The Few, The Proud, The Marines...

So, I'm back. Well, technically, I got back into town on Friday, but whatever.

Basically, Mom came home from work on Wednesday, and then, we packed up and went over to my aunt's. She came home from work, and then we packed up all our stuff into her car and started down the road. We stopped in Orangeburg (about three and a half hours down the road) for dinner at Subway, and then got on the road again and drove another two and a half or so, and finally arrived in Beaufort at around 8:30. We went up to our room (the NY group had already checked in), and then walked up to the grocery store to grab some doughnuts and juice for the morning. And then, we all just chilled in the hotel room until we went to bed.

We all got up early on Thursday morning, got ready, had a little bite to eat, and then drove twenty minutes to Parris Island. The line of traffic coming in was so long, but it gave you a really good idea of just how many people were coming in. So, we got on base, then parked the car and stood on the sidewalk to watch the motivational run of all the graduates.

And then, we went into the All Weather Training Facility, and waited around for the Liberty Ceremony. And they brought all the graduating Marines in, and dismissed them, and then we all ran down to greet Matt.

And then, Matt showed us around base, and we went to the MCX store (Marine Corps Exchange), and had a picnic lunch, and went to the Parris Island Museum, and Matt showed us around their barracks, which seemed pretty roomy until he explained to us that 83 guys shared that floor.



We ended up getting ice cream sandwiches from the commissary (grocery store), and chilling in the parking lot towards the end. And then at 3:00 (Liberty started at 10:00am), we said goodbye to Matt, and dropped him off at the All Weather Training Facility, and drove back to the hotel. The guys had approached us the night before regarding possibly going to Savannah while we were there, so we all hopped back in the cars and drove to Savannah.

We had dinner at this place on the river called Tubby's, and the food was amazing. I had a crab cake sandwich, and some of Mom's crab soup, which ended up being passed around and tried by pretty much everyone. And then, the guys split off, and Gramma and Poppie started back toward the car, and Mom, Sharon, and Quinn walked around a bit, and Lynne and I ended up heading to the city market and listening to some live music before we all met back at the car.

Then, it was back to the hotel, and I ended up going over to the boy's room to help AJ with his environmnetal science homework (two quizzes and a test, which basically consisted of him reading the question & me skimming the chapter to find the answer). And then, I went back over to our room, and took a shower, and headed to bed.

We got up early again on Friday morning, and headed to the base for the graduation ceremony. Except it was so cold out...it was fine at the hotel when we left, but when we got out of the car at the base, it was freezing cold and super windy. So, Mom and Aunt Sharon went to the Parade Deck (where the ceremony was going to take place) and saved us some seats, and then Aunt Lynne, Quinn, AJ, Phillip, Brandon and I braved the cold and got in line and got into the stands, and finally, Gramma & Poppie and our cousin, Katie, and her friend, Katie (they'd driven in from Greenville, Sc, where they're going to college).

And finally, the ceremony began. The Marine band played a bit, and then, they marched all the graduates onto the Parade Deck, and the band played some more (it got really jazzy right in the middle, and the whole audience was like, "Whoa! Cool!"), and then they parched the graduates around some more, and then, presented awards to the best marksmen (and women...there were two platoons of female Marines graduating) in each platoon, and finally, the officers gave the final dismissal order. The graduates took two steps back, did an about face, and were now officially part of The Few, The Proud, The Marines.

So, we grabbed Matt, took a few pictures, and headed to the car, because everyone, especially Matt (who had to stand on that Parade Deck for an hour in dress pants and a short sleeve shirt), was cold. It took forever to get out of the parking lot, but we finally did, and Mom, Quinn, Lynne, and I got to Orangeburg so we could eat at that same Subway, and then headed back home. Everyone else got in about an hour and a half later (they had stopped to have lunch with the two Katies before they headed back to Greenville).

So, we went over to Lynne & Herb's for pizza dinner, and then I took AJ, Matt, Phillip, Brandon, and Quinn out to play a round of mini-golf, and then we stopped at Starbucks for drinks. And then, we swung by the house to grab my swimsuit, and headed back to Lynne & Herb's. We changed into our swimsuits, and I ended up chilling with AJ, Matt, Phillip, and Brandon in the hot tub for a little while. And then, we headed home.

I got up semi-early on Saturday morning, and went over to pick up the four guys. I ended up driving them around the Wake Forest campus for a bit, and then, we drove to the mall, and shopped for a while, and then we all went to Sonic for lunch, which the guys loved. And then, I took everyone back to our house, and they guys played around & shot some hoops, and I got ready for work. I left, and drove over to Senior Services, parked, and Dad met me at the check in area at the loading dock.

And then, it was just crazy. We had two groups of media, and all the hot food for the suites was late, and the timing was weird, and yeah. But, it was fun. Wake lost, but they put up a good fight, and then, we cleaned up, and I didn't clock out until about one in the morning. And we brought home a ton of stuff - pulled pork bbq, hot dogs, cake, salad, rolls. And we even got a couple of drink cozies, towels, and fleece blankets that they were handing out in the President's suite.

I didn't get home until 1:30 in the morning, and then I stayed up to watch the clock turn back at 2:00am, and ended up getting up at 4:00am to get ready, so we could take my aunt (who was staying at our house) over to Lynne & Herb's to leave. So, we got there, and hung around for a bit, and then said our goodbyes and they hopped in the van and left. I came home, and went back to sleep until almost 1:00 in the afternoon, and had lunch, and just chilled out.

Halloween...

I'm just posting this because I thought it was so cute...

The Today show did such an awesome job with their Halloween costumes this year. Normally, I don't really pay much attention (last year comes to mind), but oh my gosh, this was so creative.

So we have Hoda Kotb as Princess Eugenie, Kathie Lee Gifford as Princess Beatrice, Savannah Guthrie as Prince Charles, Al Roker as Prince Harry, surprise guest Meredith Veira as the Queen, Matt Lauer as Prince William, Ann Curry as Kate Middleton, and Natalie Morales as Pippa Middleton. I was standing there giggling and laughing and trying not to scream at how cool and creative it was. They really did an amazing job.

Anyway, today's been sort of lazy. I did my homework, watched some tv, had lunch, washed the dishes. Mom came home, and she put a couple of stitched in Quinn's costume, and I made some 'drop and bake' cookies, and I tried to clean my room a little bit. And then, basically, we just chilled out, and then, Dad came home, and Mom and Quinn left to go trick-or-treating. Dad and I watched some tv, and I let Ella out, and watched The Sing Off.

Mom and Quinn came home, and Quinn sorted his candy, and right now, we're watching The Sing Off. I don't know what we'll be doing for the rest of the night...we taped Halloween and Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred, but it'll be 10:00 at that point, and I really should get to bed on time. And I'm tempted to see what Rock Center is like, but I don't know.

Anyway, right now, I'm just chilling out...dentist appointment tomorrow...ugh. I hate the dentist.

Mall Excursion...

So, today was pretty amazing.

I got up, got ready, had lunch, and then took my mom to Sear for her shift. Then, I picked up Sylvia, and we headed over to Uptown Cheapskate and met Anita over there. Sylvia sold some of her clothes, and the three of us tried on some clothes and, Anita and Sylvia bought some stuff. And then, we drove over to the mall, and parked and started our shopping.

Basically, we went everywhere...Delia's, Abercrombie, Charlotte Russe, Forever 21, Hollister, American Eagle, Wet Seal, Macy's, Dillard's, Belk, JC Penny, and even popped into Build-A-Bear for two seconds to look at the bears. Sylvia and Anita both got a ton of stuff...they brought a ton of money. I ended up returning one of my American Eagle shirts from last week's mall trip, and then purchasing a jacket (pics tomorrow) from Charlotte Russe. So, the returned shirt gave me $21, and then jacket was only $16, so I actually came out of the whole excursion with more money than I started with.

Oh, and we all got to tease each other about our 'guys'. Sylvia has her boyfriend, Anita has a guy from the band, and well, apparently, Sylvia and Anita count Brandon as my 'guy'. So, the whole day it was, "Ooh, you should wear that on your date with Brandon," and yes, I got teased the whole day about him being a college guy, and all that, but it was fun, because I could tease the two of them back.

Anyway, we went into Belk's to wait for Anita's mom, and I ended up seeing Sharon, who I work with at Catered Affairs, and we talked for a second, and then we left the mall. Anita's mom picked her up, and I drove Sylvia home, and ended up going through the bag of stuff Uptown Cheapskate didn't take, and finding a couple of really cute things, so Sylvia, awesome friend that she is, let me have them. I love her.

And then, I went back to the mall to pick up my mom from her shift, and then, we came home, loaded a couple of sleeping bags into the trunk, and dropped them off at my aunt's in preparation for Tuesday, when the family is coming in. And then, we came home, and had dinner (buffalo chicken chili...a new recipe, which was amazingly good), and watched The Black Cauldron, which we borrowed from my mom's co-worker. I always see it in their DVD cabinet when I go over to babysit, but Nathan never picks it, so I never get to watch it. So, we watched that, and it was pretty cool. Not as cool as I remember it, but still.

And then, I cleaned Ella's cage, and Mom called my aunt Sharon, who's coming down for Matt's graduation, and they talked for a while, and then we basically said goodnight. And that's it.

Tomorrow...nothing much going on. Gonna watch The Sing Off and just chill out. I'm going light on my schoolwork this week...just finishing up my chapter in math, which is three lessons and a chapter review in three days...totally do-able. Tuesday...dentist appointment. Wednesday...leaving for SC. Thursday...Family Day at Parris Island. Friday...graduation. Saturday...football game.

BTBAM At The Fillmore...

Let's see...pretty cool week. Wednesday was normal. Yesterday though...

So, Mom came home, and we went out to the Little Theatre to see if they had anything for rent for Quinn's Halloween costume. We ended up finding him a green two-piece suit and a skinny black tie, and that was all he needed. He's going as Agent 6 from the animated tv show Generator Rex, by the way. And then, we came home, and Mom left to go to yoga, and I fixed dinner.

Dad came home, and we ate, and then we got ready to go. We headed out at just before 7:00, and got to the Fillmore at about 8:30. We met my uncle out front, got our tickets and bracelets, and then my uncle showed us the inside of the tour bus, which is tiny if you consider that they sometimes fit ten people in. But still very cool. And then, we went in through the back, and met up with my aunt in the backstage band sitting/waiting room. My uncle led us out to the main area, where one of the bands was performing, and Dad bought me a t-shirt from the merchandise table.

My cousin, Blake, came out and said hi, and we talked for a bit, and then, we watched a little of the next band who was performing. And then, we went backstage and chilled out for a little bit, until the last band finished. Then, we headed back out onto the main floor and watched the set-up for Between the Buried and Me. And soon, the lights dimmed and the performance started. We started off watching from right beside the stage, and then made our way toward the back to get the feel of the whole thing, and then went backstage, and actually got to stand right on stage, just off to the side of the band.

And then, Dad and I went back to the side of the stage, and then back to the back again, and then ended up going back up and watching the rest of the show from the on-stage perspective. Which was very cool, by the way. I couldn't see much of the guitarists and singer, because of the screens they had up so the audience couldn't see the speakers and gear boxes and stuff, but we had an awesome view of Blake pounding away on those drums, like ten feet away from us.

I ended up going the whole night without earplugs, and oh my gosh, it was really cool how you could feel it in your whole body, it was that loud. The whole sound was really different, depending on where you stood. Like, standing in the back, you could hear more of the lyrics and guitar, but standing right on the stage, you mostly heard the drums. And the audience...oh my gosh. They knew every word, and were singing, and pumping their fists, and head-banging, and everything. I swear I saw about a dozen crowd-surfers throughout the performance, and I wasn't even watching the whole time, so there were probably more.

So, they finished their set, and then came out for an encore song, and then we talked with Blake for a few minutes before saying goodbye to everything and walking out with my aunt and uncle. I think it was midnight when we finally started on our way home. We got home at about 1:30 in the morning, and I ended up staying up until 3:00 before finally going to bed. My first concert experience, and it was so awesome.

Today, I woke up late, and did my homework and just chilled. Mom came home, and I took the car so I could go to the bank to deposit my paycheck, and then, we watched The Big Bang Theory (which was hilarious) and just relaxed at home for a little bit before Mom left for work. I made dinner, and Dad came home, and we all ate and then watched the news and Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. And then, I let Ella out and just chilled for the rest of the evening.

Nothing going on tomorrow. Shopping with Sylvia on Sunday, then chilling out on Halloween, dentist on Tuesday, going to SC on Wednesday, Family Day on Thursday, Matt's graduation on Friday, working the football game on Saturday...busy, busy, busy!

Making Bulletin Boards Is Actually Kinda Fun...

Okay, recap time...

Saturday, I went to the mall while Mom worked at Sears. I went through quite a few of my usual stores - Forever 21, Delia's, Hollister, American Eagle, and really didn't find much. I guess I wasn't really in the right mood for shopping. But, I did find a couple of shirts at American Eagle, and saw Sylvia, too, which was totally awesome! And then, Mom showed me around Sears a little, and then I left and went home. Quinn was watching Blizzcon, and I ended up having to call customer service because he lost part of the live feed, and we got that fixed, and then I picked Mom up from work.

On Sunday, Mom and I went grocery shopping, and chilled for a bit, and then she left for work. Dad and I left for Groves Stadium at about 5:00, and got over there, and got seats in the end zone area by Bridger Field House. And we waited around for a bit, watching some of the little kids run around on the field, and then the movie started. I'd never seen The 5th Quarter before, and I really didn't know much about the story either, but it really was a very good movie. Very touching. And overall, it was really cool to see it while at the football stadium...totally cool. And then, we came home, and I cleaned Ella's cage, and Mom and Quinn brought home Subway, and we basically chilled for the evening.

Monday was pretty normal. We went to Enchanted Cottage that afternoon to get some paper, so we could start the new bulletin board we were making for my aunt up in NY (the teacher). So, while Mom was at Sears, I got started by cutting about 65 4-inch circles out of red, yellow, green, blue, and black posterboard, all while trying to watch The Sing Off...some very cool performances, by the way. Especially liked the Dartmouth Aires, Urban Method, and Vocal Point this week.

Today was...busy. I did my homework in the morning and early afternoon, then chilled on the computer for a while. Mom came home, and we immediately started into the bulletin board project. And we basically did that the whole night, with probably a 30 minute dinner break. But, it's finally finished. I'll add the picture of it tomorrow, because right now I'm way too tired and lazy. And that was really it for the night...didn't have time for anything else. Speaking of no time, I've yet to talk to Mom about Seminar...she's been so busy working and all.

It should be a normal day tomorrow. Thursday, Dad and I are going to the BTBAM concert, and then probably a normal weekend. Well, it'll probably be a lot of cleaning the house in preparation for company, and getting Quinn's Halloween costume ready, but whatever. And I almost forgot! I'm going shopping with Sylvia on Sunday!

This Horoscope Is Really Freaking Me Out...

So, I'm back again...with this really weird tidbit that came up a couple of days ago. My Seventeen magazine horoscope for November...

Here's what it says: You and an adorable guy from class have been chatting online, and his cute IMs always make you smile! Why is it that you two never seem to hang out face-to-face? On the 3rd, the stars will be perfectly aligned for a real-live date--though you may have to do the asking. He'll say yes!

Okay, so weird, right? Although it doesn't really fit exactly...like the whole 'guy from class' thing. But, whatever. I found it kinda interesting.

So, the past few days have been a bit boring. Just doing schoolwork and then waiting for Mom to get home. Yesterday, though, she got home early, so we mailed something at the post office and then went out to Casanova's for coffee beans (pumpkin spice blend, this time). We ended up going through Enchanted Cottage and getting a few things, and then we went over to the coffee shop, bought the beans, and ordered ourselves Pumpkin Au Laits, and had devil's food cake pops and chocolate chip pumpkin bread with it, and sat and talked for a while.

And then, we went over to Cato's, so my mom could look around, and she ended up buying a shirt, and I ended up buying a dress. Okay, so I have a ton of dresses already, but I really needed something holiday-ish, and it actually fit pretty well. It's a red sweater dress with a cowl-neck collar, and I'd been wanting a knit/sweater dress for a while, so yeah. We paid, and then headed home, collected my brother, and went out to Gamestop so he could see about a game, which they didn't have in stock, but we did pre-order some 3DS game for him and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 for both of us. And then, we came home, and made dinner, and then watched tv, and that was basically it.

Today was interesting. My dad was home from work after having a colonoscopy this morning, and so, we basically chilled around the house for the day. Quinn has been glued to the computer since about 1:00 this afternoon, because he bought a Bliz-con (kinda like ComicCon, but for online gaming) virtual ticket, so he's been watching all the events online.

Mom came home, and the two of us ended up watching our Netflix dvd, Perfume, which was pretty good. The ending was really weird, but still...it sorta had the same feel as The Red Violin, but dealt with a man born with a very acute sense of smell, who wanted to replicate the smell/essence of woman, but ends up having to resort to some very...how shall I put it?...disturbing/evil ways of creating such a perfume. Very...ummm...weird, but still pretty neat.

And then, Mom left for her shift at Sears, and so the three of us had dinner and watched some tv, and then Dad went to the grocery store because he wanted something sweet. And he came home with ice cream, bananas, strawberries, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and whipped cream. So, we made ice cream sundaes, which were yummy. And then, I let Ella out until Mom came home, and then we watched CSI: NY together before saying goodnight.

Um, in other news, well, there's not really much other news. I might go to the mall tomorrow afternoon, because Mom has a Sears shift at noon, so I might drop her off and go shopping, because I currently have a pair of brown boots that go with absolutely nothing in my wardrobe, with the exception of my rust-orange dress. And then, obviously, pick her up after her shift is over at closing time.

And then, of course, Dad and I will be going to the Wake football stadium on Sunday to see The Fifth Quarter. I will definitely be bundling up, as it is only forecasted to be a high of 68 degrees, and the event starts at 5:30 in the evening and lasts until about 8:30. So, I'm sure I'll be freezing. And then, we have the BTBAM (Between the Buried and Me) concert on Thursday night, which should be fun. Actually, it'll be my first real live concert experience, so yeah.

And we're currently trying to work out the basics for our New York/NYC trip in December. Quinn decided to come (not what I was wanting, because all he wants to do is go to the Nintendo Store, and I'm sure he'll complain the whole rest of the trip, but oh well), so Mom's thinking we'll rent a car and drive, probably halfway, then get a hotel, then the other half the next day, get into my aunt's that afternoon, spend the night, take the train into the city Thursday morning, spend the night in the city, and then come back on Friday for New Year's celebrations on Saturday.

So, that means I have to look at three-ticket blocks of seats, instead of two-ticket blocks for my shows. We've decided that Mary Poppins is a definite, considering that Quinn has sorta been pushing for it (well, not really, but that's really the only show he's looked at). Plus, I found a code online that will give us normally $144 seats for $104, so we'll be saving a bit of money there.

My other show has yet to be decided...well, I've pretty much decided, but I have to convince Mom. Because the more I look at it, the more I really want to see Seminar, instead of seeing Anything Goes. I started thinking, and with us seeing Mary Poppins, we're seeing a musical, with a large cast, in a very large theatre, and as much as Anything Goes is a completely different story from Mary Poppins, I'm kinda curious to see the other extreme - a play, with a small cast, in a small theatre. Of course, Mom's been dropping hints that perhaps we shouldn't see Seminar, mainly because she's concerned about Quinn being bored because, of course, it's a play, and she's worried that there won't be enough stuff going on to keep him engaged and otherwise interested for ninety minutes.

And while she's saying all this, I'm internally going, "But it's my New York City trip, too! And that's the show I really want to see!" Mom's probably going to freak, though, when she finds out the whole storyline. I was watching the live chat on Facebook that Jerry O'Connell was doing with some of the fans tonight, and it sounds like a pretty edgy play...the main writing seminar storyline, but with alcohol and some hook-ups and that sort of thing along the way. Of course, I'm cool with it...like, I'm pretty mature about all that. But, I highly doubt Mom will be okay with Quinn seeing it. And that's why I'm kinda mad that he's going...because I would have been able to see the shows I wanted to see (Seminar and Anything Goes), and I wouldn't have this whole dilemma...and yes, I know that's mean to say I wish he wasn't going.

So, I'll probably approach her about it tomorrow after her shift at Sears, and we'll see how it goes. Maybe because I've done my research, and (hopefully), if I present it well, she'll see my point. And I know my aunt and some of my cousins are going into the city, probably on Friday, so maybe we could meet up with her and leave Quinn with her for two hours while we go see the show.

I Must Be Going Insane...

Oh my gosh...I am so tired. And I have no idea why. Still not posting as much as I want to, but whatever.

Um, I really don't feel like doing much of a recap. Basically, I've been doing my schoolwork and just chilling out. Mom and I watched Source Code, which was really good.

Saturday was good. We were down one person, since Tyler had to be at his sister's wedding. So, Dad, Sharon, and I did everything, and it worked out fine. It was a fairly easy menu, and it all went pretty smoothly. And because Wake lost, we got more time in, because Mr. Wellman likes to sit in his suite for a little while after a loss, so we got to sit in the President's suite and looked at the field and watched people pushing carts from Bridger Field House up the ramp to the tower, and then, we finally got to clean out the suites. And we took a ton of food home...shrimp, fried chicken, pasta, brownies, and like, half a huge bag of popcorn.

So, today was pretty amazing. I got up, got ready, did my homework, and then chilled for a little while in my room. Mom came home, and brought the mail up as usual. And there was a ton of it, so I started perusing through it. And oh my gosh, it was an awesome mail day. I normally don't get any mail, but today I got a Delia's catalog, an American Girl catalog, a flier from American Eagle, and a letter from Aaron! So, I am now awesomely happy...

Anyway, then Mom left for her shift at Sears, and Quinn did his homework, and I chilled out. And then, I made dinner, and Quinn and I ate, and my dad went for a run, and then, we all watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, and then, I went downstairs to let Ella out and watch The Sing Off, which was just okay. Some of the songs were really great, specifically Afro-Blue's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", Pentatonix's "Video Killed The Radio Star", Vocal Point's "Footloose", and Yellowjacket's "Wannabe".

And while I'm watching The Sing Off, my cousin's friend, Brandon, whom I've met only once when we were in Buffalo for my uncle's funeral, starts messaging me. Okay, so really, he friended me, and I accepted his request, and then, he and I started this sarcastic comment war on one of my posts. So, anyway, he starts messaging me to let me know that he's coming down with my cousin and grandparents and aunt and other cousin to see my cousin graduate from the Marines in two weeks.

So, it started with that (at about 8:15), and kept going, and at this moment (12:15am), we're still talking. Which, now that I think about it, is kinda weird. We've got a list of things we're doing when they come down, which includes going to the park, playing mini-golf, eating at Sonic (apparently, they see commercials for it all the time, but don't have one in their area), and I think that's it, but still.

And then, we started into how I should get contacts, because apparently, he likes the one profile picture where I don't have my glasses on (aka, the one of me modeling Sylvia's clothes with sunglasses perched on my head...he admits to browsing my profile page and pictures), and then we started into him missing the high school atmosphere (he's in college, by the way...he's 18), and then it was onto him asking why I don't get out more, and then giving me advice on what guys like abut girls, and then how I love using smiley faces during a chat conversation.

And then, it was onto Duke and Wake Forest sports, and then we finally said goodnight at 12:45. So, I'm trying to figure all of this out...like, what the heck am I doing chatting online with a guy I barely know late into the night? Oh my gosh, I must be going insane. Somebody help me...lol.

Um, nothing much on the agenda right now. Not much until next week...going to see The Fifth Quarter with Dad on the Wake video board at the football stadium on Sunday, and then the BTBAM concert on Thursday, I think. And then, it'll only be less than a week until the NY group comes down. So, I'll be busy, but hopefully not too busy to post. October's halfway over already, and I haven't even posted all that much. [Posting this as Monday, even though I'm writing it into Tuesday.]