Backtracking

I’ve been incredibly neglectful of my blog lately, and quite a bit has happened.  If you’ve followed me on twitter, you probably know the majority of my past few months. If you haven’t followed me on Twitter, here’s the gist:

• A kiitten fell into my lap!  No, really, it did.  A friend of mine had a litter of kittens, and needed a home, so Mike, the stray roommate we took in, said he’d take one.  When I moved, he came with, because Mike wasn’t around the apartment with Utt and Futt all that much to care for him.  Originally, his name was Gabriel (not my choice, and he isn’t that much of an angel), but I’ve since changed his name to Bolt.  He tries to bolt out doors, and is VERY quick.  Isn’t he precious?  He LOVES this laundry basket!

• June 27th – Went to see Legally Blonde, the musical, with my friend, Jennifer, who had 2 tickets, and her hubby isn’t so much of a fan of musicals, she thought to invite me.  It was hilarious, I really enjoyed it!  I had no idea musicals could be so good, or funny even.
• June 28th – Jeremy and I got into an argument, over the ratio of dirty dishes to clean dishes in the kitchen…the kitchen was ALWAYS a mess, and hardly had any clean dishes, and were lucky if we could even use the faucet, they’d be piled so high.  If they were mine, they’d been cleaned, but I didn’t cook in that kitchen much because it was always in a disarray.  Basically, I asked if the kitchen was ever going to be clean, and he said he was “fixin’ to do it”….he’s ALWAYS “fixin'” to do something, but never gets done.  He then told me he wanted me out by the end of the month, and I calmly said “no” which ticked him off, and so he called the cops telling them I was trespassing!  At this point, I’d already lived there over 2 months, and it’s not like I just snuck in the house and have lived there undetected.  I went in my room, waiting for the county sherrif to show up, and prove that I’d established residency.  He then comes in my room, yelling at me, telling me that if I’d asked nicely, maybe he’d do the dishes.  I asked him if he, at the age of 23, really needed to be told to clean up after himself.  He then proceded to grab my duffel bag of dirty clothes, and throw them out the front door.  I, of course, went running after it.  As I was picking up my clothes, I made the comment to Chris, Jeremy’s boyfriend about how he’s got a real winner, which set Jeremy off, and he then began shoving me out the door.  My buddy, James, was outside the door as well, and he and Chris told him to stop, as I’m yelling.  Jeremy stopped, then ran back to my room, and smashed my floor lamp in his rage.  I, then, feeling unsafe, called the cops, myself.  Cops came, and asked me if I wanted them to arrest him.  I felt, ONLY because he didn’t actually hit me, that it wasn’t necessary, but the officers advised I leave for the night, which I did.  Jeremy, being the liar he is, told the cops my lamp was broken from the door swinging open, which was never the case.  Jeremy tried changing the locks previously, and I asked the officers tell him not to change them on me, and they warned him.  The officers stayed until I left, which I was grateful for.  I stayed the night at my good friend, Jennifer’s house, and was grateful she took me in.
• June 29th – As if I hadn’t already had a rough weekend, it only got worst when i was pulled over by a cop, for expired tags…I passed him only because he was on his cell phone, and figured a man can’t multi-task, and pay attention to my tags at the same time!  He’s an exception, I suppose.  He got me, and decided to mark me down for 2 infractions, instead of just expired tags, which cost me an additional $12.
• June 30th – found me a new place to move, thought it would be great, living with a couple of girls, back in Bellevue, and pretty cheap.  Put down first months rent that day, needing to get away from the messy living situation I was in.  I was grateful for her taking me in.  The downside was it was only 3 months, because the one girl was getting married, and her and her husband were going to live there.  I didn’t care, just needed to feel safe.
• July 2nd – MOVING DAY!  Was SO glad to be done with the drama.  Didn’t unpack half of my stuff, knowing it was only a short term lease.  The first weekend there, I thought I was in heaven…the sink was void of any dirty dishes, AND I could hear the vacuum being used!  NEVER would’ve happened at the old place!

My Trip Home

Well, I made it safely to Grand Blanc, Michigan (home of the Buick Open).  After SEVERAL hours on the road, you’d think I’d made a trip around the world, however, I did pass through Miami, Lima, and Boston. 🙂 I really don’t know why I constantly complain about Ohio being the most boring state, I do more driving in Kentucky…wasn’t sure I was ever gonna get out of that state! The snow wasn’t really evident until the last quarter of Ohio, and then in MI, where there was a detour, and, for some reason, they can’t put the detour signs up properly in Detroit, so I was lost a good hour or so!   It’s been great thus far.  I got home, my mom made me some tomato soup and grilled cheese, and we just chatted.  Got to see my dogs, Champ and Casey, and man, they are getting so old!  The oldest, he’d be 12 in May, probably won’t make it until his next birthday, according to my mother, and even the youngest one, he’s 8, isn’t getting around that well either.  Casey, the youngest one, still thinks he’s a lap dog (he’s a 100 something pound dog), and came to wake me up this morning…in my bed!  Usually, I wouldn’t mind it, except, I’m on in inflatable mattress, and it apparently has a slight leak in it, and he put me closer to the ground lol.  He didn’t care though, he just wagged his tail, waiting for some attention!  Both dogs like to talk in their old age now, the oldest goes outside, and tells the world of his troubles with all his barking, the youngest one grunts and moans ALL the time, but it’s a good type my mom says.

Driving Pet Peeves

As I have proclaimed in previous posts, I truly beileve I’m one of the best drivers in the state of Tennessee, which if you live here, it really doesn’t take much.  I almost wish I’d realized how horrible drivers are down here prior to my move here 2.5 years ago, because I really think it may have changed things.  My biggest pet peeves while driving include, but are most likely not limited to:

• broken brake lights – just don’t drive if they’re out, it’s dangerous!
• failure to use a turn signal!  Seriously, it doesn’t take much to hit the lever!
• flashing your brights at me, as if mine are on, when, clearly, mine aren’t on! Sorry if I have a newer car, where I can actually see where I’m going (without the brights on) in the dark.  In Michigan, flashing your brights is illegal, why not here?????
• Drive at least the speed limit if there are cars behind you, and can’t pass you!
• If you are in the passing lane on the expressway, PASS people!!!!!

I will admit I have some road rage, and when I say some, I’m not quite telling the whole truth!  I don’t act out on my road rage, but my windows have to be up when I drive, and children are not allowed to ride with me, for fear they will learn new words!  Northerners are agressive drivers, and we don’t like putzers…So quit putzin’!!!!

Do you have road rage???  Did I miss any pet peeves you may have?

It Breaks My Heart

I saw this commercial awhile back, and it tugged at my heartstrings:

I just saw on the news how the police broke up a dog fighting ring, and they even found a dead dog, wrapped in a plastic garbage bag, in a freezer!!!!!  WHO DOES THIS!?!?!?!?!?!? Detroit has quite the reputation for dog fighting, and even having possession of paraphernalia relating to it is illegal (not sure if that’s the case in Tennessee or not).  The saddest thing is so many of them have to be euthanized because they’ve been trained to be vicious.  I have two dogs in Michigan, and they couldn’t hurt a fly…it’s just not in their hearts to fight!

Prayer Requests

Instead of the oh woe is me, I need a job post, I figured I was past due on prayer request for other people, forgetting that A LOT of people have it worse than me.  Here are my requests for now:

Amanda’s little girl, Maddie, has been having some SEVERE allergic reactions to something, but they’re not exactly sure what it is, and can’t get in to the doctor to find out for sure until next Friday. In the meantime, poor Maddie can’t go outside for extended periods of time.  Pray for Mom too, she’ll need the help keeping a 6 year-old entertained!  Also, pray for her small group, it’s just not quite going as she’d hoped.

My mom, she is on the job hunt as well, only up in Michigan, which has had an even worse market than Nashville.

Of course, there’s my jobless self, which needs SOMETHING to happen!  I would seriously take ANYTHING right now, I just can’t be on my feet all day long (due to hairline fractures I’ve had, in my feet, and they never really go away).

I know there’s a ton of other requests, but I really can’t think of anymore at the moment, so feel free to let me know, and I’ll add to the list!  Have a great weekend all!

And So The Search Continues…

We are now 5 months into the job search, and I’ve been in panic mode for the last 3 of them!  Now, I’m in the freak out stage, where my dad is telling me he can’t keep supporting me, and I still haven’t had any nibbles!  My bank account overdrew, he was supposed to put money in, yet it never made its way in.  Last week, I was dealing with the whole moving fiasco, and as soon as I was back online, I must have sent out 20 resumes and cover letters, and not one phone call!  I’m just so irritated and ready to throw in the towel, with nowhere to turn.  The ony thing is I don’t have anywhere to go.  Michigan isn’t an option, they’ve got higher unemployment rates than Tennesee, and as for living with my mother, NO THANKS!  With the whole country having issues, I feel stuck.  And what kills me is my little brother, 20, who is going to school and working full time, is making more money than I’ve ever made!  He had to drop out of college because of his “depression” and has screwed up way more than me, yet things are going well for him!  I just don’t get it, why am I still going around this mountain??????  I haven’t had an interview in over a week, and I’m assumming I didn’t get that one since I never heard back.  The one the week before that, they said they’d certainly let me know EITHER WAY, and NOTHING!!!!!!  If anyone hears of anybody hiring, where it wouldn’t require me to be on my feet all day, let me know, I have a Bachelor’s Degree and can do anything administrative, and have fantastic customer service skills!

I’ve Never Wanted To Be A Homewrecker…

But, how can you not want to steal Keith Urban away from Nicole?!?!?!?!?!

Since my junior year in college, I have had an obsession with Keith Urban, I was even a member of Monkeyville (his fanclub), and traveled up to 7 hours JUST to see him in concert!  Since he married Nicole, and had a kid, I kind of fell out of love with him, but I just saw a video of him in concert on CMT, singing “You Look Good In My Shirt”, the school-girl crush is back!!!  He is looking FOIIIIIIIIIIIIINE with his hair shorter, and more natural looking (he had some bad hilight and lowlight jobs before), and you can tell he’s been workin’ out!!!!   I can’t tell you what a PHENOMENAL performer he is, check him out for yourself!  He even gave a girl his guitar!!!!

I never had the chance to meet him, but my friend, Becky (whom I never would’ve met, if not for KU), and I had the opportunity to meet all of his band members minus one, in Detroit, back in 2005.  We were such diehards, we went to BOTH of his shows, and we sat in the 14th row, the only thing that would’ve made us happier was if we were in first row, able to look him in those dreamy blue eyes!!  Becky, from then on, was my concert buddy!  We went to a show he did in East Lansing three months later, and even went to go see Little Big Town, of which we actually met at one of KU’s Detroit shows. 

Becky & I with Jerry Flowers in Detroit

I have seen him perform in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin at Country Thunder (which was WAY cool, you get to see a bunch of concerts for the price of three), two shows in Detroit, all in 2005.  In 2006, I was only able to see him twice, one of which was JUST for the fanclub, and that was cool to see him sing songs no one had heard yet, on his Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing album, in Atlanta.  I took my friend, Betsy, and she wasn’t the BIGGEST fan, but she was highly impressed with his performance!  If you ever have the chance, go and see him perform, even if you aren’t familiar with his music, you would LOVE one of his shows!!!! 

Betsy & I in Atlanta

 I know he’ll never show up at my door, but IF he did, I wouldn’t turn him away, married or not!  The ONE time I wouldn’t care if I was called a homewrecker 😉

Drivers, UGH!!

Why, oh Why, is there always at least one female driver that makes the rest of us look bad????  Just today, I see a lady who doesn’t use her blinkers, swerviing, SHOCKINGLY has both hands on the wheel, but apparently didn’t pay much attention in driver’s ed!!!!  I, for one, am a GREAT driver, may have something to do with having learned to drive in Michigan, but weather it be parking a car, or trying to multi task while driving, we get a bad rap!!!!  Even I have begun thinking females, in general, are bad drivers!!  So, please quit trying to multi-task (talking on the phone, curling you eye lashes, or applying lip gloss all at once), and PAY ATTENTION to the road!!  And MEN, you’re not getting off here, either!!  Do you really think that cell phone call is more important than the other people on the road, or yourself????  You guys sit there and putz, not paying attention when switching lanes, OR you are in such a hurry, you have to tail th people in front of you!!  EVERYONE needs to SLOW DOWN and PAY ATTENTION!!!  Oh, and USE YOUR FLIPPIN’ BLINKERS!!!!!  The road would be a MUCH safer place if we all did!!!

The A to Z of Me

A. Attached or single? Single

B. Best Friend? Sheila

C. Cake or pie? Cake

D. Day of Choice? Tuesday

E. Essential Item? cell phone, feel naked without it

F. Favourite Color? I like purples, pinks, and teals

G. Gummy bears or worms? Bears

H. Hometown? Grand Blanc, Michigan

I. Favourite Indulgance? Chocolate

J. January or July. July

K. Kids? nope, MAYBE at some point in my life, but not anytime soon, gotta get a husband first 🙂

L. Life isn’t complete without? My friends and family

M. Marriage Date? Wouldn’t know, but there better be plenty of them when I am married (even if they’re really low-key)

N. Numbers of brothers and sisters. One younger brother

O. Orange or Apples? Apples

P. Phobias? Snakes

Q. Quotes? I like these

R. Reasons to smile? the fact I’m alive…better than the alternative

S. Season of choice? Fall

T. Tag 5 People? Whoever wants to!

U. Unknown fact about me? Here’s a few

V. Vegetable? Brussel Sprouts

W. Worst Habit? I swear

X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Neither

Y. Your favourite food? Chinese and Mexican

Z. Zodiac Sign? Aquarius

Ignorance???

Is it ignorant o think that English should be the only language spoken when it comes to dealing with the government???? I have lived in other countries, and although English is the universal language, we had to learn their language, or find someone to translate for us, and that’s because we were on THEIR TURF! I understand the country is a melting pot, the land of opportunity and freedom, but I really don’t feel asking people to learn English is too much to ask for! They might as well, EVERYTHING is in English, from our street signs to the groceries we buy. I just saw on the news, that when they received some of the mailings back petitioning for it to be on the ballod, people had scribbled such hateful messages, one showed “Ignorant Racist” and they had to blur out some of it. I just feel if you’re coming to my country, you should speak my language, they would expect the same from a foreigner in their country!

I was talking to my friend, Victor, who doesn’t agree with the idea, here’s some of our conversation on Instant Messanger:
(it got a little heated, more so than I would’ve thought, but he is of Mexican descent, and is in law school, so I’m sure he’s argued with fence posts just for the heck of it!;) )

hey, random topic, would you be opposed to making your city english-only??? where they don’t offer spanish speaking people for assistance in gov’t offices???
“Victor”: yes.
christinaeba1983: really, why?
“Victor”: there are a lot of mexicans in holland
“Victor”: and english isnt the national language
“Victor”: and i think its ignorant to assume it is
christinaeba1983: so???? they are on our turf, and yes english is our official language of the USA
“Victor”: or to assume that everyone should speak it
“Victor”: who is they?
christinaeba1983: they’re in our country!
“Victor”: and no its not
christinaeba1983: foreigners
“Victor”: the us doesnt have an official language
christinaeba1983: When I went to Egypt and Thailand, do you think they offered english assistance? no, we needed to learn their language
“Victor”: and they? this land is suppose to be the land of the masses. it is built on the back of immigrants and foreigners. to betray that history seems ridiculous
christinaeba1983: it’s not, but to become a US citizen, you have to know english, and if you don’t, then you most likely don’t belong there
“Victor”: says who?
christinaeba1983: common sense!
“Victor”: thats ridiculous christina
christinaeba1983: Well, I posted a blog about it, go over and comment! lol
“Victor”: i dont need to…i can tell you here that what you said/say is very ignorant of a history of people.
christinaeba1983: I don’t think so at all
christinaeba1983: English is the universal language, people leaving their homelands should learn it
“Victor”: lol you sound so republican and stupid
christinaeba1983: no, but if you’re driving, the street signs are in english, groceries and everything are in english, I shouldn’t have to select whether i want to hear things in english or spanish, should be english automatically
christinaeba1983: if i go to YOUR homeland, then I need to speak YOUR language, and same goes for coming to my homeland
“Victor”: but those are practically the same thing
“Victor”: why?
“Victor”: you ar ridiculous. there is no language of america.
“Victor”: just bc its the primary here in MI doesnt mean thats everywhere
“Victor”: what bothers you about spanish so much
“Victor”: its a beautiful language.
“Victor”: and driving signs are specifically made in shapes to deal with that kind of thing. and spanish speaking people arent ignorant of english completely. to think they couldnt comprehend stop speaks a lot about your ignorance as well.
christinaeba1983: I just think if you’re living here, you should communicate in the common language, and make an effort to learn it
“Victor”: and i think if more americans had a better grasp of the english language then i might care if “foreigners” as you called them, spoke english
christinaeba1983: well if they’re not from here, they are a foreigner…DUH!
christinaeba1983: they’re from a foreign place, meaning not familiar to the US!
“Victor”: and to call them foreigners implies that they dont belong here…my grandma has been an american for over 50 years and doesnt speak english…for you to imply you are any more american than her is ridiculous
“Victor”: not all americans speak english
christinaeba1983: well, they should!
christinaeba1983: all public schools teach in english, am i wrong?
“Victor”: yes
“Victor”: you are
“Victor”: go down to the southwest
christinaeba1983: find me one, you won’t
“Victor”: i think if a group of people wants to preserve their culture by using their language and not being assimilated into america.

What do you think? Would you vote for it? Do you feel it would hurt the city to go English-Only??