July was my last National SAAC meeting. I'm more than a little bummed that this part of my life journey is done. But I'll get over it. Just so long as there's a reunion in Cancun soon!
Some shots from our community service at the nations largest homeless shelter in Washington D.C. and from our abysmal kickball outing...I don't want to talk about it.
Stupid Lottery. I suppose my chances were slim to none, but I really felt like I was owed some good fortune after the week I had. Obviously I didn't have the golden ticket, but neither did anyone else, so better luck next week. Actually, better luck this week--THANK GOD!!! The insurance is being wonderful. My claims' adjuster is not your stereotypical cold bottom-line-only-focused shrew. Rather she was sympathetic and pulled through for me in a big way. There is no chance on this earth--short of winning the lottery or inheriting money from a mysterious source--that I could have come up with $3500 to replace everything that was taken.
We have a new roomie from Pittsburg and of course Meg knows her. I swear, that girl knows the entire population of Pennsylvania and probably half of Atlanta. Janette will only be crashing temporarily at chez BethBethMichael et Will, but I am looking forward to having another volleyballer around the house and the office. I hope she doesn't mind sleeping on a couch and working in a file room! Ahhhhhh, the life of an intern!
Before I jot off, I just have to give a little shout out to my Grandpa Earl. He died one year ago yesterday and it's been a rough one for us all. I usually do well coming to terms with this fact, but every once in a while, I'll find myself crying in traffic for no good reason other than I just miss him like hell.
Damn it! You got me again.
I had rough weekend and I couldn't figure why I was so touchy. I was seriously freaking out about the dumbest things. I got mad at Will for asking when the Internet would get hooked up and if everybody that I've yelled at driving in the past week could have heard me, I'd probably be in the hospital from all the beat downs that would have come my way. But I think I was really just suffering all over again from a broken-heart and unwilling to admit that I'm still not over the fact that he is gone.
So Grandpa--just remember that I will always remember. You are--as Nat and Natalie so aptly put it--unforgettable. I still look to you when I'm freaking out and sweating it. I still remember how hard you worked to make others happy and when I just can't get over myself I remember the selfless example you set and follow it--though sometimes I'm a little pouty about it. I know that's the kind of person I'd rather be any and every day.
I'll keep trying not to sweat the small stuff. You just keep coming in and making me cry. It kind of feels good actually.Because even though it hurts, I'm still thinking of you. And that brings me the kind of joy that no pain can stand up to.
Love you much!
B
Um, I think I might be cursed? Otherwise, I just cannot explain the rout of rotten luck I have had lately. In addition to being robbed last Saturday, last night I spent two hours in the Shell Station on Sharon and Fairview after my jeep started leaking antifreeze in the Nordstrom parking lot at South Park b/c it's 100+ degrees here and evidently cars don't like that. Especially ones that would be old enough to consume alcohol were they human beings. Needless to say, despite becoming bosom buddies with the Turkish attendant who let me sit behind the counter and chill with him in the air conditioning, it wasn't my first choice of where or how to spend my evening. Seriously now. What are the odds of all this BS happening at once?
As Ms.McGrane would put it,
And I am. Over it. Determined not to let it make me bitter or negative. Grandpa Earl always advised us to "not sweat the small stuff" and thank God some of that attitude has stuck with me. I'll roll with the punches, but punch back if I have to. Right about now, I feel like punching the evil twin of Lady Luck, the three fates and whatever evil spirits are kicking it around my life sphere, in the face.
HI YA!!! BACK OFF NOW!!!
Little do they know I have a black belt in kicking negativity in the ass and silver linings are attracted to my presence like kids to a mess.
I even bought a lottery ticket last night, just cause.
My mantra this week: "Tell the negative committee that meets in the back of your head to sit down and shut up!"
Sorry grandma, there will be no photo of my lovely burglarized house for some time. Yes. I did say burglarized. Yes. I am quite angry about it. Yes we are having the locks re-keyed and asking for a security system. The police and the crime scene people already came by. No forced entry. Probably somebody who did work on the house and made a copy of the key so that the second we moved in and happened to leave--they could come and ruin our otherwise very happy day.
I don't feel violated, just annoyed that I get to deal with all of this. There are certainly worse things that happen in life, but right now this is the worst. I have no laptop, no camera, no iPod. And Irony just won't stop throwing punches.
Exhibit A: Roommate Will has had a streak of bad electronics luck. I jokingly told him that he'd better not bring his curse into to our house. Ha ha on me. Curse came, saw and conquered.
Exhibit B: Kept saying how much I wanted a new computer...guess I'm going to get it! Weeks of insurance paperwork and negotiations later with a hopeful outcome of reembursment
Exhibit C: No sooner are my camera and laptop wretched away from me then do I receive several offers to do freelance work--for which I really need both. Thank God Jennie is a wonderful friend and is going to let me borrow her SLR. I'm promising not to take it back to the house though--ever. No need to bring the curse on her!
Exhibit D: Nice police woman who dusted for fingerprints, just like on CSI (except--and no offense meant to her--she was no where near as good looking as Gary Dourdan), said that in the four years that she had worked our area, she'd never once heard of a break-in in our neighborhood. Just our luck, eh.
So, sorry grandma. No picture of my lovely burgled house. But I promise it will be the first picture I take with my new camera. The second being of our shiny new locks and the third of the panel to the security system--which will probably never be needed again once we get it. How do I know this? I know irony on a close personal level and I know that irony won't be able to resist the delicious temptation for one more good laugh at us over this one.
P.S. Check out my latest article for the NCAA News!!!
Here's the link!
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/!ut/p/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLN4g3NPUESYGYxqb6kWhCjhgihqYeCDFfj_zcVKBMpDlQwNTIQz8qJzU9MblSP1jfWz9AvyA3NDSiPN8RANobkoo!/delta/base64xml/L3dJdyEvd0ZNQUFzQUsvNElVRS82XzBfMTVL?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/NCAA/NCAA+News/NCAA+News+Online/2007/Association-wide/Unsporting+conduct+-+07-30-07+NCAA+News
I think my big girlness has reached a whole new level. I have a house. After two weekends on the road and an 80-hour work week, I moved myself from Rock Hill, SC up the road to the "Big City." No, not New York (I WISH!!!). During rush hour I yearn for NYC's subway system. Nope, Charlotte is it for me right now. And after 6 trips back and forth with a loaded Jeep, I am done with carrying boxes for more than a while.
Though not done with unpacking them. Our entire first floor is stuffed with the stuff of three human beings and we need to make room for the stuff of one more. Which means Mikey and I have a lot of work to do before the weekend. Looks like that nap I was going to take after work is looking less and less likely!
I miss naps so very badly. Why, oh why, didn't I take advantage of them when they were mandatory in kindergarten??? I have promised myself at least an hour of bliss on Saturday and it's pretty much my motivation to get through the week. I'm still getting back into "40-hours+ work-week" shape and the conditioning regimen is kicking my ass.
Still, I'm determined. And I've got to get there soon, so I can pick up a second job and make some extra $$$.
Wish me luck!
Alright. After getting called out by my dad (who I haven't quite convinced to start a blog of his own for philosophical ranting, musing and digressing) for not updating my own blog in quite some time, I've made the executive decision to provide an update on the life and times of yours truly.
I've been working at the Big South Conference for almost a month now. In between learning how to use the fancy telephone, copy machine and actually waking up/get out the door on-time again, I've found a house and housemates. I'm officially becoming a resident of North Cack-a-lack on Tuesday, the thirty-first day of July, this year of our lord, two thousand and seven. I have to admit, I am more than a little heartbroken to give up my valid-without-photo Oregon ID. Though getting pick-pocketed and having to deal with the always rude TSA agents and annoyed bartenders (who never seem satisfied with a government ID sans photo) is not exactly my idea of FUN, it's been a conversation starter--even before I lost the original. I guess my nostalgia is born out of the feeling that this is the last marker of the end of an era for me. I am no longer a kid--which I understood, but am realizing fully only now.
I have an adult job. I have to pay taxes and bills. And damn it, I can't take naps anymore except on Saturdays. But I am also excited about moving to a new city--even if it is only 30 minutes up the road. I'm looking forward to being a young professional and to taking advantage of all the opportunities and challenges that come with this status. Hopefully one of those opportunities will allow me to continue to tell the stories that matter in this world; to give a voice to those who are lacking; to do something that makes a positive difference to our tiny speck of planet that still means the world to those who call it home.
I hope you are also doing well in your worlds. Here's to plotting collision courses and bosom-buddy reunions.
