Oops...

Well, everyone, it's halfway through December. And I had a total of three (count 'em, three) posts for November and went over two weeks into December without posting. I want to apologize repeatedly (I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry) for not getting something posted. I have, like, no time during the day, and being sick just fueled the "I just want to lay here and not do anything" attitude. And then all the holiday busy-ness started, and I just...well, I just got a teensy bit lazy. Hope you'll forgive me.

Basically, my life has consisted of being sick (which I am now pretty much cured from, thanks to prescription antibiotics from the doctor...apparently, it wasn't anything serious...Mom kept fearing bronchitis or pleurisy or something), doing my homework, and watching tv. Our most recent Netflix movies were Black Swan (very weird, but still cool) and Super 8 (pretty awesome). And most recently, Thor, which was pretty cool.

We ended up driving to Jacksonville, NC to pick up my cousin, Matt, from Camp Geiger (a branch of Camp Lejeune), and he spent Thanksgiving weekend with us. Which was fun...we ended up really just chilling out, doing a little bit of running around, and eating and all that good stuff. Mom worked at 4:00am on Black Friday, and she said it was pretty crazy, but neat, and she ended up bringing me home a couple of nice jackets that were on sale for only 6 or 7 dollars apiece.

And we went for a hike with my aunt and uncle, and I worked at Catered Affairs on Friday night, working the dinner for the football team. And then, I worked the game on Saturday, which was fun, and my aunt & uncle (who both work at the tower) ended up taking me home because Dad was helping move tables. And he ended up getting his car locked in the Senior Services lot. So, the next day, I had to drive him over there to pick it up, and then Mom and I dropped off the car at the body shop, and she got to drive around the rental, a Dodge Durango, which was the hugest vehicle I had ever seen. But very cool, because it had a back-up camera, and satellite radio, and all sorts of cool stuff. But, the car's fixed now, so we have it back.

I worked a couple of days at Catered Affairs, doing the Wake Forest School of Business luncheon on Thursday and then the Reynolda Rotary Club luncheon on Friday, and you would not believe who I saw/talked to during the rotary club event - Mrs. Hudspeth, our retired middle school gym teacher. It was crazy-weird. She's definitely mellowed since she retired because she was a lot nicer than I remembered her. But, anyway, that was interesting.

Mom, Quinn, and I helped out a Messiah Moravian's "Breakfast with Santa" on Saturday, and Quinn and I worked the reindeer food station again. Mom ended up in the adjoining room supervising the coloring-page station, and it was pretty fun. We ate at Panera afterwards, and then I helped Mom make some gift tags. And I got to listen to holiday music all day, which was nice.

On Monday, I went to the mall and did some shopping. And here's what I ended up buying...

H&M - Tan lace dress...$24.95 with a 20% off coupon brought it down to $19.96. Well, technically, I bought this the week before, but whatever.

Matching feather hairclip (also H&M)...$4.95

Delia's - Knit print sweater...originally $24.50, with a 20% off coupon, bought for $19.60. Lace trim long-sleeve shirt...originally $19.50, with a 50% discount and a 20% off coupon, bought for $7.80.

American Eagle - Skinny jeans...$29.99. Yellow cable knit sweater...originally $39.50, with a 40% discount on tops, bought for $23.70. I would have spent less, because I had a 20% off coupon, but apparently, you can't stack discounts, even if one is a store discount and the other is a coupon. Boo. By the way, all these pictures turned out really weird...the coloring is off a bit. Like, the cable knit sweater is a little darker yellow than what the picture shows...

Barnes & Noble - Ruthless (the next PLL book...yay!) and Newes from the Dead, which I just randomly picked up and thought it sounded interesting. Although, technically, I have to give it to Mom so she can wrap it and make it into a gift from my grandmother, but whatever. At least I don't have to give up Ruthless...that's all mine. :)

Since yesterday was my mom's birthday, we went over to my aunt & uncle's house and had a nice birthday dinner (lasagna, salmon casserole, salad, and strawberry cake for dessert, which I forgot how much I loved). And Mom opened all her gifts...a watch, a digital photo keychain, and chocolates from us, and a set of work-out clothes from Lynne and Herb. And Lynne and Mom both opened their ornaments from each other, and from my other aunt in Buffalo. That's their sister-thing...instead of giving gifts, they give ornaments each year.

I guess I should note that it's been a bit different around here. My parents are currently in the process of separating. I guess I should have made note of it earlier (the initial decision occurred in August), but I suppose I thought maybe they'd work it out. Well, that my dad would work it out, as he seems to be the only one somewhat happy about the whole thing, but it's not my place to say that to him. So, according to the latest discussion, Dad will be moving out at some point, but he'll be around to do some of the yardwork and things that he normally handles around here. Yes, I'm fine. To be honest, I sorta saw it coming. They'd been drifting apart for a while. So, that's my big-crazy life-change for the year. Lol.

On a much happier note, I'm having this awesome creative streak...I've been on a card-making binge. And I've actually been doing a ton of Christmas shopping. Gifts are done for my dad, almost done for my mom, done for Quinn, and almost done for Sylvia, Anita, and Emma. Well, 'done' as in 'bought'. I still have to wrap them, but I want to make that into an event. Like, turn on the holiday music, make myself a cup of hot chocolate, and just wrap.

Oh, and I have now officially signed up for the SAT...January 28, 2012. I am not looking forward to it, but I'll have to get over it. At least I'll have a buddy - Sylvia - which is awesome. Um, did I forget anything? Oh, still trying to convince Mom to take me to Seminar. Apparently, the aunts are all just letting the cousins go into the city by themselves, so the whole 'leaving Quinn with one of the aunts while we see the show' idea is out. Mom is also not interested in letting me go by myself, even if she drops me off right there at the theater and picks me up right outside. Boo. But, hopefully, maybe I can convince her otherwise...

Okay, Sylvia, how's that for a post? Still gonna hit me, huh? Or do I get off with a warning this time? Lol.

I'm Still Kinda Sick...

I'm sick of being sick...seriously not all that fun. I'm getting better though...the nasal congestion's gone, and the coughing's not as bad, so I guess I'm on the mend. Mom's still worried...everytime I cough, she looks at me, and says, "We really should get you a doctor's appointment," to which I tell her I'm fine and stop worrying. It's getting annoying. I just hope I can get over this cough before Saturday...I cannot be sick for football.

Anyway, nothing much has happened here since I last posted...I finally started back into my homework again though. I took last week off...I wasn't planning on it, but being so sick made it hard to do much of anything, let alone homework.

Dad was home on Friday, so we went out to Best Buy and got the 8-disc Harry Potter collection. We ended up making it a lot more complicated than it should have been, because we went to Target, and they had it for $70, and then, we went to Best Buy, and they had it for $80, and I knew they had it listed as $50 online, so we went out to the car, and got on Dad's phone, and ordered it for in-store pick-up, and then we killed some time at Sports Authority, and then went back to Best Buy to pick it up.

Mom and Quinn went out to pick up dinner on Saturday night, and they got hit by a deer. And they filed a report with the police, and the insurance company and everything. And Mom took the car yesterday to the insurance adjuster/bodyshop/whatever it was, and the guy basically told her, with the age of the car making it practically impossible to find the right parts, that it was going to be totalled, but he filed the report anyway, and sure enough, they had the parts they needed. So, Pffaf's Auto Glass came over today and replaced the windshield (which was totally cracked), and the body work will be done the week of the 28th. But, the car is drive-able, so we can still use it.

On Sunday night, Mom, Quinn, and I went over to Sears for their Friends and Family night, and did some shopping because they were offering some good discounts. So, I got three shirts and a skirt, and Mom got a bunch of stuff, and Quinn got a hat and a few shirts. We also stopped at Macy's, and I picked up the hat I wanted. I needed something to match my winter coat, because I know I'm going to need it when we go to NYC, so I bought this cloche-esque grey hat, which I love.

Speaking of NYC, Mom and I got started on booking some stuff yesterday. So, the hotel is booked for Thursday night (Dec. 29th)...we're at a Holiday Inn Express on W. 45th Street. And we got Mary Poppins tickets for Thursday night...mezzanine, front row, four seats in, on the left side...okay, so the three blue seats in the picture below. Keep in mind that the mezzanine overhangs row P of the orchestra, so we're actually closer than it looks.

And after some careful asking, Mom is open to seeing a Friday matinee. I told her that seeing Broadway shows was my big thing, and that seeing New York at sixteen is going to be really different than seeing it at thirty or something, and she said that we could. So, tomorrow, she's home from Sears, so I'm going to try convincing her that we should see Seminar.

And that's about it...nothing much going on for the rest of the week. Just football on Saturday...it's a 3:00 game, and Rebecca said we have to be there at noon, which is cool.

I Might Just Cough Up A Lung...

I am sick. It sucks. I can't breathe, I can't sleep, I'm miserable. Pity me. Lol. Just kidding. But, I've still got one nasty cold/fever/something, and today's been the worst so far. It started off as a throat thing, and I've been coughing non-stop since about Monday, and today, it also spread to my nose, so now I'm stuffed up and congested and still coughing. Fun, fun, fun.

Nothing much has been going on all week, considering that I've been sick and all. Just watching some tv, and trying not to cough up a lung. Mom's been working at Sears most nights, and this week, Dad has a lot of meetings and Catered Affairs work (Rebecca called me this morning, asking if I could work tonight...um, no), so Quinn and I are alone most evenings, which isn't terrible. We just sit and have dinner and watch tv. And I've been playing some Words With Friends with Brandon.

Oh, and all those NCSSM people posting pictures of themselves with Colin Firth and/or Emily Blunt...I'm jealous of them. That's so cool. I wish they would have done something like that when they filmed that Leatherheads scene at Hanes. That would have been awesome.

Um, other than that, nothing much going on. Trying to work on our NYC trip stuff. Still haven't talked to Mom about Seminar...there's new pictures floating around, and the set looks gorgeous...but I think I'll talk to her tomorrow since she has off from Sears and she wants to get started on booking tickets soon. Problem is, she mentioned possibly only going to see one show, and then spending Friday with the family members who are coming into the city that morning, so I'm going to have a hard time convincing her otherwise.

I doubt she's going to want to leave Quinn, who I have a feeling is going to be crabby and whiny by that point, with my aunt, and I don't think she'd be all too keen on letting me see it by myself, even if she did drop me off and pick me up right outside the theater. But, maybe if I beg, and plead, and talk about how once-in-a-lifetime this is, and how she doesn't have to get me anything for Christmas or my birthday if she lets me see this show, then just maybe, she'll see where I'm coming from.

Oh, speaking of Christmas, we're also considering going to Buffalo to spend it with my grandparents. Mom thinks it would be a nice thing to do, considering that this will be the first Christmas in quite a few years that my late uncle will not be there, and Matt probably won't be there because of his Marine training, so it'll just be them and AJ, and then my aunt, uncle, and cousins would probably come over. Mom hasn't really decided yes or no about that one, it'll depend on whether she can get off work and stuff, but I think it would be a nice change from our traditional Christmas activities, which, to be honest, are getting kind of boring.

Okay, I'm sorry...it must be my sick-brain or something, because everything I've written has been really random. I think I'm about done anyway...I'll post again soon.

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!