I'm Back!!!!

I'm back from my trip. I promise to do a post about my trip very soon. In the meantime enjoy this lovely picture I took while away!

I already miss it!!!

A nice surprise

Originally when I first booked my upcoming trip a friend of mine was planning on coming but then realized that she was already going away with her family that week. I was sad that she couldn't come but completely understood.

Last night she called my Best Friend all upset. She told her that her parents had canceled the trip at the last minute! I don't really know the details but anyway my friend suggested that she still come along to Jamaica. So last night at like 10 pm she booked a flight and will be joining us in Jamaica on Monday!!

I'm sad that her original trip didn't work out but I am happy that she was still able to come with us. I still can't believe she booked the plane ticket two days before my friend and I are leaving. I've never been THAT spontaneous before.

Now I've been trying to set up transportation with the hotel for her, which is annoying since the person I am dealing with is brain dead, but I want to make sure it's all settled. If I was her I would defiantly be a little nervous about traveling all that way by myself.

Either way I'm still really excited about her coming!!!

Nervous Nelly

My trip is so freaking close!!!!! I have to admit though I am started to get nervous. Nervous? Even though it’s my vacation and I should be looking forward to relaxing right now I’m filled with nerves. I tend to be a person who worries a lot and always thinks of the worst-case scenario.

What if it rains the whole time? What if the resort is gross? What if there are only couples and no singles? What if I loose my luggage? What if I forget my passport? And so many other worries.

I know once I get there I will be fine and able to relax, but for now it’s me being a freak worrying about stupid things.

Lat night I even had a dream were everything I thought would go wrong did! The only way I knew it was a dream was because Morgan Freeman was the bellhop!! Lol. That was funny. He was just like the God Character in that Bruce Almighty movie. He kept popping up everywhere!

Also even if it does rain, or if it’s coupley and I loose my luggage I’m sure I will still have a good time!! I am just looking forward to going to Jamaica and escaping reality for a little while!!

What’s the worst thing that happened to you while on vacation?

Woodstock

This past weekend a friend of mine decided to have an impromptu BBQ. The people who live behind her house decided to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Woodstock by having this huge event. It’s a big property so they set up a big stage and had dozens of bands playing music all day to the songs of Woodstock. Between each set there was a DJ playing music.

Since my friend was right behind the house she was able to enjoy the music first hand. It was loud but not so loud that you couldn’t talk to people. A bunch of us came over and had some food and drinks and were able to enjoy the music the whole night. It was so much fun. The house next door must have had hundreds of people there. There was even a bunch RVs parked behind the house (it used to be a farm and they have a big property). It really was a tiny version of Woodstock.

Also my friend has a pool and bought a beer pong table that actually floats in the water. That was so much fun!

The only bad thing was I wasn’t really planning on drinking a lot and ended up getting trashed. Since I am weird about sleeping at other people’s places (I prefer my bed) I actually had to call my mom to pick me up! She was a good sport about it and I’m really glad I went home because I ended up getting a little sick in the middle of the night. lol.

Thankfully I wasn’t to hung over the next day and had a great time at my grandma’s. She made homemade ravioli and it was amazing. Also it wasn’t too hot in her apartment!

A closed chapter

I have mentioned in the past that I no longer have a relationship with my dad. While I am no longer sad or have any regrets about the entire situation, people still feel the need to bring the subject up all the time. I don’t know if they just don’t believe me that I am fine or just can’t understand the situation, but it really gets on my nerves after a while.

Especially if people KNOW I don’t talk to him anymore and feel the need to ask if I’ve spoken to him lately or how is he doing. When people say things to me I feel like they are saying it to make me feel guilty, or are looking down at me for being such a terrible person for not speaking with him.

I try my best to diffuse the situation but I don’t really know how to get these people to just stop asking me. It’s a closed chapter in my life, one that I don’t feel the need to have to defend all the time.

My mother seems to be the worst offender when it comes to bringing him up. She knows how I feel and yet she keeps on “trying” to get me to talk to him. Which is complete bullshit because she honestly couldn’t be happier that he is out of my life. I don’t understand why she has to do that.

Like yesterday she told that it was his birthday and maybe I should call him or something. Maybe I should send him a gift? Umm are you serious??? I feel like she only brought it up to get a rise out of me.
She puts on this façade with our family and friends about how she wants me to have a relationship with him but I know that is a complete lie. Many times has she told me about what she thinks of him. Trust me though, that’s not the reason him and me don’t speak anymore. It’s a looonnnggg story.

Also, when I was trying to have a relationship with him back in college I visited him during spring break. Because I actually had an okay time instead of wanting to kill myself, which is what she secretly wanted, she got so mad at me that she did not speak to me for almost 2 months!! I’m not even exaggerating.

Why does she have to keep on bringing that whole subject up? I’ve tried many times to get her to understand how it makes me feel but she doesn’t seem to grasp it. She seems to think that I have all these issues and anger toward him but that’s not true. I’ve completely forgiven him, not for him but so I could finally move on with my life. It’s just that I’m happier with him out of my life than when he is in it. He tended to make me miserable and feel awful about myself. I didn’t need that so I walked away.

I know it’s a tough situation but I wish it could just be left alone. I’m fine and I have never once regretted the fact that I no longer have a dad in my life anymore.

I wish people would get that and stop thinking I’m lying when I say that.

My hero

I never thought I'd say this but I am ready for the fall! It is just so gross outside. I want cool crisp air and not being completely covered in sweat by the time I walk into my office!

I hope this humidity lets up a little bit by this weekend. I am going to my grandma's on Sunday for her birthday and she does not have any AC in her house. With all the cooking and people in there it will become an oven in no time. I defiantly see myself hiding in her basement trying to cool off!

Besides the heat I am excited to be going. She will be 87 and is healthier then me. It's amazing really, she lives by herself, cooks, cleans and gardens all the time, and even walks (she never learned to drive) to the supermarket to get the things she can't grow outside. She's always had this great outlook on life and managed to do very well for herself despite never learning how to even write.

She came to America when she was 13 and because her family was struggling went right to work in a sweat shop. She never went to school. She learned how to speak English from a woman she worked with. A woman who to this day is her best friend. She eventually learned how to read but never was able to write. Only to sign her name.

When she got married she still had to keep working. My grandpa was a TV and electronic repair man and didn't make a lot of money back then. After WWII not a lot of woman kept on working. My grandma was the ultimate superwoman. She worked hard during the day but always made sure she was home before her children. She made sure to always have a clean house and a feed family.

Even though they didn't make a lot my grandma knew how to stretch out a dollar. She saved any chance she got. She's always lived in the same house. It was pretty large, it housed my grandma and her family, her sister and family. Plus her parents and other siblings lived there. Soon her sister moved on, as did her brothers. She was able to make 3 apartments in her house and began to rent them out.

She was able to stop working and really enjoy her life. Because they saved so well my grandparents were able to travel all over. They never had to skimp again.

Now 74 years after she came to America, my grandma is still in the same house and still doing great.

My grandma on the left with her sister in the garden.

Passing the time

When work is slow and I’ve checked my e-mail about 50 times I have to get creative in ways to pass the time. My new favorite is looking for an apartment on Craigslist.

Looking for an apartment is entertaining and horrifying all at the same time. Seriously some of these people are CRAZY.

Some of them are crazy but in a normalish way. Like if they have a huge list of things you have to be and do if you want to live there. IE, non-smoker, neat freak, spilt chores, etc.

Others, are just plain scary.

One man was a nudist who wanted to live with a fellow nudist. You would SHARE a bedroom with him (??) but nothing sexual would happen if you didn’t want it to. Dude, you are sharing a bed, obviously you want to do something with them. Then he stated that if you were to walk in on him pleasuring himself in the kitchen (why there?) he wouldn’t mind if you watched and/or joined in. WTF. Does that not sound like a crazy psycho or what?

I wonder if anyone actually replies to ads like that? Anyway it is amusing and passes the time.

The only downside is sometimes I read a listing and it sounds PERFECT for me to live there. The person sounds normal maybe even fun, the rent is reasonable and the pictures are gorgeous. Then I get upset because I’m not ready to move out yet.

I really want a new job before I move out.

Although the more I look at these listings the more I think that maybe come October/November if I don’t have a new job to just take the plunge and move out.

I’m not going to plan ahead that far. I’m just going to take things one step at a time and hopefully everything will work itself out!

Do you every browse Craiglist or any other type of website? What kind of crazies have you run into?

Leaving on a jet plane

In a few weeks I will be going to Jamaica!! While I really couldn’t be more excited, there is one thing that I have been freaking out about.

Layovers.

I HATE layovers and usually do everything in my power to avoid them at all costs. I’m the person who doesn’t mind spending extra money if it means having a direct flight. Unfortunately for this trip there are very few direct flights to Jamaica and the ones that were available were just too much money.

So now I will have an 1 and a half layover going there and a 3 and a half one coming home. Ugh. The good news is that I will have some company to help pass the time. It’s not so much the waiting that I mind, it’s that I have a huge fear of my luggage being lost or not making the plane.

I know that it probably won’t happen but here’s the thing. It’s happened to me before. The ONE other layover I’ve ever done and my luggage was left behind. I was coming home from studying abroad and I had a quick 45-minute layover in Dublin. When I was booking it I was so excited that it was only 45 minutes.

Little did I know though that 45 minutes is not enough time when you have to recheck in (again), go through security (again) and run across an entire airport. I running like that scene in Home Alone. Also when I got to the gate the flight attendant and a guard was waiting for me and yelled at me for being so late! It was so creepy because they new my name before I even showed my ticket. I guess when you check in and don’t board a plane a whole bunch of security measures have to be taken to make sure I wasn’t some crazy person trying to bomb a plane. Good Times.

Anyway I finally made it and was happy to be one my way. When I finally arrived to my destination I went happily to retrieve my luggage. After 30 minutes and no more bags left on the carousel I realized that my bags didn’t make it. 45 minutes is also not enough time for luggage to be transferred from plane to plane.

It took 3 days before I finally got them back! Since I was traveling internationally my luggage was detained and completely ransacked by customs. After that whole experience I pretty much vowed to never again do a layover.

Here I am 3 years later and I have to do a layover. Also I just found out that the airline now charges for checking luggage. WTF. I can understand charging for a second bag but the first one?? That’s just wrong.

Now I’m seriously considering trying to carry on. It would give me piece of mind about not losing anything and also I won’t have to pay an extra fee. However I am the worst packer ever! I’m the girl that packs enough clothes for a month for only a week trip.

Which is why I’m asking you for some packing tips!! I’m desperate! Or would you check your bags and hope for the best?

Fun in the Sun

This past weekend was great. My friends came up late Friday night. It was so good to see them and catch each other up on our lives. Saturday we headed to the beach and ended up staying the entire day. If you know me, you know that I can’t really spend hours at the beach. I get ADD and start to go crazy but this time I was fine. That weather was perfect and the water was warm. I was in the water more than I was on the sand it was that nice.

We didn’t end up leaving until 5:30. Seriously I have never done that before but I love it. Since we stayed so long there though I wasn’t able to make it to my friend’s engagement party. One the one hand I do feel really guilty about missing it, but on the other I wish I had a lot more notice. I decided that I am going to take the couple out to dinner and stuff to celebrate. I figure it’s the least I can do. If only she will pick up her phone I could make plans. I really hope she isn’t mad at me and ignoring my calls because I don’t really feel it’s justified. I’ll just keep trying.

Saturday night we all went out and drank way too much. I don’t know why, but whenever I go out with them I always get like ridiculous. Either way I had a blast and none of us got in trouble.

I’m happy they came up and they have decided to no longer ban visiting NJ.

What would you do to make up for missing a party for a friend? Or if a friend was mad at you?