Saturday

This upcoming Saturday is the day of my big 21st birthday party. I asked my mom if I could have strawberry daquiris that day, and she decided that I needed to have a theme for my birthday, and that it was going to be a strawberry theme. So, we're having a bunch of strawberry desserts and such, and we're also having sandwiches and a veggie tray (because that's pretty much a tradition with my birthday since it's in the summer).

All I wanted was to have strawberry daquiris, but then my mom got all crazy with the planning and wanted to do a theme...I would have been just fine if she'd handed me a big glass of daquiri and left it at that. :)

I'm not sure who all is coming, but I'm sure that my mom invited everyone in the family plus probably half of the neighborhood. So, if you happen to be in town Saturday afternoon/evening and would like to stop by, go right ahead. :)

*sad face*

We had to put Bandit (my ferret) to sleep yesterday because he was so sick and in so much pain that we couldn't stand the thought of keeping him in that state until the next day. I was in the middle of cleaning out my bunny's cage when I heard this God-aweful screeching/screaming noise, and it was coming from his cage. I rushed over to it and he was lying on the floor of his cage and he was twitching and screaming. I was afraid to pick him up because I didn't want to hurt him. However, I decided to risk it and I grabbed him and wrapped him up in his "blanket" and took him downstairs.

When I showed him to Mom, she immediately went for the phone book and started looking for a vet that might be open (it took a while to get ahold of someone since it was on a Sunday and most of them are closed). I called Jake to let him know what was going on and asked if he would be able to come over. When I got off the phone with him, Mom told me that a vet at the Amanda Animal Hospital in Spencerville was going to go into the office and meet with us. It was going to cost $100 for the emergency vet visit, but he said that he wouldn't charge us for the euthanasia.

So, once Jake got to my house, we all left and headed out to Spencerville. Because my finger had gotten in the way while he was having a seizure, and his tooth broke thru my skin, the vet said that he was required to send him in to have him tested for rabies (even tho he highly doubted that Bandit had rabies). Mom was discussing it with him and they just kept talking. I was basically like "Just shut up and let him give Bandit the injection!" I couldn't stand there and watch him suffer like that when relief was at hand.

Once he gave him the injection, it didn't take very long for it to kick in (especially since he injected it directly into Bandit's heart - which is what they do with small animals since their veins are so small). He left us in the room with him and Mom and I stayed in there and petted him for a little while. His eyes hadn't closed when he passed on, so I covered up his face with the towel that he was wrapped in and we headed out to the lobby to get the bill taken care of.

This was such a traumatic experience for me because Bandit has been a part of our family for the last 6-7 years and in that time, he has stolen my heart completely. Jake made the comment that I should "stop giving my whole heart to these animals," to which I replied that I couldn't help it. Any animal that comes in our home automatically owns me body and soul, and no matter what I do, I can't stop that, and it definately doesn't make losing them any easier.

Part of me wishes that I could have been able to bring Bandit's body home and bury it under the apple tree next to Missy, but the other part of me realizes that it is just a body and that Bandit isn't in there anymore. So, I don't know if having the burial ceremony would have helped me any. I felt so horrible yesterday and I thought I was okay today, but as I write this blog, tears are coming to my eyes and threatening to spill out onto my keyboard. Yesterday, I was eating some chips and salsa in my room while watching part of "Two Weeks Notice" on TV, and when I went to close up the bag of chips, I went to grab a chip or two out of the bag and put it in his food bowl for him. Just as I was about to reach in the bag, I remembered that he wasn't in there. I have a feeling that I'm going to be doing things like this a lot over the next week or so. Every time I see a gummy bear, I'm going to think about him.

My 1st bar experience...

Last night, my Mom, Jake, and a few aunts and uncles and a couple of Mom and Dad's friends all went out to Lulu's bar so that they could, in honor of the Elliott family tradition, buy me drinks to celebrate my 21st birthday. In spite of the bar being pretty loud from the volume of the music (and consequently, the bar patrons having to talk loudly), and being really smokey (even tho I thought it was now illegal to smoke in public places...?), it wasn't that bad of an experience. They actually were playing some pretty good music (most of the time).

I started the night out with my Mom's drink, which was a Smirnoff Ice. I figured that I should start out slow and with something familiar. Before I was even halfway thru that drink, Mom's friend, Paul, went up to the bar and ordered me a "Pineapple Upside Down Cake" drink. It was really good, and I could barely taste any of the alcohol in it, except for the last sip.

When I was almost finished with that, my uncle, Mike, went up and ordered me a "B-52." In spite of its really strong alcohol taste at the beginning of each sip, it tasted like chocolate and was pretty good. It might actually be a drink that I would order on my own at a later visit to a bar. It was pretty tasty. :)

The last drink was ordered by my uncle, Pat. He ordered me an "Alabama Slammer." It might have been good if it hadn't tasted like children's liquid Tylenol. Whatever was in it must have been really strong alcohol with something that had a cherry flavor to it, because I associated it with Tylenol. Everyone else (including Jake, who really liked the drink and even had one himself) thought I was crazy for making that association, but that's what it tasted like to me. So, if you don't like cherry or liquid Tylenol, then I wouldn't recommend this drink for ya.

When I was almost finished with the "Bamma Slamma" (as my uncle was calling it), I started to feel like I was going to pass out. Not necessarily from being drunk, but because I was having blood sugar issues. I had been drinking a glass of ice water while I was finishing my Smirnoff (which I had had since the beginning) and the "Bamma Slamma," but I guess it wasn't enough. I looked over at Jake and told him that I thought I was going to pass out, and then I told Mom, and she handed me her glass of water (because I had finished mine already).

The water seemed to help because I felt better once I had gotten that into my stomach. I was a little afraid that I wasn't going to be able to walk the 2-2 1/2 blocks home because I wasn't sure how steady my legs were going to be since I had been sitting down the whole time. But, I was able to make it home alright. The first thing I did was run to the bathroom, and then I grabbed a piece of bread and a bottle of water. I had another piece of bread a little later and munched on some tortilla chips, and that seemed to take care of the issue.

I even had a sip of Jake's rum -n- coke (which was made with Ginger Ale instead of Coke), a sip of Raspberry Pucker, and about 3 shots of "Hot Damn," which tasted better than I remembered. In all, I would say that I had a pretty good night, in spite of the passing out scare. I'm really glad that I had my family there because I would have felt really out of place in a bar with a bunch of people I didn't know. And I'm really glad that Mom and Jake were there because I know that if I had passed out, they would have taken care of me (as would the rest of my family). :)

My 21st birthday

So, I woke up yesterday morning and I didn't really feel any different from the day before. Once I go out on Saturday with my Mom, Dad, uncle, Jake, and maybe a few others, I might feel different, but it didn't really hit me yesterday. Everyone kept saying "Happy Birthday," and that would always remind me that it was, in fact, my birthday, but I kept forgetting that throughout the day.

I didn't do much celebrating as far as drinking goes, but Jake's mom did fix me a wonderful dinner and she got me a turle (as in nuts, caramel, and chocolate...not ninja) ice cream cake. It was all really good and I had a good time. I dragged Jake back to my house for a couple of hours and we hung out with my parents and ate the "Pirates of the Caribbean" cupcakes that Mom bought me. They were good, but I wish they would have had the whipped frosting instead of the buttercream frosting. But hey, they were still good.

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Tonight, my brother (Ben) and I are meeting up with my cousin and his family in Celina, and we're going to head over to the Lake Fest with them, and then go to Sonic (or we're going there before the fair...whatever). Then, we'll head back to their house, I'll stay there with Sophie (my Goddaughter) and they'll all head over to the fireworks. I'm probably going to bring my book along to have something to read while they're gone because Sophie will be asleep, so there won't be much for me to do.

Then, Saturday night is the big night. I'm going to be dragged from bar to bar in Wapak and I have to drink at least 1 drink at each stop. I hope that it's fun and that they don't try to get me wasted...but at least I don't have to pay for the drinks! ;p

Almost there...

Tomorrow is my 21st birthday, and while it's supposed to be an exciting milestone in my life, I'm not sure that I'll be doing anything exciting that day. Aside from getting my new -horizontal- license, I think Jake's mom might be making me a birthday dinner (but I don't know for sure) and I don't really know what's going on besides that.

Jake said something about going around to a few places and ordering drinks, but since I have to work at noon the next day, I'm not sure that will be happening. It might have to wait until the weekend.

So, I hope that I have a good day tomorrow and hopefully I'll find something fun and entertaining to do so that it's not a complete waste. :) I won't be going out tomorrow and getting wasted...that's probably going to happen on the 2nd, when Mom and Dad throw me a birthday party. Apparently their goal (or Dad's, anyways) is to get me drunk. I'm pretty sure it's not going to work because I know when I've had enough, but they're probably going to try anyways. :)

A little over an hour to go!

Things aren't working out...

I had planned to do so many fun things this summer, but then classes got in the way and nothing has panned out like I had planned. I still want to visit at least 1 zoo, go to the Rock -n- Roll Hall of Fame, go to King's Island (because Jake and I got free tickets for my birthday), and a few other things, but it seems like we're running out of summer. Now that my classes are over, I'm going to push Jake more and hopefully we'll get to salvage at least a few of our plans, but we're pretty much working opposite schedules, and I don't know if he'll be able to take a weekend day off here and there (because that's pretty much all I've got available).

I know that we -have- to go to King's Island because our tickets expire at the end of the season, and I would hate to waste them. I just don't know if all of the other things are going to happen. I would like to say that they will, but I'd probably only be fooling myself.

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One good thing about having summer classes and working and such is that I've been able to knock some books off of my reading list. I'm now on book 6 of the Anita Blake vampire hunter series. This is the last book that I actually own, but I have other books at home that are on my list (and 1 or 2 that aren't) that I can work on after I finish this one.

Will I be satisfied with being able to say that I read a shit-load of books this summer? I don't know. I would much rather be able to say that I read a shit-load of books and did a bunch of fun stuff, too, but that may not be the case. I guess I can feel accomplished with the reading, like my summer wasn't a complete waste...

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In other news: I finally finished the toddler blanket for my little cousin (Grace). I wasn't able to give it to her when I saw her last because I didn't finish it until the day after she was at our house, but at least it's done, and she won't really even need it just yet anways. It's a little too warm for covering up with a crocheted blanket (because they're pretty thick, even tho they don't look like it). I need to start on the next toddler/child blanket for my cousin Genevieve, but I won't even see her until Christmas, so I've got some time.

Right now, I really want to bust out my little knitting kit and start working on learning how to do that, but I haven't really had the time lately, and it never occurs to me to grab it when I do have the time. That's another thing on the list of things I wanted to do this summer that might not get done. Maybe I'll pull that out today when I get home from work? It could be fun.

The surprise!

So, I surprised Mom and Dad with their hotel room on Saturday. I was a little scared that they might not want to go because Dad was going to a disc golf tournament on Sunday and I wasn't sure if he'd feel up to going. But, Dad was the one that was ready to leave the minute they got the card, Godiva chocolates, and Mondoro Asti Spumanti wine. That really surprised me, but I'm glad that he reacted that way.

Neither of them had suspected anything and they were completely surprised. They had no idea that I'd gotten so many of our family members and their friends involved. It was an amazing experience for me and it was so rewarding. I'm glad that I was able to do this for them. And I am very thankful for all of the help I received! I couldn't have pulled this off without help.

My Mom asked me why I had decided to do this for them this year (because it's their 18th anniversary, but it's not one of the "big ones," I guess). I told her that I'd actually been wanting to do this for them for a while, but since Dad was diagnosed, I figured it was better to go ahead and do it now because, let's face it, there might not be a later. I really hate to say that, but I know it's a fear that our whole family has, and that's why I think that I got so much support with this. I'm glad that everyone realized how important this was and that they contributed in whatever way they were able to because I don't know if we'll get the opportunity to do this a second time.

Cookies

While on my lunch break yesterday, I went over to Wal-Mart and was wandering around the isles when I decided to grab some chocolate chips to make cookies for today. A friend in one of my classes turns 21 today, and she invited me to go out with her and some of her coworkers out to B Dubs last night to hang out and celebrate. I didn't go because I didn't really see the point in me being there with a bunch of people I kinda know. So, I felt bad about turning down the invitation, so I decided to make her cookies for her birthday and bring them to class today.

I used my Grandma's recipe, which calls for 2 cups of shortening, but we only had butter, so the cookies weren't as fluffy as I wanted them to be, but otherwise, I think they turned out pretty well. We don't have a window air conditioner in the dining room/kitchen part of the house, so having the oven on while I baked 5 dozen cookies made it extremely hot in those 2 rooms, but I was afraid to go too far away for fear of burning my cookies. So, I stood in the heat and ate my barely warm dinner in between batches of cookies.

In all, the process only took me about a hour and a half, but by the time it was over, I was so tired and I didn't feel like doing anything but sitting in the air conditioning. I don't know what's happened to me, but I used to be able to bake cookies and have it last for 3 hours or more and not be as tired/ worn out as I was last night. I think I'm getting...old! *gasp* ;p

I really think that it was the heat from the oven that was making me tired because I know that when I spend a lot of time out in the warm sun, I am usually exhausted when I come back inside. I'm hoping that's what it is because I can't stand to think about getting old just yet. I mean, I'm turning 21 in 8 days...I'm in my prime!...right?

So exciting

I only have 1 day of classes left and then I'm free for the summer (besides work)! I knew this quarter was going to be short because my classes were only scheduled to last for 5 weeks, but it seems to have gone by really fast. On the other hand, there were times when it seemed to have slowed down to a crawl and I was just praying that it would speed up so that I could be done with my classes.

There are so many things that I still want to do before Autumn quarter starts but, because of classes, I haven't been able to do much of anything this summer. Except for last weekend when I went to Columbus for Kate's graduation party thingy (which kinda sucked because the majority of the people there just sat around and played WOW the whole time), I haven't been able to get away and do anything fun.

Most of the reason why I haven't been able to go anywhere is because I'm afraid to go anywhere far away. I don't know when something's going to happen with Dad and I'm scared that I will go off to Columbus or some other city and be 2 hours away when something happens and I need to be home. That's mostly what's holding me back from going out and doing things. But Dad's feeling better right now, so I should be okay to go places and do fun things now...I hope.

So, if anyone wants to do something, let me know! :)

I'm ready...I'm ready

After tonight's class, I will literally only have 2 classes left (the 2 I'll have on Wednesday). In my Music class, we're all teaching our lessons. The lessons are supposed to last for about 30 minutes, and there are only 2 groups, so hopefully that class will only be lasting for an hour/hour and a half, and then we can get out of there! But, knowing the prof and how much she likes to talk after everything is done, I'm sure we won't get out early at all...

Tonight in my Drama class, my partner and I are going to be presenting the lesson plan that we made up. It will probably take all of 5 minutes to do, and then I have no idea what the prof has on the agenda for the rest of the time. Since class goes until 7:30, maybe we'll get out early?...yeah right! I just realized that I have a 2-page reflective analysis journal due, so I'd better get that started. All I really want to do is finish the book that I'm reading. I hate homework!

I can't wait until after Wednesday because Summer quarter will officially be over for me (except for the final paper that I have to do for my Drama class) and I'll hopefully be able to start enjoying my summer!

I've been thinking...

Over the past few days, I've been thinking about how my life might have been right now if we'd have stayed in Florida instead of moving back here. It's not that I don't like my life here or the friends that I've made, but it's just something that I've been putting some thought into lately.

It all started when I saw a pic of my ex-boyfriend/best guy friend from Florida on a mutual friend's Myspace page. We never technically dated, but everyone always said we were dating or whatever. I started wondering if we ever would have actually dated if I would have stayed down there. After I left, he found himself a girlfriend and they ended up having a kid together. Even if they aren't still together anymore, I don't see anything happening between us, ever. So, this really isn't a possibility, but I just couldn't help but think about it.

I also started thinking about how one of my best friends is getting married sometime within the next year, and how we always talked about how we would be in each other's weddings. And I don't even know when her wedding is going to be...that's totally not how I expected that to turn out. If I still lived in Florida, I would probably be there helping her make her plans, and I would be stading in the "Maid of Honor" spot in the ceremony. Now, I don't even know if I'll be there for the ceremony. :(

Like I said, it's not like I don't like the life that I have here in Ohio, but I will always wonder how it could have been if we didn't have to move back...if I would have had the chance to stay there and go to high school with my friends. I really hate the fact that I've lost touch with so many people that were so important to me in junior high. When you're that age, you think that the friends that you have right then will be with you for the rest of your life...and then you grow up and find that that doesn't always happen. It's so depressing!

Tagged

I was tagged by Megan a couple of days ago, but I didn't have any books around me while I was online, so I'm doing this now.

Rules:
1.) Pick up the nearest book.
2.) Open to page 123.
3.) Find the 5th sentence.
4.) Post the next three sentences.
5.) Tag five people, acknowledge who tagged you.

The book that is nearest to me is The Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K. Hamilton (book 4 in the Anita Blake series that I'm reading).

pg. 123 - 5th sentence and the 3 sentences following it:

He was looking all reasonable again. I didn't want him reasonable. "I've got Elvira Drew in my office right now. What the hell am I supposed to do with her?"

This isn't as exciting as I thought it was going to be, but whatever.

I'm tagging:
Sarah
Michael
Tabby
Christa
Brittany

Sleepy...*yawn*

Jess came over yesterday and we walked down to Max's and got some of the world's most amazing ice cream! (p.s. you left the rest of your ice cream in our freezer) Then we went back to my house and watched TV in the living room with my Dad. About 11 pm, Jess headed out because I had to get showered and go to bed. I was really tired all day yesterday, so I had hoped that I'd be able to fall right to sleep once I laid down...that wasn't the case.

It didn't take me an extremely long time to fall asleep, but it wasn't as easy as I was hoping it would be. First, I had to go in and visit with Leo before heading to bed. He was in Nick's room all alone and I felt bad for him, so I took him to Nick and told him not to leave his "baby" alone. Then Salem wanted to follow me into my room, which was fine because I like having cats sleep in my room with me. But, Salem didn't really want to sleep. He laid on my bed at my feet for a little while, but then I moved and disturbed him, so he got up. And then he jumped back up on my bed and started purring really loud and staring at me. So, I got up and let him out.

After that, I don't really remember much. I think I fell asleep shortly afterwards. I do remember thinking about some really strange things just before sleep, but I don't remember what they were and, most likely, they're not important. I'm pretty sure I had some interesting dreams, too, but I don't remember those, either.

So, tonight I need to make sure that I get some sleep. I've got another long day tomorrow and it would be great if I could get through my evening class without yawning 20 times. I have a feeling that even if I went to bed at 9 last night that I would still be really tired. So, I'm not sure that getting a little more sleep tonight will make a difference, but it's worth a shot.

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Last week, I booked Mom and Dad's h0tel room for the 19th of this month. I got them a room at the Holiday Inn Express in Wapak. It has a king-sized bed, a whirlpool!, a coffee maker, a nice-sized TV, wireless internet access. It sounds really great. I'm praying that they're able to go that weekend and that something doesn't come up. But, the gift certificate that I bought them is good either for a year or until the end of this year, so they'll have some time to use it before it expires. :)

So, since I spent almost $150 on that, I now have no money to go out and have any fun this week or next week (until I get paid again). Jess mentioned something about going on an "adventure" this week, but I'm too poor right now, so it'll have to wait...and that saddens me. I really haven't done much and it's SUMMER! I wanted to enjoy myself this year, and I have a job, so I should have money to do fun things, but I don't have that right now.

I also really want to go shopping, because I'm in a shopping kind of mood right now. Going to the mall in Dayton (which is the Mall at Fairfield Commons, I believe, which is technically in Beavercreek, but that's where Sarah took us) was mentioned, too, and that sounds like so much fun! But, it'll have to wait until I get paid again. I hate having to live from paycheck to paycheck. And, no matter how much I try to save up money, big expenses always come up and wipe out my savings. The minute that I get $100 in my savings account, something will happen to my car or my cat or something and that'll be gone like that *snaps fingers*.

I hate being poor....

Making plans

Yesterday, while I was at work, I decided that I really don't want to waste my entire summer on just school and work, and I really want to get out there and do some fun things before the summer ends. So, yesterday I looked around on the web for information on a couple of different zoos (Toledo and Cleveland), info on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and I found some contact info for a possible horse riding place and somewhere that you can rent canoes from.

I looked for some other information on a few different activities, but I wasn't very successful in finding stuff on those, so I'll need to do some more research later. But, I think I have a good start for this summer, and I hope that I can find at least 1 person who is interested in doing each thing with me. Getting to some of these places requires a pretty long drive to get there, and I wouldn't want to make those trips on my own!

So, I have all of these plans, and I'm pretty sure that I'll get to do at least 1 of these things this summer. Knowing how my plans usually go, I figured that setting the goal for just 1 activity would ensure that I wasn't too disappointed. But, Jake and I also got 2 tickets for King's Island from my biological father and, since they expire at the end of the season, we have to use those this summer. I guess I should expect to do at least 2 things this summer. :)

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On a much crappier note: I just talked to my partner for the group project in my Music class. She stayed after class to talk to the instructor about her lesson plan, and it would appear that the prof tore the thing apart. So, we've got to change our stuff around. I'm the one that's most affected by it because I have to create a completely new lesson plan (because my original lesson is being incorporated into her lesson plan), but I could tell that my partner was really upset, and she came close to crying when I was talking to her. I'm afraid to meet up with the prof alone now. I didn't want to deal with this kind of stress over the summer...but I'm glad that I'm getting this class over with because I won't have to deal with it in my last quarter.

I was really excited about having something started and almost finished way ahead of time...and now I'm really depressed because now I'm almost farther behind than I was when I started. I really wish that I didn't have to worry about this crap right now, but if I don't at least start it today, it won't get touched until Monday, and that's just way too long to leave it. So...this is me...starting my lesson...all over again...

Improvements

Leo is doing much better today (and even last night). He was even playing around and walking around after he eat last night. He scarfed down some moist cat food...you would have thought the little bugger was starving by the way he was eating. Tho, it's possible that he might have been starving, even tho Mom and I were feeding him about every hour and a half. He was getting extremely watered-down formula, and I don't think that's very filling. At any rate, he's looking and acting so much better today. I put him into Nick's room and he crawled out of the towel that he was wrapped in and started to roam around the room. Last night he was clawing and licking my face and grooming himself...it was so cute! He's slowly getting back to his normal self, and we're glad to have him back.