Back Again, Only to Pack Again! PART TWO!

I came home from Camp McPherson on Friday. And lo and behold, Josh showed up that evening as we all celebrated my birthday at Texas Roadhouse.

Later Jordi came over and gave me her gifts. All in all, I got a twilight shirt, a necklace, and a box Total Cereal (best choice ever!) from Jordanne; a twilight game from Heather, my sister; two Edgar Allen Poe books (one of which was published in 1904, awesome), and an art project of his that I've always admired from Josh; a facial powder container that is an antique from Mom (because I love loose facial powder and I always use Coty powder); and an antique candy dish from Grandma (with candies included)!
Camp was amazing. The only downfall was that my camera broke. A friend of mine, Dennis, set out to fix it when it broke on Wednesday. He discovered the problem upon opening it up, hooked a few wires back together, and it was fixed! I was estatic that he could fix it! But, while the microchips were exposed, a girl came up behind us in the pavilion and broke a waterballoon all over it (by accident). So, there was no salvation for my camera while at church camp. But, the next morning, when I went in for my breakfast dose of food meds, the nurse said I could use her camera all I wanted! How amazing! She couldn't essentially leave the nurse's office that much, and therefore couldn't get pictures she wanted; so, she was more than willing to let me use hers, provided I took care of it (of course, I did). The day I returned she emailed me all the pictures that were taken with her camera and I didn't miss a single camp memory!
The weather was actually to my liking most of the time. It was hot-ish out (80s), but the rain and 24/7 fog and misty-rain cancled that out. It made for some amazing pictures and felt nice with the heat.
We were organized by tribes (the twelve tribes of the bible, of course!) and my tribe was Tribe Zebulun.

I really liked this years challenges, they all resembled Survivor challenges. It was pretty cool, and the way they made it this year, there wasn't much of a "compitition" factor to it where people tend to get carried away, but more fun than anything.
But, now I'm back home again, and I'm getting all my missed work compleated so that I can be ready for when my family and I leave to go to Virginia to see my step-mom and her kids (the woman my dad married and her kids from another marriage). We're going to leave very soon. We've got it planned perfectly so that I can return home again in time to celebrate Jordi's 17th birthday and go to Ceder Point with her and Tony and Josh.
By the time I get back, it will almost be time to get ready for school to start up again! Oh my goodness!

Back Again, Only to Leave Again.

Our plans for the Indian's game fell out and we simply all congregated at my house and watched movies, went to the mall, to Wal-Mart, and then our separate ways. I stuck with Josh and spent the night (and the next night--from Wednesday until this afternoon) at his house. I think that I need to simply plaster a sign up on the back porch that says "Loungie's Hang Out" (we all met at the lounge at Kent) that way it's official.
With Josh, I had my first encounter with an X-Box 360. I actually played a real video game! The only other game systems I've ever played was one of the black and white gameboys, and the Wii we got for this past Christmas. We played Halo 3. He got this X-Box for ten bucks! What a steal! But, anyway, I actually didn't die the first time I played, Ryan just took over for me when it came to the flying part. Granted, I still suck at it; I have no coordination for that kind of stuff whatsoever.
Today we went out to eat and I got soooooooo much food. But it was so good! Despite being full after the appitizer, I couldn't let the food just sit there because he paid for it and I didn't want to waste it. So, I ate. ... Only to regret it as we went to GameCrazy. No more needs said on that, because if you didn't get the hint, then you don't need to know. :)
But, I finally got back home, and I'm leaving Sunday! Right now I'm in the midst of doing laundry, making a packing list, and tring to figure out what bag I should take. Too bad I don't have a Josh-sized bag... I could smuggle him into camp! lol. But then I'd have to smuggle in all my Loungie friends, because you can't have one without the whole group.

Oh, My God! What Is That!?

I had a huge scare last night. Mom and I went shopping yesterday and afterwords, we went to a Rally's drive-thru and dined at one of the outside tables. We were by a busy street and Mom felt something hit her back and said, "Hey, someone just threw something at me." I was surprised that something could actually hit her from where we were sitting. So, putting down my milkshake, I glance around the ground to see what hit mom. Nothing. Then as I twist back around to the table, I glance two big, beady, black eyes staring straight at me from Mom's back! I screamed and jumped out of my seat and ran a few steps back, screaming "Oh, my God, what is that!?" The giant bug was clinging to her back, and it had shiny wings and a green-ish body (but, it was dark, so it could have been a different color). She started to scream too, and people eating in their truck a few spots away started to rubberneck wondering what could possibly have happened. Mom jumped out of her seat and started dancing around trying to get it off. It fell to the ground and we looked puzzled at the odd insect. It was a cecada. I'd never seen one alive, only the shells on headstones and trees. It laid on the ground, belly up. It was surely dead. So, we went back to eating, laughing about it, but still creeped out and hoping we saw no more. I was truly grossed out. When we finished eating, the guys from inside Rally's came out to see what had happened. We went to the car, and they stood around it, looking at it and laughing like we did. Then as Mom was about to pull away, the cecada took flight again! We thought that little bugger was dead! We ate by it! *GAG* The guys jumped back and cackled with laughter. We idled the van a few moments more and watched it's creepy flight around the overhead lights above the drive-thru.
YUCK! It left my skin crawling.

PARTY MONTH!

so, this is my party month. I am hardly going to be home all month long. I spent the 3rd - the 6th of july at Josh's house. We lit fireworks all weekend long. we went to the Canton mall (where i'd never been) and bought myself a swimsuit. Also, I purchased two video games for Josh's birthday (he wanted them and I said i'd make them his gift).
This weekend i'm at Kings Island for the rides and a christian concert- Spirit Song. Thus far, its amazing! I'm listening to Skillet as I type this, and Switchfoot is next! Rides all day, concerts all evening. I'm here until Sunday with some people from my youth group (this is the prize for completing the bible reading challenge). Friggn woke up at five in the morning today so we could get our rooms by ten-ish. The rooms weren't ready until 3! But its all good!
Next weekend is Josh's birthday and College ID Night for the indians ball game, and me, Josh, Tony, and Jordi are going to that. Then the week after is my week long summer camp with my youth group. Then the weekend that is between July and August is when me and my family are going down to virginia beach to be with my step family.
Then after all of that moving around, I am going to Jordi's 17th b-day party, and then everything after August 6th is up in the air. This shall prove to be fun!

Sleep-Overs And Camping

With summer break underway, my schedule has freed up. Already, I have spent the night at Josh's house, and it was a blast. Since everyone seems to flock to my house, it was nice to go over there for once. On the fourth (of June) Mom drove me out there to his house. Keep in mind, this is, I think, her third attempt at finding his house. Granted, the previous times were in the darkness of night, but we always have had trouble, and the GPS struggled with the maps of the boonies. But, thank heavens! We made it out there with no problem. I guess the third time really is the charm.
Once there, we found Josh in the driveway shooting hoops. As soon as we got there, he couldn't get a single shot in! It was hilarious to watch him try and try and try. Then somewhere along the lines, the previous night's one-on-one game between Josh and his sister's boyfriend. Josh had made fun of how he knew he was going to beat him. But then he was down by eight. (Needless to say, he did win.) He joked with us about how his sister's boyfriend would shoot the ball, because he looked more effeminate than masculine, shooting it with one arm, and dangling his wrist. Josh decided to demonstrate! It was the only shot he got in the entire time we were sitting in the driveway with my mom still in the car. We laughed so much, because the only shot he got was the one he made fun of the most, the "gay-boy" shot.
After mom left, he tried a few more shots, and then we went inside and got all my stuff settled. A mere twenty minutes into my stay, he gets a call from a friend who is stuck in Canton with no ride home. So, Josh and I hop in the car and head out to get him. About ten minutes into the drive, his phone rings. Bruce had a change of plans and he didn't need us to go get him at all! Oh, I would have been so frustrated if that had happened to me, if I were the person driving. But, it was a fun drive, I got to see the back roads from his house to Canton.
By the time we got back, dinner was being set up and we ate a delicious meal of chicken, rice, and macaroni salad. We stayed up late, until like four in the morning. His sister's friend was over (and surprise! She was an ex-girlfriend of his....). Collectively, we played guitar hero, and later, Josh played this basketball game, because I challenged him, saying I wanted to see how well he could play it. After I had tried to sleep, but couldn't, eight o'clock rolled around, and I decided to slip out and go to the bathroom and change out of my pjs. And then, suddenly, sleep hit me, and I just crashed. But of course, Josh had slept more solidly before then, and was awake when I was asleep. Eventually, after pleading for thirty more minutes (and then another thirty more minutes) I got up and indulged in pancakes his mom had made! They were delicious. Later on, we went out to his work, Goodwill, and I splurged on some old books that were in too good of condition to let just sit on a shelf in a store. Then, we went out to lunch, and that was DELICIOUS! I can't wait to eat there again. Afterwords, we went to my house, and met up with the rest of the loungies as the day went on. By nine pm, Tony, Jordanne, Hayden, and Kara were all at my house with me and Josh, we watched Paul Blart: Mall Cop and hung out.
Now, camping... To pull that it was quite a stunt. Tony has a camper out at a local camp ground/lake/marina, and he works there, at the gate house often from 4pm to midnight. So, on the eighth, I picked up Jordanne, and then Josh took us out there. We staked out at the gate house until he got off work at midnight, and together, we sat around and watched Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Later, we hung out in the trailer for some time, attempting to teach Jordi Eucher, then around two in the morning, we crashed. Morning rolled around, and I woke up when grounds keepers started their lawn mowers. Not long after, the guys went out to Giant Eagle to get some food for lunc, and Jordanne and I jumped in the showers. While the guys were gone, we cleaned up the trailer for Tony, and then upon their return, they went to the showers, and we continued cleaning! Lunch was easy, just ham sandwiches and whatever else Tony had in the fridge. Not long after, we had to rush out in order to get Jordi home in time for work. I took Tony's car and drove us to my house, got my car, left his, and took her up to her house and to work, while the guys cleaned up lunch, and closed up the awning.
So, yeah, it was a great time. And, hopefully, we can do it again over summer break!

What a Day!

Oh, my! Today has been quite the day.
It's almost three in the morning as I type this, and yet I'm fairly awake, despite it being a LONG day. But, it was a FUN day.
I woke up at about 7:30am and did my normal routine, preparing to head to the high school and planning on arriving at 9:40 like always. But, then, as nine o'clock rolls around, I realize, it's Friday! Friday means squeeze schedules at the high school. Third period starts at twenty-one after, and I’m running late! Makeup isn’t done, hair is frizzy, this is exam review day, I can’t risk falling behind. Without a doubt, I start panicking. So, I race through my morning routine, and manage to get to the classroom right at 21 after. But… no one is in there, not even the teacher. Time for more panic! I go through the hall and look for where my teacher and the class could be. Several doors down, I find her in another teacher’s classroom. As it turns out, it ISN’T squeeze schedule, and I am, in fact, early to class! After she explains this and we head back to the classroom, I take advantage of the extra time and work ahead on the massive review packet.
In class, my teacher invited the entire class over to her newly built (still in process, I should say) geo-dome home for a tour and cookies. The entire year she has kept the class updated on the progress of her new home. Pictures, stories, and all that good stuff. She said that the class could stop by any time between three and five; she even gave us directions.
I plan out the rest of my day on the car ride back to the house. Josh comes over after he returns from driving Bruce to Canton at around 12:30, which means I have from 10:40 until then to do math homework, fix my hair again, eat something, and other random things. Then, he’d hang out until 2:30, at which point we’d head over to the Dome Home. By four o’clock, Josh and I would be back home, and head out to Wooster to deliver some money to an acquaintance of his that he owed him from when school was in session. We’d be back by 6, which gave us time to eat dinner with the family, hang out, and play Wii.
Those plans promptly went out the window.
At 11:40-ish, Grandpa called and said he needed me to drive out to the Garage (the place where he works on cars) because he needed to compare the way my convertible’s ragtop was attached to Heather’s new car (which is basically identical to mine) so that he could properly install her ragtop. So, there went all of my prep time. I drive out there, and Grandpa says that it’ll only take twenty minutes or so. Needless to say, I don’t make it home in time, so I have to tell Josh to show up at my house later than planned since I wouldn’t be there. I had no problem helping Grandpa, though. I like being able to help.
I get home, and the instant I walk in the door, Josh is calling, asking when it’s ok to show up. He arrives five minutes later, and 45 minutes after that, we head out to the Dome Home.
The tour was amazing. That house is so MASSIVE and spacious and beautiful! Once everything is finished, the house will be gorgeous. But, since Josh and I are on a time constraint because we need to meet the person he owes money to at a set time, we have to head out before most of the people show up.
We go back to my house, jump in his car, and head out north on I-77, assuming that we know exactly what we’re doing. Well, it doesn’t take long to discover that we have NO IDEA what we’re doing.
We get lost, nearly end up in Cuyahoga Falls (which is close to the northern-most point of Ohio, right by Lake Erie). At that time, we decide to turn around, call his mom, and admit we’re lost without any sense. She miraculously knows exactly how to get us from this random place to a town we’ve never been in, all right from the mental maps resting on the tip of her tongue. What could have been a 30 minute drive turned into an hour and a half drive just to get there! Then, we can’t find the meeting spot, and we end up in the “getto” (if you can call it that) of Wooster. Now we call his friend and he somehow figures out where we are, meets us, and guides us to a safer place. There, we make idle chat, and Josh pays him what he owes. Then he tells us how to get back to my house. I don’t think we got home until 6:40 or so… It was CRAZY! We got lost so many times, over and over, on our way to Wooster (which turned out to be a lot closer than we thought to where I live), and then on the way home, it’s smooth sailing because we have accurate directions from his mother combined with that of his friend we met. Both of which collaborated with what my grandma said we should do.
Finally, when we made it back to I-77, I called Mom that she should have Grandma start the food right away because both Josh and I are famished.
Back at the house, we sit at the table talking for nearly an hour after we finish our meal of home-made hamburgers (YUM!) and discuss all sorts of random stuff, most of which often got turned dirty. Then we finally get all settled in, and Mom and Grandma have to leave to pick up Heather from some party thing, leaving Josh and me alone in the house, which shocked me. Granted, nothing dirty or bad happened, and they knew it wouldn’t, but it still was a surprise.
Then, towards the end of the night we watch the Cavs game and each time Mom walked in, they started losing; it didn’t take long for us to banish her. Needless to say, with just the last second left on the clock, they managed to come up and WIN! It was amazing. They were down a few points, and with one wild shot, the game was won. It was just awe-striking.
And per usual, Josh didn’t leave until about 1am. Frequently, he just crashes on the couch, often with another guy (Tony, or Billy, thus far), and just sleeps here. Mom loves having him around. It’s amazing how well they get along. I love it.
So, yeah, my day was crazy.

Can I Finally Breathe?

Yikes, I'm back! I have started working for my mom as part of her transcription business. Recently, she had fallen behind, and I caught the over-flow work. It never seemed to end. Right now I'm finally to a point where we're comfortably behind, rather than drastically behind. So, that has kept me from blogging.
Kent is officially over for the spring, and I shall return in the fall. Now, all I have to worry about is the one class I have at the high school. Amazingly, my teacher said that she would let me attend her third period class in place of the first period class that I'm enrolled in. The coursework is exactly the same, and it runs at the same identical pace as the first period class, the only difference is the time. This way, I can sleep in two more hours. So, that works out wonderfully for me! And soon enough, the high school shall be done for the season as well! Summer break, Here I come!

Picture It... In The Nut House... 2009

Anyone out there ever watch The Golden Girls? Well, any time I would get sick and stay home, it seemed like that and The Nanny on Lifetime were always on. So, I watched. Point being, the title for this blog comes from something Sophia used to say (by the way, she just recently died). As she'd begin one of her stories, she'd say, "Picture it, Sicily..." and state some random year then prattle of some story that always had Sal in it.
Well, as I promised earlier, now you can TRULY "picture it" with me. This entry, I shall try and stay within time order, starting at the beginning of all this insanity from this semester.


Some of the loungies back in March, this was just as i was starting to talk to them and not sit in the corner (as I am when I took this picture).


This would be Josh and Tony in March, making a pop bottle explode with Mentos.


My sister, Heather, blew up a condom after watching youtube videos, all the while my mom was video taping it and grandma was howling with laughter.


Here is the first time Tony and Josh ever came over to my house. They're playing Wii Baseball... I think it was more fun for me to watch than it was for them to play! Even though it was a nice March day, they still played inside.


At aproximately 2:00 AM, Josh started giving Billy the ride of his life! Somehow we always end up at Wal-Mart. Here, we're in the parking lot. But, this instance, no one is meowing.

And then there's Coney...




And then there's the day we built a fort made out of couch chairs in the lounge (and got yelled at for it.) Eventually, it spanned the entire width of the room and was taller than any of the people building it.

Life: Revisited

My Goodness! Have I really been away this long? Alright, it's time for me to get back into the game. So much has happened. My second semester of college has been one giant party with a dash of soap opera. I shall try to do a condensed version of the past 4 months.

When classes started in January, I had a gap of free time between classes from noon until five thirty. It didn't take me long to discover that the lounge was full of interesting and entertaining people. I even have class with two of the people that were in there at the same time with me. Soon, I learned names and we became friends. The lounge became the highlight of my day. Within time, we all started gravitating to my house and hanging there. Before long, we were playing games, making noise, and hanging out at every chance possible. February followed suit. (Literally, we played card games like euchre all the time.)

By the time March rolled around, drama slowly seeped in. As most of my people know, I have been dating Corey for a long while; almost a year and a half. But there had been rocky spots in the past where we fought over the topic of sex... needless to say, the issue became the death of our relationship and he broke up with me because of it at the end of March. Directly before and for several weeks after some NASTY things were said by him, but I don't need to rehash healing wounds. But there were many soap-opratic moments. For those of you who read this blog at the clear begining, remember Jordanne? Well, Corey tried asking her to date him, she declined, and he persisted. During the time that he thought he would be able to date her, he was happy after the break up, all the while I was misserable (because he was trying to secure a date with her WHILE we were still dating, before he would break up with me). But then, at Wal-Mart at two in the morning, Josh asked me out. Then the tables were turned. Corey had no girl and wanted me back, but all chance of that had been ruined with the things he said and by his actions. So, now, he was misserable and I became the happy one.

With Josh, Tony, Hayden, Jordanne, and all of my other peeps that I've been blessed to meet and become close with in the Lounge (go loungies!) I was able to keep myself sane during all of the drama that the issues eminating from Corey and miscellanious other people. I stayed entertained and preoccupied with trips to Wallyworld, the mall, card games in the lounge, Hayden's rice crispies (home made... BY HIM), roadtips to random places, and of course, by people staying over at my house. Oh, and by the way, Tony and Josh both LOVE my mother and she ADORES them! She talks every chance she can get with them on IM, and when they're at my house, she joins in on the fun! It's amazing the way everyone seems to get along with her.

Before I started dating Josh, I was oblivious to MANY things. As it turns out, the guys were hitting on me! ME! The silent little girl who sits in the corner and reads. It all started with one day, Tony and Josh took over my laptop as I had the webcam up and running, trying to chat with mom. They ended up being flashed by my grandma, trying to sell me to a czechoslovakian pedophile goat farmer, and counting urinals in the boy's bathroom with my mom. That was at the begining of January (yes, back to the begining, a nice little back-track). Then apparently, they constantly hit on me. I was totally oblivious and missed every instance. As it turns out, three of the guys in the lounge actually LIKED me in a sense that could go beyond friendship. But, I haven't had so much fun in the longest time. This semester has been a blast. Before I even started dating Josh, he and Tony were constantly over at my house... One time Josh even stayed past 2:30 in the morning! Another time, a week or two ago, Josh and Tony crashed at my place after Jordanne and Hayden left, just because they could! It was amazing.
Inbetween all of that, Josh was going through hell trying to sort out what to do with his girlfriend, Katie, who had broken up with him, slammed him on myspace and with her friends, only for them to get back together. Without a doubt, that was a mistake of hers. His heart broke and he lost trust in her and faith in their relationship. It wasn't long until they broke up the final time. Now, I get to be the happiest girl on Earth by dating him. Her loss.

(WARNING: here comes a small dosage of "gush" time)
I don't know how all the cards fell into place and I was able to actually meet him, let alone date him. Mom says this is the happiest she's ever seen me. He can always make me laugh, no matter what, and he treats me "like a princess" (his words). I never imagined that I would date a guy like him; he's fun constantly, loves hanging with me every chance he gets, and has a great personality, doesn't drink, smoke, or do drugs! (End Gushing)

And then, just a week or so ago, Tony started talking with Jordanne. Meanwhile Jordi was in a relationship with a guy named Adam, whom she wasn't all too thrilled about. So, within a week of Jordi and Tony talking via IM, she dumped Adam and is now on cloud nine with Tony!

Now, we are trying to hook Hayden up with a friend of Jordanne's just so that we can all have someone. And, if it works, she shall be Hayden's first girlfriend!

Tomorrow (Friday), we are all meeting up at my house (as we do almost every friday night, and frequently throughout the week) and then just have a blast hanging together. Shall be fun!

My next post, I shall toss in some pictures of everyone.

Devious Plans

Very frequently, my friends and I devise our devious plans to execute our deranged but fun ideas. We just so happened to have two of these instances in one day.
Yesterday, on my SECOND trip to Sams Club that day, Elizabeth called me and said she has a devious ploy to make it so that me and Corey can eat lunch together even though he has closed lunch and goes to a school on the other side of town. You see, Elizabeth's mom actually works for the school both she and Corey attend, and she has many connections. There is a restaurant on grounds that supports the Culinary Arts class (which Liz is in) and this restaurant is open to the public... and I am public! So, Lizzie's mom, in all of her devious glory, is going to pull Corey from his lunch and get him the proper permission to eat with me at the restaurant! All of this came about because Liz's mom wanted to eat lunch with Elizabeth and Liz took it from there!
Last night at my weekly youth group, my pastor announced our next party. Elizabeth, sitting next to me, devised a devious plan to get a bunch of people to come. Pastor Chris said that the price was $8 and if you brought one guest who had never been to our youth group before than you have to only pay $4 as well as your guest. With two guests you all get in free! So, Elizabeth's devious plan involved getting all of the names of all the students who get emailed the announcements since they aren't actually at the High School to hear them, like me and Elizabeth. There are about twenty or so name, Juniors and Seniors, on this list. And all we have to do is scan in our party invite! Then we can get a bunch of people there and get in free. Now it's only a matter of actually doing it.
So devious.

Retreat

I've been gone for a leadership retreat and now, I am home... and nothing has changed. Shocking.
The little trip of mine was a good way to relax and ignore the world around you. I always love going out to Camp. It was hosted at the same camp I go to every summer and winter, and each time I always wish it would never end. But, now I am back, and ready to type in my blog! Sadly, nothing exciting has happened that would be worth of writing. So, you, dear readers, have a job! Give me some ideas on what I can write about.

2009

It wasn't too long ago that I watched the New Millennium roll in with all of it's splendor. Sadly, the next eight years went down the crapper. Y2K, George W. Bush's election, 9/11, War on Terror, "Axis of Evil", Dubya's re-election, more war, more terror, economic meltdown, recession, and now we're back to where we started: a new president-elect, and the masses scared. Only, this time it is a Democratic president and the population isn't scared of technology, but rather the people who use it.
What do I think will happen this year? Not much. President Obama (yes, he will be the president, any skeptics will have to just deal with it. Denial time is over.) will start a slow but desperately needed turn-around for the economy, but won't have it attributed to his name in the history books because it's too massive to fix in one term. There will be more terror, and the financial crunches will tighten in the world, even though people continue to purchase Apple products valued in the $500 range. More people will accept Global Warming and realize that the miniscule degree adjustments really do make a detrimental difference. New trends will grip the US. And people will still be dying in third-world countries of diseases for which we have cures abounding in industrial areas. So, yeah, for the most part, everything will stay the same this year.
This does't have to be the case, but we all know that and I digress because that's a rant for another day.
For me, 2009 shall be a good year. And if it isn't you ask? --- Then I'll make it one. From what I can see, I've got school beyond the clutches of the High School Monster, amazing (-ly crazy) friends, a family who loves me, a boyfriend who (unexplaibly) adores me, and the outdoors to calm my phillosophic, hyperactive, overanylizing, and obsessive mind on the days when things take a down-turn. So, yeah, I pretty much demand this year be good despite the bad.
As for the "new years resolutions"... I don't need a specific time of year to make me decide when to better myself, I can do it when I please, thank you very much.