seven

THiNGS i LoVe...

7. my cell phone. oh yes. sending out over 2,000 text messages a month. filling up my video and photo memory card. downloading fun new ring tones. i cannot imagine a day without it. it's worth being late to have it with me. thank you, sweet little piece of electronic bliss. you've been with me for 11 years now (well, some version of you... nokia, lg, motorola...) and i wouldn't change a thing.







6. my cat. he's got enough hair for five other animals. but he's adorable. and he's always happy to see me. he cuddles like a dog and comes when you call his name. he's my herbie. herbie the love bug. even if he is a bully to other cats and loves only me. that's part of his charm.








5. flip-flop weather. i love fall and early spring. i even enjoy winter for a couple days each year. but please, oh please, bring on the flip-flop weather.









4. tequila. be it in margarita form (on the rocks or frozen swirl with sangria, no salt) or straight shots of patron (chilled, 7-up back, no salt, no lime). many a great night has started with it and it has never done me wrong... it hasn't hooked up with my friends, stood me up, caused unnecessary drama, forgotten me when it gets married, or made more money than me while doing less work. oh yes. sweet tequila.





3. west village. i haven't been to NYC (yet), but it's still a place i want to live at some point in my life. in the meantime, i'll be spending most of my free time in dallas, thank you. uptown to be more specific. and west village to be even more exact. the shops (banana republic, polo, lucky, borders, the nail bar, and gap), the food (village buger, mi cocina, taco diner, starbucks), the independent-move-loving movie theatre (the magnolia), the free parking garage that lets you park there for days without towing or ticketing you... what more could you want from an area? it helps that my dear friend frank lives across the street, providing a comfortable bed to sleep in on my frequent trips to my favorite little corner of texas... only 22 minutes away from my apartment in l-town.


2. my iPod. what did we do for entertainment before these little beauties were in our lives? music on the go? and movies too? and your favorite photos? and games? hmm. dream come true, i think so. especially when you're waiting for something, like a doctors appointment or an airplane, or a show to start. oh yes, my iPod classic is my hero.






1. my favorite ring. i wear it on my left thumb and it was a gift from my mother. it's nothing very fancy. just a silver ring with the words "to thine own self be true" inscribed on it. it's the days when i forget it that i realize how much it means to me. i poke at it a hundred times a day, and when it's not there, i'm not there.

so it's january

alright folks. first off, since i've kept up so well with this blog (ahem, cough, cough)... i should probably give a quick recap of the last few months.

first. holiday. RETAIL holiday. oh dear goodness, i'm really just glad it's over. there's something about managing 60 kids (yes, kids, most of our employees are between the ages of 16-21) and dealing with over 5,000 people a day at a "mills" mall that really can drive a person INSANE. and it kind of did. but YAY for plenty of good nights with good people to get me through.

second. new year's. by far, the best one in recent memory. although i do have fond memories of one year involving a lot of buffalo wings and games of uno... any way. i went down to frank/jake's house to get ready. we called a cab to take us to the club and meet up with frank. let me just tell you--cab rides are always entertaining. especially when you can't understand anything the cab driver is saying. so we partied it up at s4 with a thousand of my closest friends. i stayed in my corner, between the dancer cage (*yes you read that right) and the corner of frank's bar. at midnight there were hugs and kisses all around, a phone call to jason and then frank said the sweetest thing. "where you are and who you're with on new year's says a lot about the year you're going to have. i'm really glad we're together tonight. i think it's for a reason. we're friends for a reason." awh.

third. mom's surgery. it went really, really well. kind of a shock considering her medical history. this was number 100 and thank goodness, went off without a hitch. the stress of it was rough, but grandma was in town and dad and i are in a much better place this time around than the last time mom had a major surgery. YAY.

fourth. just good times. i love these people. i love seeing them. i love talking to them. GOOD PEOPLE. GOOD TIMES.

so now you're all caught up

how'd ya like that?! :)

In Thanks...

i suddenly realized that it's november. perhaps i should have noticed when i paid the rent and wrote "november rent" on the check, but no. it's just now hitting me. it could be that because i've had a couple of really not great thanksgivings that the holiday has become, for lack of a better word, tainted. so i decided awhile back that i'd go ahead and not be thankful on thanksgiving. i'm selfish that day. the other 364 days of the year i try to appreciate all the good in my life and in the world. and so this is a blog of thankfulness... better get it out now or it might get mixed up with all the true thanksgiving-y blogs out there.

thank you mom. birth was rough, i'm sure. and the teen years were rough (no doubt). in the end though i think we've worked out the whole "good relationship" thing and i'm enjoying it. you're fabulous and everyone in the world should have a heart as big as yours.

thank you dad. you didn't have to be there all these years, and you were. where else would i have learned how to be accurate when throwing a baseball? i think we might have gone through the motions of love for a while there, but we've come out on top of it. you are a hero and you have my respect, but biggest of all, I love you.

thank you jason. you once said that you could see a difference in photos of me from when we first hung out to now... that i finally looked like i am happy, relaxed, comfortable in my own skin. that's all from you. i hope you know that my life would suck without you. i love you. i trust you.

thank you family--cousins, aunties, uncles and grandparents. we're a weird bunch; we laugh too loud and cause a scene no matter where we are. that's why i like us. we care enough to embarass the hell out of each other. not to mention the incredible talent and success, the inspiration we provide, and the support that is truly there when needed. and that's good times.

thank you melissa. my bff. the parade, the pictures, the texts, the pokes, the craftiness. you're amazing. thanks, babe.

thank you mike. for being there. for listening. for talking. for laughing. for dancing. for working. you're a great friend. here's to what lies ahead.... you got me? Because "I got you".

thanks thanks and thanks for all the love!!!

Ugh. Update.

So the MRI wasn't so bad. I actually fell asleep during the test. It was really cold in the room, so they put this big comfy blanket over me, and I had a pillow, and there was music playing.... so I was out. I won't find out results until next Thursday (so long from now), but I did have my first day back to work today. And it went... not good. I felt that the week resting had resulted in some progress being made... and now I feel as though 95% of that progress is gone from walking so much today. I couldn't take the pain pills because they make me a feel out of it, so I just had to wobble around and make faces when it hurt, since swearing is frowned upon when you're on the sales floor. I nearly cried when I couldn't crouch down to put away a sweater near the end of my shift. I had to have one of my associates do it for me. What a waste. My mood is somber, and I'm frustrated by my physical limitations. Not to mention that yesterday was the one year anniversary of my grandfather passing away. And Thanksgiving is Thursday and I hate that holiday (for various reasons). I'm such a downer; I should end this now. Here's to happy thoughts and a better knee...

My Knee Trouble

Okay, twice in one day. But there's a reason I don't have anything else to do. Last weekend I fell on a slippery floor and sprained my knee. Not a big deal, usually... but since when do I do things that are usual? I have a meniscal tear in my left knee. I've been in a giant brace and on crutches; it's been a good time.

I have an MRI tomorrow and am mildly nervous about the whole thing. While it's been getting better, it's still not good.... and I've been resting and doing NOTHING for a solid week. Worst case, I'll have surgery the week after Thanksgiving, and it'll take about a month to recover. While I'd love a vacation, this is not the time of year for a retail manager to be out of the office. Not to mention that is hurts.... like crazy. And I've been out of the loop for seven days; no work, no friends, no going out. So let's hope the test goes well tomorrow, yeah?

The Giant Brace... that's hot.

Alright...

So I've already got the whole FaceBook thing going on... and MySpace... but I've decided I need something more conducive to my ramblings and thoughts.

So here it is. Time to blog it up, I suppose. So kick back, relax, and take a read. :)

I'm going to start with a 5 List idea I totally stole from my friend Melissa... so here goes.

5 Things I'm Passionate About

1. My Family

2. Music

3. Literature

4. My Friends

5. Passion for life, the world

Top 5 Things To Do Before I Die

1. Live in New York City or London

2. Go on a safari in Africa

3. Fall in love

4. Write a book

5. Become fluent in French and Italian

5 Things I Often Say

1. "Yeah, ya are!"

2. "HEYYYYY..."

3. "Absolutely."

4. "It's all good!"

5. "No worries!"

5 Books I've Recently Read

(from most recent way back in the day... like 6 months)

1. "Without You" by Anthony Rapp

2. "The Autobiography of Henvy VIII" by Margaret George

3. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by JK Rowling

4. "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown

5. "Choke" byChuck Palahniuk

5 Things I Could Listen to Over and Over

1. My family laughing

2. The "Rent" Soundtrack

3. A great accent--British is best

4. The sound of my friends' voices

5. Rain

5 Things That Attract Me to My Best Friends

1. They think I'm funny

2. They call me

3. They have a great sense of humor

4. They have passion

5. They have some quality/knowledge that I do not

5 Things I've Leaned this Past Year

1. Things happen for a reason

2. I love love love sushi

3. Life is always too short

4. Cable TV doesn't add anything to my life

5. I do not know everything. Really, I don't know anything.

Alrighty, that's all for now. ;)