One Step Below Heaven!

Wii games, swimming, Chinese candy, Donnie Darko jokes, bass guitars, and above all else, my boyfriend! Tuesday, all day, I was at my boyfriend's house and just about one step below heaven. I didn't have the usual chaos of life at home to deal with, but I suppose that whenever anyone is away from home, they enjoy themselves because it's a change of pace.
For the first time, I played Wii Super Smash Bros. Brawl... and died many times. Despite death and not knowing anything about how to play, it was entertaining. Also, Corey has an in-ground pool in his yard, and I can squarely say that water is my element, so that was amazing! I swam around like I was a fish that would die if I got out!
My friend Jordanne, who introduced Corey and me, lives a few houses down from him and we frequently hang out. One day we watched Donnie Darko (apparently, it's a cult smash hit!) and since then it has slowly seeped it's way into our lives without us even knowing it. We made fun of how obsessed the people on the bonus disk were and how they said they saw things like it and believe it to have religious connections. But, now, we find ourselves quoting lines and pretending to pull hoods over our heads "Donnie Darko-style." So, when I headed out for the day at Corey's, I also took along a bunny mask ( "Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?" "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?") to spook Jordanne with. It was worth the laugh!
And as usual, Corey and I practiced bass. I'm currently still trying to obtain muscle memory and the proper speed with which I will move up and down the bass's neck. So far, I've gotten to attempt the opening for Another One Bites the Dust as well as Under Pressure (both by Queen, if you've never had the pleasure of hearing Freddy Mercury sing), and today I started to try out Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace. Honestly, I'm not good at it, but I plan on getting better. It still thrills me beyond belief when I get a few notes to harmonize.
Then, best of all, all of this I got to do with my boyfriend. Most people do not get a chance to talk about heaven, because, you have to be dead to know it, but, I figure this was fairly close (and yes, I do know that reads like a 13 year-old, gum-popping, Nancy Drew-reading girl's myspace blog rather than that of a 17 year-old, salad munching, Stephen King-absorbing girl's blogger).
Tuesday combined a mass of my favorite things into a lovely day. Too bad every day can't be like that.

Random Survey

This survey showed up in my inbox the other day, and I think it just may be blog-worthy. So, here you go! Feel free to pass it on to your friends with your own answers, but be sure to copy/paste when forwarding any email!

1. What is your occupation right now?

Slave (to the school)

2. What color are your socks right now?

Well, they’re coated in invisible ink, so you can’t see them! HA!

3. What are you listening to right now?

Mother Nature (and the mother of the kids across the street yelling at children)

4. What was the last thing that you ate?

Homemade granola with store bought yogurt (a delicious breakfast meal that is healthy!)

5. Can you drive a stick shift?

Nope, but I want to!

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone?

Alright everyone, all at once: gasp! … I talked with Corey, my boyfriend!

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you?

No way! She’s an evil, sadistic, all around meanie with psychotic tendencies! Of course, this is my loving and caring mother who raised me all my life.

8. How old are you today?

Gah, it’s an odd number! 17

9. What is your favorite sport to watch?

The young guys across the street playing whatever the heck they play (basketball (shirtless of course), baseball, tennis, skateboarding, anything)

10. What is your favorite drink?

Water all the way, man!

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?

Once, permanently, burgundy, and if I could, I would go to that color again and again. I loved it. Then the wash-outs, I’ve done green, yellow, and blue (spikes, streaks, tips, anything).

12. Favorite food?

Fruit (the all-encompassing category)

13. What is the last movie you watched?

Eh… hmm… Vantage Point (awesome movie)

14. Favorite day of the year?

Any day where it’s 65 degrees Fahrenheit and I am able to hike through the woods.

15. How do you vent anger?

Getting away from the things that make me angry will always do the trick, so, locking myself off from the world with blasting music and a good hike or hiding out in my room if weather doesn’t provide.

16. What was your favorite toy as a child?

PUFFY! She is currently in a display case with stitches and “puffy-stuffing” to hold her together because she was so well loved that she started falling apart, and each time I’d go to my grandma’s house, she’d have to fix a new hole.

17. What is your favorite season?

Very late fall. Of course, in Ohio , it’s snowing already and there are leaves to still rake, but it’s nice and chilly, just the way I like it. It’s the best of my two favorite seasons!

18. Cherries or Blueberries?

Blueberries, particularly if they’re home-grown

19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back?

Email me this, that and the other! I love emails from friends.

20. Who is the most likely to respond?

Jordi.

21. Who is least likely to respond?

My Mommie Dearest, since she already did this.

22. Living arrangements?

A psychotic sister, sadistic mother, and deranged grandmother make up my close-knit household; a lovely three-generation household full of estrogen and strange happenings. We also have two cats, Melody (the sneeziest cat in the world) and Harmony (the horniest, spayed cat in the world).

23. When was the last time you cried?

At Camp this summer.

24. What is on the floor of your closet?

A bench and several old bookbags stacked in the corner

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to?

It’s a tie between Elizabeth and Jordanne (couldn’t live without you two chickies by my side!)

26. What did you do last night?

Stayed up until 1-is on IM and then proceeded to read in my room for however long it was.

27. What inspires you?

A good book can put the most interesting thoughts in my head. (Try the Gospel According to Larry if you want a good punk-rocker book about changing the world Walden-Pond-Style… it’s amazing)

28. What are you most afraid of?

Losing someone I’m close to, it’s happened before and it kills me to even think about it.

29. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?

ICK! I don’t like hamburgers (boca burgers are another story, those are yummy!)

30. Favorite dog breed?

Mid-sized dogs are the best, the yipping ones get on my nerves, and big dogs can be vicious.

31. Favorite day of the week?

Saturday – because I don’t have to be up early and I don’t have to be in bed early (I’ll stick with my mom’s answer for that one!)

32. How many states have you lived in?

Ohio , but that will change eventually. I have grandeur plans to travel the world with no ties to any one location (Walden-Pond-Style, of course).

All Hail the Great Transcriptionist

Within the past few weeks, my mother has been hired for 4 jobs in addition to her other two jobs. She now has quit her one job that came from Florida via the internet that was hitting a low point because of the season. Since she works from home and can contract work from anywhere that has an internet connection (if they are digital, that is), she has the ability to maintain a nighty as her work uniform as she types at her astounding speed of 110wmp.
Then on Thursday, she was actually bowed to by one of her ex-clients that she took back up. Apparently, she has saved them from the poor transcriptioning of their previous employee. I wish I could have been there, it would have been a sight to see. But, as shocking as it is, my mother was actually bowed to!

So, Were Have I Been?

After disappearing off the net for almost two months, I make yet another return. Between an amazing week at church camp (despite what my boyfriend thinks, it was a wonderful experience), learning guitar (then deciding i want to learn bass, my true desire), scurrying about to replace everything lost in The Great Toaster Fire of '08, trying to find room on my computer to put on my multitude of pictures, and reading every book in sight, I simply ran out of time to do anything more than possibly have a side-thought of writing an entry.
The upcoming school year--my impending doom-- is drawing ever closer. This will be my most challenging year yet, and I made it all the more challenging by deciding to add to being a Junior in high school with being a Freshman at college! But, before that self-induced torture engrosses my life (hey, does that make me a masochist?) I get to go to Ceder Point for the second time this summer! The first time around, I went with the select group of kids from my youth group who completed the school-year-length bible reading challenge; it was just Adam, Samantha, and me accompanied by Pastor Chris and his wife, Anna (sans baby). I rode almost every single roller-coaster there and even got Adam, who is terrified of heights, to ride a few! We got there at opening time and left at closing, and that's the way to do it!
My next trip there will be with a close friend, Jordanne, for her 16th birthday. Her dad and step mom told her to pick three friends to take a long, and I just so happened to be one of those lucky few. We leave one day, get a hotel, and ride all day long the next day. It shall be epic!
Today I get my car sterio put in to my little Barbie Car (a '91 Geo Metro for all you car folks) that I love. Mom and Grandma (materialgirl for all of you who read the toaster link's comment) (those links say what I don't have time to say) both pitched in and got me a sterio/radio/cd player for my birthday (17 now! I'm an old fogey!) this past Sunday. Also, I got a new journal from Sam, along with a glass bear that is amazingly cool; several cds from Jordi; and since Corey upgraded his bass, I get his old one (now I get to learn what i really want to learn! YES!); then I got a Shawshank Redemption screenplay from Elizabeth (she knows how much I adore anything King-related).
So, that's life for me, well, at least the things worth mentioning.