The Eve of Surgery

I don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't wanna!

Tomorrow at half past eight in the morning, I will go to Dr. Jergens and have my wisdom teeth removed. And to put it plain and simple:
I. Do. Not. Want. To.

Prayers Appreciated...

Pictures of my possible ridiculously swollen face my be posted... we'll see.

Southwest Luv

I got a free flight! I GOT A FREE FLIGHT!!

I mean, the application said I would, but you never count your chickens before they hatch...

YAHOO!

You're 13

Justin Bieber - Hi. Ok, so you're not 13, you're 15, but you look 13. My question to you is, what in the world do you know about love?

This kid, if you haven't heard of him, is "topping the charts" around the country, possibly the world, with (I ashamedly admit) catchy tunes about love. For example:

"Your world is my world; And my fight is your fight; My breath is your breath; And your heart; And girl you're my one love, my one heart; My one life for sure; Let me tell you one time; Girl, I love, girl I love you" and "I'll buy you anything; I'll buy you any ring"

The kid is 15... and he annoys me. I know sure as heck I wasn't thinking about being someone's one love and having some guys breath be my breath. And I'll buy you any ring? Excuse me? Cute lyrics, maybe for a 30 year old to be singing. Shoot, I'll even give you a 22-ish year old. But a young teen?! No. I guess young love has changed. Not only that, but when I hear his songs on the radio, I feel really odd and uncomfortable knowing that he's a minor and people who are older than 18 are be-bopping to his tunes. On top of it, according to E! News and People.com etc., who cover him often, he's single. Someone is definitely pulling the whole Wizard-of-Oz-behind-the-curtain thing with this teen tot.

I wasn't even gonna do a post today cause of the mood I'm in, but I figured a little rant of my astonishment/frustration at this kid would help... and it did a little.

Fast, Fast Week

Ok, I've got a serious question. And I'm really serious here... is it truly that hard to not pee on the toilet seat?! Or better yet, if you DO pee on the toilet seat, is it really that hard to tear off a little piece of TP and wipe it off?! I mean, c'mon! I feel like this has happened to me several times this week, and frankly I don't appreciate it.

In other news, I'm officially 23, and have been so for a whole four days now. I had a very lovely weekend and felt very much like a big city girl the whole time.

My hair cut was fabulous. I have bangs now. My mother didn't even notice until I said something, even though she knew I was getting bangs, and then she was kind of like "oh, yeah I just didn't think about it." Love you, Mom! (She knows I'm just picking on her! "JOHN!") The salon made me feel very taken care of, very pampered. I wore a robe over my clothes and then that smock that they put on you, I was offered a variety of refreshments several times, and was asked if I was doing ok often. I felt like I was in an exclusive place that only city people go. It was fun, but at the same time weird because I'm not used to that at all. Could probably get used to it though, just not the prices. Luckily, Will charged me the same that he did when he cut my hair in Champaign, and no, I didn't ask how much a regular hair cut there would be. Should have though... anywho, I love my hair and it just has enough of a change, like I was talking about last time.

Saw Valentine's Day with Whitney. Thought it was super cute. Saturday, I picked up Tim. Checked into our hotel, the Conrad, downtown, which also made me feel city-like. He gave me my birthday/Valentine's present, which is a key necklace that I wanted from Tiffany's. Complete surprise. Went to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Coco Pazzo with Whitney, MariKate, Erinn, and Ryan. Then went out to a club/bar called Social 25. Tim's cousin, Mike, and his girlfriend, Kelly, met us out there. It was nice to meet them. And then another sorority sister of mine that I was close with and I hadn't seen in six months, Gallopagos (as we call her, her last name is Gallegos), came out too! So it was very nice. Valentine's Day, all Tim and I did really was eat! At least that's what I felt like. We got lunch at Gibson's and both had filet sliders... delish... then walked around Michigan Ave., went back to the hotel, he passed out, and I just sat there... got ready for dinner, and then went to dinner at the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the Hancock Building. It was very, very lovely. Monday (my birthday!), we drove out to Park Ridge to say hi to Erinn's parents and then went to lunch with Erinn and Ryan, drove back to Decatur (where we were stuck in traffic for an hour and a half... ugh!), and then had dinner in Decatur with my Mom and Dad, my cousin, Shelly, her fiance, Tom, and her 6 kids, and then family friends, Jim and Faye. The whole weekend was very, very lovely, and I thank all who were a part of it. And again, yay for four day weekends! It was uber tough coming back to work on Tuesday, for many reasons...

This week has flown by so fast... and I really don't appreciate that a single bit.

Yesterday, a plane was crashed into a building in Austin that I have driven by countless times throughout my visits. Pretty shocking. What's nothing short of a miracle is how in a building with approximately 200 workers and an explosion of that size, only 13 were injured and two were killed, one being the pilot. That's just amazing. The loony toon posted a manifesto of sorts on a website, which can be readily found now by a google search, and he describes his woes against the government, why he did this, etc. I read the document and the guy was just fed up and believed that after years of trying to get his point across to people, the only answer was violence. I clearly do not believe violence is the answer and the intention to mass murder innocent people is despicable, but it makes you question what drove this nut job to do such a thing where he felt like it was his last resort, and if he has some points. Either way, crazy stuff. And I'm just so thankful that what could have been hundreds was only a few. My thoughts and prayers go out to those affected.

Add another loony toon... Elton John... who claims that Jesus was gay. Hey, Elton, ever heard of blasphemy?!

That will be it for this post, I suppose. I feel like I have much more to write about, but I will digress for now.

My stomach is starting to get into even bigger knots...
One week until I lose my wisdom... teeth.

FOUR Day Weekend!

A few points at the closing of my week:

No. 1: You have to have a Carter to get a Reagan.
(I wish I was clever enough to have come up with this, but alas, I was not.) This phrase has been on my mind a lot in reading the news and such, for sure.

No. 2: There's a new penny! It was unveiled today, right here in Springfield, and it's supposed to be in circulation for the next 50 years!

No. 3: Alexander McQueen was found dead in his home early this morning. I'm not a huge high fashion person, but I definitely have seen his designs. He was extremely creative and made some very cool pieces - some extremely bizarre, but others very stylish. It's rumored he committed suicide. I find that so sad. I'm sure among many others, Lady GaGa will miss him.

No. 4: There are some sick people in the world. A man in Louisville, Ohio was charged with a felony after tattooing the letter "A" on a 1-year-old girls bottom. I hope he's never allowed to come near children ever again, let alone procreate. That's just so disgusting. For the life of me, I cannot understand some people.

No. 5: I'm getting a hair cut tomorrow and I think I'm going to get bangs. Ever since I chopped off my hair a year ago this time and gave it to Locks of Love, I've been so much more daring with my hairstyles. When I say daring, I mean daring in my terms, which means not afraid to do something a little different than the last time, not something drastic type daring. Each time I've gotten my hair cut after donating, I've done something different in the way it's cut each time. Before, I used to say "Hi Will, just the same regular trim. K, thanks!" Not anymore, and I LIKE that!

And last but not least...

No. 6: Tomorrow starts my four day weekend!! You have got to love state holidays and being employed by such. And it's pretty cool that my birthday just so happens to fall on one of those days off, I must say. I'm so excited to go up and see friends and the boyfriend, then back home to have a birthday dinner with family and friends there. I miss being around the people I love so much!

It's A No Go

So I don't believe I'll be going to Phoenix in July...

My heart breaks every time I mention it or think about it.

Turns out there wouldn't be enough money to cover even close to half of my expenses, and even if I took the cheaper package they offer, I'd still have to cough up approximately $600.

It's seriously disappointing to me, but I'll just have to make sure I save up for Convention 2012.

Sweet Dreams

You know, sometimes I just wish we didn't have dreams. Like they're weird. At least mine are.

Last night, I had dreams (yes, multiple due to the waking up a few times and then going back to sleep) and they were just bizarre. I woke up and thought "what in the world?!"

They involved but not limited to or exclusive to:
Guns, U of I paraphernalia, trains, food, little kids, magic or supernatural things, a highway underpass, dogs, a playground, people I know that were acting and dressing like they do not in real life, and rocks in a dish of water.

Now when I sit here an recall these things, I can't clearly piece them all together nor do I have an idea of any time sequence. I can only put bits of the story together and say that I remember this happening but then all the sudden this was happening. For example, and only just bit of my dreams:

I was on a train with some people, one being someone I knew and then a few other people but I don't know, and we moved from train car to train car, when all of the sudden we came upon some sort of a food shop (maybe pizza?) and I felt horribly unsafe, but the people were really friendly and showed us into the next car where it was a collection/shop of U of I stuff! (huh?!) We weren't anywhere in Illinois, feel like I might have been in Texas, and we say to the guy who showed us to this car something about "you're from Illinois?! so are we!" and start talking, yadda yadda. Then all the sudden I'm in like a playground setting and it's like the grayness you see in horror/scary movies. I'm pretty sure I'm playing with these two girls, probably 4 or 5, and then they run off after being called to this room in a house with two big windows. I watch them go and after a few minutes, another two children on a park bench fly up into the air real fast, but only like 4 feet from the bench, and someone pulls them back down by their arms. Then I look down and there's this semi-flat bowl thing of rocks, some big, some small. I drop another small rock into it, and the rocks move to the outside of the bowl and the rock I dropped in floats and bobs up and down around the center. I think there was some fizzing in the water too. The sky got just a bit darker and all the sudden, I look up and the room that the two girls went into is full of water and the one girl is swimming in the window, looking at me and telling me to run for my life. (umm what?!) So I start running towards another house structure, but I'm getting nowhere fast and feel as if I'm starting to panic because of that, thinking I'm done for it. But at the same time, I had no idea why she was telling me this and my legs were just lead.

I didn't make it to that house or whatever it was... my alarm went off. And what's crazy of all is that my alarm is set for 7. I remember hitting the snooze button for that, but I do not recall hitting the snooze button again at 7:09. I clearly did so though because when I woke up, it was 7:18. And that just bothers me. I don't enjoy not remembering things that I do or things that happen to me (which is probably why I don't get belligerent, blackout drunk). It just kinda freaks me out.

Am I messed up or what? No, probably not... I'll chalk it up to dreams just being really weird, but it certainly makes you wonder how these things form and where exactly it came from. And even though I don't know dream theory or whatever, if I wanted to go really deep and analyze my dream, I could probably draw some legitimate, abstract connections or analogies between what happened in my dream and my life. But most of all, I feel as if I just scratch my head in bewilderment every time I have one. Sometimes, you can't help but worry from them, even if that's silly. It's strange. Just simply strange.

So dear brain, please give me a normal, preferably nice dream next time. Ok? Thanks! Love, Johanna

Random Musings of a Saturday Night

I sit here and there is just so much I want to write about! Long post, so beware!

First off, I'm using my Mom's laptop (I came home for the evening after having breakfast at our cafe and a Phi Mu alumnae event in Champaign) and it is the computer I bought to take to college with me before I bought my Mac. Well, the space bar is broken on it and I have been forced to stop every other word or so to fix it. A wee bit annoying. And no, that wasn't the reason I passed it along to her... this space bar fiasco just happened a few weeks ago and I've had my Mac for almost two years.

Anywho... here I go with the multi-topic post.

My mother was a teacher for over 25 years. She has quite an interesting story of her younger years. If you know her already, you should ask her about it. If you don't know her yet, you should (cause she's amazing), and then once you know her, you should ask her about it. I'm sure she would have no problem with me telling about it here, but it's much better when the story comes from the person who actually lived it. Throughout her teaching years, she spent some time in Connecticut. While in Connecticut, she taught some family members of rather famous people. The first, Jim Henson's daughter. You know, Kermit's creator. Yeah. She met him several times too. Second, Vince Lombardi's granddaughter. You know, the guy the Super Bowl trophy is named after. I love the muppets of course, but I'm particularly fond of the Lombardi connection given that I'm an unabashed Green Bay Packer fan. I was rather shocked of both, though, and thought it was really cool!

So I'm in my last few days of being a 22 year old. I was trying to explain to a few people how I felt about turning 23, and the only thing I could really come up with is that it's the year that I move past the college age. Eighteen to 22 were my college years and 23 is the age where it's almost as if it says "you're definitely done with that now." I know that I graduated almost a year ago now (umm. whoa.), but it seems like to me that turning 23 is just making me realize that it's the first age of moving past that time. (Hellooooo officially being an adult!) That doesn't mean I don't still feel like I'm in college though, trust me! I definitely still feel like that, minus the feelings and stresses of having major bills and such. Oy. Oh, and the fact that I'm ready for bed, at the latest, around 11. I guess that's kinda a big one.

Sororities will have national conventions usually every two years. The year I was President of my chapter happened to be a year that Phi Mu had their convention. Every collegiate and alumnae chapter sends their President there as their chapter delegate for the convention body and the fees, flight, hotel, etc. are covered. Therefore, I was able to travel to Orlando, Florida and stay for five days representing my chapter and the women in it. It might sound silly to some, but it was one of the proudest moments I have ever experienced and it was such an honor to be there on behalf of the chapter. Well, this year, convention will be held in Phoenix, Arizona. Needless to say, I wanna go. So. Unbelievably. Bad! Not being the President of my chapter any longer, I won't be able to go for free. Maybe! I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but here's something I found out today(!). I belong to the Phi Mu Champaign-Urbana Alumnae Chapter. We just restarted this chapter after years with lack of interest/involvement and we're growing at a decent rate. Being a person that likes to be involved quite a bit, I volunteered to be Vice President of the chapter. It's not a demanding job by any means, and I feel like I really should be and could be doing more with the position. But anyway, our President, a gal that I was close with in the collegiate chapter and a year older than me, just became the Chapter Advisor for the collegiate chapter. I figured she'd be going to convention to represent our C-U Alumnae Chapter on our dime, but since she's going as C.A. for the collegiate chapter, the collegiate chapter will cover her expenses. What's the next in line to represent the chapter? Yes, Veep! I don't know if our alumnae chapter has the funds to cover the full cost for me, but I'd be willing to come half-way on it, I just couldn't afford the whole thing on my own by any means. She's gonna check into it for me, but I hope to report soon that I'm heading West in July! Yes... Phoenix. In July. Ooftah... but still! Eeeeek! Fingers crossed.

During my tenure at UIUC, I was a part of this little group called the Orange Krush. If you're unfamiliar or have never seen an Illini basketball game on ESPN or CBS, click here. And/or here. The experience was absolutely amazing. Sure, I waited outside in below zero weather for 7 hours on multiple occasions and felt like I was going to turn into a popsicle, but the reward was worth it: among other things, taunting Eric Gordon and Calvin Sampson relentlessly with hundreds of other Orange Krushers. Sure, James Augustine laughed at me a little when I made a small 8x10 sign that said "Go Illini! It's my birthday!" on it because a game fell on my 19th birthday. But it was wonderful... and I got on ESPN on my birthday! (I have it on DVD if you're interested in seeing that... ha.) I find myself reminiscing here because I'm currently watching the Illini play Michigan State and I can't help but notice the orange-clad kiddos going nuts of which I once belonged. What good times. There's nothing like the feeling of college pride and cheering on your team. And in the House of 'Paign, every Orange Krusher feeds off the other and the other and then the other. It's electrifying and an experience I'll never forget. Alas, I only participated in two of my four years, but still. Memorable, priceless, and unbelievable. Also included in my membership years, the Chief's last dance. Historical. Oooo, I sense a future post about my feelings on that whole sitch.

Ok, this is going to be totally random, I know. And by this point, some of you might think I've been drinking before/during this post... but I'm just finding myself in a good and rather chatty mood. So get ready to think I'm silly... How cool would it be to be a bird? As I was driving back from Champaign with my Mom this afternoon, we saw several flocks of birds flying in formation. Against the blue sky with the setting sun, I just couldn't help but think how awesome it would be to be able spread my wings and go wherever I want, passing over beautiful and vast scenery. How awesome? Very awesome.

Valentine's season brings candy sour hearts to Del's Popcorn Shop. If you know what I'm talking about, you're awesome. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you still have time to redeem yourself, become awesome and discover these specialty seasonal candies. Got my fix this morning.

I'm done for this evening. I started this post two hours ago, and just now finishing it up. I can't decide if it's because the game is on, the space bar on this computer is shot, or I just had a lot to say.

I'm gonna go with all of the above.

Thanks for sticking with me. Look forward to spending another fun and eventful Saturday night with you in the future! (If that's not a telling sign that I've changed since and moved past college, I don't know what is!!)

One week till I see Tim, Whitney, Erinn, and Ryan in Chi-town!
Nine days until my birthday.
Three weeks till I loose my wisdom... teeth.

Wisdom-less?

So I get to have the first surgery of my life soon!!

(except minus the exclamation points... or take them as sarcasm)

I was told by my dentist a long time ago (like possibly two, maybe more, years ago) that I needed to have my wisdom teeth out. I was like "yeah, sure" but they never really bothered me so I wasn't going to go spend all this money for something that wasn't necessary at the time.

Except now it's necessary.

I won't bother you with details, but I went to him Monday morning, and he said "yep, that tooth is coming in in a place it has no room to come in to."

I'm assuming that eventually, the others will do the same.

Therefore on February 26, I will go through surgery at approximately a half past eight in the morning...

Up until then, I will experience much anxiety, fear, and complaining of how I don't want to do it in anticipation of my first surgery.

Additionally...

Oh, news flash:

Even at the most expensive flight that I've looked at, for where I fly to and such, I could buy approximately FORTY TWO roundtrip flights for that lovely price of $19,200.

Get with it Southwest Chase Credit Card!

Math?

Ok, I've never been good at math... but I think I have this figured out correctly...

The only reason I'm doubting myself is because:
a) Like I said, I'm not good at math... at all.
and b) If my math is correct, this "deal" is just stupid...

I applied for the Southwest Airlines Chase Credit Card and was accepted (yay me!).
I got an email explaining some of the benefits and this is what it said:

$1 spent = 1 reward dollar
1,200 reward dollars = 1 rapid rewards credit
16 credits = FREE roundtrip flight

So I have to spend $1,200 to get ONE credit... 16 credits to get a "free" flight...
which is $1,200 x 16 which equals $19,200..........

Am I dumb, or is this correct?!?!

I certainly feel dumb that I feel like I cannot say with certainty that my math is correct! Maybe it's just the fact that my math IS correct, but the fact that I would have to spend almost 20 grand on other things to get a "free" flight from them is just mind-boggling and getting me all confused! I mean, essentially, they're saying that my "free" flight is really costing $19,200 of other things, some of which may be other flights! No way.

I'll certainly just buy a flight instead of charging all this other stuff on the card to someday maybe getting that free one. Geez la peets!

Oh, and I'll let you know if I ever get that "free" flight. Doubtful.

Buh bye iPhone...

So today, I said goodbye to my iPhone...

You know, I have to say I'm really proud of myself. I've grown up a lot in the last 8 months.

I realized that the data package and everything with the iPhone was just a kind of expense that wasn't necessary for me to have (anymore). And really, it wasn't even MY expense, given that I'm still on the family talk plan with my parents. But I just came to the point where I knew that it was really nice to be able to check my email and all that stuff wherever I went, but that it was ok not to have that too. It wasn't something I needed.

Therefore, my family and I are now Verizon customers. And I really like my new phone so far!

The crazy thing is, my iPhone is still working. Not receiving calls or texts, but I can still pick up wireless and the iPod works. I updated my Facebook status from my iPhone just seconds ago.

(Can I still call it an iPhone if there's no phone capability??)

I'm hesitant to be happy about it still functioning like that though because I don't know if it's only temporary until everything is transferred from AT&T to Verizon and such... only time will tell.

And even though I didn't need it, it was a little difficult to say "bye" to the iPhone...

Oh, and I still have the same phone number, no worries!

Larry the Cucumber!

I knew I liked Larry the Cucumber for a reason. (If you don't know who/what that is, Google "Veggie Tales")... and while these are great facts about cucumbers and how they can help with everyday things, it kinda worries me that it goes from giving you all the vitamins you need every day to fixing the squeaky door or repelling insects in the garden when placed on aluminum... hmmmm... oh, well! These were sent to be by my Aunt.

The Amazing Cucumber!
1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid,
Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like
fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the photochemical in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the photochemical will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

The Court's Decision

Do you think people really know the consequences of their actions?

From something big to something really small, all our actions have repercussions. I think what can be most sad is that most of the time, the younger you are, the less likely you are to realize what you're doing can have an impact on your immediate or maybe more long term future.

I was reading an article today about what today marks in our country. It's the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I'm not going to get into the constitutionality of abortion and start a debate. The only thing I will say is that I'm pro-life. But as I was reading this article, it made me think about how this decision came to pass and how it was ultimately a consequence of several peoples actions.

You might be saying "huh?"... but this is how I reason that (and you might have to think a little abstractly):

The people elected Presidents... a consequence (of sorts) of voting.
Those Presidents appointed Supreme Court Justices... a consequence of the results of the vote by the people, because they picked the pres.
A woman had sex... the consequence was getting pregnant... and she wanted a right to choose what to do with her own body.
She went to court.
And the court decision was a consequence from that woman's case/situation.

Maybe that's a little bit of a stretch, but hopefully you can semi see where my logic is.

Either way, every action has a consequence. And ironically enough, those consequences might not always affect you, even though they were YOUR actions.

To summarize my brief Roe v. Wade mention, I will leave this not so brief statement from that article in order to recognize the anniversary of the court's decision:
"Almost four decades later, somewhere around 50 million unborn children have been victimized by the breathtaking arrogance of the Court. They committed no crimes, were afforded no due process or trials at all, and every appeal made on their behalf has fallen on deaf ears. They have been killed in the most brutal ways imaginable, unceremoniously sucked from their mother’s wombs, and carelessly discarded without even the dignity of an unmarked grave. Every reasonable effort to curb the abuses of the system that has produced these gruesome results has been summarily rejected by society’s robed masters. And so the carnage marches on."

Again, I don't care where you stand on abortion, but if you do believe that an abortion is killing a life... 50 million... wow.

Today's Occurrences

The weather perfectly matches my mood. Isn't it funny how that happens?

I've gone from feeling annoyed to frustrated, upset to not caring anymore, and just everything in between. That in and of itself is frustrating and annoying to me. I feel so over everything and it's a really odd feeling, one that I don't think I've quite experienced before... at least not like this. I hope I get out of the funk soon, because this has never really been like me.

Today's radio flashback was "Mmmm Bop" by Hanson. Whoa, right? And yeah, they still sound like girls.

I got my first rejection letter for a job today. Not fun.

A year after Obama is inaugurated, another change happens with the election of Scott Brown. Realization of how much of a difference a year can make.

Haiti gets hit my a 6.1 magnitude aftershock. How much more can they take?

If you've never been to Lamebook, I would suggest you go there ASAP and take in all the stupid/funny people there are on Facebook. Keeps me quite entertained throughout the day as I have it on my RSS feed.

Finished Sarah Palin's book and had a PB&J sandwich for lunch while re-watching the 5th season of LOST in preparation for the February 2nd premiere of the final season.

Finally, I have to think that no matter how foul my mood is, I have food to eat (even though that consists of PB&J and Lean Cuisine meals), clothes to wear, a roof over my head, and people that love me. That's a lot more than a lot of other people have.

But sometimes, it's much more fun to throw a pity party for yourself, right?

Real quick, I wanted to recap my weekend. I went to Glen Carbon, IL to see my good friend and sorority sister, Mandi, and her husband Jon on Friday. They were kind enough to let me stay the night and then drive me to the STL airport where I flew to Austin to surprise Tim for his birthday. He had absolutely no idea I was coming. His brother picked me up from the airport and when he came around the corner to let what he thought was just his brother in, he was shocked. His face was kind of like "who is this girl with my brother?" and as if he didn't recognize who I was. What a success! And he said no one can pull surprises on him... ha! I showed him! My family (on my Mom's side) is kind of known for pulling surprises on people... guess I'm no different. I was there until Monday night, where Jon and Mandi picked me up and I stayed the night there again and drove into work Tuesday morning. Back to this lovely, foggy, rainy, cold weather. No wonder my mood isn't all that great, right?

Throwback

I was running some errands today during my lunch break, and I was taken on a stroll down memory lane. That journey also made me stop and think, "wow, this is horrible."

Pretty much all the radio stations I have programmed into my car have the '80s/'90s flashback songs around the noon hour. So I'm listening and driving along, and the song "Gone" by NSYNC came on by request... yes, request. Now when I was a little teeny bopper, I will admit I was an NSYNC/Backstreet Boys fan. Their popularity probably started when I was around 10 and I fell right into the hype along with the other millions of girls around the world. I saw both in concert, had the CD's, I wasn't a big poster person, but I had some smaller pics... you know, etc. etc. And you can't deny they weren't huge! Their album "No Strings Attached" sold 9.9 million copies in 2000 and in 2009, it was named the best selling album of the decade, selling a little over 11 million. You can make fun of them and not like them, but they were stinkin' popular!

I haven't heard any of their songs in years probably. So this was interesting, hearing it on the radio.

"Gone" needs to go and not be played on the air waves ever. It was bad. Justin sounded way prepubescent and frankly, annoying. I feel obliged to find some of their other songs and listen and determine if they all sounded that bad. But the melody and lyrics and such annoyed me to begin with, so the vocals along with it didn't really have a chance.

I mean, I LOVED these guys when I was little. One of my cousins picked on me relentlessly because of my taste in music, and now I'm wondering if he was on to something and not just being mean. It just kind of made me sit back and go, "whoa!"

I'm sure some of you are like, "well DUH!! NSYNC sucks, always has!" but I dunno...

Funny thing is though, I like Justin's music and his voice ok now and it doesn't annoy me as it did in "Gone"... maybe he just finally became a man and such. I refuse to believe that songs like "Bye Bye Bye" and "Pop" were really as bad as "Gone". Guess I'll have to investigate... and maybe it was just my poor, young, little girl ears that didn't know all that much better.

Girl Quotes

"If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman."

and

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."

-Margaret Thatcher

Oblivious/Rude People

There aren't that many things I hate... but one of them is oblivious, or oblivious rude, people. Let me explain and give examples.

These people are the ones that forget they are in public, around other people, and are so enveloped with themselves and/or the people around them that they disregard the fact that they might be developing into highly annoying and rude people to others.

Example: Last night at the gym, I was done with my work-out, anxious to get in my car and get home. I walked down the steps, and as I was hitting the last flight of steps, a group of three women were coming up the basement steps. I was on the second floor, so we essentially met at the first floor door. They got there a little before I did, and the door isn't a huge double door, it's single. So I'm behind them, and I go to maneuver past them because I could see that they were going to be walking at a slower pace than I wanted to, and I could not because they had spread out across the width of the hallway. I got the sense that one of them could definitely tell I was trying to pass, but decided to remain oblivious, hence turning her into rude. Moreover, I was toward the left of the hallway, and they decided to go left to a sitting area in their slow pace, completely disregarding the fact that I was there. News flash: you're in public, other people are around you, and you knew I was behind you cause you saw me coming down the steps AND you (sorta) held the door for me. Thanks a bunch.

Highly annoying to me.

Second example: At UIUC, you pretty much walked everywhere, as with most college campuses. I cannot tell you how many oblivious and more so rude people walked those sidewalks. If you're walking side by side with your friend, classmate, significant other, etc., FINE. But when you see someone else (i.e. me) walking towards you, one of you needs to fall back behind the other person you're with so I can continue walking ON THE SIDEWALK and not having to step off the sidewalk and into the grass/mud/snow. What makes it especially worse and irked me to no end was when those people were guys! Wikipedia says: "the terms chivalry and chivalrous are often used to describe courteous behavior, especially that of men towards women." I guess chivalry IS dead, at least at UIUC. I'd be ok if guys don't do that for other guys, but for women, they most definitely should.

Highly annoying.

Realize you're out in public, around other people, and act accordingly.

Baby Loves To Dance In The Dark

Amazing. Weekend.

There's just something about driving into Chicago... you see the skyline from a distance, you get closer and closer, realize the grandiose of the city and can't help but feel a little thrill inside. At least that's the way it is for me.

I understand that maybe that feeling has become jaded for people who are born and raised there or have lived there for a really long time. But for me, someone who was transplanted to (Central) Illinois, it's awesome. I've been to Chicago at least a couple dozen times and the feeling never changes for me. In fact, on the way home, I disregarded what my little GPS woman was telling me just so I could take the route to drive down Lake Shore drive and experience it all. I was upset when she didn't take me that way coming into the city, so I had to fix that. Love Chicago!

Maybe part of that feeling this time when I drove in, looking at the skyline, was because of the reason I went there: Lady GaGa.

My. Word.
Blown. Away.
Amazing show...

I call it a show because it wasn't just a concert, it was a show... an experience. Now I haven't been to all that many concerts, but out of the ones I've been to, this was by far the best I've seen. I didn't want it to end and when it did I just felt sad. The next day, I thought back on it and was like "it went by so fast! It's a blur!"

She was/is an amazing performer and entertainer. As expected, the dancing, clothes/costumes, music, the set, all of it was unbelievable. She actually sang too, no lip syncing, and she really has a wonderful, pure voice. She was so personable and funny between and during her songs. She's one of those entertainers where you want to be her best friend. Repeatedly, she thanked her fans and said how blessed she was to have them as her friends. I had a great and unforgettable time and it was everything I hoped for and more.

I know she's got eye-popping style and she certainly makes you go "what in the world is she wearing?!"... you can say whatever you'd like about her and her music and her style, and you don't even have to like her, but she's an amazing artist and entertainer.

I look forward to seeing her again.


The pic above would be (L to R) Erinn, Whitney, and myself at the concert, having a ball.

Individuality

"Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one. You cannot make any useful contribution in life unless you do this." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Well said and enough said.