Blog Tour Part IX

So I've been kinda slack in writing anything new here. For those of you who take the time to click on my little blog and look you haven't had anything new to read since the beginning of the month. Now I do realize that the month is only half over so you've gone approximately 9 day without anything new from me. So for you patient people...here is something new. You're welcome.

What are you planning on doing this summer/what are you most looking forward to doing?

That is the latest blog tour topic. And here is my response. I WANNA NEW JOB! :) And the good news is I may have one I really really like shortly however it won't start until July 15th. The better news (if I get the job) is that I have a temp job for the next 2 weeks which will keep me busy till right before I go to Texas to visit some friends and family I haven't seen in 2 years. And then when I get back on the 8th I'll have about a week of free time to unpack clean and put away my clothes before I start my new job. And knowing me it could very well take the full week to unpack, clean, and put away my clothes. :D

So what I am looking forward to most is a new job however I am also ecstatic about said trip to Texas. I get to go down on Thurs see my 4 nieces, 5 my great nephews and great nieces. My two sisters, possibly two brothers in law (depending on if one is one the road or not and what the others work sched is), and a partridge in a pear tree. Ok it's TX so probably no partridges but I could see pear trees if anyone has decided to plant them. I also get to see my mom and one of my closest childhood friends on Thursday night. Not to mention one of my bestest friends TC who has been so kind to offer to drive me around hither and thither while I'm down there as Alyssa (my SIL) is driving me as far as my sisters house before going to see her brother, SIL, niece, and newest family addition her nephew. Who at the time of publishing this has yet to be born. Then I get to see some friends from church and highschool on Friday stay with a friend Friday night. Do some of this and that on Saturday. Eat at all those places that they don't have where I live now. (come on, I'm a fatty of course my vacation is gonna include food.)
Generally it should be a great trip and I'm really really really looking forward to it.

Blog Tour VIII Favorite Scent

Last weeks topic was our favorite scent and I didn't post, I didn't think I was going to post at all. I don't really have a favorite scent. I enjoy smelling things sure I enjoy flowers and fresh cut grass. I like the smell of yummy bread being baked. Or when Neri cooks something extra yummy in the oven. But I couldn't really think of a favorite scent. I was reading another one of the blog tour posts and was reminded of something that always makes me nostalgic and usually happy.
The smell of lumber. It reminds me of my father, specifically being with him on a job site when I was younger. He worked in construction. He had his own business he worked for others, he was the guy nailing all the 2x4s together, he was the job foremen. He did it all from the lowest of the low to the top. Now my dad didn't always live with my mom and I and they ended up splitting around the time I was in 3rd or 4th grade (I don't remember exactly.) I didn't always have good times with him or want to be with him or even liked him. But I always enjoyed being on a job with him. From the time I could walk pretty much I had been on job sites with him. I'd carry a hammer (both hands cause it was heavy) I'd hand him nails. I even got to sit on a stack of plywood that was on a forklift and be lifted up to the second floor once. I love it.
And so to this day if I'm near lumber fresh cut or open edges (so the scent isn't sealed in) I smell it and I think of my dad and I either cry because he's gone or I'm happy because I remember the times I enjoyed being with him as a child.
And that my friends is my favorite scent.

Dream Job Blog Tour VII

So I completely miss a week and then I do that one and the current one back to back.

What is your dream job, and if you don't/didn't have it, how did that happen?

To be honest I had 3 dream jobs between first grade and my first year of college.

I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I wanted to be a teacher when I was in first grade. That is what I wanted to do. I'd have little craft kits and I'd set up my class room just so. I knew all this in 1st grade. I loved my teacher, she even went to my church so I ended up knowing her my entire school career (after a year of college I moved away and don't see her anymore). Said year in college was actually starting on my education degree. However shortly after taking some classes I realized it just wasn't for me and that I was out of my mind to think I'd make a good teacher. One of my best friends TC is a great teacher but she and I have near polar opposite personalities and mine just isn't the right one for teaching.

In 3rd grade I fell in love with marine biology. I loved (and do to this day) marine life. It amazes me. In fact I did a report on I think about 20 different marine animals completely voluntary. My teacher ended up grading it and even averaged that into my grade for the period I think. I was fascinated by it all. But the nitty gritty details I just didn't have the mind for.

My final dream job was to be a fashion designer. Oh goddess I love designing clothes however I do not have the skills needed for fashion design you know that little small skill known as drawing. It escapes my grasp. That and fashion is so hard to break into.

So what "dream job" do I want at this point in my life? I'd like to be an office manager some day. I think it'd be a good fit for me. I'm fair with co-workers and I'm good and keeping people flowing and on target I think without being an utter bitch about it all.

Bucket List Blog Tour part VI

Well the topic due last Sat was my very own topic and yet I didn't post it in time. Shame on me I guess. I posted a couple of times this just wasn't what I was in the mood to post on sorry guys.

So what do I want to do before my time on this round place ends?

I want to visit every US state.
I want to go overseas at least once: London, Paris, Australia, Italy, almost anywhere. :)
I want to lose weight and be a size 12
I want to make enough money to not worry about my monthly bills
I want to be able to go into a bookstore and buy 10 books without thinking about how this will hit my bank account.
I want to go on a vacation with my husband
I want to have kids
I want to go rock climbing on real rocks and not just indoors.
I want to meet Johnny Depp (so that might not happen but it'd sure be nice.)
I want to spend a day at the spa getting pampered
I want to finish the cross stitch I've been working on for 2 years so far. *smiles sheepishly*
I want to go back to Mt Shasta and spend a week or two camping there and climb up as far as I can on Mt. Shasta.

I'm sure there are plenty more but that's it for this list.

Blog Tour part V

So I've missed a couple or three topics for the Blog tour but I'm back. Did ya miss me? :)
This week is a simple one, what do I plan to do for my "summer vacation?" Well I don't really get a summer vacation cause I work all summer long but I do have travel plans so I'll share those. I'm going to go back to TX to visit friends and family I haven't seen since Benny and Alyssa got married in '06. That should be tons of fun. I'm really looking forward to it. Not the drive though so I'm trying to talk a couple of friends into going with me so we can share the driving time. Alyssa might come because her nephew is due around then and then my Demon w/ Boobs might come just because.

Either way I'm hoping someone does or I'm gonna be one tired puppy when I finally make it down there. It's a 10-12 hour drive depending on how fast I go and which way I go and traffic which might not be all that great considering I'm going home for the 4th of July weekend. Oh joy to me.

Then in October (which I know isn't tech summer but you get to hear about it anyway) my husband's school (in Cali) is having a reunion and wants to go and I really want to go with him but we'll have to check finances because later in the month I'm already planning on going to Vegas for TC's b-day celebration. Which should be a total blast. TC, Alyssa, and I are really looking forward to it. The last time the 3 of us went on a vacation together was in '00 when we went to Cali to meet Gehnen and Benny for the first time ever. Now we've done things together since but no actual vacations. So really looking forward to that.

And those are all my plans at least for the moment. Though I am sure we'll end up at the park a few days to BBQ or to play Nerf. And in May we are having Gehnen's b-day in the park with BBQ AND Nerf by special request. Which reminds me I need to let some people know the date.

Blog Tour IV

So when did I become a woman? Not by age but by mind and feeling. I'd say I was a late bloomer in that aspect. I felt like a kid just pretending for quite a while. You would think that moving to a state half way across the country at 20 would do it. Or moving into an apartment with Alyssa at 22 (23?) would do it. But honestly I just didn't feel grown up then. I didn't feel like a woman.

Then Gehnen and I decided to move half way across the country together. So not only was I moving but I was moving with my future husband. And then we bought a house and then we got married.

I think for me it would have to have been when we walked into our house after signing a million and a half pieces of paper that it really hit me...OMG I'm a grown up. I am a woman. Yes I'd done plenty of things that women do before then. I had been *whispers* intimate, with my hubby. I had moved across many states twice ending up in one where I only knew 4 adults and 2 kids and 2 of the adults had moved with me. I had paid my own bills I had purchased a car but none of that really made me feel like a woman. For me it was the house. That was what sealed the deal.

Now that's not to say I'm completely grown up. Not by a long shot and that's ok. I like being a kid in some aspects. I play video games and read young adult and even children's books that are well written. I have, as one of my best friends says, the drama of a high schooler going on right now which I'm not going to go into details on. So while I'm a woman I'm still very much a kid too. And I like that about myself so it's all good. :)

Blog Tour part 3 Phobias/worst hotel stay

I'm gonna write about 2 things this time around. And Alyssa forgive me but one of them will be the cabin from your wedding.

First my phobia, honestly there isn't really anything I'm uber afraid of. I could talk about Gehnen's fear of roller coasters (which he tried to defeat but didn't) but that isn't my phobia, hell it's not even Amanda's (some of you should get that reference. :D ). So anyway the thing I do have a fear of, dying painfully. I'm a wuss I know this. I don't like pain I don't want to deal with much pain (and yet I'm determined to give birth with no epidural when I have kids). The idea that I'll die painfully is just really really scary for me. I don't want to be killed or suffer from a long illness. Gives me the shivers.

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As to my worst hotel stay. It actually wasn't that bad over all but since most of the places I've stayed were pretty good this was the only one to really write about. When my SIL got married she had us girls stay in a cabin in the park where she was getting married so that we could get to the place easily and stay together and spend some time bonding (or something I don't know how much more we could have bonded after all the 3 of us have known each other for oh over 10 years already at that point.)

So we get to the cabin after a long day and what do we discover on the floor but a nearly dead scorpion yes that's right nearly dead. It was still moving slightly. We put it out of the rest of its misery by thwacking it with a broom. Then we were all afraid to touch it. Was quite the ordeal. I was freaked out because I was afraid that another much more alive one would come into the room and since I've never been stung by one I have no idea how I would react and I figured finding out the day before my best friend and brother in law got married would be a poor choice.

So I pretty much bounced from surface to surface keeping my feet off the floor as much as possible. And you know I think I did a good job of hiding it from the Bride to be so she wouldn't know how squicked out I was by the dead scorpion on the floor (did I Alyssa?) Then the next day I was back in the hotel room that my hubby and I had and didn't have to deal with possible scorpions on our floor. whee!!

What I like about myself (part 2 of blog tour)

What do I like about myself? This is the latest subject willingly thrust upon me. Many in the tour have already posted their thoughts on themselves and for me this has been a bad and maybe good week for me to have this subject.

So, what DO I like about myself?

I like that I'm loyal, sometimes to a fault. I'll look past what others see and say deciding to make my own decision. I've done this for years. Someone may not care for someone else but that doesn't mean I can't. I was once told because a friend of mine had broken up with a guy that I should no longer be friends with him. But I'm sorry just because you two weren't right for each other doesn't mean I can't or won't be friends with them.

I like that I have a rather positive self view. I know I'm not the prettiest woman in the world but I'm not bad looking by any means. I may be a fat woman but I'm still attractive. Not everyone appeals to everyone else but there are people out there that like how I look and I'm comfortable in my own skin.

On that note I also like that when I do lose weight I don't continue to think I'm as big as a barn when clearly I'm not. I know many people who can't see that they have lost weight and that it is an accomplishment. I'm happy that I can be comfortable as a size 20 or a size 14 and realize that there is a difference between the two.

I like that while I may not be the smartest person in the world I do have a great amount of common sense.

I also like that I do have a pretty good grasp on things in that I don't just jump into decisions most of the time. The big ones take time to process and I am well aware of that. I won't just dive head first without making sure the water is deep enough to keep from cracking my head.

I'm happy that for the most part I'm an optimistic person. I believe that in the end things usually work out for the best regardless of the trip to get there.

I'm comfortable in my emotions. I am not ashamed that I cry when I get frustrated. I'm not ashamed that I giggle like a maniac sometimes to keep from crying.

I like that I'm a trusting person. That even when I've been burned in the past I still have the ability to trust again. I may trust differently or be a bit more careful but I refuse to put a wall around myself just because someone was false to me in the past. I believe they are the minority and that if I walled myself off from the rest of the worlds inhabitants I could do myself a great disservice.

I do like myself even with all my fuck ups and failures I do have achievements and successes. I am a good person even if I've done bad things. I have good friends and people who care about me and I wouldn't have that if I was a bad person.

"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"
(bonus points if you get the above reference)

Strange Vacation (part 1 of the blog tour)

I've been tasked (willingly) to write about the strangest place I've ever been on vacation. And I have to admit I haven't gone that many unusual places but I do have an unusual vacation (overall) to write about. Me, Gehnen, Benny, Alyssa, and the whore had all gone camping in Shasta Cali. We went in Sept (right?) and for those that don't know Shasta is in NorCal and cold in Sept. We leave after everyone gets off work for a 6ish hour drive so we arrive to the camp site around oh midnight and try and set up camp in the dark with just our headlights to give us the ability to see. So we pull everything out and quickly find out that the tent poles are no where to be found.

Yes ladies and gents you are right in your thoughts, we have a tent at midnight in the cold Cali mountains with no tent poles. So we are trying to come up with something that will get us covered for the night as we have 5 people and one car and no way can everyone sleep in there (nor do half of us want to.) So we pull the shoelaces out of my tennis shoes and throw them over a branch and pull the tent away from the completely level camp area to a not so level camp area and 3 of us (me, Gehnen, and the whore) climb into the tent, that we loveingly named Lumpy, while Benny and Alyssa go sleep in her car.

It was cold and uncomfortable and we kept rotating who was sleeping where because the person in the middle was the warmest. And yet overall the whole trip was still amazing.

We went up to Panther Meadows on Mt Shasta and it was/is simply amazing. It's so calm and peaceful. One of the best places to go in my opinion. Shasta is known for it's other worldly experiences. Many have claimed they've seen aliens and I don't doubt that's possible. The pic below is Mt Shasta from a distance.


There are also claims that when the clouds gather over the mountain they are sometimes hiding spaceships. That is shown in this picture.


So now you have it the strangest place I've ever visited. Provided of course you don't think San Fran is strange (which it is but not quite the same).

Check the Blog Tour list to the right if you'd like to read about some other interesting vacations.