Study Sunday

On this frigidly cold Sunday afternoon, I'm sitting in a cushy, cozy chair wrapped up in my down blanket as I listen to the Mariah Carey Christmas Pandora station watching the snow fall. 

What a perfect December Sunday afternoon, right?

Wrong. 

I'm in the library studying all day. 

I brought some things to make it more comfy... the down blanket.

It really is working... 

It feels like home!

(Besides the bright fluorescent lights,

And the Marketing book,

And the guilty feeling for blogging.)

I have three finals this week--Marketing, Business Law, and History. 

Then it's Christmas Break for me!

I'll get to finally do all of the things that I have been longing to do for the past few weeks--

Christmas shopping for JIM (my assigned cousin)

Reading (finishing a few of my 5 half-read books)

Decorating at home

Napping worry-free and whenever

Baking (right now I can't afford the ingredients)

Eating things other than leftover chili... every single day

Christmas caroling (Mary, Mere, Laura, Malone, what do you think?)

Still by real fires at home every single night! 

There is much more, but I don't have time to think of it right now. 

I'm going to get back to learning things such as: 

Land Rovers, Kias, Volkswagens, Volvos and Mercedes are the top 5 brands that are overvalued (bad),

while Mercurys, Infinitis, Buicks, Lincolns and Chryslers are undervalued (good).

Or the fact that the typical shopper passes 300 items (meaning all different products) per minute in a supermarket... All of these choices within a brand (like 75 flavors and shapes of Wheat Thins) are actually beginning to confuse shoppers and may lead to a shopper buying a different brand because of too many choices.

I've always thought there were too many choices, but some shoppers like more choices. 

Which one do you fall under?

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...

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!

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.

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!

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!