Hey all, happy Sunday!  The dreadful humidity has finally broken, and you can bet I am stoked to finally look forward to a night where I won't be sweating my you-know-what off while trying to sleep in a house with no AC.

Aside from the sweltering heat, the weekend has been great, chock full of sun, fun, and friends.  How have your weekends been? 

We head home tomorrow, and I'm back to work Tuesday for, get this, one day, and then my boss gave me Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off for my birthday.  Not that I have anything planned, but still, it will give me time to catch up on some stuff, which will be nice.

I started typing this when Anthony's parents left to go buy a Scrabble game, and they're just getting back, so, it's go time, ha.  Wish me luck!

what I'm loving, & a freebie from Shutterfly

Shutterfly is offering a two-day opportunity for a free set of address labels!  Mailing Christmas cards this year?  Cut costs a little bit by ordering your address labels (or at least a set of them!) now, for free!  Just pay shipping!

Promo Code: SUMMERLABEL

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In other news, I'm trying to post daily from now on, at least until I get back into the groove of blogging.  I hope this is just a phase.  I really do.  But I'm starting to worry this "phase" has been going on for too long.  I'm hoping it's just because I'm busy or enjoying summer.  Yeah, let's go with that one.  It makes me feel less guilty, haha.  So anyway, I thought I would do a nice little filler, "what I'm loving" post.  First because I want to, and second, because it's an easy exercise that will flex my blogging muscles a little bit, right?  Right.  It sucks to be out of shape.  (In more areas than just blogging.  But that's another post for another day.)  Anyway...

I'm loving... taking pictures.  I've always been obsessed with photography.  In fact, I have been determined to make it at the very least a side career for a while now.  But lately, since going to the beach and having more opportunities to get some good shots of real people, and not just random objects, or my dog, or nature (pretty, but let's be honest... boring compared to shots of life being lived), it has really fed into my addiction like a healthy hit of crack.  Or something.  Am I even phrasing that correctly?  Better be careful, my in-depth knowledge of the drug world is showing.

I'm loving... Pretty Little Liars.  Well, ok, this technically doesn't count, since I have "loved" it since the day it aired.  However, I was bored and meandering around Target the other night, and stumbled upon the second season temporarily marked down from $45 to $15.  Um, steal anyone??  Sure, they still tricked me out of $15 when I could have otherwise spent $0 for the first time ever in Target history, but hey, it was worth it.  So now I'm re-loving PLL.  Maybe someday I'll catch up on my DVR and bring myself up to speed with the current season. Whoooops.  Apparently it's the "fall behind" stage of my life (blogging isn't the sole victim!).  On the bright side, at least I'm getting it out of the way early, and not when I have kids and am wondering why they look so hungry or their clothes don't fit anymore... or something.

I'm loving... Bic Soleil razors.  I was randomly sent a free one, and when I ran out of my cheap disposable ones, I decided to give it a whirl in lieu of dragging to the store for new ones.  Boy oh boy am I thankful for that -- this razor is the bomb dot com.  A nice close shave, and I haven't cut myself once.  People don't know this, but I suck at shaving my legs.  I'm always in a rush, it's a huge chore, and so "OMG hurry up I want to be done showering" is the name of the game.  So, my legs take a bit of a beating.  Oops.  But, not anymore, not since giving this razor a try!  I don't know how much they are in stores, but they come with a couple blades, so they last a good while.  Worth a try, for sure.  And I mean, who wouldn't want to try the razor made by the pen company we trust so much?  (Me, that's who.  A big "wtf" ensued when I saw them for the first time... not anymore!)

day four

Or in my case, day two, because I am dreadfully terrible at blog challenges.  Especially when I am called into work the minute I wake up.  Literally.  Yesterday I woke up to texts and phone calls asking me to work because someone was sick.  Flashback to my last job.  Yeeps.

Anyway, I will catch up in the end, because I liked those topics, and will eventually find some time in May to sit down and respond to them.  But for today, I'm going to go along with the day four topic, because I am a quote whore and Harry Potter nerd at heart.  And what better way to bring the two together?

This blog post with, of course!  With a quote from the very woman who helped shape so many of our adolescent (or any) years.  J.K. Rowling.

I truly don't think there could be a finer way to salute the story and the audience.

This isn't a quote about life, or inspiration, or the cliché "be the change you wish to see..." (though I do love that one), but it is a quote that, no matter how many times I read it, or how long it has been since the pages and words of my favorite book series unfolded before my eyes, rockets me right back to the beginning, when I "met" Harry Potter for the first time when I was eight.  It is a sweet nod to the story, the readers, and strikes you, and individual reader, on a personal note from the woman who brought this phenomenon to life.

What a sap. ;)

just another day in my head.

Hey everyone, happy Friday!

Coming to you today from the corner of a new Starbucks location (for me). I thought I would like a change of scenery from the usual Starbucks I hit up when I need to get some homework done. I figured, new setting, new crowd, new lighting... I'll be as focused as a laser!

Ha. As it turns out, my self-diagnosed A.D.D. is in overdrive in this new environment. 

For starters, I was not expecting all but one of the tables to be taken in the early afternoon of this random Friday in April. The only available table when I arrived was floating in the middle of the room like a buoy. Now, this isn't a huge deal, however I do generally like to either position myself in a corner or up against some sort of wall. I like the feeling of being anchored to a wall -- wherever that wall may be. But, like I said, if I'm not, it's not the end of the world.

#fearless
source

Oh, unless my battery is at a plummeting 20%.

Learning this new information, as I was in line, I was skimming for a free table, preferably one up against a wall. As I grabbed my coffee off the bar, one opened up behind me. Against a wall. Ahh! My lucky day! I grabbed my computer bag, purse, coffee, bagel, and art history book, while calling back Anthony, whom I had ignored while I was ordering my drink. 

You know those balloon vendors? Where the balloons are all secured, but are going every which way and make the person take up 40 times more space than he or she normally would? Well, I'm pretty sure that's what I looked like now, and every other time I insist on transporting every one of my belongings in a single trip.

Phew! Relocation successful. Phone call completed. I ran down my mental checklist as I slathered cream cheese on my multigrain bagel. I was ready to work.

Until I looked down along my new friend Mr. Wall, and saw that he had no outlet. WTF. 

Whatever, I thought. I will do as much as I can, and eventually an outlet table will open up somewhere.

But of course, instead of getting straight to work, I see it fit to start messaging my cousin and carrying on a conversation about the location of my chimney (what???) with my now 16% of battery.

The anxiety creeps in. Of course I can't focus now. Because all I am doing while strolling around Blackboard looking for my assignment, is glancing up at my dropping battery. 

I quickly read my assignment, and decide to rough it with an archaic pen and paper (so last century) instead, and then type it up afterward.

As I close the computer, I take one last desperate glance behind me at the rest of the store. A table in the corner that I had been eyeing like my dog eyes my dinner had freed up! Alas! 

I could have only been happier if the clouds parted and God Himself came down and ushered me to this table that, at this point, seemed to be basking in a heavenly glow.

A corner table.

With an outlet.

Did I desire anything else in that very moment? I did not.

And now here I sit, with my battery at a healthy 52% and climbing. Ah. Bliss.

... Well, that was dramatic. I know I haven't been around for a while, and anyone reading this is probably like, "she has changed in her time away." Don't worry. This mumbo jumbo isn't the norm. I don't think. I'm sure I will return soon enough. Just not this weekend where I have three papers due Sunday and Monday, between work shifts..... said the girl as she sits and wastes precious minutes overdramatizing the search for a wall outlet in a blog post.

Ha.

Happy Friday!

back!

Hey everyone! I'm back! And back for good!

Yup, you guessed it-- I am sitting here typing this post from my new laptop.  I finally got around to replacing my old POS, and have now officially joined the Apple computer bandwagon with a brand spankin' new 13" Macbook Pro with that glorious, glorious retina display. Sheesh, what a difference a few pixels can make on a screen. Yowzer.

My browsing is officially in super HD. Haha.

Anyway, as for updates? Not many.

Working at Starbucks and pretty much loving it.  I had my "moment" yesterday. That moment where it was busy, there was a line of people ordering, a line of drinks, and a line of people waiting for their drinks, and I was like, "I got this" ... instead of "gulp.. that's a lot of drinks there, buddy." It felt good. :)

School started back up again last Wednesday. I'm liking it so far.. not that you can tell much from one day of classes. Luckily I'm only in school two days a week, but the classes are so far apart, I need to come home in between to let the dog out. Which means 8 trips back and forth from school. About 30 minutes per trip... oy. My gas tank and bank account are not loving me at the moment.

Better news? The expenses don't stop there! You think school expenses are at the beginnings of semesters. No siree! I have a list as long as my arm of supplies for my 3-dimensional design class, and I might even have to buy a camera for my photography class if I can't find my dad's old 35mm. Blah. So I said I was back... but if I don't pop in sometime before next week, I'm most likely dead somewhere underneath a heavy pile of debt.

But on the plus side, working at Starbucks has me no longer buying anything there. And hey, saving $5 per visit really starts to add up, ya know... :)

Hope you're all well, and I will start popping back in to blogs and posting more regularly from now on. Yay for being connected again!

xo,

Ahh!

Hey everyone, I'm so so so sorry for the random unexplained absence! My computer died a week or so ago and I haven't been able to get around to getting another one.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and have a wonderful New Year!

How about that snow? Sheesh!

Xoxo

Sam

popping in

Hey everyone, happy Sunday!

Oh bloggy break... I didn't even know you were coming, and yet, here you are. I just can't find the time to sit down and write a post lately. But I start training at Starbucks tomorrow (eek!), and so hopefully after that I'll have some details to share with you all.

Wish me luck!

Hope you're having a great weekend!

tuesday tidbits

 Hey guys & gals, happy Tuesday!

I'm going through another one of those dry spells here at the ole blog, as I do almost every other week. I will go through a little little spurt of consistent posting, and then before I know it, I'm tapped out again.

I run out of post material faster than Apple stores run out of their newest products.

Anyway, here are a few bullet points for all y'all.

• I am currently loving my holiday scented candles. I love walking into my room and smelling delicious warmth (huh?), and usually pair two scents together at a time. Currently I'm burning Bath & Body's "Autumn" with an "Evergreen" candle I snagged from Walmart at a super cheap $1.00. Mmm mmm mmm. Come on over and have a sniff. Because I'm bored. And it would give me something to blog about.
• I'm in the process of straightening up my room and making it more "decoration friendly" for the impending best day of the year. Aka, Christmas. While you're over here sniffing my candles, you can help me clean. ;)
• As I clean, I am binging on Parenthood, because the whole series is finally OnDemand. Which means I can go back and watch seasons two and three, which I dutifully skipped because I was lazy and Pretty Little Liars fell on the same night. These were the pre-DVR years, folks.
• Just a reminder to e-mail me if you are interested in exchanging Christmas cards this year! Trying to have them ordered by mid-next week, so if you lovely folks could get in touch with me before then if you're interested, that would be fabulous! :)

Welp. Back to the cleaning. Or, sitting on my butt pretending to clean while I putz around on the interwebz.

Happy Tuesday :)

CHRISTMAS CARDS

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday weekend full of family, friends, and most importantly -- food.

The Christmas season is officially in full swing (at least at my humble abode), and I don't know about you, but I'm pretty stoked. 

I've started on the outside Christmas lights, and plan on going out to finish after this post. Then this weekend comes the inside (and hopefully the Christmas tree), assuming work on Thursday and Friday don't kick the crap out of me as they do other weeks. ;)

Anywho, in the meantime, I've finally decided on a design for my Christmas card. And it's ridiculous how long it took. First I had two pictures of the Mad-dog to use. Once I finally narrowed it down, neither of them really worked with the cards I wanted. 

So I went back to my memory card and found another one.

Ah, the money shot. And a design it kinda-sorta goes with. Success.

So, before I go back in there and change my mind again, I'm hoping to get them ordered and sent out within the next week and a half.

Soooo.......... who wants one?

If you're interested in exchanging Christmas cards this year, shoot me an e-mail at samantha.lauren725@gmail.com with your information, and I'll add you to the list!

juggling the holiday

This is my first Thanksgiving with Anthony.

Well, not the very first, but the first "real" one. This time last year we had been going out for like, 15 days, and, while we had known each other for a few months at that point, it still seemed a tiny smidge too early to be spending the holiday with each others families.

So, we did our own things, and just texted all day long instead. So it was pretty much like we were together, right?

This year, however, we are taking our first stab at tackling the holidays together, and splitting them up amongst each fam damily.

Anthony's family is easy. He has his immediate family, and then his mom's side. His dad's side lives in Florida. For Thanksgiving, they all head over to his maternal grandmother's house for the day. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

My family, on the other hand? That's where shit gets tricky. 

For starters, my parents are recently divorced, and thus live in different places. Which, in order to see both my parents on a holiday, what used to be one stop shopping has now been spliced into two stops. If my dad's side is doing something, that takes place in one town, my mom's takes place in another. I'm assuming there will be a time where I have to choose between my parents. Looking forward to that one like I do a root canal appointment.

Dealing with just my parents' schedules would be one thing. But having to coordinate holiday gatherings between three different groups of people is much more stressful than I imagined. Basically, either someone is going to be left out, or the visits are going to be super short and rushed.

This year we are going to do early dinner with my mom. Spend a couple hours there, stop in quick to see my dad because he lives kinda sorta close by, and should be home around that time. After that we are going to head to Anthony's grandma's house for dessert with his peeps. Sounds like nothing, but there is quite a bit of driving involved, and I still feel a little selfish, as though I'm taking him from dinner with his family.

Blah. I don't know. This is just the beginning. Wait until we get to Christmas, the "real" holiday (to me) where I will want to be with my family and make sure he gets to see his, and make sure we get to see each other in the process.

They were smart to make Christmas a two day thing.

How do you split up the holiday time?

Linking up with the Follower to Friend blog hop today!

sorry I'm not sorry.

What I actually said: I don't know if that's a great idea. I wouldn't do it, but...

What I wanted to say: I think you're a senseless fucking moron who not only doesn't deserve the poor, innocent sperm n' egg combo that has taken up residency in your uterus, but should also be court mandated to have your tubes tied because you, my friend, are the very epitome of "unfit parent". And that says something considering who you are up against in Hollywood alone these days. In other words, Snooki and The Lohan's. Thumbs up.

source

I have always had a healthy respect for and fear of pregnancy.

From the moment my child brain started thinking more like an adult brain (being honest probably like, last year, but for the story's sake, let's just say it began being less naive with the rest of the world at say, oh, 13-14?), I have been under the impression that it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that a fetus is a fragile life form. But then again, maybe it does. Maybe I'm a rocket scientist. Clearly there are more of us than that saying leads us to believe...

I don't have kids, and I have never been pregnant. But something I do have? A 10-year-old fear that I will not be able to have children. I don't know where it came from or why it started. But when I was 13, my "baby fever" started. I decided I wanted to eventually be a stay at home mom to little Sam's & [Anthony's]. With that dream came the inevitable fear that I would never get to have it. Or if I did, it would be a really difficult journey to conception. Again, who the hell knows where that came from.

Anyway, because of this semi-irrational fear, any indication of unfit or ungrateful parenting really skyrockets my blood to a nice, scalding boil.

So when my coworker mentioned going to a bar for her birthday, I had one of those "hey wait a minute...are you sure that's a good idea?" moments. That also included an eyebrow raise. That she happened to notice.  She quickly began reaching into her ass and pulling out reason after reason and throwing them at me in the desperate hope that they would come together to build one big fat pyramid of justification to be topped off with me giving my blessing for her to head off to a bar for her birthday.

Well they didn't. And I didn't. I told her I might stop by but never did because I think it's cooler to hang out with Anthony than to sit around with a bunch of coworkers I don't even like when I'm paid to be around them. What??

Anyway, I went home that day figuring she would stick to her one glass of red wine (there didn't seem to be any convincing her otherwise), and went about my weekend. I know they say a glass of wine here or there isn't going to kill anyone, but I've got to be honest with you, I don't care what any doctor says. When I'm blessed enough one day to have life growing inside of me, it's going to be a diet of water and apples. Okay, and probably some chocolate. And pasta. And some other stuff bound to help grow the baby and my ass. But alcohol? First, I don't even drink on a regular basis. Second, maybe a glass or two of wine over nine months doesn't have a serious effect. But maybe it does. And that's enough for me. Why would you want to risk it?

Blah. Anyway. I digress.

Flash forward to my next torturous day of work. She wasn't in that night, and resident Drama Queen seized that night as her opportunity to take off her insanity hat and weigh in on the birthday drama from the judge-y side, rather than the side being judged, for once.

Apparently, according to the DQ, according to my boss, according to Prego herself (the natural chain of drama around these parts. Gross.) she drank so much on her birthday she threw up. I asked my brother (who was there) to verify the next day, and apparently she had a glass of wine, had a co-worker get her a White Russian, then at another bar she did a Car Bomb, and had a Long Island Iced Tea.

I kid you not, I actually felt a twang of nausea when I heard that. I'm still in disbelief that someone would take such a risk while pregnant. That amount of alcohol would probably having us shut off a regular person, let alone someone who hasn't drank in a long time, and, oh yeah, IS PREGNANT.

Honest to God, I can't get over this girl. She makes mistake after mistake after mistake and she doesn't learn. Ever. Because as long as she is doing it, it's okay. I don't know how many pregnancies she has to lose before she gets her act together.

I know I'm not her mom, and I don't get to tell her what to do. But I'm done being her little BFF at work and lugging ice and beer around because she "can't do it" because she's pregnant...

So you can't lift a case of beer from the very millisecond you find a + sign on a pregnancy test, but you can pour drink after drink into your fetus' immature system, almost four months into this thing? Now is when you're going to start drinking again? You have gone months, you can't wait five more? For your child?

And then you wonder why people talk about you behind your back. Because if it's not heroin it's dating someone almost a decade younger than you, or being on and off with another drug addict, or getting pregnant, or getting engaged, or getting pregnant again, breaking up with the poor high school grad baby daddy, settling back in with the druggy, and now dumping alcohol on top of that poor baby.

I'm sure I don't sound the friendliest based on this post. But given the circumstances and her personality, and the stuff we put up with, this isn't nice but, it's really hard not to call her a weak sack of shit to her face. So I have to do it on my blog. Sorry.

This is what my crazy job has led me too.

Madness.

I am surrounded by ungrateful idiots.... C'mon Starbucks!

why you shouldn't snack on body parts

Brace yourselves, I'm about to whine.

I know what you're thinking-- that's weird, she never does that. Her blog is pure bliss. Like a bottomless glass of wine.

But not today, people. Not today. Why?

Because I'm a nail biter, and I did that thing that I proudly haven't done in forever where you nibble just a little bit too far because you're stressed, or nervous, or bored, or hungry, or something. I don't remember why I was biting. I'd probably have to think back to childhood when I started this grotesque habit to seemingly replace my thumb-sucking to figure out the psychological need to chew on my fingers. But I do remember the where, and that it hurt like a freaking bitch, and it still does, and it's pissing me off.

It's my right index finger. Yes, a primary tool for typing. I'm trying to use my middle finger in its place, but after countless typos and more frustration, I've decided to suck it up and just wince through the pain for the sake of this stupid post. That I don't need to be typing. At 2:30 am. The wee hours of the morning of the day I work a double. That I'm also dreading.

Luckily, I'm one of those weirdo left-handed creatures. So, thankfully, tomorrow morning, noon, and night when I am hating my job and scribbling down food order after food order, my hand won't be a gnarly, mangled mess of throbbing physical suffering.

However, I have noticed a handful of difficulties and limitations imposed by my new found disability.

• Typing, obviously, as I just mentioned. 
• Hitting the power button on my iPhone? Ouch.
• Washing my hands -- the water doesn't feel as good as you'd think.
• Making peanut butter and jelly. I just wanted a sandwich.
• Helping Anthony cut a piece of wood for some architecture model using a table saw. This also proved to be detrimental to my hearing and vision. Not Recommended.
• Changing the song in the car.
• Ignoring the annoying pulsing STING in my finger while trying to go about the rest of my night.

It's rough.

Another downside? I now have to trim all of my other nails to match the length of the gimp one. And repaint them so that people don't think I got into a fight with Maddie. Or volunteered my fingers to be ten little chew toys for her.

So yeah, I bite my nails. I don't recommend doing it.

The cons certainly outweigh the pros, being that there are no pros.

Carry a Cliff Bar. Or gum. Don't chew on your body parts.

Did I mention I got on the computer at 2am to quickly complete and submit some online homework that's due tomorrow that I forgot about? Yeah... that didn't happen. There's another tip for you: don't take online classes. But that's a cautionary tale for another day...

365 days of bitch

Give or take...

Here's my issue. I have been trying to slowly but surely weed out my "real life bitching." Why? Because I have been attempting to branch out with the blog, in ways that may or may not land it in the not so intended possession of my offline friends and family.

Unfortunately with the internet, much like the real world, you apparently are not allowed to have your cake and eat it too.

Why can't I have a popular* blog without my corner of the world finding out about it? Well, I don't know, but it probably follows the same logic as having a smoking section in a restaurant, and/or a peeing section in a pool. Know what I mean?

* popular as in assuming my content picks up the pace and starts heading towards interesting, of course.

Anywho, as many of you know, it was mine and Anthony's one year this past Friday. Thank you to those who commented and left messages - so sweet! :)

Not only was it a year marking that, but it also brought to a close a year of crap from my freaking cousin who, for a guy, is quite the little biotch sometimes.  < -- Why it isn't a great idea for my family/friends to know about this blog.

For those blissfully unaware of the back story, here is the super quick cliff notes version so that I can get down to business...

I met Anthony through my cousin by accident. I say by accident because, well, if my cousin knew how it was going to unfold, he definitely would have avoided the meeting. Yeah, you heard correctly. Judging by the way the last year and change has gone down, you would think I stole my cousin's boyfriend or something. He is desperate to be included in everything, and thinks that because he knew both of us "before", it makes us a weird little triangular shaped relationship rather than what it really is, much to his disappointment, Anthony & I, and then him off somewhere in the background trying to muscle his way into the foreground.

For example, Friday, for the whole anniversary thang, we went to the casino. Why? Just because. So I was a little perturbed when I was on the phone with my cousin trying to quell his insecurities about social gatherings happening without him (exhibit A: Halloween), and he admitted to being upset that we went to Mohegan without first asking him to come along.

Yes, I actually had to explain why our anniversary night out didn't have to include him.

And now I'm texting him about why he wasn't included for Halloween. Or, not why, more like, blaming Anthony's brother, because it was his house, and he doesn't have to invite anyone. Which is true.

Now he is actually requesting that I be sure to include him in any Christmas or holiday festivities. And it's an impossible situation because I can't say no without saying a reason, and the only reason is "because maybe I don't feel like it." Which isn't nice. Argh.

Why do I have to be obligated to include him in every aspect of my life? And what's worse is, I know it will be like this forever because he knew both of us before, and so we are bound to him for life.

Family parties with my family would be neutral territory because we are related. Ugh.

Family parties with Anthony's family, he claims he and they are "like family." And Anthony's family is too chill and big and nice to care that one extra annoying person is there.

So basically, in saying yes to Anthony, I said yes to a life filled with my cousin trying to make our twosome a threesome. Which I mean, it was worth it. But still.

I suppose I am being unreasonable. But I would like to be able to use my own discretion when compiling guest lists to my own parties.

I don't know. Maybe I am just caught up in the confusion of him going from resisting the idea of Anthony and I as couple, to forcing his way into everything we do.

who am I sending holiday cards to this year?

If you want to exchange holiday cards this year, feel free to shoot me an e-mail (samantha.lauren725@gmail.com) with your info, and I'll add you to the list!

Except in my extra special lazy case, if I don't get a pre-turkey day jump on it, it will never happen.

Who do you use for your holiday cards?

Shutterfly.com?

TinyPrints.com?

I was a strict Shutterfly user up until a couple days ago when I discovered Minted.com through a fellow blogger.

Don't get me wrong, I was extremely satisfied not only with the design options, but with the service too at Shutterfly. However, the one teeny tiny downside? It's a photo website. So the holiday cards cater to those wishing to display a photo for the holiday season.

Minted on the other hand? They have both photo cards and non-photo cards! Which is great, because this year, Maddie has been a pain in my behind, and I haven't felt like wrestling her into submission long enough to get the money shot for this year's Christmas card.

Meaning, I think Minted will be the way to go for me this fine Christmas 2012. No uploading, no dog-wrangling... just an awesome selection of non-photo holiday cards.

 

 

But fear not! They have an amazing bunch of photo cards too! In fact, if I wasn't so darn lazy and crunched for time this year, I'd be outside with Maddie right now trying to finagle the perfect pet pic just so that I could hijack one of these for this year's card design.

 

 

 

I think we all know where I will be going for my cards. 

What about you? Do you have a go to site for your holiday greeting needs? Do share!

Speaking of, I'll need to know how many to order this year. So, as I said at the top of this post, be sure to send me an e-mail! I'm going to try to have cards out by/on December 10th this year.

Happy Saturday!

Minted.com has not compensated me for writing this post, and all thoughts and opinions are both 100% honest and my own.

text analysis: my responsibility or not?

So as I'm sitting here half-dressed, completely unmotivated to move an inch beyond my trip to Starbucks and back because last night's election stress ravaged my sanity, I receive a text from work.

Because, of all the people in my contacts, it had to be the most stressful, annoying category.

This woman is old-new. She worked here before, and then quit a little while after because she had another job where the hours were better and there was actual money. Go figure.

But now, like the rest of us foolish individuals, she is back. She has been back a couple weeks, and has proven to have the same skill level she had when she left. My boss isn't thrilled with her, but when you have 3.5 staff members because you refuse to hire new people when asked to, you kind of sort of have to take what you get when you get it. It's kind of like, refusing to vote, and then bitching about the president. See what I did there?

So anyway, this text.

Sam I tried to call the restaurant, got the machine. I have bronchitis, taking medicine, still feel like shit. Won't be in tonight, sorry. Do you think Bad Server or Drama Queen might work? Will you please let someone know for me. Thanks.

Punctuation added for your viewing pleasure.

So, after thinking about it for a few minutes, I looked up Bad Server & Drama Queen's numbers, and sent them back with this:

I would try them, yeah. 

Bad Server 123-4567

Drama Queen 890-1234

I forgot to say feel better! Because she has been complaining about being sick for three weeks now (pretty much since she has been back), and I'm tired of saying it. Oh, and I forgot. But that is neither here nor there. Onto my question - is it my responsibility to alert someone that she is not working? Someone meaning my boss? Or the two numbers I listed?

I'm going to go ahead and say no, because this always happens. Someone can't come in, texts me, and then suddenly it's my responsibility to cover a shift? No way Jose. I have fallen into that trap one too many times. I'm sorry you're sick, but I have never been able to just call out when I don't feel well. I either cover my shift or work. So why is everyone else allowed to?

My boss pays me the same amount as everyone else. Sometimes less because checks bounce like Mexican Jumping Beans around these parts. So, I have made the decision to stop doing the whole above and beyond thing, because it doesn't serve me. It hasn't served me for three point five years now. So I have made a three point five year donation. And I'm done with that.

But does my text message make that clear? Or does the fact that she sent it to me make it automatically my issue to deal with?

Ugh. Please call me back Starbucks. Save me from this place.

UPDATE:

In response to the text I sent her with the numbers, I got this response:

I'm sorry Sam I don't mean to call out, I can't stop coughing, I'm so sick. Bad Server said she'll work. Do you think maybe you could text Big Boss? I don't have her number. Thanks, sorry to bother you!

Which would have been fine. Texting the boss is whatever, I guess, because the shift is covered, so it won't become my problem. Not that Boss will be thrilled with Bad Server working, but hey, your problem lady.

Anyway, I forgot to respond, because I was texting Boss/being tweeted at at the same time, and that obviously took precedence. So Old-New Woman texted me the same thing. Exact  same thing. Again.

And I figured she did it by accident, so I ignored it.

And just now, an hour later, she sent another repeat message. I think she is literally just copy-pasting until I respond. I'm tempted to shoot the stare-down of text messages. The "Ok." But I'm curious to see how many times she'll text.

Just kidding. I'll text her after I post this. If I remember. :p

a random collection of crap

Because I tend to experience suckage in the form of blogging more often than not, I figured I would struggle to throw together a random jumble of crap for y'all today as my blog post. Sound good? Good.

1. First and last mention until 2016 when ideally the country is still standing because whomever takes office waves their magic wand and solves all the problems of the world. Oh wait. That will never happen. So maybe we should stop searching for the most perfect candidate in the world ever to make it happen, and just focus on who is more concerned about working towards solving the problems at hand. No one president will solve all of our problems. To seek one is to seek perfection. So yeah.. stop doing that. And just vote. I don't care who it is (alright, I do, but not enough to actually pursue it). Do not forfeit the right that lives were lost to earn for us. Don't waste something like that.

2. Today while watching a DVR'd Halloween episode of Kate + 8 or whatever the hell they are calling it these days, I saw a preview of Breaking Amish. And, well, because this here reality show whore doesn't have enough reality trash to make fun of, I hopped OnDemand and started searching for it. Lucky for me, they had it. So far I have a few thoughts...

Abe - What a cutie pie. Honestly I think he is the only one of these kids that I like at all. He is adorable, seems really kind, looks like a leprechaun (in a good way), and just seems like a sweetie.

Jeremiah - Ew. He looks like a closet serial killer. Like, the kind you don't know about until you Google them because their non-creepiness becomes less and less consistent. Anyway, you're a weirdo, Jeremiah. But I am glad you think you are so cool, because no one else does.

Kate - She looks a lot like Elisabeth Moss. And I wish she would eat more food. She's pretty, but being a stick figure because she never eats makes her less pretty.

Rebecca - She's cute, but she would be cuter if she could form coherent sentences without sounding like she had just downed a handle of Smirnoff. Oh wait, she probably had, because these kids are like a bunch of high school students who got their paws on mom & dad's liquor. Seriously? Are we looking to experience life outside of the Amish community or life before the AA meetings begin?

Sabrina - I can't figure out who cries more. You or Kate? Stop it. Everyone is called a slut or whore at one time in their life, right? Sure, maybe in your case people aren't joking about it. But maybe stop acting like one and the name-calling will stop as well?

- Also, I didn't get to catch the early episodes of the show, but can I just ask why they would end up in NYC? They were looking to get away from the Amish-ness for a while, I understand. But to go to NYC is to have the Amish crap kicked out of you. Sheesh. I feel shell-shocked in NYC, and I grew up with a life of indulgence and electricity and education beyond the eighth grade. I can't imagine what NYC looks like to someone who has never experienced that kind of thing.

- I'm on episode eight, but I don't really know what that means. Because they seem to be packing up the clothes they won't be allowed to have, and heading back to wherever they came from. Am I at the end? I do have a knack for catching on super late. ;)

In the least offensive way possible, I disagree with any culture that so harshly restricts and shelters its people. In my opinion, to cut them off from the rest of the world and its practices is to attempt to control them. It's weird and puts them at a severe disadvantage, should they not be able to remain in the Amish community for whatever reason. And by the way, it makes them go apeshit when they finally get their hands on alcohol. Holy crap. I'd love to take a look at Kate's liver after her stint on this show. I understand and respect religious beliefs, but at the same time, I don't think God loves any of us less because we move with the flow of progression........ know what I mean? I do apologize if I am offending anyone. I just think we all have earned the right to enjoy a drink every now and then. Ha. Kidding. Kind of.

3. Is it wrong that I may be willing to spend $11 to see the last Twilight disaster in theaters just so I can finish the making fun of K.Stew that came to a dramatic to be continued halt at the end of the first one?

4. It has only been like, 4 days, but I'm really nervous Starbucks wants nothing to do with me despite the disgusting amounts of money I spend there on a daily basis, let alone in a fiscal year. However I am also overly dramatic and fear the worst at all times. I'm just so into the idea of leaving my current job, that the notion of this thing not working out is pretty crippling. Gulp.

5. I need a new laptop. I think I will have to give up on the MacBook Pro dream this time around. Oh well. I'm sure I won't lose that much sleep over saving $800. Any recommendations? I'm leaning towards an HP... I've heard good things.

Hope you're enjoying your Tuesday, thanks for sitting through another pointless post. ;)

Happy Election day, I hope you aren't all shitting bricks over the outcome like I am.

Lies. I say that now, but by the time anyone actually reads this, I will have already voted, and also forgotten that it's Election Day. Because I don't have room for political clutter bullshit in my brain at the moment. ;)

Anyway, stop reading this psycho babble and go vote!

wednesday's theme

Don't forget this Wednesday is the second "Weekly Photo Wednesday" installment! I think what I will do is just host a linky every week when I post my pictures, just in case there is anyone who wants to link up. Thank you to Lauren & Breanna for joining in last week! This week's theme is

What does October look like in your area? Pretty open ended-- can be anything, really. What you wear, what you do, how it looks outside, how it looks inside... be creative! :)

Happy October!

Ahh! October is finally here! My favorite month of the year, folks!

I'm so excited I can't even think of anything to post about!

Just kidding. My weekend was just that dull. :p

So here, have a smorgasbord of random recap details.

Friday
I was supposed to work a double. I secretly wished and crossed my fingers all day that I would get out early. Welp, as luck would have it, I was released around 4 (instead of 8-8:30). Because my stomach was killing me. I went home, laid in bed for 4 hours, revisited my breakfast twice (I think it was the culprit, stupid jerk bagel), and wished I was still at work. So, yeah. I got out early, but that was not what I meant, universe.

Saturday
Stomach muscles aching, mood meter plummeting, I returned to work ready to combat the frustration of dealing with our resident hypochondriac who called out the night before because she was "sick". Now, given that I was a bit under the weather myself I suppose I can't fully point my accusatory finger as I normally would. However, also under consideration is the fact that she does this every Friday. If I were a betting woman (and, judging by my casino habit, I am) I would say she has got to have a "fake an ailment" reminder set in her phone to go off every Friday around 1 pm. It's like clockwork. So, we worked. She whined. And I escaped before I could feel the full wrath of how unfair it is that she had to work a full shift one time.

Oh... and Anthony, my cousin, and I went to the casino that night. How is that for some shocking news to jolt you out of your case of the Mondays? :)

Sunday
Last day of the weekend, last day of work. Phew. Finally. I survived the full weekend of working just in time to get up tomorrow and go to school and hopefully scrape by with a B on my bio quiz. We'll see. I felt confident in the material .... last Wednesday. I hope I didn't lose it with my breakfast on Friday!

Oh yeah, and I helped Anthony start to move some of his stuff into the stunning new abode his family bought recently. I'm really happy for them. They have been trying for two years to get this house, and everything finally worked out in their favor! Congratulations, future in-laws! :p

Yeah... weekends where I work every day (thankfully few and far between because I have become a stickler about my new "be lazy" rule for Saturdays) aren't very eventful.

But, in other, more exciting news,
- Congratulations to Lauren of Life Love Lauren, the winner of my $10 Starbucks Card Giveaway! Thank you to all who entered!
- I am linking up today at my blog bud Nathan's blog for his Meet New Bloggers hop on the first Monday of every month. Come on over and join in the fun! Plus, there's a giveaway.. Don't join that though. I want to win.
- Wednesday is the first week of my new weekly blog feature that I talked about here. Get your fabulous pumpkin pictures and head on over to my blog to link up! Seriously. Do it. I get discouraged and scared easily. I'd hate to shrink back into my blogger shell and have to blame you.

Just kidding. :)

Happy October everyone!

It's vlog time!

Hey everyone! I'm back for week 5 of the 10 Day You Challenge with Lauren & Tiffany!

I promised a vlog for one of the weeks, and here it is!

Disclaimer: My voice sucks, and yes, the topic is five foods. So it's true. I am literally sitting here for a matter of minutes rambling on about food and ignoring my dear BFF Sierra in the process. It's a sad thing.

Phew! That was painful!

Sorry for the volume... I didn't realize it was so quiet. It sounds like I'm mumbling, but I was actually talking pretty normal. Borderline loud. Hope no one heard me! Is it weird that I get embarrassed when I do vlogs? I have always felt weird talking to a screen, so I usually wait until no one is home, or go off and do it somewhere else with my phone. What a loser. Hehe. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, and be sure to head over to Lauren or Tiffany's blogs to link up with your five foods!

Show & Tell: High School

1. Tell us what kind of student you were in high school (popular, nerd, sport obsessed, choir, etc)
I wasn't really any of those things. I'm still convinced that those cliques only exist on TV. I've personally never seen "popular". I've seen sport obsessed, but that's more of a characteristic, not a student grouping category. Anyway, I just sort of did my own thing (as I imagine most did/do) and had my own group of friends... know what I'm sayin?

2. Share some high school pictures

Obligatory prom pictures. Forgive the hot mess and the fact that I look like shitasshole. The pictures were all taken after I was shakin' my tail feathers on the dance floor for two hours. The one on the left is me with one of my friends (directly to my right), next to her was my best friend Michelle, and next to her was some chick I don't know. Then in the picture on the left, is me & my neighbor pretending we were hot. We had been in school together since second grade. :)


Me and my friend Caitlin at the end of senior year. And then on the right is me and my cousin at my grandma's, sometime during senior year. Rockin' the duck lips like a true loser.

3. Tell us about your school. Private or Public? How many in graduating class? Mascot? School colors?
Public school, no uniforms here, thank you! There were about 250-300 in our graduating class, I believe. Can't really remember. Mascot: Trojan.... hold the condom jokes. :p Our colors were blue and gold. Loved them!

4. Tell us some of your favorite memories from high school or what stands out the most. Teachers? Classes?
Senior year as a whole was a blast. We had prom, our class trip, the after prom party, the post-grad party, my teacher Mr. Rogers (real name :p) who was hilarious from start to finish. Field trips, designing our senior portion of the yearbook, picking quotes... homework, ew. Projects, yuck! But all together, it was a great year. :)

5. Tell us a piece of advice you would pass on to your children or any child entering high school.
It's not like they say on TV. It's not as bad as everyone says. Just be who you are and don't let your personality bend to what others make you think it should be. Oh, and ps, I know this will shock you, future children, but The Secret Life of the American Teenager is the biggest bunch of bullshit I've ever laid eyes on, and is not anywhere near an accurate depiction of the high school experience.
 
Can't wait to read everyone else's answers! But first, I'm off to school to fail a quiz -- yay!