Which Seat Can I Taaaaaake?

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday!

Ok, I'm done with that.  So this week has been so-so.  I am having to spend a lot of money over the next week so I'm not really happy about that.  My car needs some things, I needed a new cell phone, and I have to get a crown on my tooth.  Oh and I still have to finish paying my tuition and another doctor bill from a couple months ago... oops!  Just when I think I have my debt under control... there it goes piling up again.  The American dream, right?


Oh well.  I'm hoping this weekend will bring some much needed time to sort out clothes and do laundry and stuff.  Otherwise, my brother just might sign me up to be on Hoarders or Clean House or something... just me and my room.  LoL!

Will be working out tonight... huzzah!

I never really watched much tv as a teen/young adult... until on-demand and dvr came about.  I was never around much to watch what I might have wanted to.  But thanks to those two inventions, I almost feel like a tv fanatic.  That being said, True Blood starts Sunday-- yay!  Weed and The Big C are on Monday-- double yay! 

Happy Friday!  Hope everyone has a fun weekend!

Weekend (and beginning) in review

This past weekend was chock full of fun and excitement!

On Friday night I can't really remember what I did but it involved going to bed early because Saturday morning I was up at the buttcrack of dawn (otherwise known as 8 am).  We bought tix for Catherine (for her bday last month) to go on a tour around DC of all the different places movies have been filmed.  Cool, right?  Right, we thought so.  She loves movies and is always trying to go be an extra if she hears they are filming in the area.  Here is the tale of our (mis)adventure:
Picked up two of the three ladies around 8:45 and headed to Metro.
Platform said 11 minutes.
Waited 20-25 for said Metro.
Told third lady to hustle so she would make our Metro otherwise she may be screwed.
Third lady gets to platform in time to see the doors have closed.
Get to Union Station to meet up with tour.
Wait.
And wait.
And wait some more.
Third lady shows up, yay!
Tour guide finally shows up and tells everyone to go to the bathroom or get a drink or something and sorry he's late.  (I'm betting he was stuck somewhere on Metro).
Tour guide tells us about some movie things in the station and walks us outside to the bus.
Everyone piles on.
We drive maybe a mile (prob not even that far).
Turn around.
Street closed because of festival.
Also, DVD that is part of the tour experience won't work.
Back to Union Station.
Everybody off the bus.
Kbye.

So what to do?  It's a beautifully sunny day in the nation's capital.  Well, duh, go walk and see what that festival was that was blocking the road your bus couldn't drive on.  Turns out it was the Asian Heritage Festival.  Walked around there for a little bit then took a cab over to SE to Ted's Bulletin for adult milkshakes.  I highly recommend the tomato soup and grilled cheese with the mocha kahlua shake... delicioso!  The place is really cool too.

Then it was back home for a little rest and relaxation before I hung out with Lauren!  We grabbed dinner at Eggspectation and I turned her fears around with that place I think.  Then we saw Bridesmaids!  It was actually my second time seeing it, but I thought it was HI-larious both times so it was all good.  We ended the evening with a little nightcap in my kitchen then parted ways.

Sunday I slept in and did some tidying in my bedroom.  Then I met Cyndi up at the mall then went to Kelly's for a little feast and to watch Mean Girls.  T'was fun!  Thing I was most proud of?  Making it home from downtown DC in 22 minutes.  Not bad, not bad.

Monday I went to work and then worked out!

Tuesday class started up again.  Legal Aspects of Contracting.  I think it's going to be a good class, despite it being 4 hours every week.  After that I was starving so I raced to the pub to hang out and eat with everyone.  Catherine finished a comic that is AMAZING and HILARIOUS and debuted it last night.  A lot of people came out last night.  Special shout out to my girl Lucy who turned 21 at the stroke of midnight! <3

Today I have an appointment then I'm going to work out again... huzzah!  Oh btw, I weighed in and lost again this week!  HUZZAH!  Of course I just ate ice cream, mac n cheese, and an egg roll.... oops.

Boring

I am totally enjoying this short break from school.  When I leave work I get to go home!  What a novel idea! 

Not much to report on, I'm getting my appetite back after averaging 1-2 meals per day last week.  I wasn't sick, I just wasn't hungry.  So that I'm sure helped with my 2.4 pounds lost this week.  When I do eat, it's not much.  Last night for dinner I had a couple bites of potato salad, 1/4th of a cucumber, 97% fat free popcorn, and a WW ice cream sandwich.  For lunch I had a small salad and a few pieces of sushi. 

Like I said, not much to report... will hopefully carve out a workout regime for myself.  Excited for the weekend and it's only Tuesday... :)

**This just in**
I may not be as excited for the weekend... we shall see.  :-/

Love is a many splendid thing...

Is that sentence even grammatically correct? Is it splendid or splendored?  Wait, that red squiggly seems to mean it's not a word or is misspelled.  Whatever.

Spring fever is in full effect, but all I seem to have gotten is Bieber fever... great.  Two good friends of mine have recently entered (rather quickly) into full blown relationship statuses (one is facebook official, the other is not).  I am happy for them, however, it kind of makes me want to vomit.  And I knew this day would come, the day where the majority of my friends are now couples and I'm just there hanging out with the last few singletons.  It's been the same story most of my life, but I guess because I'm older it tends to bother me a little bit more than normally.  This is not supposed to be a whiny post either so I hope it doesn't read that way.  At the moment I am too crazy for a relationship I think.  A friend of mine keeps telling me to join a dating site because of a dream she had a few months ago in which I was successful on said site.  Idk, I hate internet dating, but I don't really do anything that lets me meet new people.  The bars that I frequent are filled with bros or old men... and if I had to choose I would totally go with the old men.  She even offered to pay for my subscription, but I'm not sure I can take her up on it haha.

I have a TON more to post about, but I will have to get around to it later.  Feliz cinco de mayo!     

Eye can see!

So I went to the eye doc yesterday after work and let me just say that he was nothing short of amazing.  Every step of everything he did, he explained what he was doing and why.  It was so informative and awesome!  I actually found out that I am neither nearsighted nor farsighted, I just have the astigmatism.  Basically, my cornea is misshapen so when light goes through it doesn't reflect correctly out so it causes the world to look blurry... along with that blurriness comes terrible headaches and other things for straining the eyes and the brain to see clearly.  When all was said and done, I got my contacts!  I am a little jittery putting them in and taking them out still (ok maybe bc it hasn't even been 24 hours), but I love not having to wear glasses-- I can see everywhere I look, there are no smudges, I'm not self-conscious (well, one less thing to be self-conscious about haha), c'est magnifique! 

And I just figured out why my eyes are constantly burning out of my skull by the time I go home everyday... the fricken brightness on my monitors was almost all the way up!  Woooow, I'm special.

I have class tonight-- ze capstone!  Have to have my powerpoint presentation figured out, it can only be 3 minutes long... I don't think that will be too hard.  Hell I'll even barter with other people who want to take longer-- I'll give the run down of mine in 1.5 minutes. 

That's all for now!  Have a nice weekend!

3,2,1 Contacts!

Over the past couple of months I discovered how badly my sight has been deteriorating.  It's not AWFUL, but it's pretty bad.  So I think it was back in January I found glasses that I had gotten a couple of years ago, but never wore because they made me want to vomit (now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the prescription was too strong).  However, now that it has been a couple of years, my eyes have gotten worse and it took almost no time to get used to wearing the glasses round the clock.  I have never ever ever liked wearing glasses.  There are a lot of people who can pull them off, I am not one of them.  Give me sunglasses, sure.  But regular glasses-- I look like the nerdiest of all nerds.  When I was 5 they told me I needed to wear glasses.  I got them, wore them for a couple days, and then who knows what happened to them.  They threatened me by saying they would make me wear an eye patch.  That never happened.  Then when I was 13 I went to see the optometrist or maybe it was an opthomologist (sp?) and he was like "wtf, you so don't need glasses!"  It took me a couple minutes to get out the door my grin was so large.. haha.  Since I have been in the workforce and thus posted up in front of a computer 5 out of 7 days of my life (for the past 3 and a half years), the eye sight has definitely dwindled, though it has put up a good fight for me.  I have astigmatism in both eyes.  Not cute.  Anyway, since I've been wearing the glasses I've been wishing for contacts so today I took a big girl pill and made an appointment! 

Getting ready to go out for a friend's birthday.

At the CAPS game for Shan's birthday.

Dork city!  Woohoo!  Ok, maybe I just need a friend to help pick out frames, but whatever, I'm totally stoked for contacts... I feel like I get my face back!  Now if anyone knows where to get them for cheap besides Costco-- I'm all ears.

WVA, Nat Geo, and Whale Bits...

I left for West Virginia last night with Danielle.  She is my mom-friend.  She was my mom's best friend and a sort of mentor to me and she and her family are like my own family.  They also own a bangin' condo in the mountains of West Virginia.  So I'm here attempting to write the 10 page paper I have due on the 22nd.  It's proving to be easier thought than done.  I have six pages so far, but kind of a lot of quotations.  I don't know how my prof will feel about that.  A lot have come out of the book we use for class which I'm sure is a big no-no, but I'm so unmotivated.  I've also quoted the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) numerous times, but when your topic revolves around contracting, why wouldn't you?  Or I?  I don't know, I've been writing for several hours, you cannot possibly expect me to use proper mechanics and grammar here and now.  Hehe aww Danielle's asleep on the couch next to me while some weird ass show is on the Nat Geo channel... or is it History?  No, definitely Nat Geo.  They just showed a caterpillar turning into a butterfly and now... crabs?  Idk my bff Jill?

I was in such a funk this week... I could barely get out of bed.  I hate those days.  Oh my... whale penis!  Sorry I have got to stop watching this crazy nature show. 

That's all for now, I am obviously too distracted at the moment.  Wish me luck on finishing this paper... I desperately need it.  Goodnight!

PS- I just watched a praying mantis demolish a monarch butterfly.  I wish you could see my face right now because words cannot describe it.

Furlough Postponed

Is it bad that I kind of wanted the government to shut down for two weeks?  Not only would I get a random two week vacation, but federal workers might gain some respect from our fellow citizens-- for example, as soon as important shit stopped getting taken care of.  But no, Congress is going to dawdle every couple of weeks to come up with a budget for a fiscal year that is damn near over already.  Seriously?  How hard is it to pass a budget by September 30th?  Oh yeah let me also add, WHEN IT'S YOUR JOB?!  Too bad we can't fire everyone in Congress.  That's really what needs to happen-- get all fresh faces of people who want to do things for us Americans, as opposed to the greedy, jaded, money-grubbers who are already in there.  I'm not anti-America, I love this country and I realize how good I have it; but these people we elect (and yes, I'm guilty of it too) just really make me sit down and shake my head sometimes. 

Some ranting ending with a spotlight on take home tests!

I'm super unhappy today for reasons I cannot really divulge because this blog is public.  And even though I'm pretty sure only one person reads this, I can't help the feeling of big brother watching me.  The long and the short of it is I'm displeased at my place of employment.  I know I need to look for something else, I just need to update my resume.  Moving right along...

I have a rather busy weekend ahead of me-- baby shower Saturday followed by driving to Ocean City for Shannon's birthday then coming back the next day.  March is always crazy, I have known this forever, yet still I waited to work on my papers.  Oh well, I'm hoping to go up to the condo the following weekend to do school and just chill the F out.  I think I deserve it.

Tonight I'm going down to VA to visit a friend who says she needs a friend, I don't think I'll be very good company myself, but tonight I'm happy to oblige.

*Spotlight*
Take Home Tests
Always sounds like the greatest idea ever, but never turns out that way.  After talking with several classmates last night, I have found that our take home midterm for a different class is kind of hard and some of the answers are nowhere to be found.  Fuck.  I should have warned you, I like to cuss from time to time.  Looks like I will be spending tomorrow and Friday night working that out (along with doing laundry and purchasing a shower gift).

Cough Cough

I have a confession to make.  I know I'm committing blogger suicide right now.  Ok, not really, but I know anyone who reads this and doesn't know me is probably going to be all "for real? are you an idiot?"  To that I answer, "yes, yes I am."  Ok, I don't actually concede to being an idiot... ahhh... guess I'll just come right out and say it.  No use beating around the bush any longer...

I'm a smoker! *ducks*

No worries, I am well aware of the implications smoking has on my life.  For one, being overweight is bad enough, but being an overweight smoker of delicious Camel Lights is truly a death sentence.  Add in the pulmonary embolisms I had last year and that's like just stab me in the lung or something.  Actually the smoking didn't have anything to do with the PEs... I have a genetic mutation that causes my blood to be super thick... but everyone at the hospital sure had a field day ripping me a new asshole because I was smoking while on birth control.  Hello, do I look 35?  Yeah, I watch the commercials... at the time I wasn't even 25 and had been off and on birth control since I was 18ish because of the damn problems involving my ovaries (now ovary). Actually here was the triple crown reasoning for the PEs a la Suburban Hospital-- 1. smoker  2. birth control  3. fat
Nevermind the fact that the doctor told me to my face that he was going to skip all other necessary blood work to determine why I got the clots because he was satisfied with his own deductive reasoning. 

Don't judge me!  I'm a very nice girl.  I really love smoking cigarettes, they've been there for me through all my hard times.  Unfortunately, they're only going to lead to more hard times.  I didn't know this whole post would turn into a ranting about my... ::shudder:: ...addiction.

I wish I was addicted to cleaning the house.  Then I'd be a freak and probably wouldn't ever leave.  At least smoking is mobile!  Yeah, I'm going to shut up now, haha.

There were some fat camp-related things I wanted to talk about, but I'll just wait til next post.

Do you have an addiction that people shun you for?

Untitled

Ugh, it's Monday and I didn't sleep last night.  I just remember tossing, turning, waking up, and looking at the clock.  Have already downed one sugar free Rockstar energy drink, may need to get a second one.  

The weekend was nice, though I did not do a whole lot in terms of school.  I did do a crap-ton of laundry (finally).  I really need to get back on that doing laundry every week thing because having to spend 4 or 5 hours at a time on it is annoying.  Ooh!  Saturday I went to the Newseum with Catherine and Mary which was really really cool... I've lived here my whole life and have never been.  I really enjoyed the exhibit of all the Pulitzer Prize winning photos-- really really cool.  After we spent several hours there, we went to an early dinner at Carmines, a family style Italiano ristorante, which was really really good... mmm yum!  Sunday was when I did laundry/watched a marathon of Murder, She Wrote.  Also?  The Superbowl-- I wasn't really rooting for anyone, maybe leaning more towards the Steelers, but not particularly upset that they lost.  With the exception of maybe 2 or 3, the commercials were weak sauce.  And Fergie cannot sing live and whoever was in charge of sound for the halftime show was probably fired on the spot.  I mean I feel bad judging one's musical talent-- obviously she has something because she is making money and I am not, but it was what it was and what it was was bad.  But the visual part of the whole thing was cool... oh and can't forget Usher... mmm yeah.

I don't really know what my purpose is with this blog.  I'm really trying hard not to be all emo with it.  I guess I'm doing a fairly decent job at chronicling my graduate school adventures.  As far as maintaining a healthy lifestyle, probably the only healthy element of my life right now is me going to therapy once a week.  I did join that cheaper gym though, and as soon as I'm done being a woman this month (which really sucks when you're on blood thinners BTW) I'll actually go. 

This week I've got two more articles due.  Next week I have one article and my rough draft due... which will be a crisis all on its own because I feel like I virtually have nothing for this paper.  I feel like none of the articles I've found have really related to my "research problem" which is a problem all on its own.  Oh well, I'll figure something out.  It's just a rough draft so it doesn't have to be anywhere near perfect. 

Roller-coaster!

This week has not been very productive in the world of school.  I skipped class Monday night because my chest was hurting (from puking Saturday night I'm almost positive).  I skipped class Tuesday night to go to my friend Keith's dad's wake, and Wednesday I skipped work to go to the funeral.  And yes, I needed the whole day, not just a couple hours, trust me. 

Keith was happy a few of us were able to make it to the funeral and told us not to worry about going to the cemetery, so I didn't.  Instead I went to the cemetery where my mom and sister (and grandmother, grandfather, and great-grandfather) are buried.  However, I am a dumbass and did not factor in the 6 inches of snow that would still be covering the grass from the previous snowstorms we've had.  So I sat in my car, and honestly, felt nothing but frustration.  So I got in touch with my friend Catherine and met her and her co-worker/friend Diana for lunch in Burtonsville where they work.  That helped get my mind off things and was really yummy (we ate Afghan). 

When I got home instead of doing homework or laundry or something productive, I totally took a nap.  After that, I went to therapy (you have two family members die within 6 weeks of each other and tell me you don't need it) and actually was able to get a lot of things out and realized just how much I've been holding in for a week or two.  Crazy.  People-- it is ALWAYS better out than in. 

Tonight I am left with two article summaries to do for tomorrow night's class.  It's not ideal, but I'm trying not to beat myself up over it since I've been on a roller-coaster of emotion and stress.  I just hope I can find relatively short articles, because I can't take anymore 30-50 page ones. 

My friend Lauren wants to know what I'm wishing for.  Right now it's sunshine, warmth, and brains.  LoL

SnowMyWhaaaaa?

Alright this snow storm definitely does not hold a candle to last year's "SnOMG" or "Snowmageddon," but it definitely takes the cake for worst traffic disaster in the DC Metro area in a looooong time (that's my unofficial report).  I have friends who have been on the road for HOURS with no hope of being home any time soon.

Luckily, today was a sick day for me so I haven't had to deal with any of it.  I'm just thanking my lucky stars that I have power and hope that it remains on.

Since I am now able to use older articles for my research paper, I downloaded a bunch earlier that I need to weed through and make sure I can actually use them.  What I really want to do is watch Fantasia and Beauty and the Beast that I just ordered and received from Amazon in the mail a couple days ago.  Sigh.  I'm trying to remain a devout student however and am answering the chapter review questions that we have to turn in.  In the meantime, I'm praying for a snow day tomorrow.

I also realized that I have not posted any pictures since the Redskins game I went to back in September or October and that's no fun.  So enjoy some of these gems from New Year's Eve!

Some of my bestestes. Jessica, Heather, myself, and Meg

This kid is like my little brother.  I <3 him!

Carlos looking faaaabulous!

My college bestestes! Mary, me, Cyndi, Catherine.

Mother of my godchild... love this woman!

Danielle is like my second mom.

Yeah, I'm goofy and I love champagne!  Poppin' bottles!

Must Keep One Resolution

I resolved to write more.  I haven't had a moment to physically write in my journal so I will blog.

I called my professor tonight in crisis.  We had to turn in proposals for our papers yesterday and mine was a hot mess (or so I thought).  After about five or ten minutes she had me totally calmed down and was able to help me keep the topic I want to write about, just spun it a little differently so it is more positive and more researchable-- yes I just made that up get over it red squiggly line.  I desperately need to create a schedule for myself and STICK TO IT.  Seems to be the only way I will survive this semester. 

As for all other areas of my life?  I gained some weight over the holidays, but hopefully I will be back to the gym despite the incessant pain running down my leg.  Work is a whole 'nother story-- I have a new supervisor-- 'nuff said. 

Since I have put in quite a bit of time today for school I am going to reward myself with a little trip to the pub. 

PS-- I'm a part of a music exchange and am so excited to give and receive!

Happy New-- ahhh forget it!

I blinked and 2010 was out the door skipping down the sidewalk.  Tucked in its suitcases (I'm assuming) were the 10 pounds I managed to lose and keep off since August, the A- and B grades that ruined my pristine 4.0 average in GRAD school (yeah I knew it wouldn't last long either), the near-death experience with the PEs, bad choices, good choices, indifference, crazy people, attempts to better myself along with attempts at self-sabotage.  Heartache-- thank God that left with the crazy people.  I don't really know what else I accomplished last year-- aside from the few week breaks here and there, I was in school all year long; I worked really hard and I did well.  I have a 3.8something to show for that.  Love will not be leaving, because I have yet to find it-- maybe 2011 will bring someone who loves me for me, wouldn't that be nice?  Perhaps I'll learn to love myself first. 

What do I want from 2011?
I want to get all A's in the rest of my classes.
I want to stay sane through the Spring semester because I will be full time.
I want to develop self-discipline so that I produce the best work possible.
I want to develop self-discipline to create a healthy routine for myself.
I want to stop smoking.
I want the chronic pain to go away.
I want to go to Kosovo and visit my friend.
I do not want to be on coumadin for the rest of my life, though I probably will have to be.
I do not want to be the Michelin Man at my graduation in the Fall.

For an extreme goal I want to be happy and not think about death/dying.

Hopes for others: I hope my brother finds happiness even though he thinks he never will, and I hope my dad meets a nice lady to hang out with ;)

I normally call bullshit on new year's resolutions, which is why I just cut to the chase-- this is what I want and hope for.  Whether or not any of it happens, is up to me and the higher power.  I might also implore my mom a little, maybe my sister.