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!

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!

I’m On Probation

…with my roommate!  I just moved in here on the 19th, and yesterday, she tells me “I don’t think it’s gonna work out.”  Sadly, that wasn’t the first time I’d heard that one, but NEVER from a roommate!  She says this because of different schedules and she says she didn’t get but two nights of good sleep all week, and that she could hear when I came in at night (she needs decent earplugs, I am not loud coming in)

1. Sunday night (first weeknight since I moved in):  I was on the phone with someone and she did have to come in twice saying she could hear everything through her earplugs.  The second time, I really thought I was quiet enough. She was back in bed by 11:30pm, I didn’t see it as that big of a deal, but would be more aware the next time
2. Tuesday night: I came home late (around 2am) and she locked the top lock on the door, and I couldn’t get in the door.  I fooled with this lock for 20 minutes, waking her up was my LAST resort.  I tried to get in through the patio door…NOTHING worked.  I knocked the first time, and no response, the 2nd time, she came and got the door, and said you just have to fool with it.  The next day, she came home and said she tried to get it to work with my key, and it didn’t.  I also apologized for having to wake her up.  Not my fault, except I guess I could’ve been home earlier.
3. Thursday night: I did get home late, was hanging out with The Mix for game night, and then went to Waffle house afterwards, and got into reading my book, THE SHACK, which I’m really liking.  I did turn on the radio, HOWEVER, it wasn’t loud (really, it wasn’t) and it took her a good half an hour to come in, of which, she just opened the door, and I wasn’t dressed (not cool!), but I’ll forgive that, she was probably blind without her contacts or glasses anyway.

I then went and talked to my mom and she told me to see about negotiating with her.  I thought about it and figured it was certainly worth a try, I can’t afford to move again, nor do I want to have to stress about finding a decent place to live again.  I then went in and asked her if I could stay if I came in by a certain time, and turned off all noise, if that would be an option.  She said she would think about it.  Today, she said we’ll do a trial run, until the middle of October, and see how it works out.  I agreed, and told her I appreciated a 2nd chance.  I also explained to her that, until I start working again, my schedule is off, but I’d be willing to go by her’s, and turn off all noise (which reminds me, I need to look for some cordless headphones, if there is such a thing).  The rent is so cheap, I’ll almost walk her dog just to stay (ALMOST, let’s not get crazy now!).  So, I have a curfew now, let’s hope she doesn’t find another reason to give me the boot!  My friend, Victor, said I shouldn’t have to negotiate, because I do pay, but it IS her condo, and I didn’t sign a lease.

On another note, do you think I have too many roommate issues, that I have a WHOLE category assigned to roommates?

ไทยแลนด์ (Thailand)

I’ve written about my experiences in Egypt, now, on to Thailand, the Land of Smiles! While we were still in Egypt, my parents went over on a look-see to find out where we’d be living and even if we really wanted to move there. My mom brought me back Bubble Yum bubble gum, and that was all I needed to know I’d love it over there! My dad’s company also sent them to Sao Paulo, Brazil, after this trip, and after being told of the crimes (usually aimed at ex-pats) and living behind bars on windows and doors, my parents quickly made up their minds!

In August of 1997, we arrived at the Bangkok International Airport, it was around midnight, and we were exhausted after 20 hours of travel! When you get off the plane, one of the first things you see is a banner that displays “Welcome to the Land of Smiles” and you see all the cute little Thais. We still had a two hour drive still ahead of us, just to get to the hotel where we’d be staying, what a LONG day that was!

We drove to Pattaya, which is south of Bangkok, the nearest city to where we’d be living. The hotel we stayed at was called the Royal Garden, and it had a MALL attached to it! I had never seen such a thing, and thought it was SO cool! As a 14 year-old girl, I was in heaven! The hotel was GORGEOUS, and the next day, I went to check out the mall, with no money of course, I forgot to ask for some Baht (Thai currency). I found this one store that, apparently, is big over in the UK, Boots, an odd name for a drugstore type of store, but they had a lot of American and British beauty products (although you’d pay the price for ’em), which was great! The mall also had a Benihana’s, so it was a MAJOR improvement from Cairo.

When we went to see our new home, we were in disbelief that it was as beautiful as it was. We lived ON a golf course, so my parents and brother were ecstatic, HOWEVER, I tried taking golf lessons in Egypt, and decided I could care less. The 2nd mode of transportation was a golf cart, everyone had at least one.

I can’t tell you how SPOILED ROTTEN we were over there, it’s so cheap to live there, we are fortunate enough to afford a maid and a driver!!! Our maid and driver were married, and the lived with us, in the outside quarters. They really became part of our family, they had a beautiful little girl whose nickname was Ploy, which means pearl in Thai, isn’t that sweet? To give you an idea of how cheap it is, we paid the maid the equivalent to $200, and she was one of the highest paid maids in the area! She felt so blessed we were able to give her a job, she gave up beef in return, completely on her own, and stuck to it!!! The Thais are willing to bend over backwards to please, and they really LOVE to smile, which makes me miss Thailand.

Because the primary religion is Buddhism, they have a different new year, their version is known as Songkran, which is celebrated April 13th – 15th, and it’s just a big HUMONGOUS water fight! They do have a white powder they mix with water, and that is supposed to ward off evil, and they will nail you with that, as well, and can sting your eyes. If you think you can go out, and still stay dry, FORGET IT!!!!! Watch the clip below and see it’s all in good fun:

School was different, we had uniforms, and I was not happy with that in the beginning. I’d never been to a school with uniforms, and the thought of wearing the same thing day in and day out was appalling! The school, the International School of the Eastern Seaboard (ISE) was SO small, even compared to my old school, CAC, there were less than 20 kids in the WHOLE 9th grade! We all had the same classes together, and there weren’t choices in what you could take, except you had the option of learning French of Spanish. I couldn’t even learn Thai in school, because there supposedly wasn’t enough interest to have a class, the majority of the students were Thai. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to learn it, besides the basic 1-10 and hello, good-bye, thank you, etc… In the 10th grade, we went on a Biology trip, we called the “Barge Trip” where we were on a boat, and went around to different sights, and had a good time. I remember feeling tired throughout that trip, just the fresh air and the heat got to me, and maybe just gross from the fact we literally had timed showers, you had 3 minutes once you got in the bathroom area, to jump in and out, and get dressed again…that was rough! I do remember everyone taking turns in groups cooking, and that was fun! That was my first experience with okra, turned out I kinda liked it.

Here’s a picture of the high school, that was newly built when I was there. If you can see the stairs have a covering, it’s because there’s no roof over the center of the building. One teeny tiny tidbit they may have overlooked, during the design process, was that there’s monsoon season!

the inside of the high school

The good thing I learned is, when it’s a small school, you get a chance to get to know everyone there, and I appreciated that, we had people from all corners of the world, and I can’t tell you how NEAT it is to interact with people from such different backgrounds! I feel so blessed to have met EVERYONE there, the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s interesting how you look back, and you realize the ways people shaped your life.

My good friend, Guillermo & I

In Thailand, drinking was legal, so long as you paid, and the same went with prostitution. The typical stereotype if you saw a foreigner with a Thai girl, usually much younger, is she was getting paid for her company, and that was something you saw EVERYDAY! Even the next door neighbor would have parties with a few Thai women when his wife left. Everyone knew everyone else’s business, MUCH more so than should’ve. I guess that’s what happens when wives (of ex-pats) can’t work (weren’t allowed work permits), and have nothing better to do.  Anytime one of the their kids screwed up, and we ALL did, EVERYONE knew about it, and that was really annoying. My bad experience was with our golf cart. One day, I was screwing around on the golf cart paths, going up and down the hills for cheap thrills, and missed a turn,  I tried to compensate by turning sharply, which resulted in me falling out, and the cart kept going…right into the pond!!!!!! I was so upset, one of the neighbors happened to be driving by, and they gave me a lift back home. All I remember was I was grounded after that, and told I could NEVER drive it again! I was able to drive it again, they trusted me, and that was the last time I went up and down hills for excitement! I think it was about $100 or so just to dry it out. My mom jokingly told me to tell people I went looking for my dad’s old golf balls, sadly, that excuse didn’t fly!

My golf cart fared a little better than this one, but not by much

Thailand has some Amazing beaches, in Pattaya, Phuket, and the small islands. Our family traveled to Phuket a few times, and stayed at Le Meridian Resort, which was recked in the tsunami, but has since been restored. We LOVED that place, there was always something to do, and everyday, they had this fantastic mongolian barbecue (I’m such a foodie), definitely one of the things I looked forward to. The only thing i hated was the pain from my “pasty-white-girl-tan”, otherwise known as a sunburn, from being in the sun all day. Another place we visited was Chiang Mai, and on that trip, this Aussie boyband, Human Nature, performed in the lobby lounge of the hotel, and I remember thinking they were some FINE lookin’ men LOL, but my tastes have changed since then, but a couple of them are still cute LOL. They ended up having some songs on the Asian and Aussie music charts, but nothing too big. What can I say, I was a sucker for any cute boy!!!!

Earlier, I mentioned how I’m kind of a foodie, and I love Thai food. I’m not one for a lot of spice, like most of their dishes, but it’s worth the sacrifice, and if you think you’re eating Thai food, but your nose isn’t running, and eyes aren’t watering, then it may not be authentic. I did learn how to make Thai fried rice, from our maid, sesame beef. I do have a recipe for chicken cashew, just have never made it myself, but it’s awesome! Chicken satay and pad thai are my favorites!

Pad Thai

Durians are a fruit that is native to southeast Asia, and you would KNOW if you were ever within a half a mile of one, the smell is unforgettable, to say the least! Remember how I said the high school was all open-aired??? Well, one day, someone brought 2 durians to school, and left them at the bottom of the stairs, and the smell was just AWFUL!!! One writer describes it as “overripe cheese. Rotting fish. Unwashed socks. A city dump on a hot summer’s day”, and I couldn’t agree more!! Apparently, the public buses, which are all open-aired as well, wouldn’t allow anyone with one of these supposedly tasty fruits on board due to the pungent odor. I never tried it, the smell was enough to turn me off. Pomelo was another fruit that is native to SE Asia, and it is SO good! It tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit.

Pomelo

Durian

See this picture…

Gorgeous, huh??? Well, these are what the Thais refer to as Katoys, which means “ladyboys”, and they have Mr. Miss beauty pageants!! So, if you go there, you may not always get what you see, As you can see, many of them are more beautiful than real women! My parents took us to a cabaret show when we were on vacation, and later, we met some of the stars of the show, and my mother broke it to us that they were men, I just couldn’t believe it, they were SO beautiful, but then I noticed the adam’s apple!

While I was in Thailand, I had the opportunity to travel Vietnam, Bali and Australia. I think we loved Phuket so much, we didn’t do as much traveling to other places, but I really don’t have any places on my must see list, that I haven’t already seen. I really loved the people, the culture, and the land, I would move back there in a heartbeat, if given the opportunity! There is a woman’s blog I’ve been reading, who just moved there, and it brings back memories to read about her daily life, although, she lives in a different part of the country. I’m sure I missed things, but this gives you an insight into my life, as well as the things the average tourist might not experience.

حياتي في مصر (My Life In Egypt)

Some of you may, or may not, know that I used to live in Egypt. I may not have appreciated it as much as I should have, but I do now, it was a WONDERFUL learning experience! Before I moved there, I really, truly, was under the impression that we would be living in pyramids and riding camels everywhere…never hit me that my dad worked for a CAR COMPANY!!!! I think I told everyone I knew I’d be living in a pyramid and I’m pretty sure I practiced walking like an Egyptian in the mirror!!!

Well, after 13 hours of flying, we landed in Cairo. The smells are what hit you first. A combination of sweat, body odor, and must, with a hint of the worst cologne you ever could smell! It’s kind of crazy it’s been 14 years and I still remember, but it was so different, how could I not? I really felt like I took a step back in time, it just seemed like the men were dressed in 80’s attire, and everything just looked so old. When you step foot outside of the airport, most of the cars were old and clunky, cabs included. I’d never been around people who had to cover their heads or faces, so it was all very new to me, and at that time, I wasn’t very familiar with the Muslim religion, but it was clearly evident we weren’t in Grand Blanc, Michigan anymore!

It was around midnight local time when we arrived, but our first stop was to take a look at where we’d be living, which was NOT a pyramid! We had a lovely apartment, just different from what I was used to, I’d never lived in an apartment building, and again, there was a funky stench in the building. Also, living on the 5th floor is not a great floor to live on, should the electricity go out, and it went out often. We later learned one of the bathrooms stunk, permanently, of whatever it was our landlord, right above us, was cooking (and they loved their garlic)! What was even stranger was we had 2.5 bathrooms, and they were all next to each other, the stinky bathroom was maroon, and my parents’ bathroom was a hideous pickle green! Luckily, the half bath guests would use was attractive, which was all my mother worried about. I thought it was the coolest thing that I had a balcony off of my room, it was small, but it had a view of the school. We then went to the hotel, and stayed there for a few days while we got situated.

My first mini-expedition was right after I moved in, my mother asked me to go get some milk from the market, Kimo Market (which you’ll see briefly in the video clip @ the end), and all I had to do was go straight, but somehow, I ended up over on one of the busiest streets in the area, referred to as Road 9, and I started on 210, and a nun, or that’s what I remember she was, was nice enough to help me get home. I didn’t know a phone number, or even where home was, all I knew was I lived near CAC, but hours later, I got home in one piece. And my mother swears my sense of direction hasn’t improved much since!!!!

The following week, I started school at Cairo American College, it was Kindergarten through grade 12. It was much smaller than what i was used to, only about 100 students per grade. It was early November, so I remember feeling so overwhelmed on the first day, and later realized it was MUCH more difficult than I expected. The school was great though, there were people from all over the world, places I’d never even heard of, and I was able to learn so much about the world, namely geography and cultures. In the US, they focus on government, civics and usually the history of your state, I did however, learn so much about Egypt, their culture and the Muslim Religion, and when you understand why people are different, and do the things they do, you’re a whole lot more accepting. The Middle East gets such a bad rap, the only time you hear about it on the new is when something horrible happens, or because of the war, and it’s not all bad, the WHOLE region is not comprised of terrorists, if it was, they would’ve all killed each other by now! Only one terrorist attack occurred while we were there, and it wasn’t even aimed at Americans. Sadly, it was a BAD case of mistaken identity. I really take offense when people make those generalizations, they’re people too, just from a different background! Sorry, I tend to stray. The school I went to was a private American school, very advanced, and pretty up with the rest of the world, technologically speaking. I took Arabic classes the 2nd and 3rd years I was there, and learned how to read and write it. I tested it out a lot on our Boab (doorman) and our driver, both named Ahmed. When living there, it seemed as if there were only a handful of men’s names to choose from, It was as if every man were named either Ahmed, Mohammed, Abdul, Mahmoud, and Sharif. Seemed like there were even fewer female names, so we often would get people’s names mixed up, or we’d get lucky when picking one of the few we could think of LOL. My dad learned a few words in Arabic and he took a fondness to “habib” and “habibi”, which means love, or my love, and he called EVERYONE it, very amusing, if not embarrassing! We’re really lucky we never had any need for medical care while we were there, the hospital was called salaam something or another, and “ma’asalaam” means good-bye, so we deemed it the ma’asalaam hospital and joked if you went in, you wouldn’t be coming back out! For all we knew, it could’ve been just fine, but then again, Egypt was still a developing nation (developing nations don’t like the term “3rd world”). This was back in 1994-1997 that I was there, so I’m sure a lot has changed since then.

The really cool thing from CAC was that we started a rehabilitation program for Egyptian Tortoises, which are endangered. We took responsibility for feeding and caring for them, and that was a lot of fun. I believe they’re still doing the project to this day, and we weren’t even sure it’d continue after the first year. Another interesting thing we did was went and spent 4 nights in the desert, living with Bedouins. It was our 8th grade trip (we went on an overnight trip every year), but this one was my least favorite. Living in the desert means no plumbing…of any kind! We dug holes, did our business (behind a giant rock), and burned the toilet paper. Not my idea of a vacation! We snorkled, and on my first day, I managed to lose all my gear except a fin, due to waves. Snorkling was the only thing that got me through 4 days without showering, but salt water isn’t the greatest either! And I must say, snorkeling in the Red Sea is nothing but spectacular! It’s so beautiful! There was supposed to be something educational about the trip, however, I was probably too annoyed with the fact that one of the teachers (a gym teacher at that, so it was weird she came) washed her hair EVERYDAY, and I couldn’t even get a shower, that I just don’t remember!!! Oh well, I survived. I do remember having several bloody noses on that trip, due to the dry air, that was not fun (although one was caused by another girl over something stupid, but I still remember LOL, wonder where Kristin Schaffer is today). I also remember wishing I’d brought a warmer sleeping bag, it was COLD at night! It wasn’t a good trip for me, I won’t lie, but it’s one to remember! The 6th grade trip for students was to Luxor, which is where the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens are, where King Tut’s tomb is, and a whole lot of history. In the 7th grade, we were supposed to go to Amman, Jordon, but due to current events at the time, we ended up going to Al Arish, and it was an alright trip…first time I ever played Truth or Dare LOL, and that’s about all I remember! I did take a class, Egypt in Greek and Roman Times, and that was a really interesting class, more notably, I got to travel to Rome during my spring break in 7th grade! I LOVED Rome, it was gorgeous, and we did a ton of sight seeing, and the food was to die for! I digressed again!

The pyramids and sphinx were only about a 30 minute drive from where we lived, and we went there a few times, my mom even did a Christmas card of us in front of the pyramids. There was also the City of the Dead, which was miles of tombs, but a lot of poor people lived there as well, which is kind of creepy when you think about it. Another sight is the Citadel, i went there, but couldn’t tell you anything about it.

The Citadel

Driving in Egypt is something to be experienced…they try to make 5 lanes out of 3. Other things I found interesting in Egypt were that Arby’s delivered, McDonald’s had just opened it’s first restaurant in Cairo right before we moved there, and it was ALWAYS busy, even during Ramadan (when Muslims fast for a month), I think all ex-patriots had the same idea, to go there LOL. We had a Domino’s move into the bottom of the apartment building across the street, and that was convenient. Egyptian food, in my opinion, is bland, and the only think I liked was hummus and bread.

Here’s a video that kinda shows what Ma’adi, the ex-pat community we lived in, looks like, including CAC. It’s kinda long, but the last 2 minutes are the most interesting.

Next time…Thailand! Here’s a snippet from a previous post

Any Magical Potions For Common Sense or Courtesy????

Lord knows I could use one or two right about now, well, certainly not for my, but for my roommate….she needs all of them, if you haven’t read about the issues, read this, this, this, and this!!! She’s back to eating my food, and I have to call her out on it in order for her to do anything! Two days ago, I saw she had mistakenly put my pork, from the freezer, into the fridge, so I switched it out with her chicken, which I know I hadn’t bought. Well, she goes and switches it back, and eats my pork! What kills me though is my friend was able to see what she was doing when she switched the meat, and I asked her while it was happening if she switched it back, she said no, so I didn’t even worry about it, so that ticked me off too, but then I realize she’s a dingbat too….my fault for believing her!!! We’ll get to her in a minute. I go to grab something out of the freezer the next day, and see her chicken breasts still there, and I’m not happy! So, I left a note on the whiteboard for her, and told her she ate my pork, not her chicken, and she didn’t say anything, nor has my food been replaced! You would think you would remember what you bought, or at least know that pork loin and chicken breast aren’t that similar, or at least, when eating it, notice the difference…Noooooooo!!!!! On Tuesday night, I was in the cupboard, where I put my food, and realize my Ramen noodle package of six had been opened, and 3 taken out, and I’m in the cupboard all the time, and know I hadn’t had any Ramen since I put it there. Well, I left a note on that one, and the next day, I see two packages there, not three, I’m not upset over the quarter it cost, but it’s the point, IF YOU’RE GOING TO EAT MY STUFF, REPLACE IT!!!!!!! Common Sense and Courtesy! And the pork she replaces mine with better be just as much as I bought, the last time she replaced my bun-sized hotdogs with the itty bitty hotdogs from oscar meyer…it should be the SAME THING!!!

Not only has the dimwit eaten my food, thinking I’m not going to notice, but she has now begun sneaking her boyfriend in the apartment, AS I’m sitting right by the door! What they do is he calls her when he gets to the door, she runs down the stairs, opens the door, and lets him in and they run upstairs. Again, I’m right here!!!! Now, if he knows I see him, he leaves, but the other nights, they must think I’m dumber than a brick! I am not deaf, after all, I do hear them having sex EVERYTIME!!! It’s just irritating, they need to do it at his house, and see how his parents feel!!! If I only knew where he lived, I’d go have a lovely chat with his mother LOL

Now, for my dingbat of a friend, I call her that to her face, she knows it, she is driving me insane!!!! She is too needy, as she puts it, and I agree! Since we both don’t have jobs, we are bored, but I don’t mind being alone, I don’t need to be around people all the time! My grandma says there’s a difference between being alone and being lonely, and I like being alone sometimes. Even in college, my friends couldn’t understand why I was by myself often. One, I didn’t have that many friends (and that was ok by me), and two, I don’t like feeling like i have to keep people entertained. I don’t have things to do at my house, I’m here to sleep, eat and relax when i think about it. I do feel bad that she’s so lonely, but I know that I, alone, can’t fix that problem. I’m an independent person, heck, I up and moved here not knowing a soul, and she did the same thing, but she is still very clingy to them. I go up to MI to see my family twice a year, if that! She has now clung to me, and I’m not a good person to be clung to, I need my independence, and quite frankly, I get sick of people when I have to be around them all the time, and I’m sure she’s gotten sick of me too. Maybe it’s the times she comes over, and leaves a mess that I have to clean up (Mom, I am so sorry, I now understand your frustration), and that she talks when I’m trying to watch TV (I’ve yelled at her about that quite a bit, but she fails to stop still), or that she doesn’t chew with her mouth closed (she says it’s a nasal issue, but still), it’s just gotten to be too much! I’m not saying I want to lose this person as a friend, I just don’t want to have to be responsible for her entertainment, and I really wish she weren’t so darned flaky!!!! She has a good heart, we just need a separation. We did have one already, for about 4 days, but apparently not enough! Makes me wonder if I could stand to live with a husband LOL

Happy 2nd Anniversary to ME!!!!!!

Now, for those of you that don’t know, I moved to Nashville 10 days after I graduated college, needing to get out of Michigan, to avoid the family drama surrounding my parents’ divorce, and figured I’d have much better luck finding a job outside of Michigan, being the highest in unemployment. Basically, my motives were to prove to myself I could make it on my own, and felt living near family would not allow me to be as independent as I needed. Why Nashville?? Well, I became obsessed with the Gaylord Opryland resort, wanting to work there, I even was fortunate enough to be able to follow the GM around for a day as a part of a college assignment before I graduated. I thought I made a good impression, he told me to send him a copy of my resume, I did so, and even sent a copy of the paper I wrote on the whole experience, but I got nothing! I applied and kept getting shut down, and since have given up seeing as now I live in Bellevue (whole other side of town). Other reasons I moved to Nashville (I digress, sorry) were that I thought it’d be a cheaper place to live, and with no state income tax, I’d be in good shape, however, I never realized that because it’s a little less to live, employers may pay you less too!!! I also liked the distance, not too far should i want to go home for a visit, but not close enough, I’d end up at home every month.

It’s been exactly 2 years since I moved to Nashville, and some days it makes me wonder if it’s only really been 2 years!!! I feel like I’ve been through so much since I moved here, between my numerous jobs and traffic violations, however, It should be more than 2 years!!!! Growing up, you think by the age of 25, you’re gonna have it all together, and I couldn’t be farther from that, at this point! I never thought I’d be livin’ on my dreams and spaghettio’s in my little apartment just trying to get by!!! The only difference is it’s Ramen and Mac and Cheese!!!! Had someone told me I would have had this much trouble with jobs, when I was back in college, I would have probably laughed, thinking my college education would be extremely desirable, and I would be the ideal candidate!!!!!! Somehow, though, everything has worked out, I’ve had to swallow my pride, a couple of times, and ask Mom and Dad for money, just to make rent, and if nothing else, I’ve learned now that God has a plan, I’m just not liking this part of the journey, and unfortunately, patience isn’t my greatest virtue at this time. I think, though, lately, I’ve been able to accept the fact that the Lord does pretty much make the decisions for my life, and that I’m not completely in control, and that when the time is right, I will find that perfect job, husband, etc…I have found a great church I belong to, and who would’ve thunk me a church goer in college??? NOBODY, I promise you!!

In the 2 years, I’ve made, and, sadly, lost quite a few, as well, due to a myspace blog I posted about having accidentally letting my roommate’s cat out, and may I just state that we cannot confirm the death of the cat, at this point, I did wait for him to come home, and he didn’t. Can’t say that I miss him, but I wouldn’t intentionally throw a cat out of the apartment, unless I was provoked, say, if it bit me, but these cats are quick, I wouldn’t even be able to catch them!!! I’m a dog person, but can co-exist with cats, or so I thought! Either way, I lost friends, or people I thought were my friends, maybe they were looking for anything to get out of it, I don’t know, again, everything happens for a reason, so they just weren’t meant to be in my life for that long, and now, I’m okay with that, and don’t need people like that in my life!!!!! It was interesting, though, the people that did come to my defense in the situation, Gotta love the ones who make the most random things, that have no effect on their lives, whatsoever, all about them!!! Water under the bridge now! i now know who my true friends are, thankfully!

The only thing I wish I hadn’t gone through was the whole escalator mishap, but again, now I know how much medical treatment costs, and will have to be almost dying should I need to go to the ER!!! Needless to say, I need to be careful where I step!

i can’t say that I ever regretted moving here, I have met some interesting people, had some really good times, it’s just been a rough ride, but it could’ve happened anywhere, really!

Would Anyone Notice…

…if something horrible happened to me?????? I got to thinking about this randomly tonight, and it made me wonder whether anyone would notice I was gone. I have my friends, but I don’t know that it would phase them that anything might be wrong if I didn’t answer my phone for awhile, or answer text messages. I have 2 roommates (3 if you count the one’s BF who has pretty much moved in, without my approval, mind you), but one rarely comes home, but a couple times a week, and the other one, I don’t think she would notice until it came time to pay rent, or after a week or two, noticed my car never moved, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one. Even my mother, I don’t talk to her but a couple times a week, may not notice, and she doesn’t have any way of contacting any of my roommates/friends here, so I know she’d be frantic! I don’t plan on going missing, and, God willing, never will, but if something happens, I don’t want to be on the news, and sound like some sort of loner because no one noticed me for three weeks (when rent was due, of course)!!!!