Happy Being an Old Bitty

.....long time no talk! Well at least I didn't let a whole year pass. General updates:
-A year on the job (going well)
-Adopted a dog
-Bought a washer and dryer!!!! ^^^Most excited about this
-Still not in love with Baton Rouge
       
I think that pretty much wraps the highlights of my current life.  I have come to the conclusion that I am sort of an old bitty.

Urban dictionary defines an old bitty as: Crazy or lame elderly woman who is out of touch with the world yet thinks she knows something relevant and feels compelled to share it
 
Well damn, I hope I know a little about a lot....anyway, I have come to this realization of my old bitty ways not only thru self-evaluation but also observation from others (Hi Dylan!)....uh oh

The realization that piggybacks on to this, is that I am completely okay with this knowledge. Just for some perspective, it is currently 6:13PM and I am in my pajamas watching Forest Gump after having loaded the dishwasher...

Some other conclusions of myself I've made in my 25 years on this planet.  I am content and happy being alone. In general, I am easily irritated and people annoy me.  For example, why are you touching me when you speak to me, why are you consistently spelling my name incorrectly via email response when my complete name IS my email address AND in my email signature, why when I text you do you then call.....please keep the same line of communication going, etc. etc. etc. Yes, I enjoy the company of friends, but I really do enjoy being alone as well. I like living alone, I like going to the coffee shop to read alone, and sometimes seeing a movie alone.  I've also come to realize that if no real significant other comes along I am okay with that too. I am happy, and if someone comes along to enhance that happiness then great! But I aint sitting around waiting for someone to bring happiness to me. Trick, please.  I really don't know if I would have realized how much I relish in my aloneness and contentness if I had not moved to another place on my own. So for that reason, thank you Baton Rouge.

...but Baton Rouge is still a foreign planet to me and really makes me miss the progressiveness of Columbus and the tobacco free air. There are radicals in every pocket of every place but for some reason when I'm walking on campus, I don't want to see a flag in the grass representing every aborted fetus in the US this year.  I can't help to think that shame mongering isn't forwarding your cause. Wouldn't your time and energy be better invested in pregnancy prevention efforts such as comprehensive sexual health education and pregnancy support services? Oh I forgot, we are the catholic church, we can't teach our youth about condoms, that only condones sex! ....I'm sure now I will go to CNN to read about some crazy, radical shit going down in Ohio. But man, if you say something about not liking Baton Rouge or wacky religious notions, the natives go crazy!  But if you ask how I like Baton Rouge thus far.....be prepared for my honest answer. I'm not trying to offend, relax Louisianians.....

P.S. It's time for a vacation and look what finally arrived today! Time to start planning my temporary reprieve:-) Vote on the poll to the left please

Anyway I do feel like the work I do, however small it may be, is impacting some students, so that little flicker makes my time worthwhile, and is precisely why I got into public health. 

Leave me a reading suggestion in the comments! Off to finish reading on my Nook, ya know, old bitty style......
 

A LOT Has Changed....

Since the last time I posted a blog, alot of things are different! New job, new city, new car, new place, new health issues to deal with! And that's just a brief overview......

I started this blog with the intention to write about my life, post-grad studies. Most of my previous posts were about my journey to find a job in my field. Well mission accomplished! So that is definitely something to be proud of. December 2011, I applied for a Health Promotion Coordinator job at LSU, had a phone interview, a month later they flew me out, must have liked me because they offered me the job! I moved to Baton Rouge in March and started my new job.

The move did not come without hardships though. Once I moved, the stress of doing so caused a lupus flare. I think I missed 16 days of work my first month here. Several different factors made that time easier. One being my new job being so understanding of all the time off I needed, secondly, my amazing best friend Emily letting me crash at her place until I found a place of my own while simultaneously taking care of me and lastly, my mom coming down for almost 2 weeks to help me get settled. You suspect that certain people in your life will be there for you if you need them, but often times they are never tested. I am so glad they proved how truly amazing they are.

So in the course of dealing with my health issues I discovered I have a whole other gamut of health issues too! Kind of sucks but at the same time I wonder would I have ever discovered this had I never had my flare? Seeing the silver lining in a shitty situation??? Yes.

So all in all alot has changed. I'm trying to give Baton Rouge a fair chance. I have met some really nice people but the city still needs to grow on me. Southern hospitality does not reside here, nor does progressiveness. Now I am generalizing here, there are nice, progressive people, but the overall attitude is not. The good thing about being here is that I LOVE my job! More on that in a future post.....

Sometimes I wish I could take this job to Columbus, but I will take this opportunity to grow in my field and ride it till the wheels fall off. More blogging to come.....make sure to take my monthly quiz!

Oh yea, I'm 25 now! :-)

And don't get it twisted, just because I'm in Tiger country, I am still a buckeye thru and thru!! O-H!!

I have NO Excuse

Not that I am all that entertaining, or have loyal followers beating down my door for a new post, but there is no excuse for me not posting since March??? I don't even have an exciting life that keeps me away!

So updates- none really to discuss. The thing I am most excited about presently is that my a/c finally got installed yesterday!! Doesn't take much to make me happy, but at least now I won't wake up in a pool of my own sweat, so thanks mom for the early b-day gift!

Speaking of birthdays....my 24th is coming up in 2 weeks. My sister is flying in for the holiday so that's pretty exciting. There's even going to be fireworks on my birthday this year.  I'm really looking forward to a low-key type of deal tho....maybe its my old age taking over....??

I am at home on Pride Weekend when I should be a number of different places.  I should be in Akron for my cousin's graduation party or at the Pride festivities supporting equal rights.  Unfortunately I have been sidelined with stitches in my heel.  I have had this mole on the heel of my foot for as long as I can remember really.  I like to think of it as a beauty mark but I noticed it has been getting bigger.  So after much encouragement (like a gnat lol) from my mom, my dermatologist thought it best to biopsy it, results will be in next week. Well what was I thinking doing this at the beginning of summer?? It's on my heel...so no cute shoes for a while and I don't think its healing properly, so I have to go back to the doctor Monday.  It's still open a lil bit and bleeding after 4 days.....look at the below pic at your own risk.

Excuse the ash but I aint putting nothing but neosporin on this foot!

So you see what I mean?? There's like an opening or something........well at least the stitches are my favorite color....

All in all life has been good.  Mom has been healthy, sister too so I feel blessed.  Please take my quiz on the blog, for several months I have been contemplating law school....haven't really discussed it with anyone so tell me what you guys think, leave comments, do whatever.

Finally, over a year ago my mom was blessed by someone elses loss when she was fortunate enough to receive a kidney transplant.  This transplant has increased her quality of life in so many ways.  I know we as people don't like to think about death but there is so much that can be given when you leave this place.  Just a little food for thought. 

I think I haven't been blogging as much because I don't have much to talk about! So feel free to ask questions and stir up some ideas for me.  Hope you are enjoying this lovey weather :-)

You Would Think After 2 Months....

..........I would have some startling revelation to reveal, and unfortunately, I do not! Woe is me and my boring life.  I am currently still in my public health job search.  Slow and steady wins the race right?? Well that ish sucks!  I won't even go off (again ) on my student loan repayment tangent.

I have a couple new obsessions I would like to share:
   1. Words With Friends (find me, I'm dope: sfowler05)
   2. Charlaine Harris (I have read all 10 of her Sookie Stackhouse novels, her books are what the True Blood series is based on. What am I to do until May 3rd when the next book comes out??)
   3. Jeni's IceCream (I try to limit myself to only going once every 2 weeks or so)

My Operation: Healthy Living is going well.  Still not drinking pops/juice, using natural sweeteners and limiting my red meat.  The next phase is boot camp.  Thursday is my fitness evaluation where they take measurements and tell me unhealthy I am. Stay tuned :-/

I think one of my previous weekly quizzes was asking what my next tattoo should be.  The winner was a giraffe I think, but I ultimately went in another direction.  The 3 elephants on my back (which I already had) represent my family: mom, sister and I.  Elephants are animals who grieve, remain in familial units and even go back to graves to visit where their family members passed, a true rarity in the animal kingdom. Very rarely in the wild do you see elephants locking from trunk to tail.  This type of behavior only happens in great times of peril, for example a sand storm, so the family remains together.  Anyone who knows me intimately knows my mom and sister are the most important people in my life, and we have definitely faced trials together. So my most recent tattoo, the tree below, like the elephants are native to Africa, and represents planting my own roots, my family tree and the beginning. I plan on continuing to add to this theme so we shall see how it all ends up.

In closing, this blog will be a short one.  Just wanted to share the importance of letting people know how much you care about them while they are here.  Life is so incredibly short.  My grandfather passed suddenly at the end of January and I thought I would have more time with him to build the type of relationship I always wanted. So if you have those thoughts, do it now, because there is nothing worse then regret.  Someone I went to high school with also passed last week, so this advice is just not for this who have elderly family/friends.  Give roses when you still have them here. 

Now go find me on Words With Friends!!!! :-D

Della Lives!!!! For Now At Least........

So my goal of blogging once a week seems to not be happening like I wanted......but here I go anyway.  Lots has happened in the last few weeks.  I just re-read my last blog, so I'll start off where I left off.  So I was ranting and raving about me turning the Portland job down because of the crappy relocation package....so I got a phone call about 3 days later.  It was the manager saying she had been in communication with the HR department to try to negotiate the best possible offer for me because they really thought I would be an asset.  Ok....so I'm getting kinda excited, waiting to be shocked and amazed by some amazing offer.  And she tells me that they will reimburse me for one weeks stay at an hotel until I find an apartment........wait, did I hear this correctly?  You want me to pay for a week in a hotel, save my receipts then get paid eventually?  This is what you come back with?? Comical. Moving on lol.

So for New Years I went to Miami to visit Brandy.  The weather was no less than 77/78 everyday we were there.  The pic below was us in all of our sexy glory New Year's Eve night.



New Year's Eve

Life is but a beach chair...



So while I was in Miami one of Columbus' Groupon's was for a 6 week boot camp.  So I blogged back in the fall about the healthier changes I had been making in regards to eating better.  So far I have lost 15 pounds, so I think it's time to incorporate some healthy exercise into the mix.  So the end of next month I'm starting boot camp twice a week for 6 weeks.  My only concern is my hair......I might just be pony-tailing it up for a while.

And to address the title of this blog, last week Della decided her time was up.  I turn on my laptop to get this weird error message.  It was a blank screen with an error message, wouldn't even load windows to let me start in safe mode or anything.  So from my phone I googled what the error message meant and it means that your hard drive isn't recognized, it pretty much died on you.  Thank god I have an external drive and back it up weekly.  Anyway I just chalked it up as an L since I've had Della since 2005, I figured I got my money's worth.  I texted my tech friend who said I could either invest in a new hard drive or just get a new laptop all together since its a dinosaur (his words, not mine).  So I figure the latter made since being I've had it damn near 6 years.  I just gave up, turned it off, mourned my loss and went about my business.  4 hours later before bed, I just wanted to turn it on just to see...and bam, now it works again.  My fingers are crossed that Della hangs in there till tax time, if you see any good laptop deals, shoot them my way!

Last week Dr. Cornel West was speaking at OSU in honor of the upcoming MLK holiday.  I posted on my facebook profile about the upcoming speak and got mixed responses from friends.  Some who said they heard him speak before, and they had no idea what he was talking about, etc.  So I went into it with rather indifferent expectations.  How happily shocked I was that it wasn't the case.  What a powerful message he delivered, about Dr. King's legacy.  He was articulate, funny and moving.  I took some rather sporadic notes, a few of which I will share.....  Even though I may have to read one of his books with a pocket dictionary as well, I have every intention of picking up one of his books.  I hope his writings are just as powerful.

Dr. Cornel West

So just some highlights from his talk:

- We should be lifting other's as we climb

- A comparison and contrasting of Black vs. White Leaders

- How African Americans have been taught to hate themselves for 400 years

- Why are there no modern day MLK's among us?? Because no one wants to die to get the message 
   across.  People get killed for speaking the unpopular truth.  So if you are going to make a stand, don't do it
   alone.  It's all nice and forward thinking till they start shooting....

- The pathology of the poor vs. the pathology of greed.  Whenever we speak of poor people as a whole, we
   speak of the pathology of their circumstance and how their mind frame got themselves into their current 
   state.  But when we speak of greed, such as the economic collapse of wall street, all you hear about is how
   more regulation is needed.

- 4 billion a month spent on war in Iraq and 4 billion a year spent on education

- Why are we well-adjusted to injustice?

- The oval office as a golden cage.  One can not truly be free to do what they want and know is right even as
   president

Ill let you know my book selection and maybe so overall messages I took away from it.  It may take a while for me to get thru one of his books, but I'm determined!

Don't forget to take my quiz to the left.  How you feeling about your new astrological sign?? I'm not a Cancer anymore? I'm not really into horoscopes in general, but a Gemini sounds far from the type of person I am...a Cancer I will still claim to be.  Womp Womp to all those who got the wrong sign tatted on em. On another note, Miguel's song Sure Thing is on heavy rotation currently.  I posted the poor excuse of an Usher video remake below, but I still like the song.

Until next time!

No For Real, Who's In There??

Soooo Wednesday I got an email to a free preview of the movie "How Do You Know'.  I had seen the previews, wasn't too terribly excited by it, but it had some actors in it I really liked.  Plus it's a Wednesday night and its free.  So I invite my bud Tiffani Nicole and we had over to Easton.  So the movie doesn't come out until Friday, so of course there were some security precautions because they didn't want anyone recording the movie.  UMMMMMMM WTF?! This was level 5, super security, Jack Bauer type of security!  I have had the honor of seeing Barack Obama in person, 3rd row mind you, and there wasn't this type of security for the leader of the free world!!  They checked our purses for cellphones, wanded us, etc. Are you serious right now?? You are aware that this bootleg is currently on sale at the Weber St Market for 5 dollars correct?? Anyway I got in with both my cellphone and digital camera.....

So you would think with all this top flight security, this movie would be the best thing since sliced bread right?? UMMM NEGATIVE.  I honestly think that was the worst movie I have ever seen. Real talk.  The script was deplorable, the acting was mediocre at best, and I heard the movie costs 120 million alone to make.  Why couldn't I have gotten passes for Tron Legacy??

Anyway, Tiffani and I didn't even make it thru the movie.  We left half-way thru.  I really wanted to like the movie, and I gave it a chance, but I felt like it was draining my energy. So we left, and I walked out and had a voicemail with a job offer for this awesome opportunity in Portland. I was really excited.  Felt like all the interviews and applications had finally paid off.  So Thursday morning I got another phone call with all the details. And it went downhill from there....

So the pay was excellent but the relocation package was minimal at best.  They were offering a lump sum payment of $2500 to relocate over 2500 miles.  And this lump sum she was unsure if this would be paid upfront and would be taxed! So maybe it would be about ohhh $2000.  So she said she needed to know my decision by the next day.  So I sit down and start crunching numbers. $1800 for a U-Haul,  more for gas and boxes, $400 for a round trip ticket to find an apartment, hotel stay, $1400 for first and lasts month's rent and a whole slew of expenses I probably hadn't even thought of.  So pretty much they expected me to use my good looks and charm to hitch hike across the country, cus that's the only way I was gonna afford it.  I emailed her and raised my concerns, and her response pretty much was that the company doesn't usually offer relocation at all, so I should be happy they're offering what they are. Hmmmm interesting. Anyway needless to say, I was disappointed. But at least I know I'm hirable right??

Anyway, Christmas shopping done, all online, cus I aint got time for these fools.....

Way Overdue

Hey everyone.  I know it has been WAY too long since I last blogged.  But what really made me want to blog this time is when I was at dinner with my friend Krista on Sunday, she says, 'you know I read your blog".  And I had no idea! I mean I was pretty sure my mom is a loyal follower, but that's kinda her job, no?  So to the few that do read my blog, I won't go that long again.  Made me feel kinda special :-)  And please comment!! I like hearing feedback!

So what's been going on in Seirra's life?  Nothing exciting.  For Thanksgiving I went home to Akron and Brandy came home from Miami.  It was really nice to spend those few days with her but now I am gearing up for my Miami trip!!  But other than that I have been applying for jobs, interviewing for jobs, working and repeat.  I'm trying to remain optimistic, and lately I have a really good feeling. (Keep your fingers crossed for me.)

Two weeks ago I got a letter in the mail stating that my first loan payment of $519 dollars is due on January 14th.  A mild panic began to set in, one because I thought I had until February and two because seriously, my monthly payment is more than my rent?? I had already begun the consolidation process so hopefully that will be done before my first payment is due, otherwise I will be taking an online class to defer payment further.  It's really time to organize a million student march.  I really appreciate all the work Obama is doing, but all those billions he gave to bail out the banks......I really feel like he could have just forgave 50% of student loans for students that actually COMPLETED their degrees. I'm just saying, maybe I should write him a letter??

So Christmas is coming up, I'm not really in the spirit though.  The roads are congested, I get obscene amounts of trash mail to my house, etc.  I haven't put up my Christmas tree in two years....I sound a lil like Scrooge don't I??  Well the plus side is I'll have some much needed time off work.  My daily routine is to  work, go home, cook, watch some TV and am in bed by 10:30 because I'm exhausted.  I'm 23 years old.......this is a problem lol.

Say goodbye to Seirra's hair.  You will not see me without a hat on until about March.  This is not the season to be tryna look cute, nor is this the season to attempt to go out.  I have no desire to stand in lines, slip on ice wearing heels and/or carry around my coat inside the entire night. 

Anyway back to the daily grind of being talked to like I'm a dog by patient's parents :-)  By the way, why do parents insist on bring their newborns in without socks on?? The parent is bundled up from head to toe in a damn snow suit but you think your 1 month old doesn't deserve simple things like socks.........?

Countdown to Tax Time

So must people are counting down to Thanksgiving or Christmas....but not I.  I'm counting down to tax time! That's probably one of my favorite times of the year.  But before that, I'm super excited about my New Year's trip.......Sidenote: I think this is going to be a short blog because I don't have anything to talk about.

I've made the conscious decision not to speak on upcoming job happenings in the works.  I feel like I somehow jinx it.  But I will say I may have something in the works, so keep throwing positive thoughts my way!

This weekend was great.  My mom and step-dad came down to visit.  I made chicken chili (banged) went to visit Angelica, Alexa and Luis, went to the store, took them to my job, went to the movies and visited my god mom.  Saw Unstoppable by the way, really great movie.  Inspired by true events, so you know I went home a googled it.  Something similar happened in Ohio in 2001, but nothing like the extent of the movie.  Nevertheless, I would still recommend.

Back to my chicken chili.  For those interested in my recipe. I browned 2 lbs of ground chicken with one yellow onion and 2 cloves of garlic.  Then put that in the crock pot with one can of medium Bush's Baked Chili beans, a can of corn, half a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce, a can of tomato paste and one packet of slow cooker chili seasoning.  Then I cooked it on low for 8 hours.  My mom said I been holding out and that I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner.........she obviously didn't see last week's poll on my blog.  The winning answer was for me to bring my smile to Thanksgiving dinner........nothing more nothing less lol

OSU game?? Ok so I was way worried at the beginning. Like really?? You gone let them make a fool out of you in your own house??  But Coach Tressel must have loosened his tie at half-time and put his hands to them boys! Thanks gawd! Anyway, hope everyone has a fantastic week :-)

It's About That Time.....

for me to write another blog.  So my last mini-blog focused on voting last week, which I hope everyone did. To say I was disappointed in the results is an understatement, but at least one thing I voted for passed, the library levy. I guess I'll take my victories were I can get them.

So last weekend ending with me drinking too much and being sick, so I wanted to have a nice relaxing weekend this time around.  Friday was sushi night with Tiffani.  So since we are both broke ass college grads, we decided to travel the world via food.  We are gonna start eating some foreign cuisine on pay weeks lol.  So this week the foreign cuisine was sushi. So I ordered shrimp tempura, which was awesome, probably because it was actually cooked, a tuna roll and an appetizer.  By far the best thing I ordered was the appetizer. It was a lil pocket thing filled with chicken and veggies with this awesome sauce.  And since I'm not a sauce person and i liked it, it must have been really good.  So the tuna was a disaster.  It was beet red raw AND chewy as hell. Disgusting so we put it in a lil box for Tiffani to take home to her cat Gracee. I also ordered a small hot sake which was the biggest small I've ever seen.  I had to get a side of tea just to dilute it.




Tiffani's Spicy Salmon


So Saturday I spent most of the day with Angelica and Alexa, which I always enjoy.  We went to the store and chilled out at home.  While at Babies R Us we discovered chocolate animal crackers. Why they been holding out?? Them things banged, but I've never seen them sold anywhere else :-(  Anyway, lil Alexa has a cold but I try and spend as much time with her as possible cus I def want her to get used to me and know me since I'll be her babysitter :-)




Alexa and Angelica <3

 That night I went to see for Colored Girls with my friends Sophia and Dortheia.  We started at Applebee's for dinner. DISASTROUS. Everytime I go to Applebee's no matter what city, state, anything- the customer service is terrible!  Asked for silverware about 5 times.  Finally got it after we got our appetizers. It was just awful.  Then we go to the movie, very powerful, very moving. Very NOISY.  People were laughing and aint a damn thing funny about the movie.  This lady comes in 15 minutes into the movie. Now if you're obese, I have no problem with you cus I'm not a thin girl myself.  But if you know you truly need 2 seats, you should probably arrive early to reserve you some seats so you and those around you can enjoy the movie comfortably.  Well she decides to waddle in and sit next to me, then falls asleep, and snores, LOUDLY! Ugh never again will I be venturing out to Easton and all their shenanigans.

Sunday was a day for laundry, cleaning and cooking and now its back to the wonderful work week :-(  I'm excited because my sister is coming home for Thanksgiving! Yea! I also want to give a shout out to Nickie P!  I hate flakey ass people.  You know how many people said they wanna come roll to Miami for New Year's but jus be running off at the mouth? Well she actually got her ticket, so I'm excited.  So today at work my time will be spent researching hotel rooms for New Years eve on the strip so we don't have to worry about driving, parking, etc.  Anyway, my mom and step dad are coming this weekend. Excited and disappointed at the same time. Disappointed because I would really like to spend more than half a day with my mom, but oh well I guess....Here's to a fast moving work week!




Short & Sweet

Hey everyone. I hope you take time out today and exercise your civic duty and vote.  Many people fought long and hard for you to have this opportunity, so make it count.  I'll be voting after work, fingers crossed the lines aren't too long.  Blog ya later in the week :-p

What?? You're Paying Moi to Eat!?

The title isn't cryptic at all.  Tonight I am apart of some taste-testing study for breakfast sandwiches.  I get paid 30 bucks to try a new sandwich.  Getting paid to do what I love?? SOLD! I'm pretty sure the sandwich will involve some sort of red meat or pork, which I haven't eaten in a few months, but i'll jus have to chalk that up.  Man 30 minutes 30 bucks, I get paid 30 dollars a minute..... yall hiring full time??  Now these 70mph winds better slow down so I can make it there tonight!

Anywho, today I was pulled to another clinic....not happy about that! But I'm lucky to have a job in this economy, so I will keep my complaining to a minimum.  I'm still tryna get over whatever this lil cold thing I have going on is, but I was definitely not about to let that put a damper on my weekend.

So Thursday, I did some HIV outreach stuff with Tiffani aka the nappyheadrambles.  I didn't get home till about about 9pm. Yep so I basically worked 730am-9pm. But there was free food and I got to do outreach in the community which I love.  The next day was Dylan's bday party.  Had a great time!

Karaoke for Dylan's BDay

So we started out at Dylan's house, drinking, eating and playing games and what not.  Of course my team won Cranium. So around midnite-ish his upstairs neighbor comes down and starts complaining about the noise.  Are you serious dude?? It's a Friday night, its only midnite, its a campus apartment AND the homecoming game is tomorrow, what did you think was gonna go down? And we weren't even loud.  So we keep the volume down, and lo and behold, his ass is back! So we jus head down to karaoke instead. I didn't sing for 2 reasons, mainly because they aint ready for all of thisss and secondly because of my sore throat. Womp Womp.

So Saturday, started with me waking up at noon, the same exact time I was supposed to be meeting Krista for lunch.  Fail, but I was there at 1220! I think I made good time, but anyone who knows me knows I'm always early so that kinda irritated me.  But I love hanging out with her :-)  So got home, finished watching the buckeyes slaughter Purdue, no, I mean that literally. Score was 42-0.  Also watched the city tow away every car on my street.  People really need to read the street signs for game days........I found that out the hard way.  So that afternoon my cousin and her friend came down.  So I took them to the mall bcus they wanted to shop.  Got home that evening, they went out and I went to a haunted house and bowling with some friends.  Had a great time, except for my piss poor performance at bowling.  Out of the 2 games we bowled, my highest score was a 123....I blame it on the alcohol though and the fact that them balls were heavy!

Sunday my friend came and stayed because he was visiting a law school on Monday.  I took him around campus to try and sway him to fine city of Columbus.  Def wasn't a good idea to be walking miles in come Chuck's tho cus I'm feeling it now!  Anyway I guess that's it.  After my taste testing I'm going to visit lil miss Alexita :)

Fingers crossed that my car isn't on it's side when I get off work.........

Well Who Doesn't Like Being Cussed Out at 8AM?

Why don't you all take my quiz to the left, I'm curious if you've ever snapped at work....cus I was damn close today!!! A mother was over 20 minutes late to her appointment and per our policy you have to reschedule when you are that late.  I told her she could take her child to urgent care or I can schedule her an appointment for this evening.  She began her little tirade which included calling me stupid.  Which I called her out on, which she seemed a little bit shocked by.  I let her know calling me names was definitely not for her benefit because that was not gonna get the child seen and furthermore she was being extremely rude.  All before 8:30am......So I scheduled her another appointment for later today she snatched the appointment card and on her way out proceeded to call me an ugly ass.  Hmmmmmm well my face most certainly is not ugly.....nor is my ass.  I saw red and I had a flash back to when George Bush was giving a speech and the reporter took off his boots and threw them at W's head.......yea had to take some deep breaths on that one.

So back to this weekend....Akron is the whackest place on earth. So Friday I didn't do much because I was tired.  Saturday was the O State game (disappointing to say the least!! Can we jus get rid of everyone on special teams all together?? I mean DAMN!! Sorry went off on a tangent...) so my cousin Kham and I were gonna go somewhere to watch it.  So we went to On Taps and it was too packed, so we went to another On Taps and stayed there for the game.  After we wanted to play pool or darts somewhere so we go the the VFW which was ok. Played darts, laughed at the old pimps and hos. Then we decide to go to Wing House, get there and there is a cover, a cover to go eat wings?? So I have to pay you to eat wings, then pay to get the wings?? And it aint nothing but 6 people in there?? I wouldn't go in just on principle.  So then we head to this place called The Office.  I heard it was a nice chill spot but have never been there before. So it was cool.....maybe to take a lil creep there but the over priced drinks and the atmosphere was jus not what I wanted for a Saturday night.  So THEN we go to the Valley and play some pool....man the night was full of dummy missions!

Sunday I had lunch with 2 friends that I've known since......um like 5th and 7th grade?  Wow, you never know how peoples live will turn out.  It's very refreshing to reconnect with someone you haven't seen in a while and you can pick up right where u left off like no time has passed at all.  I'm lucky to have really good friends but also lucky I made good choices in making friends when I was younger too :-)

Monday I had 2 interviews that I think went really well, so fingers crossed!! I usually end my blogs with something about the Bucks.......even tho they disappointed me, I'm still loyal...so GO BUCKS!

My Very Un-Eventful Life....

So seems like I blog once a week, but that's because I really don't have much to talk about!  So I guess I'll start with my weekend.  So Friday evening my friend Dylan was having a wine, cheese and fruit party at his place.  I told him of course I could bring cheese, but wine might be iffy since I hadn't gotten my new drivers license yet.  So he told me to bring sparking grape juice or something because he had a few friends that don't drink alcohol.  So off I go to Giant Eagle and get some brie and mini toasters and head to the wine section.  I'm looking everywhere for sparkling grape juice and can't find it.  So I go to the juice section, still no luck.  Finally, I find a worker and he says they don't sell it.  So I'm still in the wine section and I see a non-alcoholic section.  And I find a whole line of wines with alcohol removed.  So I get some alcohol removed Chardonnay, perfect right?  So I go thru the checkout and homegirl cashier asks for my id.  I tell her its alcohol removed wine, which  I point out on the bottle, so I'm not sure why my id is needed.  She informs me that there is 0.08% alcohol in this wine and that;s why I need an id.  I tell her I don't have it with me then her boss comes by to tell her that its to her discretion if she wants to card me or not.  Basically giving her the OKAY to let me purchase the wine id-less.  Her response?  It's not worth me losing my job.  Oh, it took everything in me not tell cuss her ass out.  NyQuil got more alcohol in it then that bottle of wine!

So off to Dylan's.  Very nice evening, and after his house we all went out to sing karaoke.  Good times, I was nervous but sang one song.  I have to admit, Dylan brought the house down tho! lol

Saturday was full of errands.  Went to get new drivers license. Hair appointment. Bank. Met Dylan for lunch. Went to the Movie Tavern with James and saw The Social Network.  I admit, it exceeded my expectations.  I would definitely recommend.  Shadiness at its finest.  Sunday lunch with Dylan at Betty's where I saw the saddest parade in history.  The Italian Festival parade.  No one threw candy, no one looked happy to be there, random high school bands sweating in polyester. Just sad.  What happened to the dip it low, booty poppin parade dancers from my hey-day??  After that went and got Alexa a buckeyes hat because its a crime she doesn't have any buckeye gear for the game days.

So I spent several hours with Angelica and Alexa.  Just talking, playing with the baby, watching stupid movies, etc.  I really enjoyed spending time with the both of them.  Since I have no life I will be invading theirs more often.  Plan on going back Wednesday to visit :-)



Me and Alexita

So hopefully some exciting prospects coming up this week in terms of jobs.  A telephone interview tomorrow and a second interview next Monday.  Fingers crossed!  Have a great week, if something exciting happens this week (not banking on that), I'll blog it!  P.S.  You been following buckeye football?? :-)

Never Been So Happy to Be Back in Cold Ass Ohio

This just may end up being my longest blog ever. My apologies in advance. I would like to begin this mini-novel with something positive.  Congrats to Angelica and Luis on their new bundle of joy Alexa!  My lil niece decided against waiting until I came back home to make her appearance, but that's okay.  Can't wait till she's bigger and we can wear out matching RUN DMC shirts :)

SO.  Let us begin this journey with re-living my weekend.  So Friday morning we leave for Savannah, Georgia.  I asked Brandy if she wanted me to drive because I knew she hadn't had much sleep but she said she was fine running off of fake energy. That didn't last long because an hour later I was driving.  I drove for about 7 hours before we switched.  My back felt like a freakin accordion!  So I tried going to sleep to no avail.  Meanwhile, Adonis' ass is knocked out in backseat looking all peaceful, like he's dreaming of dancing pork chops or something.

So we finally get to Savannah around 8:30 and were pissed bcus Paula Deen and her brother's restaurants were both closed.  So someone Brandy knows told us to go to this other restaurant, Vic's on the River.  I called to make a reservation and off we go.  What a beautiful city.  All the big ol houses and weeping willows...but reminds me of the big house aka slave massa's house.  I told Brandy she was a house nigga..........cus she sho woulda been.  Anyway, so we get to Vic's and this hostess is dumber than a box of rocks. Like forreal.  She's like I only have one reservation at 9:30 for another name (that sounds almost exactly like Bran's).  So I start name dropping, I'm telling her the name of the chick I made a reservation with over the phone and maybe she jus heard the name wrong.  She's over there hmmm and ahhh-ing I'm like does the girl's name I said work here? Of course she does! We left, incompetence at its finest folks!

So we went to Tony Roma's and had a nice evening then went back to the hotel and crashed. Next morning, on the road again.  Whenever I got sleepy I just listened to Teflon Don to get me supa hype.  While driving, we started seeing signs for Daytona Beach, where my cousin lives.  We called and took about a hour off the road to spend some time with him and the kids.  Absolutely adore my lil cousins.  (Will post their pic after I upload this digital cam)

So we finally make it to Miami Lakes.  Of course my ass is sick and getting sicker.  So right across the street we walk over to CVS.  I take my wallet while Brandy and Adonis wait outside for me.  I pay for my medication, put the change in my wallet and walk out.  I know I had my wallet because I remember putting the change of 13.01 in my wallet cus I was excited there was no sales tax.  We get back, go upstairs and put Adonis up then come back down to take stuff up from the car.  After that we head to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner.  Ruby Tuesday's is in this shopping plaza which must be the high school kid's hang out spot on a Saturday night.  Madness, there was scantly clad teens every way you turned.  We sit down, enjoy a nice dinner, and when it's time to pay, I can't find my wallet in my purse.  I don't even panic because I know it must be at the hotel.  We get back to the hotel and its nowhere.   So I check the hotel, car, call CVS and Ruby Tuesday. It's nowhere. So at 1 in the morning I retrace my steps with Adonis as my protection.  Nada.  No one used my cards but still nada. 

That's not even the worst of it.....how am I gonna fly back without an id?!!!!! Greyhound aint even happening! It would be like a 3 day ride or something?? And if my back felt like an accordion already, what would become of me?? Plus I didn't request any more time off work.  So I'm stranded without a dime to my name.  So i went and filed a police report with the most illiterate officer on the force? Do you not need to know how to read and write for that job?? I mean I know yall stay on the First 48 but lowering your standards that low is pretty ridiculous....

I really tried hard not to let this mishap get me down.  I didn't want this to interfere with the time I spent with my sister.  Everything I lost is replaceable, but my time with her is not.  So Sunday night we went to Miami Beach and had some drinks, praying I wouldn't get carded since I was id-less.  And I wasn't which i felt a bit conflicted about, I thought I had a baby face! Anyway, people watching was fun, alot of fun.

The next day it was time for me to leave.  I headed to the airport 2 hours in advance with my crocodile tears on deck should I need to start my Oscar-worthy tear jerking performance. They called a supervisor to come talk to me.  I told him the situation, showed him the police report # and my buck id.  Ohhhh he was a buckeye fan.  Asking me about my degree, telling me how proud he is of me.  God, I just love being a buckeye!  Anyway thank goodness I also had a prescription on me with my name, so he let me fly.  So off to Charlotte I went for a 3 hour layover.  Got on that plane and sat next to the most talkative man in history!  The 20 minutes we sat waiting on the plane to take off, he told me his whole life story.  I mean for real. What he was doing in Charlotte, where he's from, what he does, what he watches, the instruments he plays, etc, etc.  I was cordial but was supa hype when he finally put his ipod in! 

Fast forward to today-Landed safely, back in Columbus at work, and now the rebuilding begins.  Have to open a new acct, order more checks, change my direct deposit, etc, etc.  Never been so happy to be back in cold ass Ohio :-p

Interviews S.U.C.K.!!!!

So I just had a telephone interview for a job in California.....and it BLEW! So, I get it- you apply for a job out of state, of course you should be expecting a telephone interview.  But a telephone interview with 7 people?  WTF? If all yall have questions, then submit those questions to one person or wait until you are going to fly someone in for a second interview before you decide to bombard the person with no warning! THEN people kept being added to the conference call at random times.......can we say tacky, tacky?  If you're gonna be a late arrival and interrupt my sentence and flow, then you should come in quietly and announce yourself between questions.  On top of that, half of them were foreign with an accent.  Lots of times when speaking with someone who has an accent, you can figure out the what they're saying bcus u can read their lips.....not so much on the phone!

So about 2 months ago I had an interview for a job in the middle of nowhere (Wisconsin), and that interview had about 3 people on the phone, and I thought THAT was bad.  No comparison to today's madness.  In addition (sorry to continue my rant), each person would ask about 4 mini questions in one....so I would answer like 2 questions and have to ask them to repeat the others.  Just ask one damn question at a time.

I just really can't shock, awe and amaze people over the phone, let alone a whole basketball team.  Now in-person panel interviews are bad too, but I mean damn, I choose that over what transpired today anytime. The whole damn department needs an HR intervention on bettering their interview skills!

Sorry guys, my rant is done, maybe I'll have a happy post tomorrow, but that just left me kinda disappointed.  I won't be holding my breath for a call back on that interview.....or I'll be dead.

Bang Bang, Shoot em Up!!

So yesterday Brandy and I were heading to the mall when we saw signs for a place that sold pepper spray and other defense weapons....so we decided to check it out.  Ended up being a flea market, but Brandy bought us some keychain pepper spray, I'm so hype!! I want someone to say somethin crazy to me so they can get it.  Anyway, I'm tellin all this to D and he's basically says I'm gonna end up walking into the pepper spray haze if I spray someone and that I should just get a gun.  Bang Bang, I'm gettin a gun soon yall.  But I'm going all out wit it, I'm gettin one of them lil holster vests the dectecives wear and a holster for my ankle.  I'm super official.  But if I'm doing all that I'm gonna go ahead and get my concealed weapons permit........don't eff with C.

Blue Jean Jacket Mafia

Ok rewind to this past weekend.  My mom took all the pictures from Brandy's party, so i'll have to wait until she uploads them before I can post some.  So on the menu for the festivities was chicken, pasta, veggies, cheese, rolls and cake.  So we bought the chicken but me and my mom made the pasta.  That ish banged!  Everyone was complimenting us :)  So it started at 6pm but my mom and I got there early, at about 4:40pm to set up and reserve some tables.  My mom is so cute, she kept sayin, 'We gonna get sauced before everyone comes."  But after her first glass of wine she was pretty much thru....me, I had an entire bottle to myself.  I hope Brandy enjoyed herself though.

Sunday I went to church with mom and Brandy.  Way overdue.  I don't think I've been since Easter.  I never want to get up and go, but always feel so much better when I leave.  I need to make an effort to visit some churches in Columbus so I can find one I like an attend regularly.

This week I'm meeting my friend Tiffani so we can talk about the possiblity of starting a non-profit.  We've been talking about doing something like this for a while, so now we're going to meet to brainstorm some ideas and look at the paperwork for non-profit status.  We wanna have a cradle to grave organization but at the beginning we're gonna have to focus on funding one or two programs.  The process to get non-profit status is long and hard so it's gonna take a big committment from the both of us.  I'm excited but at the same time I have no idea where I'm gonna be 6 months from now, and I don't do anything half ass, I want to be able to give an 100% committment, so we'll see.

In closing did you see the game this weekend? Score was 20 to 72 or something?? Is this a damn basketball game? That's ridculous, but GO BUCKS!  P.S. I lost 3 pounds, now just gotta see if I can keep this going! Yay me :)

Blah

Sorry I haven't been blogging much, but my mind has been rather blank.  Since I live a boring life, I feel as though I shouldn't bore you with my uneventful tales.  But I will anyway :)  So my life generally consists of: going to work, applying for jobs while at work, going home, watching tv, repeat.  But I guess some things are coming up that aren't normally apart of my boring schedule.  Like the Miami trip, which I have already blogged about.  Finally yesterday I got  approval that my time off was granted for the trip, so all systems are a go!

Back to my diet.  So I returned the diet crap the day before yesterday.  I don't really feel like a failure because I typed out and saved all the information the diet plan provided.  When I called, the company asked why I was returning it, I said ummm because I'm hungry all the time.  He says oh that's good, it means it's working!! wtf?? I beg to differ dude.  Mess aint gone work if I'm constantly starving!  Anywho, I feel like I played the system, got all my diet info and just had to pay shipping back and forth.  I've made my own variations to the "diet" so we'll see how that goes....

Hopefully after tomorrow I'll have more exciting things to blog about since we are throwing Brandy a lil going away party at a winery.  I'll post pics.  Just so happens the weekend we are driving to Miami is the weekend one of my bestie's baby is due!  I hope she stays up in there till I get back!!



Baby Alexa :)

 So I'm signing off.  So excited my best friend D has dropped back in and made an appearance! He always comes back when I'm making an electronic purchase for some reason.  I guess the tech gods call out to him to tell him Seirra is making some awful purchase and needs your help, lol.

Again, don't forget to watch the killer buckeyes do some more slaughtering this weekend! GO BUCKS!!

And So It Begins: Losing a Middle School Aged Kid

I know it's been far too long since I've posted a blog!  But this weekend was all kinds of busy.  Friday I went home to Akron directly after work, and my weekend was pretty non-stop after that.  I'm trying to spend as much time as possible with my sister before she leaves for Miami.  So Saturdaywas my graduation dinner in Akron.  I really didn't expect the turn out I got!  There was probably about 23 peeople there.  I felt so loved and cared about.  Here is one of my favorite pics from the night with my Uncle and sister.

:) Cute.  Still in <3 with my hair too!



Man, people tell me all the time I look like my dad, but in this picture I finally see it, I look just like his twin!! And Brandy looks like us too in the cheek area, just a tad bit lighter :)

So Brandy is leaving in a couple weeks, so we started mapping out trip to Miami.  We are going to stop 12 hours into the trip in Savannah, Georgia.  We found a nice hotel that will take Adonis too.  Then from Savannah to Miami is another 8 hour drive, WTF?!  A 20 hour drive? This mess is gonna be insane!!

Moving right along....So about 3 weeks ago, I ordered this diet plans.  No really wouldn't call it a diet per se, it's more just eating healthier, smalled meals more frequently.  So today was the big the kick off.  I got on the scale and wanted to cry.  Hence the title of this blog....my goal is to lose the weight of a middle aged kid.  I will keep u updated on my journey.  It's almost time for my mid morning snack which consists of half a can of tuna and half a banana....sounds yummy right??  I'm tryna stick to my guns and see this thing through, so if you see me misbehavin, call me out on it!!  It really doesn't help that Paula Deen's restaurant is 15 minutes away from our hotel in Savannah.....SAD FACE.  Welp, until tomorrow guys....

Happy To Be Nappiversary

Happy Nappiversary to me!! So the summer of '09 I started thinking I wanted to go natural.  Natural because I thought it would make my hair alot healthier since over the years it really started to thin out, and I thought it was high time to get my hair un-addicted to creamy crack aka relaxer.  So though I was thinking it would be a splendid idea, I had some reservations...... number 1, I just wasn't completely sold on the idea and number 2, it was summer, and I definitely wasn't about to try a natural hair experiment in a heat wave.  Then a couple months later in September I saw the movie Good Hair, which ended up being the push I needed to make that change (plus the encouragement of my hairdresser).  It's been a year since I took the big plunge....

Though my hair is natural, you probably couldn't tell just by looking at me.  I still get my hair pressed, so it almost is always straight.  I haven't graduated to the no heat natural hair thing, but I know I'll get there.  Look at this pic of one of my besties and her awesome hair, I aspire to be like her one day!! (Check out her blog too!)


thenappyheadrambles.blogspot.com


So this is the first summer I had with natural hair, and it def kicked my ass! Living in an apartment with no air conditioning tends to make you sweat. And water and natural hair equals kinkiness.  But I have not regretted my decision, my hair is most certainly thickening up and is much healthier giving me the confidence to start trying new things with my hair, i.e. the new haircut I just got!

As I go home to Akron for the weekend, I'm really excited to see all my friends and family tomorrow for my graduation celebration.  The Post Grad Edition in the title of this blog is an ode to my life after graduate school.  I'll take lots of pics to post to the blog and will make sure I blog all about the festivities. 



Don't forget to tune in tomorrow to watch the killer buckeyes slaughter OU!! GO BUCKS!!

Newbie

Well since I now have one lone follower, I'm going to actually post a blog! So I decided to start this blog, one, because my good friend Tiff is and it sparked something in me because at this point in my life, I'm trying new things, hopefully accomplishing new feats, and chronically that is probably a good idea.  Speaking of new things, I cut my hair yesterday! Ever since my hair grew back, I had this Samson mentality of not wanting to cut it (reference www.holybible.com) lol. But you know, it was time for something new.  And you know what?? I like it! I refer to it as the messy bob, I'll try and post a pic.  Lately I have been feeling very optimistic about what my future has in store, even though it seems like every time I turn around I'm getting an email saying I'm not qualified for a job I applied for!  I'm concentrating on not letting that get me down and focusing on other things....like this new blog I started i.e. a distraction lol

On to other things.  So my sister is moving to Miami in a few weeks.  Guess that will be my new vacation spot.  I'm really excited for her, but a little sad at the same time.  Although we hated each other growing up, we have become extremely close, and I would say she's my best friend.  So about 2 months ago I sent her a link to an article I read about several dogs overheating and dying while flying on an airplane.  That was probably the wrong move....so now we, yes we, me her and Adonis (the 70 lb dog) will be driving her car and him to Miami soon.  Number one, that's gonna be a hell of a long drive. Number 2, I pray there are no storms because Adonis has anxiety attacks cus he needs to grow some gonads, Number 3, I hope we are still on speaking terms after this.....I'll keep you informed and will probably be blogging from the road.

Adonis

So to end this thing, this blogging stuff is all new to me.  So please, I am completely open to and encourage suggestions and comments.  I'm kinda random, so I apologize if I jump around alot. But please leave feedback, just say hi if you have nothing to say :) Being that I'm new, expect changes while I figure things out, thanks for reading :)