Birthday Begone

I promise this is the last post about my birthday. (BTW, thanks for all the birthday wishes online) Anyway, I did end up getting 2 cards, one from my parents and one from my sister. My sister did the typical sister card: 2 girls on the front wearing matching outfits, and the line was something like, "you were always so sweet and cute.... when others weren't looking." Which is funny because that so could have been us on the card. My mom always dressed us alike.

And then the parents gave a sappy "we couldn't ask for a better daughter" card. Which actually made me start to cry. (I blame it on the PMS, since most of you know I am not a crier.) And they gave me this portable closet thing to store suits in to keep the dust (and mainly cat hair) off of them. Though I think it's a plea from my mom to get my clothes out of her closet.

So, it wasn't the worst birthday ever. That title will long remain with my 21st, which I spent in the hospital having surgical staples removed from my butt. (I had had surgery on my tailbone the week before; it wasn't some drunken accident). I'm thinking it will take a lot to usurp that one. But no more stressing about the birthday, at least for another 364 days.

My New Lust

Saw the movie, loved it, as if there was any doubt, and now have a new love interest. The guy that played Mark... Oye. So cute. And so didn't get enough time in the movie. Though I guess they had to spread around the love since they had to give ample time to Colin and Hugh, and even Alan. I may have to go see this movie again at the dollar theater, before it gets away.

(Edited because I had to add his cute pic):



Speaking of movies, I raided my brother's room to try to find some of my movies that he's stolen. That was unfruitful, but I did get further insight into my brother's twisted movie tastes. (Remember the Cutting Edge discussion?) He has all the major guy movies... the Matrix, LOTR, American Pie, Bond movies, anything by Jackie Chan, Will Smith, etc. And then he has others, like Homeward Bound. That's the movie about the 2 dogs and a cat who travel through the mountains to get back home. Most sisters are worried about finding their brother's porn stash, and I only have to deal with finding his heart wrenching movies. Guess I should consider myself lucky.

Happy Birthday to Me

I hate having a birthday around Christmas because it's practically invisible to the whole world. I didn't receive a single card from anyone today. Not one from my parents, not one from my brother or sister, none from the aunts and uncles, neither of my grandfathers, not friends of the family.... Blah. I did get an e-card from a friend, and I know others have cards for me that they'll give me when they see me instead of mailing. But do you know how depressing it is to go out to the mailbox on your birthday expecting at least 1 card, and not getting any. I think that the fact that I'm depressed over my age is adding to it.

My parents took me to lunch. And I'm going to see Love Actually in an hour. By myself. Because no one will go with me. It had left the theatre a few weeks ago, but I just remembered today that we have a cheap theatre I haven't been to since high school and they happen to be playing it. So at least one part of my day should be good, even if I'll be by myself.

I think I should just stay home and drank my bottle of champagne from France. I've been saving it for a good occassion, and we need to drink it soon. Except I probably would end up doing that by myself too, and that wouldn't be pretty.

Pearly Whites

I'm trying that Crest Night Effects teeth whitener for the first time tonight. I've done the strips before, but I don't care what they say, they slide all over my teeth and I end up having pools of saliva in my mouth. I don't think this paint on stuff is much better. I think I only got about 1/16 of it on my teeth. And what I did get on feels like when I got my braces off and they had taken the brackets off but hadn't polished off the glue yet. Caked, hard stuff on my teeth. Oh the price we pay for beauty.

Woe is me.

So I'm having a bit of a hard time coming to grips with the thought that I will be 26 in 22 hours. I'm sorta denying that it's true. Pooh can vouch for how hard I took turning 25, and 26 is just all the more bleak.

But if it were up to my mom I'd still be 5. We went to my aunt's and uncle's on Christmas night, and as we're walking to the door, my mom is telling me not to walk in the mud and to wipe my shoes off on the mat. Thanks mom, because I've never lived in a civilized country that partook in such habits. I had hoped to make a mud mural on their new linoleum when we walked in the door.

And she did it to me today with the driving thing. I agreed to go with my sister and she to the big city today, and since my mom never wants to drive, I got stuck doing it. Which I don't mind driving, it's the backseat driving that makes me want to throw a tire iron at someone. My mom was a driver's ed instructor (so was my dad for that matter) and she can never stop telling me what to do. If someone else were in the car, they'd swear I was 15 and on the interstate for the first time. "Heidi, I see that some driveways are wet which means that the roadway is probably slick in some spots." "Heidi, there's a bunch of parking spots over there after you turn in." "Heidi, you need to get in the left lane because the mall is up there on your left." "Heidi, that guy on your left has his turn signal on but I don't think he really means it." "Heidi, I have no idea what I'm talking about but I'm going to keep bossing you because I know it really pisses you off."

The worst part is that she's wrong almost 85% of the time, and the 2 areas we were in today were the 2 areas I used to live in. So I could drive them blindfolded. I love my parents, but they drive me insane. And if they ever found this blog online, I'm sure I would burn in hell. (Which to recap, will consist of baby showers, hanging Christmas lights, and driving around with my parents in the back seat.)

Friday Five

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?
- landing an internship with the Court (sad isn't it)

2. What was your biggest disappointment?
- not getting married. Oh wait, that's my family's biggest disappointment for me. Actually, I'm pretty happy with how the year went. Did a lot of growing and becoming more self assured, so it would be wrong of me to complain.

3. What do you hope the new year brings?
- a paying job. A passing Con Law grade.

4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be?
- I don't do Year's resolutions. I do months. And I'm not about to post them here lest someone hold me to them.

5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve?
- the odd mixing of the law school friends with the college friends. Will be weird to see the two groups mixing together. As of yet though, no one has figured out what exactly we're doing. We will take suggestions though.

Merry Christmas to All

Well, another holiday come and gone, and another family function survived through. I ended up not getting a list to my parents, and yet they bought me useful stuff this year. Thus I rest my case that lists aren't needed. And I hope everyone else had a joyous Christmas. But enough sentimentality, let's get to the stuff that you really come here for. (And believe me, I'm still amazed that any of you come here at all.)

My mom has this bad habit of always telling people that she got up way too early every day. She's one of those people who brings it up in conversation all the time. For example:
Me: What's the weather supposed to be today?
Mom: Well the guy on the 5 a.m news said it will be 22, but when I got up at 4:00 I swear it was a lot colder than that.
Me: So I should wear my coat today?
Mom: Yes, I've been up long enough that I've already found your coat, knitted you some new gloves, and prepared dinner for the next week.
Me: What time are we supposed to be at our friends' house today to exchange gifts?
Mom: Well, I thought it was 10 a.m., but I'm not sure. I was going to call them when I got up this morning to be sure but I didn't think they'd appreciate a call at 4:00 a.m.

And so on.

What she fails to tell people is that she fell asleep on the couch at 8 the night before, and only woke up to move from the couch to the bedroom where she promptly fell back into a deep sleep. So in essence, she's getting 8 hours of sleep, which is a heck of a lot more than I got.

She likes to think it's all part of growing old. But what I wish wasn't a part of that is the fact that we went shopping last weekend and she wore a fanny pack. It's bad enough when we're traveling tourists and she does that, but we were in the middle of the mall, in Indiana. At least this time she wasn't carrying around a pink flamingo lawn ornament. (Don't ask.)

Marathon of Paper

Well, yesterday officially began the 2 week period where Hallmark makes an entire month's revenue off of my family. Here's how it goes.
18th -- the Mom's birthday
23rd -- the parents' anniversary
25th -- Christmas
29th -- my birthday
31st -- New Year's Eve

If it's any indication, the mom gets about 60 bucks in Gold Crown rewards per year. She's one of those people that sends cards for everything. She knows the entire town and will send everyone birthday/anniversary cards, and then sends at least 5 cards a week that are just motivational to whoever may need it at the time. That's her gift and I definitely didn't inherit it. I think the last time I actually mailed a card was 1998.

But I bought the Mom's birthday card and the parents' anniv. card the other day. 2 cards = 6 bucks. Anyone else think this is a ripoff?

Words to Live by.

Profound thoughts from a bumper sticker:

"A woman always has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is just the start of a new argument."

Deck the Halls

Our Christmas tree (or memory tree as my mom likes to call it) is finally up and decorated. And the best part was that I didn't have to help decorate. Well, the mom did have me hang some ornaments before I left saying it was "tradition", and like "tradition", she moved them the minute I moved out of the room.

Because that's the way she is. Very, very particular about the tree. She was gone last week, so the dad and I decide to put it up so it's ready to decorate when she got back. And he asked her if she wanted us to put the lights on to. She said she didn't care how the lights went on, to which I snerted and made some smart-ass comment like, "everyone who believes that raise your hand".

Luckily the brother was there to tell us how it's done. Apparently the mom and he take the strands, go down one branch, and back up that way the tree has depth and lots and lots of lights. And luckily, the brother was busy so the dad and I could just role our eyes and continue with our way of wrapping it around the tree halphazardly.

And I think our way is more economic. Because when we finished there were 2 strands left in the bag.... So the dad looks at me, then at the bag, and then at me again. Then gives the ultimate dad command. "Go hide these where your mom won't find them until January".

I think the dad and I need to decorate together more often.

10 layers of me

I think this was targeted at an age much younger than me. But I'm bored on a Friday night, so here we go. And as always, I've added a few questions of my own.


LAYER ONE:
-- name: Heidi, the rest is classified
-- birthplace: Terre Haute, IN
-- current Location: IN
-- eye color: green
-- hair color: sandy blonde
-- height: 5'7"
-- righty or lefty: lefty all the way
-- zodiac sign: Capricorn

LAYER TWO:
-- your heritage: 1/4 Romanian, 1/4 German and Belgian, 1/4 English, and 1/4 Scottish
-- the shoes you wore today: white tennies with no socks
-- your car: silver Saturn SL2
-- your fears: having my arms tied down
-- your perfect pizza: thick crust, cheese only
-- goal you'd like to achieve: pass all my finals

LAYER THREE:
-- your most overused phrase on AIM: dude
-- your thoughts first waking up: where's the snooze?
-- your bedtime: usually around 1
-- your favorite memory: standing outside the hospital when my brother was born

LAYER FOUR:
-- pepsi or coke: Before I gave up soda it was Pepsi
-- mcdonald's or burger king: McDonalds
-- single or group dates: Does this mean do I prefer being single or dating groups of men? Oh how can I choose
-- adidas or nike: Nike
-- lipton ice tea or nestea: Lipton by the gallon
-- chocolate or vanilla: chocolate
-- cappuccino or coffee: coffee

LAYER FIVE:
-- smoke: never
-- cuss: on occasion
-- sing: i try
-- take a shower everyday: of course, sometimes two
-- have a crush: always
-- do you think you've been in love: no
-- want to go to college: been there done that
-- high school: Yes I went
-- want to get married: absolutely
-- believe in yourself: more now than ever
-- get motion sickness: no
-- think you're attractive: what's it matter if I think I'm attractive, more importantly, do you think I'm attractive...
-- think you're a health freak: ok, I can't stop laughing
-- get along with your parent(s): freakishly well. I'm back living with them actually
-- like thunderstorms: they're my favorite
-- play an instrument: played the french horn but haven't picked it up in years

LAYER SIX:
in the past month...
-- drank alcohol: yes
-- smoked: no
-- done a drug: lots of prescription ones
-- had sex: no
-- made out: no
-- gone on a date: no. (Ok these last 3 questions have me really depressed now)
-- gone to the mall: It's Christmas season, are you crazy?
-- eaten an entire box of oreos: *eaten some oreos, not a whole box
-- eaten sushi: ick no
-- been on stage: nope
-- been dumped: nope
-- gone skating: no
-- made homemade cookies: my special recipe
-- gone skinnydipping: it's 20 degrees here. that would be a no
-- dyed your hair: usually this would be yes, but I stopped dying it this summer
-- stolen anything: nope

LAYER SEVEN:
ever...
-- played a game that required removal of clothing: yes
-- if so, was it mixed company: I can't remember
-- been trashed or extremely intoxicated: I plead the 5th, or I drank a 5th
-- been caught "doing something": gee,that's vague
-- been called a tease: I've been called so many words, but tease wasn't one of them.
-- gotten beaten up: uh, no
-- shoplifted: I'm going to be a lawyer, not a lawyer's client

LAYER EIGHT:
-- age you hope to be married: I always thought 26, but since that occurs this month, I'm not going to say
-- numbers and names of children: I love names that start with a K, end in an. Kieran, Keegan, Ethan, etc
-- describe your dream wedding: One where I'm the bride
-- how do you want to die: in my sleep
-- what do you want to be when you grow up: when I grow up? I am grown up
-- what country would you most like to visit: Spain
-- what countries have you visited: Canada, Mexico, England, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg

LAYER NINE:
in a significant other...
-- best eye color? doesn't matter
-- best hair color? i used to say dark, but blondes work too.
-- short or long hair: short, clean cut.
-- height: 6'
-- best weight: I'm not picky
-- best articles of clothing: ties
-- best first date location: bowling
-- best first kiss location: back seat of a Pinto (right before it's hit and the gas tank explodes... get me out of law school)

LAYER TEN:
-- # of drugs taken illegally: 0
-- # of people i could trust with my life: 15
-- # of CDs that i own: 150
-- # of piercings: 5
-- # of tattoos: 1
-- # of scars on my body: noticable ones.... 4
{x} current clothes: long sleeve shirt and jeans
{x} current mood: tired
{x} current taste: sweet tea
{x} current hair: short and spiky
{x} current annoyance: being home on a Friday night
{x} current smell: french fries
{x} current thing you ought to be doing: studying
(x} current desktop picture: windmill in Champagne, France
{x} current book: Constitutional law
{x} current refreshment: tea
{x} current worry: failing Con Law
{x} current crush: I don't name names
{x} current favorite celebrity: Matt Damon, Ed Norton, Hayden Christensen

Beware of she who taketh exams

I almost usurped the Treegate scandal as lead story on the news. The headline was almost "law student assaults faculty assistant." But thank heavens, the crisis was averted.

Here's the deal. I have a 24 hour take home exam, that I could pick up at any time during the 2 week period. (Except Fridays since I have to be able to turn it back in the next day.) So I had waited all week to pick it up today. Drove the hour and fifteen minutes up there, and went to my prof's assistant's desk, where she promplty informed me that I couldn't pick it up because she had committments for tomorrow and wouldn't be in to take the exam back. (It was 1:45) But I could pick it up on Monday. Um, excuse me. Of course no one had informed the students of this or I would have gotten it earlier seeing as I have exams on Mon, Tues, and Friday of next week, plus a paper due Thurs. So I was fuming.

Luckily I ran into a classmate who was on her way up to get the exam. I told her what I'd been told, and she assured me that she would get the test today. See, she's 9 months pregnant and a bit hormonal. And sure enough, I followed her up and we both got the exams.

Censored Dancing

Rather than do something productive, like studying, I went to my high school's basketball games last night, and then watched a 1 a.m. TV showing of Dirty Dancing. Now, even though the film is PG-13, they still did some substantial editing. For instance...

Scene starts with an outside shot of Johnny's cabin. Cut to the inside and Baby and Johnny are laying in bed. They're chatting and she asks him a question and he, frustrated, rolls over, and starts to get out of bed. Cut to a shot of the outside of his cabin again, while soundtrack music still plays. And cut back inside and Johnny's standing next to the bed wearing pants. What's missing from this scene????

Johnny's butt shot of course. You all know what I'm talking about. I guess they couldn't just splice the scene since there was a song playing in the background. I personally thought the wooden cabin shot inserted was completely natural. ...snert...

Censored Dancing

Rather than do something productive, like studying, I went to my high school's basketball games last night, and then watched a 1 a.m. TV showing of Dirty Dancing. Now, even though the film is PG-13, they still did some substantial editing. For instance...

Scene starts with an outside shot of Johnny's cabin. Cut to the inside and Baby and Johnny are laying in bed. They're chatting and she asks him a question and he, frustrated, rolls over, and starts to get out of bed. Cut to a shot of the outside of his cabin again, while soundtrack music still plays. And cut back inside and Johnny's standing next to the bed wearing pants. What's missing from this scene????

Johnny's butt shot of course. You all know what I'm talking about. I guess they couldn't just splice the scene since there was a song playing in the background. I personally thought the wooden cabin shot inserted was completely natural. ...snert...

If I only had a brain

Today I am a complete space cadet. I'm walking out to my car with my suit, my bag of clothes, and some books to exchange them for my school bag. I do all of that, come back inside, go to my locker, grab a book and a lunch container I need to take home, and then come up to my classroom. When I'm setting all of my stuff down, I look down and I'm still carrying my clothes bag. The thing is the size of a small dog and how I didn't realize I was carrying it is beyond me.

So I go back out to the car with that bag and the food container, drop off, and come back in. As I'm almost to the door, I look down in my hand and I'm still carrying the tupperware container. Really, am I supposed to be losing my memory this early in life? Or have I asked that question before? But alas, high school locker combination from 7 years ago is stil 26-32-18. Isn't there something more important that section of my brain that remembers that random fact should be doing?

Slasher

My 10 year old cousin walked in on Thanksgiving and asked, "where's your sister? Is she in the hospital getting stitches?"

To refresh for those who need it, I have never been trusted around knives in my family. When I was 13, I cut my finger cooking and had to get stitches. And then this past sumer, my first day in France, I sliced the same finger open again. (I still maintain it's because kitchen utensils are designed solely for right-handed people). But I usually keep the injuries self-inflicted.

However, last Thanksgiving, my sister and I were cutting up bread for the stuffing. She made a comment that they had given me the sharp knife. And I turned to make a comment to my mom, and when I turned back around, the sister had her hand near the knife, and I jerked back as a response. In doing so, I managed to slice her finger across the inside of her knuckle. She required 3 stitches and lost all feeling in her finger. Well she stopped by the other day to say that she had finally gained feeling back and could bend the finger far enough to snap.

So the moral of the story: I'm completely justified in requiring a professional chef for the rest of my life.