...'Yule' Go Down in History

Well, this Christmas wasn't super eventful, but it did have some note worthy highlights. On the flight home, it occurred to me to put them the tune of one of my favorite Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Well, you know...
Dasher (otherwise known as me scrambling to the airport after my truck died along the way);
Dancer (me doing the dance of joy for Stephanie and Michael- their babies are finally here! and the dance of relief- thank god it isn't me!);
Prancer (I read a great book BF gave me about a girl who lives with an owl- who likes to prance around the house-true story);
Vixen (embassessingly enough, me trying to call BF after a couple of Christmas drinks and sound sexy);
Comet [thank goodness for Emily, who took care of Meri and Frankie (my fish-still alive!) while I was away. She brought her new puppies, Zepher and Comet over to show them off];
Cupid (as, isn't it swwet to seen young couples in love? Adam's girlfriend Kate joined us for most of the holiday- they are so cute together);
Donner (nothing really fits this one other than telling you all that my hand blown glass ornaments turned out well and doned the tree;
and Blitzen (um, that would be our whole family getting disturbingly drunk on Adam's birthday while playing Taboo);
and lastly, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (we watched a guy we nicknamed 'The Conductor' at the Champs Bowl try to single-handedly lead the Florida State Seminoles to victory)...

Christmas Blows!

Is it me, or does it barely seem like Christmas time this year? Our team's intern at work captured it-"It doesn't seem like Christmas; it just seems cold." It some ways it is true. I feel more "bah-humbug" than ever. We have had a couple of Christmas things at work, but most seem lame to me. Specifically, this door decorating contest that turned into senior VP worship. It did show off some people's photoshop talents. I have done barely any Christmas shopping (and from the news, it seems I am not the only one avoiding the stores). There have been some fun Christmas activities though. Last week our whole team went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and then had the afternoon off- that is the best Christmas bonus ever! Also, BF and I went to the Statehouse tree lighting ceremony. Not only was Santa there, but they also had real live penguins. The one here is named Punky. Speaking of BF, we had our Christmas this week before heading home to families. It was wonderful- except for the part where I fell asleep at about 9pm because of some vaccinations for Africa knocked me off my feet. Lastly, Jason and I had some fun this past weekend at a glass ornament blowing workshop. It was super neat. Jason and I figure that glass blowing graduates us from nerd to geek, but I am not sure if it chases away the Christmas Grinch.

Hat Trick

This weekend BF and I indulged in all things ice related. We watched one of my favorite sports movies ever- Miracle. I don't know any rules for hockey other than putting the puck in the net is good when your team does it and bad when the other team does it. That doesn't stop me from tearing up for those boys every time the announcer shouts, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!!" And if you guys want to know a secret, the truth is I do these days, but it has very little to do with hockey. We also went ice skating. It seems ice skating is very different from when I was younger; then it was an exhibit in ordered fun, while it is much more chaotic these days. Even Santa is joining in this reindeer game. Later, BF and I went to a Blue Jackets game, where I needed icing explained to me three times. The home team won, and we had a great time. Three winning things in a row- according to my early hockey education, that equals a hat trick.

Ecnomic Meltdown

In the past, you would never catch me claiming to know a single thing about economics. But in the last year, I have learned a thing or two about the economy, and at its base, nothing about it is real. Our fortunes are made and broken by the religion of supply and demand, but lately the things that are in demand aren't even tangible things. Given this, the economy looks more and more like matters of the heart. What is love if not the most risky hedge fund around? Some one's stock rises and falls based on the smallest of things. Well, as I try to educate myself on the economy, it seems I am a more apt pupil at the more quixotic of disciplines. BF and I are quickly falling into a remote state I have rarely found myself in before- a deep belief in isolationism (that is, our own little world). I guess this is where I think the only true difference exists between matters of the heart and matters of the wallet these days. While both are subject to a crisis of confidence, the economy today can never exist in a vacuum, but early love almost always does. The snow this weekend reinforced the thought. The first real snow of the season, it wrecked havoc on the world outside, but BF and I never bothered to leave the house.

A Family Affair

After a family filled weekend in Savannah, it seems as if the week of Thanksgiving this year was filled with other people's families instead of mine. First, I met BF's mom- don't think I wasn't very nervous. I think things went well, and I really her, but it only serves to exacerbate my worries that things may just be a little too perfect. When did I get to be the girl who is waiting for the other shoe to drop? Well, if I am a bit trepidacious about my shiny, new BF, it seems my friends are not. A couple of weekends ago, while at Hocking Hills, when we were giggling and chatting about BF, Lyndsey confessed that she had told her mother when BF and I had kissed, and her mother had been very happy for me. Upon this confession, Jason admitted that he too had told his mother of said developments, and she was similarly happy. After a brief pause, Marissa confessed to her mother's knowledge and happy thoughts as well. Embarrassing as it may be, it is nice to know not only my friends, but also their families (at least their mothers!), are rooting for me. Speaking of Jason's family, I headed that way for Thanksgiving. It was delicious and fun, as always, and we managed to sneak in a couple of movies as well. It was good being around family, even if it wasn't mine.

Georgia on My Mind

This weekend I met up with my brother, my parents, my uncle and my cousin to celebrate my mother's 60th birthday. We had a very vigorous plan in effect for the weeekend: sleep; eat; drink; walk around aimlessly; repeat. I would like to tell everyone that I learned something about Savannah's history, but alas, I cannot. We had four different tour guides through our jump on-jump off city tour, and after careful consideration, we determined that at least two were drunk, and one may or may not have given good information but we couldn't tell over the ear-piercing static. Or maybe we were a little too busy just being our regular ridiculous selves to hear anything over the static. Savannah was supposed to be a warm oasis compared to Columbus, but the truth is, it was pretty cold down there. But there were little reminders that we were in the south, such as the accent, and the hurricane warnings. Anyone else scared of the fact that the catagory 5 hurricane storm surge comes to above the second floor of the building in the background? Good thing we are just out of hurricane season. Alpaca, though, it seems, is season. My alpace may of alpace finally made it down to my brother, and it seems to want to learn to drive. I hope he enjoys the warmer climes, but for now, it is time for me to settle into the cold and dreary months. Hopefully, I'll have someone to keep me warm!

The Future's So Bright...

...we gotta wear shades. This weekend, Lyndsey, Marissa, Jason and I met up at a cabin in Hocking Hills to celebrate my birthday. What a great weekend! We read trashy magazines, watched the rest of the Big Bang Theory, enjoyed the hot tub and played lots of board games. The new game for the weekend was Identity Crisis, which probably applies to more than the game. Throughout the weekend, I came to a couple of realizations. First, we are all grown-ups now- how did that happen? Everyone was teasing me about BF, and having a BF at all doesn't sound like me. Lyndsey owns a house? Marisaa is a dentist? We polished off a good amount of alcohol, but I think we all realized that we could not party it up the way once may have been able to. So who are we these days? Well, that's anyone's guess, but in my estimatation, our future is so bright, we gotta wear shades. Even the camera wears shades it seems- Lyndsey's pic came out almost completely black when I was going through the pics today. And let's not discuss the fact that those shades came from my ridiculousness a week and a half ago when I managed to give myself an eye ulcer and scatch my cornea. I guess the more things change, the more they remain the same. Thanks for an awesome birthday, guys!

The Big Bang

This past weekend Marissa and Jason came to visit and we rediscovered the meaning of TV marathon. Pizza, snacks, and two new shows. We started True Blood, the new HBO show. I am not 100% sure what I think of the show, but I knew beforehand that Louisiana seems scary, drugs are bad, and vampires are sexy, and this show only helped reinforce that. We also discovered the Big Bang Theory, a show that reminds me of my roots. When I was in high school in Coral Springs, I had two friends named Dan and Steve, who were geeks through and through and who I am sure are the inspiration for the show's intellectually gifted and socially retarded roommates. The Big Bang Theory may be a great show, but there are others things cosmically afoot. Yesterday, BF tried to shoot the moon with my birthday. He sent these beautiful flowers to my cube, brought me cupcakes, and gave me a book and this great T-shirt from yet another of my favorite shows, Pushing Daisies. Then we went to dinner at a great little Italian place. In the game of hearts, trying to shoot the moon rarely pays off, but in the game of this heart, it may just have.

The Basic Elements of Chemistry

This weekend I did Halloween in style. PBF/BF (note to the possible conversion) has been making me watch horror movies that he claims should be part of my movie watching history. Then, on Friday, we helped hand out candy. Ladies and gentlemen, this redistribution of wealth is brought to you in time for the election courtesy of the pagans! Here I am, as a zombie, drawnb by some great guys at my comic book store, The Laughing Ogre. I think it is a great new look. And here is PBF/BF after some little kid fought him for the candy. Here is Andy, my upstairs neighbor, who is a mad scientist in real life but decided to take things to a whole new level for the holiday. Speaking of science, here is my favorite trick or treater in the world, Collin, who was an element on the periodic table. Well, I mentioned a conversion with PBF earlier, and chemistry does seem to be the culprate, so let's hope things go the route of fusion instead of fission. Meanwhile, it seems I am simply a transitional element. I have been accused of being mercurial in the past.

Have a Nice Trip? See You Next Fall!

This weekend, I did so much on Saturday, that Sundey felt like extra. On Friday, I finally went to go visit Marissa. Wooster is a sweet little town near Mansfield. We ate delicious food and drank way too much at a great restaurant named Melvin's, and then giggled the rest of the evening away. Sometimes, I feel like I am still in high school when dealing with PBF, and Marissa gives great advice. We didn't even have to watch scary movies or Tom Cruise movies (maybe those are the same thing?) to make it a perfect sleepover. After a fun night with Marissa and yummy breakfast (while Marissa was good and did NOT have bacon, I most certainly did), I hit the road. Later that day, I went on another trip, first by road- to Hocking Hills, and then by train. PBF and I sat on the double decker car on the way there. It was tons of fun. The train was fun, but I wish the trip was longer. Then we went back to my house and watched two scary movies- In the Mouth of Madness, and Nightmare on Elm Street. I hadn't seen either one of those, and they were both semi-scary. The thing that really freaked me out was that in Nightmare on Elm Street, the girl's phone LICKED her. It was traumatizing. After the movies, PBF and I sat around and talked into the wee hours of the morning. I also did lots of Statehouse tours throughout the weekend, and on Sunday, I was busy thinking about PBF when I missed a stair and fell. No injuries, no worries, but I have the feeling that this is probably not the first, or last time, that I will fall for this guy.

Play-ing Around?

Phew! Another packed weekend! I am going to have to take some time off soon, but fall is a hard time to do that. On Saturday, Jason came down and we went to two plays. The first one was Frost/Nixon, a play about the David Frost and Richard Nixon interviews in 1977. It was our first Broadway play this year, and it was a good opening act. After the play, we drove to Malabar Farm near Mansfield. It was Louis Bromfield's house, and where Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall got married. Every year, they re-enact the 1800's drama of Ceely Rose, who was a girl who lived with her family on the property. Ceely killed her whole family because she thought that they were trying to keep her away from the boy she loved. It was community theater at its best- awkward pauses, forgotten lines, generally poor acting, all while we huddled together in an old barn, shivering in the fall weather and trying not to laugh, cry, and bolt for the door all at the same time. On Friday, I went to the always entertaining, never duplicated Pumpkin Show in Circleville with my PBF, who is still as confusing as ever. Are we dating? Are we heading toward dating? Do I even want to head toward dating, or am I just bored? I want to laugh, cry, and you guessed it, bolt for the door, all at the same time.

Jenn and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

This weekend I learned how to ride a motorcycle! The Harley Davidson people tried to make me drink their Kool Aid along the way, but I am pretty sure that the independence afforded a person by riding a motorcycle should encourage people toward any type of Kool Aid they like, so I am not sold on the Harley brand just yet. I am tired and sore from learning to ride, but I have always thought those are good things to be. I can't wait to see the world in a whole new way. There have been some bumps along the way though. First, I was so busy thinking about what it would be like to ride the road I was on with a motorcycle on the way to class one day that I missed my exit. And then I earned my "Most Moto-Acrobatic" award by doing a pop wheelie and staying on- not on purpose of course. Also, as you can tell, helmets give me terrible hat hair. Another funny thing happened this week- something I can honestly say I thought would never happen. ALL of my friends gave me the exact same advice about PBF/NMB. When the stars alignment like that, the tide changes. For now, that means I will wait and see about the guy, and the rest I will figure out along the way. Hopefully, the road along the way will be ridden by whatever Kool Aid flavored bike I decide on.

The Forbidden Fruit from the Tree of Knowledge

This weekend was an interesting one. Marissa came down from Wooster, and she, Emily, and I went horseback riding in Marysville. The Marmon Family Farm was having a fall festival, so we also got to rock climb, go on a hay ride, shop a bit (including this awesome alpaca made of alpaca), and experience various other fall activities. We also indulged in food that was bad for us from a CHAIN restaurant. Such a guilty pleasure. Yum. On Sunday, I went apple picking with my PBF ('potential boyfriend' as I have been calling him). The apples were gorgeous colors, the weather was perfect, and we had a great time. But at the end of the evening, I still hadn't figured out this guy's game plan, so I asked- like I always have to. The answer was disappointing but not truly surprising. Turns out, my PBF has recently gotten out of a big relationship and is not so sure about things but likes me enough to not want me to be a rebound girl. So it seems my PBF should be called NMB2 (that's "not my boyfriend 2, because, yes, it has happened before), but I have to say, I am more disappointed by this guy becoming my NMB than I was when Colin did. I don't know why though. I get the distinct feeling that I would break this man if we went down anything other than the friendship path....if he didn't break me first. As they say in Battlestar Gallactica, "This has all happened before, and this will all happen again."

They Do, But I Don't

On Tuesday, I got a call from my neighbor Rhenda saying that this weekend there would be a wedding at my house. The reception would be in my backyard and the wedding itself on my front porch. Also, I wasn't able to open my front door between the hours of 4:30 to 6:30. OK. Well, the rehearsal took forever, the setup was noisy, and the blessed event took way longer then promised. And of course, the place hasn't even begun to be cleaned up. So what did I do during the wedding? Well, I was tempted to open and close my door repeatedly, but I didn't. Instead I went out with this new guy who I am crushing after, and while we had a great time, all I can think of is, are we dating? And if so, why am I the last to know about just about everything?

Windy Week to Windy City

The world is so boring without electricity, but also kind of nice. I went to bed at a too decent hour and read a ton and well, that is about it. So this past weekend I had to spice things up a little bit. Mom had a conference in Chicago last week so I joined her for the weekend. We went to the Field Museum and saw Sue, and went to the Shedd Aquarium, where I ended up sitting for hours watching the fish even after Mom had to catch a cab to the airport. We went on the architecture boat tour, where we learned that one of the biggest, hottest fires in history helped inspire an architecture which makes buildings look like they wear their skeletons on the outside. And we saw Jersey Boys, about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It was a great show, and we didn't even let the fact that our Broadway meal beforehand was McDonald's bother us. I have noticed a funny thing; the more I travel the less I bring along. It seems like some kind of Buddist idea of the soul's travels, or maybe ultra-capitalist in efficency. Anyway, the weekend was great, even the flight home, which I ended up on with David. Now it is back to tons of work- oh well, "big girls don't cry"!

When Ideologies Unite...in the Dark

I am not sure which conspiracy theory currently fits. Power is out everywhere, and yet most rich people are doing just fine. Is this when the workers unite? Is communism coming? Or, is it a capitalist plot, because while homes are without electricity, all businesses seem to be fine. Therefore, Nationwide has a/c, lights, hot showers and hot food. Is this a plot to make us work more? Is this the apocalypse? People are wandering around aimlessly and there seem to be many crimes occuring on my block. However, if this is the apocalypse, it is superty boring. There is nothing to do except read until 8ish, sit on my porch until 9ish, and then sleep in the eery(sp?) silence. If this was 2012, then all ridiculous theories would be uniting.

Inside Indianapolis

This weekend Jason and I went to Indianapolis. We had a pretty fun time, but we discovered that the people in Indianapolis are...well, kind of mean. We made up for the lack of hospitality by ordering lots of room service and movies and playing the train game (see me as a conductor of a train- at the the Children's Museum- above)... in our room. We did wander out a bit. We went to the Children's Museum, which had a great exhibit on comic books (see Jason as a comic above), as well as a display on Ryan White, Anne Frank, and Ruby Bridges, which we cried buckets at. We also went to the Indianapolis Zoo, where we did lots of behind the scene stuff, such as help feed lizards and hang with penguins and get extra close to the dolphins. We had dinner at a place called the Slippery Noodle Inn. The Slippery Noodle has a colorful past- it has been a road stop bar for the train that passes close by, a stop on the Underground Railroad, a luxurious inn, a gangster hideout, a bathtub gin brewery, and a bordello. It sounds like my kind of place... and definitely the only type of place able to lure me away from the fabulous haven called the Omni hotel room.

Why Do Fools Fall in Love?

This weekend I went to my friends' wedding. Emily and Jayme didn't do one thing the ordinary way- from her proposal in a canoe to the belly dancing bachlorette party on Friday, from the homemade chuppah at the ceremony to the donut cake at the reception, from the bounce house to the BBQ. In my opinion, they might not have done things the "normal" way, but they certainly did it the "right" way. Here are Emily and Jayme, the donut cake, and Marissa, Jason, and I at the reception. Jason and I relived prom- I got a corsage, and he got boutonniere (NOT a bustier, which is what I originally asked for). We also saw Marissa's parents at the wedding, who told us about a shock they received on their arrival home from a recent holiday. It seems the neighbor kid took advantage of his watching-the-house responsibilities, and they found him with his girlfriend, rose petals everywhere, candles everyehere gently flickering with romance. It guess love (especially the unorthodox kind) is in the air.

Can You Earn a Gold in Individual Olympic Watching?

There were some in a bed
And the little one said
"Roll over, roll over"
So they all rolled over
And the rest fell out

There was one in a bed
And the little one said
"I'm lonely! I'm lonely!"

So this is what things kind of feel like these days. Usually I like my life as a combination of lots of alone time and lots of friend time. Well, now they have all "rolled over"- goodbye to Stephanie, Marissa, Melissa, Colin, and Lyndsey, who have all moved away in the last months. It does give me some time to spend time with friends I have been neglecting, but I still have alot more time these days. It is just me, Meri, and Ginger cheering for Michael Phelps. Speaking of Ginger, here he is with his Scotish souvenirs. He grumbles the whole time when he is wearing them, but he keeps taking nips of whisky to make it better. He says drinking is the only way he can stomach my patriotism during the Olympic games. By the way, I want those French to stop talking smack- Don't make me come over there!

Life Isn't (the) Fair

The state fair is on, and if anyone knows anything at all about me, then you know that I love all things involving rides, fair food, and freak shows. The Ohio State Fair is the one thing I have done EVERY SINGLE YEAR while I have lived in Columbus, and this year, I even did it twice. I went with Melissa last week, and I don’t know if people knew the fair was open- we sort of had it to ourselves. We ate lots of food, watched boxing, and saw the world’s Best Bovine, the Butter Cow, who these days keeps company with none other than Ohio’s presidents. Melissa and I also got fair boyfriends who let us ride our ride two or three times- they know how to treat us right. We discovered that if you are at the fair at closing time, you can get pretty much anything you want at cost. Then, this past weekend, I went with Angela and Devin. I exercised my voting rights and Angela introduced us to her new beau. We also watched the pig races- I think my pig won. I hope he didn’t end up in the meat tent! Good thing we had tons of fried food to substantially low our life expectancy to distract us from the bacon.

Breaking Point

Ok, here are three things I heart:
1. Vampire Fiction
2. Angst
3. Forbidden Love
In case you don’t know about Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series, I encourage all those who adore even one of the three above things to pick it up. This past weekend, Jason and Hayley, his niece, came up from Portsmouth for the midnight release of the book Breaking Dawn, the last in the series. It took me right back to middle/high school, which, in case you were wondering, is the target audience for the books. I went to the restroom during the evening, and stayed in there about twenty minutes because I had to hear the outcomes of how Claire really likes Chad but she is afraid he really likes Alexis and how Rachael used to date Jimmy and she does not care if her best friend Jessica dates him because Rachael is not into jocks anymore, she is going for something new in the cute but brainy guy in her lit class, but she will miss how the jocks look super hot when they are all sweaty… well, you get the idea. By the way, I am sure that all people who are listed above actually spell their names with many more oddly placed y’s and i’s than how I spelled them. In any case, it was a similar, and yet spectacularly different, feeling from the Harry Potter release last year. All I know is that, just like last year, I emerged from the weekend drunk from over reading and lack of contact with reality- my favorite state of being.

The Deathly Hallows

Well, Linda and I are not tired of Harry Potter, but we are tired of our HP tour guides. We were happy that the tour came to a conclusion yesterday, and we are pretty sure we have made great friends out of Beth and Christy. This is especially true for Linda, who lives is in their same town. Last night we finished with a trivia contest. I did poorly, but Linda came in second. First prize was a signed picture of the three main HP actors. I, unfortunately, got a Ron figurine. This evening, Linda and I part ways at York. From there, I head to Manchester, and then Linda heads to London. Tomorrow we both head home to tons of work- yuck! For our last hours in Scotland, we are exploring the haunts of another favorite author of ours that calls Edinburgh his home- Alexander McCall Smith. His column, 44 Scotland Street, which is complied into books, takes place in the more residential areas of town, and that has been a fun change of pace to see. Anyway, thanks to everyone who has been following along. Blogging itself has been an adventure. I am sure my adventures to come will be up on here too.