25 Random Blah Blah Blahs.

So I totally got sucked into filling out this silly spam mail thing on Facebook, and never thought to post it here. But since I spent time on writing it, and it's got some amusing points, I figured copying it over here for those not attuned to Facebook would only be proper.

Enjoy! :)
_____________________________________________________________________
Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because you're cool. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Note:...if you don't understand, please don't try. you'll only wind up in a world of hurt surrounded by the shattered remains of your unanswered questions.

1. I hate all email forwards and silly bulletins like this one.
2. I'm addicted to living outside the states. I cannot wait for my next adventure, whatever that may be.
3. I find close-minded people sad and uninteresting. I really hate being around people who cannot find beauty in the world.
4. When I change the volume on the TV and the volume control gives me a number I have to put it at an even number or a multiple of 5.
5. I love to drive fast, although I have a healthy enough fear of what could happen to keep me from doing it most of the time. I would love to get on a racetrack someday.
6. I overthink most everything in my life. My imagination is such that I can pretty much visualize in great detail any potential outcome for a decision or event. This leads to an incredible amount of anxiety over pretty much every aspect of my life.
7. I love NYC. Whenver I go there, something inside me just screams with excitement and happiness. I don't know if I could ever live in the city, but my heart gets very sad if I can't visit at least once a year.
8. I am thirty years old, single, childless, jobless, schoolless, moneyless, etc.etc. And yet my life is very full because I have a wonderful family and friends in the world who love me.
9. When I was 8 I got to meet Shamu. Back then you could go down to the stage and actually meet him. When I was picked, I was standing beside him and the lady asked me to kiss his tongue. I politely said into the mike (in front of the entire stadium) "No thank you. Mouths are full of germs." I think I might have kissed his nose.
*Note: WTF were those people thinking asking an 8-year-old to stick her head in a Killer Whale's mouth for anyhow?!
10. I like writing. There are so many things that run through my head, especially when I'm alone in the quiet, it's nice to get it out for other people to deal with. I would love to write a book someday.
11. Sometimes I think my brain doesn't quite work right.
12. I have a huge passion for knitting. It is a craft that allows me to sit for hours and not be able to think (see #6). It is also a craft that allows me to take a simple ball of yarn and quickly turn it into something amazing.
13. I am addicted to blogs. Not just writing my own (see #10), but also reading other people's. I think blogs allow us to share with people that everyone has a little Basket Full O Crazy inside - makes me feel not quite so alone. Plus you get to see a little deeper into a person.
14. Stemming off #13, I read people very well. Usually it only takes me one meeting to know whether I will remain friends with someone, and whether they are someone I can trust. I have, on occasion, been fooled...but that is the risk in getting to know people!
15. I am foolishly and irrevocably romantic. Despite my misgivings and occasional comments to the contrary, I eventually want to settle down, kids, white fence, and all that crap. I just think I'm a little too selfish for that right now. And there's no rush.
16. When I sit down to dinner, I automatically put my napkin in my lap and line up my silverware according to height in straight lines. Occasionally throughout the meal I will straighten my place setting so that everything sits at right angles and looks balanced.
17. I used to be an interior designer. I loved the creativity of the field, hated the restrictions of the clients.
18. I love people: watching them, working with them, meeting them, finding out about them. Everyone is just so unique, and yet very much the same.
19. I love learning. I simply cannot get enough knowledge. Just seems sometimes my learning goes awry (see #11).
20. I have a million books. No, really, I just moved them all into storage. I swear it's like a million, maybe two. Saying I love to read is a general understatement. It's more of an addiction.
21. When I read paperbacks, I break the binding in equal sections. I like symmetry.
22. My entire freshman year in high school I wore nothing but 70's style clothing. I would call it a fad, but it wasn't. I just liked bell bottoms.
23. I love to sing in the car. I turn the music up as loud as I can take it and scream out the lyrics.
24. I am a classic only child. Enough said about that.
25. I used to eat paste. And I liked it.

OMG it's already February.

Laurie, who writes a blog I adore and read regularly (read: check about as frequently as I do Facebook, as in lots), had a great thought in a recent post that sort of explained my current situation pretty well. Since I'm all about other people doing my work for me (read: some people are just plain funnier than I am), I thought I would share:

The biggest dilemma I seem to have right now is finding a way to be completely at ease (if that's even possible) with uncertainty. So many things are uncertain and aside from knowing where the shoes and pans and silverware go (and aside from my neurotic love of vacuuming), not much else feels very stable or permanent or real. So it's as if I have arrived at this big crossroads -- no, not a crossroads, that's too poetic. This is one of those huge freeway intersections with multiple on-ramps and off-ramps and detours and some road construction thrown in, and it's poorly marked and oh, it's also rush hour -- and my choices are:
1) Become completely panicked and freak out. Then make some random decision that has no basis at all in reason or meaning but is a DECISION. The Decider!
2) Find some way to be at peace with the knowledge that I am not sure which route to take and have no idea how I managed to find myself at this intersection. And just keep moving toward whatever seems better and hope it all works out OK.
3) Pull over on the side of the road and pray for wine.

Crazy Aunt Purl Archives

I'm currently working on option 3 (one bottle down, lots in the wine cooler to go!), though I suppose for sanity's sake (mine as well as those poor souls I "drunk-IM") option 2 is what I should be striving towards. I'm not as much of a fan of option 1, since I'm quite done with the panic and freaking out stuff, and random is fun when you're out with friends but not-so-much when it relates to Life Decisions.

On a related note, I made my parents watch a movie with me tonight: Failure to Launch. I was amused to find them scamper off into parts unknown (AKA their bedroom) when they realized that the plot involves a 35-year-old still living at home with no intentions of moving out. Perhaps it was their bedtime, perhaps there was something more interesting on TV (as mom claimed, though I thought the movie far surpassed the British comedy they were watching on PBS)....but I caught a slight whiff of fear as they scampered off.

Well no fear, my family and friends. Despite my constant avoidance of reality, inclination to knit the majority of the day away, insomnia-causing late-rising mornings(er, afternoons), and lack of pretty much anything productive......I have NO intention to be 35 and still living at home.

Now, to just get that thing called motivation moving inside me....I mean really, which of you can honestly say that they are super excited to write a stupid personal statement for what seems like the gazillionth time?

Florida Winter.

Yay for Florida Winter! The temp dropped to a whopping 55 degrees today! And you know what that means....hurry up and wear all hand knit items at one time, despite the possibility of non-matchy matchy. My scarf is my only complete project at the moment (well, that and one glove...but I didn't want to seem toooo nutso/Micheal Jackson-like), thus viola:

I heart scarves.

Happy Super Bowl everyone! I'm starting my hibernation for the weekend now, not going past a ten block radius from home. That, of course, includes my Happy Place, where you can find me most of my waking hours.

Breakfast table by day. Cat bed by night. My parents are lunatics. Glad I don't eat breakfast.

Some Pearls of Fun from my Little Charges this evening...

Tonight I babysat for a close friend. I won't get into the details of the evening, I will just leave you with the highlights (which I surreptitiously wrote down on any available scrap of paper so I could recant them later...):

Kasey, regarding a boy at school: "...and then Chris flirted with Shannon....he's 12!....I mean, he's sooooo desperate."

Shannon, when asked why she won't be watching the Super Bowl: "I mean, all the boys are doing is taking the ball and throwing it and then catching it and calling that a touchdown. LAME (pronounced LAH-AIM)."

Kasey, to me, not sure where this came from: "How OLD are you? You act like a teenager." Me: "No I don't." Kasey: "Yeah. You do. I should know. I hang out with them."

I tell you, I don't want babies. I want these girls. The things that come out of their mouths, simply fascinating. And they were 150% better behaved at dinner than any other child, including the 2 year-old still occupying a high chair and vocalizing wildly at the highest decibel imaginable his indignation at being held prisoner. Can't I just skip to the fun part?

Failure. Rejection. Loss. Sadness. Terrible Emptiness.

Okay, enough about that stuff.

It’s been just about a month since my last entry. I’ve caught nothing but crap from people for not writing. I’m sorry for the delay, but for the first time in almost a year I really couldn’t think of anything to say.

Most of you know the details of the last month, so I won’t dwell on that. For those of you in the dark suffice it to say I am now back at home for a brief hiatus until my next adventure. I’m not going back to St. Kitts (at least not as a student) and I am not sure what the future holds for me.

I love encountering forks in the road. They can be very daunting, scary even. But it’s all in how you choose to see them. At first, I admit, I was terrified. Still am, quite frankly. It’s not every day when your world seems to crumble around you. I could sit and cry and scream and stomp my feet, but that wouldn’t be very effective long term. Plus it just makes me look like a sissy.

Instead, I choose Vodka Faith. Hope. Determination. And wine. Lots and lots of wine.

To my friends across the ocean, I miss you all terribly. You meant more to me than I can ever say in words. Thank you for all of the love and support you showed me, not only recently but since I first stepped foot on that rock. I cannot imagine a world without each and every one of you in it. Take advantage of every opportunity you have there to get to know yourselves and each other better. You aren’t just in vet school; you are in a major transitionary period in your lives. You will only get out of it what you put in.

Ron: feel free to leave as many mocking comments as you like. I’m rubber, and you’re glue…etc. etc. You know how I feel: Hate. Hurry home...my folks do not appreciate my 'singing' in the car nearly as much as you did. PS – how’s my pillow? Snuggling with my blankey I hope.

Jen: you have a focus and determination I can only hope for. I am so glad I got to know your “gang”; makes it easier to know I’ve left you with some fantastic friends. I’m so sorry I’m not there with you, but I promise I will survive. WE will survive.

Firsties (now secondies, not nearly the same ring though): take care of my Jen. She may not go out as often as you kids, but she’s a fierce friend who would put a spoon in someone’s eye if they hurt you. And take care of yourselves, because each and every one of you have some fantastic qualities and will make such unique and awesome vets.

Karen: keep drinking those beers. They’re cheaper and will put hair on your chest. Or something like that. And work on your classic movies. Everyone needs a well-rounded, if not completely unrealistic, romantic view of life. On that note, stay away from boys. They only bring heartache and distraction. Even the cute ones.

Amber: keep smiling and mass texting. You are and always will be my hero. And yes, I believe you tie Kristilee for Best Hugs. Has to be a tie, because I’m pretty sure Klee could kick my ass. I fully expect to receive a hug and brownies every break.

Anna: I will make it to Vermont one day, I swear. And I promise I will even try snowboarding, despite my fear of broken bones and looking ridiculous in oversized goggles. Give Skyla some love for me (just not on her Ringworm spots). And take care of my beautiful Kate and Meg. They have no idea how much I envied them from afar as well.

Vanessa: I have never known anyone like you. Please don’t ever change. I will always think of you when drinking Shiraz (which isn’t half bad, actually) or hanging out in Ikea. OR drinking Shiraz while hanging out in Ikea.

Rachel: wear that dress with pride, it looks good on you. I cannot wait until we meet again unleashed on the streets of NYC. I've got some bar hookups with eye candy bartenders if you're interested. What am I saying...of course you are. Take care of the Marriott for me, I don't want her to get lonely.

Arvind: what can I say about my dearest? Life just gets in the way sometimes. I cannot imagine dancing with anyone else ever again. Please finish the pages, there is something in you that should absolutely be shared with the world. Do not hesitate to live (like you need to be told that) and please stay in touch. I want to know where life takes you.

Kristin: do not let a little speed bump get you down. You are known as the laugher, the giggler, and you bring happiness into people's lives. Don't forget that, despite what some people (and by people, I mean jackasses of the sort you and I are familiar with) may say. Smile in the face of adversity, it tends to confuse him.

Cristin: you have a determination that I admire greatly. Seeing you and Jim together makes me smile even now. Take care of Princess White Heat/Suzy/Piece-of-Crap, she means well even when she doesn't show it.

Kristilee: Ah, the Best for last. I’m so very sorry for letting you down. I can’t believe I won’t get to see you every day for the next two years. Don’t for a second think you have lost me…I’m like a cestode who just hangs on forever. We will be together again; I will listen to your advice unequivocally from now on; and I will follow my heart in this next adventure…promise.

To all who were not mentioned here personally…don’t be hatin. Trust me, this was hard enough to write as it is. And there’s love enough to go around.

On! On! To another damn Personal Statement. Yuck. Think I can just submit my Blog?

Sigh. I do miss those stars.

The stoics considered passionate emotions to be the result of errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not have such emotions.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha.