Vacation? I don't think so....

What an adventure. I left from Northridge and headed to Van Nuys to catch a cheap shuttle that drops you off right at LAX (thanks Sheila). It was a good investment, for only $3.50 they drop you off right in front of your airline check-in and you don't have to deal with the stress of driving into LAX. So I arrived at LAX at about 2:30 and my plane was scheduled to leave at 5:10.

I walked into Alaska Airlines, to which I was amazed! NO LINES!!!! I had checked in online, so all I had to do was drop off my bag. No line, and then I took my bag over to be checked for security, no line. Then I proceeded up the escalator to the security metal detectors, no line. By now, this has only taken me less than half an hour. It is not even 3 and I am sitting at the gate. What do you do in an airport for the next 2 hours? People watch....it is fun. They started to board the plane at about 4:45 at which they also announced that they were looking for people to take a "bump" onto a later flight because they were over booked. Of course, I took it because I got a FREE round trip ticket and a meal voucher to use. The only problem was that I had to wait for a flight that didn't leave until 9:30 at night. I had to sit in the airport for 7 hours total with no one to talk to, except those of you that I called. Anyhow so that was my wonderful adventure of sitting in the airport trying to keep busy.

Now I am home, and the madness has arrived. I got home to a peaceful house but was woken up Thanksgiving morning by my loud cousin Bert and my Aunt Sandy. I was so thrilled (did you catch my enthusiasm?). Dinner was wonderful because it was mom's and my Aunt Debi's jello salad was bomb as usual, and it was just amazing to get to hang out with the cous, and aunts and uncles I haven't seen since I graduated from high school. I love my family!!!

We are doing a family outing today to go bowling.....can't wait, I have wanted to go bowling for so long, and now we are all going as one big family. YAY!!!

Talk about last minute

I don't know what my deal is. I am always putting things off until the last minute. I have had to do this sign language video for so long, and I am just getting around to it because it is due tomorrow.

I have a problem with procrastination. I think it is just because I work better under pressure. The quality is better, I think, but I always get so stressed when I procrastinate. You would think over the years I would learn to start things earlier, but no, I haven't.

Late nights...almost all nighters

Oh my gosh, I cannot believe it is almost 4:30 in the morning. This is the second day that I have stayed up talking to a friend. It is just one of those wonderful things about friendships, you can talk and talk and never get bored or run out of things to talk about. How awesome is that? I love my friends.

I don't say that enough. I LOVE MY FRIENDS!!! I am so blessed to be surrounded by the friends that I have. You are all amazing and I love each and every one of you, even if I don't tell you enough or at all. Thank you for being a friend.

Good night, or morning.

You are joking right?

Last night I got a telephone call from THE Mr. Bill Sperry. He wanted to go out and shake his "tailfeather." I thought that would be a lot of fun so we were off. Only one little problem, out of all 6 of us that went (Bill, his friend from Fuller, Scott, Laura, and Miguel), I was the only one under age.

We started off waiting in line at the Avalon only to find out they are a 21+ club. No biggy, there was one just down the street. We walked the "few" blocks which ended up being like 6-8 blocks. The club was called "Floretine Gardens." Let's just say that it wasn't the most happening club in Hollywood, so the three girls and Bill took a cab ride from there to Hollywood and Highlands (Scott and Miguel walked). This just happened to be my very first cab ride ever. Very exciting. We got the club DV8, or what we thought was, and it turns out that DV8 is only on Saturday nights and on Fridays, it is 21+. Now what? That's right, we took a VAN CAB, back to Florentine Gardens. From here, it wasn't too bad except getting in, they wouldn't let me in with a tank and they wouldn't let Scott in with a white shirt, So we did a little clothes swapping and finally got in. Once in it was quite interesting, but we made the best of it. Yes, even Bill Sperry did a little pole dancing. Very good times.

It was a night of firsts for me. First cab ride, and first time getting turned away from somewhere. Oh yeah.

Single Life

I just have to say that this whole being single thing is really killing me. I just want to be with someone and love someone and feel loved.

But at the same time, I want to be single. Which is it, single or dating? That is my debate/dilemma.

How much am I short??

Andrew, this blog is for you.

I am a supervisor at work and at night when I close I have to count the registers. For awhile, the registers had the exact amount they were supposed to or they were just a few cents over or short. Recently they have been like $5 short or $10 short. I am not even the one that works on the register, I just report what the amount is in the drawer, but somehow I am still the one that gets chewed out by the managers for being short. I am so sick of being told that the drawers are wrong, I know that, I counted them. It is especially bad when I have just worked for 8 hours and I am extremely tired, and I just want to get out of there.

Enough ranting......off to study or sleep whichever comes first.

Children #2

These last few days have been all about children. It seems like everywhere I go, the subject of children comes up. What is the deal?

Yesterday I went to get my nails done with John and Nicole and while John and I were waiting, we were talking about how we would or wouldn't take our kids out shopping with us. Then the whole babysitting experience.

Today, I had my emergency procedures class. We talked about poisoning, and bites, and other emergencies, but then came the fun part. Can you guess what we talked about??? Yep, that's right, emergency CHILD BIRTH. We had to watch this lovely video of a woman giving birth. My class is so mature, everybody was making jokes and stuff, I felt like I was back in middle school or high school. I have REALLY decided that I am not going to have 4 or 5 kids just because of the birthing process. I don't know if I can handle all the pain and pressure.

It was so sad. This kid that sits behind me in class passed out because he couldn't handle the video. All of a sudden he just fell to the floor and seized a little bit and we all just stared at him, and then our teacher came over and helped him. You would think that all of us, would like rush over and be eager to practice what we have been learning, but we just yelled for the teacher.

Good times....not having so many children.

Children...God's little miracles...or are they?

I was just babysitting for the couple bible study at our church. They meet every other week in someone's house. This week we were in this immaculate, huge house. It was amazing, I want to have a house like this one day.

Anyhow, that is beside the point. We (Nicole and I) babysit for 8 kids. For the most part, they are pretty controlable, they listen and obey well. But then there are the few that have separation anxiety and scream the ENTIRE time. I am not exaggerating. This one kid screamed for his mom for two hours straight. It was awful, it gave me the worst headache.

So this made me rethink how many children I want to have as my own. I have always said that I wanted 4 or 5 kids. But now that I have been babysitting more often, I don't know how I could handle having that many kids running around screaming all day. But then again, my kids would hopefully been more disciplined and well behaved, but there is no telling before you give birth. Maybe I will only have 3 kids. We'll see I guess.

The freak comes out

Last night we had an awesome surprise party for my friend Liana from work. She had no idea, she was so happy to see everybody. We started the night off with some drinks and a birthday shot for Liana. This was enough to send me over the top. I was buzzing, and boy did the freak in me come out. I was ashamed after I looked back on what I did. It wasn't that bad, no worries, but still, if you know me well enough, I was not myself last night. Anyhow, I had a great time last night hanging out with all the girls from work (and Fred).

Friday Night Games

Andrew and I had this brilliant idea to play night games (such as capture the flag, kick the can, sardines) but nobody else wanted to play. So we ended up at the dorms at like 8:30 with Kerri, Sharon, and Brian M. trying to decide what to play. We couldn't really do much because if we had teams they would be uneven (since there were only 5 of us). We decided to call Brian Lewolt's roommate and force him to come play with us and he did. He wanted to play basketball so we did.

That was fun and all, but I didn't realize how out of shape I am. I couldn't breathe after the first few runs. I was winded and now, only a few hours after the game, my whole body aches. I can't believe it, I am the girl who used to be able to run forever during a soccer game, and now can't even run around the block. I am becoming a pathetic lazy old woman (or least that is how I feel tonight). I have decided that I need to start working out, either at the gym or at home to some wonderful tapes that I have. Maybe I should just start running again. Whatever the solution, I need to start doing something more active.

Is it over yet?

I am so ready for this semester to be over. I am so sick of reading, writing, and researching, I can't wait for winter vacation. Those 7 weeks are going to be well spent sleeping, relaxing, and doing a whole lot of nothing.

But until that day comes, I must press on with the reading and the rest of my homework. Wish me luck.

Why must you be so difficult?

Working at Freudian Sip (a coffee shop on campus) is really getting on my nerves. Especially Wednesday nights. Hence, I am writing about it to release the tension built up inside of me.

Our coffee shop closes at 9, and the 7-10 classes usually take a break at about 8:30 or 8:45. That means that they all come in and place special orders because we are the only place open on campus that late. I had everything cleaned and ready to go and then like 25 people came in and 5 ordered frappes (our version of frappechinos) and the rest ordered usual drinks. It is just frustrating because I want to get out on time and then I can't because I have to reclean everything. Oh well, that was just 20 minutes of my time at work, the rest was fun.

It was all girls working tonight, so what did we do but flirt with the male customers to try and get more tips (it worked we made $4 each). Of course we picked and chose our flirting customers. It was fun, and it passes the time.

When I first got to work my manager pulled me out into the hallway....I thought something was wrong, that I had done something bad, but I had just gotten there. It was so nice, he told me that we were going to be training the new people that are going to be working at other Freudian Sips when they open and that may mean an additional pay increase (but I am not holding my breath). Also, he told me that he was very thankful to have me as a "red shirt" (supervisor) and so he is taking me and the other red shirt (also named Val) out to brunch one sunday. How cool is that? I felt so good that he actually recognizes how much we do for him and that it is good quality work.

Enough about work, I am off now, now it is "me" time.

Wake Up

I have come to the realization that I am not over Tim yet. I have just been fooling myself.

Giving Thanks or Thanksgiving??

I am excited to say that I am going home to Washington for Thanksgiving. I give thanks to God for the opportunity. I wasn't going to be able to go because it was too expensive and I would be going home two weeks later for winter break....but now I get to go home and be with my family.

The majority of my family is going to come up to our house.....aunts, uncles, cousins and their families (with kids) and even my grandparents are coming up. I am so ecstatic....I love my family and I am thankful that I have a home to go to. And I am thankful for my grandpa whose birthday is on Thanksgiving day....he is turning 84 (I think).

College v. High School

Today has been a day that live on forever....I day and time that I am proud to be a part of. Granted my presidential candidate did not win, I am still proud to be witnessing these times.

So in my political science class we talked alot about what was happening, and what will happen. Naturally we would because it is pol. science. But then I went to my second class of the day, sociology. We started off talking about Kerry conceding and that sad stuff. Then we discussed where our nation was headed (way to the right). We got on the subject of abortion and the possibility of overturning Roe v. Wade. Which then led to a discussion on sex, leading to STDs, leading to prevention and the importance of women getting regular pap-smears. Don't ask. So almost 40 minutes into the class (which is 50 minutes) we were still talking about all these wonderful things.

My point being.....I love being in college because the curriculum is still important but teachers are more flexible in how they run the classes. It allows for some interesting debates, conversations, and discussions of what our nation is going through. Whereas in high school, teachers are so rushed to cram all this information into our heads, that one day of discussions throws off the whole curriculum so they don't acknowledge national issues that arise.

I never thought I would be saying that I love college, but it is actually not as bad as I thought.

Wow, that was a semi- long blog. Gotta go get my laundry out of the washer and into the dryer.

D-Day of the Elections

Duh Duh Duh!!! So the day has come when we all head out to the polls. I wanted to get it out of the way so after I dropped off my roommate at school I headed up to Granada Hills High School to place my vote. I ran into a problem though. About two months ago I went online to Rock the Vote and filled out the online form and then mailed it in to the Secretary of State. However, up until this date, they still have no record of me filling out the form and mailing it in. So I am technically not registered to vote so I had to fill out a provisional ballot (so it will count unless there are questionable voting issues like 4 years ago).

But the good thing is I still was able to go and cast an informed vote for the candidate of my choice (*cough, Kerry, *cough).

Down to the Wire

So I am not totally down to the wire, but I do need to make a decision quick about who to vote for. After talking to a few friends and relatives and reading some more articles online, I have made the decision that I am going to vote for..........Mr. Kerry. My faith makes me want to vote for Bush, but then I believe in separation of church and state and I am not one to force non- christians to conform to our beliefs. I believe that people have choices that they must make, and therefore, I am voting for Mr. Pro- Choice himself, John Kerry. I hope that you fellow christians don't think less of me or other christians that vote for him.

I hope I am making the right decision. I guess I just have to keep thinking that ultimately God is in control of everything, and His will is going to prevail despite how America votes at the polls.


May the best man win.

Choose to Lose

So tomorrow is the big day. It is election day. Who is one to vote for? Bush or Kerry, the question of the century. I am not sure, I am still an undecided voter and the elections start in about 11 hours. I don't really like either candidate, so I feel like I am choosing to lose either way. I agree with some of what Bush is doing or will do, but also with Kerry on some issues. And there are also some things that I don't like about both.

My question is: Is there/could there ever a/be president that people love 100%, or do American voters have to sacrifice for the candidates at hand?

I guess I will spend the rest of my night praying, and hopefully God will work in my heart and help me to decide who to vote for, because as of now, I am still on the fence.

If you have any suggestions, feel free to try and persuade me. But you better have a good argument. Don't waste my time and your energy.