Indescribably Weird

I really had no plans on blogging anytime in the near future or perhaps at all until I return to Grand Rapids in January. (I came home a bit earlier than expected due to no hours available at BABs and my great-aunt's unexpected death.)
But then I stumbled upon this bit of news and I knew I had to blog at least one last time. I mean this story is better than the story about Matthew Pan Hiasl, everyone's favorite "person."
During Long Lake this summer, Jenny and I had a long, late night discussion about bigamy, polygamy, and David's wives. David had eight wives: Michal, Abigail, Bathsheba, Ahinoam, Maachah, Haggith, Abital, and Eglah. For more information on this, please feel free to see the most reliable source on the internet.
But here's the thing; David only had eight wives; this lady had TEN husbands. What do you do with ten husbands? I mean, okay, besides the obvious... I mean, I like guys as much as the next straight girl, but dude...that's just weird. Okay, so she was probably doing it for more money than anything else but why would you want to marry ten men? Wouldn't it get confusing? I mean, I have enough trouble keeping a couple of guys' names straight in my mind and they're just my friends. What on earth would I do if I had ten men whose names I HAD to keep straight? I guess name tags could be an option or you could number them but all of that is a bit excessive. Which leads us to....
Reason #874 why Bigamy/Polygamy are a bad idea: How do you keep their names straight?

The end of an era...or at least a semester

I'm currently sitting on my couch looking at my Christmas tree and listening to music from the movie Aladdin. The music is not putting me in the Christmas spirit but rather is relaxing me as I prepare to go to GVSU Language Resource Center and watch my classmates' and my final projects for our Spanish class. Now you may wonder about the significance of this. This will be my last school-related activity of the semester besides selling my textbooks tomorrow.
I'm looking forward to the end of the semester. Granted, I am staying out in Grand Rapids for a while longer to make a little more money in the bagel/coffee industry. But I'm just ready for classes and that stuff to be over.
Speaking of the bagel/coffee industry, the other day I invented a new drink....Raspberry-Cheesecake Hot Chocolate. It was sweet and awesome. I'm thinking about inventing more drinks the next time I'm working and I have some free/down time. I want to make either a tiramisu mocha or a tiramisu hot chocolate drink. Or maybe both...we shall see.

And in three hours or so, I'll be free....
Then I'll be able to work and earn money and invent more drinks if people come to visit me at work. Also, let me know if you think up any brilliant drinks I should invent.

The Domestication of Cecilia Irene

So my life has been interesting of late. And by of late, I mean over the past two days. Yesterday, Lauren, Nicole, and I left the Mishler homestead around 10 hours ante meridian and arrived in Grand Rapids around noon. Lauren left and went to work while Nicole and I fiddled around our house. Then Nicole went to work around four hours post meridian while I continued to fiddle around the house. (For any interested parties, I can't really fiddle. I was actually doing homework, reading, drinking coffee, taking a trip to Beaner's/Biggby's, and other interesting endeavors.)
Then in the evening, Nicole returned home around 9pm and ate supper. Then we invited Lauren and Alex over and of course, they came. Then we adjourned to Lauren's house to make use of the fact that Sandy and Samson have gone away for the weekend. We also made use of the television and DVD player (and my free rental coupon from Blockbuster) to watch the fourth movie in a classic American adrenaline epic. It was fabulous.
Then today, I went to work at Big Apple Bagels. I had to be there at 9am and I was scheduled to work until close. Now, BABs closes at 3pm on Saturdays so usually you're out of there by 3:15 or 3:30. Today, closing took forever and I didn't clock out until 4:08pm. On the upside, I did get thirteen free bagels. But then I had to stand at the bus stop in the cold and wind for 50 minutes waiting for a bus. I'm still trying to recover. It made me cold,
But then it was when I arrived at home that my real domestication began. Before leaving my parents' house yesterday, my mother gave me the turkey carcass from our Thanksgiving dinner. Combined with the fact that we have a large soup tureen in our kitchen and I had some spare carrots and celery, I made turkey soup for our dinner tonight. We're hoping that when Lauren and Alex and possibly Alex's twin join us later in the evening, they will eat some soup. But Nicole says it was good soup.
I'll show you a picture of the soup and another of Alex.
As you can see, I also put some noodles into the soup as well as the turkey, carrots, and celery. I also found a few green beans that I threw in for good measure. Nicole really liked it. She also enjoyed the free bagel I gave her.
This is a picture of Alex sleeping on bed, partially just to harass D.Cous. Obviously, this is NOT the Alex who came over and watched a movie with us last night.

It's an American Tragedy

Well, okay it's not really. The time has come to say "Adios" or "au revoir" to our dearly beloved Coach Lloyd Carr. Now he can devote his life to things other than losing to Ohio State.
If you're wondering, I only have one more class until I'm on break. Unfortunately, that class starts in 8 hours and 21 minutes. I will not be well-rested for class. I think I shall sleep on the car ride home.

Well...it could always be worse

In case you've never noticed, I have a tendency towards sarcasm. My life is actually going pretty well right now if you don't mention the following conversation I had yesterday when I got off work where I had not been allowed to watch the UofM vs. OSU game. At half-time, Kyle sent me a text message informing me that OSU was up 7-3 but "don't cry. Mike Hart is playing."
So after the game, I sent him a message asking "Can I cry yet or has Mike Hart saved the day?"
Kyle's response? "Start crying. Ohio St. won 14-3."
I wanted to cry; maybe I did and maybe I didn't. That's for me to know and you to find out.
And then we learned of this sad bit of news. I shall be sad to see this occur but I believe that the time has come. I don't even really remember Gary Moeller although he was the coach of my early childhood. And Bo was coach until 1989, but who expects me to remember the first year or two of my life? Lloyd Carr is the only coach I've ever really known or remembered. I'm sad. But I really don't want to see Ron English become the coach; I'm not sure he would be good at it.

In other news that I briefly hinted at earlier, I have been gainfully employed for almost two weeks now. On Monday, November 5, I was hired to work at Big Apple Bagels (Bab's) in Grand Rapids. I take orders as well as stocking shelves, making coffee, specialty drinks, and sandwiches. For those of you who remember tales of my times at Bath and Body Works, this new job is much better. This new job is also the reason my Thanksgiving break will be a bit shorter than preferable. I need to be back in GR in time to work on Saturday morning, so I'll only be home from Tuesday until Friday morning.
But I am skipping two classes on Tuesday because Greg wants to leave at 2pm and I can't do that unless I skip class. So I shall be home in time to eat some of my lovely mother's cooking...which is always a good thing.
I also get free bagels when I work at the closing shift at Bab's because otherwise the bagels are just thrown away. That's a pretty great deal.
In not so happy news, I'm getting sick. This might have something to do with the fact that I almost never sleep. The fact that I stood outside in the cold rain for 45 minutes yesterday might be another factor. Who knows? All I know is that I'm sleepy and I feel gross.

YOU NEED TO SHAVE

So I returned to Ann Arbor this weekend. It was a lovely trip and I hope to return to the area again soon...how does Thanksgiving sound? Lovely...I'll see some of you then.

So Friday night, after a lovely family dinner, I went to see You Can't Take It with You at the same time as Dani, Maryn, Framy, and Schmidt-face; I suppose you could say we watched it together. The play was great and it was good to see all the folks. And of course, Brad and I were able to renew our memberships in Mean People Anonymous. We are also considering allowing Dan to join us; he seems to be progressing well. And Maryn also seems to have a future in being mean to people. We'll really have to see how that one goes.
Saturday, I had a great day. In the morning I interviewed the famous Barb Panning about what life is like when you are a teacher. It was very informational and useful. Later in the day, my family had a large number of guests for dinner. There were my guests: Jenny and Alex; they were well-behaved and are invited to come again. Then there were Gregoire's guests; they were loud and argumentative. They sat around and discussed the Tridentine Mass vs. Novus Ordo; they really seem to prefer the Latin Mass to speaking English. Yeah...they were interesting. I think they might have scared Alex but he's a big boy...I think he lived.
After that, we all headed over to the Nitkiewiczes for Mary's party...and talked about weddings and really expensive engagement rings ($20,000 for example) despite the fact that I did promise Alex that we wouldn't discuss weddings at all. Poor kid...he really does get abused. But he was a good sport and maybe some day he'll have to go engagement ring shopping. If he does that, he'd better spend a lot less than $20,000.
So after we left that house, Jenny, Alex, and I went to Starbucks...where Alex's twin, Kyle, called. (Alex goes to UofM; Kyle goes to GVSU and is a friend of mine. Alex and I are also friends but he doesn't attend GVSU so I don't see him as much as I see his brother.) So Kyle calls and Alex gives me the phone without telling Kyle who he's at the pick-pockets with. All he says is that he's there with a "crazy mysterious woman." So I tell Kyle that I'm the crazy mysterious woman and he replies, "What the heck are you doing in Ann Arbor?"
After a brief refresher that my parents live in A2 we had a nice chat until his brother decided he needed the phone back. Shortly after this, Ben, a friend of mine from high school and a friend of Alex's from UCO, calls Alex and basically invites Alex, Jenny, and me to come over to his dorm and hang out for a while. So now we head over to UofM's campus and hang out with Ben and his roommate, David, and this other guy, Josh, for a couple hours. We watched Sports Center and were able to view the awesomeness that is the University of Michigan's football team. It was pretty great.
But this was also where things got awkward. Somehow we got unto the topic of girls and leg-shaving. Over the summer, Alex and I were at someone's house when that person's little brother pulled my pants leg up to my knee and yelled "YOU NEED TO SHAVE."
David informed us of a few interesting points such as the fact that he didn't know that girls shave their legs until he was in high school and even now he can't tell whether or not girls have shaved their legs. (Hairy legs are after all our only link to reality.)
A bit later we were discussing the serious lack of males at GVSU (this institution is 73% female) and there are very few single men. Now this is not to say that I want a boyfriend; I'm merely stating that sometimes it's really nice to hang out with a guy who won't run off to canoodle someplace the minute his girlfriend gets back. It's also incredibly awkward to sit around with like six or seven girls and one guy. Now most of these guys (Greg and Kyle) are good sports about this but it has to be rough on them. But anyway...I remarked about how there are almost no single guys around and David looks at me and says "Oh, I bet I know what you want." Yep, Dave, that's right; I'm just another single girl out to get a boyfriend...or not! I'm more interested in finding someone you can talk to without having to also talk to his girlfriend/fiancee/wife.
But yeah...I like people; they're awesome.
And for the record...I'm still single and I shaved my legs this morning. Return to Me lied to me.

What grace has given to me...

Below is an explanation of a stressful, awful event in my life that has yielded some unusual results.
On Friday, I borrowed Noelle's car for part of the afternoon to go take care of a job application. I was driving back home on bridge street and there was a bus in front of the service drive for Union High School. There was a minivan stopped at the bottom of the hill wanting to turn into this service drive. (At this point I should mention that it was raining and it had been raining all day.) Then, I, being the idiot that I am, hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and rammed the car into the back of the guy's minivan.
Noelle's car is totaled, destroyed. And I'm really lucky that car had airbags because according to the police, I'd be dead if not for the airbag. My nose and upper lip are pretty badly cut up and bruised. (My face hurts a lot and I keep ice on it most of the time.) I also have cuts and bruises on my arms and chest. (All of those are from the airbag.) My knees are pretty bruised up too but that's probably from being slammed into something in the car at impact.
A nice guy driving by stopped and called the police and helped take care of me. I called Noelle who, thank God, was not mad at me. She took care of calling the insurance company and everything. Then Beth Parr drove her over to where we were to help out. Noelle dealt with getting the car towed while Beth took me back to her house. I stayed there for most of the rest of the day. Beth even made me a nice homemade dinner; it was beautiful.
Noelle's dad and my mom drove out to GR and stayed for about two or three hours to help take care of Noelle and me. The car is over and done with. I have a ticket to deal with although since my parents agree that it is an accident, they're willing to help me pay for it if I need the help. I'll find out on Monday how bad everything is in that area.
So yeah, I'm in pain but I survived; thank God. Pretty much everything that happened after the accident was an act of God. The policeman was amazingly nice to me. The guy who called the police was awesome and so helpful. Beth Parr normally has piano lessons all afternoon Friday and she was supposed to drive her daughter Becca to Lansing yesterday but she didn't have any piano lessons yesterday and someone else was able to drive Becca to Lansing earlier in the day. My mom and Mr. Gornik were able to drive out to GR and take care of us.
And no one is mad at me, which was my biggest fear. Not going to lie, I was terrified to call Noelle. God has really blessed me in this situation, although now more than ever I really need a job.
So yeah, if you see me anytime in the next couple days, my face will probably still be a bit of a mess; right now I kind of look like Charlie Chaplin. And I survived with only cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Praise God for airbags.
Please pray that everything just keeps working out from here.

Something's Up

So today I was at Meijer's with Noelle. She needed to grab something from one part of the store and I needed something from another part of the store. So we went our separate ways and were off searching. Suddenly, the store goes pitch black for about a whole second or two. And then a woman screamed. Then the emergency generator kicked in gear and then...behold...THERE WAS LIGHT!
But it was still very dim. And a voice came over the PA saying "Will all employees please report to customer service?"
The store remained dimly lit for the rest of our shopping expedition. Then we drove home and until about half a mile or maybe a bit more from our house, there was no power. But now we're home where we have power.
And Lauren and Audrey have joined us for the evening.

Funny, she doesn't look Druish.

At many points in my life I have been mistaken for things I am not.
When I was seventeen years old, I was babysitting a very sweet, very blond infant. She does have dark brown eyes, but when this particular incident took place, she happened to be asleep in her stroller. It was a scorching hot afternoon in the middle of August and Thea and I were out for a walk. She was sleeping in her stroller (as previously stated) and I was strolling along the streets (aka Cross Street) of Depot Town. Suddenly, this random woman came up to me and started giving me what-for because I was a single mother and I was a teenage mother. It was a horrible. After a few minutes of this, I looked at her and said, "Well, at least I didn't have an abortion."
She didn't have much of a response to this and just walked away.

Over the past several years, people have asked me if I was Assyrian, Spanish, Dutch, and various other nationalities. Let's review, kiddos. I'm half-Italian, a quarter-Slovak, and a quarter-mutt. I might be part Dutch, but I am NOT Assyrian or Spanish.
The other day someone asked me if my last name was "Hernandez." Yeah...I'm not Hispanic.
And then last Thursday my Sociology professor asked me if I was Jewish.
Nope...not religiously, not culturally, not all. I am a Catholic Christian, but I am not a Jew of any form.

Also, way too many people are getting engaged right now. So if you're planning on getting engaged in the near future, please wait at least a week. I've had two engagements of good friends in the past four days. So yes, please don't get engaged any time soon.

Donal, I'm not really worried about you.

And now I've seen it all...

So for years I've heard people say "Animals are people too." Well this takes the cake. These people want to have a chimpanzee declared a human being. Umm...let's review a few things I remember from biology. A human being belongs to the genus species "homo sapien." A chimpanzee...DOES NOT. They are "Pan troglodytes". They are from the same biological family as us humans, but they are not the same genus or species.
Secondly, if we're going to declare this chimp a human, can we declare my cat a human? I swear he understands English even if he doesn't have the brain capacity to speak English. Plus, you must admit that my cat is MUCH cuter than any chimp. Here, I"ll prove it to you.
Here's Matthew Hiasl Pan, the supposedly human chimpanzee. He's a pretty average looking chimp. He looks friendly and all, but I don't think Matthew and I could ever be good friends.
















Now here's my cat; his name is Alex and he's very cute. He sleeps with me at night and he's warm, furry, and snuggly. He likes to watch TV, and he eats fish, turkey, chicken, corn, and black beans. And he'll comfort you when you're sad...if he feels like it.
Now would you rather have a chimpanzee that eats bananas and insects off his fur and scratches himself in weird places or would you rather have this little kitty cat sleeping on your pillow? Now, if you are allergic to cats, I'm sorry and you don't have to come play with my cat, but do you see what I'm trying to say? A chimpanzee is not a person. Thank God the judge agrees with me. Maybe there are still some logical people in this world.

He's a Pirate

The king and his men stole the queen from her bed and bound her in her boat. The seas be ours and by the powers where we will, we'll roam.
Yo-ho, all together hoist the colors high. Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die.

Ahoy maties, today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Savvy?
So put yer parrot on yer shoulder, feel the wind in the sails, and set off for Tortuga with me. Argh!

You need a mother very, very badly.

So this morning Noelle and I were driving home from a UCO Service project when we happened upon the subject that it would take a slightly crazy to be married to either of us. So as we pulled up to a red light, I remarked, "Noelle, let's go find us some nutso men."
And then this car pulled up next to us and the guy driving it was checking us out.

On second thought, let us not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.

No se de ustedes pero a veces me gusta un lugar sonso. Si quieres saber porque hablo en Espanol, pueden preguntarme.

And that's all for the Cecilia speaking Spanish show for today.

I was sitting in my Brit Lit class today when I came to a realization. I've heard some really funny quotations in the past few days and I need to share them with someone. Also I need to tell you all about how for two days the DSL in my house wasn't working but then when we disconnected the DSL from the DSL filter and just let it run on it's own through the phone jack, the stupid blinking red light suddenly turned green. Fue un milagro!

Now for your quotations...
"Rehab...it's the new confession." Joan Morgan, a speaker at a presentation I attended yesterday.
"My dad doesn't compare with Satan." My Brit Lit prof on how Hellboy being Satan's son is not exactly something you run across on a daily basis.

A person can develop la grippe...la post nasal drip with a wheeze

So life is going along swimmingly. I haven't been swimming since Long Lake, but that doesn't matter. My classes are going wonderfully; I'll sum them up briefly for you.
Diversity in Education: it's going to be a ton of fun; the prof is ridiculously liberal but really good at what he does.
Spanish 322: Me gusta esta clase mucho. La profesora conoce mucho y aprendo mucho.
Brit Lit 1: I love this class. The prof is great and it's fun. Okay so it's at 8:30 am and I'm not that awake, but it's good. I like it a great deal.
Intro to Education: I have the same prof here as I do in Diversity and he's really good; I'm a fan of this class.
Social Problems (sociology 280): He's a psycho hippie but that's okay. He's funny, but he never lets you know where he stands on anything. I'd rather disagree with every single one of his opinions than not know what he thinks.

And now to the rest of my life. I have developed a rather nasty cough. It sounds rather unpleasant and worries me a great deal. I am consuming cough drops at a rate that just might keep Hall's Fruit Breezers in business and I'm also helping Spartan Brand NyQuil out a bit as well.
If anyone has a diagnosis for my cough, please let me know. I don't think it's bronchitis but Lauren mentioned it might be croup. All mothers are welcome to give me their input.

Crocheted Items for Sale

I'm going into business for myself selling crocheted scarves, mittens, and blankets. I will both take orders and sell items I have made and am willing to part with.
I am currently making a pink furry scarf that will be long enough to touch your waist in front and in back. This should be done by September 10. I'm looking to sell this item for about $10-$15.
I am also about to start working on a rose-colored baby blanket with white edging. This should be done by the end of September or early October at the latest. I'm looking to sell this for $30.

I will also take orders. For orders you can either buy the yarn and give it to me or I'll buy the yarn and include it in the cost of the item; I will charge a little for my time and energy. (The cost for my time and energy will probably be $5 for a scarf, $7-8 for mittens, $10-15 for a baby blanket, and $17-20 for an adult blanket.)

Please contact me at cecilia.hendricks@gmail.com with orders, requests, or any questions you may have.

Back in the Saddle Again

So I'm back in Grand Rapids for another year of classes. I moved out here yesterday and I'm pretty much settled into my new living arrangement.

COA went wonderfully and the root canal went as well as it could. But now I'm just ready for a good school year with a good household, great friends, and as little stress and drama as humanly possible...for me.

It's not Unusual

For your amusement and enjoyment, lads and lassies, I will now present you with my schedule for the next few weeks.
August 6-13: COA (I will be staying at the Gorniks' house)
August 14: Root Canal #4! This glorious event will be taking place at 8am and then I will be returning to my parents' house for the day. I'll return to the Gornik house that night or the next day.
August 15-18: I will return to COA and the Gornik House.
August 18 after 10pm: I will be returning home. I will remain here long enough to go to the eye doctor, have my hair cut, and see as many of my favorite people as possible.
I plan to return to GVSU and my house in Grand Rapids sometime between August 21 and 23.

At some point in the near future, I also plan to begin upon a course towards world domination. I will be embarking on this path with a few good friends who desire to remain nameless. However, they are both charming fellows and will be mentioned for the foreseeable future as "Frigging" and "Bullocks". Frigging is short and Bullocks is not; I hope you two can accept the three of us as Julius Caesar, Pompey, and their little sister Cassandra. If not, perhaps, you could look at us as Marc Antony, Augustus, and their cousin Anastasia. And if you really can't accept that, look on us as Stalin, Castro, and Imelda Marcos.

Fit as a Fiddle

So I've decided to come clean about one of my deep and abiding medical problems. This ailment has been troubling me for many years but the doctors refuse to accept this as a real medical condition. However, I took it to the local pharmaceutical companies and they told me that not only did I have a dreadful medical condition, but they could offer me a prescription for it. Now, my insurance won't cover the drugs and it costs an arm and a leg, literally, but I think it's really worth it.
So the other day, I gave them my right leg and and my left arm in exchange for a prescription to treat my disease. But having only one leg is actually quite helpful; I'm only in half as much pain as I once was. You see, since I was seven years old, I've been suffering from restless baby toe syndrome.

I feel so much better now after getting that off my chest.

Me oh My

This morning, I opened the fridge and pulled out the orange carton that supposedly contained orange juice. Being a bit tired and bleary-eyed, I shook up the carton and then poured myself a glass. Now I knew I was tired, but it seemed to me that the orange juice was a bit brighter in color than usual. It was about the color of TANG! as opposed to the subtle light orange color I've grown accustomed to my orange juice being. I took a sip, assuming the color issue to be due to my having only woken up a few minutes earlier. Whatever this substance I was consuming was, it did not taste like the Meijer's Pulpless Orange Juice I have grown to know and love.
So I looked at the carton to see what valuable insight it might give me as to why my orange juice looked like TANG instead of my beloved orange juice.
Closer inspection of the orange juice carton revealed the truth to me. I had not just poured myself a glass of orange juice. (Actually, if we want to be really accurate in this tale, I had poured myself a plastic cup of an unidentified liquid substance.)
Anyway, the carton revealed to me that my lovely mother had gone out and bought Meijer's Tangerine Juice. And if that weren't bad enough, my lovely mother had left for the airport about an hour and a half before I woke up...and she won't be returning until Sunday. In addition, she had taken my father with her, so I couldn't complain to either one of them about it. Nor could I con them into returning the tangerine juice to the store and replacing it with a product of a slightly higher quality.
My esteemed brother also noticed the odd choice of beverage, but he thought it tasted fine. However, he also wondered why our lovely mother had bought tangerine juice of all things.

Maison des Lunes

So I looked out my front window and noticed that our copy of the esteemed publication The Ann Arbor News was sitting in our newspaper delivery box so I put on some shoes and trotted out to the box to pick it up. Now I had been on my laptop earlier in the day and had already discovered via Yahoo news that I could, if I so desired, view a video of the delightful socialite (and for some reason celebrity) Paris Hilton leaving jail. Now seeing as such a prospect did not entice me, I was able to avoid the "captivating" Miss Hilton.
However, upon retrieving my copy of the newspaper, I glanced over the front page to see what movie was showing at Top of the Park this evening and was pleased to discover that it was "Singin' in the Rain", one of my favorite movies. In glancing over the cover, I also happened to notice the day's main headlines. One was about crooks removing catalytic converters from cars and another was about an eating competition, a thought that just makes me want to hurl. There was also a helpful piece about children bringing medicines into schools, which is important. I remember being a senior in high school who needed to take a painkiller and a few other prescriptions before a root canal and having to leave these drugs in the school office all day.
But I digress. The main headline on the paper read "Paris pays her debt to society (sort of)" with a subtitle of "Surprise! Good behavior gets her sprung".
Now maybe this blog post is only contributing to the popularity of celebutantes such as Miss Hilton, but I am sick of the amount of publicity Miss Hilton has been receiving in recent months. I have heard people discussing this case at church and in other unusual places. Why is it that we Americans insist on treating movie stars and people who have done nothing other than being born into a wealthy family as heroes? What has Paris Hilton done to receive our praise or respect? We live in a world of crazy people.

stab my back...it's better when I bleed for you...

Okay so tonight I was out hanging out with friends and had a great time. Then I get home and my dad informs me that Bath and Body Works called while I was out to tell me that they don't need me to come to work tomorrow. I was originally going to get ten hours this week. Now I'm getting ten...if they have me work Saturday. I'm so angry with those idiots. If anyone knows anyone who would be willing to hire me to work for them for about a month or so, that'd be great. I won't be able to work after July 27 and I'm going to Long Lake from July 14-21. But if I could get a second job or just a new job, that'd be great. I really need the money.

What does it all mean?

These are real quotes from Bath and Body Works customers.

Yesterday this guy came in and started looking at our Wallflowers. (They're like a Glade Plug-In type thing.) He was looking at them and I went over to him to ask him how I could help him. He looked at me and said, "I want one that doesn't smell too gay."

A little later this lady was looking at our anti-bacterial soaps and she picked up a bottle that was clearly marked "sparkling peach". She opened it and sniffed it before announcing to anyone between Von Maur and Northern Canada that it "smells like cat pee! Oh, it's peach. I don't like peaches. They smell like cat pee."

Right...well, no peach I've ever eaten smells like cat pee, but if you feed your cat peaches, her pee will smell like peaches.

Run and do not grow weary

I don't usually like moralizing or philosophizing online, but tonight I want to say this. I want people to think about this.
Last Friday, Jack "Dr. Death" Kevorkian was released from prison after spending seven years in prison for helping a man who was unable to kill himself commit suicide. While Kevorkian has no intention to return to the assisted suicide business (probably due to his probation), he does intend to work towards the legalization of euthanasia, assisted suicide, and suicide.
Last night, six good men died trying to save the life of another man. These men died when their helicopter crashed into Lake Michigan when they were trying to take organs to the University of Michigan hospital to save the life of a man, a man who will probably die because of this accident.

I highly doubt that this man WANTS to die. I doubt this family wants him to die. Jack Kevorkian is in the business of helping people die. Richard Chenault and the others in that helicopter were in the business of helping people live. We do not have a God-given right to die. We do have a God-given right to life and a duty to protect life. Euthanasia is not mercy; it is sin. Assisted suicide does no one any favors. In short, we have a duty to protect life from conception to a natural death when God calls us home.

Somewhere out there

So I never did find out what Honey's middle name was although her last name was Polish. However, I will say that her personality was not such that it would inspire you to think of Honey-or anything else sweet and smooth. But then I suppose that when Frau Hitler named her son "Adolph" she never dreamed that name would become synonymous with evil. And somehow, in my twisted little head, that all made sense.
But yeah...naming your kids things like "Honey" "Snookums" or "Sweetiecakes" that's just a bad idea.
In other news I went to Traverse City for my mom's cousin's daughter's wedding. Now you may wonder what I was doing there since we basically have no real blood connection and I haven't seen Lauren since I was nine. Well, I'll explain that. We're Italian; she's family. Heck, we call Lauren's dad's sister who is no relation to us at all "Auntie Linda." Yeah...you know you're Italian when...

I'm still working at Bath and Body Works. We're having training this week and part of next week. Our trainer who came in from corporate is nuts. She's pretty nice in general, but her favorite phrase is "I'm extremely passionate about....[insert BBW product name here]..."
Well, I'm extremely passionate about hating the phrase "extremely passionate."

Anyway kiddos, I'll see y'all on the flip side.

All Eyes are On Me

Ya know? That would be a great blog name. But it really doesn't suit my personality, so we'll keep calling my blog "somewhere only we know." Granted, I like the Goo Goo Dolls more than I like Keane, but still...I'm not a huge fan of being the center of attention.

So I FINALLY started work today. For about 8.5 hours, I opened boxes, moved boxes, looked at way too much lotion, shower gel, body creme, and other such girly products. It was an enlightening experience. Some of the people I work with tend to make me look like of boy-ish. Fancy that! I'm nto a very girly-girl. I honestly never knew that. For example, I have never bewailed breaking a nail. I just cut my nails and go on with my life.

One of the more interesting moments at work was spending time around a woman named "Honey". One of my coworkers (whose parents sensibly named her Jennifer) come up to me and said "How do you pronounce her name? It's spelled 'Honey' but is that how you say it?" And I had to reply yes.
Yes, you read that right; her parents bestowed the lovely moniker of "Honey" upon their dear, darling child. Now, Donal recently (ie in the past six months) mentioned talking to someone named "Princess" but honestly, I'd rather be named "Princess" than "Honey". Now, I really like being named "Cecilia" and have no intention of changing my name except if I ever get married and change my last name.
But anyway...would all of you please now refrain from naming your children things like "Honey"? Anyway...I'm tired so I think I'll go sleep.

Mother, we just can't get enough...

So, I was initially scheduled to work yesterday from 7am to 4:30 pm and today from 12:30pm to 9:30pm. Then the trucks didn't come in time so they had to postpone the store move until tomorrow. So I was supposed to work Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 12:30pm to 9:30pm. Then I got a call today saying "Okay, the trucks still aren't here so you won't be working until next week. Now I'm working Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 12:30pm to 9:30 pm and Tuesday from 4pm to 9:30pm.
Honestly, I find all of this redunkulous. What is with their trucks? I mean okay I can socialize more this weekend but I really just want to work. I need the money and I'm sick of sitting around my house. Granted, I've been reading Jasper Fforde books and I must say those are some awesome books; I love them. But I really just want to start working.
So yeah...
I love Text Twist and reading and playing FreeCell but that all gets old quickly. Can I start working yet?

Superman is dead...

Okay, so the title really has little/nothing to do with my new post. I just heard that song on the radio today and I liked it. So I decided it should be the title of my new post. For any concerned parties, Superman is not dead. (Christopher Reeve died a few years ago, but apparently in Hollywood, that did not mean that Clark Kent had to die with him.

Anyway, today I drove to Lansing for a summer camp staff meeting. The drive up was quite pleasant and the meeting was good, but the drive home was abominable. It took me an hour and a half to get from Lansing to Brighton. It usually takes me less than that to get from Lansing to Ann Arbor. That annoyed me but Marge and I made it home safely so we can't complain too much.

Today I came to a realization about life. I ran into an old friend at the staff meeting and we chatted for a second or two, nothing major just saying hello and how are you. Then as I was sitting in traffic contemplating the migraine I was enduring I realized something. Once upon a time, Amy and I were good friends; we were close-ish. And back in the day, her brother and I were just friendly acquaintances. We knew each other's names and we would acknowledge each other's existence if forced. But now, he's actually one of my good friends and someone with whom I could actually have a conversation. When did that happen?

It's really funny how life changes. I'm glad it does. I'm just really starting to wonder when these things happen. Maybe I should start paying attention...

i need a husband...

...or no one else is getting married for a while.

Yesterday, Rachel, Lauren, and I trekked out to Grand Rapids for Shannon and Aaron's wedding. The wedding was great fun; we had loads of fun dancing and hanging out with people.
But as previously mentioned, I need a husband because I CAUGHT SHANNON'S BOUQUET!!!!!!!!!
So yeah, either no one else is getting married for a while or I'm getting married soon.

oh and I got the job at Bath and Body Works. I'm now officially employed.

a brief recap of a boring life

We're having a thunderstorm. My cat does not like this. But I'll tell you when Senor Alex the Cat does like-gum wrappers from peppermint gum. He licks them and acts like he's found his mommy or something. It's really adorable.
On Thursday, I returned to the old familial homestead and my favorite thing about this lovely house is free food cooked by my dear darling mother. (Henceforth and heretofore, my dear darling mother shall be referred to as the DDM.) I've also been unpacking and cleaning my room. I donated two garbage bags of old clothes to the poor today. I couldn't believe how much random stuff I've collected since I last cleaned my closet.
Friday night, I saw Richard's production of West Side Story. It was wonderful. Those kids can sing, dance, and act. I also got to see some old friends and I actually spent most of Friday with the wonderful Jenny and my beloved Alaina. I hadn't seen Laina since New Year's Eve so Friday was wonderful.
Saturday, I don't remember what I did. I spent the evening with Annie but I can't remember anything else. Maybe that means Saturday was just really boring. Let's go with that idea. Saturday was probably too boring to mention.
Sunday, I went to church and the Word of Life prayer meeting...again seeing people I hadn't seen in ages.
And today, I went job applying. I have an interview on Thursday at Bath and Body Works. I'd really like to get that job. So I'd appreciate any and all prayers y'all could send my way.


Keep your stick on the ice, dear friends!

My apparent refusal to develop morally

I really like psychology; it's a very intriguing subject matter. But I cannot stand my psychology professor. I'm taking Life Span Human Development and this woman is one odd duck. This morning, during her lecture she was discussing (and not for the first time) how religious people never progress beyond a certain level of development. Apparently, I am in formal operations and I will never progress into concrete operations. Well la-dee-da! I like being Catholic. And if that means I stop developing morally and psychologically okay, we'll do that! Because being Catholic is fun!.
And today she was off on how people who go to church are just doing it for social status, like so other people will think better of them. I'm sorry. I've never gone to church to gain social status. After class I was talking to a good friend who also happens to be Catholic; we're going to call her Lizzie because it's her name. So Lizzie and I were walking and talking; we're multi-talented. And we were discussing how this prof really annoys us with her close-mindedness, of which she regularly accuses Christians. We also discussed her penchant for gross generalizations, something else of which Lizzie and I are supposedly guilty. And Lizzie agreed with me; she admitted that she doesn't go to Mass for social gain. "I don't want to get up every Sunday morning in time for 10 o'clock Mass. It's hard." And I agree with her. Why make that kind of sacrifice just for social gain?
Now if I'm going because I want to worship my God and receive him in the Eucharist, then I have a reason to be dragging myself to an 8am Mass or a 10am Mass. God is my reason. God is my motivation. And if people think better of me because I go to Mass, well then, maybe they will go to Mass with me and learn more about God.

things under my desk

I'm cleaning my room in preparation for moving back home in 13 days. And I have to say I have kept a lot of plastic bags under my desk lately. I also have textbooks in my laundry basket...not quite sure why I put them there. I also have a towel I borrowed from someone for one day back in November. Yeah...I'm a weird sort of pack rat. I had 18 lids from Jones Soda bottles saved. So I typed up the fortunes and threw away the lids.
So here are 18 "fortunes" for you with my comments.

1. Call an old friend (in bed).
2. Ask yourself why (you're here).
3. Concentration leads to success (in bed).
4. You will find security being with a loved one (in bed).
5. Destroy the beeper. (I'm really confused by this one.)
   
6. Make as many corrections as you consider needed (on your homework).
   
7. Time is the wisest counselor. (no comment)
   
8. An important decision shall soon be yours (in bed).
9. See a sunrise. (You have to get out of bed to do that.)
   
10. Accept a gift graciously. (I got this one around Christmas.)
    
11. The project that you have in mind now gains momentum (in bed).
12. Good fortune will soon find you (in bed).
13. You will soon receive compliments on your style.
14. Go to your elders when you feel a crisis (in bed).
15. You will make exciting holiday plans. (another Christmas present)
    
16. Many ideals are becoming real (in bed).
17. The strengths in your character will bring you serenity (in bed).
18. A balance is needed between home and business (in bed).

Some of those are really wrong when you add "in bed" although my favorite was one that read "You will soon receive a promotion." Prostitution anyone?

Of rats, baseball, dancing, and....Jack Black?

So I'm currenlty spending a few minutes avoiding my Spanish papers and giving anyone who actually bothers to read this thing a quick update on my life.
I have eight days of class left in this semester, then exams and I'll be back home in approximately 16 days. Yes, I am counting...more to homework deadlines than anything else.

But on to rats, baseball, dancing, and Jack Black...
So on occassion I have odd dreams. Recently, I had a dream that my friend Luke had a pet rat and he wanted me to play with it. But I was afraid of the rat so I spent my whole visit perched on the back of the couch hiding. Somehow this ended up with us all going dancing so I wouldn't have to see the ugly rat. After dancing, we climbed in a fence-in ball gowns-and played baseball. Don't you wish you'd come with us?

You may be thinking, "Okay, I've heard about rats, baseball, and dancing, but where is Jack Black in all of this?"
So I had a dream where I was with a lot of people hanging out at a friend's house and Jack Black came over for dinner. And he knew all of us and was our friend and everything was completely natural. So weird...
It would be cool to be know Jack Black. I like dancing. Baseball is fun. But I'm not really afraid of rats except in my dreams.

Let's go swimming...with our cell phones!

So last Friday I didn't have to work. So I was sitting around chatting with some friends when we decided that we NEEDED to go snake hunting. Now I have never felt any particular urge to go snake hunting but I had nothing else to do until 7pm, so I put on some comfortable clothes and my only pair of shoes that doesn't fall into the categories of "boots" "flip-flops" or "pretty dress shoes". So we eight headed off into the "wilds" of our nearby ravines. And then a little later another friend got out of class and came to join us.
So we now nine began looking for snakes and other forms of wild life. We found three snakes, two frogs, and a toad or two. In the process of finding one toad, one friend (whom we shall refer to as Moses) discovered some delightful sinking sand. Moses sunk up to his knees-and he does have a bad knee to begin with, so this was not exactly ideal. But Moses and the other males of our company got Moses out of the mud and we continued on our merry way.
And a bit later, we came upon a body of water that we needed to cross...and it proved a bit difficult. There was some debris floating on the surface as well as a log stretched across the creek/brook/stream. However, one of the boys (we'll call him Barbantio) decided that our best option would be to jump across on the debris. This idea was proposed while we were under the impression that the creek/brook/stream was only a few feet-maybe three feet- deep. So Barbantio decided to try walking across the C/B/S on the debris and then fell into the C/B/S. This event convinced Barbantio that he needed to devise a new way of crossing the C/B/S. After a few minutes he decided the best course of action would be to scoot across the C/B/S on the log.
So we all started doing this one at a time. And when it was my turn, I started scooting across the log until I fell into the river...with my cell phone in my pocket. Moses and another friend (Percival) pulled me out of the river and I got back on the log making my way across the C/B/S successfully this time. After we had everyone across the C/B/S, we moved on and began making our way back to campus. At a fork in the road, we split into two groups to see which way back was faster. Barbantio, Rebohoam, and Theseus went to the left and got out of the forest about fifteen minutes after those of us who had ventured to the right. We thought we were lost for quite a long time but in the end we came out near the art building. And to celebrate our survival of the woods, we went to the student center for smoothies.
My cell phone-Mr. Edmund Bertram-did not like falling in the water. He went into a coma for about 24 hours due to all the water that he had taken in but he was disconnected from his battery while he drained and he is now doing much better.

Saturday and Sunday were far less eventful although Saturday I went to a Seder dinner where I saw many wonderful people and Sunday I got my butt kicked in Dance Dance Revolution (DDR for the acronimists among us) by a ten-year-old who can't spell cantaloupe.
But I can spell cantaloupe so I'll go farther in life.

this is quite the commitment here

So I was registering for classes this morning when I noticed that my "General Student Record" says "Student Information effective from Winter 2007 to The End of Time" and I found this amusing. I really don't want to be in college until "the end of time". I'd like to graduate in the spring of 2011. And if time is ending in 2011, then I'll die right after I finish college. That seems a little depressing.

If you want to be happy for the rest of your life...

God is fantastic. People are special. I've learned this from my friends and family of late. I've learned that modesty is a huge thing. I'm learning to enjoy simple things like a beautiful day and time spent with friends. And I've developed a huge appreciation for great quotes. So I'm going to share a few with you.

Stacie: Keep your shirt on!

Me: I want to get Late Night.
Someone else: You want to get laid tonight?

My roommie is watching this show where people who are involved in serious relationships are given a chance to get back together with their exes. And their exes watch all this happen. It made me really sad just to listen to it. People lost their relationships with good people to the show. Maybe their relationships would have ended without the show but maybe not. I prefer to look on the bright side.
Man, people are so cynical these days. Relationships are built for lasting. I'm never going on a reality show to look for a relationship or something like that. I am not cut out for "The Bachelor" or anything like that. I'm too me for that. I like being able to announce my need to pee. And I want to be happy for the rest of my life...so naturally I should never marry a pretty lady.

Yep, keep it real kids. Don't cut off your toes. You might need them some day.

Major Changes

So since I was like twelve or so I've wanted to be a nurse. Whenever anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I automatically answered, "a nurse!" And people told me how we need more nurses and there's a lot of money to be found in nursing and you get signing bonuses and hospitals will pay you back for your years of college and yeah, it looked really good.
But then I had a revelation. I do NOT want to be a nurse. First off, let's talk about blood...or not.
Then we could talk about stringing IVs into people's arms, but I'd really rather we didn't. It's just not meant for me
So through a long series of thoughts and praying and talking to people I have decided to change my major to education. Sure there are a plethora of teachers out there but I feel called to it. I feel like this is where God wants me to be and this is what he wants me to do and who am I to argue with God?
After all, St. Augustine said "Our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee."
And I once said, "The greatest adventure in life is being where God wants you to be because then you're doing his will."
And then life's just amazing.

So this is Lent...

I was thinking about Lent today. First in my chemistry discussion, my discussion group was discussing Lent. It turns out that I am not the only practicing Catholic in this group and so we were discussing Lent. We were talking about what people give up or what they do for Lent. One girl mentioned that one year her mom had all the kids in their family make their beds every day during Lent.
This reminded me of a year that my mom made my brother and I give up fighting with each other for Lent. Amazingly, it worked and we don't really fight anymore.
Later in the day, two friends and I were discussing Lent again. We were discussing family traditions including our hatred of lentils. (Those things are so gross.)
And I realized something in all of this. When I was younger, I hated Lent. I viewed it as a time when things I liked where taken away from me. It was a punishment, a road block. But as I've grown up, I've realized some things. I actually look forward to Lent now. It's a time for sacrifice and growth, not punishment. It's a time to grow closer to God, not put roadblocks up around yourself. And plus, at the end, you get to have Easter. And that's the best part of all of it. The Tridium is the source and summit of our faith. You get the Eucharist on Thursday night, Friday you get Jesus dying to save us all, and on Sunday morning, he rises from the dead to bring us all back to him.
I love being Catholic.

Being a Lemming

So I've decided to get a blog. I had a xanga but yeah...I don't like that so much anymore. So I'm moving onward and upward to blogger. I guess we'll see if I actually stick with this.