Sunday, November 21, 2010

Drool...

Upon asking for suggestions, Mynx said she wanted to know about places I’d like to go for vacation.

I’ve been to tons of places, but there are soooo many things I haven’t seen. So this list does NOT include places I’ve already been, although I could visit Universal Studios every day for the rest of my life.

1. Rome- There is just so much to see and it’s all so beautiful. My first stop would be the Coliseum.


2. Hollywood Walk of Fame- Because, again, I need to add a star for Brad Pitt.

3. Japan- Prettttttty lights. I also very much like going to places that speak a different language and experiencing the different culture.


4. Australia- And I’m not just saying that for Mynx. My dad lived in Australia for two years and to this day I still go through his old photo albums and long to go there.

Photo

5. Ireland- I would love to have my camera out all day taking photos of the beautiful scenery.


6. Greece- It’s just so beautiful.
Boyfriend can come too if he wants. :)

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Shit Boyfriend Makes Me Watch vol 2

Holy crap. I logged on this morning and saw this...

That's right. My dad is now a reader of Jumble Mash. I called him up and said, "so ugh, what do you think about it?" I was bracing myself for, "You curse a lot." or something of the sort, but instead he said, "It's a great blog and you are a good writer. I may start one of my own." HA! My dad is going to be a blogger. Gotta love it.

Anyways, back to the real reason for posting.

This week's movie was In Bruges. First of all, let me just say...Colin Farrell and his sexy eyebrows. Yummy.

I actually ended up really liking this British comedy. And I'm a sucker for an accent.

Colin Farrell plays along side Brendan Gleeson as two hitmen in hiding. It cracks me up because Farrell is constantly complaining about being In Bruges and voices his negative opinion about the place throughout the movie.

But anyways, being in hiding Farrell (Ray) and Gleeson (Ken) really start to question themselves. During Ray's last job, he accidentally killed a little boy which is the reason they have been sent into hiding.

Ray's guilt about the situation pretty much eats at him even though he is trying to move on and then Ken is ordered to kill Ray because what he did was unforgivable, according to their employer.

As Ken is walking up behind Ray to kill him, he realizes that Ray is in the process of killing himself. Ken, then realizes that he cares about Ray too much to follow through with the orders. He warns Ray and convinces him to leave the city.

Ray is arrested for assaulting a couple and sent back to Bruges...where his employer is now hunting him.

I really don't want to give away too much of the ending because the ending it AWESOME but I will say that Ken puts Ray's life ahead of his own while trying to save him.

This movie is full of bad language and violence so watch it when the kiddies aren't around, but be sure to watch it. It's funny, adventurous, and exciting. The plot sounds more depressing than it actually is.

My rating?

Friday, November 19, 2010

Shiny Turkey Award!

Me, Myself and I from Ramblings of an Emotional Idiot has given me the Shiny Turkey Award.

Cool, huh? Thank you so much! Everyone needs to go over and check out her blog. She cracks me up!

Of course, there are rules to this award. I have to write about an experience that has to do with food, intoxication, cooking/baking or the holidays. Then, pass it on to a few blogs of my choice.

So first, here are the blogs I've chosen.

A Bitch Called Mom
Absolutely Narcissism
The Loaded Handbag

I cannot wait to hear their stories. I absolutely love these blogs.

I really had to think about what story I would tell because I wanted it to be about the holidays but I have so many holiday memories I wasn't sure which to choose.

But finally I chose to tell ya'll about a Christmas at my grandpa's house.

On my dad's side of the family, we have lost too many loved ones. My grandmother passed away when I was sixteen and three of four of my uncles have passed away. We've had Christmas in that house every year since I've been alive. It's different now, because so many people are missing.

But the last year that we were all together, was one of the best I can remember. My grandpa's house isn't big by any means. And my grandma had eight kids of her own, and then those kids had children. I have like 22 first cousins. Its ridiculous. We all crammed into that tiny house every Christmas and it was AWESOME.

That year,  my dad had bought my youngest cousin and ball pit. You know, like the ones at McDonald's? But the actual pit looked like a swimming pool and you actually had to blow it up and then pour the balls into it.

Well, they decided to go ahead and put it up right then and there. It took up the entire living room. Then my dad decided that he would get inside the ball pit with my little cousin.

Then, a war broke out.

It started with my little cousin throwing a ball at her dad. Then my dad threw a ball at my uncle. Then those little plastic multicolored terrors were flying through the house everywhere. My grandma was yelling at us, but no one was listening.

Balls were zooming passed by head and I could think of nothing better than to get out my video camera and document the whole thing. As soon as I started recording, a ball hit me right in the eye. The video shows me dropping the camera and cursing up a storm.

Then I picked the camera back up and watched. I was just an innocent bystander by I bet you I got hit about 100 times. The younger kids all started to join in (yes, it was only the adults at first) and the uncles started using the children as shields.

Then someone, and to this day no one will admit it, broke my grandma's lamp. She came into the living room and started collecting the balls from us and scolded each and every one of us. That video is very precious to me. And I wish I still had it. Someone stole my camera along with all of my tapes from my old apartment. At least I still have the memory.

That'll kill the Christmas spirit

AMCHornet wanted to hear me complaining and since I do that nearly every Friday, I am going to dedicate this post to her. She didn’t have anything in particular she wanted me to bitch about, so I’ve chosen to not do the 5 Things That Drive Me Crazy and instead focus on something that is really worth complaining about.


First of all, I must say, I work for a coal company so yes, my opinion is probably biased.

I live in West Virginia. West Virginia is coal country. You think people would know that by now? Yeah, well they don’t. People that have just moved here and holding protest meetings to try and shut down our mines. Why in the Hell would you move to coal country if you don’t like the fact that we do indeed mine? That’s like moving next to an airport and complaining about the noise.

Anyways, I learned yesterday that we lost our permit to mine. That means that right before Christmas, dozens of people are going to get laid off. Most of them were just hired in August when we obtained the permit. Some have been with us for years. In six months, I may not have a job.

This is in large part due to coal haters. Our mine was once shut down because environmentalists thought we were killing bugs in a pond. Bugs! Bugs were chosen over the livelihood of many employees. Real, breathing people with real families to take care of. I hit 1,000 bugs with my car while driving to work every day, but no one has ever tried to take my license.

People are always trying to find a way to get money from us and when they can’t, they protest. We pay for any damages we cause. We reclaim every site we mine. Then usually give it away. One place that we owned, we gave away and now a school, a fitness center, and a fair ground is there. Concerts are held there all summer long. Fairs are held there. My point? We don’t totally ruin the land.

We pay lots of money to buy the land we mine. Sometimes we buy the land and the houses that sit on it. Granted, the home owners have to then move, but they didn’t have to sell to us. And it’s not even those people, whose lives are uprooted and they have to start over that complain. No, it’s the neighbors that don’t like the noise of the coal trucks. They don’t like the dust that the trucks create. They don’t like when the ground shakes when we blast. Those are the top complaints.

Don’t move across the street for a coal mine and then complain about the noise.

If they don’t like the dust, they need to call the trucking companies (for we own no coal trucks) and complain to them.

By law, we are required to give them the option to complete a pre-blast survey. So that means, when we use a bunch of explosives to break the land, they are entitled to fill out the survey, have someone come assess their home and then if we cause any damage, we promptly fix it. And it’s the people who didn’t fill out the surveys that complain. I’d say they had a crack in their foundation before the blasting ever started and they are trying to get us to pay for it.

If these same people who attend every meeting about the coal companies would also attend every meeting about cutting down trees to build strip malls, putting up apartments for the college students everywhere you turn, removing our green earth to put in a parking lot, and gasoline and diesel fuel polluting our air I probably wouldn’t complain. But these people are focused on one thing and one thing only. Coal.

They don’t realize by them complaining about bugs and dust that they are actually causing many families to do without because their husband or wife has just been laid off. Kids may not get to even have much of a Christmas because parents have no idea how long it will be until they find a job again. I know even without children, I will lose a lot. Not to mention the co-workers that I’ve been with for years and have become like family to me.

My message to them? Just leave us alone! WE GIVE YOU ELECTRICITY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

Please don't unfollow me! :)

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Insert Witty Title

Thank you all so much for voting, as always. Here are the results.


This is out of 27 votes. Even if you follow 1 blog, you are awesome in my book. Do you know how much us blogger's love our followers? Seriously. Followers are to bloggers what alcohol is to an alcoholic. No joke.

I personally follow 96 blogs. It takes me hours...I mean hours, to go through my reading list every day and try to comment. Sometimes, I just don't comment because I have no clue what to say, but I read them...every day. It's my morning routine.

I come in, sit at my desk, open up Blogger, post, then start reading. Usually by noon, I've caught up on everything and start on my actual work. It's my favorite part of the day. Honestly.  Then after I finish my real work, I log back on and check to see if there have been anymore updates. (I think I may be obsessed)

You bloggers make me laugh, cry, rant, ooo and awe first thing in the morning. My commenters make me so happy that no matter what kind of work bullshit I'm putting up with, its ok. I can escape here.

So thank you. Everyone. This Thanksgiving at the dinner table when I'm asked what I'm thankful for, I'm going to say my blogging friends. My grandparents are going to look at me like I've grown two heads and probably think that blogging is some kind of illegal activity. Boyfriend will say, "Gee Thanks." My sisters will start going on and on about which posts they liked the best. My mom will laugh and act like she has a clue.

Yep. I'm going to take over Thanksgiving conversation. No one's thankful speech will beat mine.

Anyways, back to being a follower, this week I am recommending *Dandelion Wishes*. I absolutely adore this blog. She is also doing an amazing giveaway. Go check her out and enter for a chance to win a whole blog makeover!


Photobucket


Ok! New poll for the week!

What is your status?

It only takes a second to vote!

Also, Barb won the Giggle Button trivia this week by answering In the TV series MASH, what is Radar's surname? first. The answer was indeed O'Reilly. Go click the button. Do it. 

Isn't Radar adorable? I heart him.

P.S. I'm trying to think of a reoccurring title for my Thursday poll results, Giggle Button winner, and blog recommendation. I'm coming up short. Anyone got any ideas?

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Wee Bit Wednesday



{one} what time do you normally wake up?

I get up at 7:00 am every weekday, unless I allow myself to sleep an extra 15 minutes. On weekends, I'm usually up by 9:00 am.

{two} do you have a go-to song for karaoke?

I have only sang karaoke one time in public and I sang I Love Rock and Roll. I will never sing in public again.

{three} if you could only see black and white except for one color, what color would you choose to see?

Pink, just because it's perty.

{four} what color best matches your personality?

Erm, pink? Red maybe?

{five} if you could choose one meal to cook better than anyone else, what would it be?

Probably turkey. My family raves about my aunt's turkey and no one can beat it. I want to be the turkey cooker, so everyone will tell me how awesome I am.

{six} how many keys do you have on your key ring?

Six. Front Door, Back Door, Garage Door, Basement Door, Car and Boyfriend's Car

{seven} do you give your pets birthday/christmas gifts?

Yes. My dog gets a ton of goodies for his birthday and usually for Christmas he gets a stocking full of toys.

{eight} when your plate has different foods on it, do you mix or not?

Sometimes, depending on what it is. I don't really care if they mix. My step brother has to eat everything on separate plates because he can't stand his food touching.

UPDATE: How in the HELL did I miss the last two?!

{nine} if you could hire someone to do one thing for you all the time, what would it be?

My hair. I wish someone would wake up with me every morning and do my hair in a different way every day.
{ten} when flying, do you prefer the window or aisle seat?

Window. No doubt. I get really motion sick.







Tuesday, November 16, 2010

It's a Love Story

Ok, I warn you now that this post is going to be long, but Free Flying wanted to hear a long lost love story and as promised, I tend to deliver. Although, I don’t think it qualifies as a long lost love story, but this is my love story. Mynx also wanted to hear about how Boyfriend and I met, so I hope you enjoy.

As I previously mentioned, every boyfriend I’ve ever had has cheated on me. My first real boyfriend and I started dating when I was 15 and I practically let him cheat on me because I thought I was so in love. The first time I found out about him cheating, he apologized and I forgave him. Then it happened over and over and over again. Total came out to 6 different girls and only God knows how many times it actually happened.

After him came a wonderful man with whom I just had nothing in common. We got along well and he was so very handsome but we just didn’t click. We toughed it out longer than we should have and eventually he started seeing some girl he worked with and then left me a short time later for said girl.

Then there was the bad boy. He was fun and exciting and kept me on my toes. As soon as I found out he was cheating on me with my best friend, I dumped both of them. I wasn’t having it anymore.

So there was a couple more after that. Same old story. I fell in love. They cheated. My most recent ex and I dated for 3 years and ended up nearly hating each other before we called it quits. We would scream at each other and say really mean things for the sole purpose of hurting one another.

After him, I decided that I was going to take time out for just me. I didn’t want to date anyone. I couldn’t trust anyone and I was extremely tired of getting hurt. So for about two years, I remained single. I was asked out, but would always make up some excuse. I was having fun by myself and didn’t worry about anyone but myself. I did what I wanted when I wanted.

Then, I finally started dating again. I went on a horrible streak of bad first dates. Set ups, blind dates, dates with guys that were friends. None of them ever made it to a second date. This one guy in particular seemed very nice when we first started talking on the phone. It was winter and it took us a while to meet because of the weather, but when we finally did, the date was a train wreck. He was very clingy and kept trying to feel me up. ON OUR FIRST DATE! Through the course of the date, I just kept wondering how I was going to get rid of him. When I dropped him off at his house (no, he didn’t have his license!) he tried to kiss me and I backed up. I told him I just wasn’t ready. Then he tried to invite me inside. I made excuses and finally got the Hell out of there.

He texted me and called me constantly after that. He even went to the pet store and bought a chinchilla and named it after me! After one freaking date! When I finally told him to stop calling he said (and I quote) “Ok, that’s cool. Do you wanna go on a ski trip with me and my family?”

I hung up on him and decided then and there that I wasn’t going on anymore dates. I canceled on a lot of people that were trying to set me up. Sometimes I would wait until the day of the date and then call the guy and make up some excuse as to why I couldn’t go.

Months later, I was being set up again. We exchanged phone numbers through friends and he eventually texted me. His first words were, “Hey, I thought I’d take some time out of my video gaming to associate with the outside world. How are you?”

I smiled at the text, because I could definitely relate to that and replied. For weeks we tried to set up a date but his schedule always conflicted with my schedule. So I kinda thought it was never going to happen but talking on the phone and texting each other was nice, so I continued. He sent me a friend request on Facebook and I browsed through is pictures and was very pleased with what I saw.

Finally, he called and asked me to go to dinner with him. I started panicking. I immediately went into get-the-Hell-out-of-this mode and tried to think of excuses to get away from him. I couldn’t. My friends told me that I should go and deep down, I really wanted to.

But then, he called and said he had to work late and couldn’t go. He cancelled on me! I was furious, but then I knew how the guys felt that I cancelled on. Karma is a bitch, especially to me.

So then one night, I went to Wal Mart for the midnight release of New Moon (don’t judge me) and got a text from him. Conversation had been light after he had cancelled and I’d kinda written him off. He asked me what I was doing and I told him. After he made fun of me, he told me to have a good time. I put my phone in my pocket and continued waiting in line.

An hour later, I get tapped on my shoulder. I spun around to see this beautiful man in front of me. I recognized him from his pictures on Facebook. He smiled and said, “It’s nice to finally meet you.” I immediately hugged him as if I’d known him forever and he hugged back. I made my BFF stand in my place in line and for two hours we walked around Wal Mart and talked. He was amazing. Better than I had imagined.

Upon leaving, he asked me on a real date. Thrilled, I accepted and then we parted our ways.

When date night came, I was terribly nervous and going over and over in my head all the things that could go wrong. BFF was there helping me get ready and offering tons of moral support (thanks again BFF) and I looked at her and said, “This is my last first date. After this one, I’m seriously done.” She laughed at me, but I wasn't. I hadn’t been on a second date in years and I didn’t get my hopes up about this one.

We met at a restaurant. We were both clearly nervous, but looking back, it was adorable. He was a perfect gentleman. Didn’t try to feel me up at all! Imagine that! We ate our meals and then talked for hours. We never had any awkward silences and had so much in common. At one point he said, “You know, I really thought you would cancel on me.” If only he’d known how many times I’d cancelled in the past. (I asked him later on why he had said that and he said because he just had a feeling that I would.)

We stayed at the restaurant until the waiter started looking at us like we were freakin' crazy, probably because we were taking up a table on a busy night. So he paid for dinner and then walked me to my car. A huge ball of nerves swelled in my stomach because I thought he was going to kiss me. But he didn’t. He hugged me and told me to have a good night.

Of course, it wasn’t what I was use to, so I wasn’t sure if he was actually into me or not. A real gentleman was a whole new ball game for me. And he was very hard to read.

I immediately called my BFF and she answered the phone with, “So how are we getting rid of him?” and I said, “No, no! It was the best first date, ever!” She couldn’t believe it and neither could I.

Two hours later, not two days, not two weeks, but two hours later, he texted me and told me he had a great time and would love to go out again.

And so we did. We went on a few more dates until I finally asked him to come to my house for a movie night. He did and again was a perfect gentleman. Didn’t even try to kiss me! Then, we had another movie night a couple days later. We were laughing at something other people probably wouldn’t laugh at, and I was surprised that his sense of humor was so much like mine. I looked over at him and he looked at me. Without even thinking, I leaned in and kissed him. Then we made out for like an hour on the couch. ;) Then he got up and went home. That’s right, he didn’t try anything else. We just kissed.

A week later and after seeing each other nearly every day, he asked if I would officially be his girlfriend and I accepted. For the first time in years, I was in a relationship. And I never even hesitated. I trusted him already and it felt as if I’d known him longer than what I really had. After all, we were so much alike, he was practically me with a penis.

The next week, I went to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. I missed him like crazy. The day I got back, he came over and I ran into his arms just like in the movies. He kissed me feverishly and told me he loved me for the first time. I knew right then, that I had found the one, if such a thing exists.

You all know him as Boyfriend. We live together now and are as happy as ever. He is very sweet to me and I don’t think he would ever betray or hurt me. I have given him my whole heart and he is very careful with it. After all, he has been hurt, too.

Growing to know each other better, we discovered that we don’t have everything in common. Where he is a bit of a workaholic, I hate work. But his motivation gives me motivation. And my refusal to listen to him talk about work all the time has helped him leave work at work. Where he loves snow and cold weather, I hate it. But his excitement makes the cold a little more bearable. We complete each other. We laugh constantly. We teach each other new things all the time. From our pasts, we have both grown to appreciate a good thing and not take a minute for granted. Not to mention when we do have an argument, we sit down and talk it out instead of screaming at each other. We never name call and if one of us is wrong, we admit it instead of defending ourselves, making everything worse. I’m not saying we haven’t had any problems, because what relationship doesn’t, but I am saying that I wouldn’t trade him for the world and the minor issues we have had, were just that. Minor.

And didn't I say it was going to be my last first date? :)

Thanks for sticking it out! I know ya'll have many more things to do than read a long post so I appreciate it. Ready for trivia?

In the TV series MASH (yes another MASH question), what was Radar's surname?

I always thought Radar and I could have been BFF's.