It's a bit Touch & Go

Our stolen internet connection, I mean.

"All is well in the world," I say with a lopsided grin and eyes tinted with panic.

Friday and Saturday was the 8-stake Snow Activity in Los Alamos. I was grateful to be driving my ugly PT Cruiser mini-hearse mini-mommy-mobile (and I LOVE IT that way!) because it fit 4 girls so much better than my Beetle did last year. I believe we made to LA in record time, but that tends to happen when you are consistantly going 80 mph on a 55 mph road. Kelly and I were playing leapfrog the whole time (stupid boys -- I was the caravan leader! You don't drive in front of the caravan leader! That's why they're called the LEADER).
But Friday night was a great deal of fun. Everyone signed in and got their room assignments, I was with the girls I drove up with plus 1. Dinner was enchiladas, which I thought were amazing, but seemed to be a bit hot for everyone else. Then we had an ugly sweater contest (and I never thought I'd see the horrors...) and played tug-o-war.
The Tug-o-War was the highlight of the indoor stuff. First it was University Branch v. West Mesa, then University v. Everyone Else. Then WM girls v. University girls, then Girls v. Guys. University did well in each round (and I say that as a good loser) except for the fact they CHEATED with the girls, because there were some dudes pulling that rope! ...Unless they have very hairy women in their branch. Which would explain why the marriage rate in that branch is so very low, as opposed to the great West Mesa Branch's numbers.
When it came to Girls v Guys, we were all set to go. I was at the end and had the rope tight around my butt (secret weapon) and all the girls had a firm grip. As soon as the whistle was blown and the guys yelled, "PULL!" the girls let go. There was a huge *THUD* as guys fell against the wall. It was pretty sweet. I don't mind losing for that. I wish it was YouTubed... Oh well.
Then we went to the outdoor ice skating rink and it was lovely. It was a bit warmer this year than last, so there were less folks trying to "warm each other up," which also meant less relationships began this year, but that's alright. I don't care. Everyone seemed to be having a good time except for one fella, "Mic" who seemed downright miserable. I would have gone up and asked him what was wrong, except for the fact everything I do that is anything above Ignoring is interpreted as Head Over Heels In Love.
Other'n that, ice skating was a blast. A few people from WM branch said that we ought to do this as a branch activity sometime, since it's OH SO FUN. We'll let the FHE committee do something about it.
We went to the hotel around 12:15 and I was asleep by 12:45. I hear there were some idiots running up and down the halls banging on doors, and my roommmate chewed them out (good for her). I hope that other guests didn't have a hard time sleeping that night and there weren't any complaints. This is a good activity, but I wouldn't blame the hotel for not renting to us again next year with the shenanigans pulled this year and last.
And some brilliant kids decided to go dancing at a bar. Fabulous! Except for the part where they brought an UNDERAGE person with them, and got the whole lot kicked out. Seriously, Mormons at a bar?! What were you thinking?! Or should I ask, WERE you thinking?
Saturday morning was fine, as far I could tell. Breakfast was a fabulous buffet, so no complaints there. Until they ran out of forks, which was awkward for Melon Girl, since she had to eat with a knife. Mic was mad-dogging me the whole time, which I just didn't get.
As my roommate and I were about to get on the elevator to go, I saw Mic and I told him about the dream I'd had the night before, where he and I lived in El Salvador and he was eating soup. (I didn't tell him about the gun fight.) And he just cut me off and walked away. Obviously angry at me. Oh well. No skin off my nose. As my roommie and I were getting off the elevator, Mic comes up to me and says, "I stopped having dreams about you when you said you didn't want to see me except at church." Like it was supposed to hurt me, or sting, or something! Ha, nice try kid, you aren't equipped to play that game. So I cheerfully replied with, "I KNOW! That's what made it so crazy! Have a good day!"
Oh, and the snap back fired. Sorry dude, you can't make me feel bad for doing that, it just won't happen. Partly due to the fact that I am an android and completely unable to feel sorrow or regret, but mostly due to the fact that I am annoyed by you.
So. Yes. Saturday breakfast was great. As my roommate and I were walking down the hall, I leaned to her and asked, "He dreamed about me?" She laughed, since she's in the same boat as I am when it comes to Mic. Better me than her, I suppose.
She and I came home after breakfast, rather than go sledding with the group. And I'm glad. It was amazing, the drive up took half a tank of gas, but the drive home only took not even a quarter. ...God loves me.
So on Saturday, my roommates decided to help me and do a good deed for me and assist with stripping the black out of my hair so we could dye it brown. It didn't go well AT ALL. The stripping product only stripped a blob on the top of my head and lightened some of my tips. So I had a big white/blonde/orange THING on the top of my otherwise raven-black head, with some red/orange tips. I'm quietly freaking out (because this is my HAIR!) but assuring my girls that "it's okay, it's only hair, i've had worse than this done to me before...". Except it WASN'T okay. I was on the verge of Hulking out and smashing things while I scream. (The only thing that stopped me was the fact that the last time I did that they had to bring in the military and it was a big mess.)
We get the dark brown dye and color my hair, only to find that "we" have missed a few spots. Fabulous. I have black/brown/ORANGE hair! They take me out to dinner and buy me another box of hairdye and when we get home, color my hair again. My new nickname should be TwoTone, because THAT'S WHAT MY HAIR IS! But the girls assured me that you couldn't tell and that it looked okay, and only in the light could you notice a difference if you were looking for it. Yeah, I still didn't feel better.
I texted my bff Jim and on Sunday he said he couldn't tell. But he's a boy, so that didn't help. Even though he's a pro at color matching, he's still a BOY and just doesn't get it. After church he and I went to a superbowl party where my friend Iwalani was, and she's going to school for cosmetology, so if anyone could help me with my hair, it'd be her. She said she couldn't tell the difference either. I felt a lot better. Almost, almost, almost on the verge of letting it go.
Then I get home. And I'm brushing my hair, checking it out in the light to see what Nani and Jim saw. Oh, I saw a lot more than they did. I saw... ORANGE. Yeah. A good chunk of my hair is brown, but I still have orange spots.
I'm officially freaking out again. I'm just going to let it go for a couple weeks, then I'm going to buy two boxes of blonde and start over. AAAAAAAAAUGH!

yep yep and how

Things are going pretty decently, I feel. Work's only got me scheduled one night a week, so I'm definitely turning in applications everywhere. And by "everywhere" I mean "where ever doesn't suck... when I remember."

School's going well. We're finishing up deep tissue massage and the other night I was the demo for back work. That's right, she worked on my back for 20 minutes and then handed (ha) me over to a classmate who then worked on me for 45 minutes. Best night of my life. Deep tissue rocks on its own, but then to have over an hour of work on just my back. Best night... yeah. Seriously, I would much rather have all my limbs skipped and just have the focus on my back. Anyhow, by the end of it, I was so massage-drunk that for five minutes I had a dopey look on my face and the only thing I could say was "...Hiii....."
Best night EVER.

Interesting how that works out.

So I tell a classmate that I have a boyfriend, and suddenly he wants to take me out to eat. What the heck? I've only been hitting on him since... June and NOW he wants to do something, because he "can't" since I have a boyfriend?
Joke's on him. I'm still as single as ever. Bwahahahahaha.
But I do have a date tomorrow night. I'll call him Mac. So... Mac and I are gonna hang out at IHOP, because that's what superstars like us do.

PAJAMA DAY

Lazy day pajama day, that's today. Dee and I stayed up until 6 this morning talking. I haven't done that in... forEVER.

Dee and I pretty much hate anyone with a Y chromosome. Except for #1, because he's PERFECT.

And I fries close-day nights, by the way.

And Life is Pretty Much Amazing

I now live with the Girls. I'm pretty stoked to be here. These ladies are amazing and that's really all that matters. Some people think that 5 girls living together in a two-room apartment isn't such a hot idea, but I think we'll be fine. Mostly because all of us are freaking awesome and Awesome always gets along.
I'm sad to be leaving Jamie and Brett, but not so sad to leave the Sin House. Justin had more estrogen than I could handle (and I say that with love) and Andriana... well, she's nice but I wouldn't have chosen to live with her if it wasn't for the fact she was living in the same house as my BFF and her BF. But J&B are moving to Los Lunas, so I didn't feel tooooo bad about leaving. I can't believe it took ONE DAY to move all my stuff. I had help, of course, but looking at how few possessions I actually have, I think I could be a nomad quite easily. ...So long as I can rent a storage garage for all my books and journals and schtuff.
I left a hair dryer and a few curling irons, but I think I'll survive.
My #1 and #2 are leaving for Utah tomorrow. Tragic. But I'll survive.
BECAUSE I HAVE AWESOME ROOMMATES!!! AW YEAAAAAH.

Best 2009 EVAR

That's what this is. Just so you know
I got a couple resolutions, but not that many because I'm realistic and all. My first is to, as Paul says, "De-fat myself." Second is to become even awesomer.
The New Year's Dance was pretty much the best I've ever gone to. And I'm going to TOTALLY brag about the kisses I got from my #1 and #2 on my list of 5 Most Perfect Guys On The Planet, so I GOT NEW YEAR'S KISSES FROM MY #1 AND #2!!!! YAAAAAAAY!
Best beginning to New Year EVAR!

back in the game

Back in the day when I began stixing, I was working at Hastings. It's a store that sells books, movies, games, music, coffee, t-shirts, a random crap while it also rents out movies and video games. I spent a great deal of time at the register, which was fun. There was a point when I was moved to the book department, right after they stopped giving people raises to be in the department. Of course. Anyhow, that was during the remodel of the store so we were always there closing and cleaning 'til 2 or 3 just in case Corporate decided to come waltzing in the next day. After I let them know that staying so late and being harped on to clean a department I wasn't really trained well in *while it's still being remodeled* pretty much made me want to quit. So I went back to the register. And that was fun. I eventually interviewed for Video Department manager, but ended up becoming #2, and was successfully crapped on often.
But my stix were great!
I quit. And started working at a call center, and my stix kinda died. For a number of reasons, but I'll blame it on the lack of humor in a call center dealing with retards on the phone every day who can't understand that if you drop your phone in water it isn't the manufacturer's fault and therefore is not covered under the warranty. No, I don't think it matters that you've had the phone for only 3 days. You broke it withing 3 days. Your problem, kiddo.
I got fired. And it's a good thing, really. Because by the time I was fired, I was seriously debating every time I went in as to whether I ought to gauge my eyes out or gnaw at my wrists. I couldn't ever decide, because I needed to do something that would get me sent home, but also be extreme enough that I would be granted leave of absence, and not just that, but I needed to hurt myself in such a way that it couldn't be argued that I'd actually had a mental break down. And I needed my eyes so I could drive home, but I also didn't really think I could break skin and draw enough blood because my front teeth aren't all razor-y like some people's are.
Now I'm working for Hollywood Video. And it's exactly like Hastings. Sans books, music, cafe, t-shirts, random crap, and massive push for DVD sales. So, it's just like the rental part of the Video Department. It's easy because I've already done this, it's hard because I'm Hastings-trained. (Really, Hastings has a better business plan than Hollywood, and it's organized a lot better, and its methods are clearer... it's a better run organization, but whatever. I don't miss it.)
And I'm stepping back into the retail world. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed/hated stupid people. Seriously. I got a few new stix-able situations and I'm pretty dang excited about it:
Teenage Girl: (looking at a candy display) You know, they really should put peanuts in Milky Ways, that would taste so good and everyone would buy them!
Teenage Boy: (looking at the girl like she's a moron) ...They do. They're called Snickers.
Girl: (eyes wide) ....Ohhhhh.

Seriously? Seriously. I couldn't believe it.

Woman: (grumping up to the counter) Do you have any XBox games?
Me: Yeah.
W: I only saw 4.
M: No, there's a whole ROW of them. I promise, right by the Wii games.
W: No, those are XBox 360 games. I want games for the original.
M: Oh! Sorry. Yeah, those we're out of. We sold 'em all because we really just rent out 360 games now.
W: So (huff) what are people like ME supposed to do, who can't afford to go out any buy the latest stuff, just because that's all YOU carry?
M: Sell a liver, I guess, because we've moved on.

I've forgotten that everything is my fault again. Ah yes, for $7.25 an hour, everything is my fault.

Up Until Now

I've been pretty busy since my last post. To make a long story short, I got in a fight with my mom in October and I moved out/was kicked out (we're not really sure which) and moved in with Jamie, Brett, Justin, and Andriana. That's been fine so far.
I got a job at Hollywood Video (just like Hastings, but smaller!) and also give chair massages weekly at a business complex.
School's going fine. I got my massage table. It's kinda difficult to carry around, but hey, it's a TABLE. Duh.
In January I'm moving in with my churchy girls and I'm excited for that. I didn't want to leave Jamie, but she got a job in Los Lunas, so she'll be moving in January, too.
Everything's working out alright, I feel.
Jesus loves me.

I freaking LOVE these things

there's no time to explain, but we're out of cough syrup and the cops are on their way

i've had it up to HERE

my mom is being frickin ridiculous.

backstory: my mom and i made a deal where i would do yardwork and projects to earn money for my car payment. yay. two days ago she put 125 in my account. i'm close to being able to make my payment.

yesterday i gave her a massage, then we go out in the yard to work in the garden. she's a mumbler and it's REALLY REALLY hard to understand her sometimes, so i ask her to repeat what she's saying and she gets mad because she hates repeating herself. or she'll walk away while she's saying something, and you're like "wtf were you saying? i only caught half of that, plus you were mumbling."
so we're in the garden and she gives me some sort of mumbled instruction, and i can't understand her, so i repeat what i thought i heard her say, then she goes off on me about how i need to change my attitude.
what?
yeah, exactly. WHAT attitude? i had NO idea what she was talking about.
so i'm bringing her the power cord and the screws we were working with and i ask her what she was talking about and she goes off on me about all the "[sigh] [tsk] [grunt] [sigh]" during the massage!" (i honestly have no recollection of that at all) and then she goes off on how it was the worst massage she's ever had and how she tried not to move at all because she didn't want to piss me off more, "AND IT WAS MY MASSAGE!"
worst massage ever? really.
"Mom, do you want my help or not?"
"I WANT YOUR WILLING HELP!"
"Then you're going to have to stop snapping at me, or I can't help you. I didn't have an attitude problem, I don't know what you're talking about."
And she goes off again about how I need to shape up fast because my attitude isn't appreciate.
wtf? i REALLY had NO CLUE what she was talking about (sighs during a massage? really, is that what set this whole thing off?). so i tell her again that if she wants my help, she has to stop yelling at me because i won't stick around to be yelled at.
so she goes off again.
so i drop the screws and the power cord, say "here you go" and walk off.
"LETHA! WE MADE AN AGREEMENT!"
"yeah, we did, but i earned the money i needed to earn to make my payment and i WILL NOT help you if you keep acting like this."
She glares at me a moment, "...I'll take the money out of your account."
"No, you won't," and she stops for a second, "you can't. Your name isn't on my account. You can't touch my money."
And I walked off. She yells something else, and I holler back, "BYE! HAVE FUN!"
And she screams at me to never ask for her help ever again.
...oooookay.

Sighing during a massage?! REALLY?! Sighing?! Now, it couldn't just be that I was prepping into slow steady breathing, or the fact that I was working around A FREAKING QUEEN SIZED BED, or that the room was effing hot because she turned the furnace on a month early... no, it's because i have an attitude problem.
so i left. i went on a bike ride, haven't spoken to her since. and now she's taking it out on my little sister.
so i'm done. every time she pulls an overreactive stunt like this, the offendED party ends up apologizing just to keep the peace. well i'm effing done with it.
i did NOTHING to warrant that behavior, i did NOTHING to deserve her little outburst. the woman doesn't even notice that this sort of behavior is wrong. that's the first time i ever stuck up for myself, and i'm not about to back down because i did NOTHING WRONG. i've been apologizing JUST to keep the peace for YEAAAAAAARS.
so i packed my stuff and i'm staying at my best friends house until further notice.


freaking. she's ALWAYS doing crap like this. i'm tired of it.