It's a Heat Wave

I got my loan stuff in the mail today. I hate going through all of that every August. Sure this is only my third August with it all. But, really. I need it to stop. I used to think I'd spend the rest of my life in school. I don't anymore.

I have no money.

I miss money.

I will work this Fall. So I can buy fun things once more. Like Coach purses. Ahhh, Coach. There is a certain bag that I'm sure was made just for me.

It's hot. Like heat advisory hot. So excuse me while I go take an ice bath or something.

Back From The Beach

We're back. And it's good to be home. I'd say it's taken a good week to get back into the swing of things. It's exhausting to drive 17 hours to Sanibel/Fort Myers twice in one week. Two years in a row of doing just that has me beat. Sheesh.

I love the beach I do. I adore it. The sand was fantastic as always. But, I think we need to stay a little closer to home in the coming year. Between 5 and 10 hours sounds like a breeze!

I've already been searching. We'd love to visit Savannah, Georgia and the islands down there. Charleston, South Carolina as well as Asheville, North Carolina and the Biltmore Estate. And I'm in dire need of making the pilgrammage to Graceland in Memphis, TN. Hopefully the upcoming travel season will hold some surprises for us.

I'm going to post once per day from here on out. And if I don't, call me out on it. My writing need's to be exercised more. I'm getting lazy with this blog. And it's not my wish to do so. On that note, I'm out.

Censorship

I have found myself censoring myself a lot lately. We live next to a family that is very religious. They practice modesty, in that their girls do not ever wear pants...only skirts. They don't cut their hair, ever. They can't wear jewelry. No television. The 15 year old can't even see PG-13 movies. I swear they are like an experiment of what happens when people are not exposed to mass media. The mother had no clue that people go shopping in mass numbers on the day after Thanksgiving. The eldest daughter had no idea, until last week what a 'hooker' was.

They know absolutely nothing. The girls have no idea about how the world works. They think the Jefferson Mall is the best mall in Louisville. They look at me in awe when I know things about current events or geography or history. They wondered how in the world people would know for sure that a line for the first McDonald's in Kuwait that opened in 1998 stretched over 7 miles out of the drive thru. They thought WAVE-3 anchorwoman, Jackie Hays, was on The Weather Channel.

The problem is this: I have been taking them places with my brother this summer. And I have found myself censoring what comes out of my mouth at all times. If they walk into our house I turn off the TV. If they are in my car I won't listen to music. And normal questions I would ask anyone about their religion or life views I find myself clamming up over when I talk to these girls.

But, why? Madre says it's wrong. That I shouldn't feel that way about anything I say in front of these girls. But, it often seems like I'm trying to protect them too. When all they need is a hefty dose of reality. I'm really not sure what I should do. Do I continue to treat them with kid gloves just because their parent's chose to be in a denomination that causes them to live very differently than me? It's tough.

Before I'm Gone

I would like to:

*Have a career in Journalism
*Spend longer than a week in London and Greece
*Fall in love at least once
*Adopt a child
*Save as many animals as I can
*Live in a big city
*Take a walk on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
*Swim in a crystal clear ocean
*Do something good in Africa
*Own a house that has an upstairs
*Eat bratwurst in Germany
*Drive a nice car
*Work on a documentary
*Wear a bikini
*Feel completely comfortable in this skin of mine
*Find someone who takes my breathe away
*Influence someone
*Get a tattoo
*Be loved, in such a way that it too takes his breathe away
*Raise my children in a house full of tolerance
*Have an Australian Shepherd dog
*Find a crafty thing that I'm good at
*Meet a celebrity
*Ride a Gondola in Venice
*Kiss someone by the river Seine
*Read a book by Faulkner
*See the Dixie Chicks in concert
*Find out my family's geneology
*Spend significant time in New York City, which of course includes eating a slice of pizza there, visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Empire State Building and Ground Zero.
*Visit D.C. and see the eternal flame at JFK's grave
*Give blood
*Visit a southeast Asian country
*Watch a Jazz Funeral procession in New Orleans
*Wear stilettos with confidence
*Own a diamond that I bought for myself
*Laugh...a lot
*Learn to live in the moment

and obviously this list could go on, but perhaps I'll revisit it from time to time and add more.

21 Things

1.Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says: "He stood up with a sudden restlessness, stretching himself with one sharp movement." --Tender is the Night, F.Scott Fitzgerald

2.Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first? my iPod.

3.What is the last thing you watched on TV? Sex and the City

4.WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what time it is: 12:30

5.Now look at the clock, what is the actual time? 12:44

6.With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? The television, Frasier is on but I hate that show...

7.When did you last step outside? what were you doing? We were outside playing Badmitton with all of the neighbors.

8.Before you came to this website, what did you look at? I don't remember, probably a recipe for kitten formula.

9.What are you wearing? pajama capris and a CATS t-shirt.

10.Did you dream last night? I'm sure I did, but I don't remember any of them.

11.When did you last laugh? outside on the patio with the girls.

12.What is on the walls of the room you are in? white, but not for long!

13.Seen anything weird lately? a flat chested kitten.

14.What do you think of this quiz? ehh.

15.What is the last film you saw? Madea's Family Reunion.

16.If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first? a few more years of a college education.

17.Tell me something about you that I don't know: I got my hair cut yesterday. It's the shortest I've ever had it!

18.If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? no more child poverty.

19.Do you like to dance? not at all.

20.Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her? a boy? Kennedy for my girl, Gabriel for my boy.

21.Would you ever consider living abroad? absolutely, I think London would be a blast for a while!

Sorry For The Absence, But Dudes! FLORIDA!!

T-Minus one week and counting!!!!! Eeek! This time next week I shall be in a car somewhere in Georgia on my way to the sunshine state. Only my second time to the beach ever...but it feels like I'm making a trek to my spiritual home. There is something that pulls my soul to this place. The beach, the ocean. I'm high on life. Rarely do I use that term but it feels so appropriate right now.

That doesn't mean I'm not sort of freaking out. My mom gave me a list about a mile long earlier to type out. Things we can't forget, things to look into, and directions to track down. There is so much delicate, if not harried, planning that goes into our trips. This year we've planned to go since forever...but we just just secured a place to stay last week. Mom had talked to numerous people who said they book right before they leave to get the best deals. I'll admit...we did get a heck of a deal. But, boy I was sweating bullets till we did it.

Honestly though, the best part is how we are getting there. My parents, in an effort to save money on gas decided that we could drive my car for 14+ hours to the Tampa-St.Pete area of Florida. My car, for those who don't know, is a subcompact Chevrolet Aveo. Let me repeat: it's a tiny car. On the outside. The inside isn't cramped or anything. The trunk is huge. But, I can't help but assume people will gawk at us like clowns climbing out of car at the circus. And yet THE GAS, THE GAS. The moolah we will save. At any rate I've ordered a "mock drill" tomorrow. I want to see what we can fit in this car. Mom says I only want to find out how many pairs of flip flops I can bring. She might be sort of right. ;)