not too shabby

so this week was a surprisingly good one...

wednesday night, i went to see the temptations and the four tops in concert with two of my co-workers. although i was the same age as both of their youngest children, i wanted to go because this is the music i grew up with my father playing. my coworkers found it funny that i knew all the songs that were played. during songs they would be like "oh, i was __ when i first heard this song. how about you?" and i would respond, "nope, not born yet." this would go on throughout the evening. "nope, still not born." but, all in all it was a great show - those old guys still got it! :-D ... and of course i cried during "my girl."

thursday i actually got time to spend with ray. we went and did errands together. i had to get my paycheck, go to the bank, and run to target for pre-putnam decorations. we got these pineapple lights for the back deck - so no longer do our party guests have to sit in the dark with lit cigarettes and a malfunctioning sensor light as the only light sources. yippee!

friday night i went to my friend, karen, boyfriend's house to go swimming. it was great. we (Me, Karen, Jon, and their friend Brendan) all went for italian first and then met back at the house. when we first arrived, it started to thunder and there was a couple flashes of lightning but after a couple minutes it all cleared and we swam for a good couple hours. after, we went inside to catch the tail end of the boston / new york game... and boy did the yankees get spanked. it was great being at jon's house (huge yankees fan) since the rest of us are all boston fans and got to rub it into him.

saturday, i didn't do much of anything. did minor things around the house to help my mom. laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, etc. training to be a happy little homemaker... lol. i also worked on picture frame collages of my friends and i which i have prominently displayed in the dining room. my brother asked me, "why not put it in your room?" i replied, "you're in it too." and he said, "yes, one picture to your *counts on his fingers* nine." meh... oh well, my mom likes them there. so ha! ... anyway... so, i basically took it easy saturday knowing that sunday, today, i'd be going to the beach with karen, jon, brendan, shannon and mike. i headed to bed around 10:30 / 11:00 after watching a PBS special on Gene Kelly. i couldn't tear myself away from the tv - programs like that have that affect on me. well, i finally get to sleep and my cell phone rings. it's karen. she's calling me because her father and jon just left for a structure fire in town and doesn't want to be home alone, which i can understand because i'm the same way. so, she begs me to come sleep over since we were leaving early in the morning anyhow. i get there a half hour later and turns out it was just a house fire and they were home not even an hour after i arrive... so we all fell asleep on the couches downstairs watching a "real world" marathon, only to be up in another 4 hours to head to the beach...

and then there was the beach trip... which i will tell about tomorrow since i am exhausted and need the sleep.... :-)

TORI AMOS CONCERT

have $40 and wanna see tori? i have an extra ticket.

tuesday, august 16 - wallingford, ct

bored bored bored ...

taking a break from job hunting, researching, e-mailing, and all that other shit...

A-Z about me

A - Age of 1st kiss: sad that i don't remember
B - Band you are listening to right now: nothing, it's quiet
C - Crush: :-X
D - Dad's name: Jouzas
E - Easiest person to talk to: my mother
F - Favorite ice cream: cookies and cream
G - Gummy worms or gummy bears: worms are gummier :-)
H - Home town: Granby
I - Instruments: piano (bought some sheet music today, actually)
J - Junior high: St. Mary's School
K - Kids: 0
L - Longest car ride ever: ride to Ithaca and getting pulled over by VT state troopers with Mary
M - Mom's name: Conchita
N - Nicknames: Philli, Li, Litha, Phi, Phi-Phi, Tha, Phil, Goose, Dear, Ashy
O - One wish: :-X
P - Phobias: anything that flies...
Q - Quote: "Everything started going wrong when I stopped listening to the fairies." "If you really want a challege, just deal with yourself." "To heal the wound, you have to go into the dark night of the soul."
R - Reason to smile: anything, life's too short
S - Song you sang last: Winter
T - Time you woke up today: 11:45
U - Unknown fact about me: :-X
V - Vegetables you dislike: hmmm I basically like them all
W - Worst habit: smoking
X - X-rays you've had: mouth, ribcage, foot
Y - Your least favorite person: hmm... don't have room to name them all... but everyone knows who's currently at the top
Z - Zodiac sign: Libra

another one leaves ct...

a new southern belle ^bridget & i when we were in 12tas.

this friday, one of my close friends, bridget, is moving down to south carolina to join her husband on base. they were married in april, and her husband has been down there since after the honey moon for his further training in the marines. i wish her luck in her new home, and pray that jake stays safe in all he does. i will miss her so much, but hopefully i'll get to see her when i'm in myrtle beach this august.

lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Bear Causes a Commotion in Connecticut

the bear just wanted to come visit me at work...

but seriously... bears have been coming around a lot more in my neighborhood and in surrounding towns. hmm... maybe it has something to do with all the developing? not even a mile from my work, in all directions, there are new construction sites for the mini-mansions people are so obsessed over. it's the kind of neighborhood where your house is identical to your neighbor's and are so close together that during breakfast you can hand them the pot of coffee from your kitchen to your neighbor's kitchen through the window.

i say, c'mon bears show'em what you got - feel free to destroy their new homes and shopping centers, since they destroyed yours.

my head hurts, people confuse me so

but wait, no, i am a redhead. huh...

and i am part scottish...

play fighting

so, just a few minutes ago, ray and alisha got home from the bar. alisha started jabbering about something, i don't know what, but it was pissing me off. i started cleaning like a mad-woman in the kitchen, but i cleaned so fast that there was nothing left for me to clean yet she was still jabbering and pissing me off. so, as drunk as i was/am (i had been making mango-martini's for my mom, aunt, and i the whole night) i decided to start play boxing with ray. apparently after awhile i wasn't playing and apparently i got him good a couple times. whoops.

tauties are magical

it boggles my mind that how the tauties you buy when you're 16 fit you for life... this subject has been brought up in many convo's i've had with people, but no one ever has an answer... hmm...

so, i'm back in the nutmeg state

the last couple weeks i've been in vermont, first at neringa for angliuku seimu and then at sandra and christian's to visit, and then back to neringa for work weekend II, and then back to sandra and christian's for part of the july 4th wknd. it seems no matter how much time i spend up there, i never want to leave. i don't know, there's just something about that state that i love.

being a counselor at family camp was quite different. it was hot as hell the first couple days, so most of what was planned was tossed out the window and everything revolved around the prudas, sprinklers, a poorman's slip n' slide, - basically anything to keep cool. there was a whole lot of freetime - most of it i spent in the dirbtuve smoking cigarettes, which i need to quit, again - and the program that does take place is very laid back. i enjoyed being up there for it and getting to know the families. i talked with many of the parents who were campers and counselors "back in the day." some were counselors when i was still a camper and we reminised about memories that we shared. all their children were wonderful, and i grew attached to some and vice versa. someday, it will be my family up there... but not for a long time.

after family camp ended, i decided to pay sandra and christian a visit since i had not seen them since probably april sometime. the work they have done to the house is amazing - such a difference from when it all began a year+ ago. (see picture below of dining room before and after). currently, they are also building a barn which extends off of their garage; their friend, jp, is staying with them for the summer to build it.

i ended up spending the weekend with them - which was a welcomed escape from ct life. sandra and i spent a lot of time talking about everything going on in each other's lives, a release that both of us needed. most nights we grilled outside, had a bonfire, relaxed with some drinks, and played with the kittens. oh yeah, their cats pixie and lily both had kittens - 10 in total, and i get one :-D . on saturday, the 3rd, their town was having a picture taken of all it's approx 600 residents for, i think, their 100th year... previously a picture was taken in the 80's for some other milestone that escapes me right now. so - the four of us all went into town to be in the picture. apparently jp and i now reside in saxtons river.


Dining Room Before and After

Happy 4th of July!

Oy! Finally back home in CT, and don't even really want to be here. It's a bad thing when you dread coming home. I love seeing my mother and what not - but my relationship with my brother is heavily strained. I saw that fully tonight when I stopped at mutual friends' house on my way home from Sandra and Christian's. I will rant more later when I'm not so exhausted.

So... Happy 4th! While everyone else is out barbecuing, I will be catching up on much needed sleep, dreaming that I was some place other than here.