wanderlust

I'm feeling the desire to wander again. My Freshman and Sophomore year in college I spent much of my time wandering.....wandering in different countries....wandering about here in Athens. Just wandering. Thinking. Seeing new things. Exploring. It was a drive I couldn't ignore and it pulled me to some of the most amazing places and experiences I've ever seen. I embraced this desire and went with it. Looking back I'm so very glad I did.
I thought that part of my life was over. An itch I had scratched. Every couple months the itch would come back and demanded to be noticed. So I scratched it and have been so very blessed to have been able to experience all that I have.
For about a year or so now that desire has remained dormant. Maybe due to reality....maybe a little to the rational side of myself that has grown since I was 18. But once again....ever so quietly this time....its whispering again to me.
Go....
See...
Experience...
Feel...
Explore....
Live..
College provided wonderful ways to fulfill this desire through study abroad and trips with friends. God revealed this love for seeing His creation through mission trips and other life experiences.

You ever just get that feeling that if you don't do something you may be missing out on something very significant to who you are and what drives you. That's what I got right now. Something beyond curiosity. I would even go so far as to say design...how and who I've been designed to be by the One who knows best.
The desire to see and feel beauty. To be in awe. To be speechless by what surrounds me in nature.
The drive is back and cannot be ignored.
Now I just need to figure out why it is there....and how to fulfill it and continue to do His will.

It's not Christmas without Amy

So Will and I are going to Ultimate Christmas concert next week. I'm pretty excited about it....bringing back the 80's with some mistletoe and eggnog.
Yup...we are going to the Amy Grant/Vince Gill concert at the Fox.
Don't judge. (well we may be that lame couple..but I'm OK with it if it includes Amy)

I heard on the radio that she was in concert with Vince (we are on a first name basis) at the Fox and I almost peed in my pants with excitement. When I was little Christmas wasn't officially Christmas until I had listened to the Amy Grant Christmas Album. For those of you that know...I can hear you screaming "Oh ya!! Totally!" over cyber world...for those that don't, I shed tears for lost childhood memories for you. Amy Grant's Christmas CD is still by far the best Christmas compilation ever. I remember interpretive dancing to "Mary did you know" in my playroom when I was younger.
(Yup...I use to pretend interpretive dance....I was pretty good...and maybe a little in college. sigh...sorry for those that witnessed those)
Amy is necessary for me and Christmas. Can't have Christmas without her...it be like eggnog with out the nog...then you would just have eggs. Gross and not very festive. When I heard about the concert I had to go! The only question...who could I get to go with me who wouldn't think it was lame. Hmmm. That was a tough one. Will!! Well....I'll just leave the part about Amy out and say its a Christmas Country Concert with Vince. So I told him...and he sounded interested...ya go ahead and get the tickets...it will be fun. Here's where I thought I should at least let him know Amy was involved too. So I sandwiched it in with the time and location hoping he wouldn't notice. Kinda like when your mom asks what you did last night and you say....Oh you know....grab some pizza with friends, watch some T.V., almost get arrested....got some ice cream and called it an early night. (warning: that never works. They always catch the part about the 'almost' arrest. But I digress...that's a story for another blog)
So Will of course heard the part about Amy that I tried to squeeze in.
"Oh ya and it's this Monday at the Fox with Amy Grant at 7:30...we should grab dinner before!"
" WHAT!! AMY GRANT!!??"
I paused waiting for the " We are NOT going to that concert! That's just cheesy...etc etc. But I was surprised...instead of back pedaling from the 80's princess concert I heard....
" Oh my gosh!!! Her Christmas CD is my favorite! We HAVE TO GO!! Ahhh Tennessee Christmas is such a good song!"

I was shocked. Amazed...and slightly impressed. So next Monday be thinking of us...we will be reminiscing of old childhood Christmas joys with Amy ...oh and Vince will be there too.

But let's be honest...everyone is there for Amy.

Mug from above

Coffee is crucial in the morning. In the summer months this nectar of the gods provides caffeine...but in the winter it has a dual purpose.
Warmth and Energy.
I took a hiatus from coffee for a month or two...just because I'm lazy. But now that its -30 when I wake up in the morning, coffee has made its way back into my life.

The dilema with coffee is the travler mug.

For those that have the perfect traveler you would not understand the difficulty that comes from having a bad traveler. It's like taking a newborn to a movie...just not worth it in the end. So it is with bad travel mug. The only one we have in our house is one of the short pudgy ones. I have the Danny DeVito of coffee mugs (compared to the ideal tall, skinny travler...aka Heidi Klum). Now let me explain why the DeVito mug looks cute..but fails miserably!
1. Too fat to fit in cup holders. This COMPLETELY null and voids the purpose of a traveler. Instead of being hands free I have to either drive with one hand or master the art of driving with it in between my legs. (This never ends well)
This leads me to number 2....
Devito Mug is not air tight. Nope. When this thing tips over (see #1) coffee goes everywhere. You might as well take the lid off and just pour it on the floor- exact same end result.
These are the main reasons I gave up coffee. I'm too lazy and the effort to enjoy it in the car wasn't worth it! Also, I was way to cheap to go buy a new one and I hadn't seen the Ideal Traveler. I wasn't going to drop $20 bucks on another "accident waiting to happen". So I just gave up.

That is until the "Mug from Above."
I came home the other week and there was a stainless steel coffee traveler sitting in my drive way. You could say it looked like it was waiting for someone. (Me? I asked) I racked my brain for who's it could be....none of my family drinks coffee. No one had been at the house (that I knew of) for a couple days. And yet this Perfect traveler sat in the driveway. Could it have been forgotten....travesty. Or possibly a gift....I like that idea. Well, honestly either way I was going to take it. It looked perfectly clean...no left over coffee inside(thankfully!) I took it as a present from above. The Lord knew it was going to be getting cold soon...so he left me a mug :)
I did't realize "Mug from Above"'s full potential until our first experience together. This miracle mug is completely spill proof. I could launch that sucker into the air and not spill a drop! Also, I press a button to trigger the mouth to open so there is no whops I left the mouth open now my coffee is freezing...or spilled. And the most impressive thing....I brewed this coffee at 7:30 this morning. Didn't drink all of it....decided to see if it's still decent.
2 PM...Coffee is STILL WARM! Impressive!
This mug will make these winter months so much more bareable...and accident proof. So thank-you mysterious mug giver... I appreciate it!

I...

I Am: looking forward to the Holidays and eating way too much!
I Have: a new job, which is amazing
I Think: too much sometimes
I Know: that I am destined for greatness. But I forget my potential sometimes.
I Dislike: collard greens...and easily offended people
I Miss: the care-free days of college
I Fear: failure
I Feel: tired, excited, happy, scared, joyful, and especially cold.
I Want: to succeed
I Smell: fall in everything.
I Crave: chocolate. Or ice cream would be awesome too!
I Cry: rarely. And when I do it usually sneaks up on me
I Usually: wonder where the weekend went
I Search: for something good in everyone.
I Wonder: if I'll realize when I'm doing exactly what I was called to do. Will it hit me and be like " Oh THIS IS IT!"
I Care: about what people think way to much
I Love: laughing with friends and family more than anything!
I Regret: having not clung to every moment in highschool and college.
I Always: want to make wonderful memories
I Worry: way too much
I Am Not: perfect
I Remember: when my biggest worry was the spelling test on Friday.
I Dance: in the car and in front of the mirror...a lot.
I Don't Always: think before I speak
I Write: because I don't understand until I've written my thoughts out.
I Win: all the time! Unless I'm playing my brother Mitchell.
I Wish: poverty didn't exist
I Argue: very rarely
I Listen: to country because I love the stories the lyrics tell
I Lose: my purpose in life's business
I Don't Understand: why people would believe there isn't a God.
I Can Usually Be Found: in the bathtub. I love water and I love being warm!
I Am Scared: of being chased. Therefore, I usually hate Hide N' Go Seek
I Need: to learn to trust
I Forget: things a lot. I use sticky notes
I Am: excited about these new stages in my life and where they will take me!

Flu Season

I hate throwing up. Hate, Hate, HATE IT! Thankfully, this is only a miserable experience I go through every 7 years. However, whenever Flue season comes around I get scared. If someone near me is even thinking about being nausiated, I wear a face mask and stear clear. My roomate was sick last year....I wouldn't even go in her room. I love taking care of people when they are sick, but I have no tolerance for vomit.

Why? Because when I throw up I pass out. Yup. That's right. The gag reflex makes me black out. Unconscious. Its not fun. I discovered this in highschool when the morning of homecoming I got sick and kept waking up on the floor by the toilet. This resulted in a huge headache and since the I have learned to pad the floor near the tub and toilet with towels.

Why on earth am I talking about this?? Because it's Flu season and I'm getting scared. The intern who works with me has felt awful all day...nauseous. She said her roomate has been throwing up the past 3 days!! My reaction: oh...go HOME! If you don't feel good you really should get some rest. Don't worry about work...it'll be fine. (This all said as I back away from her)

Seriously, I avoid sickness at all possible. At lunch, I went out and bought Purell to soak my hands in the rest of the day. If I could get my hands on some Lyscol spray....our storage room would be a fog of disinfectant. I keep thinking of where the germs might be. Ugh...on my keys. Can't rub that down in Purell. OH...the doorknob is definately contamiated! So I've been walking around all day trying not to touch anything with my hands (elbows can be used for a lot!)

However, this reminded me of my all time worst/funniest sick story. So I felt like those who don't already know it..would love it!
Let me set the stage: May of last year....end of semester test are coming up....and I've just started dating Will. (We're talking like just over a month...still fresh.)

So, I wake up one morning feeling very nausiated. End up passed out on the floor in my bathroom. I crawl out of my bathroom and throw a shoe at Natalie's door (roomate) in hopes that she's awake. Not likely...its 6:00 A.M. and she sleeps HARD.


NAAATTTTAAAAALLLLIIIIEEEE is my sick call.

She comes and takes care of me for a little bit, but keeps her distance. She calls Will because she has to go take a test and my "NEW" boyfriend comes over to see his girlfriend curled up, fetal position, on the floor with the chance of throwing up again very likely. He was awesome and took great care of me.
Now fast forward...
I warned him I passed out when I throw up but after having been sick 5 times already...I figure I'm done, so not much of a threat anymore.

Wrong.

I'm laying in the bed in my sweats while he studies German. Suddenly I get a hot flash...(menapause?? really?) so I get up the energy to go to the bathroom and put on some shorts. I let Will know he doesn't need to check on me because I'm not that sick anymore. So wrong. I get in the bathroom and get the sweat pants off. As soon as they clear my ankles I feel another wave of nausea. Oh man...not good. I knock over a glass on the way to to toilet and it shatters. Immediately Will is at the door screaming for me. I, irritated at my clumsiness, tell him I'm fine. (this is while I'm hanging over the toilet waiting for the wave to pass.) You know where this is going....Yup, gag reflex....blackout.
Next thing I remember is Will is calling my name and I feel him pulling me by my arms out from between the tub and the toilet.

I was mortified! Oh my gosh did I pass out in my sickness!??

He chuckled....No. But you are in your underwear.

UGH!!! REALLY!!!! More embarassment. This is just ridiculous!

He then sweetly asks (after propping me up against the wall) if I want him to leave. I shake my head embarrassed and ask if he could just hand me my pants and put me back in my bed.

I give him props for not running for the hills. Girl passed out in the bathroom in her underwear isn't really a good start to a relationship. But he stuck around....and 20 minutes later when he found me again passed out in the bathroom he even chuckled a little bit.
And this is why for the next 4 months Airborn and Purell are gonna be my best friends!

Like your snakes

I often wonder if people act the same way when they were kids. You, but just in a mini version. My mother told me a story the other day that I feel like best sums me up as a person, and after my mother told me this story I am certain now that, at least with me, not much has changed.

Apparently when I was little my mother said I was full of questions and was a very observant 3 year old. Hmm…sound familiar. Also, she remembers that I would say whatever it was I was thinking…good, bad.inappropriate (ha of course). It didn’t matter; if I thought it, I found it necessary to let everyone know. Years ago someone said that my mental filter was broken.

this is proof that I probably never had one.


Well I was about three and my mother took me to a McDonald’s and while she was ordering she set me up on the counter. However, much to her chagrin she noticed that the guy taking our order had some intense tattoos. His tattoo was of a giant snake going up and down both of his arms…in perfect sight for her chatter-box three year old to notice. I just laugh envisioning my mom noticing last minute and realizing her mistake moments to late to prevent me from seeing these impressive displays of artwork. She tried to order as quick as possible because knowing her inquisitive child, I would probably say something extremely embarrassing if I noticed the tattoos.


Umm...Quarter Pounder and uh, kids meal ...quick. (Nervous glances towards me)


“Would you like cheese?”


“Cheese.....yeah sure.” (More nervous drumming of the finger nails. Eyes darting between the snakes and me quietly observing the slithering artwork.)


“Anything to drink ma’am?”


“Yah that’s fine...how much?” (Receipts go flying as my mother rummages for money as quick as possible)


I stayed quiet the whole time. Impressive right? As my mom picked me off the counter to go sit and eat she probably closed her eyes in relief that I had kept my mouth shut. However, we all know this story doesn’t end with me remaining quiet.

As she picked me up to leave, impressed at my silence, she says that I simply looked up at the guy and very matter-of-factly said…


“Like your snakes.”


With that my mother whisked me away to finish my kid’s meal and hope that my happy meal toy would distract me from further questioning the tattoos.

It could have been a lot worse…


And thankfully my taste in tatoos has changed since then.

Close but no cigar

Fall weather is here.

My favorite running weather.

Came home from work....

got the shoes laced up....

Appropriate running spandex were on.

IPOD....check.

started stretchin....

weather was perfect.

I was ready for a great run.

but instead...

I baked a pie.

sigh. maybe tomorrow.

They found me

I created this blog to fill a void. A void I have a work, when I don't have work. It fit very nicely. If ever I had a good hour of nothingness....get on type blog or stalk some other bloggers (more than you would think) and the hour would fly by! It became my routine....a habit...a soon to find out luxury.

why?

Because they found me.

yup. "they"
"they" is who us interns call the IS&T guys. I don't really remember what it stands for. Something and something and technology. They're the nerds. The Tech grads. The pocket protector wearing, PC's are crap ranting, everyone should get a mac, glass pushing, suspender wearing, probably could do circles around me, tech guys that pretty much ruined our lives. As interns we have work sometimes but we do it frugally because when we finish it...its done. Then we enter the boredom phase. I usually work a little bit. Surf the Internet. Work some more, get a snack. Return to work, write a blog. Stuff like that. But oh, not anymore. You see IS&T's main job is that they monitor everyone at my office's Internet usage. They know who goes to what websites, how often etc. Yeah ....obnoxious. As you may have guessed this has led to the blocking of all the good websites. Facebook...fat chance. MySpace...nope. And the most random and obnoxious one....UGA Football website. Really?
So I discovered that this blogging website wasn't blocked...SWEET....found a way to spend my extra time.
All was going great for the first month or so.....that is until they found me. I had gotten too lax....probably got on too many times a day...or it may just be that I got on it every day. But, never-the-less they found me and blocked me. Sigh. I've tried every loop hole but to no avail. This sucker is good and blocked.
I can just imagine them sitting in front of their computers arguing about what external hardrive is better suited for certain computers....or perhaps discussing their new Apple products.(either way this discussion is probably lame and painful) But they notice...

Hey Jim..computer 4,678bc in the storage room at location 45t7 has been on this website a lot!
Really? What is it!
OMG....we missed one!!! How could we not have seen this!
What...what...what one!?
It's....it's a blog
NO!
Yes! And this computer goes to it all the time..oh and look she's convinced her storage room buddy computer to start going to it to. Now this is just getting out of hand.
Well Ned you know what to do.
Yup. BLOCKED!
*evil nerdy laughter in sues*

So...this is why my posts are fewer and far between. Revenge of the Nerds. Knew I should have been nicer to those guys in high school.

I need an external hard drive

This happened once in college. I went through a busy phase when school started up and I seriously thought I had the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease. I couldn't remember the simplest things for the life of me.
Where were my keys? What day was it? What class am I going to....I go to this class every other day but for some reason it's evading me? What did I do this weekend? Did I eat lunch?
Ridiculous stuff like that.
If I had a hard time remembering who the President was in 1804 than I would write it off as just losing pointless information...but no this was CRUCIAL day in day out, can't function if I don't remember it info. I even called my mom and asked her to set up a doctor's appointment because it was getting bad. She reassured me that I simply had too much going on that my brain couldn't remember it all so it simply was dropping information. Ummm not cool. My brain kinda runs everything and suddenly it had gone renegade and turned against me, deciding to drop information and data without asking permission. It was running amuck and doing whatever it felt like....just trying to function. After a lot of training I had it's leash back on and reminded it who was boss and that it couldn't just delete things like my class schedule from memory.
Well....my brain is acting up again. Apparently my new job has it on overload and so once again my brain has started Spring Cleaning my memory and it is deleting important daily functions. Oh I could tell you what so-and-so had in her teeth at Waffle House in 1999, but what I did yesterday....complete loss. It's getting so bad now that I forget crucial stuff at work. I tried to tell someone something important that I had made a note of and midway through talking I literally stopped and my brain informed me that for lack of space it had decided to delete the rest of that memory. Ugh...I stuttered and spat and internally yelled at my brain for making me look like an idiot as I tried to remember. Meanwhile, Co worker thought I had lost my mind....

Oh I just wrote it down...what was it...Oh my gosh I can't remember...hold on it will come to me....hmmm, nope....I'll be right back...there's a sticky note somewhere.

Thanks brain.

So to solve this problem I've started using the ever brilliant invention Post-Its. My desk looks like one giant reminder because I write them about everything....I have Post-its that remind me about other Post-its. I usually have to sort through my stickies to find the one I'm looking for. Yesterday, however, my brain revolted against my counter attack to memory lost. I miss placed a sticky note.

seriously?

It took me a good 10 minutes to locate it...during which I seriously doubted my capabilities to function. I eventually found it...stuck to some random wall...not near my desk. I do not remember putting it there. My brain had apparently gotten an overload of sticky notes so in an attempt to help me organize, it decided to start moving them. At this point I decided I needed to invest in an external hard drive for my brain, that way at the end of the day I can just transfer crucial files and then I don't have to worry about when my brain crashes.

Good news ....I don't have Alzheimer's.... bad news ... I'm impressed every day when I can do the basics.

If you see me driving down 85 confused....someone direct me towards home.

Alumni

So this weekend was my first UGA game of the season. This has not been a big deal in the past...until now. This past game marked my first game as an alumni.
(cue the huge sigh)
yup that's right. Alumni. AKA I'm at the game not as a student of the University...but as a graduate...as an old person. UGH. It was rough. Thankfully I had some other senior citizens to hang out with. We parked our wheel chairs....brought extra depends and our hearing aids and enjoyed a good game...from what we could see. It's just sad. Another nail in the coffin of my age. I have come to grips that I have thrown my cap, walked through the arch, moved home etc. but I had not come onto campus as an alumni yet. There was relief knowing that come Monday I had no class...and no homework to ruin my Sunday. However, as Will pointed out...I had an 8 hour work day. Thanks. I had almost forgotten.
I felt like I needed to be more accomplished as an alumni. I'm not ready for this!Whenever I picture an alumni I think of some very established, very sophisticated business man who has taken his degree and run with it.....creating his business kingdom and living in the laps of luxury....all because of his degree from UGA. However, I am a ripe 22, living at home with the parents, making pennies at an internship. Not very sophisticated; and if this is established....I'm in big trouble.
I feel that all that is missing from my new alumni status is the "University of Georgia Alumni" car sticker. I have tried to avoid buying this "senior citizen" sticker, mainly due to the fact that I believe I will wake up the day after putting that sticker on my car and be 30 years old and saying phrases like "Well when I went to Georgia.....back in 2004 etc."
Yikes. no thanks.
I think I still have another 5 years till I invest in that sticker. I'll stick to my Georgia "G" and pretend like I'm not as old as I really am.
Sad things happen when your a returning alumni. I didn't recognize any people in the student section; usually its teeming with friends from past classes and other acquaintances. I looked out Saturday...no one. I felt my back starting to hurt. Then I saw my brother down town having all the weekend college fun with his friends that I use to have. Oh....my joints. Then I noticed everyone looked so young! Since when did the middle school field trip downtown?? I feared everyone could see my grey hair growing in by the minute. This was no longer my town...this was the town of my college years. This was my "old stomping ground." Shadows and memories of the past four years floated in and out in front of my eyes and I realized I had to let go. Embrace being a graduate. I had to be OK with being an alumni and let the new wave of kids have at their college experience. Baby steps....next game probably won't be so hard. So I'm going to be proud and admit the truth.

My name is Cameron Smith....and I'm from the graduating class of 2008 from The University of Georgia.

I am an alumni and... I'm OK with it.

a metaphor

This is not going to be a funny blog. Nope. This a vent.

Why... because I need to.

It hit me today...
a brilliantly good metaphor.

I’d say it was from God...but that would be a lie. I realized that some people/circumstances can be hurricanes. Wherever they go...mass destruction. You take 50 mph winds of manipulation mix it with swirling selfish waters, and mile high waves of insecurity and then you got yourself an Evacuation Situation. I'm going to start referring to these circumstances/people like the Weather Service does storms. ( EX: Hurricane Jane)
Sometimes I feel like it fits because I find myself wanting to scan the damage of peoples lives and say, "Welp, Hurricane Jane just took another victim."

Hurricanes also have no concerns for others. There is no avoiding it, no stopping it...just destruction. Why? Because towns can’t just pick up and move; and once your in it...your in it. Damage gets done whether people are there or not.
I feel that is how some things are in life. I can know there is a “hurricane” in my life, but can’t do anything about it but sit and watch the damage and pray for November…or whenever hurricane season is over. The thing with hurricanes is ….they don’t just mess up your life…they take your neighbors house...the ice cream shop...and the hobo’s bridge across town. So it is with some life situations. Sometimes others get caught in the flood.

And that’s why I don’t like the hurricane seasons of life.

With real hurricanes we have the Weather Service that can tell us to the hour where and when that bad boy will hit so people can prepare. In life, no warning. There can be slight hints….a strong wind if you will, but you rarely are ready for the Category 5 that could hit you.

I wish I had a life Weather Service that could give me heads up when my life was about to go Tropical Storm on me.
If I had a warning I would pick up and move inland.

Idaho would be nice.

I wish I was in Idaho. Heard they have good potatoes.

Ridiculous

Glimps of my thoughts today as I worked through a mailing database:

Mr. Charles Dick...
Ugh what an awful last name. I would hate to be Mrs. Dick.

Mr. and Mrs. Dick...

Hahahahahah. That's terrible!

I'm so immature.

HAHAHHAHAHA. Mrs. Dickey.

nope that's worse.

Paschalis Ecomidis. I can't even pronounce that one. Wonder how many times people acutually say her name right.

his name?

Fernando Duralde.
Oh that's an awesome name!

Ferrrnando (in spanish accent)

Hello...my name is Fernando Duralde. You killed my father, prepare to die.

Ha.

ok. seriously.....focus.

Ferrrnando........hahaha

Oh Parents

My parents are funny. For those of you that know them, you understand what I mean. They are probably the most conservative parents I've ever met. I don't mean that in a bad way...but it's true. This doesn't mean that my parents have huge MCCAIN signs in our yard, and when the slightest available moment to bring up politics presents itself they jump at it and let everyone know that Republicans are the best option. No, not that kind of political conservative (although they are). No I'm talking about how they are just conservative by nature. All drinking is bad. Smoking is too. Especially around my young, easily influenced, teenage brothers.
Now living at home with my parents makes me very aware that some of the stuff I am use to doing in college doesn't exactly fly here at home. Sometimes it bugs me and I try my best to please them and not disrupt their pleasant little world with my sinful habits. But...sometimes...it's my favorite past time :) And I may or may not do it just to get a reaction. Here's examples from the past couple weeks of me learning whats not ok...and my different attempts at still doing it.

1.) I decide to have a late night glass of wine. Go get my wine and start pouring a glass.
Mom- "What are you doing?"
Me- "Having a glass of wine."
Mom- "Why?"
Me- "Because I'm 21 and I can. Is that ok?"
Mom- " I don't really know why you feel like you need to have a glass."
Me- "I don't feel like I need to....I just want to. I'm not drowning my sorrows...I'm not drinking my cares away...I just want to have a glass."

Mom- She takes my wine glass and puts it up. "Well I don't want your brothers to see you drinking, so put it in a plastic cup."

Experience ruined. Try drinking red wine out of a UGA SEC Championship Cup and you'll understand.

2.) Second Wine Experience...I'm learning. Parents were gone to a PTA meeting...perfect time to have a glass of wine without being under my mother's disapproving eyes. So I have myself a glass while I work on some project late at night. All goes well. Brothers don't even realize I'm having one. Hear the parents come in.....swig the last sip. SUCCESS....glass a wine and no lecture. Forgot one thing though...the glass.
Mom comes in. Looks at the glass....looks at me. I smile and try to play innocent...and stupid.

"What's that? Did you have a glass of wine?" Her face was extremely downcast and her tone of voice was screaming (SIGH , I am so dissappointed)

"Oh ya....I was working on this project and thought I'd have some of my birthday wine."

Mom- " (SIGH) You really shouldn't start drinking during the week."
Awesome....mom thinks I'm an alcoholic! One glass of wine. One time this week.

Told you they were conservative.

3.) So the sneaky approach didn't work. Now I've just become blatant and going for some shock factor.

Last Night:
"Mom, Lauren and I are going to go to the Jacuzzi and have some wine and smoke the hookah with Zach...do you want to come?"

I say this as I walk downstairs with bottle of wine in hand. Hookah is like fancy cigar smoke...only it looks like a water bong..and my mother HATES THEM! I decided to hit her with two wammies.

She looks at me. Pauses.
"No, I'm good. But thanks sweetie."

SUCCESS!
(To give my mom some credit...she has been known to drink a margarita on occasion..but only when its just her and I. I'm slowly breaking her :) )

Mad Traffic Skills

Traffic is bad. It just is. There is no way getting around it sometimes. It's like Fried chicken. It's always bad for you...no ifs ands or buts. That food will clog your arteries fast. Doesn't matter if you eat it in the morning...at night...or as a late night snack. It will eventually kill you. Same idea with traffic. In the morning...bad....afternoon...worse. And today was probably the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen! However, I made it home in just 35 min when it should have taken my probably an hour and a half. (oh yes I've sat in traffic that long)

What's my trick? While working in Atlanta I have developed and honed a new skill. A skill I like to call traffic wizardry. That's right, I have become a pro at rush hour. I'm the ruler of the roads......master of mayhem......highness of the highway.

Today's traffic seriously reminded me of what war in other countries must look like. About an hour before I left work I heard on the radio about a huge wreck over off of "highway to hell" right under Spaghetti Junction and I knew I was in for a treat! By the time I got off of work that impressive display of stupid driving would be backed up all the way to my exit. expletives. So I left work with my mind set....I WILL not sit and rot in traffic today. Not today. My day had already been extremely long and tiring...I just couldn't handle sitting in a parking lot that was suppose to be a highway.

And that's when I learned my amazing traffic avoiding skills. Its fascinating what you can do when you put your mind to it!

I saw those awful red brake lights backed up all the way to my exit....SEVERAL miles from supposed "worst wreck ever!". Also... it was raining which means people are dumber today. Don't ask me why...but you throw a little precipitation into rush hour and suddenly 5 year old's are behind the wheel, and I-85 turns into a bumper car version of Nascar; except cars don't bounce off of each other...they smash into one another and block off 3 lanes of traffic. That was my scenario here.

Three lanes taken victim.

Outlook...bad.

Also I could see a helicopter in the distance...perfect, this wreck is so awesome its newsworthy. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Then...as if a light bulb went off....I remembered...Access Roads. BRILLIANT! If my calculations were correct and if this wreck really did happen just under Spaghetti Junction...I had just enough access roads to circumvent this traffic jam. I started off....so far so good....over one exit...continuing along side absolutely stopped traffic. Guilt kicked in here. All those people are just sitting there slowly losing their minds and I'm flying by at a whopping 45 mph (that's fast for traffic) on an access road. And then I wondered...this is too good to be true...this must be illegal.
You know how cutting through parking lots to avoid lights is illegal...yet such a good idea...I felt that this is what I was doing. Any minute I would get pulled over and the cop would say, " Now missy, what makes you think that you can just drive around traffic when everyone else has to sit in it?"
At this point I didn't care. I had beat the system! After about 15 min or so of driving down access roads I pass over Spaghetti Junction (via access road) and saw the damage. Oh it was bad. Several blinking signs cutting off several lanes. No one was moving. Millions of police cars were there and a helicopter circled. As I watched them in my rear view mirror I got off the bridge and found myself amongst absolutely no traffic. It had all cleared up after the wreck.

I smiled,

then gave one huge fist pump of victory and laughed in traffic's face. After all...traffic always wins in the morning. But sometimes....if I stay on my toes...I get the last laugh at the end of the day.

I pulled into my driveway utterly satisfied and feeling somewhat powerful...genius if you will. And that, my friends, is how you become master of the roads.
(I should be getting that award any day)

Automatic Failure

You know those things in life that no matter how hard you try if one thing goes bad than the whole thing is just an automatic failure.

You play really awesome in the soccer game...however, you score in your own goal. Automatic Failure.

You look amazing and said everything right in the interview, but you trip on your way out the door. Automatic Failure.
That's how I feel about buses. I can get ready as fast as possible...be out the door on time....showered....ate breakfast....but if I pull off my street and that big yellow bus passes by in front of me....AUTOMATIC FAILURE!

Oh how I hate the bus. My heart literally drops and I fight every urge to bang on my steering wheel and yell obscenities when I get stuck behind the neighborhood bus. I plan my life around the bus. I know exactly when that thing comes down my street...to the minute. I know I have about 3 minutes to haul it to my car and beat it out my drive way. Oh, and I will pull out in front of one, without a moments hesitation, because I know that getting stuck behind the heifer will tag on at least 10 min to my drive time. And when you already sit in traffic for an hour....10 min can just about kill you. And if that doesn't, than my blood pressure will.

So today...doing good. Ready. Packed a lunch (bonus points!). Headed out the door and I see the object of my utter hatred pass by my house...almost as if to mock my good morning. Obscenities...run to my car and peal out in hopes to pass it somewhere along the way. (Which that never happens...once behind a buss...always behind the dag um bus). As I drive I hope and pray that maybe this bus has extra stops on some side streets that I don't go on. Futile to hope. Or maybe...the bus driver is super speedy today and by the time I get on the main road he has flown down the street...doors wide open with kids jumping in as he goes. Kind of like the strongest survive. Kids that don't make the jump...no school. Good luck tomorrow. I think we should put that idea to work.
Much to my chagrin...bus is poking along down the Main drive...which I'm pretty sure that's a requirement for bus drivers. Must be monotonously slow. And of course..this bus is not a high school bus...which would then speed up the process because those kids are like pros at this by now.
How long you been riding?
Oh you know...10 years.
Wow!
ya..its a skill.
No. No professional riders. This bus is for elementary. Might as well call the "take absolutely forever because these kids can barely walk let alone get on the bus and their mothers are crying and must wave 19 times to their 'baby' on their 4th day to school" bus.

Bitter..you bet.

So....little johnny is waiting by the driveway with mom. So I immediately feel bad for getting angry. Mom waves...johnny walks to the bus. Mom waves some more...puts her hand to her mouth as if to stifle a cry. (please) And then ensues the longest 5 min of my life. I don't know what went on in that bus.After johnny got on I swear the bus just stayed there and hung out for another 5 min just to make me angry...and late. I sat there wondering what could have happened....Johnny trip and wipe out ...is he waving out every window to mommy dearest as he makes his way to the back...did he drop his lunch...or is the bus driver just leaving ample time for the mom to cut the invisible umbilical cords and let her baby go to school! Meanwhile, the mom is still furiously waving at the non moving school bus and notices the backed up traffic.

She smiles at me.

I smile back...and whisper words of disdain under my breath.

FINALLY the bus moves....I smile and wave at the mom, meanwhile, making a mental note of what time Johnny gets on the bus and how I will never again leave my house at 7:34 ever again.

Low Blow

Well a good thing can't last too long. I was feeling pretty good about myself because of my award. Told the mom that I had my award hanging up in my office...very proud.

She replied, "You mean storage room."

Shot down.

Low blow mom. Low blow.

Fridge Worthy

Today has probably been my favorite morning ever!
"Why?" you may ask...especially when mornings usually carry with them some of the lowest points of the day: waking up, getting up, moving, showering, traffic and the most infamous....going to work.

However, upon my arrival to work I found a present!

That's right...a present....left in my chair.

Someone snuck into my storage room (ha someone remembered I worked in here) and left me a gift! My present was sitting upon a piece of paper...my curiosity was up.
The paper ended up being an Award!! Oh my day just got 10 times better. Only thing better than a gift is an award!
I was pumped...what could this award be for?? I pick it up and this is what it read.
Wait. To preface my award...remember that I just returned from spending a week in a Warehouse moving Christmas crap. We joked the whole week that work gloves could give you super powers. Our boss would put those bad boys on and there was no stopping her. We'd look over and she would be lifting things three time her size...hauling crates with Floyd in tow. She also was the hardest business woman ever when the gloves were on. When we were pricing things she didn't really get the idea of a "garage sale" and was more concerned with making money off of the junk.
" Denise....$5 dollars for this snowman right?"
" No...are you crazy! $30. Not a penny less!"
"But...his arms are broken and he doesn't have any eyes."
"I don't care. $30 dollars!"
Hence our fear when Boss would "put on her gloves". It was about the same concept as a superhero putting on their cape or mask....there was no stopping someone with the gloves on. Overpriced junk and heavy lifting usually followed in their path of destruction.

So...my award read:
For your amazig ability to withstand the heat, lift heavy objects, work on a weeked, endure Floyd's extreme body odor, and "put on the gloves," I hereby award you the well deserved Work Glove Award.
(paper decorated with work gloves.)

I laughed out loud. My Boss was funny. I don't want to work somewhere where no one gives out awards.

Despite what the award was for...which is quirky office appreciation...I felt really proud of myself. I had a flash back of school Awards Day and the anticipation and joy of winning awards like "The Bible Award"..."Star Student"....."Perfect Attendance" (HA who are we kidding I NEVER got that one!) etc.
I called my mom and let her know her baby girl was making it in the real world...I had even gotten an award for doing so well. She laughed and then in all seriousness she said, "we should frame it."

Again flash back to middle school when your parents put the "Most Improved" Award up on the fridge and make a big deal because you got an award. However, it might as well be called "You really sucked in the beginning, but your decent now" award.

The parent trick worked though....this is definately making an appearance on the fridge.

Because she's Fuzzy

This week my department had to leave the city and go into an undisclosed city South of Atlanta. Now making the statement "South of Atlanta" should fill most of you in on the kind of town we were in without me even stating the name. Another synonym could be Po-Dunk Ville. OK ...that's not true..they did have a Panera.
I was impressed.

Anyway...my job for the week was to clean out an old warehouse where we had been storing things for probably the past 10 years or so. Mainly Christmas stuff. Mainly really old tacky Christmas crap. We spent two days organizing it and then we were going to have a HUGE glorified 'garage sale' in Po-Dunk Ville. I doubted the success of this plan..honestly. However, I failed to realize that in before mentioned 'Po Dunk' the only thing to do on the weekends is drive around looking for 'garage sales.'

Day one I really realized what kind of town this was. My boss and I were meeting another co worker at the warehouse to help sort through stuff, however she beat us down there. We finally get to "Po dunk" and upon driving through I realize that our warehouse is in the armpit of Georgia. We drive down some old country roads.. not like the cute ones in Athens...more like the ones you see in those horror flicks where the whole town gets wiped out by a serial killer. We pull up to the sorriest excuse for a building..complete with over grown weeds..broken down cars...and a cliche country lady smoking a cig out front on her smoking break. Immediately my heart drops. I have to spend all week here! And then I remember co worker has been here for a couple hours by herself! Ugh..i felt bad. We walk in the very dimly lit crate filled warehouse and see coworker plugging away hard at work. Following her around are these two old men who I suppose either own it or are suppose to be helping. Immediately I assess the awkwardness of poor coworker having to work in such close quarters with these random men. We get closer and I get to meet Floyd. Yes...Floyd. I smiled when he introduced himself...and then immediately tried not to grimace when Floyd smiled and showed a full set of gums. Oh Po Dunk ville...the land of no teeth.
Floyd is now my favorite person because he absolutely embodies the mental image of country bumpkin for me.

White T-shirt..probably worn the past 3 days. At least it smelled like it.
Blue jeans...well worn.
Skinny as a rail. Or according to Floyd, "only 3 lbs more than I weighed when I was seventeen."
No teeth
Very wrinkly- looks like he is about 80.
Smokes like a chimney (I counted...packed his pipe 4-5 times in less than an hour.)
Hardest worker I've ever seen.

A good adjective would be gritty.

I also noticed another creature. A dog. Not just any dog...part dog probably part wolf. She was very shaggy...had a brindle coat,jet black head, and wolf tale. Floyd patted her on the head, pulled his pipe out of his mouth and said..."we call her Fuzz."

Now I took linguistics this year...most ridiculous class ever..but I did learn valuable information...information that I had not put to good use until this moment. In order to make the "f" sound...one must use put their lips against their teeth and blow. When one doesn't have teeth this sound becomes very hard to make. So I awkwardly couldn't tell if he was saying Fuzz or Buzz.

"Oh her name is Buzz," I stated.
"No...Fuzz. (still sounding like Buzz) Because she's Fuzzy," he replied.

I smiled.
The simplicity of the name and stereotypical people and scenery made me.
From this moment I knew...this week was going to be funny.

The Heads

So the storage room today is just giving me the willies. (again another word you use when your aging. I'm going to throw those in there every now and again to see if your paying attention) I walk in this morning and there are our giant mascot outfits sitting on the table by my desk. (our company has mascots...don't ask) Anyway...any kind of mascot is creepy...ESPECIALLY when there isn't a person in it. You would never want to see Mickey Mouse without a person in it...it be like a dead Mickey. In our case its like a decapitated "Bob" and "Mary". (Bob and Mary will be what we call our boy and girl mascots.)

They had been chilling in the hall near their appropriate cubicles waiting to be fixed. Still creepy but not near my desk so it didn't bother me. However, it came to the attention of those in charge of Bob and Mary that letting them lye around in the open wasn't a good idea either. This occurred to them when there was child in the office the other day and they found her poking Bob's lifeless decapitated head. I laugh at this mental picture because it makes me think of what kids do when they find dead things...maybe if I poke it some more it will wake back up. So they decided that lifeless Bob and Mary may upset the kids....so now they are my new storage room buddies. I'm contemplating setting them up so I can pretend I have someone to talk to. Well...that actually may be creepier. In the mean time their creepy over sized blue (yup their blue) foam heads are staring at me.

And to tip over the creepy scale I found an abnormally large spider by my desk. However, he evaded me when I tried to kill him with some of my storage room supply. Eek.

So me and the Heads and the spider have had a good day.
That spider better be dead by tomorrow!

Brothers

I live at home with my three brothers. Well two brothers now, the oldest just went back to college. They are amazing and so much fun to be with! They are also one of the many reasons my life is so interesting. Over the past couple weeks I've been at home I have had some pretty hilarious converstations with them. Well, they didn't see the humor in them...but I did.
Here are just some snippets of conversations with the 20 year old Junior in college and the 16 Junior in highschool. I believe my favorite quotes will shed some light on who I live with at home.

(Talking over dinner about how my College age brother wants to hitch hike across the States some day.)

"Harrison, that's not a really safe thing to do." -me

"Umm its not like I'm going to be on the side of the road sticking my thumb out....(at this point I'm relieved that he is not that stupid)....I'm going to have a big back pack on with a sign."- harrison
(stated as if they other idea was the crazy one..I return to worrying)

"Yeah but what if some crazy person picks you up. You can't trust people these days. Its just not safe to get in the car with someone." -me

"Ok..but what would they want from me. I'm a 20 year old college kid. I'm backpacking..I don't have anything of value."- harrison

"It doesn't matter they could hurt you just for the sake of hurting you. Plus they could take your money."-me

"Why would I travel with money?!"-Harrison (again stated like I am stupid)

"Why wouldn't you have money?!" -me

"Well its not safe to travel by hitchhiking with a ton of money."-harrison

"What are you going to do when you get where your going without any money?"- me

(avoidance of question)

"Cam, people do it all the time! John hitched a ride after a Braves game all the way to Kansas with a family. I'm not going to get in a car with some sketchy guy."-harry

"Yeah, but you just never know. What if they end up being dangerous."-me

(said very matter-of-factly)"If he pulls a gun on me I'll just get out of the car at a red light. It's not like he is going to shoot me around people."- Harrison
(SERIOUSLY!)

"Oh yes that always works. If only people did that when they got mugged or kidnapped...just get out of the car."- me

(discussion ended here due to the fact that it was just getting RIDICULOUS!)

Conversation with 16 yr old about the girl he likes...this week.
"So did you kiss her last night?" (granted I've only heard of and seen this girl once.)

"Well sorta"- mitchell

"Sorta? Theres no such thing as "sort of". It's yes..or no. Did your lips touch hers?"- me

"Ok yes. But it was just a peck."-mitchell

"So does she love Jesus?"- me

"Um I don't know her that well Cam."- mitchell

(ahh highschool and all its skanky glory.)

Santa has a bad back

So as a part of my job description I have to make sure Santa can make a special appearance at the event I'm helping with. I got the joyful job of calling him today and got to talk to Santa personally (Although I believe Mrs. Clause picked up the phone). Needless to say I got the biggest kick out of it!

Sadly, Santa just had back surgery. (Didn't know Santa had a bad back...must be from the Chimneys) However, he assured me that soon he would be as good as new and able to "carry his big red sack." This statement was followed by a great jolly HO HO HO and I literally laughed on the phone..."in spite of myself."

So this is a reminder that Santa may be recovering from back surgery..but he is indeed doing his yearly rounds come Christmas!

Eeyore

So these past two weeks or so I have been grieving. Grieving the death of my college years. I honestly didn't think it would be that hard. I viewed going into the real world as new and exciting adventure! New turns, new expectations, getting out there on my own. Now that I'm here I just want to crawl back in bed and wake up in my loft in Mell Hall and it be Freshman year again. OK..maybe not Freshman year. Maybe just go back to Junior Year. That was a good year.

I apologize to everyone who has had to be around me and my permanent gray cloud above my head. I've been sad and not joyful; and have had a tendency to randomly blurt out "I miss college." Followed by a huge sigh.

Whelp...like most situations when your sad you have the allotted grieving time, which dependant on your circumstance, is a certain amount of time one is allowed to be sad and depressed. This gives you a legit excuse for not being yourself. However, this allotted mourning time has a cut off and after that cut off you can become annoying for still being upset. (This ONLY applies to life change situations or just "rough" times not to the loss of a loved one) If you pass your grief cut off you start to loose friends because no one wants to be around an Eeyore. That's right...the sluggish animated donkey from Winnie the Pooh that was always losing his tail. (Which I believe explains his permanent down cast face)

This thought hit me last night as I sat on my parents couch at home utterly depressed and sad with my life. I'm not a sad depressing person and honestly being that person the past two weeks has been pretty miserable.

So, I decided last night that my grief period was over.

It had been about two weeks, which I feel is just the right amount of time. One week to realize the change....and the Second week to just be generally unhappy about it. So this is Monday of week three and I am done.
I've cried a little bit (which is a lot for me) I've eaten everything that would need to be consumed when your sad (aka TONS of ice cream). And I've been lazy when given the opportunity. So now, I am done. I am going to make the best of this next stage and stop looking over my shoulder and crying wishing I was still living the college life. I graduated and moved and I am going to be OK with it.

I've learned that setting goals for each week helps me make my adjustment. Last week's goal was to not come home directly from work and fall asleep for 3 hours.
Accomplished.
This weeks goals: (I actually have three which may be over my head..but we shall see)
1. Don't complain about growing up.
2. Work out after work (makes you happier!)
3. Spend time with the Lord in the morning to start the day off right

Dad was informing me that quiet time in the morning before a big day at work is always better than doing it when you get home. I've known this to be true for years, however my earlier belief that "as much sleep as possible is best" has kept me from doing it.
So now I guess I have four: Get up earlier.

Goals...that's another thing you do when you get older.
(insert complaint I'm not allowed to make here__________________)

Teardrops in my Car

*title sung to the ever popular Taylor Swift song "Teardrops on my guitar"

this one is lengthy...but necessary to get the full effect.

Traffic is death. Traffic only brings a couple words to my mind, none of which I can write without censoring myself. So the Office is located off of 85 which we shall rename for now "Highway to Hell." This name suites I-85 around 5 o'clock because even though I know Hell doesn't have a highway (which how creepy would that be)...if it did, I think it would look something like I-85 Northbound looks around Spaghetti Junction. Spaghetti Junction's new name shall be Cluster &%$@. I feel that word sums up that area of a million different bridges and roads of death. I would have loved to watch someone pitching that idea. Maybe the other executive would have responded "so its like a Cluster &%$@ of roads!" and I assume it was followed by "BRILLIANT" because they built it!

So my drive home is down Highway to Hell through the Cluster &%$#. Yup..that sums it up. However, today was beautifully different. We added an extra twist of the knife in the death of traffic. My eldest brother called and said I needed to pick up the youngest from the Aquarium downtown at 6. All I heard was that I needed to wait around an extra hour after work (where all I did was wait around) and drive into the absolute heart of the beast of traffic, better known as DOWN TOWN. This would be perfect because by the time I picked him up it would have taken just enough time for Highway to Hell to be really good and backed up. Love it!

So I get off of work. Already it has not been a good day because I have had nothing to do...and that really gets me good and cranky. Also I'm tired. 8 hour work days will do that to you. Even tea couln't help me today. So as I'm driving and getting stuck in the worst traffic ever I begin to get more and more angry at the thought of what I have to drive through when I turn back around. At this point I am so upset I fear the worst. The absolute worst thing in the world that I avoid more than the plague.

Crying

At first when my eyes began to water with bitterness and frustration the sensation was so alien that I thought my air conditioning was making my eyes water. So I shut the air off. Good, leak fixed(for now).

This is where I'm reminded of the Dane Cook spoof about crying. He talks about how when you've had a bad day at work you fight it all day long not to cry because no one can see you do it. You feel like the world is on your shoulders and he's tapping you saying..."guess what...your going to cry." So me with the world on my shoulders are crawling along downtown streets and I am refusing to break down. I am continued to be reminded that I do not want to be the girl sobbing in traffic. I mean how disturbing would that be to look over at the next car and the driver is in a full fledged sob fest. Ugh it makes me uncomfortable thinking about it.

So I have fixed the air and my mind begins to wander as I sit and rot in traffic. These are my thoughts as the anger comes back:
I completely understand road rage now. All I want to do is honk my horn for no apparent reason and yell with my fist out the window like a deranged man who doesn't understand that grid lock traffic is no ones fault. Oh man if I could just honk my horn I'd feel better. No. I can't. That's just too rude. I can see why people get in fist fights now. It would feel so good to just hit someone. If I could just slug something really hard I would feel so much better. I need to pick up boxing. I'm going to buy a punching bag. Oh thank heavens, I see the Varsity! (this is where I was picking up the littlest brother)
At this moment I see the sun after the storm, the silver lining if you will. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I have successfully managed the day and the traffic and no tears! Finally I see the Varsity sign.
This is when I feel someone run into my door. No, not a car...a body. A person runs into my car. Immediately I am so scared thinking that some homeless man is either so tripped out on acid that he has run into my car or someone is literally banging on my door for money. I freak out...only when I turn to look out my window to see what is my fate do I see the goofy smile of my youngest brother who was apparently riding just 3 cars behind me. He gives me a goofy wave and laughs at my shocked face and runs back to his car.
And I break. Tears. So many tears its like a floodgate. Huge, sobbing, wet, awful tears. Right there in traffic, just a block from the Varsity....I cried. Being scared by the supposed homeless man pushed me over the edge and I fell 1,000 feet and hit the road with a big fat sob fest.
My brother apologized later obviously really freaked out that his big sister was crying at the Varsity. However, my other brother put his arm around me told me he understood and said the magical words that made everything OK.

Let's go inside and get you a milkshake.

Tea and Madre Teresa

In college I hated being busy. I lived for those 5 sweet words at the end of the day… “I have nothing to do.” Work world is completely different (which I’m learning is the truth about most things.) Work is slow just for the beginning weeks (due to project timings) for the rest of the internship I should have more work to do than hours in the day. But for now its a famine of sorts compared to the soon feast and Im having to find things to snack on to bide my time.

Let me give you a visual of my plush corner office...OK, that’s a lie I have a cubicle…OK, again a lie I’m in a box filled storage room. That’s right…but actually it’s not that bad. I have my privacy and can listen to music. Also I guess you could say it’s a luxurious storage room. I have carpet and my own bullitan board. Lighting isn't that bad either. The other perk…I have a door and it has a lock on it. (Doors are the object of office jealousy) However, everyone knows the combination…so I guess it serves no purpose. I feel pretty important when I arrive and have to plug in the special code to gain access, especially when people see me doing it…but upon opening the door I remember that it’s still a storage room and the people that see me go in probably wonder why I spend so much time in there. However, I have discovered a plethora of markers and such. On the down side, they did remove the helium tanks which would definitely have provided some entertainment…if not just a loss of brain cells. So, I have had to become resourceful, especially since they removed my obvious distraction…the tanks. So here are a few things I’ve discovered to do in the spare time I have sometimes:

blogging. I’ve never been a blogger. I thought it was kind of stupid. Who is going to go online and read about other people’s lives? Then Facebook was created and the normal creepy stalking became the overly prevalent favorite past time. So I figure it makes the friendly stalker's lives easier…let me just tell you what’s going on in my life instead of you having to figure it out from Wall Posts, the occasional "Cameron is________", and About Me Section (Which that section is kinda weird I’ve decided…especially when people write “ just ask me.” That’s my favorite one.) Also, it’s a way to share the ridiculousness that is my life. I’ve learned this from my wiser fellow real world accomplice. And most importantly it gives me something to do.

Secondly, there's Tea. Sweet and simple, and the solution to every possible problem I could have here at work. First and foremost, if bored….a field trip to the break room for some tea can take up at least 5 minutes, plus there is the added time of deciding what tea to chose. Chamomile (personal fave, light and sweet. however, it's decaf. loss of brownie points.) or Mint (ever popular, good flavor with a little bite to it. And it has the needed drugs in it.) Tea is my solution to everything. Cold... tea. Hungry…Tea. Tired….Caffeinated Tea. Needless to say I drink several cups a day.

Finally, since Facebook and any possible entertaining website are blocked I’ve resorted to the old fashioned reading. Just recently I finally decided to bring books to work. Yup that’s right. But before that I had to scrape for reading material. It’s amazing what you find/notice when you have nothing to do. My current favorite is the Mother Teresa quote above the fax machine:

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.”

Deep. I may have had time to contemplate what that means, however, I got distracted by what was below that, which was the quote translated into Spanish. I laughed and then tried to see if I could translate it. Three years of Spanish and a study abroad have failed me because I couldn't read a lick of it. (yes I said lick..you say words like that when you get out of college. I think its called aging) But my favorite part was under the quote was written Madre Teresa. That part I could translate.

So hopefully work will pick up soon, because I think we are running out of tea.