Happy Birthday to ME!

Man, HOORAY for birthdays! This one was FANTASTIC and the fun is not even over yet!

Yesterday was so lovely. I woke up, and guess what I saw? THE SUN! It was out and shining just for me! Thank you Mother Nature! :) Then, I went to work and got cupcakes from my awesome friend Rachel! I have only eaten one, but it was fantastically delicious and now I have another one to look forward too. Some of the students told me Happy Birthday, but not all of them because some of them hate me. But that's ok. One really likes me because he brought me flowers! How awesome and special is that? I love getting flowers a whole whole lot and it make me feel really great. That was really nice of him. Also nice, one of the afternoon teachers made me a cake and her class sang for me! It was truly magical. My boss also gave me a Starbucks gift card (where I got a free drink) and a chocolate muffin. All my male co-workers made fun of me for making such a big deal about my birthday, but they can suck it. Your special day is your special day! You only get one a year and you being born is a fantastic reason to celebrate! I only wish I could do it more often. Don't let the haters get you down!

I also got lots of lovely text messages, facebook posts, and phone calls from my amazing friends. Really made me feel special. Then, after work, the teachers and I headed to a bar where I got more birthday love in the form of shots. Yesssss. Then I took my drunk birthday self home and went to bed at a surprisingly early hour (you get tired early when you start drinking at 5). It was a struggle, but I did manage to get myself out of bed this morning, shower AND get to work on time. Impressive, I know. Having overdosed on sugar the day before, my stomach was not pleased with me. But I forged on. I did, however, leave my keys at the office the day before so that was kind of stupid. This was prior to Happy Hour. I think I was drunk on sugar.

Oh, AND last night when I got home, I had all sorts of fantastic mail including the best gift box ever from my Mom, with stuff thrown in from my aunt and brother. I was having a drunken field day opening it all! The paper was all strewn about my room when I dragged myself out of bed the next day, but it was totally worth it.

AND-it continues tomorrow! Katrina and Paul are coming to see me and I'm sooo happy! We are going to do fun stuff around LA and go dancing at the super cool 80s club on Saturday. A good time is in store for us, I just know it.

So, THANK YOU to everyone that helped my 25th be amazing, fantastic, special and a hundred bazillion times better than last year's birthday sadness. I love you all!

Dream big birthday wishes people!

Birthday Cupcakes!

Birthday Flowers!

Birthday Cake!

Birthday shots! (don't worry, they were mixed shots)

Things To Look Forward To

Birthday week has begun! I have high hopes for this week! Especially after this terrible weekend. My friend Barbara is coming up here tomorrow and I will be driving her and her car to the airport on Tuesday. And that means...I have a car until she gets back! Yay! Then, Wednesday is the big day and hopefully some people will show up for a Happy Birthday Happy Hour. That would be lovely. If all goes to plan, the entire school will have a beach day on Thursday which would be amazing because I would be at school all by my hungover self. That would make me very happy. Friday, Katrina and Paul are coming! Hooray, I'll actually have friends here that want to do stuff with me and I won't have to sit around like a loser. I'm excited! Being a loser gets old pretty fast. I was hoping to celebrate the BONUS I got at work this weekend, but celebrating by yourself is just pathetic.

In other news, my super amazing sister was the one redeeming factor to the weekend. I got a package Saturday morning from her that made my life! I was confused at first because it looked like a jar of pesto sauce...which would have been fine, but upon closer inspection, I find out it's just a pesto jar filled with GROUCHO'S FORMULA 45!!!! If you know me and/or you have ever been to Groucho's you KNOW how awesome this stuff is!! I was sooo happy! I have also figured out how to make amazingly good homemade STP dippers. I'm actually pretty impressed with myself. They are really yummy! They are not helping much with my plan to get un-fat, but oh well. Can't win em all. She also sent a Groucho's t-shirt, which made it pretty much the best birthday present of all time. This birthday is most definintely kicking last years birthday's ass.

Ok, well there is still time to get a present in the mail or buy a last minute plane ticket! Late gifts will be accepted, as will visits all through the month of August. My schedule is pretty free.

Dream big people! :)

Shit Storm

People.

Work is out of control. There is no other way to explain it. Actually, there is...I have been describing it as a shit storm of chaos. I know, I have such a poetic way with words. I can't even explain it really. But to put things in perspective, the most students we've had up until this summer was about 25. There were weeks when there were 15. Last week it jumped up to 45. This week, it jumped to 75. SEVENTY FIVE! And it two weeks, it will be at 95. I really don't know what I'm going to do! As soon as I get one problem solved, I turn around and someone is there with a new, bigger, more complicated problem. It's crazyness. And on top of all the problem solving, I am still expected to continue on with the day to day tasks. There is really just not enough time in the day or enough of me to go around. I don't hate it...and I definitely like being busy, but it's frustrating not being able to get everything done. Also, it's exhausting. Plus, now all the students hate me because they think I'm mean and won't help them with their issues. Ad it's not that I don't want to help, but I really just don't have the time any more to deal with whiners. If you have serious problems, let's talk. If you want to complain because you apartment doesn't have enough of an ocean view, I don't want o hear it.

So that's work. In other news, I had a lovely weekend in San Diego. The company was great, the weather was awesome and I read a entertaining little book. Now I'm back and LA and I hate to say it, but the weather sucks again. But I won't go into details.

I will say that in just a few short hours it is ONE WEEK until my birthday! Hooray!!! I'm excited and I know you are too. Here are some gift suggestions if you are at a loss:

Starburst jelly beans (I cannot find ANY in this stupid town! Trust me, I've looked at like, 6 different stores)
Gift cards...I'm so broke
Pretty jewelry (cheap is fine)
Good books
Pretty flowers
Sky miles
Alcohol
Fun things
A bed (if you're feeling generous)
A car (if you're feeling REALLY generous)
A visit from YOU!
Anything at all really

Ok, well contact me if you are still stuck and/or need my address.

Dream big people! :)

OH HAPPY DAY!

THE SUN WAS SHINING TODAY!!! ALLLLL DAY! It was so fantastic! I got up, left my cave of a room (thank you sub-par black out curtains), went into the bathroom and was blinded by the SUN! Do you hear me? The SUN! It made me extremely happy. I got to wear my sunglasses while walking to the bus, NOT my fleece jacket! It was a really good day! Pretty soon I'll be complaining about how hot it is, just you wait! I walked home after Curves and it was just so pleasant, I loved it. It is still a little too windy for my taste at the beach, but the sun? I'll take it! To celebrate, I'm sharing a clip from one of my all-time favorite movies, Sister Act 2. The chef snapping along make me smile so much. You're welcome. :)



Oh man, I love Whoopi Goldberg! And I am putting this other clip too because I love it so much when the thugs walk in off the streets. Cracks my shit up! Enjoy!




Ummmm, sorry the videos are big and don't fit in between the lines. It bothers me, but my computer is running sooo slow, I don't feel like fixing it. :/

It was a good try Netherlands

So this has officially been the lamest weekend of my entire life. Seriously. It was so terrible. But whatever, now it's over and a new week is beginning. Not that this week promises to be any better, but the sun did come out a little today, so maybe it will show itself the rest of the week and at least that will make things more bearable.

Right now, I'm really tired. I have no idea why, as I literally did nothing today. Maybe I got worn out from my disappointment watching the World Cup. Not only did my team lose, but it was a pretty sad little game all around. Spain scored a good goal, but things were just sloppy and kind of un-exciting overall. Oh well. Don't get me wrong, I'm a USA fan first, but they didn't make it, so I had to get on board with someone else. I've been to Spain and I liked it, but I have a soft spot for the Netherlands for a lot of reasons. At least they put up a good fight.

Anyways, I have something random to talk about. I read the article online about Michael Vick and have some questions. Well, first off, let me say this: Michael Vick is really unattractive. Really really. Ok, so basically the article is saying that he was supposed to go to this charity event and then this camp for kids and he couldn't because his parole officer wouldn't let him. Both events were upset about him being there. He could make his birthday bash that was a few weeks prior, in another state, but wasn't able to leave the state for these things. Suspect. The birthday also included a "shooting incident" so that's always a good thing.

Another NFL player that was at the charity thing was all, oh I really admire his charitable works. I am not really on the up and up with Vick and his charitable efforts (or his career really, I randomly stumbled up on this article) but I don't think by NOT showing up to a charity event is really doing anyone any good. But my real question is with this kids camp. The guy that runs it is all, oh we are so disappointed, the kids were promised autographs, etc. Also, he says they try to teach the kids about integrity and other such values and canceling appearances doesn't really jive with all that. But, seriously? What the hell? You have a camp about football that also incorporates integrity lessons and you invited a CONVICTED FELON to come meet the kids? You couldn't find anyone else in the whole wide football world to come show these kids what character is all about? Jeez, I feel like they would have been better off getting a high school or college player that participates in mandatory Habitat for Humanity once a month to come throw the ball around with the campers. I am shocked as to why camp directors thought this was a good idea.

I am also so sad that a convicted felon is allowed to play professional football and make 50 times the amount of money I do. I already have problems with stupid "professional athletes," but ones that are also felons really get me steamed. Word on the street is he is not even that good. Salt on the wound.

Anyways, just thought I would share. I'm trying to figure out ways to make my life interesting again so I have something good to write about for you lovely people. In the meantime, I'll just comment on things that I find interesting and/or ridiculous.

Dream big people! (Especially Dutch people, keep your chin up!)

For Good

That is the song I am currently listening to, from "Wicked," my most favorite musical ever. And also a very good song in general. Kind of fits a theme in my life lately. I don't feel like talking about it.

My foul mood has continued, sadly enough. I can't really seem to shake it. I'm pretty angry with the world right now. A lot of it has to do with this shit-tastic weather we are continuing to have. It was, once again, cold and rainy here in Santa Monica. Santa fucking Monica! Where is the damn sun?! There are other things too, but I don't feel like talking about those either.

Instead, I'm going to chronicle the July 4th's of the past five years. Fun, huh?! I just was thinking about it the other day and thought it was mildly interesting. So instead of things that make me angry, I'm just going to talk about things that have happened in the past that no one really cares about. Just for kicks. So here goes.

2005: I don't really remember. I know I was in Columbia,and I was transitioning between CHAMPS and Camp Greenville. Obviously, it wasn't that fantastic.

2006: I was actually at Camp Greenville for this one. They set off fireworks from the floating dock and had a candy drop from a helicopter. Then we went to Pretty Place and watched the fireworks in Greenville from above. It was kind of strange.

2007: At the A Bar A ranch in Wyoming. July 4th there was actually a good time. Lots of fireworks, but kind of a strange picnic. I think all of Wyoming came (it was like, 300 people) and they served grilled chicken and green beans or something stupid. I was confused as to why there were no hot dogs! Oh, and there was cherry and blueberry pie. Where was the apple?!

2008: In Charleston for the first time in a long time. Got to watch fireworks at the fire station, which is my favorite place to watch them. And I spent it on the beach, which is where you are supposed to be on the 4th!

2009: On a plane going from Milan, Italy to Athens, Greece. No fireworks were involved, it was very sad. It was also the kick off to one of the worst July's I have ever had....with some very bright spots though.

2010: Watched fireworks from above Los Angeles. Weird, but good. Oh, and the high was like, 65. Pretty sure it's the coldest 4th I've ever had.

Well that was stupid. Sorry to put you through that. I think I'm just trying to remind myself that even though things suck right now, they have been better before. And that I'm interesting. I need to be reminded sometimes.

Anyhoo, my birthday is in THREE weeks! Surely things will improve by then. :)

Dream big people!

Right Now

Right now, I hate being a girl. I hate a lot of things right now, actually. I like some things too, but I'm rather grumpy. We'll start with the bad stuff first, shall we?

Let me just tell you a little story. So my awesome friend lets me borrow her car for a week. I think, I'll go get it washed for her. I'll just find a gas station with a car wash attached and just zip on through and that will be that. Easy enough, right? WRONG. First off, there is apparently only one gas station with a car wash attached in this area. I don't really want to take it to a regular car wash because they are way more expensive and I am a do it yourself kind of girl. So I go to the ONLY one around here and there is a LINE. A line. At a gas station car wash. What the hell? I don't have time to sit in a line the first time, so I decide to go back another day. Another day, another line. Still don't have a lot of time. Today, though, I had lots of time. So I suck it up and decide to go sit in the stupid line. I finally make it to the front and I go to pay and it doesn't take credit cards! WHAT THE FUCK?!??! And of course, the cheapest wash is $7 and guess how much cash I have. Six fucking dollars. I was furious. This LA people! And it's 2010! Why can't I use a card? Why is there no fucking sign somewhere that says I can only pay cash? Why does this city hate me?????? I drive off angry and the car has still not been washed. I am constantly amazed at how often I need cash in this stupid city. Quarters especially. The laundry room only takes quarters and of course there is no change machine...that would be too easy. LA is all about making my life as difficult as possible.

For more bad news, I just ate three biscuits. I can't seem to get un-hungry. I hate birth control. And not to beat a dead horse, but it was fucking freezing today. It is JULY and it's like, 60. This makes me so angry. Also, my weird hand disease is coming back in bits and pieces. It's most disturbing.

Now for the good news: I finally got a chair for my room! Now I have somewhere to sit, other than my "bed" and I feel like a grown up sitting at my desk, using my computer. I also got some pretty flowers and figured out how to control my curtains. My room is coming along nicely. I don't know how long I'm actually going to stay in it, but it's looking good. I also had the day off, which means a four day work week! Always good. My fourth wasn't anything exciting, but I did watch fireworks from above LA and that was kind of cool. Not the same as watching real fireworks (my favorite) but it was a new and interesting thing to see them going off from above, all at the same time. Kind of hard to explain.

And as an aside, this time last year, I was starting my ill-fated stint as an Au Pair in Greece. Is anyone else blown away at how much things can change in a year? This summer may not involve cute Dutch boys and the best tan of my life, but it's got to be better than last years. I'm just hoping for a better birthday. And no broken bones. Fingers crossed.

That's really it I guess. Sorry to be a negative Nancy, but I can't seem to shake this bad mood. Everything seems to be working against me these days and I'm wondering when that shit is going to stop. I went through a really good cycle, though, so I guess I just have to go through the bad one and wait for the good to come back around.

Dream big (slash good) people!

Why I Need an iPhone...

...because tonight I went to IHOP (is Apple angry this restaurant had the putting-an-i-in-front-of-words idea before they did?) and it was filled with people that were in town for the Anime convention in downtown LA. How do I know this? Because they were all DRESSED UP. And I can't show you because I don't have an iPhone that can take pictures and post them to the internet. Shit was crazy. Those people were crazy. One guy was wearing cut off jorts, half a shirt, a pink wig and red high heels. Yes, I said guy. There were huge groups of these weirdos wearing wigs, sexy kimonos, horned backpacks, and all sorts of other crazy nonsense that I'm sure all of you would LOVE to see. It was a little ridiculous.

Oh, speaking of iPhones...I read somewhere that Jason Bateman was in line for one with all the other goobers and then the Apple people came and got him out of line so he could get his first, before all the other lowly, non famous people. How douchey is that? The douchiest, if you ask me. I mean, I love Jason Bateman (Arrested Development = genius) but there is really no reason to get in line with the lowlies, and then just rub the I'm famous advantage in everyone's face! I mean, just don't even get in line in the first place! Lame. Famous people are so lame and entitled for no reason. Moving on before a rant starts.

Anyways, I don't like posting so infrequently! I have so much to say and feel like I bore people when I ramble on about things that have happened in the past week. I have been crazy tired these last couple of days and haven't felt like blogging. But whatever, rambling is how I roll so here we go...

First off, I have been meaning to blog these two things for a while now and keep forgetting:
1. I have found multiple white hairs lately. My head is 24 (25 in 3 weeks and 4 days), much too young for white hairs! Unacceptable.
2. Betty White is my new hero. She said she doesn't do jokes about drugs because she thinks drugs are totally unfunny. I totally agree. Drugs are dumb. Love you Betty! I want to be just like her when I'm older...sequined pants suits and all!

Ok, so in other news...the weather was nicer today, but still chilly. So far: Fuck you July. You are just as bad as June. Your only redeeming factor doesn't even come until July 28 and that's far. In fact, you have started out sucking pretty bad ESPECIALLY because all the bus prices have gone up as of July 1. Hooray! More money to support the stupidest bus system ever! And, the parking prices went up as well. Price raises all around! Just what a country in an economic crisis needs! Make everything even more difficult and expensive for struggling people. Thank you California! Oh, and thanks again pay cut at work! You are making my life so awesome right now.

But for some good news: I got to play softball last night! It's a long, convoluted story, but a team needed more girls, so I volunteered and it was awesome! I went 5 for 5, made a decent play in the outfield and scored 4 runs! Woo hoo! And I'm crazy sore today from all that running! It was fun but it also made me a little sad when I left. Mainly because I get these little glimpses of how I want my life to be but I can't make it that way. The team was really nice and we had an awesome cookout afterwards (PS-people call cookouts barbeque's here. Totally a lie, especially when people are making carne asada and there is no barbecue sauce involved. Weirdos) and I want to be their friends! They asked me to be on their team, but I can't do it without a car. It's way to far away and even if I could take public transportation, it would take a million years to get there. Frown.

....

Right. Well that is really the only good news I've got, I guess. Oh yeah, this is funny, that is good news: http://www.bestweekever.tv/2010-06-24/whos-crazier-iphone-campers-vs-twilight-campers/

More when I have nice things to say.

Dream big (think birthday presents!) people!

Bipolar much?

Ok, so the last post was also kind of a sham because literally as soon as I wrote it the Grease Sing Along was canceled :( Very sad. Instead I stayed at home and watched "My Sister's Keeper" which is pretty much the most depressing movie I've seen in a really long time. I wouldn't really recommend it unless you are in the mood for crying.

And since then things have just kind of gone downhill. I am REALLY frustrated with LA right now. Like, ready to leave frustrated. I'm not going to, I'm going to stick it out for a little while longer, but I'm put out with this crazy city. Oh, and all my teams are out of the World Cup! I don't know who to cheer for anymore! The only one left is the Netherlands but I don't know if they are going to make it past Brazil. UGH.

First off, I definitely am having a love/hate relationship with this whole car thing. Don't get me wrong, life is SO much better with a car. I can go (most) places in a sensible amount of time, I can buy more than two bags of groceries, I can get to work in 5 minutes, seriously, the possibilities are endless! But parking. Parking is another story. Parking in this city, especially Santa Monica is the most ridiculous clusterfuck of nonsense I have EVER experienced. Maybe it's my down home Southerness coming through, but it is incredible to me that someone (me) cannot drive to work and just park their damn car for free and be done without. No, that would be waaay too easy. Instead, here are your options: A) you pay $7 (YES-$7...you can buy entire meals for less money than that) to park in the parking garage. B) You park really fucking far away in the residential area. BUT-only after a certain time and NOT on Wednesday from 12-2 because that is when they have STREET CLEANING. That shit kills me the most. Street cleaning. So if you LIVE on one of those streets you cannot leave your car outside your house at a certain time because a big truck has to come by to sweep away the leaves. No wonder California is in a massive budget crisis. Or, C) You can park for two hours, leave work re-park for another two hours , and repeat two more times before you can finally go home. WHAT THE HELLLLL. I wanted to murder someone today. And yesterday I almost did. I took the car to get an oil change and it took TWO hours! Two! Hours!

And just in general, LA is soooo frustrating! The interstate is ALWAYS backed up, parking is retarded (and rarely free...they valet for coffee shops here!), people drive like idiots, and honk their horns way too much. It is crazy expensive here and the weather SUCKS ASS. Apparently it's just "June Gloom" but in approximately one hour June is officially over and that better mean when I wake up tomorrow the weather is fucking awesome and it better stay fucking awesome for the entire month of July. It was 59 degrees today. FIFTY NINE! In June! And windy and overcast and that weird rainy it gets here. UNACCEPTABLE! Also, people are totally weird here. More on that another time, but I will say this: I hate hipsters. They are stupid, ugly, self-righteous and I can't wait until skinny jeans are out of style, amoung other things. Like those weird barefoot shoes, Uggs, leggings as pants, and those really ugly shoes Miley Cyrus has been sporting a lot lately.

I digress. Even with all that, driving is a hundred million times better than the bus. Maybe not for going to work, but for everything else, yes. But, I won't have to contend with traffic after Friday, when I give the car back :( All the other crap will still be there though.

Oh well...in other news: tomorrow we are having a Fourth of July party at school and I made apple pies. Can't get more American than that, right? Only I left out the butter on accident so I don't know if they are still going to be that great. I guess we'll see tomorrow. Oh, and I got a pay cut at work. AWESOME!

I seriously need to figure out how to get out of here. Unless Ellen hires me SOON, then I'm going to bounce. Soon. Ish.

So tired now. Time for bed.

Dream big people! My birthday is in exactly 4 weeks! Plenty of time to book a flight, send a card or buy a present. Just saying :)