i recently (a few months ago) deleted my old (since 2003!) myspace and facebook accounts. some of my friends have kids younger than that account! ugh. i just got sick of the whole thing. i was tired of the weirdness of facebook. the majority of people that give constant updates have NOTHING to say, not to mention the fact that checking someone’s status and reading comments from others and to others is NOT the way i want to keep up with a friend. A REAL FRIEND. and anyone who knows me should already know that i’m not into collecting acquaintances. read this. the sad thing is, a few people i know that could really benefit from an article like that, won’t bother to read it. at least, not completely. i’m just over watching people pretend to be something they’re not. creating an image of who you want to be and what you want people to see and know online is insane. it goes hand in hand with the type of person who takes a camera everywhere they go just because they need to get a picture for myspace or facebook. not because you truly want to document an outing or event, but because you want to create this image. i can’t watch anymore. i’m still aware of the fact that these people are out there and it’s happening, but i now feel much lighter having withdrawn myself from such a circus.
michael’s grandfather woody passed away this month. we flew to baltimore for the funeral last week. the shining light in this sad event was meeting michael’s mom’s side of the family. they were all very friendly towards me and quite interesting! on his grandfather’s side, his great aunt jo, 2nd cousin nancy, and her daughter and son were all very friendly and welcoming. i also very much enjoyed meeting michael’s great aunt on his grandmother’s side, aunt vic. she was a delight! we were able to visit dc for an evening of dinner at old glory in georgetown. michael had chicken & waffles and was in heaven. fried okra and hardcore cider was all it took to make me happy.we also visited edgar allan poe’s grave. i loved being there. we are really looking forward to going up east again soon. we are planning on taking a trip next month with my mom to visit a long time family friend in west viriginia as well as visiting nancy, jo, & bob. hopefully we’ll squeeze in a few more stops including washington dc, tim in ohio, and other fun/interesting places. more on that to come.
here are some pictures of the hotel we stayed at on the inner harbor and more pictures from the rest of the trip.
above: snow covered land from the plane!
above: hotel lounge area.
above: hotel bed.
above: hotel desk & dresser / tv / fridge / microwave.
above: powder area.
above: clock tower outside our hotel window.
michael and edgar.
we had a great new years with friends! tim was in town and joined us at jenny ann & jeff’s for a night of poker, trivia, and drinking! so much fun. i drank a bit too much (wine, whiskey, cider, and champagne?! way too much) my head killed the next day and i really felt like crap pretty much into the evening. tim then ran off to omaha but we were able to hang out with him again on sunday for several hours before he flew back to ohio.
i’ve been working on my 101 in 1001 list. i have some catching up to do with movie ratings, etc. i will post updates soon.
i’ve decided to commit to going back to school full time in the fall. very exciting. still looking for employment (full or part time, right now) with the intent of being part time when school starts. bring on the student loans and let’s get this going and eventually finished! i can’t put it off. i want to be where i want to be sooner than later, so here we go!
yosh is doing great. ornery as ever and cute as can be. he got lots of cute gifts for xmas and an adorable stocking. what a spoiled brat.
some more current pictures from over the past few months:
above: santy claws
above: just hanging out in r2-d2′s container.
above: yoshi snuggling up with my snuggie!
above: yoshi and michael with darth vader helmets on.
here are a few of the christmas gifts i handmade this year:
above: padded eyeglass pouches for my aunts.
i made business card pouches for my uncle which didn’t seem to get photographed : (
above: business card holder for a hair stylist (hasn’t been given yet, so ssshh!)
i also made a guitar strap which, yet again, photo seems to be missing.
miss julie marie commissioned me to make a baby set for her friend who’s expecting, so i also completed the following just before christmas. burp cloth, bib, and a small blankie.
all in all, i felt really productive this holiday season. it was nice.
there’s so much to blog about, i don’t know where to begin. maybe i should start with christmas? yes! christmas it is. i’ll stat with a cranky note and then move up from there. i HATE when people make a big deal about saying CHRISTmas instead of happy holidays. not EVERYONE believes in jesus christ or worships him, so get over yourself, jerks. having said that, i was totally in the holiday spirit this year! yay. lots of gift giving (on a very tight budget) and handmade gifts galore!
christmas day was spent visiting with friends and family. we went to jenny ann, jeff, & n’s to drop off gifts and visit a bit. so envious that n. got the tony hawk game for ps3 (and a new ps3, sweet!). i definitely want that game for our wii. next stop was uncle jr & aunt pat’s. everyone was there as far as uncles, aunts, & cousins (and dogs too!). we then went to my brother danny’s house for christmas dinner. mary had a bad headache so michael, my mom, and i chipped in to help danny complete the meal. it was a nice evening with family. by the time we got home, we were pooped!
michael and i both received some great gifts. some of the items under the tree for me were a new crockpot (red!), suede onestar converse (plum!), lots of madlibs, including star wars!, new socks, mystic valley band – outer south cd, lucero’s new cd, wilco’s AM on vinyl!, trivial pursuit 25th anniversary edition, a yoshi keychain!, bath & body works lotion/spray, a new thread catcher / pin cushion, a mustard colored knit hat!, cute grey knit slippers, a snuggie!, hair ties, snacks, etc. all of those things were from michael (young santa!). my mom got me a new casserole set, two pyrex bowls with the amish print i really wanted, sheets, etc.
my gifts from michael:
michael’s gifts (he also got a diamond cut shredder & a new coat not pictured!):
