Mellow Yellow

Today has made me mad from the get go.....but I refuse to even get into it....all I have been doing lately is feeling sorry for myself....even I am getting tired of it....so I am sure you guys are full to here (you can't see me right now but I put my hand up to the top of my head).

Maybe it didn't help that yesterday began and ended on such a high note.

I started my new job yesterday. It is just a typical job, doing typical stuff, but I do NOT have to work nights and weekends anymore, I do NOT get cussed out every other call, and I work in a yellow room.

I know that may not seem like much to you, but to me, it is awesome. Most offices are a lovely Institutional White, Brain numbing Beige, or (my personal favorite) Sky Blue (you were expecting another made-up paint name weren't you....well, I gotta keep you on your toes). Guys, painting the walls Sky Blue does not make me think I am outside....it just makes me wish I were outside all the more.

My new office is BRIGHT yellow, and we don't sit in cubes. We sit facing OPEN windows that lead out into a yard that little girls play in at various times of the day! It's like a room full of happiness! (Ok, so there is one little, tiny, minuscule downside.....these little girls have a pet...skunk....so sometimes the whole open window thing is a little disturbing....but I am trying to focus on the positive here! Geez.... you are so negative.)

Anyway, so I went to work for a while in my lovely yellow room, then my friend Logan called....
he had a craving for homemade burgers and fries. So he called to invite me to eat them with him.

Woo Hoo!

I do love a good burger (I know it is NOT conducive to the whole Christy Brinkley physique I am working towards....but hey it was HOMEMADE burgers and fries....give a girl a break!). But, right after I get the invite for dinner, I get a call back telling me he forgot the gas hadn't been tuned on in their house yet (they just moved into a new house this weekend). So guess what.....he still wants burgers....but can he cook them at my house?

Are you kidding me.....you want to cook me dinner and I don't even have to go anywhere? Oh heck yeah!

While he was cooking dinner, I was registering for the Spring semester.....I am signed up for 8 hours of grueling classes (Organic Chemistry, Biology II and BIO Lab), my last 3 hours of general studies (woo hoo!) (History), and those of you that can add realize that is only 11 hours. I need at least 12 hours to be considered full-time. So....what can I take to get that last hour of credit and not add another HARD class....like calculus or physics......

So I started playing around with the course catalog, seeing what I could find....first I weeded out Basket Weaving....lost art, maybe....something I am willing to pay almost $1000 a class to learn....not even close. That reasoning was also the downfall of Beginners Yiddish, Philosophy and Star Trek, and Daytime Soap Operas: Family and Social Roles.

But then, what do my wondering eyes behold......Swimming: A Water Workout! One hour a week and I get to swim! That puts me at 12 hours! Oh be still my beating heart! But wait....what is this.....Intermediate Co-ed Softball! Oh man! Which do I choose?

I DON'T! I am taking them both! Next semester, three days a week I am in a pool, and the other two days I am on a softball field! HEAVEN.....I'M IN HEAVEN.....oh yeah....plus all those science classes and stuff too!

So now I am sitting in the gym deli after swimming to let off some of the steam of today.....and Tigger just walked by....and a vampire.....and a caveman.....maybe today will be better after all!

Happy Halloween!

Can you go home again?

Evidently what I need right now is some comfort! I have been stretched to the max emotionally lately and these are the things that usually help.....so I am about to start working my way down the list below.

This is the first time since moving to Austin that I don't feel at home here. I feel transplanted and detached from the people and places that have made this home. (Mostly because my apartment feels like a hotel room since I don't feel safe there anymore.) I have great friends here....I have family close (my brother and Jenny) but I need HOME!

I know there are so many friends that I graduated high school with that only go back home when they are drug by the skin of their teeth. I don't feel that way. I LOVE my hometown. It is tiny, everyone knows everything you do and there is nothing to do there but talk to the people you know. Sound boring as hell? It can be, but mostly there is a comfort in knowing that there are all these people keeping up with you. There is comfort in knowing that everyday is the same and that you can set your watch by the smells coming off the grill at Mr. Kenner's or the time the logs are being dropped at the mill.

Sniffing the air......"Mr. Kenner put the chickens on the grill....bout to start the lunch rush....."

I love that on Thursday's at noon, I know that all the men in that town that I love, will be gathered eating fried chicken at the Lion's Den and that I am always welcome there.

I love that the ballpark is still the best place to get a burger and that we actually go into ballpark-burger-withdrawal in the winter.

I love that when I drive down the main streets in town my left hand never sets on the steering wheel because I am waving at all the cars I pass....and that if I didn't my momma would have heard about it before she left school that day.

That's it.... I have just decided.....I am going home....SOON! I need the smell of the pine trees and the sound of the mill rumbling in the distance. I need the sight of the sunlight streaming through the stain glass windows in the sanctuary on Sunday morning. I need it all! There is a spot I hit on the drive home, where the mesquite trees give way to more majestic pines and the weight of the world that rests on my shoulders gets lifted away with the tree line.

I know I am over simplifying things, but hey....it's a simple place....and for the most part, we are a simple people.

If you don't have a place like this....you are more than welcome to join me in mine. But I think we all have a place that just by being there, makes us stop and take perspective. It makes us look into ourselves and find the peace we have been lacking.

I love to travel and see different place....the sights, the smells....the exotic difference of it all....but I will always need....home.

List of Comforts:

Comfort food: A Sonic DP and my grandmother's Apple Dumplings

Comfort People: Mindy....Mom.....basically the girls....

Comfort Movies: The Princess Bride, The Wedding Date, The Count of Monte Cristo

Comfort Cuddlers: Chloe

Comfort Huggers: Dad (why does a hug from your dad make everything ok?)

Comfort Music: DON'T LAUGH....if I am mad at a boy: Alanis Morsette......... if I am sad about school or work: The Dixie Chicks (I know there is much better music out there....but we are talking comfort here.)

Comfort Clothes: summer - my Dr. Seuss boxer shorts and my "hits happen" t-shirt; winter - my blue zebra-stripe flannel pj's with matching house shoes

Comfort Place: The backyard at my parent's house....laying in the grass between the pecan trees....laying still enough to hear the rustle of the leaves in the trees and feel the caterpillar walk across your hand.....

My turn to talk!

Hi! It's me Chloe!

I wanted to say hello to all of you that read Mom's blog.

There are a couple of things I need to get off my chest!

First of all, to the people who keep breaking into my mom's car.....

STOP! I mean I don't bite or anything, but I know a mean pit bull a few blocks over that really gets off on that type of thing!

Next, I would like to say that the reason Mom isn't writing this herself is because she has a biology test tomorrow that she is studying for that makes her want to cry. Which is also why these posts are kinda few and far between these days.

Also, you all need to know....today is my birthday! Please bring Snausages and Milkbones! I really do love them....but no squeaky toys....Mom really hates those!

Lastly, when you bring the goodies for me, Mom could use a hug! She keeps referring to this weekend as Crapfest 2007 and tonight she cried. I tried to hold her, but unlike Josh, I do not have disposable thumbs..... (yes, I know it is opposable....it is a joke).....what?

Then how am typing? Jeez....Mom is right....you guys are a tough crowd!

I love you all! Woof!

Nightmare on Pleasant Valley Drive

Guys! You remember my cute new little apartment that I was ranting and raving over just one short month ago?

You know, the one that was a little more hooker than pimp? Yeah? Well, it's a little MORE a lot of things....

little more robbers than cops (although I am quite sure that there have been many a COPS episode filmed on property)

little more dope head than just dope

little more riotous than righteous

OK! OK! I'm done....but you get my point! This place is a nightmare!

I have had the windows on my car smashed to steal my stereo, something stuck in my gas tank so I need a whole new fuel pump, and very large men with screwdrivers banging on my door at night screaming for me to call the cops cuz "they're gonna jump me". (I did call the cops, but more because there was a very large man with a screwdriver at my door......they never showed up by the way.)

They have however been there four times this week. I am not sure what for, but the sound of sirens right outside my door has become the soundtrack to my life.

Soooooooooo.......basically, I think I am moving again! If I can get out of my lease that is.....evidently being scared out of my ever-lovin' mind is not a sufficient legal reason to break a lease.

Who knew?

Friends....

I have such great friends! Lately I have been having such connections with my friends.

I know that sounds weird. If they are your friends, then of course you have connections with them. But maybe you know what I mean when I say that like the moon, friendships have phases.

I have been blessed in my life to have friends that I can trust and rely on, but I must say that usually I have one GOOD friend at a time.

Lately I feel blessed to have many friends! I have met new ones that I can tell are going to be a part of my life for years to come, and I have further cemented friendships that have been there for years past. Guys, thank you for you love and support through all the drama that is my life!

por ejemplo.....

Me and Joshy: We have known things about each other before we realized them ourselves....that hasn't changed after all these years and I am so thankful for it! I love you Joshy!

Me and Jessica: She makes me laugh, A LOT. She also lives her life in a way that is inspiring to all who know her. Plus she makes everything Gouda!

Me and Mindy: Wow! Where to even start? She has been my best friend since second grade, but she still manages to amaze me with her intellect and heart. I love you and thank God for you daily. And the night of the Madrigal.....

Me and Tricia: We met at trying times, but God knew I needed her to get through them! Now we deal with minute men and less trying issues.....

Me and Allison: The funniest girl I have ever met. She has a confidence about her that leaves me in awe. That Can't Be Yogurt! (good luck with that red scurvy)





Me and Kayla: We are still getting to know each other even though we have known each other our whole lives. I am enjoying the journey. Plus she "meets" my friends well!




Me and Dylan (and Logan, but we'll get there in a minute): We hardly know each other, but I feel a level of comfort with him that is so telling of his kindness. Sorry again about the whole sick in the car thing!







Me and Logan: I never expected another "best friend" in my life, and I surely didn't expect to find it in the "frat boy" persona a saw when I first met him. (But that was my own prejudice.)His generosity of spirit and genuine interest in everyone he meets is just the tip of the iceberg with him. I love you Doobie!





Me and Jennie: She is my brother's girlfriend, but she is now my sister.....whether it ever becomes official or not. I first loved her because of the way she treated my brother, but now I love her for the woman she is.



And last but not least.....Me and Chloe: She is the smile on my face when I go home each day! She is the best dog EVER! Screw diamonds! Dogs are a girl's best friends!

Book Club!

Mindy and I saw The Jane Austen Book Club tonight (sooo good) and in true life-imitating-art fashion, we have decided to start our own little Jane Austen book club!

We all know that I have a small obsession with Austen, so she didn't exactly drag me kicking and screaming....but I do have a few other books I am reading....Cellular Biology, Molecular Chemistry and Multivariable Calculus....so we are taking this slow.....

We are doing one book a month...I know....Austen does not take NEAR that long to get through, but again....I AM A BUSY GIRL....and let's face it, so is Mindy.....

Anyway, first we are reading Emma. We figure it will ease us into this with a little light reading....

I am so excited to read and discuss Austen AGAIN :) Please feel free to join us....I will post our discussions....PLEASE JOIN!!!