long awaited update

so things havent been super exciting to be able to write about really. so we'll do the number system.

1. the relay for life was good. b county raised around 41k, which is pretty darn good for such a small place i think. it's always hard to look at all the names of friends, family, and strangers. it was extra hard because the Stranger's grandad probably wont make it through the summer and that was weighing on both our minds. We're going to be making as many trips to KY as we can in the next couple of months.

2. my couch has a fold out bed and i slept on it last night and its amazing and i'm half tempted to live down here. i have no idea why i like it.

3. we're going ahead and moving the Stranger's stuff over here. there really isnt a point in waiting around til the end of summer when we can just get it done. which equals a banging tv for me (plus) but arguments over where all the clothes are going to go (minus). it's working out though. if anyone wants an older tv, let me know.

4. the CRJ and Mrs. CRJ are coming in friday which is super exciting. i've been working longer hours to get shit done so i can take time off and visit. it should be good.

5. weird thoughts on my mind. keepin busy.

6. i really want to take a nap right now. but no. i've got work to do.

7. they sell buckeyes at the amish store at home, this made me very happy.

8. i want to go swimming very very badly.

9. i'm starting to miss pottery. i need a new craft to take up. any ideas?

10. the stars have been out really bright the last couple of nights. i think i saw a shooting star.

in lighter news, for my birthday i would like a penguin. like this.

Dear Insurance Company,
It is not wise to tell the crazy person that you are unsure whether she needs her medication and will not allow RiteAid to refill her prescription until you discuss with the crazy person's doctor whether there is something else (re: cheaper so that they dont have to cover as much) that can be substituted.

Dear Doctors Office,
It is not wise to lose the crazy persons charts and then tell the crazy person that "well, hopefully we can find this and get it straightened out" when the crazy person has not had medication for two days.

Dear Rite Aid Pharmacist,
You're a snotty beotch and I know you were judging me. This is my middle finger for you.

livin in the land of compromise

so this whole business of moving in with someone is bullshit. not that i dont want to live with the Stranger, bc I do. and not just bc it guarantees dinner cooked for me every night. (well. that might be 30% of it) but this whole compromising space is killing me.

I HAVE TO SHARE HALF OF MY CLOSET. i've never heard such blaspheming in my life. granted, the Stranger is bringing with him some bitching..... and my mind just blanked... i want to say 'furniture that holds clothing' and cant think of the word for the life of me. anyway, he's bringing those things. BUT STILL. i had to go through my clothes and sort out things i dont wear/havent worn in awhile. it was painful in the beginning. but once i got started, i was quite proud of myself. plus i let my intern go through them and she took two bags home, so we both left that feeling pretty good. BUT STILL. if there is anyone on this planet who is a clothing junkie like me, it is the Stranger. He too is a sucker for sales. Between the two of us we spent over 400 dollars online at Express the other day (but the coupon! oooh the glorious savings!). so we're both going to have to learn compromise until at least next april when we can get a bigger place with more closets (we're already looking at some out on the lake, yay!)

I'm also struggling with the fact that I have to let him put up some of his art. Mostly bc that means I have to put up a large black&white photo of the UK flag. Maybe I can hide it in a closet?

So we're slowly but surely getting his stuff moved over. we're not in a hurry since we have a month and a half to do it.

Other than life with the Stranger, it's been a weird day. tempers flaring, misunderstandings all over the place. feelings hurt. I frankly am to the point of just giving up. Bc whats the point of fighting anymore. I'll most likely be killed in the morning. (figuratively, not literally.)

upcoming motivations

things are a brewing folks. as of august 1 i have a roommate. yes, it is the Stranger. logically and financially it makes sense. here's hoping we dont kill one another.

in october i've been invited to a masquerade ball. a full blown, fancy ball gown, sequined mask masquerade ball. i've decided i want to make my own mask, bc thats the kind of crazy person i am. i wanted a pretty dress (that if i get invited to something exciting like this again, i can re-wear) and found this:
it was a decent-ish price (i mean hell, you gotta spend -some- money to get a really nice dress) and i can dress it up more with jewelry and maybe elbow length gloves and of course, a mask. i'm so ridiculously excited for this that i'd be ok with skipping my birthday and going straight to october.

what else. the relay for life is this weekend, so if youre near b.county on friday night, i'll be out at holly gray park.

much love

someone's old KY home

home again, after a weekend in the bluegrass state. it was a good trip but for all the driving (even though, lets not kid ourselves, i slept most of the time).

it was good to see the Stranger's family and where he grew up. it's not much different from the good ol B County. lakes, mountains, humidity. good people. and a bluegrass show!

seriously, look up Goose Creek Symphony. they are not a typical bluegrass band. they're like the grateful dead, elvis, rusted root of bluegrass. complete with moonshine. the fiddler was amazing. i can't say enough.

it's hard though, getting to know his grandad knowing he's going to die soon. i enjoy being around him a lot. the whole family, really.

i dont have much else to say really. it was a quick trip and i'm exhausted.

oh. i do have a bigass bruise on my thigh. because while at the bluegrass show i got knocked down/tripped over some hippies and bounced off a chair railing. it was graceful. i'm a holy mess. but that's pretty normal for me eh?

i would like to learn to play the steel drum. but maybe i should work on the ukulele first.

i wish i had long curly hair.

i'd like to be able to look people in the eye and know whether they were lying or not.

i like to drive down country roads in the evening time.

i think antique jewelry should be cherished. i've always wanted a cameo necklace but never owned one.

i once had a locket when i was in elementary school and i put a picture of my friend that was a boy in one side and my cat Fred in the other.

i want to live in a two story house always bc it feels safer. especially when i'm yelling out the window at my drunk neighbors at three in the mornin to stfu.


i finished Beach Music and i thought it was wonderful.

i always feel like i am not (enter positive describing word here) enough. sometimes its harder to turn off more than others.

the stranger is starting to notice more of my OCD tendencies, as i have rubbed that place on my head bare again. wait till i tell him my theory about Dr. House and aspergers.

speaking of the stranger, he's taking me to the bluegrass state this weekend. i am 82% nervous. i hope everyone whom i've not yet met likes me.

i think all soup should be served in a bread bowl.

i wish the stars were out right now.

i wish i'd taken a sleeping pill earlier but it's too late to take it now without messing with me.

maybe i shoudl give one to the dog.

i'm going to try and sleep. have a lovely night everyone.

the book orders

i dont know if every elementary school did this, but growing up at Little Birch, every couple of months we would have Scholastic book orders. each student would get a little pamphlet with all the different scholastic books in it that were approved for our age ranges and our parents could order them. being who i am, this was my favorite, sacred event. i would carefully put that order form packet in my folder like it was the declaration of independence and solemnly yet gleefully bring it home to mom. i got to sit down at the table and pour over the list of books and circle the titles of the ones i wanted. after mom would look over this and realize every time it was well over half the options, i would have to go back through and number them in order of what book i wanted very very most. this was always the most painful part. only now do i realize how hard that must have been for mom, too. because that was when the mines closed and dad was back in school and we werent exactly rolling in the dough. but i always got to choose at least one book. and i can remember some of my favorite books that came out of that. Number the Stars. The Mouse and the Motorcycle. A Wrinkle in Time. and yes, the babysitters club books. when the day came that the books arrived to the classroom, it was like christmas all over again for me. to get that bundle of new, perfect books that were all for me. that was the best part. even in elementary school, books meant whole new worlds for me. books have taught me more than humans have, which is both a positive and a major flaw. but i have never gotten over the joy of getting a new (or at least, new to me) book. my multiple bookcases and shelves and random stacks attest to that. and only recently have i truly enjoyed reading like i used to. and i'm so glad to have that feeling back. not just because sometimes its the only feeling ones got, but because... well.. for me anyway, it's just magical.

i dont know why i thought about all that. its two thirty in the morning and as usual, i cant sleep. i've been out of it for the last few days, but as always happens, the sun comes out and i come back to myself. sometimes i feel like my own long lost friend.

i should really try to sleep now. much love to all of you.

my left side brain

1. my hairs are the reddish color again. i like it most muchly. laura, you should start planning what color you'd like my hair to be next summer so i know in advance.

2. my ukulele came in. i think its a little kids one bc it doesnt have guitar type strings and i'm still trying to tune them.

3. i couldnt sleep and wrote a song about things that rhyme with 'ukulele' (like that i thought i had a tail-y, and it made me cry and wail-y)

4. the dog and i are not speaking because she peed on my rug. and that rug really tied the room together, man.

5. in one hour i will be eating steak from a grill. and the cavemen did rejoice.

6. my intern is going to be famous but i cant tell you about it til monday. but i'm going to need your assistance in this one.

7. if you've not read Beach Music, go do so immediately. it is not nicholas sparks cheesy like i thought it would be. it's a damn good book about screwed up people. perhaps thats why i like it.

8. watch The Jacket. just do it now.

9. do you know how much candy you can buy at the dollar store with twenty dollars pooled together from coworkers? no wonder we're all getting plump.

10. i have successfully brought back to life my clearance aisle plants.

11. i think i'm skippin town this weekend, so that i dont sit and watch 48 hours of tv again.

7.

lazy weekend

why hello, dear reader.

sorry for dropping off the planet. i hid my laptop from myself for a whole weekend. it was terrifying and amazing. i ate the majority of a Fudgie the Whale cake and watched four seasons of The Office. today i have caught myself making That's what She Said jokes, wanting to quote facts about bears, and looking for a camera in my office. ohyes.

go immediately to youtube and look up Wizard People, Dear Reader. it is brad neeley reading all of the harry potter books. it is hilarious, the end.

i guess i have nothing much exciting to talk about. i think there is an indention in the couch where i sat all weekend. and i'm ok with that, bc things have been so out of control busy lately, that it was nice to be a sloth.

i'm changing my hair on weds. woot.

Why yes

That is a cake shaped like a whale. Nom nom nom


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Location:Valley View Ave,Morgantown,United States

Somewhere over the rainbow

So. I decided I want to learn to play the ukulele. So I bought one on eBay for thirty dollars. It's yellow. I think I should learn freebird. Hopefully I will actually see this through.


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Location:Valley View Ave,Morgantown,United States

the rest of this week has not been exciting. this weekend i actually have nothing going on. that means pasta alfredo and ice cream cake for me.

things that make me happy: my post-christmas trip to charleston sc is booked and i get to stay in one of those old old hotels in the historic district, starbucks cinnamon latte, that the sun is out, that frank beard is the only member of zztop without a beard, neutron jokes (a neutron walks into a bar and asks how much for a drink. the bartender replies: for you, no charge.), ripe watermelon, my idiot dog, sweats right out of the dryer, little kids who wave at you in the grocery store line to see if you'll wave back.

things that make me sad: the cnn video of the child bride being beaten bc she ran away, weird dreams, the oil covered birds, changing lotion scents, the homeless vet that stands at the intersection by sheetz, curling into a tiny ball, the unknown.

Better wednesday

Today is a much better day, even though it is raining. After sleeping all afternoon and night yesterday, it was nice to wake up to this



And then I got to go out for a business lunch of delicious sushi, which I have decided is on fact the best way to break up a work day.

I still feel like something is off. But, it will work itself out I hope.

Much love
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Location:Rollingwood St,Morgantown,United States

Suck it Tuesday

So at about one in the morning I had he worst panic attack I've ever had in my life. Hit me out of nowhere. I ended up sleeping in the floor bc for some reason that seemed like a good idea. And then I had crazy dreams and woke up and played solitaire and read the secret garden til now, where I am waiting for an unrelated doctors appt. I have a
Migraine and I got egg sandwich on my dress pants. It's not even nine, but this day can suck a big one.

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Location:U.S. 19,Westover,United States

home again

so yes. as you can see from the random posts, it was an entertaining weekend.

we got a late start out on friday (no surprise) and then got stuck in a hellacious rainstorm. and then road construction. and then a storm and construction. needless to say, it took us 5.5 hrs to get there, when it should have taken 3 at very most. but in typical shainna fashion, we had jello shots waiting at the door. so it was all ok.

we went to the zoo saturday (of which i will upload pics from the Strangers camera at a later time). it was hot and muggy and had rained all morning, so the animals weren't that exciting. we have many photos of them sleeping. i loved the red panda and the penguins and the polar bears. they at least, were active. and i pet a goat even though i hate goats. (now that's an andrea as a child story) i would like to go back to the zoo when there is more time and its not so hot and damp.

we got all dressed up and went to a hibachi so shainna could get a drink in a geisha glass and a pineapple on fire. i support any birthday that involves fire and spinning knives.
and then we went to the bar. oh the bar. look at this photo. one of the people in this picture is semi-sober and the other had been drinking since before dinner. guess which.

i will give you a hint. i had to drive the car home. but let me tell you i had an amazing drink that was like a s'more. it even had tiny marshmallows in it. yum x12.

once everyone managed to roll out of bed today we went to the most wonderful mall. where shainna showed me the most wonderful store. everything was arranged in RAINBOW ORDER. do you even know how much that made my batshit crazy heart happy? i now demand every store be put in rainbow order, for convenience. the end.

and now the dog and i are watching tv in our pjs while the stranger works on my car. it started making some not so pretty sounds. the fact that he can take care of these things is one of a milliondy reasons i keep him around.

it has been a very very very good weekend. other than when i beat the stranger up in my sleep. even though i think it's funny. but dont tell him. haha

i hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Bad dream

I had a nightmare that I was being raped and I was fighting my attacker. As it turns out, I beat the hell out of the stranger in my sleep. Woops.


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Location:Ohio 750,Columbus,United States

Zoo

Dude. It's a billion degrees and we came to the zoo. Most animals gave us the finger and slept. Here is me and the stranger, slowly but surely dehydrating.


Happy Birthday Shainna!!! There is much much more fun to be had. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Follow up

It works. Tho I don't know why it gives a location. I am not on Jacobs road. I don't even know where that is. Will have to google. Anywho. Have


a safe and happyfun weekend. Much love to you all!


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Trying out the iphone

Testing one two. I downloaded blogger for iPhone. Don't know why I didn't before. Trying to see If it works. There should be a photo.


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Location:Jacobs Hill Rd,Morgantown,United States

meeeeeemories

so i've been reading through my old blog. and it is embarrassing. i want to take the bottle of vodka out of my 20yr old hand and smack myself over the head with it.

i know i can be an overdramatic drama queen. but jesus. it grates on me to even read half of that shit. which makes me wonder what in the world you people are thinking reading this.

i may or may not have given my intern the assignment today of going and buying silly string and then proceeding to cover a coworkers car. i'm so TOTALLY going to get the mentor of the year award.

i've slept like the dead for the past 2 nights because i found some "all natural" sleep aid that tastes like berry tums. it works so well that i apparently slept through the dog walking ON MY FACE at 2am.

i finally watched pan's labyrinth. i dont know why i waited so long. very impressed. AND it marks another movie off my foreign film goals. so double w00t to that.

yes, i did just w00t you.

back to the old blogs. even in those i can see how i live in a cycle of up and down. the drinking didnt help that at all. nor did the apparently very rainy 2004. but i can remember most of the events, after reading them. going a little too high, or a little too low. i wonder where i'd be now had i not taken myself off medication all that time ago. who knows. but i like where i am at this moment in time, and i'll keep that.

this weekend should be a very good one, as we are going to the mighty c-bus for shainna's bday. it will be good to get back there and all of us be together again. including her twenty cats.

i dont know what else to write. because after reading that old garbage i am afraid of making an ass of myself. and not the fun, jazzhands, tripping down steps kind of ass, but the kind you want to give a swirly to for being annoying. i dunno. i dont have any super fun stories for you as of late. i got my latest pottery pieces back last night, and they arent as exciting as the last set. i just really wasnt feeling it this session. but come september, i'm stepping back up to the plate or whatever metaphor is needed here, and i'm going to keep learning.

also, after watching a marathon of Hoarders, i'm convinced i am one and i want to throw away everything i own. i didn't need webmd to tell me i have too much stuff. and it's genetic, and if you've been to my parents house... well... you KNOW I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP. well. maybe a little. i'm not as bad as they are. BUT STILL.

i like cheesecake, dancing in the rain, and winning at scrabble.

and another thing

thanks to Tonya, i have located my long lost blurty blog. that was the very first blog i had, starting way back in March 2004. good lord. here is the link. please dont judge. i dont even remember what i've written (but will sit down and read it tomorrow), but i'm sure it will be embarrassing and entertaining and a trainwreck. bc thats what you people have come to know and (love?)

also

also, before i forget, i saw a shooting star on saturday when we were around the fire. it was a good moment. everything felt right in my world.

badger badger badger badger mushroom mushroom!

i was informed that a post was being waited for on here, and who am i to deprive you people (or at least bethany, haha) of the goings on.

first off, it was a great weekend. hands down.

on friday evening the Stranger's dad and grandad came up. I used the Andrea Charm (patent pending) and I think they like me. i know i definitely liked them. we took them up to show off how awesome Coopers Rock is (thus completing one of my 101 Goals actually, taking new people to CR) and they were impressed. We even took them on a ride on the PRT (i forget how neat that thing is to people who didnt have to sit on it when it was broken down on a 98 degree day with 30 people packed in.) I think they had a good trip and they all told me to come visit soon. I think we are going to since his grandad's cancer is quickly progressing. I'm going to be sad when he goes, even if i met him just once.

saturday we headed to the geographical center of the state. thank goodness he's also from a small hole in the wall kind of town, bc it wasn't a culture shock to him. everyone else i've brought home (past boyfriends, friends from college, etc) had all come from bigger places and were amazed how we survived. i'll be the first to make fun of b.county, but i hate when other people do it. so i was really glad that he got it and enjoyed it. we went to the damn dam which he was surprisingly impressed with, and took the walking tour of historical sutton (we walked the three blocks of town.) he took a lot of pictures of things, his favorite of which is:

yes. i am aware that there is artillery pointed at my head. i mock the face of danger.

we had a great dinner with the entire Ware clan to celebrate Laura and Mark's engagement (the one that my grandmother is quickly taking over and I'm willing to step in as the maid of honor at tell her to back off if need be) (coughcoughLAURA). everyone met and (seems to anyway) like the Stranger quite a bit. He can talk coal, exercise, cars, and beer, the favorite topics of some of my aunts and uncles. and then the kids came back and we built a bonfire and drank beers. and pink champagne. with a foil rim. because that's class folks and we want the best for our newly engaged types. and if four dollar Andre doesnt spell class then i dont know what does.

sunday was the day of great feasting. and the peasants did rejoice with pasta salads and hot dogs and lemonade. and naps. and redneck slip-n-slides, and more naps. and it was good.

and yesterday, we canoed. (canoed? is that even correct?) we started in town and paddled (floated and pretended to paddle) to the next town. it took about 3.5-4 hrs. i have no pictures from this, but my aunt has a very good one i believe (laura can you ask her to email them to me?) of me sitting oblivious in the front of teh boat and the Stranger standing over me with the paddle ready to clock me in the head. such love, i tell you.

and also, i rescued a dog. it followed us several miles down stream, along the side. we figured it would turn around and go home but it kept coming. it disappeared at one point and i was ok with this, until we saw it again, paddling toward our boat. being who i am, i made the Stranger pull it into the boat so we could check its tags. and also, puke in the boat. obviously i did not plan for the second part. Ratler is a good dog, if a little un-seaworthy. but we got ahold of the owners and dumped her off to them. and all was well and the canoers did rejoice. i also saw deer and a bigass turtle and some ducks and laura fall up a hillside of mud.

and also there was a bigass rainstorm on the drive home and we hydroplaned and it was not good.

and then i passed out because i'm a lazy bum who'd been in the sun all day and had eaten much all weekend.

when i get more photos i will share them with you. but overall it was a really great time. mom says the Stranger could talk to a tree stump, which i -think- is her way of making a compliment. but mammaw approves, and thats always a big deal.

and that is that. not exciting, but really really great.

hope all your weekends were equally fantastical.