Wednesday, April 28, 2010
out of town
Just a little note. I ran out of town for a few days where they don't have internet (gotta love country living) and had a few posts scheduled. However, I was able to get on thru my phone today and noticed nothing posted. Not only did it NOT post, but for whatever reason, they are no longer in my list of posts either. As soon as I get back home (and back to civilization) I'll rewrite the posts and get them up. Sorry about that :)
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Moving on up
Summer turned into Fall and the terror of 6th grade was fast approaching. Not only was I starting a new school.. a HUGE school compared to my Elementary school, but I was going to have to make new friends again and even worse, ride the bus. I don't know why I was afraid to ride the bus, but I had some irrational fear about it. Up until this time, I either rode my bike to school or 1 of my parents would drop me off. I guess I didn't adjust to change very easily back then. Or maybe, I just had some 6th sense kicking me in, warning me of things to come.
The first day of school, my mom decided she would drop me off and pick me up. It had been a long standing tradition in my family that on the 1st day of school of every new year, our parents would drop us off. As my brother got older, he no longer wanted that, so he took the bus all on his own, or rode with friends until he was able to drive himself.
My first day wasn't as stressful as I expected. I found my classes relatively easy and the only thing about that day I didn't like was P.E. I was able to choose an elective so I chose chorus. I've always loved music, and back in my 1st Elementary school in Florida I played violin and also soccer but I hated actual P.E. I just thought all that running around not chasing anything was a waste of time. Especially when it's over 100 degrees out with the heat index. I was excited to see that we were able to pick our lunch from the line instead of being fed some nasty mystery meat so I chose pizza, chips and a soda.
What made the day the 1 of the best days in my life so far was meeting up with some old friends. Though as I walked around the campus, I secretly wished my best friend was there to share my day with. I still missed Carl tremendously and wondered how his 1st day in middle school was going.
I walked into my 5th class of the day dragging along. I was tired and couldn't wait for the day to end. All summer long I had been going to bed late and sleeping in and I desperately needed a nap. As I approached a row of chairs, I slug my bag to the floor and plopped down ignoring the people around me. I heard a familiar voice talking from across the room, but I just couldn't place it.
Where had I heard that voice before??
Why does it sound so familiar?
Finally, with curiousity getting the best of me, I turned toward the voice. Never in a million years did I expect to see who was looking back at me.
It was Carl!! I had to do a triple take.
Was it really him?? No of course not. It couldn't be!! He had moved away over 2 years ago and I never heard from him again. No way could he really be sitting across the room from me finally! It was what I had wished for all day long.. and now here he was.
It WAS him! He had grown taller and thinner, his hair was definately different, so were his glasses. But it really was him. I turned away quickly. I had to compose myself. I wanted to jump up and run to him. I wanted to burst out crying out of pure excitement. I wanted to tell him everything that has happened since I saw him last. But I didn't. I just sat there staring straight ahead. I never turned back around, but I could feel him watching me. I have no idea what was said during that hour of class. All I heard was my own thoughts.
Why are you being such a coward?? Go talk to him!!
I was glad when the bell rang to dismiss class and I quickly grabbed my bag running from the room. I only had 1 more class to go and I could finally get away. My emotions were getting the best of me and I couldn't concentrate on anything other than Carl.
The first day of school, my mom decided she would drop me off and pick me up. It had been a long standing tradition in my family that on the 1st day of school of every new year, our parents would drop us off. As my brother got older, he no longer wanted that, so he took the bus all on his own, or rode with friends until he was able to drive himself.
My first day wasn't as stressful as I expected. I found my classes relatively easy and the only thing about that day I didn't like was P.E. I was able to choose an elective so I chose chorus. I've always loved music, and back in my 1st Elementary school in Florida I played violin and also soccer but I hated actual P.E. I just thought all that running around not chasing anything was a waste of time. Especially when it's over 100 degrees out with the heat index. I was excited to see that we were able to pick our lunch from the line instead of being fed some nasty mystery meat so I chose pizza, chips and a soda.
What made the day the 1 of the best days in my life so far was meeting up with some old friends. Though as I walked around the campus, I secretly wished my best friend was there to share my day with. I still missed Carl tremendously and wondered how his 1st day in middle school was going.
I walked into my 5th class of the day dragging along. I was tired and couldn't wait for the day to end. All summer long I had been going to bed late and sleeping in and I desperately needed a nap. As I approached a row of chairs, I slug my bag to the floor and plopped down ignoring the people around me. I heard a familiar voice talking from across the room, but I just couldn't place it.
Where had I heard that voice before??
Why does it sound so familiar?
Finally, with curiousity getting the best of me, I turned toward the voice. Never in a million years did I expect to see who was looking back at me.
It was Carl!! I had to do a triple take.
Was it really him?? No of course not. It couldn't be!! He had moved away over 2 years ago and I never heard from him again. No way could he really be sitting across the room from me finally! It was what I had wished for all day long.. and now here he was.
It WAS him! He had grown taller and thinner, his hair was definately different, so were his glasses. But it really was him. I turned away quickly. I had to compose myself. I wanted to jump up and run to him. I wanted to burst out crying out of pure excitement. I wanted to tell him everything that has happened since I saw him last. But I didn't. I just sat there staring straight ahead. I never turned back around, but I could feel him watching me. I have no idea what was said during that hour of class. All I heard was my own thoughts.
Why are you being such a coward?? Go talk to him!!
I was glad when the bell rang to dismiss class and I quickly grabbed my bag running from the room. I only had 1 more class to go and I could finally get away. My emotions were getting the best of me and I couldn't concentrate on anything other than Carl.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Getting settled and moving forward
The hardest thing for my family to get used in Florida was the weather and the terrain. There were no hills to roll down, no moutains to climb and just walking to the car would make you break out into a heavy sweat. Luckily my brother and I were kids and it didn't seem to effect us as much.
Carl and I had become fast friends. We were always playing together outside, we went to the same school and had the same class. We were inseparable. His older brother Chad (older by 2 yrs) would also play with us. Everyday after school, we'd run home, drop off our books, change and jump on our bikes in pursuit of that days adventure.
1 of the 1st things my parents did when we all got settled into our new life was get season passes for the whole family to Disney World. We went every Sat. and sometimes Sunday if we didn't go to Church. By the time Winter came along, my brother and I would beg NOT to go. We had had enough of Disney and Epcot.
Excited Winter was finally arriving as it's a huge holiday for my family. What we didn't expect was the type of weather. Instead of playing in the snow on Christmas morning like we had done for so many years prior, we packed up the car and headed to the beach. It was over 80 degrees and still humid. Who would have thought we would be out sweating and wearing bathing suits on Christmas?? Though the family became really homesick at that time, playing in the surf and sand was a nice change.
Within a year my parents decided they wanted to move to another apartment closer to the front of the complex. Apparently, the back of the complex got really loud and noisy at night and the whole family was having trouble sleeping. Not long after we moved into our new apartment, Carl broke the news to me that his family was moving away. His dad (who was in the Reserves and also worked for the Army as a civilian) got transferred to South Carolina. They were leaving in 4 wks and my world got turned upside down. He was my best friend and my heart was broken knowing that I'd never see him again.
During this time, my mom decided she wanted to go back to work and found a job only 1 block away from our apartment. Which is good since we only had 1 car and my dad used that. Back in PA, everything we ever really needed was within walking distance so there was no need for more than 1 vehicle. Since it was close, she was able to walk to and from work, even in the heat. (She loves the heat and hates the cold) It didn't take her long to get promoted and soon she was a manager. With that, the family decided it was time to move into a house. My brother wanted to stay at the same school, so finding a house was limited. Since my best friend was gone, I could care less where I went. We eventually found a house to rent that was close to the county line so he would still be able to go to his school, though I had to transfer.
We moved in to a bigger place, though it still wasn't as large as our old house. There were only a few kids in this neighborhood and no one seemed to play outside. It took me awhile to make friends with anyone but when I did, I was lucky that she was also placed in my same class. Since the school was so close to our house, Vanessa and I would ride our bikes together every morning and afternoon. My parents now needed another car since we moved further away from both of their jobs and it was strange to come home to an empty house. I was so used to my mom being there when I got home from school and I started to really miss that. Now, instead of meeting me at the door when I got home, neither of them barely made it home before 6pm every night. My brother was now in high school and even though he got out before I did, he hardly ever came straight home and stayed there. Normally he was out with his friends, so I started to go over Vanessa's house every day.
She had just recently moved down from New York and was the new kid on the block just like me. Neither of us new anyone so that was our common thread. Though I really enjoyed hanging out with her, I really didn't like being at her house. Her family was Columbian and her father was super strict with her. She had an older brother like I did, and he was allowed to do whatever he wanted. However, Vanessa and I weren't allowed to go outside very much once we got home from school. Her house always smelled of a mixture of mothballs and rice and in the beginning, the smell wasn't too bad. After a week of smelling it though, I was glad it was Friday and I wouldn't have to smell it for a few days. Plus, her father yelled all the time. I never really knew what he was saying because he would say it in Spanish, but I could tell it wasn't a good thing. I got the feeling he didn't like me, for whatever reason, by the way he'd glare at me when I was over there.
The years passed and I was about to enter middle school. I was excited but scared. When I was in 5th grade, we had the same teacher just about all day. The only time it changed was when we had P.E. or a few times a wk we'd have art or chorus. Now, entering 6th grade... a new school, 6 classes with 6 different teachers and the classes were spread around the whole campus. Compared to my Elementary school, this new school was huge! I knew that I would have some troubles there, but I figured they be simple ones like getting lost on campus, or the school work being a little tougher, but I had no idea that my life would change so drastically.
Carl and I had become fast friends. We were always playing together outside, we went to the same school and had the same class. We were inseparable. His older brother Chad (older by 2 yrs) would also play with us. Everyday after school, we'd run home, drop off our books, change and jump on our bikes in pursuit of that days adventure.
1 of the 1st things my parents did when we all got settled into our new life was get season passes for the whole family to Disney World. We went every Sat. and sometimes Sunday if we didn't go to Church. By the time Winter came along, my brother and I would beg NOT to go. We had had enough of Disney and Epcot.
Excited Winter was finally arriving as it's a huge holiday for my family. What we didn't expect was the type of weather. Instead of playing in the snow on Christmas morning like we had done for so many years prior, we packed up the car and headed to the beach. It was over 80 degrees and still humid. Who would have thought we would be out sweating and wearing bathing suits on Christmas?? Though the family became really homesick at that time, playing in the surf and sand was a nice change.
Within a year my parents decided they wanted to move to another apartment closer to the front of the complex. Apparently, the back of the complex got really loud and noisy at night and the whole family was having trouble sleeping. Not long after we moved into our new apartment, Carl broke the news to me that his family was moving away. His dad (who was in the Reserves and also worked for the Army as a civilian) got transferred to South Carolina. They were leaving in 4 wks and my world got turned upside down. He was my best friend and my heart was broken knowing that I'd never see him again.
During this time, my mom decided she wanted to go back to work and found a job only 1 block away from our apartment. Which is good since we only had 1 car and my dad used that. Back in PA, everything we ever really needed was within walking distance so there was no need for more than 1 vehicle. Since it was close, she was able to walk to and from work, even in the heat. (She loves the heat and hates the cold) It didn't take her long to get promoted and soon she was a manager. With that, the family decided it was time to move into a house. My brother wanted to stay at the same school, so finding a house was limited. Since my best friend was gone, I could care less where I went. We eventually found a house to rent that was close to the county line so he would still be able to go to his school, though I had to transfer.
We moved in to a bigger place, though it still wasn't as large as our old house. There were only a few kids in this neighborhood and no one seemed to play outside. It took me awhile to make friends with anyone but when I did, I was lucky that she was also placed in my same class. Since the school was so close to our house, Vanessa and I would ride our bikes together every morning and afternoon. My parents now needed another car since we moved further away from both of their jobs and it was strange to come home to an empty house. I was so used to my mom being there when I got home from school and I started to really miss that. Now, instead of meeting me at the door when I got home, neither of them barely made it home before 6pm every night. My brother was now in high school and even though he got out before I did, he hardly ever came straight home and stayed there. Normally he was out with his friends, so I started to go over Vanessa's house every day.
She had just recently moved down from New York and was the new kid on the block just like me. Neither of us new anyone so that was our common thread. Though I really enjoyed hanging out with her, I really didn't like being at her house. Her family was Columbian and her father was super strict with her. She had an older brother like I did, and he was allowed to do whatever he wanted. However, Vanessa and I weren't allowed to go outside very much once we got home from school. Her house always smelled of a mixture of mothballs and rice and in the beginning, the smell wasn't too bad. After a week of smelling it though, I was glad it was Friday and I wouldn't have to smell it for a few days. Plus, her father yelled all the time. I never really knew what he was saying because he would say it in Spanish, but I could tell it wasn't a good thing. I got the feeling he didn't like me, for whatever reason, by the way he'd glare at me when I was over there.
The years passed and I was about to enter middle school. I was excited but scared. When I was in 5th grade, we had the same teacher just about all day. The only time it changed was when we had P.E. or a few times a wk we'd have art or chorus. Now, entering 6th grade... a new school, 6 classes with 6 different teachers and the classes were spread around the whole campus. Compared to my Elementary school, this new school was huge! I knew that I would have some troubles there, but I figured they be simple ones like getting lost on campus, or the school work being a little tougher, but I had no idea that my life would change so drastically.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Beginning
***Ok... So I decided to start at the very begining b/c some of my future posts will have to do with the friends I met back then. I'm remembering this as best I can, so some conversations will just have to be summaries and not exact quotes***
In the Spring of 1986 my Dad had taken a new and exciting job that would be very good for our family. The only bad thing was.... it was over 1,500 miles from where we currently lived. We would be leaving all of our family behind to move to a state where we knew no one. Had no friends or family near, no job for my mom and at the moment, no place for us to live either. My dad went down 1st to get settled at the new job while my brother, me and my mom stayed behind to sale what we could, pack up the house and drive down. That also gave my dad some time to find us a place to live.
The house we were leaving is still to this day 1 of my favorite houses we ever lived in. We were currently living in a small town south of Pittsburg (PA) on a street that was so steep it reminded me of a 45 degree angle. The house itself had 4 stories, a 3 car garage and awesome hills in the backyard to go sledding down in the winter. The front of the house was level with the street, but if you walked straight back to the french doors in the back, it wasn't level with the back street. It was built coming out of a mountain so the basement/garage was level with the lower street in back. As soon as you walked in the front door, there was a large staircase straight ahead and off to the right. Going straight back led to the kitchen, inside the kitchen was the door to the basement, and across from that were 1 set of french doors going out to the porch. If you went left from the front door, you would walk into the large livingroom. At the rear of that room was the doorway to the dinning area and in there were another set of french doors to lead out to the same porch.
The basement was a typical basement. It wasn't a finished basement, but it did have an extra bathroom down there. Though I never recall ever using it for anything.
Going up the 16 steps from the front hall staircase, you'd turn left, go up 2 more steps and that lead to 3 bedrooms. Straight ahead was the bathroom with it's claw foot tub and pedastool sink. To the right was the master bedroom which housed a walk-in closet, another small porch and the beginings of another bathroom my parents were in the process of building. To the left from the stairs were 2 seperate bedrooms. The furthest down the hall and closet to the bathroom was my brothers room. It had it's own walk-in closet and a window that overlooked down to the front street. My bedroom was the 1st door on the left coming from the stairs. When you walked in, straight ahead was a window just like my brother's and there were 2 doors to the left. The furthest was my walk-in closet, but the closest was a door leading up to the top floor of the house.
Up there were 2 more bedrooms, each with queen sized beds, bay windows and their own dressers as well as night stands. Inside the front bedroom was a door to the attack. One thing I didn't like about that place was that my bedroom was the 1 with the door to the top floor. Since we didn't have a large family, those rooms were hardly ever used. Some nights I would lay awake wondering if someone was up there, or what would come down. But otherwise, I loved that house. Even now, when ever I go back to visit, I still drive by the house. I sit and remember all the fun times we had there. Chasing our cats up and down the stairs, sleding down the hills in the back on 2 feet of snow, my parents teaching me how to ride a bike, my parents and cousins and the rest of our extended family coming over to cook-outs, birthday parties, playing kickball in the street.
I was going to miss those days. I was only 7 (my brother was 12) when my parents decided the move would be best, but I knew then that the relationship I had with that side (my mom's side) of the family was going to change forever.
The begining of Summer, after selling all the non-essentials (piano, beds, etc) we hired movers to drive down what we kept and my mom, brother and I pilled into our little VW bug and headed south. I can't remember exactly how long it took us to get here (Florida) but I do remember looking at all the buildings and bustling people. It was so strange to me. Coming from a small town, Orlando was like something you'd see out of movie. In the town I was coming from, we had 1 McDonalds, 1 Tasty Freeze and a few small privately owned diners. 1 grocery store, but a few small 5 and dime places you could get personal items like shampoo, soap, etc with pharmacies build in them. It was like a CVS or Walgreens but on a MUCH smaller scale.
The majority of the population in our small little town was Italian or Irish. If you weren't 1 or the other.. you were a mix of the 2. I think we had 1 black family and until moving to Florida I don't ever recall seeing anyone with a Hispanic heritage. Florida however, was much different. It was a melting pot of all sorts of people and their backgrounds.
My father met us at a Burger King right off the Interstate. We decided to have lunch there (I'd never had a Burger King burger before, so my brother and I were excited) then we followed my dad back to our new place. It was an apartment. A small, 3 bedroom apartment. The good thing was we had 2 full bathrooms, unlike our house. Thank god we sold a lot of our stuff because it was the polar opposite of what we had just moved from.
The 1st few days were full of unpacking and finding bedroom furniture for me and my brother. It wasn't long before we realized how different Florida was from PA. The biggest difference was the weather. It was unbelievably hot and humid. My brother and I were very active kids, never ones to just veg infront of the TV, so we played outside a lot. That's where I met Carl and his family.
Little did I know, that was the begining of a beautiful, but rocking relationship.
In the Spring of 1986 my Dad had taken a new and exciting job that would be very good for our family. The only bad thing was.... it was over 1,500 miles from where we currently lived. We would be leaving all of our family behind to move to a state where we knew no one. Had no friends or family near, no job for my mom and at the moment, no place for us to live either. My dad went down 1st to get settled at the new job while my brother, me and my mom stayed behind to sale what we could, pack up the house and drive down. That also gave my dad some time to find us a place to live.
The house we were leaving is still to this day 1 of my favorite houses we ever lived in. We were currently living in a small town south of Pittsburg (PA) on a street that was so steep it reminded me of a 45 degree angle. The house itself had 4 stories, a 3 car garage and awesome hills in the backyard to go sledding down in the winter. The front of the house was level with the street, but if you walked straight back to the french doors in the back, it wasn't level with the back street. It was built coming out of a mountain so the basement/garage was level with the lower street in back. As soon as you walked in the front door, there was a large staircase straight ahead and off to the right. Going straight back led to the kitchen, inside the kitchen was the door to the basement, and across from that were 1 set of french doors going out to the porch. If you went left from the front door, you would walk into the large livingroom. At the rear of that room was the doorway to the dinning area and in there were another set of french doors to lead out to the same porch.
The basement was a typical basement. It wasn't a finished basement, but it did have an extra bathroom down there. Though I never recall ever using it for anything.
Going up the 16 steps from the front hall staircase, you'd turn left, go up 2 more steps and that lead to 3 bedrooms. Straight ahead was the bathroom with it's claw foot tub and pedastool sink. To the right was the master bedroom which housed a walk-in closet, another small porch and the beginings of another bathroom my parents were in the process of building. To the left from the stairs were 2 seperate bedrooms. The furthest down the hall and closet to the bathroom was my brothers room. It had it's own walk-in closet and a window that overlooked down to the front street. My bedroom was the 1st door on the left coming from the stairs. When you walked in, straight ahead was a window just like my brother's and there were 2 doors to the left. The furthest was my walk-in closet, but the closest was a door leading up to the top floor of the house.
Up there were 2 more bedrooms, each with queen sized beds, bay windows and their own dressers as well as night stands. Inside the front bedroom was a door to the attack. One thing I didn't like about that place was that my bedroom was the 1 with the door to the top floor. Since we didn't have a large family, those rooms were hardly ever used. Some nights I would lay awake wondering if someone was up there, or what would come down. But otherwise, I loved that house. Even now, when ever I go back to visit, I still drive by the house. I sit and remember all the fun times we had there. Chasing our cats up and down the stairs, sleding down the hills in the back on 2 feet of snow, my parents teaching me how to ride a bike, my parents and cousins and the rest of our extended family coming over to cook-outs, birthday parties, playing kickball in the street.
I was going to miss those days. I was only 7 (my brother was 12) when my parents decided the move would be best, but I knew then that the relationship I had with that side (my mom's side) of the family was going to change forever.
The begining of Summer, after selling all the non-essentials (piano, beds, etc) we hired movers to drive down what we kept and my mom, brother and I pilled into our little VW bug and headed south. I can't remember exactly how long it took us to get here (Florida) but I do remember looking at all the buildings and bustling people. It was so strange to me. Coming from a small town, Orlando was like something you'd see out of movie. In the town I was coming from, we had 1 McDonalds, 1 Tasty Freeze and a few small privately owned diners. 1 grocery store, but a few small 5 and dime places you could get personal items like shampoo, soap, etc with pharmacies build in them. It was like a CVS or Walgreens but on a MUCH smaller scale.
The majority of the population in our small little town was Italian or Irish. If you weren't 1 or the other.. you were a mix of the 2. I think we had 1 black family and until moving to Florida I don't ever recall seeing anyone with a Hispanic heritage. Florida however, was much different. It was a melting pot of all sorts of people and their backgrounds.
My father met us at a Burger King right off the Interstate. We decided to have lunch there (I'd never had a Burger King burger before, so my brother and I were excited) then we followed my dad back to our new place. It was an apartment. A small, 3 bedroom apartment. The good thing was we had 2 full bathrooms, unlike our house. Thank god we sold a lot of our stuff because it was the polar opposite of what we had just moved from.
The 1st few days were full of unpacking and finding bedroom furniture for me and my brother. It wasn't long before we realized how different Florida was from PA. The biggest difference was the weather. It was unbelievably hot and humid. My brother and I were very active kids, never ones to just veg infront of the TV, so we played outside a lot. That's where I met Carl and his family.
Little did I know, that was the begining of a beautiful, but rocking relationship.
Nothing new...
Well.. It's been over a month since I posted last. I've been MIA cus really.. there hasn't been much to say. Life is the same around here as it was a month ago. I STILL haven't found a job.. which totally sucks. I've gone on some 'mini' interviews that the college has set up for me, telling me it's 1 thing, but when I leave the interview, it's the total opposite. It's just been a major pain and not worth my time to even go. But, I keep going hoping 1 of these things will actually turn into something I want (and am qualified) to do. For instance, I specifically told them (the career services department at my college) that I do not want to work with children or drug addicts. What have they been sending me to? Rehab facilities for adults and children and behavioral centers for kids. WTF?!?! The only other place they sent me to was, from what they said, a great place to get my foot in the door and get some Investigation experience. So..... I go. Ohhh and guess what??!!! I'm not qualified for ANY of their jobs! (except maybe receptionist) UGH!!
Their Investigation dept. is reserved soley for ex-military or ex-sworn officers. (which I'm neither) The only other option they had was for security officers so I looked into that. They want a class D or G license (which I don't have either) and there's a 30 day 'training' period. They did say that if I passed the 30 day training period, that they would send me and pay for the class G license. I had no idea what their training period was, so I asked.
While she wanted to stress that it wasn't the same training sworn officers get when they go into camp, but it was alike. You won't leave there with a badge, etc. BUT! There is tactical training (which I'm cool with since I love guns) and physical training. Umm.. what kind of physical training I asked. She showed me a 10 min clip of some training they had taped from a class a few months ago. OOOHHH MMYYYY GOOODDD! Well.. my fate with that company was sealed right there. I kindly said thanks, but that unfortunately I wasn't what they were looking for, and they weren't what I was looking for. Yes, she was correct.. it isn't like the sworn officers camp........................ it looked WORSE! It was more like boot camp for the military, only you didn't salute your superiors.
I walked away from the office thinking they were more like a militia instead of a Investigative/Security firm. That kind of gave me the willies. No way would I want to be associated with a militia-type company.
As I drove back home, empty handed and heavy hearted.. I prayed like crazy that I'd win the lottery and wouldn't have to stress about money. Unfortunately, that didn't happen either. :(
So...... now I'm back to square 1.
Since mom decided to quit her job and stay home for awhile, she's been keeping me busy. She's never been 1 to sit still and just veg infront of the T.V. Bless her, she is like a 2yr old on caffine most days. Then at about 8-9pm, she just goes out like someone switched off her power. But, she does get up at about 6am every morning.. ughhh God I hate happy chipper morning ppl.. and that's her :)
Since she's been off, we (we as in.. she's MADE me help) have done the spring cleaning for the whole house, repainted 2 rooms, rearranged 2 different rooms, and now are working on updating and redoing the living room and dinning rooms, we've pressure washed the pool deck and the 2 patios, relandscaped the front of the house and she's now (trying) to teach me the proper ways of restaining furniture (she collects antiques) as well as the hardwood floors. I have about as much interest in that as a shark would to the desert. But, I try to act like I'm interested and paying attention. She loves that kind of handy work. Actually, she loves ALL kinds of handy work. Her favorite shows are the home remodeling ones.. she gets most of her idea's from that. I must say, I'm far more interested in decorating a room than I am restaining furniture and wood floors.
I guess for all my hard work I've done with her, she's decided to reward me with a pedicure today and a 1 hr massage tomorrow. :) I love pedicures and massages!!! (who doesn't tho??) Maybe it also helped that I keep mentioning that my back is killing me?? :) I try to get a pedicure every few weeks, but lately, because money has been tight, I kept putting it off. It's actually been a few months since I've gone and ahhhhh!! It was wonderful!!!!! We just sat side by side, reading our books, letting the massage chair do its vibrating thing and relaxed. I can't wait until tomorrow though. I love the place we're going to and it's been a while since I've had a massage.
On another note... I still haven't heard from my brother. OOOHHHH WELL!! I'm back to being over it for the most part. Every once in a while though, it bugs me that he HAD a chance to fix this crap and then never followed thru with it. I can't even tell you how long it's been now. The ball was in his court.. we told him to let us know when he wanted to meet up and talk, and never heard anything back. I know nothing happened to him because I still see he updates his Facebook daily. So, guess he chose that bitch over us AGAIN!! :/
Well, my dad's turning 60 in a few wks and we're all (me, dad and mom) are going to visit his parents for that week. He already had business in that state anyway, so we're just gonna piggyback with him. (hey! it's a free trip!! and I get to see my Grandparents!) I love going to see them. They are about 100% total southern. They use words like yonder and my Grandma's favorite meal is collard greens and cornbread with (SUPER) sweet iced tea. She has such a southern accent, that I honestly thought my great uncles name was TOTALLY different than what it really is because of the way she says it. Now.. I have a southern accent, but not nearly as bad as they do!! LOL She uses phrases that any other person not from the south would be like WTF did they just say? I honestly have heard Blanche from the Golden Girls use the same phrases. My friends that have met my dad's side of the family (and aren't southern) just crack up listening to them talk. Sometimes it because of the accent, but mostly it's because of the words and phrases they use.
Anyway, I'm really excited to visit them. We don't get to see them very often since they live about 7-8 hrs away. They are the only grandparents I have left. My other grandparents (mom's side) are both dead. But.. I think I'll leave that to another day.
I've been thinking... I've been reading some other people's blogs and they are kinda telling stories of their past and I've thought about doing the same thing. Not that I have that much to tell, not a lot of drama and heartache, but maybe it's enough that people won't be bored reading it? I mean, I have skeletons in my closet; like everyone else, bad breakup with a fiance, guys I dated that were into some weird ass shit that I didn't really know about when we 1st got together.. stuff like that. If anyone reading my posts would be interested in hearing any of it, please let me know. Even if I don't hear back from anyone.. I might just write it anyway. Maybe it's time for some self-reflextion....
Their Investigation dept. is reserved soley for ex-military or ex-sworn officers. (which I'm neither) The only other option they had was for security officers so I looked into that. They want a class D or G license (which I don't have either) and there's a 30 day 'training' period. They did say that if I passed the 30 day training period, that they would send me and pay for the class G license. I had no idea what their training period was, so I asked.
While she wanted to stress that it wasn't the same training sworn officers get when they go into camp, but it was alike. You won't leave there with a badge, etc. BUT! There is tactical training (which I'm cool with since I love guns) and physical training. Umm.. what kind of physical training I asked. She showed me a 10 min clip of some training they had taped from a class a few months ago. OOOHHH MMYYYY GOOODDD! Well.. my fate with that company was sealed right there. I kindly said thanks, but that unfortunately I wasn't what they were looking for, and they weren't what I was looking for. Yes, she was correct.. it isn't like the sworn officers camp........................ it looked WORSE! It was more like boot camp for the military, only you didn't salute your superiors.
I walked away from the office thinking they were more like a militia instead of a Investigative/Security firm. That kind of gave me the willies. No way would I want to be associated with a militia-type company.
As I drove back home, empty handed and heavy hearted.. I prayed like crazy that I'd win the lottery and wouldn't have to stress about money. Unfortunately, that didn't happen either. :(
So...... now I'm back to square 1.
Since mom decided to quit her job and stay home for awhile, she's been keeping me busy. She's never been 1 to sit still and just veg infront of the T.V. Bless her, she is like a 2yr old on caffine most days. Then at about 8-9pm, she just goes out like someone switched off her power. But, she does get up at about 6am every morning.. ughhh God I hate happy chipper morning ppl.. and that's her :)
Since she's been off, we (we as in.. she's MADE me help) have done the spring cleaning for the whole house, repainted 2 rooms, rearranged 2 different rooms, and now are working on updating and redoing the living room and dinning rooms, we've pressure washed the pool deck and the 2 patios, relandscaped the front of the house and she's now (trying) to teach me the proper ways of restaining furniture (she collects antiques) as well as the hardwood floors. I have about as much interest in that as a shark would to the desert. But, I try to act like I'm interested and paying attention. She loves that kind of handy work. Actually, she loves ALL kinds of handy work. Her favorite shows are the home remodeling ones.. she gets most of her idea's from that. I must say, I'm far more interested in decorating a room than I am restaining furniture and wood floors.
I guess for all my hard work I've done with her, she's decided to reward me with a pedicure today and a 1 hr massage tomorrow. :) I love pedicures and massages!!! (who doesn't tho??) Maybe it also helped that I keep mentioning that my back is killing me?? :) I try to get a pedicure every few weeks, but lately, because money has been tight, I kept putting it off. It's actually been a few months since I've gone and ahhhhh!! It was wonderful!!!!! We just sat side by side, reading our books, letting the massage chair do its vibrating thing and relaxed. I can't wait until tomorrow though. I love the place we're going to and it's been a while since I've had a massage.
On another note... I still haven't heard from my brother. OOOHHHH WELL!! I'm back to being over it for the most part. Every once in a while though, it bugs me that he HAD a chance to fix this crap and then never followed thru with it. I can't even tell you how long it's been now. The ball was in his court.. we told him to let us know when he wanted to meet up and talk, and never heard anything back. I know nothing happened to him because I still see he updates his Facebook daily. So, guess he chose that bitch over us AGAIN!! :/
Well, my dad's turning 60 in a few wks and we're all (me, dad and mom) are going to visit his parents for that week. He already had business in that state anyway, so we're just gonna piggyback with him. (hey! it's a free trip!! and I get to see my Grandparents!) I love going to see them. They are about 100% total southern. They use words like yonder and my Grandma's favorite meal is collard greens and cornbread with (SUPER) sweet iced tea. She has such a southern accent, that I honestly thought my great uncles name was TOTALLY different than what it really is because of the way she says it. Now.. I have a southern accent, but not nearly as bad as they do!! LOL She uses phrases that any other person not from the south would be like WTF did they just say? I honestly have heard Blanche from the Golden Girls use the same phrases. My friends that have met my dad's side of the family (and aren't southern) just crack up listening to them talk. Sometimes it because of the accent, but mostly it's because of the words and phrases they use.
Anyway, I'm really excited to visit them. We don't get to see them very often since they live about 7-8 hrs away. They are the only grandparents I have left. My other grandparents (mom's side) are both dead. But.. I think I'll leave that to another day.
I've been thinking... I've been reading some other people's blogs and they are kinda telling stories of their past and I've thought about doing the same thing. Not that I have that much to tell, not a lot of drama and heartache, but maybe it's enough that people won't be bored reading it? I mean, I have skeletons in my closet; like everyone else, bad breakup with a fiance, guys I dated that were into some weird ass shit that I didn't really know about when we 1st got together.. stuff like that. If anyone reading my posts would be interested in hearing any of it, please let me know. Even if I don't hear back from anyone.. I might just write it anyway. Maybe it's time for some self-reflextion....
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