11 posts tagged “party”
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.
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.
Last week was kind of blah, but there were still some funny moments.
On Thursday, I had to go through a FIT test, in which I had to try on a respirator for the field job I'm going on. I ran into a coworker before going to try it on, and he said, "Have fun smelling the bananas." So I was left wondering if my coworker had gone insane. But what he meant is that part of the respirator test is seeing if you can smell banana oil through the cartridge, which filters out organic contaminants. If you can, that means there is a leak through your respirator. The test involves you going into a room with banana oil. You have to see if you can smell it while you're in there, as well as perform tasks like moving around, touching your toes, and reading from a passage to see if there is breakthrough. This is pretty serious; you can't just say, "Yeah, I don't smell it" to hurry the test up, because if you're at a site with carcinogens and your respirator doesn't work, you're in bad shape. My H&S person put me in a full-face respirator because we couldn't get the half-face working. So it looks like this:
While I was looking around to get to my FIT test, I actually walked into the men's restroom. And found out by running into a man in there. I was so embarrassed. I had never actually done that before, haha.
Yesterday was a lot of fun. I hung out with Katherine, since she lives here now. Yay! We went to Panda Express and saw He's Just Not That Into You. Screw the critics, I thought this movie was great! It should be required viewing for all single women. I had to laugh at so many of the situations, because I saw myself in a lot of them: reading too much into little things and trying to make connections that aren't there, or remembering excuses that an ex or a guy I liked gave me that clearly told me "he's just not that into me," but I was so into the guy that I just didn't see it. I definitely wasn't as desperate as Ginnifer Goodwin's character, but I can relate. (I kind of hated her in Walk the Line. I don't know if it was her performance, or maybe I was upset because she told Joaquin that he "can't walk no line." But I thought she did a good job in this movie.)
After the movie, I dashed home to get dressed for the Winter Casino Party that my work was throwing. The dress I had been planning on wearing was a little bit inappropriate, I discovered, as it had an open back, was low-cut, and overall inappropriate for a work function. So I wore another cute dress instead, made my hair pretty, and crossed my fingers. I was surprised at how much fun it was. I played it safe at the Blackjack table. I didn't place high bets but I was getting lucky. I had a really, really good time (I even went dancing with some girls on the dance floor! But I restrained the booty movements, since I didn't want people thinking I was drunk.) Afterward, I went out with some coworkers to TGI Friday's. Other good things happened too. :)
I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night, but I feel pretty awake. I'm going to take care of a bunch of errands here at home, because I have to be at work by 5:45 tomorrow to leave for the field trip. Hope you all have a good weekend!
This weekend was pretty fun. On Friday, I went on a field trip to the Fire Safety School with my class of three people. Remember how I was excited about being in the blackout room that simulates being trapped in a room full of smoke? What I did not realize is that I was going to be in this room in full hazmat gear and an oxygen tank. My initial response was UH UH, but when our host was saying that strong, full-grown men hate being in the blackout room with the oxygen tank, I felt better. I got fitted into the suit and with my tank. Hearing yourself breathe on it is weird. My partner and I were the first team to go in. I could not see ANYTHING, and it was hard to hear my partner because of our stupid oxygen tanks. I led the way, but got disoriented at one point. My partner realized we had to go up some stairs, so I followed him. Our professor encouraged holding on to each other when we went in the room, so I only felt slightly stupid holding on to my partner's hand. At one point we had to crawl really low in a little tunnel. We got out after six minutes (and beat the other team), and I realized that I'd only used a fifth of my oxygen. The experience was both a blast and really scary at the same time. I can't imagine working as a firefighter, where my job might require a situation like that. The blackout room was bearable because I knew that I really had limitless oxygen; it is not an activity for anyone who hates the dark or is claustrophobic.
Friday night I spent playing disc golf with some friends, eating out, Walmart-ing, and playing hours of Guitar Hero and Mario Kart. One of my friends has a Jeep that redefines "death trap"-he took the doors off of it.
Saturday was a lot of fun because two of my high school friends came into town. I hadn't seen them in...years, so it was great catching up. They had polite things to say about this town, so I filled them in on how much it sucks. We went out to eat and went to the mall for a couple of hours, because one of them has a girlfriend who was dunking her ring Saturday night. They remembered my sugar fetish, so they forced me to get a lot of Jelly Bellies. Bad influences. I went to the Ring Dunking, which was a lot of fun. She did 8, fairly large-sized shots in probably about a minute! I'm surprised she was able to walk afterward. I left after she dunked her ring, when it was getting really rowdy.
Today I spent slowly typing my Professional Report (I am up to a page!) and grading. I wish I had the day off tomorrow. Sigh.
I think Kanye West is so incredibly ignorant, but his tunes are so damn catchy that I can temporarily ignore his stupidity when I hear them. Also, I have a love/hate relationship with this song. It suffers from "Black Eyed Peas Disease," in which it has a really good beat but atrocious lyrics (see: "My Humps," "London Bridge," "Fergalicious," "I Got It From My Mama (Genetics)." Not even solo Fergie or will.i.am could escape the "Black Eyed Peas Disease" phenomenon).
I bought a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Beans, and they are pretty disgusting. I had a couple of soap-flavored ones that are not sitting well with me.
Ugh, I should get back to work.
Right now I am an old woman again. I went running about three miles this morning, and the weather was absolutely amazing...I ran a little faster than I have in awhile, feeling a faint pain in my back. I ignored it then, but boy, did I feel it the rest of the day. I don't think it's healed properly since I hurt it a month ago. I really need to do my back exercises from physical therapy ages ago so I can strengthen it again. I'm supposed to work out with a friend this weekend...I guess no running for me :( I want it to heal properly, because I'm too young to be hobbling around like an old lady, y'all.
I think I gained ten pounds today alone, and it's all Meg's fault (hee). I had a Twizzlers while shopping, and then I got stuffed at our Thursday night dinner (we eat dinner before our writing class on Thursdays, and we have to order something different from the menu each time). Well, after dinner, she wanted to get these amazing Sweet and Sour candies. I knew it would be gone by the time English class was over, because I have no self-control for anything sugary, and it was. I was hating my life by then.
English class, by the way, was amusing. I completely forgot to rhyme the sonnet that Meg and I had to write in a pair because I was too preoccupied with iambic pentameters. I wonder what our muse would have thought about our masterpiece ;) I also read a little bit of Italian from Dante. I had the poem as an example of a terza rima, and my professor joked, "Well, I guess you don't want to attempt the Italian." I mentioned that, unlike my mother, I would butcher it, but everyone's interest was piqued once they found out I was Italian. I can't remember the last time I was so nervous to read something out loud in class! I felt like I was stumbling over the words, but I tried to make them sound as authentic as I could. When I was done, everyone clapped, and apparently, I sound sexy when I speak Italian. Hehe, watch out, boys.
So after English, we had a "party" to attend at a professor's house. I felt really bad because no one showed up to said party. It was just Meg, Matt, me, and this other professor. I ate pizza and cake and watched the last minutes of the game that we lost miserably. Our professor was really nice to host a party, and I knew that he was disappointed that no one else showed up when they said they would. I'm glad we made an appearance, at least.
I'm wide awake, but I should be going to sleep soon. Tomorrow our class is going to attend safety training at the Fire Safety School. I'm looking forward to the smoke simulation part. Apparently we get to try on some uniforms, too. Should be a blast (no pun intended! Haha, haha....ha...eh.)
when you have a ton of work to do, but you don't want to do it? Ugh. That's me right now. I can't wait until a break home. Unfortunately that's still about three weeks away. Apparently I'm not the only one experiencing the mid-semester slump. Last Friday in Chemical Processes, my professor showed us a picture of the planet Alderaan blowing up. He said that you only show things blowing up when you have something important to say, so he said that everyone needs to try and show the same enthusiasm as we did at the beginning of the year. It's hard to. My brother and I are both starting the feel the same way-we'd rather just veg, do nothing, and then get worked up over what needs to be done at the last minute rather than take care of it a little at a time, leisurely.
Yesterday I finally, (FINALLY) finished all my orders. I was waiting on Dr. T to call me back with the part # for the LC/MS vials I needed. I was really glad I waited on him to call me back and didn't send off a bitchy email, because he was very apologetic for making me wait. I completed a lot of errands yesterday, including bringing in a copy of my citizenship certificate to my buddy in the Business Office. She was strangely nice to me yesterday, so that was good.
Yesterday someone tried to propose to me in the hallway of the Civil Engineering building, as a really bad joke, I suppose. I was walking when this guy just dropped on one knee and held out a pretend ring to propose. I hurriedly walked by, wondering why only just the freaks are ever attracted to me, and he said, "Darn, I was going to ask you to marry me." Dude, if you are that attracted to someone, exchange phone numbers. Ask for coffee. Fake proposal? No. Just, no. My dad said that I should have said, "I hope you have a lot of money because I am VERY high-maintenance." Too bad I suck with quippy comebacks.
Yesterday was Meghan's birthday. It was a lot of fun, we went to Johnny Carino's. I'd gotten her a Starbucks mug and shot glasses since she loves Starbucks. I ended up with just getting a glass of Chardonnay, because it was a Monday, and wasn't sure how I'd handle the mixed drink. Even just that glass made me incredibly sleepy. This is why I don't drink, people! I tried a little of Meghan's drink, and it was pretty good. It was making her a little happy though.
Meghan: (gesturing to her drink) This has peach in it. (a couple of beats later) This is peach...wait, did I just say that?
And now it is morning and I am sitting on my lazy ass. I really need to get back into running. I have a lot to do today and I really need to stay focused to do it. So I bid you adieu.
Ah, another weekend come and gone. I didn't do (too much) as usual, but at least I don't have anything major due. So I had the chance to enjoy the weekend of nothingness.
The past couple of days have been really good. On Thursday night, I attended the wine tasting. It was a lot of fun! I ended up attending with three classmates, which made it a lot funner. Of course, when we arrived, there were powerpoint slides there waiting for us. Oh great, even at a "social event," a graduate student can never stop learning. The hostess started reading off the slides, and everyone was bored/waiting for the wine. The wine was really good. They served with cheeses to complement it. I dropped the cheese knife (of course), so I raised my hand to get another (which everyone made fun of me for). Finally, the cheese knife arrived about 15 minutes later. Our table was crazy but it was enjoyable. I had the equivalent of only a glass of wine, so I had only a little buzz for about an hour. It was gone by the time my mother called, which was good.
Yesterday was a lot of fun. I went with Meghan around campus to take pictures. The weather was just gorgeous outside. After eating dinner, we met up with another girl so we could head to Emily's house for the pumpkin carving party. We spent about an hour traveling around town trying to find pumpkins for Meghan and Kristin, but we found some and were able to head on over. I picked a very ambitious template for my first time carving. It was really cute-it was a raccoon holding onto a jack o'latern. But I messed up on the raccoon, and LB accidentally threw the little picture I had of it away. So I ended up doing a generic design. I think it came out really well...for a first-timer, at least!
This morning I thought I woke up at 9:30, but my phone was off an hour until I called my mother. And then I got teased by everyone for that. I spent a relaxing Sunday just doing some random reading, practicing a little Italian, and listening to the Italian station (I highly recommend Radio Ti Ricordi, or "Radio You Remember." They play excellent songs, and very few English songs...which I like! If I'm listening to an Italian station, I don't want to hear American songs.) I was going to watch Desperate Housewives but it's getting so lame lately. I think I'll watch The Sixth Sense as I grade papers.
Tomorrow is my dad's and Meghan's birthday. Happy early birthday to them! Then tomorrow is Meghan's birthday celebration at Johnny Carino's. My mother expects I am going to get drunk. I'm going to show her otherwise!
It's been a little while since I updated, almost a week. I had a pretty good week in all, so I guess I'll start from Friday.
Friday:
Friday I didn't have any plans, so instead of sitting and being bored in my dorm, I decided to go on a walking adventure. Walking adventures were admittedly funner when I lived on Southside, and didn't have to walk 30 minutes to get to my destination. But my brother was visiting the Capitol, so I felt I should do something halfway interesting.
I went shopping, refrained from buying anything, and ate at Panda Express. Oh Panda Express, how I missed thee.
Saturday:
Around 2 or 3 in the morning, someone in the parking lot bellowed, "Wake up residents of (ghetto dorm that I unfortunately neighbor). It's tailgatin' time." Words cannot express how much I wanted a sniper rifle at that moment.
That night, Emily had a chocolate chip pancake party at her house. Before the guests arrived, we all goofed around with taking pictures on LB's new Mac laptop. The pancakes were delicious. I mixed them and Meghan flipped them (which was a good thing...I kind of burn pancakes.)
I studied. I made some kick ass tortellini.
Monday:
I wrestled for my check with the business office. I have a feeling that the secretary there doesn't like me. I'm always polite with her, but at the same time, I fight for what I want (I'm my mother's daughter, what do you expect?) And what I wanted was my money. I don't see why my citizenship status still causes a problem. Basically she wanted me to give her a copy of my permanent resident card, which is really illegal now that the US Government confiscated it (at my Naturalization ceremony). She was not happy when I reminded her that she never answered my email (asking if I would, in fact, be paid on time). I managed to work things out with the main office for me to pick up my check here on campus, which the secretary had previously said I couldn't do. Score one for me.
Tuesday:
That was fun because the lights went out. For the second time in three weeks. Usually, when the electricity goes out, Northgate (who's supplied by a different electric company, I'm assuming), stays up. Not today. The traffic lights weren't even working. Crossing University is hella fun in heels, let me tell you.
Walking back in pitch darkness? Interesting. Fun, scary, and interesting. I managed to run into Meghan out of pure serendipity (I recognized her by seeing her purse reflected in the moonlight). After chatting for a couple of minutes, I went back to my dorm and studied in the dim generator light in the hallway. That was fun for awhile-I was listening to good music, and man, you're so productive when there's not a computer on. But then after awhile, I thought....ok, it'd be nice to have electricity. After two hours, either the light dimmed or I was going blind, so I put up my things. I spent the next hour folding clothes in the dark and listening to my MP3 player. It was fun, just dancing around and being silly in the dark. When I saw the lights on across on West Campus, I knew electricity would be up shortly. I did a really silly spastic dance to celebrate, and at 11, the lights returned. I tell you what, five hours in the dark sure makes you appreciate electricity.
Today:
Class was cancelled in hydrogeology because my class is basically full of pussies. "Oh my gosh it's so hot in here, can we cancel class?" Losers. It wasn't even that hot. I'm glad I wasn't raised an AC baby. And there's this one girl in there that I don't particularly like. She has an annoying voice and asks the dumbest questions ("There's a water crisis in India? What? Huh?") She had the audacity to wear a Pink Floyd shirt this week. Oh no you di'n't! Probably one of those fans who only listens to Dark Side of the Moon, and is all of a sudden omgz Pink Floyd fan!111!1!!! /rant
I went out to lunch, which was fun. Then I talked to Dr. A about my research, and my future. She's suggesting that I get an internship this summer. I'm definitely going to try. The thought of another summer up here makes me want to scream. We also discussed my getting a PhD, and I'm definitely thinking about it. I got my paycheck, which was awesome. The secretary (who we previously established doesn't like me) was on the phone, so I waited outside her office until she was through. She tried getting my attention by snapping her fingers at me. Uh, I am not your dog. I am not going to respond to snapping fingers if you know my name. So I sat comfortably on the couch, and one of her coworkers responded to her snaps and gave me my paycheck. Getting my money and not having to deal with the unfriendly secretary was a perfect end to a good day.
I spent the rest of the evening grading, looking up internships, and being exhausted. My shins hurt, so I think I will use this occasion to say buona notte.
So this week is over. I am learning very quickly that one cannot blow off graduate classes as easily. Not that I'm "omg failing!1111!!!!" Just I don't want be up at 1:30 in the morning finishing a Water Chemistry assignment due to my procrastination. I've been exhausted this week, so I am determined to make a better use of my time. I've been working on that for the past several days, and I already see an improvement. At least grading the interminable assignments is completed...for this week. Dr. A has been making this as easy as possible for me, which I am very grateful for! It could be so much worse! I'm pretty lucky :)
Tonight I went to a party for LB's Aggie Ring dunking. It was a lot of fun! I worked hard yesterday and today so that I wouldn't be stuck grading papers tonight. I was tired today, and considered staying home, but a. I didn't want to do that to LB, especially since I already said I was coming, and b. I made a vow that this semester, I'm going to have more fun. So it was a blast, I'm glad I didn't stay home. Meghan took a lot of "candids" that weren't really candids, so I'm sure I'll see a lot of silly pictures of myself on Facebook here soon.
I'm pretty excited about this semester. It's been going great so far. I have been attending fun aerobics classes, and there are prospects of other fun activities here in the not-so-distant future. I've been working on some personal improvements, so we'll see how that goes :) Of course, I'm going to be starting research here soon, which I know (from experience) will be both very frustrating and rewarding. It looks like sometime in October, I'll be able to take a trip to Dallas with my research group to attend an engineering conference.
And of course, I'll be going home next week! And not for any leisurely trip-I'm getting my American citizenship, while being able to retain my Italian one. I'm really excited about that, and of course, I'm excited about seeing my parents so soon. This will be the first time I've been home during the month of September since 2001! Then that Saturday, we'll be visiting Patrick up at UT. Yay! I haven't seen UT, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to seeing good old Patricko as well, since I actually miss him sometimes (gasp!)
Tomorrow I need to mail out letters to Steven, and some thank you cards to friends. I've been so bad about that, but I guess better late than never. I'm hoping my "Office Severance Package" is in the mail. Yes, I broke down and bought Seasons 1 and 2 of the Office. I figure I can make my dad and my brother copies of the episodes. And plus, I get uh, Dunder-Mifflin notepads, so it wasn't a complete waste of money.
Wow, here I am complaining about being exhausted, and it's past midnight. Good night, everyone.
