In regards to Catty Coworker

So that situation got out of hand quickly. Now everyone at work knows about An Average Alyssa. Normally I would love free viewers. But, I was avoiding the new work place finding this blog. Its not like I am hiding anything. I am an honest person, and if you ask the question I will reply.

And that's the thing with my honesty: it gets me in trouble. I was honest with my boss in Germany, and he wouldn't hire me full time (but gave me two awards on the way out. Lol.) I am honest with my friends and they hate it. I am honest with strangers, and I come off badly. But I never learn.

So in all honesty, I would like to mention what happened in my point of view.

1: I got hired at McDonalds after coming from a job that paid me $3 more an hour, where I had a steady schedule of 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I was upset at first, but the idea grew on me before I actually started.

2: I started and loved the job. Mostly everyone was kind, with the exception of one coworker who was snotty to me. And although I came home with grease down to my bones it seemed, I was not dissatisfied with my job.

3: I was told the coworker who had not been nice to me did not like me. I told the person i really didn't care.

4: I post about why this coworker could possibly think I am weird, and she sees it. She then gets offended and replies angrily.

5: I reply to her reply saying that I was not meaning to offend her, and I believe she had misinterpreted the post.

6: I also send the reply to her Facebook inbox.

7: I receive no acknowledgment of my apology on either site. Then i write this reply on her wall in hopes to clarify further.

Well, I am off work for the next 18 days, so I can't say this to your face. I did say you were catty, but I wanted to let you know that everyone else was very nice to me the last two weeks. You just weren't. So I apologize again for anything I said. I know the whole store knows about my blog now, and while I appreciate the free publicity, I was keeping it private for a reason.

You said let's be adults so here it goes: I am sorry for you thinking my post was mean, and again, I assure you that was not my intention. I am sure you didn't mean to offend me.

I hope that since you ignored my private message apology, you have accepted it. I would like to move past this, and continue to work as adults by your side. This entire situation was blown out of proportion and I am sorry.

In the meantime, I will attempt to enjoy the limited time I have with my boyfriend. I hope you can enjoy the next 18 days as well.

8: I write this blog post to attempt to clarify the issue.

9: she has since accepted my apology.

Really, this shows why I hate rumors. I do not speak them. I have heard several rumors flying around the store and never once repeated them. I feel like rumors are pointless and just end up hurting people.

My entire work has this now, so HELLO AND WELCOME!! I will probably not be posting much, due to the fact I am on vacation with Boyfriend who is only visiting for a few short weeks, and who will be returning to Korea.

He arrived safely, and is now sleeping.

Thank you for visiting, and since you're here, you might as well go to my Facebook page at Facebook.com/anaveragealyssa and give it a like.

Um Monumental moment

Blurb my brain:
BOYFRIEND IS HERE!! that's all I want or need to say about today. Sorry to disappoint. ;)

CONTEST

YOU WIN!


Blurb My Brain:
Actually, you lose.  I am talking about the CONTEST! you guys totally aren't doing.  lol. Seriously, I have NO guesses as to the post mentioned in the CONTEST!? I will continue to capitalize CONTEST until I have a CONTEST winner.  Or maybe I will do a CONTEST of the month, rather than the week.  I tend to get ahead of myself, so assuming I had enough of you Readers for a CONTEST every week, it a bit pompous.  Sorry.  But Yeah, so go to the CONTEST page, and comment on the CONTEST, and it probably wouldn't be very difficult since I happen to have a search bar.  Dang. Can this CONTEST get any easier?

In case you haven't figured out, I've made every CONTEST in this post a direct link to the CONTEST so you cannot possibly be confused.  I do it because I love all you anonymous people.

Side Note: remember me talking about a business opportunity? Well, my coworker finally emailed me. ;) I had not received my working iPhone yet, so I didn't get to post it right away.  But anyway, he is a part of the entertainers (strippers) I am telling you right now to check out.  Their facebook page is here, and if you are a fan of MY facebook page, you'll see that I promoted them there too.  I even took the time to like them from my page, which is an extra three clicks.  But it was worth it, so check it out.

Define Weird

Blurb My Brain:

Let me preface this post with: I really don't actually care.  No, Readers I don't give any fucks. I do not know how to quantify just the number of fucks I don't give.  But there is a person at work, who I have been informed does not like me. *GASPS FROM THE CROWD* Now, I'm pretty average, as I like to claim.  So when I heard that I was called "weird" by this coworker, I got to thinking. Because thinking is like all I ever do. So what does she (that's the key word. girls are so catty) know about me that could make me weird?

1. I come from Germany.
2. I occasionally speak German without thinking.
3. I have no friends due to #1. 
4. I worked for the US government.
5. I used #2 to help with #4.
6. I was at one time a chemist.
7. I would rather be heat burned than chemically burned, due to #6.  
8. I acknowledge my coworkers when they tell me they are out of things. 
9. I sing while I work. 
10. I dance while bored.
11. I smile when I can.
12. I blog (she may not actually know this one though)
13. I make sure I am doing things correctly, and therefore if you correct me, I take it to heart.
14. I don't argue when people tell me to do things at work.
15. I have conversations with people.
16. I don't eat the pickles off the assembly line, or eat any other food while I am working.
17. I have a boyfriend. 
18. I have not seen boyfriend in 7 months. 
19. My boyfriend lives 4300 miles away.
20. I like My Chemical Romance and Blink 182.
21. I like to travel.
22. I use gloves to handle raw beef and raw chicken, and tongs to handle the cooked beef and chicken. 
23. Also, because of #1, I have no car, and need to be dropped off at work.  

I think that's all she could possibly know about me. Most of these things are not weird, but rather quite awesome. What do you guys think? Am I weird?  

Awesomeness ensues

Blurb My Brain:
Today was nice and normal.  I woke up. I slept with my brother. Wait that sounds bad.  I took a nap with Patrick(? does that sound better?), and then we went shopping for Patrick's birthday gift.  I got him a giant green crayon piggy bank (the thing is seriously like 4 feet tall), a learning game for his Leapster thing, and a set of bowling pins and balls.  Just a word of advice, for all you people out there (all 50 of you): don't bring a kid into Toys R Us with any intention of spending less than $20.  I was planning on spending at least 40 on the kid, since I spent close to $100 on the other brother for his Seahawks Jersey.  But Patrick wanted like everything in the store.

Then we went to Target and a couple other stores to look for a frog cake pan for his birthday.  No success.  But while at Target, I bought my halloween costume. And. . . cue rant: How come Target has NO adult costumes? They had maybe 10-20 kids costumes and about 30 toddler/baby costumes, but NO adult costumes.  All the adult costumes were were like accessories that you could eventually turn into stinking costumes.  And the other day when I looked at costumes, all the female costumes were slutty.  Seriously, why is there a need to turn a friggen Ghostbuster's costume into a skanky costume? I can't wear a ghostbusters costume to work that shows my cleavage! And I don't want to get my boobs all greasy (or burn them for that matter) while working the grill, which I will inevitably be doing.  What the heck?! Last year I bought a Devil Costume, and I had to buy an EXTRA LARGE just so it would be semi-decent.  And I know, I make it sound like I'm a fatty, but I am really BARELY a large, and often wear MEDIUM, so I shouldn't have to wear an extra large so that I am not showing the world my boobs or my butt.  URG! Maybe if I were a HUGE slut, I would LOVE halloween, and have like 17 different costumes. But as it is, I am just not.

SO ANYWAY, i am retiring the shift key for just a few minutes.  after the target experience, where i ultimately decided on a ladybug wing/antenna/bow set for 8 bucks, we ate at the food place there.  it was pretty cheap, and decent as far as food from shopping stores goes.  then I came back home and saw that someone wanted to sell me his iphone 16gb for 350 bucks.  i can't tell you how excited that made me. that is about half price.  so tomorrow i go pick it up at the verizon store.  THAT MEANS I CAN TAKE PICTURES AND HAVE IT ON MY VACATION AND NOT PACK ANOTHER CAMERA!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!

Sorry, it was Caps worthy.  I promise to finish this post out with decent capsing.

And then Boyfriend posted "the final countdown" on my page, and awesomeness ensued.  I got to play the word "boner" in words with friends.  My life is going well. Please don't mess it up.  

Average Amount of Alyssa Anger

Things We Say:
COME ON! YOU'RE HOLE IS BIG ENOUGH, COME OUT ALREADY!--Christian about a fry bag

How you doin' back there, Red?--Cameron
Oh, alright I guess, Just burning my hand in multiple places, and grilling my fingerprints off my pointer finger--Me

Get back to your side! I might need a restraining order on you!--Christian
But I was just trying to drop your buns, and do other duties! How would that even work, we work together all the time, and grill is literally 3 feet from assembly--Me

A big pole.--Christian

I am having a vision, where Grill and Assembly. . . . sweep and mop.--Cameron
I really thought it was going to go differently, like "I have a vision, where Grill and Assembly, come together..."--Christian

English lesson for the day...Strike any familiar chords?? No English dictionary has been able to adequately explain the difference between the two words COMPLETE and FINISHED, in a way that is easy to understand. Some people say there is no difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED. However, there is a difference. When you marry the right woman, you are COMPLETE. And when you marry the wrong woman, you are FINISHED. And when the right one catches you with the wrong one, you are ---COMPLETELY FINISHED!


Blurb My Brain:


So today must have been where yesterday sucked all the awesomeness from.  Today was stupid and lame.  I got up, ate breakfast, and had an idea to call all the local pawn shops to see if someone turned in my iPhone.  Well, the third or fourth pawn shop told me that they are required to check in with the police before accepting an iPhone.  Therefore, someone would eventually contact me if my iPhone showed up.  Then I got dressed, and went to work.  Where I happened to burn myself repeatedly. Repeatedly.  I think my burn count for the day is 7 for my pointer finger, and a pretty bad burn on my palm, and a bad burn on the upper knuckle of my pinky.  I was bossed around by a coworker, and I did what he said because I am more capable than he is.  I guess.  That's what I am telling myself to feel better.  I mopped and swept his area, (that sounds dirty) dropped him buns when he was falling behind and talking to the other coworkers, and made a few sandwiches.  But no big deal, I need the practice, that's for sure.

So then I get off work, and we pick up dad, and go to a restaurant called "the Rusty Moose" which is pretty good.  I had a turkey sandwich and a bowl of potato soup. That stuff was the bomb.  I mean, for me it is hard to screw up potato soup, but I'm telling you, it was amazing.  It wasn't watery, and it was delicious. As was my "pineapple express" which tasted like orange juice, because it had pineapple and orange rum in it.

Luckily I have tomorrow off.  So I am going to be spending it shopping. With Money I don't have.  Woo.  I need to go on vacation. ha.

Ambidextrous

Blurb My Brain:
So a well known fact, Readers, is that I am right handed.  But when I was younger, I broke my right thumb and was in a cast for a few months. (that's actually a good story) In this time, I practiced using my left hand for everything.  I basically had no choice.  So I got fairly decent at writing with my left hand, and now, sometimes I sign things with my left hand, or if I'm on my phone and writing I will write with my left hand.  But I like to take great pride in my ambidextrousity, even if most of the time I forget that I am.  Except today when I looked down at my laptop keyboard.  You know how you can often guess someone's password if they haven't changed their keyboard in a long time? (no? that's just me? well now you know too.  Don't go hacking someone though. That's not nice.  And I saw it on a tv show once, I swear.) Well, my keyboard is pretty evenly worn out.  Maybe it's because I frequently use all the letters of the alphabet.  But the key that looks like I use the most (and I guess it's understandable as to why) is the space bar.

This key is in mint condition, on 50% of the bar.  Specifically the left side of the bar.  So I'm a right spacer.  This sparked the curiosity kitty, and I looked at my keyboard again and realized that I am a LEFT shifter.  Yes, I apparently am ambidextrous in all ways including typing.  SCORE.  Then I was thinking about it more, and thought that I should try to switch things up a bit, and be a LEFT spacer, and a RIGHT shifter.  My head promptly exploded.  You see, I generally type at about 50-60 words per minute.  Whilst switching it up, I guesstimate my typing speed to be slower than 30 words per minute.  My mind had to stop and think about something that is just so natural now.

So have you ever decided to stop and think about something that you frequently do, and just analyze it? What kind of things do you do this to? Driving? Cooking? Baking? Writing?

Also, get over to my facebook page and "like" me today! 

RIP iPhone

Blurb My Brain:

Sometimes I swear I am in the wrong field.  My iPhone was stolen today. No big deal, I had insurance on the phone, right? Nope. I was too poor at the time. I couldn't afford it.  No big deal, I had that nifty "Find My iPhone" feature.  OOPS! Clicked the wrong button and wiped my phone instead and therefore I can't find it anymore. Ugh.

So I am not going to lie.  I MOURNED the loss of my iPhone.  MOURNED it.  I am just not feeling like being witty, or funny, or even writing.  I just want to get the next week out of the way. 

Smelling my way through life

Things We Say:
(503): College is the ONLY place where you can pass off morning sickness as being hungover. I'm currently pouring beer in a spray bottle so I can spray it on myself and smell drunk.

I thought that red hat society was a sorority. -me
What are the requirements for initiation? A broken hip? --my mom
Lol. No, just an entire wardrobe of red and purple and you have to know 3 cookie recipes by heart--SarahWithTheH. This is why she is my business partner.

Blurb my brain:
Hey guys, Alyssa here. I guess today is technically the first day of fall. It wasn't much cooler today than it's been. And although it's a semi monumental day, I had a very average day. Took a shower, got my food handlers permit, babysat Patrick while Mom got her hair cut, then we looked in Yankee candle.

I am telling you, Readers, my strongest sense and therefore my biggest weakness is smell. I actually go so far as to tie certain smells to times in my life. For instance, every time I smell banana bread I imagine I am back in Saint Louis. Smelling Midsummers night from Yankee Candle: Germany. Old Spice: Boyfriend's apartment. Axe Phoenix: different Boyfriend and early high school.

And sometimes I get a whiff of something an I have no idea what the smell is. And even though I don't know what the smell is, a certain place pops into my mind. Warm vanilla sugar: junior year in high school.

Am I the only one wired like this? Am I the only one whose nose has a direct link to a specific time of the persons life? Maybe that's why I rub my nose so much. I have to adjust to he memory being stored via scent channels.

Any way, after Yankee we walked around some more, and then picked up Jon and got groceries, then I got my butt in the car and drove to work. Then I ran the grill (again) and got off work, got my Fruit and Walnut salad, and my Fruit and Yoghurt parfait.

Then I skyped with Boyfriend about my day, and I kept thinking: he probably thinks I am high since I am not saying much, and I sound like crap.

Now I am laying in bed, Readers. I will be going to sleep shortly. :)

Nostalgia

Things We Say:
"Imaging the future is a kind of nostalgia" - John Green (Looking For Alaska)


Blurb In My Brain:
It's always strange looking at life through someone else's point of view. Let me explain.

Tonight I went with my father to the Newly Restored Peabody Opera house. This used to be the old Kiel Opera house in downtown St. Louis. My dad and his father used to sell tickets in the St. Louis area for basically all the major events (The Opera House, what is now the Scott Trade Center, the convention center, and all the events downtown). So, the old Kiel Opera house is a familiar place for my father. And so tonight was the grand reopening after it's been remodeled.

They were showing some movie on the Prohibition that is going to be on PBS next month, but we really didn't buy tickets to see the movie, we got tickets to see the building. And let me tell you, they just don't make buildings like they used to. I could tell that Dad was just retracing old steps, and he expected his dad to come around the corner at any moment.

Of course, my dad spent the whole time bitching about the new changes to the box office, the terrible window designs and the new carpeting, but there was also a lot of laughter. Reminiscing about the nights when he would leave at 2am with a suitcase full of $60,000 like he was some kind of mobster, or having every key to the building, and taking my mother up to the roof to watch the fireworks at the arch. As we were walking out of the building, my dad turned to take another look at the building and says in a small voice "This is where I was really happy"

It made me wonder what places I'll want to revisit and think "Yeah, this is where I was truly happy" and it makes me wonder about how different my life will be without my dad.

Anyway, these are my deep pondering thoughts for the evening.

Also, if you would like, become a fan of the Facebook page. Details in the Contact tab above! :)

Movin on up

Things We Say:
You took me to the mommy store so I could pick her out!--Patrick to Dad


Blurb my brain:
I may not be going to the east side but I think I am moving up. I spent a fair chunk of my shift on grill. Then the last two hours roughly, I spent doing assembly. I messed up a bit, but learned somewhat quickly. From the discussions between the employees and managers, it sounds like I am replacing a guy who used to have an open schedule but now that he is goin to school his availability has changed. No big deal for me, since I want to work as many hours as possible.

One of my coworkers is cute, and he helped train me on assembly. Thankfully Sundays are kinda slow so I didn't feel too pressured. Plus, I had a cheat sheet if I turkeynecked it. Also, I got to watch a coworker empty the grease traps on the side of the grill. Made me not want to eat a cheeseburger ever again. But then 20 seconds later, a free one came up and I pounced on that. I am still a college kid. Gimme a break.

I think I have been made though, Readers. Remember how I said I wanted to keep Boyfriend on the downlow simply because I don't want to make them think I am leaving, and therefore risk my hours being cut?  (**)Well Coworker saw my ring and was like "wait, you're married? Is that a wedding ring?" and I thought "FUCK!" but I instead said, "no it's a regular ring that my Boyfriend gave me" and then turned around and clocked out. I am going to avoid telling them Boyfriend is in Korea. Maybe if they ask why they never see him, I can say he doesn't live around here. Lol. I have to work on partial truth telling.

**EDIT**
Looking back, I realized I actually never explained that. Readers, you KNOW how much I love Boyfriend.  I mean, look how many times he's been tagged.  And I can't even BEGIN to explain how excited I am to see him again in a couple weeks.  But I had decided that I was going to refrain bringing him up while at my new job.  Last time I was open and honest with my boss, it ended up that I got screwed over because my boss wouldn't hire me for only 6 more additional months.  So this time, I decided that I need to make my private life A LOT more private.  I'm not going to tell them anything about my hopes or dreams, or give them any excuse to cut my hours as a punishment for leaving, especially when I don't know if or when I will be leaving. Nicht gut fuer mein geldtasche.

Still, I feel a little bad that I'm not bringing him up more.  It's not like I'm hiding it, but I'm just trying to protect my future. That's not bad, right?

Firsty Firsty Firsty

Things We Say:
I want to go to sleep. Ahhhhhhh!! Yelling might not be helping. --chris

The bad thing about goin to Subway while in the US: Black forest ham makes me miss Germany.--me

Bridge is like sex. You better have a good partner, or a good hand. --the guy on Storage Wars
Or a partner with a good hand--Sarah

Dear Santa, how much for the list with all the naughty girls on it? Signed, teenage boy--Jeff

Blurb My Brain:

So today was my first official day of work, since last night I did all of my computer training, and they didn't know what to do with me so they sent me home an hour early (which was rather pointless, since I had to wait for Dad to come pick me up [Sarah made fun of me, saying that I'm basically 16 (I know right?) which is funny because that night the manager asked if I was over 18. Sheesh, at least I look young?]). Dad had to drop me off on his lunch break, so I showed up to the shopping center a full 3.5 hours before my shift. Luckily I had some banking, and shopping to do, so I was only an hour early. They even let me start early. So anyway. Today, I got put right on the grill. I will spare you all the greasy details, but I will say, that scraping the grill's grease off every time gets mighty annoying. All in all, I got to be the big meat preparer today, and that was. . . average! The girl who trained me, Stephanie, was super nice, and we kinda chit chatted between grease scrapings. lol.

I think the highlight of my day was towards the end where I was talking to one of the managers, Stephen, and he told me to cuss him out in German. I didn't actually curse him out, just said he was small in the pants. So then I taught him some basic Denglish, or as I call it, Germish. It was fun, but I was off work. I worked 3 hours and 56 minutes today. I don't know how that happened because I clocked in 5 minutes early and only went 1 minute over on my 10 minute break. Wait. Nevermind. That makes sense.

The second highlight of my day was seeing Sarah's first entry. I hope you guys liked it too. I even told her that if I could, I would pay her. But as it is, I'm about 45 dollars in the hole, and I don't feel it fair to make her go halfsies on negative profit. I think she did a great job though. :)

The lowlight of my day: burning myself TWICE. Stupid grills being so damn hot, and stupid burger patties not landing where I accurately assumed they would land. GR! But honestly, I'll take a couple heat burns to chemical burns any day.

Welcome the SarahWithTheH

Things We Say:
"But if my spoon crop doesn't do well, then I won't have any money to feed my family... and what will they eat with?"


"Living in Missouri can kind of be like time travel. This week feels like October but next week is supposed to feel like July" - My dad


Blurb in My Brain:

Hello readers (and apparently a good portion of China), I am this Sarah you've heard so much about. I have been given the power to post on A3, and what do we do with power? We abuse it! Okay, just kidding, but I do hope to occasionally post when I have clever, or average things to talk about.

My question you you today, is What is a "Couple's Shower"? I mean, I get that it's like a bridal shower, but the husband goes too. But, what do you get then? Especially considering that the couple in question already live together, so they don't need towels or silverware or anything like that.

I'm in that age where it seems like everyone I know is getting married and/or having babies. There's lots of showers and gift giving etiquette and since I was raised by wolves (likely more on that some other time) I'm pretty lost on all most all of it. Also, do you go to the couple's shower if you hate the bride to be?

Trolls, Toys, Texting, and Talent

Things We Say:
(917): you know you've been in a long relationship when u start retiring sex toys
Me: you know you are in a long distance relationship when you start investing in them.

If I could take two words out of the male vocabulary it'd be titties and hun--Regina.

My friend called me a Hausfrau and I told him I don't clean.--me to Boyfriend
A Putzfrau is a cleaning lady--michelle

Careful! You squeeze the head too much and you are gonna make it squirt!--my father talking about a water bottle.

Blurb My Brain:
So I don't know what you all did today, but I bet you I did less. Yes. Less. I think the only thing I did today worth mentioning was that I made a sammich. Well. Three sammiches. And I talked to Boyfriend. Other than that, I updated and virus scanned my laptop.

You know, normally people wouldn't say that doing less is an accomplishment. I think it is a success. I mean how awesome is it that I got to spend the last day of smelling Grease Free by developing lazy stomach marks? For those of you wondering, LSM come from when you sit improperly in a chair or on a couch or lay in bed, and your poor posture forms a crease. Come on. I am not saying I am fat. Because I am not. But I am saying that I have poor posture when I am decidedly being lazy.

Speaking of being lazy, I start work tomorrow night. Oh yeah, 5-9 training, here I come. :)

You know what else I don't understand? Trolls. That's all. I will not get into it. Sorry.

Oh! Also: I have a new business partner. Her name is Sarah. I have employed her as my text-receiver. This literally means nothing to you guys. Except that Things We Say will now be updated more easily. It is so much easier to send the funny quote to her and then copy and paste it later here. :) in case you are wondering here is the new blogger app.

In the future we may see more posts from Sarah. We will see. Lol.

Life

Blurb My Brain:

Sometimes life is very ironic.  Too ironic for its own good.

I'm talking about the kind of ironic where your two exes become roommates.

I'm talking about the kind of ironic where you dread going to work, and then realize you don't go for another day.

I'm talking about the kind of ironic where you can be high school rivals with an individual, and then 5 years later have a real conversation for an hour with them.

I'm talking about the kind of ironic where you end up dating the kind of man you swore you would never ever fall for.

I'm talking about the kind of ironic where you miss being in that place that was the worst time of your life.

I'm talking about the kind of ironic where people you never thought would come back to you suddenly reenter your life.

I'm talking about the kind of ironic where your crappy average blog reaches 70 views in one day as a result of Chinese readers.

Life. Friggen ironic.  

Now And Then

Blurb My Brain:
So today is my last day before I start work.  I think my attitude has improved slightly since getting the job a week ago.  After all, Money is Money.  And I swear, transferring money from my savings account to my checking account all the time gets old.  I will say, it will be nice to have some cash again, and to see my account increasing again.  If I don't make enough, I can always go back to working two jobs and going to school full time.  That seemed to work in my favor last time.

By the way, Readers, I have to make an interesting observation.  In the last 25 hours, I have added three people to my personal facebook.  These three people I NEVER thought would re-enter my life.  The first is *James Haddock and the second is *Josh Birmingham.  Now, Josh was a friend of mine in high school, and he helped me through a very difficult, very angst-y breakup.  I had been dumped by my first real boyfriend, and although NOW I realize he was a punk, and treated me like shit, I had been convinced that at 17 I would marry him. *GAG* Well, Josh happened to be one of *Alex's friends and he and I originally got along well.  After the Breakup, he was trying to help me, but in a non creepy way where he would violate the man code or whatever. So he gave me a book, called "Like the Red Panda" by Amanda Seigel. The similarities between Stella and that version of me were UNCANNY.  She was super smart, wore plaid skirts, hated her high school, was accepted to an ivy league school, and she was depressed and wanted to kill herself.  Ok, so I wasn't TOO suicidal.  But pretty much everything else applied to me.  So needless to say, this book helped.

Shit, I'm off topic.  Anyway, back to Josh.  He gave me this book and it changed my life.  Well, again, after I left for Germany, I cleaned out my fb, and Josh was one of the people who didn't make the cut.  (I also partially didn't let him through because I would use him to look back at Alex.  *rolls eyes* I am so pathetic). Well, today Josh added me again, and he told me he was glad my reading choices have not deteriorated over time. :)

And James? Well, get your lazy but to the link at the top for the background.  But since I mentioned him in my blog, I wanted to inform him.  I feel it is wrong to talk about people and not have them know.  It's like talking about them behind their back. If their back was large enough to encompass millions (HA! more like 40) of people.  So I went to his facebook, and was going to send him a message, but he had that option disabled.  So I friended him, (told you I was serious) and then informed him there.  But he was very happy to talk to me as well.  It was kind of an awesome feeling.  

Remember

On a Serious Note:

Where were you, 10 years ago? This is my story. 

I had just arrived at school, and walked into my 6th grade class.  Mr. Price was sitting at his desk, and the television was on.  This was odd, because even though I was normally the first student in the class, the television was never on.  I remember the Today show was on, and I asked Mr. Price why we're watching television today.  He said that an American tragedy had just occured. One of the twin towers had been hit. 

I'll be honest. I was in 6th grade, and this was before I was a world traveler.  Outside of Saint Louis, I wasn't much concerned with the world.  

So I asked him where the twin towers were, and he told me it was New York.  Up until this point, only one tower had been hit. The news is just as confused as everyone else in the world, save the people on the plane, which more than likely died.  No one was calling it a terrorist attack, everyone thinks it's an accident.  I remember that commercials didn't exist.  (That much may not be true, I may just not remember the commercials being on due to the nature of the other programming).   Over the next 10 minutes, the second plane hits. I watched that one on the screen.  There were a couple other students in the room by this time, and we all were just watching the screen.  

The news had stopped using the word "accident" and began using the word "attacks" when describing the planes. The principal came on the announcements, described in brief detail what happened, and did a moment of silence.  I had never been in a moment of silence where absolutely no noise happened, especially in the elementary school.  We were young, and we may have had NO idea how this would affect us, but we could understand the somberness of what happened.  

After the moment of silence, the principal had announced that we had to continue on our curriculum and get back to working.  

I don't remember what was taught to me that day, or how it ended up that I got home early, but I know there was an early release.  And when I got home, I know my mother and father hugged me.  

That's about all I remember from that day. I didn't fully understand what happened, and I wasn't affected as badly as many other kids around the nation.  I didn't have anyone whom I knew in NYC who lost someone.  And honestly, I wouldn't fully understand it until I visited Ground Zero my Freshman year of college.  I wouldn't fully understand until I would meet *James Haddock, and he would tell me about the New Jersey train stations being filled with cars whose owners were never to return.  I wouldn't understand until I was told first hand of the emotions which went through James' mind when he realized he had lost his uncle. But September 11th, 2001 changed things for me.  

I had two military parents.  And to go after the terrorists, we needed military members.  I remember eventually breaking down outside of class later that year, and telling Mr. Price that my father was going to have to fight.  Being a catastrophizer (as my therapist told me) I felt that the terrorists had already killed my father.  There was no way of knowing, but dad wouldn't go for a long while after.  

I have more respect now for the military, and for people like Boyfriend and Dad and all my friends who fought or went over on deployments.  I still am proud to be an American, with my loved ones fighting so that I know I'm free.  I'll never forget the men and women who died ten years ago, and since then.  God Bless those families.  

For a pretty chilling timeline of the events, see the below links. 

Wikipedia Timeline: includes personal accounts.

9/11 Memorial Interactive Timeline: including phone clips from that day and audio clips from the flight attendants. 

*James Haddock's name has been changed because he is now a public figure in the state of Colorado.  I was friends with him for a long time, but when I left Jersey, I severed contact.  It was a mean thing on my part, but I wanted to completely start over when I moved back to Germany. 

Socks

Things We Say:
I'm going to come there for your birthday and eat you up like "OM NOM NOM"--Boyfriend
NO! I'm going to take two planes, and go to you and Eat YOU up--Patrick

so if you want to get ahold of my girlfriends younger brother his number is 1234554647--Boyfriend because Patrick said that was his phone number. 

he's only 5. . . might wanna let people in on that--Me
Blurb My Brain:

I decided that I needed to change it up on here, and actually write somewhat creatively, instead of just ranting about whatever made me mad that day.  So I went to creativewritingprompts.com, and chose prompt 72.  I don't know why I chose 72.  I just did.  And number 72 was: Write about a task, job, or chore that you do not like.

Well, I can honestly say that I am not a fan of mating socks.  I absolutely despise socks.  I mean, who the hell likes to do that in the first place? I think I can handle every other aspect of laundry, if it weren't for the white socks.  Actually, any socks.

I also think it wouldn't be that bad if it were just me and one other person.  In fact, that makes it much easier, because (assuming the other person is Boyfriend) we'd have different sized feet! Problem solved.  And if the day ever comes that Boyfriend and I happen to live together, we are going to replace all of his socks with ONE type of sock, so that all the socks are always able to be matched with any other sock of that size. I'll even pay.  It's what I do with my socks, and it makes things easier.  I mean, then you always know whose sock is whose, and there is no missing dryer-food socks.

 After all, WHERE ELSE WOULD THEY GO?! You know you wore a pair earlier in the week, and you have no spare socks lying around the house, or in the covers, or on the floor.  SO WHY ARE THERE LONELY SOCKS?  My previous solution doesn't always prevent single lonely socks.  The only solution I can offer is to wash the losers anyway, and then set them aside, until the next load of laundry, when another loser shows up, and you create an arranged marriage.

Wait, picture THAT for a second.  (If you are lost, I'm talking about socks as people, and not with beaded eyes or drawn on faces. We are adults, let's not imagine sock puppets.) It makes me laugh to imagine socks being the kinds of people who get all angsty when fired from the job (of keeping feet....whatever it is that socks do).  Or they are the kind that fall romantically in love with each other until the next wash cycle.  And we think we humans party, they have foam parties every week, where people are dancing indiscriminately.  Socks with undies, undies with t-shirts, t-shirts with socks, undies with t-shirts.  It's like a Skinless Skins party.  HAHAHAH.  Oh I have a vivid imagination.

Anyway, as much fun as being a sock sounds, I hate mating them with a fiery passion.  What kind of chore do YOU hate the most?

Second Mothers Day

Things We Say:

Happy Second Mother's Day (aka Labor Day)--Boyfriend.

 Casey is the family alcoholic!--Matt
Not true! You are!--Casey
I have been known to go to the bar on a Monday or tuesday or Wednesday or...--Matt
 I have some competition!--me

 When Boyfriend and I flew to Mallorca--me
--where?--Matt
It's an island off the coast of Barcelona--we flew on a --Me
--where?--Matt
Spain.--me
Got it. I was looking for a region of the world to equate the story to--Matt

 I told your mom I was looking forward to seeing you because last time you were all doped up on pain meds and all you could say was "Biscuits"--me

  Blurb My Brain:

So I am in the truck, riding back from my great-aunt's house two hours south. I had a pretty painfully average Labor day. I woke up. Took a shower. Shaved my legs (greatly overdue if you ask me [but I mean, come on. Who do I have to impress when I never leave the hotel?]). Then I watched How I Met Your Mother. That was a mistake, but only because I had JUST put on makeup (which is also much overdue) and so I had black tears and sticky eyeballs. It was a SAD. Episode. I will not spoil it, but "Bad News" had BAD NEWS. and if you find yourself watching it and then you notice the numbers, DON'T LOOK IT UP. bottom line: sad.  I am off topic. But anyway, then we get in the car and ride to Aunt Judy's house. When there, I FINALLY met some of the rest of the cousins I may or may not have blogged about before. I was informed that there is a bus line which runs from Spokane to Aunt Judy's town. Talk about excited!! I am going to head down there much more often than I had originally planned. Of course, I have to price check it.  Uncle Mitch said he is going to work on getting me a car in the next couple weeks before Boyfriend gets here.  It was awesome having a beer or few and just relaxing and talking with my cousins. I may not have grown up with them, like most American families, but I feel so close to them already. :) and you know, Readers, that makes me a VERY. HAPPY. PANDA.  So my labor day was not epic. It was not legen-wait for it-dary. It was average. And I LOVED it. :)

Averageness Ensues

Things We Say:
I'm 3 weeks and craving Starburst. Men are so stupid, and women are so much smarter than men. Men will never figure out what all of these statuses mean..--Dean
I have to say, this was the fastest I have ever seen men foil it. I go the message, and 2 minutes later a guy friend ruined it for me. Lol But this one is kinda risky since my boyfriend has been gone six months, and I said I was "5 weeks"--me
haha. I really wasn't making fun of it. I'm all about breat cancer awareness. I just wanted people to know that I caught on. lol--Dean
Informing us while flattering us. . . Why can't more men be like you? Lol--Me
That would cause the human population to come to a screeching halt.--Dean

he has his moments of niceness, but he kinda treats me like shit. He treats me like some no-homo sugar daddy.--Andy

I'm gonna go do the dishes, and then get to bed.--Me
You're getting ready for when you're married. Doing the dishes in the kitchen and getting to bed. the only places a woman should be--Boyfriend, jokingly
I'll make you happy then.--Me

Blurb My Brain:

I'm so bored, Readers.  I was going to get on my laptop to finish out How I Met Your Mother season six, but then a friend chats me to complain.  No big deal, since it's not like I was really doing anything anyway.  Just watching the Karate Kid II, and watching Patrick play computer games. 

I have applied to about 10 jobs near where our new house is.  The once Office Automation Extraordinaire is now applying to....*drumroll please* Starbucks barista, and bartender. Woo.  I find it funny though, that I have to apply to these jobs, not because I think I'm better than anyone else, but because I had this awesome resume showing all these awesome things I did with the US government, and now I'm going to be asking people what they want to drink. 

And as weird as it is, I feel this is temporary, so I can handle it. 

I just can't wait to get a job and start working and have something to wake up and look forward to for the day.  You know, except for seeing Boyfriend.  Which, in case you don't have a counter, is in 25 DAYS! :D 

Sandwiches and Seahawks

Things We Say:

"I see a big moose statue dad!"--Patrick

"That's actually an Elk.  Can you say elk?"--Dad

"No I can't say elk, because that's a moose!"--Patrick

Blurb My Brain:

Ok, guys.  Apparently Blogger wanted to update their interface.  Hopefully it doesn't affect YOUR end too much.  It just changes how I see it.  Whatever. It isn't really that important I suppose.  It's kinda just a shock since you know, everyone freaks out whenever something changes.  Again. Not. Important.

But then again, neither is my painfully average day, where I went to the mall today.  Yep. Big exciting life I lead.  Well, we went to the Spokane Valley Mall, and looked around. I bought myself a Seattle Seahawks shirt, and we ate at the food court.  I had a cold Italian sub, complete with Caesar dressing. Yum.  I also splurged and had a Dr. Pepper. Lately I have been REALLY good, since I have been drinking only water.  :) So anyway, I also got see what kind of jobs are available here. Answer: not many.  The sandwich shop probably would have hired me, but that is a far commute since we're living in the middle of the woods.  

Oh, I suppose I haven't mentioned that.  We got a house! It's in the middle of the woods, on the side of a mountain and a lake.  It's a pretty nice house, and the teenager gets dibs on what room he wants, so he'll unfortunately probably get the basement.  Boo. 

That being said, we probably can't move in until after Boyfriend and I get back from vacation.  Which I can't wait for.  We are going to go to a bunch of concerts, which is apparently not what you are supposed to do in Vegas.  But come on, I'm a poor college student who happens to be unemployed.  I can't gamble my life away. LOL.