Retirees, Florida and Me

Hello all! All 4 of you that will probably ever read this ;) I just got back from Florida this week. I spent almost a week there. Good times! I was there for my aunt’s wedding! Weddings galore in my family this year, apparently. Except for mine, of course. And just when I thought maybe good things happen in threes… My brother steals my thunder and announces his recent engagement! Craziness, right?

At any rate. We had a relaxing trip to the Orlando area of Florida. Spent some time at downtown Disney and City Walk at Universal. I was vacationing with retired and almost retired family members, so the pace was nice and slow. Got to see some sights and relax. Wish the weather would’ve been better so I could’ve returned with a tan, but alas, I’m still pale!

So one of the exciting things that happened involves a little lizard. Two to be precise. OK, anyone that knows me knows that I am not a fan of critters. And so when I sat down on my bed at the motel, and looked down to see a LIZARD on my LEG, I kinda freaked out (to say the least). Be rest assured there was screaming, jumping and general freak-out behaviour in abundance. So for some reason my mother refused to believe and kept questioning me if I was “sure” it was a lizard. I’m thinking, I looked that little cold blooded thing practically in it’s little beadie eyes! YES! It was a LIZARD! ACK! Anyway. So the lizard went MIA. And we were on high alert. This terror alert was definitely above orange. So a little while later we noticed aforementioned lizard on my MOM’S BED. He’s blending in with the comforter – can you see him??

Anyway, like the girly girl that I can be, I locked myself in the bathroom hoping my mom could catch and release the thing. She had a Dixie cup. Unfortunately, he wasn’t cooperative. He jumped around. Well, he jumped on the floor, and in order to preserve a good night’s rest for us, my mom threw a paper on him and then… well, she stomped on him. He wasn’t squished, that’s gross. I like to think she scared him to death. So then she wrapped him up and disposed of him. Tragic, I know.

Well that’s not the END of our lizard torment! Oh, no. So a couple of days later, I wake up to my mom in the corner of our room spraying her hairspray. I asked her what in heck she was doing, to which she sheepishly replied, “spraying hairspray on the lizard over here…” I was like WHAT?!?!? Another one? Apparently she’d spotted him the day before on the curtain rod of our sliding glass door. She played it cool, not wanting to freak me out again. However (comma), he’d made his move to the floor. He was entering OUR turf. So apparently my uncle had suggested she spray her hairspray on it. She took it to new levels – also sprayed spray gel and some other hair product on our little intruder. Well, he didn’t even flinch (unlike me – I was constantly flinching all night freaking out feeling like there was a lizard stalking me). He didn’t move one inch all day.. and his color was starting to fade. When we returned that night, he was still in the same exact space. So either he was really good at playing statue, or he was hairsprayed to death. So one of my aunts was apparently the tomboy of the three girls growing up and has no qualms about critters. She came in that night picked him and said he was stiff as a bored. He was confirmed dead. Yep. So she disposed of him for us. CRISES ENDURED!

Other than all that, the wedding was great and the time spent with family was priceless. Now I’m back to Ohio and the delightful chilliness it brings, living lizard free.

Hump Day ramblings

So today was a relatively busy day. I worked all day, of course, and had to hurry scurry home to get ready to go to a meeting for church in Youngstown (50 mile drive). Oh and my commute today is a 35 mile commute or so. So it was drive drive drive, work work work, drive drive drive, home for like a nanosecond to change and drive drive drive some more. Then I met with some peeps from my Stake to make sure that the Young Single Adult Activities through 2009 were all on the stake calendar. Then I caught the last half of institute (New Testament this semester) and then drive drive drive back to Ashtabula to go to my friends' Ruthie and Paul's house cause we were meeting there with the missionaries to discuss the ward Fall Party (code name for Halloween Party) plans. Well, to come up with the plan. So now, I'm home. Finished my nightly work download/upload and now I can breathe. Now that it's almost 11pm. ha! But busy is good, right?

So while I was on the way to my meeting tonight, I looked down and noticed a mystery stain on my pants. Check it out, here's an extreme closeup of my left leg jean stain. I have NO idea what it is. And thus the mystery remains. Hopefully it'll come out, whatever it is!!!

Anyway... I've gotten rave reviews on my new 'do, thanks to everyone for appreciating it :) I am pleased with it, so good times in Angela Land.

So with all my driving and meeting and planning tonight, I am not catching any of the presidential debate. And I'm OK with that. I will read about it tomorrow when Glenn Beck breaks it down for me like a fraction. All I know is this: I am so not FOR socialism. Period. God Bless America.

At any rate, I am excited for tomorrow because I get to go to dinner (at the Cheesecake Factory no less) with two of my HSBFFs. That is, High School BFFs. They've both had birthdays recently and we're far overdue for a little lovin' amongst us. So I'm pretty excited about that. And HI, Cheesecake Factory. Need I say More? Ooh, I'll have to take pics of my meal and post them on here. Because ha. That's what single people do. We don't have children or significant others to make pictoral exhibitions of, and so we make do with what we can. Ha! Anyway... I best get this bad boy posted. Maybe I am boring. *hmm*

Change!

So I totally have been craving some change in my stagnated life. I think everyone feels that from time to time. After tossing around the idea for awhile, I finally did it. I got my hair totally chopped. Here are some pics, let me know what you all think!

I think I want to try to make my blog more... "fun" and less "perma-serious." I mean, I'm not always pondering upon the singledom I'm living. I guess I initially started this blog as something that would kind of resemble articles written on the various ideas that I was contemplating. I guess what I'm trying to do is make this blog a little more personal to moi. And in so doing, update it a tad more frequently. You know, include the many (many) random thoughts that go through my head... Here goes one.

So being single and living near your family, one often receives an opportunity to help out. This weekend, I've been house/dog-sitting for my brother. While the dogs are lovable and cute and all, I've decided that dogs are high maintenance. Much more so than the cats my mom and I have. I've just got to say, I think they're totally manipulating me. They KNOW that I am weak and they KNOW they can walk all over me and wake me up twice a night to let them out (just because they're bored). I mean, really. In the last 4 hours, they've had me let them out THREE times. I don't think that that is normal. And I gotta say, Petey, he's the boston terrier, he has a gas problem and is STINKY. Oh my GOSH is he STINKY. Ugh! At least they're cute. And even though it's scary to be out in the country by myself, my brother has a sweet ginormous TV. With that thought, I'm gonna go sit my fanny in front of the tv, tearing it away from the computer. :) So even though Julie freaks me out when she starts growling and barking at nothing (what I hope to be nothing that is), I can just turn on Pride and Prejudice or something else consoling and pretend that the mist falling outside will bring me my own Mr. Darcy in the near future. ;)

That, my friend, is what they call closure!

I’ve been watching the series Felicity recently. I didn't watch it while it was on tv and have been enjoying the drama of it all on DVD. It’s all about relationships and the twists, turns, and evolution of said relationships. As I was watching an episode of season 2 recently, the character of Felicity reflected that perhaps we never truly get over old loves… but rather, we just learn to live with it [the loss].

I really thought that that was somewhat profound. I’m sure that most of us have loved and lost… and/or loved and not ever obtained… Regardless of the form of said loss, it is loss.

Loss doesn’t equate with the end of loving. It’s a process to heal, sure, but you don’t necessarily stop loving. I guess you just stop nurturing that love. Without the nurturing, it ceases to grow. For awhile, it will remain stagnant or unchanging, but soon, it will lessen. It will start to shrivel up when that relationship enters its winter. There seems to me, though, that there is always a root… That doesn’t mean that nothing else can grow there, of course. It just means that the bloom that was once there has withered away, making room for a new bloom.

I can’t pretend to be knowledgeable of flowering ways, but that was just the flow of my thoughts. I look back on the boys and men I’ve loved. Each time the roots grow stronger. The stronger the roots, the more tender the remembrance seems to be. I have not stopped loving, but simply, I have learned to live without the bloom of that love and the roots become a foundation for the next bloom…

Can Anybody find me Someone to Love?

I have found myself to be quite lucky in that most of my life I’ve never had to deal much with pressure from people about my single status. I’ve never been one to receive offers for set-ups or blind dates or anything of that nature. I have rather enjoyed this lack of meddling, to be honest.

Recently, however, I met someone that apparently feels the need to set anybody and everybody up. Or at least suggest hook-ups. Now, the thing is, this person lacks the… intuition of a matchmaker. This person seems to think that the only thing people need in common is their single status.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned in previous posts, older guys kinda freak me out. Yes, I’ve accepted the fact that I’m 31 and can even say 31 without starting to heave! But I’m not at a point in my life where a guy in his mid to late 40’s is NOT gonna freak me out (unless of course he’s George Clooney!). I don’t think that it’s really the age… but personality compatibility is absolutely necessary. I have a young, fun heart. A middle-aged man that fits in the middle aged personality category and I are probably not gonna be so compatible.

Does this qualify me as shallow? I don’t think so. There is an element of chemistry that is necessary when choosing an eternal companion, is there not? Like-mindedness is a desirable component in a relationship! In reality, I know that age doesn’t matter… Although, someone that is closer to my mother’s age than mine… Well, can you BLAME me for freaking out?!!? I mean, really.

I’ve been accused of being too picky. But really? Just because I’m not willing to settle for less than happily everafter? Granted, it’s not like I’ve had options, but nevertheless… I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having standards and expectations – as long as they are realistic. I’m not so anal about it that I would turn someone away simply because of his age. Though, I will not settle for less than an active, worthy member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are some preferences that are negotiable… but in like manner, there are some that are not. To quote Alanis, “Not necessarily needs, but qualities that I prefer. I figure I can describe it since I have a choice in the matter…”

It’s not easy being ever alone. But I feel that, in a way, God is protecting me. I’m not being tempted by the fruit of one who is unworthy. I’m not falling in love with someone that cannot make me happy. It’s not always so bad. And underneath it all, there is hope. As we were reminded this weekend by Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, there is no blessing that will be withheld from us if we are worthy of it. At times it is difficult to consider that it could possibly be in the next life before I am to realize this righteous desire of eternal companionship… But it fosters hope that I am on the right path. And when all is said and done, “I’m in no hurry… I could wait forever, I’m in no rush ‘cause I like being solo there are no worries and certainly no pressure, in the meantime I’ll live like there’s no tomorrow…”