tackiness 101

so i thought that most gay men had taste in decorating, didn't you? i mean in sex and the city, stanford has a sense of style, haha. well a few weeks ago, i met my gay neighbors, they are very nice. well this week they decided to put up their christmas decor, outside, and it is so not cute. i have a new builder/supervisor to follow up with, because d.r. horton has cut some jobs, so my "cute" builder that i've been talking about is now gone. my new builder is also cute. his name is robert. robert stopped by this week, and was like, "what is up with the wreaths on the end unit?" i immediately started laughing, as even a straight guy noticed how tacky they were. so, i've posted a picture of the tackiness for all of you to enjoy.

also, i thought i would add that my mom and i went to walmart today to purchase some twisty ties to hang my garland on my staircase, and we couldn't find any. we went back to the craft section in an attempt to find something else that would suffice to keep the garland from falling - and there was a gentleman in the craft section, get ready for this... making/sewing a pillow for his dog. now many of you know, that i got a sewing machine last year for christmas, and would love to learn more about it, but this guy knew more about sewing than i could ever imagine. he was talking to the craft salesclerk - and it was pure entertainment for me. my mom and i then got a chance to ask the lady about what we could use to tie the garland up, and this man immediately says, "fuzzy sticks." my mom and i just look at it each other like, what? he then explained himself a little more and he was talking about pipe cleaners. so we bought the "fuzzy sticks," and i have you know that it worked wonderfully. i'd say that this guy saved the day. i don't want to make judgements about this man, and it doesn't matter to me either way, but i'm guessing that no straight man would know about "fuzzy stix." so, in this case, the gay man saved the day.

alright, well i hope you got a little laugh out of my blog post. enjoy the picture. please remember that this is not my house, haha.

the theme is cold

so, i just home today after being gone all week. i've been in chicago since thursday. the wind chill was in the single digits most days, can we say freezing. i love it, but i won't lie... it was very very cold.

i almost missed my flight on thursday, as i have been so disoriented from all my travels to the different time zones this week. luckily, i'd like to say, by the grace of god, i woke up on thursday at 5:37 for a 7:30 AM flight. i made it to the airport, and got to chicago in enough time to take a shower and make it to my meeting.

we were in meetings half a day on thursday and then all day on friday. last night i went out with two of my study coordinators in downtown chicago, they do not allow smoking inside at the two bars we went to, it was wonderful. my clothes did smell like smoke this morning. i don't know if all bars are like that in chicago, but these two were, it was wonderful. we had so much fun, i was home by 12ish and enjoyed hanging out with them.

the food at the investigator's meeting wasn't too bad. it is always interesting for this picky eater to go to these type of meetings though because the meals are buffet style, but it is typically a lot of items that i have never heard of or would never it. they do not typically have items like, chicken pamasean, fillet mignion, or lasagna. they have very strange names for things. for example, last night they had, what i would call macaroni and cheese, but they called it, "penne pasta and white cheddar." i managed to eat enough, but had to rely on the safe options and not the sushi type items they had. they also had some sort of flank steak, but it was so pink, i couldn't barely put it on my plate.

i'm glad to be home for a few days, i have one visit next week to fargo, north dakota and then i'll be home free for thanksgiving. i'll be excited about that!

hope everyone is doing well and has a great thanksgiving.

us airways has lost their mind

so, it has been brought to my attention that us airways will now start charging passengers for pillows and blankets as of december 1, 2008 - what the heck. they already charge $2 for sodas, water, tea, coffee, and juice. $7 for beer, wine, and cocktails - that is ridiculous. i have no idea how much they are going to charge for pillows and blankets, but that is the most insane thing i have ever heard of. i mean, it isn't like they are giving you some nice, comfy pillow.... that pillow, if you can even call it that, is so not comfortable. it is worse than a hospital pillow. the blankets are so thin, you need like 3 to keep warm. i mean, isn't the $1000 ticket enough to cover some cheap little pillow and a glass of water. case and point, next week i fly to fargo, north dakota for the day, and my ticket is $1500 - and they have the nerve to charge me for a glass of water. craziness. i just needed to vent.

oregon trail

so, monday morning around 7:45am i left my house for my adventures to oregon. i boarded my plane about 9AM from charlotte to san francisco and 4.5 hours later, we arrived. i'm not used to this long of a flight, and after sleeping for two hours, finishing a book, talking to the man invading my personal space, and listening to the screaming child... i was so ready to get off the plane. i even tried to stay up until 3:30 am on sunday night in hopes that it would help me sleep on the plane on monday, but i failed miserably. back to the screaming child for a minute, i know children are going to scream on planes, and get upset, it happens. i love children, i'm not usually one to complain about children, but this was hardly a child at an age where crying was acceptable, this child was pushing three if not four, not young enough for this to be an excuse. this child should have been old enough to tell his parents what the freaking problem was, but instead the "terror" just screamed. the parents just kept saying, "shhhhhh." i know my parents would have taken me to the bathroom and spanked my butt, and that would have been the end of that, crisis averted.

i then get on my next flight from san francisco to redmond/bend, oregon - this was a much shorter flight, but still another 1.5 hours, which was torture knowing i'd already flown for 4.5 that day. i managed, slept a little more, and then arrived at the tiny little airport that looked like a log cabin out in the woods with bears on the walls, yikes. so, i have navigation on my phone, and i head to my hotel. i arrive at my hotel, and get all settled in, and then go eat dinner at an IHOP. i tried making myself stay up later last night, in hopes that i wouldn't wake up at the crack of dawn this morning, but what was i thinking, as long as i have a bed, i have no problem sleeping. i didn't wake up til 8 pacific coast time, which is like 11 AM east coast time, i felt well rested to say the least.

so, off to the site i go this morning. the visit went well. after my visit, i decide to go on a little adventure to find something to eat. i see this little japanese restaurant, and think, i'll try that. note to self: i should not try places that are not recommended by the locals. i go in and should have run for the door when i didn't see my usual on the menu, no hibaichi chicken. i ask the waitress and she has no idea what i am talking about. so, instead of looking like a total fool and being totally rude, i settle for the most plain thing on the menu, and order the fried rice and chicken - it says just that on the menu, so i think how wrong can you go. i then ask for my shrimp sauce or white sauce, and she says, i have no idea what that is either. at this point, i am flipping out. i am like, this place is wacko...what kind of japanese place doesn't have shrimp sauce, this is like a staple if you ask me. so, i'm not a happy camper. so, i sit there, kind of worried about how they are going to mess up my fried rice and plain chicken --- and oh my they did.... i think there were more vegetables than rice in my rice and it was absolutely disgusting. the chicken, was not chicken, we will just leave it at that. it also had mushrooms with it, gross. overall, the bottom line was, i couldn't eat it. so, i had no choice but to go over to the local mcdonald's and get a chicken sandwich and fries to eat so i wouldn't starve. so $15 later, i was full. note to self and others, don't try a place in a strange location that you don't know anything about, you'll end up wasting your money.

next i head out on my oregon trail, to get back to the airport. while i may not have had a child with cholera or missing ox, i did see a random lama on the side of the road - no lie. i couldn't believe my eyes. there was a field, and a lama was in the field, then the next field was full of cows, then the next field had horses, and then the next field had billy goats. i felt like i was in the game for real at this point, haha.

so then i finally make it back to the airport, board my flight, make it to san francisco, all for the lady at the united ticket counter to be completely rude, not cool. i have to walk all the way out of security to get my us airways ticket to charlotte, she says, "you are not signed up for a wheelchair." i say, "i don't want one. i just want to know how to get to the airtrain, so i don't have to walk 3 miles in a walking cast." so i walk away from the "meanie" trying not to use a bad word, and ask someone else and find my way... now i sit here, typing this blog message. we are about to board, it is nearly 10 pm in california, i'll be home at 6 AM wednesday morning, and i can't wait, i am tired. good night or good morning to most of you reading this!

asheville bound with my small group

so, gotta love when you bake a cake on thursday night around midnight for the weekend trip and forget it on the counter... sorry girls, once again. i got to the mountain cabin around 4 pm friday afternoon, and got a bed in the party room, woohoo!!!

after we all arrived in black mountain, we got ready and headed to the candlelight tour of the biltmore house at christmas time. i haven't ever seen the biltmore house, so this was super exciting for me. we walked around all those rooms, and i even took one picture, before i was informed that no cameras were allowed, oops.

saturday morning, i awoke around 10 am and of course everyone was already awake, haha - not the morning person here. the girls and i headed to chimney rock! i took the elevator to the top, while the girls took the steps and hiked up to the top. i met them at the top, and we took lots of pictures, some pictures are below. we then proceeded to hike some of the walking trails, especially the one to the waterfall. thanks to all the girls for helping me on the trail, i was determined to make it. i had my foot/leg wrapped in the ace bandage, and the girls, mainly kaleena, held my hand the whole time to make sure i didn't fall or twist my ankle on the logs or holes along the path. then we walked down to the parking lot too, i was tired and my leg/foot was sore at the end, but i'm glad i did it!

saturday night we went to tupelo honey cafe in downtown asheville. we had a good time, the food was delicious and worth the wait.

you would think i am a convicted terrorist

so, today i traveled for the first time with my boot on my foot and the broken ankle... what a nightmare!!! so, i should've just sat down and taken the extra 2 minutes to take the boot off, but i chose not too... i had to stand in the glass booth, while this lady constantly screamed, "i have a female assist (alarm) on lane 4." as i stand there, my stuff is being pushed by others, and i am so annoyed. finally after about 5 minutes of standing there, some women comes up to me, and says, "do not touch any of your belongings, i'll get them." she then takes me to area to swipe my boot, scan my whole body, and pat me down - all because i have a boot on. i have never experienced such a security check/scan in my whole life... i would not recommend traveling with a boot or would advise taking it off if it can be removed.

my sister got engaged this weekend in other news, so the planner in me had taken over. i enjoy planning things, so i think this is going to be fun for me. they are looking at a late summer wedding. i'm excited about being her maid of honor.

i'll write tomorrow about my trip to asheville this weekend, it was so much fun.

have a great week.

my spill on the election

while anyone who knows me probably knows who i voted for, i just need to say my two cents and then i'll feel better about the situation. i feel very strongly about morals and values, so i didn't vote for the candidate that won, but for those of you who did, i respect your decision, and never once tried to change your opinion or make fun of your opinion. in our society, and even by some of my friends, i feel that i was made fun of and made to feel ignorant or stupid for choosing the candidate of my choice, which is so wrong. we live in a country where everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and if anyone takes anything away from this post, let it be that we should all respect each other's opinion. i have actually cried many tears over this election, and how people, my own friends, have made me feel, because i may have chosen to vote differently.

i am having a hard time accepting obama as the president elect, but know that the American people have spoken and this is the candidate that they want as the president of the united states, so with that being said, i will do my best to accept it, as there is nothing that i can do to change it. my problem with respecting this man, is basically for the past 8 years, no one has respected the republican president that has been in office. bush has been treated horribly by the American people. we are supposed to support the president of our country, and the american people in general have not done that. while i may not agree with every decision he has made, i tried not to disrespect him. all of the obama supporters are already demanding that we come together as one nation and respect obama... how can i do this knowing that no one did it for bush and he had many hardships during his presidency. the way i am going to approach this is the golden rule: sounds very child like, but i am going to do unto others, like i want to be treated.. so i am going to try and not say negative things about obama, i will listen to him as the president of the united states, and go on with my life. one thing that i would like to point out though, i will never agree with abortion, so i will never respect any decision he or anyone in office makes supporting abortion. it breaks my heart to know that we kill innocent unborn babies for no reason at all.

to all my friends and anyone who voted for obama - i'm glad your voice was heard on tuesday. i do not want to talk about it, as i feel that it is over. politics are dirty, and i do not want it to come between any of my friendships, so if you read this, you know how i feel, and lets leave it alone.

i will pray for unity for our country each and everyday, as i feel we are going to need it more and more, as our country is going through a very difficult time.

housewarming and pictures,

i had my two housewarming parties this weekend. saturday night was mainly for my friends and sunday was for my family. i am so blessed to have so many amazing friends and such a loving family to help me celebrate having a new home. a special thanks to crystal, natalie, jennifer, and kendall for throwing the party on saturday - i know they put a lot of time and hard work into planning and organizing the party, it means a lot. i can't say thank you enough. thanks to michele for sweeping the floors today to help me get ready for the family party - i really appreciate it. thanks to my grandmother, "mom" for baking chocolate oatmeal cookies and to my moma for baking the cake, it is delicious. thanks to everyone for all the wonderful gifts.