Another year in the books. Unbelievable.
We rang in 2012 last night with pajamas, wings from a local joint, a couple Redbox movies, homemade pina coladas and near the end of the night, a good dose of Nyquil. I've been fighting what I thought at first was strep, then a sinus infection, to what I now know is just a full on nasty cold. It was bad enough that I worked one measly day last week....fortunately we were already off on Monday 12/26, and we were off Friday 12/30, but I was only able to work Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday - there was no way. I think the worst is over but thankfully I have one more day to recover and get some things done around the house. This is where the best part of no Christmas decorations being put up comes into play - nothing to take down and clean up!
I checked out my "Happy 2011" post from last year, and just like my feelings this year, I made no "resolutions" last year, either....."Besides getting into a concrete schedule for the mini, the only other real goal I've made for myself is to cut out the gossip."
Well, I accomplished my one big goal for the year, which was to train for and complete my first mini-marathon in May. What a great feeling that was! Crossing that finish line, I felt like I could do anything. Well, anything that I could do from a horizontal position, with my legs elevated, for approximately 3 days. :) It was a fantastic feeling.
The gossip part is a little harder to pinpoint. I finally was able to transfer offices in the spring at work which helped. Us being cocooned over here in Columbus helped. I still think it's a worthwhile goal to work on, but this year I'm going to broaden it. Cut out the BS. At the age of 28 (holy crap, I'll be 30 *next* year!!!!), I still allow way too many little things to get to me. At work, at home, in my marriage, within my family, within our circles of friends. Enough. Cutting out the BS. That's my "goal" in 2012.
2011 is over. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary, and finally, I think, we are over the hump of the mistakes I made which left our marrage a minefield of hurt, distrust & anger. We started trying in earnest for a baby, and while no luck yet, I'm trying to relax about it and let God do His thing (me = control freak = hardest thing ever to give up control).
We watched the Packers win a Super Bowl in our beloved Cowboys' Stadium in February, but that was better than the Steelers winning. We anxiously awaited the end of the NFL lockout to then watch our Cowboys week in and week out, one heart attack after another, without fail (tonight may be the biggest heart attack yet; we'll see). We (okay, I) streamed the Royal Wedding back in April and let myself get completely wrapped up in the news and glitz and magic of the prince and his "commoner." I almost wrecked my car on an early May morning, listening to Mike & Mike, when they shared the commentary from a baseball game the night before when it was announced the US that "we got him." [Osama Bin Laden]. We watched the Cardinals (neither of us big baseball fans, but that's the team we both root for if we do watch) make a dramatic comeback and win the World Series in the 7th game.
We got caught up in the idea of building a house, then just buying a house, and settled just renting a house, but rest easy in our decision as we are finally out of apartments - and knowing what we need to do in the near future to be ready to actually buy (the biggest thing being: not chickening out!!) We welcomed a brother in law to the family in September. Before 2012 is over, we will probably be welcoming a new sister in law, a niece and two more nephews to the family as Chris' brother just brought up his girlfriend and her 3 kids from TX for good.
Who knows what else 2012 will bring? Our 10th HS Reunion will be this year - how is that possible???? Maybe a baby will come.......Chris will turn 28 in March, I'll turn 29 in November, and we'll celebrate 4 years of marriage in August. We have a couple of friends getting married, a couple of others already expecting babies in the early parts of the year. I truly hope in 2012 we can spend more time with friends & family......whether that be making a few more trips to IN, or arranging trips to meet halfway, or people coming to us.
Most of all - I wish us, and all of you out there - a most happy & peaceful New Year. May all year we all feel as optimistic as we all do today, as we look forward to a brand spankin' new 365 days. (No, wait - 366 this year!) Happy 2012!
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Monday, September 19, 2011
The Last Month - By The Numbers
I haven't blogged in awhile. A lot has happened. I like numbers. That being said, as my little brother says, "leggo!"
3: number of years Chris & I celebrated 3 weeks ago tomorrow. 3 years already?!? It's hard to believe that that gorgeous, sunny day at the end of August in 2008 was 3 years ago. That also means that it has been 3 years since our glorious honeymoon in Jamaica (one of my fave pictures from that trip, left. Typical "Chris & Nikki picture" - Chris is not amused, I'm making up for it with a goofy face). We WILL get back there someday.......hopefully sooner rather than later!
10: years since the tragic attacks of 9/11/01. 10 years since just another normal Tuesday at good 'ole Terre Haute South, in my senior year, in my first hour classroom with Ms. Minar (Newspaper). I was calling local radio stations in a small room off the classroom to see if we could get some airtime about a carwash, when a DJ rudely hung up on me, informing me that they were "more worried about our country at the moment." Laughing, I walked back into the classroom, talking about what a jerk that DJ had been. At that moment, someone had turned on the classroom TV (was there a PA announcement? I can't remember), and somehow, it was turned on just in time for us to see the 2nd plane hit. I remember what I was wearing (dark blue jeans from Pac Sun and a dark red Aeropostale hoodie that belonged to a cousin of my boyfriend), I remember my jaw dropping, I remember having the feeling of such disbelief, of such helplessness as we started seeing people jump to their deaths. It was truly this generation's defining moment, much like our parents & parents' parents remember the assassination of JFK. The 10 year anniversary of that tragic day also means Chris & I's 10th HS Reunion is coming up, probably in late spring of 2012. How is that possible?! Hes already informed we're not going. We'll see. :)
2: games that the Cowboys have played so far in the regular season
2: games that have nearly given me heart attacks; fortunately, the game in SF yesterday turned out better than the game that we *%)(^$&^*@^%^)!$ gave away to the New York Jets last Sunday night. They better be ready for next Monday night against NFCE rival Redskins, because my blood pressure really can't handle it. Thankfully, that game will be at Cowboys Stadium for the home opener (of course they've been on both coasts already to open the season). Hopefully, Romo's rib & lung (punctured lung yesterday and he still played??!?) heal up enough to play Monday night b/c we'll need him!!!!
1: wedding we've attended - Chris' sister was married on 9/10 (yes, they realized it would be 9/10/11), and it was a beautiful wedding. Dramatic, petty & immature bridesmaid aside (the "other" SIL), it was a really wonderful day. Jenn had been married before - back when Chris & I had started dating in July of 2003. Jenn was only 20 that summer, and that wedding just had a completely different feel than the one she just had. It was her new husband's first wedding, and his family really went as "all out" as they could. They were just so happy and just got back from their honeymoon in Montego Bay Saturday. Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Stephens!
It is going to be a blazing fast next 6 weeks. We have 2 free weekends, and then literally not a free moment until November. 10/8 I will be in TH running in the same 5K I did last year (all proceeds going to Concerns Of Police Survivors - COPS - this year it will have truly significant meaning with the tragic death of 30-year old Police Officer Brent Long from THPD earlier this year). 10/15, Chris' fraternity brother & his wife Katie are coming over to visit. 10/22, Chris' parents will be here. 10/29.......we are moving. To where, you ask? Oh.....no idea yet. We just know our lease is up 10/31, and we signed our official notice of vacating Saturday. Enough with these apartments. Hopefully, we'll find a house to rent, b/c I am tired of apartment living.
Fall is here, I love it, I just hate what comes next. Hoodies, football & cider, oh my! ;-)
2: games that the Cowboys have played so far in the regular season
2: games that have nearly given me heart attacks; fortunately, the game in SF yesterday turned out better than the game that we *%)(^$&^*@^%^)!$ gave away to the New York Jets last Sunday night. They better be ready for next Monday night against NFCE rival Redskins, because my blood pressure really can't handle it. Thankfully, that game will be at Cowboys Stadium for the home opener (of course they've been on both coasts already to open the season). Hopefully, Romo's rib & lung (punctured lung yesterday and he still played??!?) heal up enough to play Monday night b/c we'll need him!!!!
1: wedding we've attended - Chris' sister was married on 9/10 (yes, they realized it would be 9/10/11), and it was a beautiful wedding. Dramatic, petty & immature bridesmaid aside (the "other" SIL), it was a really wonderful day. Jenn had been married before - back when Chris & I had started dating in July of 2003. Jenn was only 20 that summer, and that wedding just had a completely different feel than the one she just had. It was her new husband's first wedding, and his family really went as "all out" as they could. They were just so happy and just got back from their honeymoon in Montego Bay Saturday. Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Stephens!
It is going to be a blazing fast next 6 weeks. We have 2 free weekends, and then literally not a free moment until November. 10/8 I will be in TH running in the same 5K I did last year (all proceeds going to Concerns Of Police Survivors - COPS - this year it will have truly significant meaning with the tragic death of 30-year old Police Officer Brent Long from THPD earlier this year). 10/15, Chris' fraternity brother & his wife Katie are coming over to visit. 10/22, Chris' parents will be here. 10/29.......we are moving. To where, you ask? Oh.....no idea yet. We just know our lease is up 10/31, and we signed our official notice of vacating Saturday. Enough with these apartments. Hopefully, we'll find a house to rent, b/c I am tired of apartment living.
Fall is here, I love it, I just hate what comes next. Hoodies, football & cider, oh my! ;-)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Unhappy Anniversary
As we've already established, I'm stupidly weird about numbers and dates. I remember all of them. The good, the bad.........the ugly.
Last March 13 was an AWFUL day. A terrible, no-good, really really bad and sad day.
That day, the truth of what happened between Dusty and me came out. Not in anyway I intended, but out nonetheless. I had never come as close to losing Chris as I did that day. Every minute of that day is still ingrained in my mind.......the yelling, the tears, the threats, the fear, the absolute rock-bottom feeling of knowing I had really jacked up my life.
The next day, Sunday 3/14, Chris told me he was leaving. Obviously, he didn't, but it has been a long and hard year of talks, and tears, and more talks, and questions, more tears.
It has always been a year that I now look back on as kind of a big mountain we crossed over. We're now on the other side. It's a HUGE mountain.........so it'll always be there when we look behind us. But a year apart from that horrible day and time in our lives, it has started getting smaller. We're moving on. Talking about babies, and houses, and oddly enough, who would take care of our kids if something happened to us (check out the movie "Life as we Know It" with Katherine Heigl, it's cute).
March 13 was a bad day. A sad day. But March, one year later.........we're okay.
Thank God.
Last March 13 was an AWFUL day. A terrible, no-good, really really bad and sad day.
That day, the truth of what happened between Dusty and me came out. Not in anyway I intended, but out nonetheless. I had never come as close to losing Chris as I did that day. Every minute of that day is still ingrained in my mind.......the yelling, the tears, the threats, the fear, the absolute rock-bottom feeling of knowing I had really jacked up my life.
The next day, Sunday 3/14, Chris told me he was leaving. Obviously, he didn't, but it has been a long and hard year of talks, and tears, and more talks, and questions, more tears.
It has always been a year that I now look back on as kind of a big mountain we crossed over. We're now on the other side. It's a HUGE mountain.........so it'll always be there when we look behind us. But a year apart from that horrible day and time in our lives, it has started getting smaller. We're moving on. Talking about babies, and houses, and oddly enough, who would take care of our kids if something happened to us (check out the movie "Life as we Know It" with Katherine Heigl, it's cute).
March 13 was a bad day. A sad day. But March, one year later.........we're okay.
Thank God.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
First Post of 2011
2011. I've now been alive to see the start of my 4th decade (80s, 90s, 00s and now the 10s). Crazy!
New Years Eve was pretty uneventful for us. We actually started dating on New Years Eve of 2002-2003, so we've now passed 8 years together. We had fun at dinner trying to think back all of our NYE's together:
02/03 - Days Inn in Terre Haute - ended up being me, Chris & his best friend (and best man in our wedding) Bill - pretty uneventful!
03/04 - a double date party with one of Chris' former friends, Joe, and his girlfriend....can't remember her name and Chris hasn't spoken to him in years due to a fairly major fallout some years back....
04/05 - if memory serves, there was a party at Sigma Chi that turned out to be pretty lame, so we came back to Bethel and hung out by ourselves.
05/06 - party at Chris' house on North Street + party at the AOII Calvert House
06/07 - another party at Chris' house on North Street....I think....
07/ 08 - Jazz Kitchen in Indy with Chris' Sigma Chi friends and their g/fs and wives
08/09 - our first married NYE, in Cincinnati.....dinner at the top of the rotating restaurant with the same group from 07-08
09/10 - NYE in Columbus! Sigma Chi group convened here for a Blue Jackets game, dinner @ Boston's and some minor hoopla in a downtown hotel
This year was a little different - we had friends with a 4-week old baby, so they were out - another couple due in 3 months, so they were out - which left 3 (couples) of us. Plans went back and forth for weeks, but Chris had to work until 1 on Friday and it just wasn't going to be conducive for us to go anywhere. So, we got dressed up and braved Cheesecake at 7pm....I was fully expecting to have to wait for 2 hours, but we were in within 45 minutes. We enjoyed a yummy dinner and then tagged along with some friends to a party. We ended up leaving at 11 to come home, watched the ball drop with some champagne drank from our wedding flutes and being in bed shortly after. It was kind of nice to ring in the new year, just the two of us.
I've had 3 pretty "easy" weeks at work, as far as actual working days go - a 4 day week, then a 2.5 day week, and a 3-day week last week......so a full 5-day week this week is going to be killer.....not to mention that it's my end of month/ end of year, so it's going to be a busy one.
I did get back on track today with my mini training - 2.25 miles, outside - in about 22 minutes. It was COLD and WINDY today, so it was a hard run, and my new running gloves basically left me with frostbitten fingertips, but I got through it. Come February I'll be on an actual mini-training schedule, but until then I'm giving myself a little flexibility with distances and days ran to get myself back into it. I'm giving myself a goal of 10 miles/ week between now and 1/31, which I think is very doable.
Besides getting into a concrete schedule for the mini, the only other real goal I've made for myself is to cut out the gossip. At work, with people I know, with friends. I recently read an article in Cosmo....Glamour, maybe? talking about gossip, how easily it spreads, how nasty it can get - and an easy way to stop yourself from being a target (outside of not doing anything "gossip-worthy") is to not be a hub for gossip yourself. It's a hard goal, and I know it. But there's a quote out there..........another one to live by besides my one yesterday:
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
I also think this will help me with last year's goal of not living my life for other people....maybe if I quit being so concerned about everyone else, everyone else won't be so concerned about me and what I'm doing in MY life. It's an egocentric thought, I know - no one's world revolves around me. But the more I can just go about my business, with my loved ones, without the drama - the better.
Oh, and the Cowboys finished their dismal season at 6-10 with a just barely win over Philly today (their 2nd stringers, nonetheless), which is their worst in over 5 years....I'm already itching for next season....if there is one.
Happy 2011!!!!
New Years Eve was pretty uneventful for us. We actually started dating on New Years Eve of 2002-2003, so we've now passed 8 years together. We had fun at dinner trying to think back all of our NYE's together:
02/03 - Days Inn in Terre Haute - ended up being me, Chris & his best friend (and best man in our wedding) Bill - pretty uneventful!
03/04 - a double date party with one of Chris' former friends, Joe, and his girlfriend....can't remember her name and Chris hasn't spoken to him in years due to a fairly major fallout some years back....
04/05 - if memory serves, there was a party at Sigma Chi that turned out to be pretty lame, so we came back to Bethel and hung out by ourselves.
05/06 - party at Chris' house on North Street + party at the AOII Calvert House
06/07 - another party at Chris' house on North Street....I think....
07/ 08 - Jazz Kitchen in Indy with Chris' Sigma Chi friends and their g/fs and wives
08/09 - our first married NYE, in Cincinnati.....dinner at the top of the rotating restaurant with the same group from 07-08
09/10 - NYE in Columbus! Sigma Chi group convened here for a Blue Jackets game, dinner @ Boston's and some minor hoopla in a downtown hotel
This year was a little different - we had friends with a 4-week old baby, so they were out - another couple due in 3 months, so they were out - which left 3 (couples) of us. Plans went back and forth for weeks, but Chris had to work until 1 on Friday and it just wasn't going to be conducive for us to go anywhere. So, we got dressed up and braved Cheesecake at 7pm....I was fully expecting to have to wait for 2 hours, but we were in within 45 minutes. We enjoyed a yummy dinner and then tagged along with some friends to a party. We ended up leaving at 11 to come home, watched the ball drop with some champagne drank from our wedding flutes and being in bed shortly after. It was kind of nice to ring in the new year, just the two of us.
I've had 3 pretty "easy" weeks at work, as far as actual working days go - a 4 day week, then a 2.5 day week, and a 3-day week last week......so a full 5-day week this week is going to be killer.....not to mention that it's my end of month/ end of year, so it's going to be a busy one.
I did get back on track today with my mini training - 2.25 miles, outside - in about 22 minutes. It was COLD and WINDY today, so it was a hard run, and my new running gloves basically left me with frostbitten fingertips, but I got through it. Come February I'll be on an actual mini-training schedule, but until then I'm giving myself a little flexibility with distances and days ran to get myself back into it. I'm giving myself a goal of 10 miles/ week between now and 1/31, which I think is very doable.
Besides getting into a concrete schedule for the mini, the only other real goal I've made for myself is to cut out the gossip. At work, with people I know, with friends. I recently read an article in Cosmo....Glamour, maybe? talking about gossip, how easily it spreads, how nasty it can get - and an easy way to stop yourself from being a target (outside of not doing anything "gossip-worthy") is to not be a hub for gossip yourself. It's a hard goal, and I know it. But there's a quote out there..........another one to live by besides my one yesterday:
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."
I also think this will help me with last year's goal of not living my life for other people....maybe if I quit being so concerned about everyone else, everyone else won't be so concerned about me and what I'm doing in MY life. It's an egocentric thought, I know - no one's world revolves around me. But the more I can just go about my business, with my loved ones, without the drama - the better.
Oh, and the Cowboys finished their dismal season at 6-10 with a just barely win over Philly today (their 2nd stringers, nonetheless), which is their worst in over 5 years....I'm already itching for next season....if there is one.
Happy 2011!!!!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Unanswered Prayers
I like numbers. A lot. I'm good with them. And people think I have a weird "thing" with numbers...which is probably true. At my job, every job site has a 3-digit number that is used to track all time & materials that go to that job throughout the year. We have 200 or so sites...I can rattle off the numbers at the drop of a hat for about 195 of them. I still remember the phone numbers of my best friends from 5th grade. And....I remember dates.
Today is December 29.
For 9 years now, this day hasn't held much meaning. But in 2000 and 2001, it had a a LOT of meaning. My junior year of high school, I worked at JCPenney and this guy started working there. His name was Shaun. Eventually, our boss had to quit putting us on the same shift b/c we always had a little too much fun laughing and talking. That didn't stop us from starting to talk outside of work as much as possible, and eventually, start dating. He was a freshman at ISU, so Mom & Dad were a little leery at first, but he won them over, and I was smitten.
And December 29, 2000 - he asked me to be his girlfriend (I just have to laugh at that. How cheesy that sounds now!)
That next year - the end of my junior and beginning of my senior year - was a lot of fun. He was my date to senior prom. He was in on my surprise 18th birthday. We went to King's Island together, and he came on our family vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC that summer. I called him from every spot possible when I was in Europe for 2 weeks.
Unfortunately, our lives were just too different. He couldn't go back to ISU for the spring semester b/c his mom & dad were divorced (I never met his mom), and his mom wasn't holding up her end of the deal to help him through school. He moved in with friends in Terre Haute, and for awhile, things were okay. But he was a full -fledged grownup, with bills to pay and rent due every month. There wasn't a lot of time leftover for me, and at 17/18, I probably wasn't the least bit understanding why he couldn't spend more time with me. Right after our first "anniversary," he moved to Indianapolis to live with his best friend Joe (and Joe's g/f, and Joe's mom). Things quickly went downhill from there. We "officially" broke up on February 20, 2002 - in my high school's parking lot (he drove from Indy and didn't want to have to see my family, and I let him get away with it). The last time I ever spoke to him was the day I got my acceptance letter from Ball State. At that time, he told me not to f it up like he did. And that he was already dating someone else.
I was heartbroken. Fortunately, not having to see him made it easier, and with the end of my high school career coming to a quick end, there was a lot to keep me distracted. Prom, picnics, banquets and parties with my friends helped it to not be so "traumatic." But for awhile, I was sad. Shaun had given me a "promise ring," and I was as sure as the sky is blue that we'd end up together. But it obviously didn't end up that way. And there are random times and days, like today, that he'll cross my mind. I haven't spoken to him in almost 9 years, and sometimes I just wonder about him. I don't pine for him, I don't wonder what might have been. I just am....wistful? No....wrong word. Just....wondering. Wondering how his life turned out. And....to quote an old cheesy Garth Brooks song..........thanking God for unanswered prayers.
Today is December 29.
For 9 years now, this day hasn't held much meaning. But in 2000 and 2001, it had a a LOT of meaning. My junior year of high school, I worked at JCPenney and this guy started working there. His name was Shaun. Eventually, our boss had to quit putting us on the same shift b/c we always had a little too much fun laughing and talking. That didn't stop us from starting to talk outside of work as much as possible, and eventually, start dating. He was a freshman at ISU, so Mom & Dad were a little leery at first, but he won them over, and I was smitten.
And December 29, 2000 - he asked me to be his girlfriend (I just have to laugh at that. How cheesy that sounds now!)
That next year - the end of my junior and beginning of my senior year - was a lot of fun. He was my date to senior prom. He was in on my surprise 18th birthday. We went to King's Island together, and he came on our family vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC that summer. I called him from every spot possible when I was in Europe for 2 weeks.
Unfortunately, our lives were just too different. He couldn't go back to ISU for the spring semester b/c his mom & dad were divorced (I never met his mom), and his mom wasn't holding up her end of the deal to help him through school. He moved in with friends in Terre Haute, and for awhile, things were okay. But he was a full -fledged grownup, with bills to pay and rent due every month. There wasn't a lot of time leftover for me, and at 17/18, I probably wasn't the least bit understanding why he couldn't spend more time with me. Right after our first "anniversary," he moved to Indianapolis to live with his best friend Joe (and Joe's g/f, and Joe's mom). Things quickly went downhill from there. We "officially" broke up on February 20, 2002 - in my high school's parking lot (he drove from Indy and didn't want to have to see my family, and I let him get away with it). The last time I ever spoke to him was the day I got my acceptance letter from Ball State. At that time, he told me not to f it up like he did. And that he was already dating someone else.
I was heartbroken. Fortunately, not having to see him made it easier, and with the end of my high school career coming to a quick end, there was a lot to keep me distracted. Prom, picnics, banquets and parties with my friends helped it to not be so "traumatic." But for awhile, I was sad. Shaun had given me a "promise ring," and I was as sure as the sky is blue that we'd end up together. But it obviously didn't end up that way. And there are random times and days, like today, that he'll cross my mind. I haven't spoken to him in almost 9 years, and sometimes I just wonder about him. I don't pine for him, I don't wonder what might have been. I just am....wistful? No....wrong word. Just....wondering. Wondering how his life turned out. And....to quote an old cheesy Garth Brooks song..........thanking God for unanswered prayers.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
10 Day Rundown
Quick rundown of the last 10 days -
Megan & Ryan came to Columbus for the weekend last weekend. They didn't get here until 2am and drove 330 miles to get here, but we had a great time all together. We walked around Easton and "took our fun!" to Dave & Busters. I truly love my sister. We just have so much fun together, and I love talking and laughing with her.
Dallas got a big win last Sunday against division rivals 6-2 Giants! No one (including me) gave them a chance in hell to win that game, but they did! It was a great feeling to actually feel proud of my team.
This week was another ridiculous week at work. It has been a really trying last month or so, but I'm just trying to hang in there.....
Had to send flowers to a crewleader's family this week for the death of his sister. This guy is one of those slightly older guys, just blue collar, comes to work day in and day out, works his butt off, always does what you ask and then some. His sister was only early 40s and died unexpectedly in her sleep. So sad.
The saddest, most tragic moment of the week, though, came on Friday afternoon. I learned that one of my fellow BAs here in Columbus is, and will be, going through something I can't even imagine. The story has been all over Columbus, Ohio and the US......the 4 people that went missing last Thursday (a mother and her 2 children + a family friend) were found this past week. The 13-year old girl was found bound and gagged in this sicko's home (but alive, thank God), and the other 3's bodies were found in the bottom of a hollowed out tree outside of Columbus. No other details have been released, and I'm not sure that I care to know. All I know is that someone I know now has to go through life without her sister-in-law and nephew, and somehow help her niece through what must have been an unimaginable 4 days before she was found. I am heartbroken and outraged.........and ??? It's hard to explain. When a tragedy like this happens across the country, it's sad. You don't know those people, you think about them while it's in the news, but after something else comes into the spotlight, you quickly forget about it. But this.......this just hit a little too close to home. There ARE bad people out there. Sick people. And now a friend of mine is hurting because of it. You just never know. If you're reading this, please keep Trisha and her family in your prayers.
Another sad day was yesterday. November 20, 1980 - a day that obviously I wasn't around for.....but had it not been for that day.....my parents may not have gotten married as soon as they did (they had been engaged for 3 weeks on that day, but weren't planning a wedding until 1983)....and obviously wouldn't have had me when they did. My dad almost didn't make it through that day alive. That day is why I don't take any kind of mental illness lightly...........that day is, without a doubt, why my dad is who he is today.......everything I know about that day is from my mom and Nana and those who were there that day, because my dad doesn't talk about it. That day is why, no matter how often in my life I've seen my dad run without a shirt, do yardwork without a shirt, etc - I always cringe and am a little sad for my dad.....even if somehow he could put that day out of his mind, the 2 scars he has (one in his back, one on the side of his stomach) won't ever allow him to forget. And at the end of that day........my mom almost lost her would-be husband, and my dad lost his dad. Mental illness is no joke. It is scary, scary business. Who knows how that whole day would've been different if they would've known what we all know now about schizophrenia.
Today, the Cowboys get another win.........winning streak alert!
But somehow, birthdays and Cowboys wins all seem a little less important in the light of what happens in this world on a daily basis. Somehow, though, life went on after that day in 1980......and life will still go on after this past week. That's where family and friends are so, so important...........I can't think of a better week for Thanksgiving.
God bless all........
Megan & Ryan came to Columbus for the weekend last weekend. They didn't get here until 2am and drove 330 miles to get here, but we had a great time all together. We walked around Easton and "took our fun!" to Dave & Busters. I truly love my sister. We just have so much fun together, and I love talking and laughing with her.
Dallas got a big win last Sunday against division rivals 6-2 Giants! No one (including me) gave them a chance in hell to win that game, but they did! It was a great feeling to actually feel proud of my team.
This week was another ridiculous week at work. It has been a really trying last month or so, but I'm just trying to hang in there.....
Had to send flowers to a crewleader's family this week for the death of his sister. This guy is one of those slightly older guys, just blue collar, comes to work day in and day out, works his butt off, always does what you ask and then some. His sister was only early 40s and died unexpectedly in her sleep. So sad.
The saddest, most tragic moment of the week, though, came on Friday afternoon. I learned that one of my fellow BAs here in Columbus is, and will be, going through something I can't even imagine. The story has been all over Columbus, Ohio and the US......the 4 people that went missing last Thursday (a mother and her 2 children + a family friend) were found this past week. The 13-year old girl was found bound and gagged in this sicko's home (but alive, thank God), and the other 3's bodies were found in the bottom of a hollowed out tree outside of Columbus. No other details have been released, and I'm not sure that I care to know. All I know is that someone I know now has to go through life without her sister-in-law and nephew, and somehow help her niece through what must have been an unimaginable 4 days before she was found. I am heartbroken and outraged.........and ??? It's hard to explain. When a tragedy like this happens across the country, it's sad. You don't know those people, you think about them while it's in the news, but after something else comes into the spotlight, you quickly forget about it. But this.......this just hit a little too close to home. There ARE bad people out there. Sick people. And now a friend of mine is hurting because of it. You just never know. If you're reading this, please keep Trisha and her family in your prayers.
Another sad day was yesterday. November 20, 1980 - a day that obviously I wasn't around for.....but had it not been for that day.....my parents may not have gotten married as soon as they did (they had been engaged for 3 weeks on that day, but weren't planning a wedding until 1983)....and obviously wouldn't have had me when they did. My dad almost didn't make it through that day alive. That day is why I don't take any kind of mental illness lightly...........that day is, without a doubt, why my dad is who he is today.......everything I know about that day is from my mom and Nana and those who were there that day, because my dad doesn't talk about it. That day is why, no matter how often in my life I've seen my dad run without a shirt, do yardwork without a shirt, etc - I always cringe and am a little sad for my dad.....even if somehow he could put that day out of his mind, the 2 scars he has (one in his back, one on the side of his stomach) won't ever allow him to forget. And at the end of that day........my mom almost lost her would-be husband, and my dad lost his dad. Mental illness is no joke. It is scary, scary business. Who knows how that whole day would've been different if they would've known what we all know now about schizophrenia.
Today, the Cowboys get another win.........winning streak alert!
But somehow, birthdays and Cowboys wins all seem a little less important in the light of what happens in this world on a daily basis. Somehow, though, life went on after that day in 1980......and life will still go on after this past week. That's where family and friends are so, so important...........I can't think of a better week for Thanksgiving.
God bless all........
Thursday, November 11, 2010
27
I turned 21 on a Thursday.
I just turned 27, today, 11/11/10, on a Thursday.
I look back and think about how fast the last 6 years have gone. I remember my 21st birthday like it was yesterday - still living at "Old Bethel," counting down the days, going out to bars with AOII sisters and friends the night before.........getting up late on Thursday and having a test in my 3:30 class (Intermediate Accg 2) and 5:30 (Management). As I recall, I bombed both tests, bad. Oh well..............................
In the last 6 years, I have:
* moved.....5 times (Old Bethel > New Bethel > Abbott St > Terre Haute > Columbus Apt #1 > Columbus Apt #2)
* graduated college
* gotten engaged (and married)
* changed jobs.......3 times (sounds worse than it is, 2 of those times were due to moving: Old National (Muncie) > First Merchants (Muncie) > Weyerhaeuser/ IP (Terre Haute) > Brickman (Columbus)
* witnessed my sister graduating from college and getting married
* watched my baby brother go from a scrawny little 9-year old to a 6'2" young man, a sophomore in high school who's too funny for his own good and is already a heartbreaker....those poor girls
* questioned my faith
* questioned my relationships across the board
* questioned myself
* attended the funerals of 2 of Chris' family members - his Aunt Joyce in 2005, and his Grandpa this past April
* attended more weddings than I can count; been a direct part of......4? Is that it? Ashley, Allison, my own, Megan?
* watched friends, family members and sorority sisters welcome babies into the world.
Wow............what a whirlwind its been.
The only thing I could've predicted for sure at this time 6 years ago was that I would still be with Chris. And against all odds - I got that prediction right. I am so lucky.
Today, I received phone calls, texts, facebook messages and cards (and an overly-decorated-office......pictures to come later). It is an undescribable feeling tonight, as I'm about to go to bed......that I am as blessed as I am, with the people around me that are there.
It has been a great birthday. As time starts flying faster and faster, birthdays start meaning less about the gifts and cards and meals out - and more about the people that you love, and that love you back.
I just turned 27, today, 11/11/10, on a Thursday.
I look back and think about how fast the last 6 years have gone. I remember my 21st birthday like it was yesterday - still living at "Old Bethel," counting down the days, going out to bars with AOII sisters and friends the night before.........getting up late on Thursday and having a test in my 3:30 class (Intermediate Accg 2) and 5:30 (Management). As I recall, I bombed both tests, bad. Oh well..............................
In the last 6 years, I have:
* moved.....5 times (Old Bethel > New Bethel > Abbott St > Terre Haute > Columbus Apt #1 > Columbus Apt #2)
* graduated college
* gotten engaged (and married)
* changed jobs.......3 times (sounds worse than it is, 2 of those times were due to moving: Old National (Muncie) > First Merchants (Muncie) > Weyerhaeuser/ IP (Terre Haute) > Brickman (Columbus)
* witnessed my sister graduating from college and getting married
* watched my baby brother go from a scrawny little 9-year old to a 6'2" young man, a sophomore in high school who's too funny for his own good and is already a heartbreaker....those poor girls
* questioned my faith
* questioned my relationships across the board
* questioned myself
* attended the funerals of 2 of Chris' family members - his Aunt Joyce in 2005, and his Grandpa this past April
* attended more weddings than I can count; been a direct part of......4? Is that it? Ashley, Allison, my own, Megan?
* watched friends, family members and sorority sisters welcome babies into the world.
Wow............what a whirlwind its been.
The only thing I could've predicted for sure at this time 6 years ago was that I would still be with Chris. And against all odds - I got that prediction right. I am so lucky.
Today, I received phone calls, texts, facebook messages and cards (and an overly-decorated-office......pictures to come later). It is an undescribable feeling tonight, as I'm about to go to bed......that I am as blessed as I am, with the people around me that are there.
It has been a great birthday. As time starts flying faster and faster, birthdays start meaning less about the gifts and cards and meals out - and more about the people that you love, and that love you back.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
"Where Were You....
(From the LA Times, Opinion Page, 9/10/08)....when the world stopped turning, on that September day?"
9/11/01....it was a Tuesday. I was a senior in high school, in my 1st hour class with Ms. Minar - Newspaper. I was in a side room making some calls to local radio stations about sponsoring us for a car wash, or something....I got ahold of someone at one of the stations, who snippily told me, "We're worried about the state of our country right now!," and hung up. I went back to the classroom and relayed what the rude DJ had said to me. At about that time, there was an announcement over the PA system to turn on all the TVs in the classrooms - which we did, and right at that moment, we saw the 2nd plane hit. I remember where I was sitting in the classroom, and what I was wearing....
I remember that day like it was yesterday. A "code red" was issued for the entire school (beacuse of bomb threats at my own Terre Haute South, and across town at Terre Haute North) which meant that no one was allowed to leave the room they were in, and it was like that for about 3 hours. The whole day was off after that. I got to my next class in the weight room and a code orange was issued.... At lunch, the whole school was evacuated to the football field...and if I remember right, everyone was finally released early. I quickly found Megan to get out of there, and took her locker neighbor, Kelly, home too. Gas had shot up to about 5 bucks a gallon. We got home to a stunned Mom and 6-year old Anthony. My boyfriend at the time, Shaun, sold Kirby vacuum cleaners and I was frantic when I couldn't get ahold of him. He finally came to my house around 8:00 that night and I was so glad to see him. Everyone's nerves and emotions were shot.
It was such a crazy and sad time, and I can't believe that its been 9 years since that fateful day. So much has happened in the world, and in my own life, since then....but 9/11 will always have special meaning for our generation.
It's hard to imagine a world with religious and political tolerance....a world with peace....a world with compromise and patience instead of war and threats....and I'm not sure that I will ever see that in my lifetime, nor will my children. All I know is that more than anything, I had never been more proud to be an American after that day. Blood drives were set up and lines went around the block. I remember South passing around buckets at football games to raise money. Everyone was so proud to be part of a country who could and would stand up to terrorism....and I still am. You can disagree with the war, but you better believe in the reason - otherwise think of all the lives that have been lost for nothing.
Always remembered, never forgotten.........
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