A case of the blahs....

It's that time of year. The boring time of year. I can guarantee that I spend more time googling vacations at this time of year than any other. I am just itching to get out of town, or get something on the books that states in writing that I will be taking some sort of vaca soon. I need it on the books!

My sisters and I share this. I think it must have come from my Mom as she is as bad as I am; and it gets worse every year. The "borings" hit me as soon as all of the holiday excitement ends and we're left with the LLLLOOOOONNNG stretch from here till Easter.

So what to do to make the time pass? Winter is in full swing and I have lots of books to read, recipes to cook, yoga classes to take, volunteer hours to do, work (of course) - but I still find myself bored. Saturday nights roll around and my husband and I stare at each other blankly wondering how to pass the evening. Are we so lame?

The answer is yes.

So - here's the plan. I got the itch big time this morning and decided that even taking a little 36 hour getaway this weekend is better than staring at one another or the tv this weekend. Which is why we will be spending our weekend in lovely..... New Haven, CT! Actually we will be staying in
Branford, CT, which is very close. I want to visit Gillette Castle, Yale University, have one of those famous steamed burgers like I saw on Man vs. Food!

Now that's what I'm talking about it! It's not the Caribbean, but it's a change of scenery!

GO BIG ORANGE!

Ok I am going to take a moment and get all vol on ya. Who saw my boys take on #1 ranked Kansas in bball last night?

And who saw them WIN despite playing with three walk-ons because the scholarshipped guys are idiots? I DID! It was amazing! Me and hubs were cheering and jumping up and down and screaming!!

Sweet tea Skylar McBee made the shot OF HIS LIFE last night. Double clutch, terrible-looking three-pointer that put the nail in the coffin. It was an amazing night for Tennessee fans!

On a side note: UT's own Renaldo Woolridge is also known as SwiperBoy. A rapper who pretty much raps about Tennessee Athletics. If you search for him you can get his myspace page and take a listen to such favorite as "Eric Berry." My favorite lyric: "Eric Berrrryyy, Eric Berry, (in a whisper) man he's scary!" Check out the story on espn.com here.

V-O-L-S! GO VOLS GO!

Bouncing back

It's funny how life works sometimes. Today I was having a really nice pity-party for myself. Driving along yesterday after work, my check engine light came on again. I have already written about how my car is not healthy and most like not going to be with us much longer.

On top of that, I went to my yoga studio last night only to be faced with a person in my new class who I absolutely cannot stand and she was rude. I will have to see her every Thursday from 6:30 - 8:00 for the next 11 weeks. Yippee!

Then, I went to return something my Mom bought for me for Christmas and a "kindly" saleswoman saw me browsing and pointed me towards a rack of larger sizes than the one where I was looking. Why would she do this you ask? Because she believed I am larger than I actually am! Sonuva!

So, I was a little down in the dumps this afternoon... feeling sorry for myself. Thinking about what a hard time I have of things right now and wallowing in it.

But then, I went to do my volunteer shift at Downtown Daily Bread in downtown Harrisburg. I spent two hours dishing up desserts to anyone who came in the door and knowing that many of these people would be spending this evening out in the cold. And it's cold here. It's snowy and cold and the wind is whipping around my house. And here I sit in my kitchen being warm and comfortable, smelling the pot of chili I put on to cook a bit ago and thinking about how lucky I am.

I try not to allow myself to give unfortunate people my pity. They are individuals and they deserve to be regarded with dignity, not as poor pitiful souls. But many of these people broke my heart - literally rent it in two. A woman, petite, with a lovely face. So cold she shook violently when she came in and who could not look me in the eyes when she chose her piece of peach pie. She who was offered hand-warmers by another man in the soup kitchen and took them gratefully. What struck me about this act was how much of a sacrifice it was for the man who gave her the hand-warmers. Did he even know her name?

As I walked away from the shelter a million thoughts ran through my mind. We had only fed them lunch, would they have dinner? Would there be breakfast the next day? A warm cup of coffee? Is there a shelter where they would sleep? What about all of the other people who didn't come in for lunch that day? Have they eaten today or in the last few days? Would they freeze to death during the cold night? What else can I do for them? What else can I do?

Then it struck me that all of my questions and worries and thoughts for these people are most likely shared by the patrons of the shelter as well.. They must think about where the next meal will come from and worry for their safety. But despite all of this, they come into DDB and eat and chat and laugh with one another. They are pleasant and seem happy despite all of their worries, troubles, addictions and pasts.

They find the courage to laugh anyway.

The Joys of the Insured

Currently I work in an insurance office. It's not my calling, it's not my career, it's a job for now. That's it, that's all.

Some days I think I should not work and focus solely on going back to school so I can begin fulfilling some of those big dreams and aspirations that I have. Unfortunately, aspirations don't pay off the car loan. And as my car is currently running on its 8th or 9th car life, I must work to pay off the car loan.

But while I'm in ze cube at my insurance job, I do try to find the things that I enjoy and cling to them. Namely, I like office supplies. Highlighters and binder clips being two of my favorites. I'm not sure why someone hasn't tried to create a more environmentally friendly version of the binder clip. Maybe made of really strong pressed corrugated cardboard? And highlighters. I love to color coordinate my work. Red folders for one thing, green for another. Blue highlighters for this month, orange for next month, and so on. It feeds my inner control freak.

Now, we certainly cannot forget my most favorite office supply fetish:

ALL HAIL THE POST-IT!

Don't call the men in the white coats yet, I have my reasons. You can use a post-it note for so many things: reminder notes, status updates on ongoing projects, wallpaper for ze cube and tabs in my great big, full of crap folders. I've also found them excellent ways to send incognito funny messages to co-workers. Imagine getting an important-looking file on your desk, opening and finding a neon orange post-it note with the words "Twerk it." It might just brighten up your day!

Also, guess what people who call your insurance company in a fury about something but never read their mail - READ YOUR MAIL. AND, don't sign anything without reading it...EVER! If everyone did this, my working life would be so much easier. No one would call me losing their minds because they got a $2 scheduled increase in their premiums, which they received notice on and agreed to. Oy vey. That's all I can say about it.

Moving on from all that unpleasantness. Today is my Friday :)

Speaking the English of the English

Sometimes I read the Daily Mail, one of London's many tabloidish papers when I'm in the mood for some hard-hitting journalism (I kid, I kid). But today what really struck me was the English that the English speak and write in daily life. I think it's adorable!

My bff moved to Canada several years ago, and has since adopted a few Euro words, spellings and phrases into her speech. For instance, she spells her favorite and color as "favourite and colour" as well as uses phrases such as "go to hospital," rather than go to the hospital and "in university" rather than in college. I find these little changes to be good ones, more concise and direct and a bit classier.

Other little things I find very likable and would love to incorporate into my own way of speaking include: proper (using it as "I need to find a proper raincoat"), bum, tum & mum(self-explanatory), brilliant (use it more often and not only to describe a great idea), reckon (when they say it, it's not redneck at all), wee, nosh. There are many more that just don't come to mind at this exact moment.

Afterall, it's proper English. Now I have to try to use it without sounding like a stooge or someone who desperately wants to be a Harry Potter character.

Because I'm not feeling so hot today...

And really don't feel like writing stuff. Here are some rad videos.



This poor kid. I don't want to laugh, but I can't stop myself!

I wish I could give an accurate reason for why I love "Jersey Shore" so much. I guess it's because living so near to Jersey I know people who are just a fake tan away from being cast in the show. Fist pump!!

And no one on that show is closer to my heart on that show than Snookie.



And who knew how freggin tiny she is! Wendy Williams looks like a giant next to the Snookster! Shocking!



Snookie gets serious:



What a philosopher, that Snookie.

Nashville. Oh Nashville!

I feel like when I say that I should have my hand over my heart.

My man and I went home (my home) for the New Year weekend and celebrated both New Year and Christmas with my side of the family. It was a ton of fun. I got to spend some time with my sisters, bro-in-laws, my parents and my adorable, hilarious nieces and nephews. All four of them! One of my nephews said more funny things than I can possibly list. He is a character in every sense of the word. You COULD NOT write the stuff that kid says.

We spent our time walking my parents precious hounddog Oakley in the woods, talking, cooking and breathing the fresh air. It was a refreshing visit. Going home always makes me feel comforted. Home for me is always safe and warm with my Mom cooking up a storm and my dad close by telling a story. I love it! And my hometown is nothing that would knock one's socks off. It looks a lot like this...

It's a blip on Highway 100 near Nashville. But it hides some special spots too. Like this...

Our beautiful Bowie Park: and there are even the more places that are special to me for varying childhood reasons. But,my family's corner of this little town is my favorite. When I get home, I don't want to leave. It's so quiet, relaxing, peaceful, simple. It's a location that I truly believe people would like to have as a country home, but I got to grow up there! How lucky am I?

Now I'm not saying I want to necessarily take up a permanent residence there. You go to eat at any of the 4-5 restaurants in town and you will see SO many people that you know and they all want to know your business... Where do ya live? Are ya married? Any kids yet? No, then when ya gonna start? It's small town overload. There's lots of "Me and you sister went to school together (and by school, they mean high school) and I just knew you had to be related. You two really favor!"

But there is something to said for the small town experience. While there you can feel as though the air is being sucked out of a balloon and you are trapped inside it. However, when a plane has put several hundred miles between you and town, you can reflect on how warm everyone is. I still cannot believe how many wedding presents I was given by residents in our community, even though I had lived away for nearly 6 years.

My small town's proximity to Nashville is also a great asset. In less than half an hour, I went from my quiet country home to a Turkish restaurant for dinner on New Year's Eve! Even more fun, was my bff since age 6 joined me and we had a lovely dinner, complete with really strong Turkish coffee to keep us hopping till the wee morning hours. Which it did quite successfully!

And without question, Nashville is a great town. It's got a ton of personality and makes my current location fall flat in its Pennsylvania Dutch austerity. So much music, so much to do - from high-end shopping in Green Hills to nude karaoke in Printers' Alley. Nashville truly holds something for everyone, and many days I miss it terribly.

Now it's time to pull myself up by my brand new 2010 bootstraps and look forward! I think we're already off to a great start considering I finally got around to sealing off my bedroom windows.

Hey.. the resolution list has to start somewhere! Tonight, I clean out the bookcase.