I realized that it's just not the right fit.

So in a random mood, I posted an ad on craigslist looking for my own apartment or condo. And so far I've gotten like two legitimate responses. Everyone else has been a male (not gonna work), looking for a roommate (Um, I said 1 BEDROOM), or they want me to "check out my credit score." (No thanks.)

The search continues....

How was your weekend?

TGIF

I'm so happy it's Friday, you don't even know. Or do you? Anyways, the drugs Benedryl I took last night totally helped alot. I can actually breathe out of my nose now and I feel my energy returning!

And I found out today that our office is moving to either Louisville or Broomfield. Sure I'll miss my Pearl Street mall experiences, but I will also save tons of time on my commute to work, not to mention that I'll still have places to eat and walk to. So I'm pretty excited right now.

Plans for the weekend include going to brinner at a friend's house (which is breakfast for dinner), checking out a place to live in Lafayette, celebrating my uncle's birthday, and meeting up with a friend from college for dinner, and of course--sleeeeping. It's pretty awesome.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

p.s. This song makes me wanna dance!

I hate being sick

Seriously, I don't understand how it is that I'm sick again, when I just got sick like a week after Christmas. It's not fair.

Basically the past few days I've just been walking around thinking to myself, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die," and then when I actually make it to my destination of choice and realize I'm still alive, I'm like awesome. I think my nose is going to fall off at this point because I've blown it way too much. It looks like Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer. I just want it to stop running so I can actually taste what I eat and breathe out of it again!

I've gone to work all this week, because I have such a good work ethic. Like, when I was little, I never ever stayed home from school. Perfect Attendance award anyone? Even in highschool when I was dying of cramps, I still went to class. When I got strep throat my senior year, I was that girl carrying my books in one hand, and a box of Kleenex in the other.

Today I'm still like that, but I also realize why they give you sick days. They are meant to be used. And if I don't feel better when I wake up tomorrow morning, I am going to take a sick day. *After all, it's better than spreading whatever crap I have to someone else at work.

Whenever I get sick, I want sympathy. I want someone to take care of me and check up on me. My mom hasn't been the best example of that. I told her how I felt like crap and she said I need to take some more medicine and then I'll be fine. No offer of soup, or anything. But thankfully, I have great friends. Friends that give me that sympathy and actually want me to get better. It's pretty awesome. 

I hope you don't get sick by reading this--I know pretty much everything is viral these days, but I don't think germs are. Yet.

*I gave it to my little brother. He's sick at home today. My bad?

Weekend Recap

For once in my life, I actually got MLK day off. Needless to say I was excited about having a long weekend.

Friday- I didn't have any plans. I figured I'd just be 90 and go home and read a book or something. But I ended up having a nice evening out with my mom. We had dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery, followed by the movie Leap Year. The movie was predictable but cute. Not something that was amazing, but still nice to see.

Saturday- I slept in till like almost 10. It was beyond amazing. I <3 sleep. Seriously. I stayed in bed for a few more hours and finished reading The Tiara Club by Beverly Brandt. It was cute. Finally at around noon, I got out of bed and made myself some lunch and watched Project Runway. I had no idea a new season has already started! I had the house to myself for a bit, which was awesome. After Project Runway, I watched Kendra on the E! channel. I had never seen her show before, but it was the episode where she has her baby. I don't know if I'd watch it again, but it was at least something to watch. Shortly afterward, my dad stole the tv from me via Slingbox, so I had no choice but to get off the couch and actually do something. I took the dog for a walk and then came home and played Wii.

Sunday- I slept in, went to Costco, attended church, hung out the family, and thought about going out but never did because my friends had gone out the night before. Then I started to feel sick with a runny nose. Not fun at all.

Monday- The dog woke me up at like 6:45am. It was torture, but I got up and then applied for a couple of jobs. Yay for productivity. Then went out to breakfast with my family, where my mom lectured me on how I need to keep my room clean and how she wants me to help her clean the closets out. To which I said, no and no. I mean, who really wants to spend their day CLEANING? Not me. So, I conveniently took the dog to the muddy dog park for awhile, then headed downtown to have lunch with M at Pete's Greek Kitchen.

After lunch I drove over to Waterworks to get my car washed. I was so out of it, that I accidentally tossed my keys in the trunk. It was only mildly embarrassing, but it was worth it. My car is actually clean now (minus the trunk where I tossed everything). I didn't want to home home and help my mom clean closets, so I ended up going over to my friend's house for awhile. We took her dog for a walk and caught up. Around 5ish, I decided I should face my mom, so I drove home. I had forgotten that my mom was watching my lil cousin Ben, so that was nice. His new word is "nope." He says it in response to pretty much everything. After a few hours, I left and went over to Kristen's where I had pasta for dinner and caught up with her.

We basically agreed that we aren't going to live together. We feel like two weeks isn't alot of time to find a place and move. Not to mention that her apartment complex offered her a 1 bedroom at a lower price, which means it'll be easier for her to move. I feel okay with this decision because I know things happen for a reason. I still haven't heard back from the job interview I had last week. The interview itself went well, but it apparently only pays $10-$12/hr, which is a joke to me. Why work there when I make more at my current job? So I pretty much have decided I will turn it down. I'm supposed to hear from them this week.

As for me, I'm feeling sick right now. My nose is similar to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and I'm sick of blowing. I took some Zyrtec last night and am going to keep taking it to see if that helps. I also forgot to use my flex spending account to buy all this stuff, which sucks but I'm going to try and be more aware of it next time.

Besides feeling sick, I am so tired today. It was like death going back to work. Not to mention that we're on deadline so things are like not at all calm. I seriously bought myself a White Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks an hour ago so I could stay awake, because I'm that tired. I can't wait to go home, skip dinner, turn off the ringer on my phone, and pass out.

How was your weekend?

I don't want to be miserable

So not much to report here--the catering job interview went well. I guess they are hiring now but their busy season doesn't start till April, so my hopes of having a part-time gig now isn't likely. However, a future part-time gig is positive.

The other interview was a joke. I took four tests, each about windows or the internet. Like I'm talking basic stuff. And then I had an interview in which they told me more about the position. Basically, they said the pay is only $10-$12/hr and I'd be a contract employee. They thought I was a good fit for the position and I should hear next week whether I got it or not.

But here's the thing. After that interview, I knew I would hate this job. Like seriously hate it. I mean, I'd rather get something in my own field than do a crappy job like that. Granted some of my friends have said that it's better than being laid off and having no job, but if I'm miserable beyond belief, why do it?? So I'm not going to.

As for the moving out thing--well, I haven't talked to my friend yet. We've been playing phone tag. I'm pretty sure if I want to live on my own and still pay off the debt I have, I'm going to have to get a part-time job or at least start freelance writing again. That way I can guarantee I will still stick to my budget, but also pay off the debt. And part of me is okay with this. The other part of me is like, ew, another job. no. don't make me do it. But, the reality is, I need to take control of my finances, and if getting another job is the answer, then so be it. I'm just going to make sure I balance it all out. I don't want to be a workaholic. I'd rather sleep in and spend time with my roomie on the couch than work all the time.

Hopefully after I talk with my friend I'll have a better feeling if this is even going to work out.

Open Doors

I realize I still need to share some pretty hilarious stories with you all, but this topic takes precedence. Because it's like important. Like I-need-your-input kind of important. So here's the opportunities complete with my pro/con list.


Job: So, as you know, we have to move again in March, because the company that we share the space with now has expanded and basically wants our space. So I have no clue where we'll be, but we're supposed to move in March. That being said, my mom has a bad feeling about this and thinks that my company's going to just shut us down. Which I don't know. I mean, sure, there's only 5 of us left now, but our company overall has actually hit their fall forecast, which is good. But at the same time, we are in a crappy space, I'm not sure if the company cares about us anymore.

That being said, a week ago, my Dad heard that his company was hiring 500 people. So he asked around, and found out they were help desk positions. So of course he told me to apply. And I did, even though the last place I did customer service for, I hated. Like h-a-t-e-d. Because the people there were losers. They were all like fat or smokers or just like rejects of society basically. So I was like, great, why apply for this job if I'm gonna hate it? But apparently it will pay more than what I'm making now. And I do have experience. And it would be the night shift but I would still have weekends off. So I grumbled and I applied for it. And last night while I was at Target, buying bacon (cuz clearly bacon is a household staple) I got a missed call from an unknown number. You all know where this is going...it was an "onsite supervisor" asking me to come in for an interview either today or tomorrow. I called him back but no one answered so I left a message. He just called me back and I am interviewing tomorrow afternoon.

At this point, I'm like, why not give it a shot. Do the interview and see what happens. But is it worth working a job you (might) hate just for the money?

Fast forward now to my other dilemma.  

Housing. So right now I live with my menopausal mom and 9-year-old brother while my Dad is away in China. I moved in to pay off my student loan and save money. Well, I still have half of my loan to pay off but I have till May. And I have an interview for a catering job tomorrow, which could help supplement my income aka go straight to paying off that damn loan.

My friend Kristen wants me and her to be roomies. She needs to be out of her apt by Feb. 1. Which isn't alot of time. So, the pros of living with her is that I forsee us getting along just fine. She loves cake and beer, both of which are necessary characteristics of the perfect roomie. Her bf is out in Texas, so I won't be sexiled. And we both are poor (she's in grad school). I still don't know if we want the same area(s) or types of living (I don't want to live in another cookie cutter apt complex.) But we are supposed to talk tomorrow about this.

The pros of moving out this month is that my storage is free this month only, which means that I can put that $200 I have been paying towards the deposit of the new place (assuming I live with her). I could have my stuff again. I could start cooking again! I would be totally totally much happier. Just the thought of being on my own again makes me squeeeee. Actually, I don't squeeee. I'm more of a YAY! type of person.

So that's definitely tempting. But my debt isn't going to go away either. So do I risk the chance that I won't be able to pay off all of my loan like I had planned to by May but gain my sanity (and stuff) again? Or do I continue to live at home, continue to be miserable in my current job, and put all my money towards the loan?

What would you do? I need your input...ready...set...GO!

TGIF

For some reason, this week seemed reallllly long for me. Maybe because I had Monday off. Or maybe because we had snow on Wednesday night. Or because I had spiritual direction and then an alumni event last night. Why, I'm still not sure. But I really am lacking in the quality of sleep department and would like to get that fixed ASAP.

Weekend plans include catching up with M, spending time with my family, seeing an old friend from high school, running my first 5k tomorrow, and going to a white elephant party. Which reminds me of the white elephant gift exchange I went to last weekend with some of the people I met on the young adult retreat I went on. My original present that I picked, turned out to be this:

I mean who wouldn't want this book? Clearly I want a good husband--STAT. But sadly, another girl at the party stole it from me so she could get lucky...you know, with a good husband. So, I was faced with opening the last present on the table or stealing someone's. I chose the latter and came away with bamboo chopsticks, a set of Korean tea cups, and this little gem:

I'm not certain what I'm bringing to tomorrow's white elephant party, but I bet I will come away with something interesting. It seems like all the things I think are ugly or useless ends up being like the best thing ever. Like for the party last weekend, I gave away a stuffed snowman, a pair of strawberry/hello kitty earrings, and a coin purse sock. But the girl who got it, LOVED it. So I guess it really is true what they say: someone's junk is another man's treasure.

Have a good weekend kids!

Vacation is ovah. Like 2009.

What I've been up to:

• Hanging out with family
• Beating Lego Batman for Wii 
• Sleeping in till 11am everyday
• Taking Hailey to the dog park
• Totally enjoying being single aka I'm anti-guy right now
• Motivated to actually look for a new job 
• Planning my trip to NYC this summer
• Training for my first 5k this Saturday

More entries & details to follow of course. I just wanted you all to know that I'm still alive.

What have you been up to?

2010!

Happy New Year!!!