For the Record, It's Not a Resolution

This whole gaining back weight thing has gotten out of control. I don't know exactly when it happened, but at some point in the past 7 months I decided that I could stop working out regularly and eat whatever the hell I want. And that's not okay, especially since I worked so hard last year to lose all the weight that I did.

So today I took action. I created an account on Sparkpeople.com, a website that lets you track calories and exercise and talk to other people and read articles on health and fitness...for free. It's like weight watchers, for free, without that stupid point system. I'm also writing down everything I eat in a journal that Paul got me for Christmas and I'm writing down my workouts as well. I will get back in shape/more in shape than I was because I don't feel as healthy and good about myself as I have over the past year and I don't like that at all. So while I won't do a deprivation diet of any sort, or really any diet, I am going to cut back on fried foods and full fat dairy and I'm going to crank up the complex carbs and fruit and vegetable intake.

In other news, Christmas was simply delightful. Paul and I were able to spend quality time with both families without getting stressed out and we got some pretty sweet gifts on top of that. His dad was my secret santa and he got me the cutest sweater, along with other fun things like the new Rachel Ray cookbook. I was impressed. Paul got me a gorgeous pearl necklace/earrings/bracelet set and, even though it was for kids and I have to wait until adult ones are once again in stores, a snuggie! You have no idea how pumped I was when I opened that Snuggie! My parents got us lots of house things and the surprise of the day was the first two seasons of Saved By The Bell.

Perhaps the best part of Christmas was that I got to see my cousin DeeAnn who I hadn't seen in a couple of years. We got to catch up and for the first time she felt like my equal and not like my older cousin who I can't relate to very much because of the age gap. The same age gap is still there but I suppose I've done a little bit of growing up over the past two years so I didn't feel like such a "baby cousin," even though I'll always be the baby...and I like it that way.

DeeAnn and I.

Ric (the big brother), DeeAnn and I with Ric's girlfriend Gail, DeeAnn's husband Jack, and Paul!


We can be cute if we really want to be.My mom and Jack. Her name is Kitty but it looks like Cougar would be more accurate...

And now, say hello to the newest member of my and Paul's family. We pooled our Christmas gift cards and a little extra change and bought her on Saturday...

Yes, that's Jersey Shore. Shut up.

I'm trying on wedding dresses on Saturday. Stay tuned for the antics that I'm sure will ensue.

Excavating and Baking

Today marked mine and Paul' first real lazy day at home together since moving in together. The 16 inches of snow on the ground means that our cars were completely covered and that going to work would be a near-impossibility for him. Conveniently, Paul's boss called and said that he didn't have to come in today since we're so far away from the store and it likely wouldn't be busy enough for him to have to be there.

The first thing we did was venture out to dig Paul's car out of the snow. After about 10 minutes of pushing, sweeping and throwing snow, the car was mostly uncovered and we ventured up to Food Lion so that I could do the baking that I've been looking forward to doing for day now. After pulling into the wrong (un-plowed) entrance to the Food Lion parking lot, we got stuck for a while until Paul pushed me back into tracks and I parked just after plowing over about two feet of snow that had been pushed aside in the lot. Our drive home, happily, was much less harrowing than the drive there.

Once home I made us a delicious breakfast, if I do say so myself, and we watched Stripes. Then I set about peeling and dicing potatoes for potato soup. I just finished baking a few sheets of butterscotch, pecan and oatmeal cookies and the potato soup will be done in about an hour.

Life is good.

Oh the Drivers Outside are Frightful

For the past 24 hours all of Roanoke and the Roanoke-based-news stations have been freaking out about the storm of the century that was supposed to be coming to town. I doubted everything they said. They said it would snow about 12 inches and I said we wouldn't get any. The weatherman finally proved me wrong. They let us out of work early, at 3:15, and after stopping at the ABC store so that I could do snowed in baking, I set off to meet people from work for margaritas at Abuelos. As soon as I pulled into the mall I decided that I in fact would not be going to Abuelos and that it was going to be a long afternoon. Two and a half hours, one bitchy, yelling driver, a few speed demons and lots of passed-accidents later, I walked into the apartment and promptly collapsed on Paul and cried. At no point was I afraid that I was going to wreck my car, because I know how to drive. I was, however, terrified that someone else would wreck their car into my car. It didn't happen, but the last 10 minutes of that drive were so frustrating that all I could do was cry until I felt a little bit better.

I'm not driving tomorrow because, after a trek to the Food Lion beside my apartment, I'm going to spend the day baking and cooking. I decided yesterday that since I'm still not in the Christmas spirit (though being warm at home with pretty snow outside helps) I'm going to try to give myself some spirit by baking. So I'm going to make macaroons, butterscotch and pecan oatmeal cookies, and maybe some sugar cookies to decorate. I'm also going to make a big pot of potato soup because nothing goes better with cold and snow than potato soup. Later in the week I also need to make an upside down german chocolate cake and a grasshopper pie for my family's Christmas dinner and buffalo chicken dip and maybe another grasshopper pie if I'm feeling daring for our Tacky Christmas Sweater party at work. So I'm going to cook and bake and listen to Christmas music and watch Christmas movies and finish wrapping presents and I'm going to get in the Christmas spirit if it kills me.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...and a Little Bit of Spite

Paul and I finally got all our Christmas decorations up on Monday and they look fabulous, if I do say so myself. Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself.

The tree with the adorable tree skirt I foundThe Dining Room

Slightly Christmas-y Book Shelf

With our first tree :)

We've already done a little holiday entertaining. It wasn't really a Christmas party, but it was a teeny dinner party and the decorations were up, so that counts.

There's a great deal of confusion over the new office at work. You see, my 28 fellow new hires and I are currently camped out in a conference room that is not equipped to hold 29 people plus instructors all day. We are moving to our new office just a short walk through Elmwood park next week and, unfortunately, it doesn't have a fridge. And let me tell you, to some people, not having a fridge is a fate worse than death. These people are acting like the world will stop spinning on its axis if they don't have a fridge at work. One women, when I was explaining that ice packs exist for lunch boxes, blurted out, "But I have to have a place to store vanilla milk for my coffee." I'm sorry, you have to have that? That's not a necessitate you twit! Granted, I want a fridge too, but I'm a sensible individual and therefore willing to wait until the new group of 30 people starts on January 11 so that they can contribute to the fridge fund too. A select group of people think that it's acceptable to make everyone pay $20 for a fridge that 80 people will share and 30 of those won't have to contribute a dime. I'm not playing along. Instead, I will donate the amount that I come up with after dividing the cost of the fridge by the number of people that will be using it. Supposing that the fridge is $500.00 and there are 80 of us, that will equal $6.25. Don't think I won't ask for .75 change either. Just because some people may win the vote and get a fridge before Christmas (which will only happen if they raise/collect enough money) doesn't mean I'm going to spend one dime more than what is my fair share.

Okay, I think that's enough spite and bitterness for one night.

My Thanksgiving Mulligan

It turns out that I had more than one Thanksgiving epiphany.

Every year, for the past three or four years, before eating dinner my mom has required that we go around the table and everyone say what they are thankful for. In the past few years I haven't taken it too terribly serious because Ric would make a joke and then I would follow up with another. But this year Ric didn't joke. And no one else did either. And when we made it around the table to me, I couldn't figure out how to say what I was thankful for. I know that I'm thankful for my family and my job and Paul and my friends and for life in general, but I just couldn't figure out how to adequately express that. So since I'm much better at expressing myself with the written word rather than the spoken, here's what my heart was properly communicating to my mouth.

I'm thankful for my family who always supports me, no matter what the situation. They may not always agree with the decisions I make, but they always support me. They allow me to make mistakes and grow from them. When I make those mistakes they catch me on my descent and when I succeed they're proud of and happy for me.

I'm thankful for my job because it gave me a sense of security in my life again. It made me feel like I had a purpose again and gave me health insurance for the first time in months.

I'm thankful for Paul because he is hands down the most amazing fiance that any girl could ever ask for. He loves me unconditionally and tels me how much he loves me every day. When I'm with him I'm happy and when I'm not with him I'm thinking of him and looking forward to when I will see him again.

I'm thankful for my friends because they just get me. I don't always see them as much as I'd like but they're the sort of friends who you don't have to be with every day to stay close. I miss them when I haven't seen them but we get together again and things are right back to normal. They, along with Paul and the fam, are all my better halves. The math might not add up correctly but I do not care.

On another note, Paul and I successfully hosted our first dinner party yesterday. Paul's friends from high school, Jess and Zach, came over because Zach is home from Afghanistan for a couple of weeks. Paul and I worked together and in just over an hour produced baked penne, salad, garlic bread, and cocoa crispy treats. An added bonus is that Paul officially has all of his groomsmen in place. Score one for marking an item off the wedding checklist.

A Thanksgiving Realization

When I was still living in Arlington,I believe it would have been in August, I made Paul promise to make me keep a promise to myself. I had decided that I wanted to run a 5K by the end of the year. I had recently stopped going to the gym as much as I wanted and thought that by vowing to run a 5K by the end of the year I would get back into the swing of things. I was wrong. I've been a major gym slacker because of moving and changing jobs and what-have-you that there's no way I could do a 5K by the end of the year. The salt-in-the-wound part of all this is that my first 5K was going to be the Drumstick Dash in downtown Roanoke. It was this morning. I went to the gym yesterday and now I'm in pain because of it. So instead of running a 5K today I'm watching the Macy's parade and later I'll be pouring gravy on everything on my plate. The exception to the gravy rule will be the pumpkin cheesecake that I made last night which, even without gravy, is about 400 calories a slice, I believe. All of this, in one swoop, made me go from feeling happy about Thanksgiving to bad about myself.

My new goal will be the St. Patrick's Day 5K that Roanoke Catholic sponsors. Seeing as it's Paul's Alma Mater, I may be able to convince him to do it with me.

On the bright side, the job seems to be going well. I like the people I work with and, while we're not doing any actual work yet,we're supposed to start soon. I'm definitely working forward to the first paycheck because my Christmas decoration shopping has already gotten a little out of control. Not that I've gotten a lot, I just figure it might be more reasonable to spend that money on gifts.

You Know What Happens When it Rains?

Well do you? I do. When it rains, Paul gathers up about 85% of our non-furniture belongings and moves them out of our apartment because rain makes the Roanoke River rise like CRAZY and nearly flood our apartment. Here's the story...

I went to sleep to the sound of rain and the motor of the water pump outside my window. I woke up at 6:30 for my first day at work to more rain and just as much water pump motor. Since my car was in the shop so that someone could figure out why it's burning oil, Paul drove me to work, passing at least three man hole covers that had popped out of the ground because of too much rain. When I got to work I filled out paperwork for HR and listened to people welcome us. Meanwhile, 20 minutes away in Salem, Paul's breakfast was being interrupted by the fire department telling him that there is a voluntary evacuation going on because the river could likely go over the burm and flood our apartment complex. That's when Paul started gathering and calling his mom and best friend so we could pack their cars with stuff. I soon got a text message saying that we were being evacuated, but not to worry because he was taking care of it. So of course, I spent the next 6.5 hours worried that all of our stuff would be destroyed just 12 days after having moved in.

In the end, the river didn't flood. It crested probably less than a foot away from the top of the burm and our things remained untouched. But they shut the water off for the night and we had to stay at Paul's parents that night.

After that day, it wasn't the moving stuff that annoyed me the most, it was the fact that the property manager out and out lied to us about the flood history. We were told that it hadn't flooded at all in 10 years and that the second floor had NEVER flooded. The reality of the situation is that it flooded in 2004 (there's news footage to proove it) and that the fire department has had to rescue people off the third floor before. So to say that it hasn't flooded in the past 10 years and that the second floor has never flooded in the history of the complex, is a complete lie.

On the bright side, the job is going well. We've done mostly HR stuff for the past couple of days, but we started reading training materials yesterday. There were 30 of us starting at the same time, which is a lot, but I like starting in a big group. We're not in the building that we'll permanently be in yet, but we should be by December 14 (?). I think the best part of it all is that we get free parking because of the building we'll be in. I'm all sorts of pumped. It will be nice to not have to worry about paying for parking like I did at the VA.

Kirstie Alley, Eat Your Heart Out!

I've discovered that when you're not bored out of your mind for the majority of your waking hours and you eat a lot of fast food, it's a lot more difficult to control/lose weight. While I was starving for human interaction for a good part of May 2008-May 2009, I spent my time going to the gym and eating fairly healthy and it resulted in my losing 50 pounds. I have since gained back about 10 pounds and I'm not particularly pleased. I'm not really any more busy than I was last year. In fact, just the opposite. I work maybe 2 hours out of the day and I could be going to the gym with a lot of my free time, but I'm a creature of habit and it's hard to start going back to the gym, especially when it's not on the way home anymore.

My clothes aren't fitting much differently, maybe not differently at all, but somehow just knowing the extra weight is there is making me feel super fat and not terribly attractive.

I start my new job at Social Security on Thursday and I hope that since I'll kind of be following the same work routine as I did last year that I'll be able to get back into my gym habit. Just three days a week would help at this point...and maybe remembering that water is just as good as the grape soda that is currently chilling in the fridge...and saving the Reese's pumpkins that are in the cabinet for a special occasion. And Tuesday can no longer be considered a special occasion. And it would probably help if I went back to not eating after 10 anymore, instead of thinking that a midnight trip to Sheetz "won't be that bad." I need to get back on the wagon, especially since I have a wedding to look hot for in just less than a year. Annie and I are cooking vegan sausage and pasta tomorrow so maybe that will be a good re-introduction to the world of healthy living.

It should benoted that I won't really feel better until I'm running at least a mile again, preferably at the same pace that I was running in June.

On a completely unrelated note, I hate that cooler weather always makes my hands crazy dry. They are currently cracked like crazy and it burns to bend my pointer finger on my right hand.

And Then Paul and Trista Were Banned from Salem Valley 8

Okay, so we weren't really banned from Salem Valley 8...but we could have been. Please continue...

After spending the day spending our Bed, Bath and Beyond gift certificate, decorating the walls and not cooking a single thing, Paul and I decided to go see Paranormal Activity at Salem Valley 8 since it's practically in our back yard and we hadn't seen it yet. However, when we arrived we encountered the weirdest payment difficulty that either of us has ever experienced. I had just taken out my debit card to pay for my and my lovah's movie date when I was told that I, in fact, could not pay with that card because it has the Interlink symbol on the back. Apparently their not accepting this card has something to do with a .50 fee to the company whenever the card is used. Whatever, I'll just use my credit card. I put away my debit card and grab my Citicard, quickly checking the back for the Interlink symbol. Seeing none I handed over the card and said, "This should work." Oh contrare, Ms. Wilkins. You can't use that either because it's a credit card, not a debit card, and they just can't accept those. So, having no cash, our only option was to drive the car right through the ticket booth, thus likely getting us banned from Salem Valley 8. That way we would make it through at least half the movie before the Salem fuzz showed up and hauled us into the slammer. In the end we visited the handy dandy ATM just down the street, but I maintain that option one could have been pretty awesome.

Paranormal Activity, by the way, is pretty creepy. I'm glad I don't live in a two story home with hard wood floors or I might be even more freaked out. I'll feel much better in my single story, fully carpeted apartment.

In other news, I cried at breakfast this morning because Famous Anthony's ran out of home fries AND put peppers in my omelet when I specifically asked for them to be left out. Paul was freaked out and I felt like a wuss. But then we went to Denny's and there were copious amounts of home fries/hashbrowns and we had one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long, long time. We felt bad for not tipping the Famous Anthony's waitress because she was a good waitress and their lack of potato-products was not her fault, but we didn't have any cash so she had to go tip-less.

I meant to talk about the move the other day, but internet was being pretty stupid until yesterday afternoon. All in all moving went well. We've been here for 5 days and the living room, kitchen and bathrooms are all put together. Mine and Paul's room is getting there, but there's still random things that need to be put away. The guest bedroom and dining room are currently holding all the crap that we don't really know what to do with. On the bright side, we have things on the walls in the living room, dining room and bathroom (not a priority, I know, but there was drippy paint that I hated to look at). We officially have a pretty wall sculpture and look impressive and educated with our diplomas hanging side-by-side. Now we just need a couple more wall things for the living room, hall and dining room and something to go above the sink in the kitchen because it's just too white and blank.

I Got the Job!

That's right, I got the job at Social Security that I interviewed for last week! That means a raise in pay, better benefits, and a normal schedule!

High five to me!

Moving "Fun", as Promised

So I promised moving updates and now it's time to deliver.

I'm currently washing the sheets and comforters (that's right, plural on the comforters) from Paul's bed. I'm pretty sure I didn't even wash the comforter and blanket from my bed when I moved...thelast two times. Why I'm doing it now is beyond me.

I don't have to tell you that it's the day before Halloween, because the date is posted at the top of this. That being said, I haven't really watched a Halloween-themed movie yet and that makes me sadder than it reasonably should. I got "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" for Christmas last year but it's been in the very back of a storage unit, and therefore unreachable, since August 20. I think my dvds will be the first thing I unpack after everything is in the apartment and I'll watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" while I'm unpacking everything else.

Okay, so apparently I don't have as many moving updates as I thought I did. There will surely be more tomorrow.

It should be noted that I love the movie "Sydney White". I don't care what anyone says, it's really amusing and actually clever. Don't you judge me because it stars Amanda Bines and seems completely ridiculous. Just give it a chance, people.

Today I'm annoyed because...

I've been calling beneficiaries, aka old people, for roughly two hours and have talked to about six people. Of those six, 1 made an appointment, 1 had to talk to her husband before making an appointment, 1 is having back surgery on the exact day I was trying to schedule an appointment, 1 already had some sort of additional medicare plan, 1 said that the woman I was trying to reach wasn't home, and 1 was an automated message saying that the woman did not take phone solicitations and ordered me to add her to my "do not call" list. Fortunately, I don't really care that much because I'm not getting commission for making appointments and have no incentive to be doing someone else's work.

I haven't heard anything from Social Security yet. I called Tuesday and they said they hadn't made any decisions but I'm getting more and more worried every day that I haven't heard because they're waiting until the end to tell people who didn't get the job and that I'm on of those people. I might just go crazy if I have to stay where I am. Just saying.

I don't have speakerphone on my work phone. And while it's a small thing, it would just be a lot more convenient to have it since I'm currently on a conference call and I don't really know how long it's going to last and I'd prefer my arm not fall asleep.

The people who own the place that we reserved a Uhaul from last night are trying to rip us off. I looked on the Uhaul website today and they charge .59 a mile. These people charge .79. I called today to cancel it and they said they would call me back to let me know if there would be a charge but they still haven't done so. Okay, just got in touch with them. They cancelled it and they aren't going to charge us. I guess I'm not annoyed by that anymore.

My conference call was supposed to start 10 minutes ago. Still no one there. So I've been listening to really bad instrumentals and waiting...and waiting...and waiting.

I still haven't received my reimbursement from work for the 1,000+ miles I drove earlier this month. I was told I'd get it last week, but I didn't. Then I was told I'd get it Tuesday, but I didn't. Now I'm being told it should be deposited to my account tomorrow. Why do I have a sneaking suspicion that it won't be?

My Life Has Come Full Circle

I was planning on waiting to share this story until I could go to my parents' house, rifle through pictures, and find proof , scan said-proof onto my mom's computer, email said-proof to myself and then save it somewhere on my computer . That is just too much work so you're going to have to take my word for it.

Last weekend Paul and I went to Homecoming at Christopher Newport (hereafter referred to as CNU). CNU, for those who don't know, is a dry campus. They don't allow a drop of alcohol on their campus, even if the embiber is 21 or older. This, naturally, was alarming for me as I went to Roanoke College where classes are sometimes held at the bar and the biggest, drunkest party of the year is held, you guessed it, on campus. In celebration of this year's homecoming, the school decided to hold a tailgate prior to the game that would allow those in attendance to legally consume alcohol on the campus that forbade them from doing so for four (or more, who knows, I don't judge their education plans) long years. All you had to do was buy a special orange tailgating parking tag for what I took to be the rather hefty price of $20.00 and they could drink to their little hearts' content without being hassled by anyone. And after years of on-campus-consuming-suppression, these guys did it up right. There was corn hole and grilling and, in one very interested instance, a satellite dish that was broadcasting ESPN all morning to one incredibly prepared group of people.

As I stood in my muppet gloves, nursing a beer and not fully appreciating this momentous occasion quite as much as everyone around me was, I was suddenly transported back to a very warm day in Richmond when I was 10 years old and in the 4th grade. On this, the second day of Spiller Primary School's "Tour of Virginia" that included Monticello, Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Richmond (far from all-encompassing if you ask me), I was standing outside of the state capital, having just walked past the governor's mansion. For whatever reason, I looked up and back toward the mansion that we had just passed, and saw someone familiar, someone from my tv. I saw who I was absolutely positive, was our then-governor, George Allen. I said as much to my chaperone and the other girls in my group. The girls were uninterested as they were 10 and distracted by thought of the issue Teen Beat that awaited them on the bus. My chaperone, however, had the gall to doubt me. In fact, she told me that I was incorrect. Ten seconds later she was the one making an ass out of herself when she was said, "No Trista, if that was the governor he'd be surrounded by lots of body guards." At that point, on of the body guards who was surrounding him looked at her and said, "Who do you think we are, ma'am?" That was perhaps the greatest "told ya so" moment of my entire life.

Anyway, just as I saw Governor George Allen on that hot day in Richmond in 1996 and no one believed me, as I looked up from my beer and my shivering, I saw Senator George Allen on a cold day in Newport News in 2009 and, surprise surprise, Paul didn't immediately believe me. Granted, he didn't tell me I was wrong, he just didn't think it would make sense for a Senator to be at CNU's homecoming tailgate. He very quickly believed me and the Political Science major in him got really excited. I immediately went into paparazzi mode and decided that I had to get my picture taken with him again because wouldn't that be awesome? And I could tell him about that day in the 4th grade and we'd have a good laugh and then we'd grab a cup of coffee and fill each other in on what's been going on for the past 13 years. Okay, so that part didn't exactly happen; however, I did tell him that 13 years ago I recognized him and my chaperone didn't and that my entire 4th grade got a picture with him (then one that I'm too lazy to track down). And I got a picture with him. And he said hopefully it wouldn't be another 13 years before we run into each other again. I think that means we're friends. Maybe I'll invite him to the wedding...probably not. At any rate, I give you now, the photographic proof of my 2009 meeting with Senator George Allen. You may one day receive proof of my 1996 meeting with Governor George Allen, but probably not.

Also, because pictures are being uploaded I have another to share. I was in Bastian, VA for work last week. Chances are you've probably never heard of it because it's in Bland County and and pretty sure they literally have no stop lights. But I was there, trying to convince the pharmacy at their only drug store that she should let a sales agent sit in her store once a week and talk to old people about Medicare. As I turned onto the road leading to the pharmacy, I saw this gem of a sign and had to capture it to share with anyone who I thought would laugh along with me.

In case you can't quite make out the words there, it says, "Welcome to Bastian, Virginia". Beneath that it says, "History and Industry". And beneath that it says absolutely nothing at all. That's correct folks, there is no history or industry in Bastian, VA, which makes me wonder why they invested the money in buying the sign.

Please feel free to notice the desolate wasteland that appears to surround this and the other signs that are essentially directing you out of town.

Poor kids...

I was on Facebook just now and saw the most ridiculous quiz ever. It was titled, "Which Jon and Kate Plus 8 Character Are You?" Okay people, I know this may be hard to believe, but they're kids, not characters! I'll admit that I watch the show and think all the kids (especially Aiden) are disgustingly cute, but they're people, not characters. And yeah, they're cute now, but they're going to end up with the most messed up psyches ever. They're going to grow up and watch their show and see just what a bitch their mom really is and they're going to find out how many people their dad was sleeping around with and it probably won't go well at all. They should have a "Gosselin Children: 15 years later" special so we can all see just what a horrible idea that show really has been for them.

Five. Five Dollar. Five Dollar Not So Subliminal Messages.

I'm multi-tasking right now. Not only am I watching a brand-new-to-me episode of Trading Spouses (so pumped!), I'm also writing this, shivering and craving just about every unhealthy food on the planet. In the middle of what promises to be a wonderful episode (health nut from L.A. trades places with woman from the Berkshires who doesn't cook and therefore orders take out for most meals), a commercial for Cici's Pizza came on and, after being annoyed that my blissful reality tv time is being interrupted by a commercial, I realized that I am the reason that there are food commercials on tv. Some people salivate over car commercials, other people get worked up when there's an ad for a Macy's sale, but play me a pizza commercial and visions of pepperoni, ham, mushrooms and pineapple will run through my head until a wedge of that carb-laden beauty is in my hand and, soon thereafter, in my mouth. Unfortunately, Paul and I are going to Newport News tonight and we're grabbing dinner on the way and, sadly, it's pretty impossible to share a pizza in the car, so my craving will have to wait until another day. ::Sigh::

The only commercials that don't make me crave the food they are touting are the Pizza Hut commercials where they have a bunch of people doing a taste test and then they tell them that the pasta/wings they are eating are really from Pizza Hut, not some fancy/local eatery in New York City/Buffalo. If I were in one of those commercials my reaction would be, "Oh? That's cool. Congrats on branching out, Pizza Hut." But these people? It's like their world has been turned upside down because Pizza Hut made some decent pasta or wings. I have never wanted to dropkick a stranger more than the ones in those commercials. I mean, one woman referred to macaroni and cheese with bacon as decadent. DECADENT! It's macaroni and cheese. There are a lot of foods in this world that could be considered decadent, but macaroni and cheese is not one of them Little Miss Aspiring Food Critic.

Correction

I realized after a good night's sleep and some facebook comments that my first post was all depressing and no happiness, which was not my intention. While the past five months have probably been the most hectic and stressful of my life, they have also been five of the happiest. If it hadn't been for Paul and the kindness of his family, I'd surely be commuting to and from Wytheville every day or living on someone's living room couch. I'd also be without the one person who can keep me calm when I'm stressed out and who can make me happy when I'm sad.

For a long time I didn't understand why I met him a month before moving four hours away, but now I think I know why. I needed him to keep me sane while I was dealing with life issues way beyond what I thought I was capable of handling.

I leave you with a promise: subsequent posts will be much more pleasant and will contain less mopeyness.

Pilot Episode....err, Post

I have never felt more out of control of my life for a prolonged amount of time than I have over the past five months. In case you weren't aware, the following is a breakdown of the last five months:

April 4: I get my acceptance letter to the graduate program at the University of Maryland's school of journalism.

April 5: I start applying for every assistantship posted on UM's website.

May...something: I sign a lease to be one of three roommates in a fabulous three bedroom apartment in Arlington. I intend to move in June 1.

May 15ish: I decide not to move to Arlington until June 31.

May 20: I go on my first date with Paul who, as it turns out, is the guy of my dreams.

June 20: My bff and roommate gets married! It has nothing to do with having no control over life, but it deserves mentioning.

June 31: I move to Arlington.

July 1: I have a 5 minute interview for an assistantship in the Office of Israeli Studies. It is only 5 minutes because I'm not an expert in the field of Israeli Studies.

July 15: I start working at the only place in Arlington not to just hire me, but to even give me an interview, Starbucks.

July 16: I don't enjoy working at Starbucks.

August 1ish: I realize that I will not be getting an assistantship, and therefore no financial aid at all, and am forced to face the reality that grad school won't be happening right now because Homey don't play over $80,000.00 in student loans.

August 20: I move back home...to live with my parents...because I'm broke. Also, every one of my personal posessions, save for my clothes, few purses, and hygiene products get shoved in a storage unit, where they remain to this very day.

August...something:Ihave an interview with Universal American. They explain what my job will be and what my salary will be if I get the position.

September...something: I get the job at Universal American and sit around Wytheville, biding my time until I can move back to Roanoke.

September 25: I move back to Roanoke where I stay with Paula and his parents.

September 28: I start working, noticing that I'm not really doing the job I was hired to do.

October 1: I get yelled at by a pharmacist while making work calls. That night, my day improves when Paul gets down on one knee at the Mill Mountain Star, asks me to marry him, and gives me the most beautiful ring known to man.

October 8: I find out my position at work has been eliminated. While my boss discussed options with me about how I can stay employed there, the moral of the story is that I technically got laid off a week and a half after I started working.

I don't like not feeling in control. I don't like not knowing whether or not I'll be able to pay my loans or where my next meal is coming from. I didn't have to worry about the latter when I moved back with my folks, but I'm still worrying about the former at this very moment. And let me tell you, it's the pits.

All that being said, since I don't have control over a whole lot right now, I decided that I would gain a little bit of control over my words, even if I can't do much to control my world.

Unfortunately, after having spent the last four years constantly working on some sort of writing project, be it an article, a story, a poem, a letter, or a paper, the assignment well has run dry. So now I have to create assignments of my own. I will consider myself a success if I don't give up on this little project within the next month, and so should you.

Plus, there's so much to look forward to! Stay tuned for:

• Moving for the fourth time in five months, and all the fun that comes with it
• Attempting to find a new job or getting licensed to sell insurance
• Wedding planning
• My first Holiday season as a "we" and "us" instead of and "I" and "me" that I've become accustomed to over the past 22 Holiday seasons.