16 posts tagged “fun”
Ah, back to work tomorrow. I'm really not looking forward to it, for several reasons. First, I have my real estate meeting and I have a feeling that there's going to be a bunch of issues after a two-week hiatus. Second, it's always tough returning to work after being gone for awhile. Third, I was overly ambitious in what I thought I would accomplish last week, so I have some catch-up to do. Hopefully no one notices I am behind, but I imagine everyone will be in the same boat.
My Christmas break was wonderful. It was probably the best Christmas break I've had in quite some time. I drove home on the 23rd. I was stressed out due to work and other stupid drama, so for once, I was looking forward to the ride as a way of just not thinking about anything other than driving. When I got home, I relaxed with the family awhile before meeting up with my friends Tap and Shashank. We picked up last minute Christmas gifts, then jammed for several hours. I played the bongos and sang for a little bit (though I'm a terrible singer). I've been wanting to take drum lessons for a little bit now and playing the bongos reinforced that desire. Maybe this year.
Christmas Eve was my brother's birthday, and as I alluded to in a couple of posts back, I partied a little too hard. I usually don't get too crazy, but for some reason, for the past two years on my brother's birthday I just went overboard. I won't go into all the details here (though it makes for a funny story), but let's just say that I made my hangover into a family event. It was embarrassing, and next year I'm going to stick with Sprite on Pat's birthday.
Most of my friends were in town until the 27th, so I hung out with them a lot before they left - movies, going out to eat, just having fun hanging out. There's not much to do in my hometown, but there's the joke that "just as long as we're together," things will be fun (and they were). The day after Christmas, Tap and Conrad came over my house for some barbeque.
The next week, everyone had left. My friend Zach came into town on the 30th and I met up with him at Barnes and Noble for a 3-hour chat. Zach and I were good friends at one point. But then I was stupid and broke off our friendship back in '02 for things he was trying to warn me about (which ended up being true). So I'm glad we were able to rekindle our friendship. It was really good seeing him.
I spent the New Year's Eve with family. Tap called to wish me Happy New Year's and to tell me that I was missed at the party, so that made me smile. Patrick and I talked a long time about our plans for the future. I'm going to start making some serious considerations in my career. That's all I will say publicly and until I have more set up, but inquire within if you are curious.
On New Year's, I met up with an old friend from middle school, Joe. I hadn't seen him in FOREVER so it was good to hang out with him a little. Joe and I were pals in middle school, even if we antagonized each other a little (I remember once he pushed me off a desk so I ran after him and tried to punch him in the face...I was only able to slap him, but that was still enough to get me sent to In-School Suspension. It made me popular for all of 10 minutes, before I returned to being the nerdy pariah that I was.)
The rest of the weekend was spent with family and getting hooked on Farmville/Cafe World. Thanks, Mom.
I usually don't like winter, so I'm trying to keep motivated and have things to look forward to. I'm excited about the Blockbuster Movie Book Club my friends and I have formed. I'm moving to a more affordable apartment in a month. Tap's birthday party is next month on the 12th. I hope it will be a good year. Hope you all had a Happy New Year as well.
The good Pete reminded me that I haven't done my annual Thanksgiving break roundup. So, here it is, in abbreviated form.
Tuesday - I drove home and chilled with my family. That evening, my aunt, uncle, and cousins stopped by to visit since they were in town. It was my first time meeting my baby cousin Eliana, and she was just as adorable as she was in the pictures. I love babies.
Wednesday - Went on a run on the treadmill, which tells you how desperate I was for a run.My friends came into town. That night, Pat dropped me off at the Martini Bar so I could meet up with Tap, Conrad, and Clint. I very rarely get to enjoy a drink out since I'm always driving myself, so it was nice to be able to relax and have a few. We just hung out for awhile listening to the local band playing there (good) and the DJ (bad, very bad). Then we started playing pool, which was my first time ever. Haha.
Thursday - Thanksgiving! I actually made my pumpkin pie before my dad started his turkey. This is probably for the first time ever as I usually procrastinate on the pie, leading to my dad getting on my case for procrastinating and rushing the pie. Everyone declared that this was the best pie ever, so I guess I did something right. I stayed in and watched movies with my dad, as Pat went out with his friends and my mom fell asleep.
Friday - Tap invited us over for a fantastic Thanksgiving feast that his parents made. We then went to the mall, where I was able to get some good deals. Later that night we went to play pool, and capped it off with late night Whataburger.
Saturday - My dad and I went on a good run, which I needed to clear my head and lift my spirits from something that was bothering me. We decorated the tree at night. For some reason, one of my parents had randomly stuffed the ornament box with old papers and photos. I found old pictures of me, including one from 8th grade that should never see the light of day again, as well as the journal for English class I wrote at 16.
It always sucks returning from a break, because I have to get used to how quiet my apartment is. It takes a bit to get my mind back into work mode, too. I'm getting sick too, which also is not fun. I hope it clears up before Friday night, as I'm supposed to go on a backpacking trip this weekend. If I feel better, I will go and buy some warm clothes for the trip.
I'm going to go relax. Hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I was just thinking about how I rarely blog anymore. It seemed like all those years when I had nothing to do, I had a lot to say...but now that I do more and have more fun, I have less of a reason to blog about it. Weird, right?
Let's see, some highlights from the past week (or two).
Pat and I went to the AC/DC concert on the 6th. It was soooo good you guys. One of the best concerts for sure. I was so worried that Brian Johnson's voice would be shot, but when I heard him sing the first song, I knew we were in good shape. Here's how great the concert was - Pat and I were at the VERY TOP ROW and we still had a great time. Angus Young was very funny and did this little striptease thing. Those guys are in their 50s and 60s but they still were thrusting their hips around, LOL. They did all their big hits, like "Back in Black," "Thunderstruck," "Shoot to Thrill," etc. They encored with "Highway to Hell" and "For Those About to Rock." Great, great show.
It was funny, before the show, my brother and I went out to eat pizza and I left my number for the cute waiter, LOL. I left it on the receipt. Classy, right? It was the first time I'd ever done anything like that. Of course he never called (which I expected anyway), but that's not the point...the point is I did it!
My boss, after my good performance review, asked me to assist with recruiting. I have an interviewee coming in next Monday that I'm sponsoring. I'm responsible for setting up everything and making sure his day-long interview goes well. It's weird to think that two years ago, I was the one coming in and my boss was my sponsor. Crazy how so much changes in two years!
Yesterday I went on a free trip to NASA as part of that mentor/mentee program I am helping out with. It was great! It was a long trip - it takes about 4 hours to get there with the slow Charter bus, so we didn't have time to do all the cool stuff. BUT I got to see great things, and for a free ticket, I'm not complaining at all :) We took the tram tour, which took us to the mission control room (SOOO COOL), mock-up vehicle facility, and Rocket Park. It was really neat seeing the Saturn V rocket because that thing is HUMONGOUS. Not even kidding. I had a blast and I hope my little mentee did too.
I've been so lazy today...I need to head out for a run and do some work. Now getting motivated for that all is the question...
P.S. This is my new Facebook profile picture. Isn't it marvelous?
P.P.S. I am pretty obsessed with "Bad Romance," and I don't want to say how many times I listened to the song.
I'm sorry for the lack of interesting updates. Let's see, what has happened since I last blogged? There was the annual Halloween dance that I attended last Thursday. That was fun...but not as fun as last year, because only the people who paid for a $45 4-week Thriller choreography course could perform the Thriller dance this year. I think that is pretty crappy, because besides the expense, the whole fun of the performance last year was learning it, half-forgetting the moves, and then having everything turn into a clusterfuck at the end. Oh well. I still had a good time though. I went as a mainstream punk princess. I wore a Green Day shirt, tights, black boots, gloves with the fingertips cut off, and BLUE HAIR. Looky:
This weekend was probably the best one I've had in a long time. My good friend Tap just bought a house, and invited us all to a housewarming to break in the house. I had the hardest time picking out a gift, but I finally got a spice rack as a serious gift. I wanted to get something really tacky for Tap's yard as a gag gift, like a flamingo or yard gnome. My friend Shashank and I found this at Target and chipped in to get it, because it was so perfect:
Once everyone was awake and we cleaned up, we were wondering what to do. I'd never been to the Alamo or the Riverwalk (I know, I've lived in this state for 15 years. But I haven't done a lot of the touristy things). So even though my friends had already been there multiple times, we went to check it out. (It was funny, on the way there, we passed that exit that I missed several years back when driving through with my dad.) I was not disappointed by the Alamo at all. I thought it was really cool. It is very small though, right smack in the middle of downtown San Antonio.
Hola Voxers. I just haven't felt like writing anything. I dunno why. I don't think it's time for me and this blog to take a break just yet; I've had it for three years, so I've grown quite used to writing in it. It's just my 'hood has become rather quiet as of late. I like reading y'all's posts. Update more.
This weekend was a good one. Last weekend, when I was feeling pretty stressed out and antisocial, I was quite content with spending the whole weekend holed up in my apartment. This weekend I would have gone crazy if I did that, so luckily there was a lot to do. I went out to happy hour with some people from my running group on Friday and watched the UT/Tech game with them on Saturday. Yesterday I saw The Informant! with Jared and Conrad, and went out to Souper!Salad! afterward. Remind me never to go out to that place again. It's glorified dorm food and is nowhere worth the money. Ugh.
Yesterday I went for a long run because I'm trying to get my endurance back up. My endurance is in a sad, sad place right now...I think my problem is more mental because I'm sure I have the physical capacity to run longer and faster than I am. I'm pretty embarrassed at how bad my running is now. I ran for an hour, with a water break in the middle. It was a slow run though...my ankle muscles have been hurting me lately because I think I have the wrong form when I run sprints, and I pulled something. It took a good 20-30 minutes for my muscles to stop hurting and for the endorphins to kick in. I skipped my run today. I dunno if that's good or not.
Sigh. Well, I'm going to take a shower. Sometimes I wonder if I have insomnia because I just cannot get to sleep at a normal time...this weekend I went to bed at 4 for no reason.
I went home this weekend to pick my brother up for the Green Day show. It was a fun weekend - I was able to see my godsister Raquel. She's gotten so big (her fourth birthday is next week). She's at the age where she asks lots of questions, so it was so cute. I was able to see her brothers too. The boys have gotten so big and rambunctious, but they are so much fun. It is impossible not to burst out laughing when I spend time with them.
Today we left for San Antonio to see the Green Day show. We were able to get a hotel fairly close to the stadium. I've never been to a big stadium concert before, so I was a little apprehensive about the logistics of parking and such. But I'm highly impressed - parking was actually EASY. I know. There wasn't even a clusterfuck leaving. I KNOW.
Franz Ferdinand opened for Green Day. I had one of their CDs on my mp3 player so I was familiar with them. They were pretty good, actually. Maybe a little forgettable, but they sounded good and played some of their hits. They only played for thirty minutes, which surprised Pat and me. We waited for another 30 minutes for Green Day to come out. Say what you will about Green Day, but they played a really incredible show! They played for 2.5 hours, and had the most audience participation I've ever seen. They got us standing up because "this isn't a fucking Coldplay show." (LOL). They sounded awesome too, just like they do on the radio. And they played EVERY single one of their hits. I can't think of one they didn't play - "American Idiot," "Holiday," "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Basket Case," "Minority," "Brain Stew," "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," etc etc. We DEFINITELY got our money's worth. Pat called our mom during "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "21 Guns" because those are her favorites.
There's a different energy being up in the stadium seats. We had really good seats, but it's not the same as being down in the pit, where Pat and I are used to. There's just so much ENERGY when you're down in the pit, which is why the Foo Fighters show remains my favorite. There was this one couple with their teenage kid. They were the only ones sitting down, and the kid looked miserable as he sat there with his parents. The parents would look disapprovingly whenever the band members cussed or did something outrageous. One day when I have kids, I won't be a total energy suck like that. I'd encourage my kids to stand up and have fun, because concerts are all about jumping around and acting stupid.
Afterward, we left. I wanted a soda since I was thirsty. All the concession stands were closed, and there weren't any vending machines. So Pat and I stopped by a gas station near our hotel. There was a sign saying there was a 10 minute shift change and the station was closed for a little. We decided to wait, along with a small crowd out there. 10 minutes passed by, and we were still waiting. What was infuriating is the employee inside just walked around very slowly, purposely avoiding us, not caring that we were all waiting. After awhile I started knocking on the window (childish, I know, but I wasn't doing it that loudly.) The clerk chastised me, and I stopped ("Very punk of you there, Jen," my brother teased). We waited another 10 minutes until we found out that they were never opening, and that we could only purchase something from the window. There was about 15 people waiting by then, and we were all pissed! Why couldn't the clerk have told us she wasn't able to open the store when she saw all of us waiting for so long instead of pointedly ignoring us? I can't tell you how frustrating it was. Someone is a bitter angry bitch who hates her life. I went up to the window and said, "THIS ISN'T GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE" (yeah, I'm sure that made her feel real bad. Riiight). When we walked away, Pat banged on the window. When we got in the car, he said, "Honk the horn," so we did. I am never that childish, but at the time it felt good. Pat said he wasn't pissed, just that he wanted to make noise. Whatever, I was mad.
Afterward I drove to another gas station, but that was closed too! Then I went to a vending machine outside the hotel, but it was out of order. And the guy at the front desk couldn't get me a soda either, even when I offered to pay him for one. UGHHHHHHHH. I finally went back to the hotel, angry and thirsty, but Pat had some ginger ale there that I was able to drink. When I come back for the Metallica show next month, I AM BRINGING AMPLE SODA DRINKS WITH ME.
All in all, awesome night...too bad I have to work tomorrow.
So this weekend was the party that Tap, Conrad, and I hosted. It ended up being so much fun. Tap and Conrad did a live performance of 80s songs during the party - huge props to them because they were awesome! During several songs the audience was allowed to participate.
It's kinda hard to see but I'm the chick with the wavy hair and bandanna who starts singing the first couple of lyrics. I also take over the camera towards the end, so that's me saying stuff like, "How do you turn this off?" and trying to pass the cameraman duties on to my brother.
I was watching The Wedding Singer tonight. I must have seen that movie forty times now but it's one of my favorites. I love it. Thanks to that movie, I can't hear the song "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" without breaking up in laughter. (I was also watching for inspiration for our 80's theme party two weeks from now.)
So, I've had to work from home the past two afternoons to get my A/C fixed. (I say "work" but it's incredibly hard to work from home without getting distracted...I'm going to take 3 hours or so of sick time just to set things straight. I'm pretty conscientious about charging my time). Now, friends, I am not mechanically inclined. I did not inherit that gift from my dad. If not for my dad, who was an engineer down in the engine room back in his Navy sailor days, I would be completely clueless. I had two different repairmen, the first who was clearly in a big hurry and said I was low on freon...except my unit kept on dripping. My dad said this meant something was wrong with the condenser or compressor, but the maintenance man didn't entertain my questions. "Don't you feel the difference already?" he asked, trying to shut me up. "No," I replied. But the person today took his time. So far the leak has stopped but we'll see. My dad is convinced my A/C unit will go out soon. Hopefully it will happen when Patrick is here next week (hehe), so he can be at home when the repair guy shows up (I dislike having people in my apartment when I'm not here, and try to avoid it as much as I can).
This weekend was really good. I went to a friend's birthday party on Saturday. The introvert in me is always a little unsure about attending parties where I know only one person...but this ended up being a lot of fun. There were cool people there. We are all swing dance nerds, so there was a lot of conversation about dancing...I even got a dance in, lol. I was exchanging numbers with someone at the end, and this really drunk girl spotted us across the room and said, "WOO! Go ::insert guy's name here::, she's hot!" Haha my face was red. Then on Sunday, I ran for 40 minutes in the heat (like around 3 o'clock...I know, I'm crazy) because I'm trying to get acclimated to it. Then I dashed home, cleaned up, and headed to my aunt's and uncle's, who live about 30 minutes away from me. I had a good time and was happy to see them and my adorable twin cousins (who are going to kindergarten this fall. OMG. I remember waiting in the hospital when they were born. When did time pass by so quickly?) Joshua reminds me a lot of my brother and me when we were little. We were pretty energetic kids...I think Joshua would make a good runner when he gets to be a little older. (Maybe that's why my dad took me running all the time...hmm). My new baby cousin, Eliana, is supposed to be born the day after my birthday. I'm pretty excited to meet her. She'll be my...35th cousin? I think? I lost count.
Yesterday was good. I talked to my project manager and received unsolicited feedback...very good! She said I'm doing a really good job, and that I have natural management skills (me? lol). I was really happy to hear that. Then I went for a good run. It was a partner relay...5 x 1.5 lap sprints. It was tough. My partner is a good runner so I didn't want to be lame and slow. The first two intervals I was doing pretty well, hitting 2.5 minutes. But I got kind of tired by the 3rd lap, so after that I slowed down to 2:45 minute intervals.
My mom told me that she found old family friends on Facebook. My mom was good friends with an Italian woman who had three daughters, Jessica, Laurie, and Jennifer. I have such good memories of hanging out at their house in Virginia when I was little, so I was really happy to find them on Facebook. The girls all speak Italian. Three of my Italian aunts, Zia Lucia, Zia Tonia, and Zia Daniela, are on Facebook. And some of my Italian cousins - Diego, Stefania, Sabrina, Antonio, Rossanna, Antonio, Amanda, Tony, and Noemi-are on Facebook (you know how everyone is named "Nick" in My Big Fat Greek Wedding? In my family, it's like that, except with the name Antonio). So that means I really have to crack down on my Italian, because it's embarrassing when my cousin wants to talk to me, and I can't understand what she's saying because she's using some slang version of "What are you doing?" or whatever. I'm the only one in that whole group who doesn't speak it fluently and I'm ashamed of it. It's not my mom's fault because she certainly tried...it's just my lazy self.
Wow, it's already 11. Time to get ready for sleep.
This week went by really fast! Patrick spent the week with me. It was a lot of fun having my brother around for a week. It reminded me how fun it was having a roommate (one you like, at least.) I was able to leave work a little early for two of the days to spend time at home. Real estate is getting nuts so this week I had to play catchup yesterday from the time I'd been taking off to spend time at home with Pat. I don't want to talk about work, so I won't.
On Tuesday was the concert! We got downtown around 3, because I wanted to make sure I had a good parking spot (the concert started at 7:30). Pat was all, "Why do we need to be downtown four hours before the concert starts?" but I figured it'd be better to be downtown before the traffic got congested. We ended up using our time wisely. Pat wanted to see his old campus, so we walked over there because we're badasses. (FYI, Patrick and I would rather walk and get a good workout instead of looking for parking/being stuck in traffic.) Then we walked downtown a little to find a place to eat, including the famous strip in our downtown area that everyone parties at. But we didn't want to eat in a club, so there weren't very many options there. Finally Patrick chose...Pita Pit. "Of all the places to eat downtown, you choose Pita Pit?!" I exclaimed. But Patrick, tired and hungry after walking around 3 hours, was not to be dissuaded out of an empty restuarant. Pita Pit would not have been my first choice. Nothing against Pita Pit - I loved it in college and had it so often that I pretty much burned myself out on it. But I was a good sister and complied with my brother's wishes.
Then we headed to the concert. The first band was Street Dogs. We only caught a bit of them, but I really liked what I heard (and I had no idea the lead singer was from Dropkick Murphys). Then Alkaline Trio performed. They were good but I wasn't a fan of their music, so I was ready for them to be done. Then The Offspring came out. They were actually really good in concert. They played pretty much all their hits, except "Smash" and "Gotta Get Away," which I was hoping they'd play. But they played "Pretty Fly for a White Guy," so I can't complain. We were pretty close to them too. The crowd was WILD. Pat said that the crowd for this concert was more wild than the Slipknot concert he went to. We got pushed around a little but not too much, since the moshers remained a couple of rows ahead of us. As long as I didn't lose Pat or was trampled, I was not worried, so I just kept jumping up and down. Instead of jumping, Pat chose to headbang (he's still sore today, LOL).
All in all, they put on a really energetic, fun show, and while the Foo Fighters show is my favorite concert, I think (for now), Offspring is second. This summer, Pat and I are seeing Whitesnake/Judas Priest, Green Day, and Metallica, so who knows how the placement will be then.
The rest of the week flew by. The management took down the baby bird nest because they are assholes. I got my first ever ticket yesterday (for parking, SHOCKER). I was downtown and decided I'd cheat the meter because I had a quick errand to run. Well, when I got back, there was a $15 ticket waiting for me. It was totally my fault for being so cheap, so I didn't get upset at the cop or anything.
I took the day off today and took Pat home. Now I'm just here while my entire family are taking naps. I would be taking a nap, too, but I forgot my contact solution and have to go purchase some.
Patrick's best friend Stephen is visiting after 2 years of being in Japan for the Marines, and my cousin is graduating tomorrow from West Point. I'm proud of them both.
Okay, have a good weekend!
