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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Black Friday + Midnight Madness




We went shopping in Orlando at Midnight Madness, meaning that the Prime Outlets opened Thanksgiving night at midnight. And there definitely was madness.

There were mobs of people lined up outside of Victoria's Secret for $14.99 bras and $2 panties. Once it opened, there were so many people in there that it was a 50-yard line that was one in, one out.

We stayed away from the crazy stores and stuck to J Crew, Banana Republic, Gap, BCBG, and Ann Taylor. They were a little less crazy, but still crazy.
People had multiple rolling suitcases to pack their stuff in. 
They were doing some damage.

By 2 AM, I was walking around deliriously, trying on clothes. I was worried that I was making the wrong decisions on what to get. So I decided to go sit on the fountain and wait for the girls to finish shopping. (I got home and am still happy with my purchases, so that's a good thing.)

But I must say, if I had had more money to spend, I could have shopped for hours more because the prices were incredible. I probably could have shopped till 5 in the morning. I also probably would have ended up buying new shoes because my feet would have been raw... But I could have done it. 

Anyways, we left Orlando at 2:53 very achey and tired, but very happy with the deals we got on clothes. 
I spent $70 and saved $200. 

I was the chosen, lucky driver of Sierra the Sienna (minivan) for the trip home. 
I felt like I was seeing double lines in the middle of the road because of tiredness, 
but everyone stayed awake and chatted so that I wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel.
It took about an hour, and I very happy to get in bed by 4 AM. 
(No matter how good I try to make Midnight Madness sound, it just sounds miserable.)

We have lots of chaotic memories of piling 9 girls in Granddad's minivan and shopping all night long.
I would totally do it again next year if I was in Florida again.

Another fear to add to the list

We had an awesome Thanksgiving break. Florida ended up to be so much fun because Thanksgiving lasted 3 days instead of one. The Mission Inn was very nice for Thanksgiving lunch, even though we didn't have leftovers. We have tons of pictures... And a few funny/scary memories. 

The thing that keeps coming to my mind when I think about the trip was about 2 minutes long... And I'm pretty sure it scarred me for life. 

This is how it went...

Thanksgiving Day, after Uncle Paul stabbed a very deadly snake, the Cotton Mouth, and then watching the little kids mutilate it and cut open its stomach to find two whole fish in it...



Dad asked me to go ask George if he would like to come to our Thanksgiving dinner at the Mission Inn, which is a resort down the road. George is our sweet neighbor who takes care of the house when we're not there. He gardens and fishes pretty much all the time. He has been bitten by cotton mouths and copperheads... 44 times total, and never once been to the doctor for it.  The whole family loves George, he's part of the family now, so we thought we'd walk down and ask him to join.


Jack, Laura and I set out down the driveway. We considered driving, but we decided to walk. We have a long driveway, but we said we'd need as much exercise as possible since we were about to eat a lot.


We got to the end of the driveway, a good ways away from the house.
And out of nowhere, I hear barking. 
And then I hear a woman screaming, "Bentley!! Get over here!"
And then I see a pit bull running towards us.

This picture that I found on a google search looks exactly like Bentley looked at that moment, except Bentley was not chained up.



Laura somehow was suddenly 20 feet away from Jack, me and the pit bull.
Jack, who is a foot taller than me and 100 pounds more than me, was somehow behind me, and we were both backed into the bushes.
I somehow ended up right on top of the pit bull. I felt like my body was in a C shape. 
The middle part of my body was trying to get as far away from this deadly animal as possible,
but there was no where else to go.

Bentley was not responding to his owner.
I could just picture a huge chunk being taken out of my leg by this beast.

After about a minute, he left.
My heart beated about 1,000 beats in that minute. 
I turned around, shaking, and decided to drive to George's house.
I really wanted to run home, but I was too afraid that the dog would chase.

I'm sure the owners laughed as they saw us walk down the driveway towards their house, 
and turn straight around and walk back after their big, bad dog got to us.

I officially hate pit bulls.
I think they should be illegal to own. 
Obviously, these owners were idiots. 
They had a fence halfway around their house but not completely, 
so their pit bull could get out any time he wanted.
And they should know not to have him out because Mom told them last time...

The last time he almost attacked my mom, she drove back down there to the end of the driveway and wouldn't get out of the car, but she motioned them to come over to her car. Mary said she cringed as Mom angrily told them that their dog tried attack her and they need to get it locked up.

They told her that they have had it 8 years and that it's never hurt anyone.
But I don't care if it's never hurt anyone. That doesn't mean that it won't.
It's like saying that since a boa restrictor hasn't ever killed its owner, it won't hurt anyone.
I've heard stories about that. They do kill.

Anyways, that was really scary. 
I wanted to take a gun with me the next time I went on a walk because I wanted it to come out to attack and I wanted to kill it. Little kids ride their bikes to the end of the driveway. That's dangerous.
But... I didn't do it.
Instead, I cut through the bushes behind our house so I avoided the driveway...
And I never did anything about it really.
I think our family is sending them a letter to try to get rid of it.

It was scary.
I still think about that evil dog a lot.
I was already kind of scared of big dogs.
Now I'm going to be paranoid. I just know it.
Another fear to add to the list...

Monday, November 22, 2010

Every quarter-mile matters!

If you see a small white BMW cutting through parking lots filled with pot holes... 
Or if you see a girl at the library drawing a map in her planner...
Or if you get in the car and the driver goes the "long way" with a speed limit of 25 mph,
but way that is the shorter distance...
Or if you see a girl checking her dashboard mileage periodically throughout a drive...
Or if you hear a girl on the phone saying, "How about you just picked me up?"

Well, that's probably me! 

I am at mile 49,973 in my car. 
(That was by memory.)
At mile 50,000, my warranty runs out.
I'm trying every way I know how to prolong the miles...

I have been dreading this for the last 4 months. 
I take my car to the dealership when I hear any type of noise.
I have had every could-be problem checked.

I have to pay for the problems on my own from here on out...
That is not going to be pretty.
IF there's an issue, I'll be taking money out of my savings.

Anyways... 
Don't make fun of the girl driving through the pot-holed parking lot.
Every quarter-mile matters!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

SWAGGER WAGON

Okay, this might not be funny to you, but I couldn't stop laughing.
I guess you can just see what you think.



Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Mary has an Old, Japanese Woman Stalker.

I guess you could say that weird things happen to people in my family. 
They definitely happen to me, and Mary is now having strange things happen.
By the way, this story isn't a joke this time, I promise.  

Mary recently got a babysitting job every Friday at a very nice house for three really cute little girls. 
She gets paid well, and she always says that the job is easy... 
Until last week.

Last week, I got texts from Mary saying,
"There is a Japanese lady at their house and she is talking to me about not having sex before marriage, putting God before possessions, and learning how to cook and clean for my husband. She has been talking to me all day and I can't understand everything. I just keep laughing and saying yes."

Later, I got a text saying,
"She asked if she could be my grandmother and teach me how to cook and clean. She's bringing egg drop soup over and she asked for my address."

Mary said that she didn't write down her address right away, trying to avoid it, but the lady kept coming back and reminding her to write it down. 

She eventually wrote it down, but then she left and we forgot about it.

Well Sunday rolls around and I was at home alone and get a knock on the door. I looked out the window first and saw two women out there. One Asian older lady, and one girl with a thick canvas dress on to the ground. I opened the door and the older woman asked for Mary. I immediately knew who it was, and I told her Mary wasn't here. She said she was just coming by to make sure that she knew where the house was before she came back. She gave me two books for Mary to read and they would discuss the scriptures next time she came by. Then she asked for Mary's phone number. I gave it to her because I couldn't act like I didn't have it.

The other lady with her never said a word until I asked her her name, which was Rose. She apparently just came to drive Sue over. The books that Sue gave Mary were Jehovah's Witness books. That explained it! The woman driving her... Coming to the door... 

So today, Tuesday, Nat got home and saw these things on the front porch: 


Dear Mary,
I stop make 
egg drop soup. Keep.
I my come make
soup.
See good day.
Love all,
Grandmother.


And the supplies!
She left the eggs on the porch, I hope they're okay!

I love that the note is signed, "Grandmother."
That way Mary knows exactly who left the stuff. Of course! It's Grandmother!

She really is sweet. I don't mean to make fun of her, but you have to admit that it is funny. 
An old Asian woman stalking Mary.

She wants to come over to teach Mary how to make egg drop soup. 
I think that will be cool to know how to do! 
I mean, how many white college students know how to make egg drop soup?
Mary has a bad attitude about it though.
She says she doesn't know what she's going to say when they discuss Scriptures 
because she has a hard time understanding her,
and she doesn't know what to say about the Jehovah's Witness part either. 

Anyways,  I have a feeling that this is going to be interesting. 
 I have a feeling that we're going to be weary of hearing a knock on the door.
We're going to be scared that we're going to get caught talking!
What if she comes over on a day that we have things to do?
It will be hard to explain to her!
She never calls in advance... 
Oh dear!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Dreary Monday

Our house is cold, very cold. 
It's been raining outside all night.
I have a sore throat and a cold kind of thing.
And I also have a test tomorrow.
I would really love some frozen yogurt.
It feels like midnight, and it's only 9.

What a dreary Monday!

One positive...
Being too lazy to get up and needing something soothing on my throat, I grabbed a glass of water that was left on the side table from this afternoon, and I took a drink. 

It was still cold! 
That is one good thing about a cold house!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Hot Dog Pizza, Anyone?

When I was home last weekend, we were eating dinner with my grandparents and my mom brought up the fact that when she and my dad were first married, they were really poor. They never got to eat meat because it was too expensive. 

She said that they would buy those really cheap frozen pizzas (I think the ones like Totino's, $.99, but they were probably cheaper 25 years ago). Anyways, they would cut up a hot dog and put it on top of the pizza, but that was only when they could afford hot dogs. They said they didn't think it was bad and they were happy to have meat (if you can call hot dogs meat).

We laughed about it for a really long time. We were eating some yummy chicken and broccoli casserole, so that's the only reason it was funny. I don't have anything against hot dogs, but I wouldn't be too excited about eating hot dog pizza. I was thinking I'd rather just have the pizza without hot dogs on it or a hot dog without a pizza. Or maybe I'd just stick with the basic rice and beans. I guess that's what they ate the rest of the time so they were tired of it. 

Anyways, I just want to take today to be thankful for the variety of food and meat that I get to eat. I take it for granted and get stressed when I don't know what I'm going to eat for the next meal. I'm not sure what my reasoning for being stressed about that really is.

Some day in the near future (as in, when I graduate without a job), hot dog pizza might sound pretty good. I really hope not. 

Friday, November 12, 2010

I hate Rubik's cubes

I'm just sayin'
I still haven't finished that cube and it's gotten to the point that looking at it makes me tense up. 

I got my hair cut today.
It doesn't look any different, just trimmed and even.
I know I just posted about growing my hair out, but I can't handle too long.
I've pretty much never in my life had long hair.

I also got salt and pepper shakers today.
We haven't had any this year and it drives me crazy. 
I had a gift card to Pier One.
And I got these...


We really need measuring spoons.
We have a 1/2 tablespoon and that's it.
I have attempted to count out 8 1/2 tablespoons.
It never fails--I always lose count.
It would be so much easier to have the right measurements. 
So, I found some at Pier One but I talked myself out of buying them.

I'm one of those shoppers.
I pick up about 5 things while I'm in the store.
Then I put all of it back except one thing.
I buy it and leave.
If I stay around too long, I'll leave with nothing.
I always buy more if I'm in a rush.



 Lastly, 
I would like 
to tell you how excited 
I am            
about Thanksgiving. It's my 
favorite holiday. My family is going to
the Florida houses. 
That's my whole family. 
Except for a couple of sweet family members 
who can't come. I'm sad about that.
But I'm really excited about the warm weather with 
the whole family. 
I think we're squeezing into 2 houses and 
a hotel room, so that should be 
interesting.
Our house is only 2 and a half bedrooms,
but it sleeps 8.
We know how to cram them in.
The half bedroom is a closet that has a bunk bed in it.
I don't remember celebrating
Thanksgiving
anywhere besides on the mountain.
It will definitely be different, 
but hopefully different for the better. 
(I think it will!)
Shopping in Orlando on Black Friday... 
I'm not sure if that will be scary or awesome. 
Hopefully we'll get our traditional cousin picture with Santa
on Black Friday. 

This year we won't have pictures like this...


But that's okay!

We can take some on the lake instead of the brow.

Monday, November 8, 2010

One of My Favorite Things

Just real quick, I thought I'd tell you about one of my favorite things in the world.

It's really not anything that special for most people.

But it makes me really excited.

Some people wouldn't even think about this being a good thing.

They would consider it just another part of life.

But it makes me feel free...

And relieved...

And accomplished...

And like I can do anything I want to.

I did this tonight on my way home.

I usually do it about every other week, sometimes less.

It costs a pretty good amount of money.

But it's totally worth it.

And it's a necessity.

What would you guess that it is?





Getting a full tank of gas.


It's simple and just another part of life.
Nothing really that special.

But, when I look on my dashboard and it tells me that I have 425 miles until empty, 
I feel like I could go anywhere I want to.
425 miles is a long way.

I feel like I have accomplished something.
I can check something off of my list of things to do.

I feel like a burden is lifted off of my shoulders.
I always dread getting gas.
I usually drive a few days with the fuel light on.
Every time I pass a gas station, I think, 
well it's rush hour...
or,  I am in a rush right now...
or, that gas station is dark and sketchy...
or, maybe I'll get bored and come back later...
or, maybe it will warm up and I'll want to get out...
or, I can't ever figure out how to turn that place's gas pump on...
or, that place has diesel so I better not go there to chance getting it mixed up...

I allow my dashboard to tell me that there are only 3 miles until empty.
And then, I finally go get gas.

This process makes the feeling of a full tank of gas even better.
After driving on empty for 3 days, the worry of running out of gas is lifted from my burdens...
And I am free of one of my worries.

I got gas tonight.
My worries are gone!

Next time you get gas, hope you appreciate the full tank too!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

God Knew What He Was Doing

(That's me with my small group leader, Paulette.)

Seeing this picture tonight made me really happy. 
Not because my hair looks all that good, but because my hair doesn't look like this:


It's been 22 months since this haircut.


Praise the Lord!


I am truly thankful that hair grows.
God knew what he was doing when he did that.
He knew that people like me would
be really bad at telling the hair dresser what they wanted.

I know I probably need a trim now, but I'm just so excited about long hair.
And I'm also too afraid of getting my hair cut now.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Violated.

I had a crazy thing happen today. 
I drove home this morning to come see Diddie and Andy.
I was really excited to come home! 

About halfway home, I stopped to get some gas on an exit. An older, white-haired lady came up to me while I was pumping the gas and asked if I could help her out with some money in order to make it home to Chattanooga. She had been up at a doctor's appointment in Knoxville and she stopped to get gas but left her purse in the bathroom and someone stole it. She didn't have her cell and didn't know anyone's number. She didn't smell very clean, but I figured that it came with staying out of town for a while and being sick, or whatever was wrong.

Sooo... out of the kindness of my heart (and because of her absolute helplessness/my naiveness), I offered to just give her a ride home and she could get her car later. I was headed to Chattanooga anyways, and it wasn't a big problem for me. She quickly agreed to this, saying that she just wanted to be home where she knew where she was. 

She got in my car, and off we went! I put my new Christian CD on, thinking it might spark a conversation, plus it's my favorite one. Oh, the ridiculous things I do sometimes!

We started chatting and she told me where she was from, and she was my grandmother's age. Then she told me she was from Sweetwater, and we realized that she is actually my Grandfather's mother's brother's daughter (so, Granddaddy's cousin).  That was interesting, and I was glad that I picked her up, being family and all!

We were right outside of Chattanooga, and my car started smelling a little funny. I kind of wanted to gag, but I couldn't put my finger on what the smell was. I hid my feelings about it until I couldn't take it any longer and I told this unnamed woman that I had to go to the bathroom and we pulled off. We both went in, and when I came back to the car, her seat, in my car, was soaking wet. 

Immediately, I knew what that smell was. Urine. 
Yes, oh yes, I said urine.

I didn't know what to do. It would embarrass her to go and like clean it up, and the smell probably wouldn't get out that fast. But knowing what it was, I really couldn't bear the thought of getting back in the closed car. 

She walked out of the gas station (visibly wet), and having nothing else to do, I got in the driver's seat and she got back in. And, off we went! 

I told myself, only 20-30 more minutes... I can do it. No big deal.

I gagged a few times but made myself mentally stop gagging and didn't think about it. I concentrated on talking to my new friend. After 45 minutes and slight confusion as to where we were going, we arrived at her apartment in a part of town that I didn't even know was there. 

Anyways, I got her out and got her bags out of the car. When I got back in my car, I realized that my car phone charger wasn't there anymore and that my favorite (Christian!) CD was no longer in the CD player. When I got home, I realized that I couldn't find the brownies that were in my back seat.

Interesting.

But hey, all I could think about was getting out of my car. And how in the world would I ever get the smell out? 

I mean, I felt sorry for my 4th cousin once removed, but she also stole my stuff. 
That was slightly annoying.
I got home and asked my granddad about her.
She's not actually related to him.
He's never heard of her.
Don't know how she lied to me about that... 

So strange. 
I feel violated.



Ok, I'm just kidding about this whole thing. 
Didn't have anything interesting to blog about.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Hurricane Tomas

I've been thinking about these kids...



And this hurricane...


Port-au-Prince is in that inland/bay looking thing. 
Maybe they won't get hit directly by Tomas. 
That's what I've been praying for for the past night. 

But the problem is: Haiti has no trees.
Therefore, there is a lot of mud when it rains.
In the past, thousands have died from mudslides.

It just makes me worried for these kids, these moms, and these dads.
I've been lifting my worries up to the
 only One who is powerful enough to help the Haitians right now. 

Would you lift them up too?

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Where Do Dreams Come From...?

.... I'm just wondering about that this morning as I prepare to study. 
I'm distracted every time the cut on my finger catches my eye.
The cut is from the back of a knife. (I only thought that was impossible.)
It doesn't hurt that bad and it's fine, but I had a dream about it last night... 
A rather disturbing dream.
It was one of those that I'll think about all day.
I'll tell you about it...

I was looking at the cut on my finger and I suddenly realized that something was in my finger like a splinter or a small piece of glass. So, I started fidgeting with it. All of the sudden, the cut popped open because there was something bigger in it than just a splinter. I freaked out, but I wanted this huge green thing out of my hand, so I squeezed around and maneuvered it out. It didn't hurt one bit. When I pulled it out, it kept coming and kept coming.

It was disgusting. I'm grossed out to think about it. 
It was about as thick as asparagus, but it was hard like a bone, and it was as long as my finger.
I thought that I had accidently pulled my bone out of my pointer finger.
The people around me were repulsed.
And I didn't know what to do except not move my finger and hold this bone-like thing, in case the doctors needed it to put back in my hand later.
I stood there, confused and scared, unable to do anything.

Then I woke up, and I was so happy that I was not holding a bone in my hand.

So the thing that is disturbing:
How in the world do these thoughts enter my mind?
Do I think them up myself?
If so, there might be something wrong with me.

I hope these thoughts go away.
I really need to study.